Creating a Fantastic but Believable Setting by BC Deeks, Paranormal Mystery Fiction Author

 

 Visit B.C. Deeks' BWL Author Page for Book and Purchase Information 

 

http://bookswelove.net/deeks-bc/

SETTING is crucial to a story’s development and the reader’s experience in any fictional work, but never more so, in my humble opinion, than in a fantasy. If an author is working on a contemporary story, you can count on the reader to have enough personal experience to fill in the blanks with minimal prompting. 

In the fantasy genre, all bets are off. It is up to the author to show the reader how far they should suspend their disbelief in every aspect of the world they are entering—from the ground they stand on, to the creatures they will encounter, the language that will be spoken…Indeed, every aspect of the reading experience can be distorted to best tell the story that is about to unfold. The setting where all this distortion will occur must support the changes from what the reader has come to expect in ‘real life.’

It would be jarring for a fur-covered fire breathing dragon to appear on the sunbaked beaches of Florida, for example. Not that it couldn’t be done but the author would sure have to work at developing plausibility for such a scenario.

When I created a family of supernatural beings inspired by witches, I needed to base them in a dimension that could support their use of powerful magic as a daily occurrence. I decided that not everyone should have such powerful magic, so therefore my primary characters would be the Guardians to the ruling Council of Master Witches. Their powers would draw from the elements of nature – air, water, fire, earth, and a fifth universal element known as Aether. The rest of the population would have diluted powers linked to nature but not of the same strength.

Since my characters must be freely able to interact with their elements, I supposed that they would need lush outdoor spaces, with mountains and forests, oceans and open skies. Yes, I thought, a rocky island out in the ocean…much like where I grew up! My magical dimension of The Otherland began to take shape. 

The Island of Newfoundland where I was born is definitely on earth although far enough out in the North Atlantic to forget at times. Its history dates back to the Vikings and leans heavily to Irish, who believe in everything from fairies to leprechauns, four-leaf clovers to banshees, and have all sorts of rituals to ward off evil spirits or bad luck. There were still Gaelic speakers in Newfoundland well into the 20th century and, like the Irish, we love to spin a tale!

Of course, my characters would travel to other dimensions, so I adopted the accepted fantasy principles of portal magic and integrated that into my imaginary world. My supernatural beings would have a gateway on the edge of the granite cliffs that allowed them to pass through to alternate realms, including the mortal world. Since I wanted to write a series, this would allow for a revolving door so they could visit a wider range of story settings like the coastal regions of Seattle or the mountains of Montana when adventure called. And adventure does summon the Egan family members...

Mythics and mortals battle dark forces in my epic paranormal mystery adventure trilogy, BEYOND THE MAGIC. In Book 1: WITCH UNBOUND, Marcus, the powerful eldest brother, is sent to the mortal realm to investigate the murder of two long-lost Guardians of The Otherland. Can he abandon everything he’s ever believed to save the life of an extraordinary witch who knows nothing of her heritage? Together they begin a quest to deflect an ancient prophecy that could destroy his world. Marcus’s brother, Theo, and sister, Elowyn, join that quest in Book 2: MORTAL MAGIC and Book 3: REBEL SPELL, respectively, coming in 2023.

Artificial Intelligence – Can You Program Creativity? By BC Deeks, Paranormal Mystery Fiction Author

Visit B.C. Deeks' BWL Author Page for Book and Purchase Information

http://bookswelove.net/deeks-bc/

Artificial Intelligence, or AI, is a trending topic these days, with applications like ChatGPT and Jasper being touted as replacements for human writers. These applications are models trained on a large codex of text data that can generate responses to questions, summarize long texts, write stories and much more. It is often used in conversational AI applications to simulate a human-like conversation with users—You’ve probably already been chatting with AI if you’ve contacted online Customer Service.

The jury is still out on whether the latest AI language model, ChatGPT, is actually intelligent, as defined by a machine's ability to behave like a human. They are still basically just a computer program designed to respond to text inputs and generate outputs based on patterns in the data they’ve been trained on.

So far, many uses for AI are controversial if not outright negative, including creating malware, Phishing and scamming, and cheating in school by letting students submit papers written by their computers.  A consultancy firm reportedly found that applications written by ChatGPT beat out 80 percent of humans.

