Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Mid NaNoWriMo Pick Me Up!

So we're halfway through NaNoWriMo 2016, so don't flag yet! Here's a little pick me up to help you get through the rest of the month if you're flagging. Or even just to keep up your mojo!

What to do if you're stuck?

Maybe you had a super awesome idea for your story and now you're thinking…not so much.



Well, there's a couple of things you can do now. Maybe try something totally out of the blue, completely change up the storyline! Add those Nazi zombies after all…(not that I've gone that far, but you never know) Or if it's really terrible, perhaps you should just try a totally different story! That way you'll still make the 50,000, it just might not be one whole novel.



How to stay on top of your game.

Well, some sleep every once in a while would be a good idea. Seriously, despite what you may like to think, humans are HUMAN and not sleepless immortal vampires. We do need to sleep. Otherwise:



Doing a few stretches before you sit down to write is also a good idea, that way you can avoid being so stiff after you finally realize you've been sitting there for five hours straight.



Maybe your story is great but your characters are giving you problems:

This definitely happens. So many times I have sat down to write a book, and the hero doesn't want anything to do with the story, the villain wants to tell the whole thing, and a random character you threw in is apparently way more important to the storyline than you ever thought.

First off tell your villian to shut up. They will get their time, and whatever you do, do not promise to write them their own book. Or…you could. After all, whatever gets you to 50,000, right?



Oh yeah, and then there's those characters you thought were dead? Urg, yeah, those pop up too. Maybe you should just roll with it.



Sharing your writing (when people wonder where you've been all month):

You may be excited to share your writing with other people, and sharing with fellow writers is totally okay and may actually be able to help you. But sometimes sharing it with non-writers can be a bad idea mid-NaNo. No matter how happy you are about your story, the reactions you get will probably give you writer's block. Especially those overly literal people who shouldn't even read fiction to begin with.



So, maybe not the best idea to share your writing until the end of the month. Then you can just give copies of your book away as Christmas gifts and people won't be able to say anything bad about it!



Just Keep Writing!

But mainly, the key to getting to the end of the month is to JUST KEEP WRITING! Seriously, stop looking at the internet, stop going on Pintrest, get rid of your subscription of Netflix for the month, just write. In fact, what are you still doing here? Get off the internet and get back to writing!



No, seriously, go!



~~~~~
Gif credits:  
Get 8 hours of coffee again: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/e0/c5/fc/e0c5fc9b28ae6fd34187fac85dced1dd.jpg
 Loki finish your writing: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/1b/b7/bf/1bb7bf8a9dfd6f43a1bc003384df5e66.jpg
 One does not simply explain writing: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/3d/bb/83/3dbb83a413429f299664ce9cc673a8d1.jpg
 Stupidist idea:
https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/6a/f9/6f/6af96f9fe1c683e1fa89e5572740a3f0.jpg
 Gibbslap: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/e6/c2/34/e6c2349a6d4b2b4a99f520fae9b02195.gif
 Writing is hard: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/84/f0/91/84f09108808c48fe2958b8f311d398ac.gif
 Don’t ruin story with logic: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/fb/ba/41/fbba41b3dd9869bb42271c0524412dc3.gif
 Pay attention to me: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/9b/ab/f6/9babf62a0cc4542d6d4d73c07eb02ba5.gif
 Bet you’ve thought seen the last of me: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/ec/9b/ee/ec9bee3dadb338f9480a49d54e8506b7.gif
 Exercise: http://www.worshipthefandom.com/images/fc_captainamericaworkout/cap3.gif


Monday, November 14, 2016

An Earthly King Blog Tour: Final Day and Book Playlist


It's the final day of An Earthly King's blog tour! First off, thanks to everyone who hosted, followed and took part in this! I had a great time hearing from readers both old and new :-) I am really happy to hear so many people are excited about this series!

Today, I wanted to do something a little different for the wrap up of the tour and share my playlists from both Blood Ties and An Earthly King. Below are the lists for each book. Eventually, I plan to make playlists on Youtube but I just didn't have the time right now. I'm sure some of the songs will not make sense to anyone but me, but I hope you enjoy them all the same :-) Let me know if there's any you think should be added.

Blood Ties

An Toll Dubh- Runrig
An Sabhal Aig Neill- Runrig
Moving- The Secret Garden
Rocky Road to Dublin- The Countdown Singers
The Kilburn High Road- Flogging Molly
The Blood of Cu Chulainn- Jeff and Mychael Danna
The Return of the Eagle (The Musical Priest)- The Eagle Soundtrack
Devil's Dance Floor- Flogging Molly (This was the one that, if this was a movie, would play during the cage fight without a cage scene ;P)
Na Fianna Battle Song- (I can never find the artist for this one)
The Stamping Ground- Runrig (This is the one that, if this was a movie, would play at the end credits ;-)

The playlist for Blood Ties was kind of a mix of traditional Celtic soundtrack pieces and some more modern style folk songs. Runrig's Gaelic tracks may be technically Scottish Gaelic, but the sound of them lends to overall feel of the story and the world in my opinion. The soundtrack for An Earthly King was a little different, between some folk songs and other alternative songs that I felt went along with the story. Still completing that one, but I hope you like the selections so far.

An Earthly King

Tam Lin- Fairport Convention
Slow and Steady- Of Monsters and Men
Fairies Stole My Keys- Emerald Rose
Brother- Needtobreathe
Safe and Sound- Electric President
Battles- Al Lewis
Samhain's Eve- Damh The Bard
Reilly's Daughter- The Clancy Brothers (This is the song Proinsias sang for karaoke night)
The Ballad of Tam Lin- Steeleye Span


Don't forget, you can get your copies of An Earthly King here:

Buy your copies of An Earthly King here:

Createspace Paperback: https://www.createspace.com/5925165