Just My Blood Type

While there's a lot going on behind the scenes, I'd love to share a bit of news. A few weeks ago, I teamed up with author Carrie Clevenger to collaborate on a bit of a short fiction entitled Just My Blood Type. At time of writing we're finalising the final proof before we upload, but we can share the cover art.

To give credit where it's due, the photography and retouching is by none other than my lovely husband, Thomas Dorman. You can see more of his artwork here.

The typographical treatment for this was done by the very talented Danielle Eriksen, who is available for layout work. She can be contacted at Danielle@dislocate.co.za

Of course the real star of the show is Xan Marcelles, a drop-dead gorgeous vampire who plays bass in the band Crooked Fang. Therese von Willegen, erotica author, swung by the town of Pinecliffe, Colorado, to interview him, and got a little more than she bargained for.

Follow Xan Marcelles on Facebook, or look out for him @crookedfang on Twitter, and keep up to date with developments. We'll announce the short story's release soon.

Less than a week before release date...

The day started with good intentions and I actually had the snippet that would lead to me having something vaguely intelligent to relate about being an author but, as per the risks of working in the media industry, things went south fairly quickly. Suffice to say this blog post will be a quick and excited heads up that my urban fantasy novella, The Namaqualand Book of the Dead will be releasing on March 21.

Why should you read it?

It's set in contemporary South Africa, damn it! I'm pulling a Poppy Z Brite move on Cape Town. If New Orleans captured the imagination of dozens of readers, I counter by saying that the Mother City offers equal allure.

Step into my West Coast Gothic romance with a twist of fang.

http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_22&products_id=313

Write what you know

This is an old adage: write what you know. As far as possible I try to apply it to my writing but sometimes this does require that I go out and do stuff I wouldn’t ordinarily do. Like this past weekend, for instance. I climbed a mountain in my area to specifically visit a cave I’d heard a lot about while I was growing up.

I’ve a scene in my current work in progress, an urban fantasy novel entitled Incarna, where my main character climbs the same route late at night during a storm to go hide an artefact.

When I wrote the initial scene, I’d envisioned the route, based on a vague knowledge of the area and a contour map I downloaded off the internet. Not happy with the results, I decided some practical experience was necessary so, on Sunday, myself and my long-suffering husband put on our walking shoes and embarked on our little jaunt.

While my idea of timing was pretty spot-on, the route wasn’t. I’d chosen the wrong route in my novel because the quicker route proved to be the one I’d considered more difficult by looking at the map.

More importantly, while I’ve explored caves in the Table Mountain range before, I’d not gone as deep into a cave in this region before. I’d imagined the floor to be sandy, the rocks dry. In real life they weren’t. They were quite damp and, inside the mountain it was cold, and almost frigid, with the constant drip of moisture in some areas.

When my hands came in contact with the stone, my skin came away with a layer of sludge. There was no convenient sandy floor but uneven rocks. Footing was quite treacherous.

The only happy coincidence was that in my story, I’d written in a small chamber with a narrow lateral passage where my main character squeezes in to hide his artefact. Imagine my surprise when I encountered almost the exact same kind of passage in real life.

Most of what I write is based on some sort of practical experience. I feel this gives a nice ring of authenticity to my stories. While the internet may provide a good starting point, I encourage authors to go out there and try things for themselves.

Are you writing about a mortician? Approach a funeral home in your area and talk to an actual mortician. If you’re not squeamish, go and shadow them for a day or two. Are you writing about someone who’s into fashion design? Do the same. Go out, talk them, see what their day-to-day work is like.

Authors are, by their very natures, Jacks of all trades. We know a little about everything. Make it your mission to engage in novelty at least once a month. Do something out of your usual routine. You’ll be surprised at what you may discover and how this can enrich your writing.

* * * *

My next urban fantasy tale, The Namaqualand Book of the Dead, releases on March 21. Read an excerpt here: http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1_22&products_id=313

Adventures in urban fantasy: the birth of Incarna

Today is the official day I started work on my next "heart" book, an urban fantasy entitled Incarna, which, depending on how good I am, may be complete and revised in time for the Angry Robot open submissions month in March. Yes, I know I'm being ambitious but hell, it doesn't hurt to try, does it?