In theory, AI can even be used to write a book. But would that book be a good story or just be a distillation of characters and plot from previously published works? If AI does not have intelligence, could it take the data and CREATE a unique and imaginative piece of work the way a human author does.

From my research, I gather AI software can generate a list of book plot ideas, suggest opening paragraphs, and output a batch of character sketches. If an author provided the program with a detailed outline of a story, it might produce a workable first draft of a novel. AI language models seem best suited to generating non-fiction web content or product copy and even then should be proofed and fact checked by the writer. I read an article generated by the Jasper AI application and it contained 7 typos and grammatical errors. The author had clearly not bothered to check the work before publishing.

Getting back to fiction, I don’t think authors will be out of work any time soon. If an AI language model was asked to generate a bestselling novel with a dragon and a wizard in a magical dimension, I believe the key components of a saleable novel would be missing — imagination and creativity. AI models can only pull from what has already been done; not imagine the things that are new and exciting. AI language models are, IMHO, another tool in a writers’ toolbox that might speed up the process of generating the words on the page. I'll admit to using a copy editing software program to help with my revision process for practical reasons. It helps me spot awkward sentence structures, grammatical errors and typos in my manuscript. But at the end of the day, human intervention is required to bring the magic to the story.

For the time being, I’ll be writing REBEL SPELL, book 3 in my Beyond the Magic trilogy, with minimal aid from artificial intelligence. Besides I love writing, so why would I want to give it up?

Weaving a Little Love into Every Story By BC Deeks, Paranormal Mystery Fiction Author

 

Visit B.C. Deeks' BWL Author Page for Book and Purchase Information

 

http://bookswelove.net/deeks-bc/

I write heartwarming stories of mystery and magic. But I learned most of what I know about writing craft when I joined a romance writing group. Do you know the most important lesson my mentors taught me? LOVE is part of every story. I’m not talking romance necessarily; but the development of an intense feeling of deep connection and caring. Your story won’t come alive for your reader unless your characters resonate with each other.

At its foundation, my Beyond the Magic series is a story of family ties - three siblings who have a strong bond with each other because their mother died in childbirth and their father is a harsh disciplinarian. The Otherland is a society that is desperate to preserve its hereditary magic and so is relying on genetic matching for their mating practices. The realm’s leaders don’t account for love matches and when one occurs, it could destroy their world. In the series, each of the three siblings set out on an adventure and, in turn, form a bond with another ally who they need to fight off dark forces. Ultimately, they all — mythics and mortals - must fight together to defeat an ancient prophecy. Each plot evolves around the emotional development or arc of the primary characters as they grow to trust their skills and inner emotional strength so that they can do what they must to meet their goal.

Isn’t that what life is all about? Perhaps modern advertising around Valentine’s Day focuses too much on romantic love. We can choose to expand it to recognize our own emotional attachment to our family and friends. Who do you care about? Let’s come up with a way to show them.

·         Help your child make a handmade Valentine's card for their favorite teacher.

·         Pick up a book as a gift for a friend who’s always there for you.

·         Wrap up cookies and drop them over to a neighbor who always waves and makes you feel part of the neighborhood.

·         Mail cards to family who live far away just to say you care.

·         Tell a friend how important they are to you.

Life is full of relationships and our books must accurately reflect the depth of those connections. It doesn’t matter whether the book is a mystery, a romance, science fiction or any other genre; to be successful, a story has to weave all the emotional complexity of life through our characters.

Our Visit to Amish Country by J.Q. Rose #travel #Amishcountry

 

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose
a perfect read for the scary month of October
Click here to download this paranormal mystery
and more mysteries by J.Q. from BWL Publishing

👻👻👻👻

Our Visit to Amish Country  by J.Q. Rose

Ohio towns we visited plus Berlin, Ohio engraved in this brick wall.

