It's been awhile since I posted a vlog on my YouTube page. Six months, to be exact.
The hiatus has been a good one. With the extra time not filming, I was able to finish editing three of my books, written in 2015. Plus I got an agent and am now on submission with THESE WICKED WATERS. Which is a pretty awesome development.
Now that I don't have unedited novels haunting me, I can devote more time to my vlogs. Which is so, so exciting. To show you guys how invested I am, I went out and bought a microphone so my videos' audio quality won't be so white-noisey.
These vlogs will be short. One to five minutes in length. I'll talk about a whole range of things: writing, reading, my life, the querying/submission process...everything! To make sure you don't miss a video, subscribe!
Every second and fourth Friday at 3 PM EST a new vlog will go live. And this Friday so happens to be the second...
P.s. Just a shout out! Today is my parents' 25th wedding anniversary. Love you both!
I agonize over my characters' names. My search history is packed full of baby name websites, name meaning websites, you name it (haha, get it?). Names are a big deal.
Which is why, as I'm brainstorming a new trilogy, I'm struggling to think of the best name for my female MC. For the most part, names just "come" to me. I don't have to spend much time doing research. Like my male MC, whose name is Malachi, in case you were curious. His name popped into my head without much prodding.
My female MC is being more stubborn (not to mention a whole cast of characters I haven't even considered yet!). Which means I'll be scouring the internet for the best moniker. I have something goddess-y in mind. Or at least Roman-sounding.
What about you? How do you come up with names for your characters?
"I have no talent for making new friends, but oh such genius for fidelity to old ones." ~ Daphne du Maurier
Our classical author for the month of October is Daphne du Maurier, a famous English author. Daphne was the daughter of a well-known actor-manager Sir Gerald du Maurier and actress Muriel Beaumont. Her first novel, The Loving Spirit, was published at the age of twenty-four.
The novel Daphne is most remembered for is Rebecca, published in 1938. It sold three million copies between 1938 and 1965 and has never gone out of print. Rebecca, as well as other of Daphne's novels, have been adapted into film including this month's read, Jamaica Inn.
People coined Daphne a "romantic novelist"--a title that she despised. Which is understandable, since none of her stories had traditional happy endings.
Daphne died at the age of eight-one in 1989. She was succeeded by three children, as well has her literary works: short stories, novels, plays, and film.
Writerly Things to Learn from Daphne du Maurier:
1. Use your connections. Coming from a celebrity family, Daphne ran in elite circles. Using her mother's magazine, Bystander, she published her very first short stories. Her literary career boomed from that point onward.
2. Be careful of plagiarism. Daphne was accused of plagiarism in two of her works: Rebecca and The Birds. While it didn't hurt Rebecca's sales, it didn't help Daphne's reputation. If you're dubious about whether you're copying someone else's idea. Stick to the safe side of the street and write something else.