So, where does Incarna come from? It's born from my love of the esoteric, which makes me ask all sorts of questions about life, the universe and the concept of Self. The question that sparked Incarna was: what if there were magicians (or in this case groups of sometimes opposing houses or factions of magicians) who could reincarnate throughout the centuries, each group or individual jealously guarding secrets from each other.

Today I officially got stuck into the first draft I outlined recently with my dear dark brother, Andrew, who helped me tweak motivations for the assorted characters. We spent a very late night and early morning plotting, after attending the funeral of a close friend of ours. I must admit I was inspired by the ritual, which was based on a rite from the Papyrus of Ani, part of the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

Incarna is redolent with Egyptian imagery. In fact, the concepts for the human soul are very much based on the ancient Egyptian ideas of the various components. Other themes include love, justice and making amends. My main character, Lizzie, returns to an incarnated form after spending time in the limbo state. Only, things go wrong. Instead of returning in the body of the comatose and braindead three-year-old girl that had been earmarked for take-over, she reincarnates in the body of a twenty-one-year-old barman and gothic metal musician.

Ashton Kennedy wasn't a nice guy. He cheated on his girlfriend, knocked up a powerful drug lord's sister, and abused vast quantities of illegal narcotic substances. The guy who ran him over with a big shiny SUV was doing the world a favour. His very male and rather tattooed body is the last place Elizabeth Rae Perry, with her Victorian sensibilities, expected to get stuck in. But Lizzie needs to make do. Not only must she figure out what went wrong with her intended reincarnation, but she must patch up the life of her host and deal with an angry ghost. Lizzie finds love in unexpected places while saving the world from a powerful House, hellbent on uncovering the secret she didn't know she was supposed to protect.

Watch this space for further updates!

Get into that writing routine.

People are often amazed when I tell them I’m able to write a 60 000- to 70 000-word novel in under two months. This is notwithstanding that I have a demanding day-job at a South African newspaper publisher and, on top of that, still have editing obligations for one of my publishers in the States.

Add to that that I’m often helping out behind the scenes on indie movie sets or photo shoots, and sometimes have a social life over the weekends. How is this possible?

First off, it’s not easy. Routine is everything. I try to squeeze in the writing and editing on the train in the mornings, during my lunch hour, then have to dedicate at least two or three hours in the evenings. There’s no getting away from that. I have to do this every day. And sleep is a valuable commodity. I’ve learnt to cope on five to six hours a night.

I divide my work into an editing, reading and writing cycle, giving my full attention to a scene or chapter at a time before moving onto another manuscript, working on up to five documents in a cycle. Why? I have a very short attention span. This means I usually work in bursts of about three quarters of an hour. Then I get up, stretch, maybe check email or make a cup of coffee, and start all over again.

But that’s me, and I’ve found that diversifying my activities helps me concentrate and be fresh when I return to a manuscript in the next cycle.

What you have to do is find a system that works for you but then be consistent in applying it. If you are easily distracted by the television or internet, set aside time every day, be it half an hour or an hour, every day, where these evils will not keep you from your work.

Because I can never guarantee where I’ll be at any given time, I’ve had to make my workspace mobile. Investing in a netbook has probably been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I honestly don’t know how I managed without, but I didn’t let that stop me. I used to write my earlier novels out longhand in notebooks before inputting them whenever I was near a computer.

The point I’m trying to make is if you really want to succeed at being an author, you’ll find creative ways in which to overcome your limitations. I’ve met so many people who’ve told me they’ve got this great idea for a novel. It’s all stored up in their grey matter. All they need to do is write it.

But they never do. They’re always making excuses.

“I’m waiting to buy a new computer.”

“I’m waiting for things to settle at home.”

“I need to pack out the boxes so I can use the study.”

You know what? There’s never a perfect time to write a novel. You just have to knuckle under and do it, even if you’re living in a trailer and don’t always have electricity. Otherwise you’ll always be talking about it.

* * * *

Books one and two of my urban fantasy Khepera series are available at the following links:

Lyrical Press: http://www.lyricalpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=authors&authors_id=107

Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=nerine+dorman

Kalahari.net: http://www.kalahari.net/page_templates/searchresults.aspx?searchText=nerine+dorman&navigationid=632&displayShop=books