Hello and welcome! My husband and I took a break in September to visit friends in Ohio and tour Amish Country, Holmes County, to be exact.  I never realized Ohio was so hilly. The hills and valleys add adventure and eyepopping beauty. With the mild fall weather, the landscape was green and gorgeous. When traveling the country roads, we appreciated the fields of crops raised on pristine Amish farms and watching the farmers work their fields with the powerful draft horses pulling their vintage equipment. The homes featured colorful flowers planted in yards and large vegetable gardens harvested by the children and moms wearing their bonnets, aprons and long dresses.  *An Amish broom maker. He showed us how he puts the broom together. The sweeper is so thick with broom corn, the craftsman could stand the broom straight up on the floor and it never fell down! Yes, we bought one. It sits next to my iRobot vacuum. Talk about a contrast in ways to clean floors! *I wish you could see how huge this pumpkin at Hershberger's Farm really is. The area is populated with Amish grocery stores, produce markets, bakeries, cheese factories, restaurants specializing in fried chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy and noodles.  You can stuff yourself so easily. But so tasty! *I fell in love with these pups riding in the cage attached to the back of the buggy. Adorable. No, we did not bring one home with us, but oh so tempting. *This life-like art installation of the old women visiting on the bench was in front of the courthouse in Newark, OH. I just had to join them. Of course, I suggested they begin telling their life stories!! *Horse and buggies carrying families are on the roads along with 21st-century vehicles. In the last 2 years, some groups allow traveling on electric bicycles with pedal assist. I think the bikes outnumber the buggies.  *We witnessed the hard-working Amish farmer cutting hay on a warm sunny day. Hardy mums at Harshberger Farms. Thanks for touring Amish country with me. I hope you have the opportunity to visit Ohio and enjoy even more of the lifestyle of these industrious people of faith. Connect online with JQ Rose: Author J.Q. Rose J.Q. Rose blog  Facebook

Recipes for Cooking Over the Campfire by J.Q. Rose

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard
Paranormal Mystery
Click here to find more mysteries by JQ Rose
from BWL Publishing

Hello and welcome to the BWL Publishing Insiders Blog!

Cooking over the campfire.

Recipes for Cooking Over the Campfire by J.Q. Rose

A few years ago we camped with our daughter Lee Ann and family over the Memorial Day holiday weekend near Stony Lake in West Michigan. Always the "event" planner, she invited our other daughter, Sara, (who is not a camper) and family to join us on Sunday for a fun dinner with Dump Soup as the main entree.

I bet you've heard the folk tale Stone Soup, the story of hungry strangers who convince the townspeople to share a small amount of their food in order to feed everyone. We weren't exactly hungry strangers, and we didn't ask fellow campers to contribute to the soup pot.

Lee Ann coined the term "Dump Soup" because we all brought ingredients to dump into the soup pot. There is NO recipe. That's the fun part. Just whatever is offered is added to the pot. Lee Ann poured in beef broth, beef consomme, and I added mushroom soup as a base for all the other stuff e.g. beans, tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, onions, cans of veggies, etc.

All ready to cook over the campfire.

Lee Ann stirred it all together and placed the pot over the campfire for the men to watch while the ladies took a walk. Of course, we came back to check on the progress of the soup. After an hour and one half over the fire, we gobbled down the soup. It was delicious. The soup must have been good because the kids loved it too, especially with lots of crackers.

Another of our family faves for dinner over the fire is "hobo dinner." I've heard it called foil packet dinner too. We spray the foil with vegetable oil, place bacon on the first layer, hamburger or chicken next, and then add whatever fresh veggies you like to the foil e.g. potatoes, carrots, green pepper, onion, butter, and celery.

Ingredients ready to wrap.

Be sure to wrap the packet tightly so the grease doesn't run out. Then place the foil dinners in the coals or on a grate over the fire. Depending on how you cut the veggies and how hot the fire is, the packets need to cook 30--45 minutes. Chicken may take longer. 
PS--This dinner can be cooked on your grill at home too.

Dinner wrapped in foil packets.

Clean-up is easy. Just wrap up the foil and throw it away. THEN it'll be time to roast the marshmallows to make S'mores! But first, you may want to go for a swim or a hike!

What are your easy go-to recipes when having a crowd over to your house or when camping?

Click here to connect online with J.Q. Rose

The Who, WHAT, Where, Why and When of Writing - Part 2

In Part One, we reflected about who we are and how much we wanted to write. In short:

A lot of writers just dive in when the muse strikes and we reach for laptops, paper, receipts, napkins...whatever is as hand to put our thoughts into written form. Some writers practice writing every day, using morning pages to empty their minds of doubt and rambling thoughts before they get to the task of creating. Yet others, ponder the universe and wait for divine inspiration before they are able to sit down to write. Personally, I've been known to scribble ideas into a notebook while cooking dinner. Sticks of spaghetti do not make good pens.

In Part Two, we're moving on to WHAT??? We've identified the urge to write and create, now it's time to take it a step further and discover what you want to write?

What do you like to read?
A lot of writers tend to read all sorts of genres before they settle into an area - loosely defined at times - that they enjoy reading and eventually writing. I worked my way up though the Dick and Jane series back in elementary, then graduated to Wind in the Willows before I discovered The Hardy Boys alongside Nancy Drew, UFO books, and anything else that made my creativity soar. I dug into Sidney Sheldon novels before I'd even hit high school.

What if I like more than one genre?
Chances are you like more than one type of fruit or candy. Just like in the food world, there are no rules that say you can only read or even write only one genre. Writers mix them up all the time.
Romantic suspense, Erotic fantasy, Paranormal mysteries, the combinations are limited only by your own imagination.

What if I have no idea what to write?
At very basic, write about your life. Start with a childhood memory and exaggerate it. Write about the brother you wished you'd had. About the house you wished you'd lived in. About how your grandfather smoked a pipe after dinner every night and you would sit close to him and watch the smoke swirl around his head while the sweet scent of his tobacco tickled your nose.
Then take it up a notch and create a story around it.

How do you come up with ideas?
Writing prompts are a great starting point. You can find them on web sites, at writing group meetings, and in any endless number of books on the subject. (Oh look, something to write about!) One method we use in our writing group is to choose a book then turn to a random page, find a sentence, and GO!

Conversations are you may have or overhear during your day are great sources of inspiration as well. I've had ideas come from lines on television shows or even whole shows may spark a fresh novel. The whole idea isn't to copy someone else's work. Plagarism is a no-no. It's completely allowable to use a line, an image or a phrase as a starting point to grow your own work.

What if I don't like what I wrote?
Then congratulations. You're just as insecure as the rest of us!
Seriously, though. Once you start a poem, short story, or even a novel, you don't have to live with it if you don't like it. Sometimes it helps to put it away for a while and take another look at it weeks, months, or even years down the road. If you still don't like it then, shred it and start over. In the meantime, don't sit idle. More ideas and inspirations will strike. Eventually, you will write something you will love and turn it into something you want to share with the entire world.

What if my mother doesn't like what I wrote?
Once more we go back to a Who question. Who are you writing for? You? Your mother? Your grandpa? When I was starting out writing as a kid, my mom would say my stories were good, BUT.... I'd go back to my room and vow never to show her my stories again. It didn't take me long to realize I wrote my stories for me. Not for anyone else. Now that I have books published, that doesn't change. Yes, I want to entertain people and have them read my stories, but if I don't like what I write, I'm very sure they won't either.

How do I get published?
First you write. Then we'll talk...

Diane Bator
Author of Wild Blue Mysteries, Gilda Wright Mysteries and Glitter Bay Mysteries
Mom of 3 boys and 2 cats and a mouse we can't find...

Armchair Travelogue: Touring England--The Cotswolds with J.Q. Rose

Terror on Sunshine Boulevard by J.Q. Rose
Paranormal mystery
Click here to find more mysteries by J.Q.
at BWL Publishing Authors Page 

Hello and welcome to the Books We Love Insiders Blog!

Many readers are experiencing a very tough winter in their part of the world. Books and movies are a great way to escape the reality of freezing weather, ice, rain, floods.

Today, I'd like you to sit back and relax in your favorite chair and escape with my husband, Gardener Ted, and me for an armchair travelogue of the Cotswolds when we visited England in June 2018.
Watch the video below. If you have more to add about the Cotswolds or want to ask a question, please leave a comment below.

VIDEO: Touring England--The Cotswolds

Video: Touring England The Cotswolds

Thank you for joining us. I'll be sharing more videos about our trip in upcoming blog posts.

Toodle pip!

About J.Q.

Author J.Q. Rose

Whether the story is fiction or non-fiction, J.Q. Rose is focused on the story. She offers readers chills, giggles and quirky characters woven within the pages of her mystery novels. Her published mysteries are Deadly Undertaking, Terror on Sunshine Boulevard and Dangerous Sanctuary released by Books We Love Publishing.  Blogging, photography, Pegs and Jokers board games, and travel are the things that keep her out of trouble. 

Click here to connect online with J.Q. at her blog, Focused on Story.