When your MC turns up on TV...(Waterloo Road, to be precise)

This post might get a bit Brit-focused for my American readers, but keep reading anyway!

One of my favourite TV serial dramas is WATERLOO ROAD. A fictional, failing school in a rough area of Manchester (I think) and now Scotland, it's this rather soap-opera-ish yet brilliant programme all about the teachers and students, and tackles issues like rape, domestic violence, alcoholism, homophobia, incest, teacher/pupil relationships, young love, and friendship (had to add the last two not to put anyone off!).

I was happily watching all the angst and excitement when suddenly, into shot walked my protagonist. I mentioned in a previous post that the troubled bully-turned-heartbroken and unstable-social-outcast Luke would have to be played by George Mackay, but I've changed my mind. He's not blond, and he's got a Scottish accent instead of an English one, but Shane O'Meara (aka Waterloo Road's Connor) is the perfect Luke.

He's got such melancholy eyes *Amy realises that she's sounding a bit stalker-ish and weird so posts picture to cover embarrassment*

AND THEN IN WALKED HIS DEAD BEST FRIEND. Benjamin Gur was the actor I've always wanted to play Noah, the cruel charmer whose death started the whole plot of THE BRIGHTEST FELL, and his character in Waterloo Road is so similar to Noah in personality (and looks) that it's like watching Noah on screen.

(I'm not mad, these characters are just very real to me in my head)...

(Benjamin Gur/ Noah is the one on the left with the smug expression!).


Has anyone else had a moment like this, seeing the perfect actor for your MC and then greedily watching the programme to get your fill of character awesomeness?

Are there any Waterloo Road fans here?

And finally, do you like my actors? Anyone who's read this post, do you think they would be perfect for the roles or what?

Look out for my Waiting On Wednesday post in a few days!

The Raven Boys and Author Artwork

So this is sort of a Waiting on Wednesday, just on a Tuesday because I have work tomorrow ;)

I really want to read THE RAVEN BOYS. Like, seriously wishing it could come out in the UK, because I love love loved the WOLVES OF MERCY FALLS series (particularly Shiver) and this has four times the boys.
Oh, and the storyline looks really interesting too.... here's the summary from Goodreads:

“There are only two reasons a non-seer would see a spirit on St. Mark’s Eve,” Neeve said. “Either you’re his true love . . . or you killed him.”

It is freezing in the churchyard, even before the dead arrive.

Every year, Blue Sargent stands next to her clairvoyant mother as the soon-to-be dead walk past. Blue herself never sees them—not until this year, when a boy emerges from the dark and speaks directly to her.

His name is Gansey, and Blue soon discovers that he is a rich student at Aglionby, the local private school. Blue has a policy of staying away from Aglionby boys. Known as Raven Boys, they can only mean trouble.

But Blue is drawn to Gansey, in a way she can’t entirely explain. He has it all—family money, good looks, devoted friends—but he’s looking for much more than that. He is on a quest that has encompassed three other Raven Boys: Adam, the scholarship student who resents all the privilege around him; Ronan, the fierce soul who ranges from anger to despair; and Noah, the taciturn watcher of the four, who notices many things but says very little.

For as long as she can remember, Blue has been warned that she will cause her true love to die. She never thought this would be a problem. But now, as her life becomes caught up in the strange and sinister world of the Raven Boys, she’s not so sure anymore.

From Maggie Stiefvater, the bestselling and acclaimed author of the Shiver trilogy and The Scorpio Races, comes a spellbinding new series where the inevitability of death and the nature of love lead us to a place we’ve never been before.

Sounds pretty good, huh? I think Ronan and Noah will be my faves (fun fact: my book THE BRIGHTEST FELL has a Noah AND a Ronan - although mine are a bully and a rugby jock).
But to the second part of this post's title - author artwork.

Maggie Stiefvater is a mega-talented artist, and it was her animated, hand-drawn book trailer for TRB that drew me in. Here it is, in all its cool, artsy glory...

And finally, here's a (very inferior) drawing I did of my main characters from THE BRIGHTEST FELL - India, the FMC isn't in here, it's just the gang of three back when life was good, they ruled the school, and none of them had any idea plans were being laid for their kidnap...
Luke (MMC, witty, womanising rugby player) is the boy leaning against the wall, Noah (good looking, sly, with a twisted streak that means he will happily destroy anyone who hurts one of his best friends) is sitting down, and Rachel (Queen bitch, finds it hard to get on with other girls, but is like a sister to Noah and Luke) is on the table.

(if anyone's interested, here's the link to the blog post I did with more info about the book)

Cover Lust Tuesday: My Life Next Door by Huntley Fitzpatrick

Isn't it gorgeous? The way the sun shines over the high hedge, and her smile, and the way the dress is yellow like the title...gah. This is one of my favourite cover lust tuesday covers, for so many reasons.

If I got a book published and it had a cover like this, I would be so happy. Well, until I remembered that my book is a YA contemp about murder, revenge, and madness, and then I would probably have a bit of a meltdown at the thought of readers picking up the lovely sunny-covered book and getting a boy being chased barefoot through a stormy British woodland on the first page. Then they'd be like - WTH? And I would get some seriously weird reviews on Goodreads.

Who's with me that this cover is great? And does the book live up to it - anyone read it?

Oh, My Hero Bloghop!

First of all, thanks to the excellent Jaycee DeLorenzo and Victoria Smith for hosting this bloghop!

An another thanks to Kyra Lennon, because I saw her questions and I've sort of nicked them (hey, I'm no interviewer!).

My interview has taken been done in two sections, because unfortunately my hero Luke Gardener was kidnapped before I could finish the first lot. So the first three are 'Old-Luke' and the next three are 'New-Luke'. Sorry for any continuity issues ;)

This is Luke, btw. Say hi...

How would you describe yourself in one sentence?

Well...if I have to stick to one sentence, then I guess I'd say a witty, well loved, clever rugby star. And in a few years, I suppose I'll be a famous rugby player. Coach says I've got it in me.

How would you describe your heroine?

Which one? Ha, no, I'm joking. I haven't really got a heroine at the moment, but I'm not bothered. You can't have too much of a good thing. The only girl that doesn't fancy a cheeky snog with me is probably India Jeffries. Jeez, that girl hates me. I suppose I deserve it though.

Who's your (non-romantic) soulmate?

Easy. Although I'd have to pick two - Noah and Rachel. We are like...closer than family. Noah's the cool one, Rachel's the loyal one, and I'm the sporty one. Oh, and apparently the slutty one, according to Rachel.

(Five months later, after a kidnap ordeal which left Noah dead and Rachel still missing.)

Hi again, Luke!

Um...hello. This isn't g-going to be long, is it? I'm still s-struggling a bit...with my speech and stuff. The doctor said it was all in my m-mind, though.

Okay - so what's your biggest ambition?
To find Rachel. N-nothing else matters. Screw rugby. Screw everything.

If you had a dark secret, who would you tell it to?
Wait, what? I-is this a joke? Are you -
Okay, I guess I'd t-tell it to India. I can trust her.

And finally, if you could sum up your heroine in five words?
You mean India, right? Strong, wild, stubborn, independent and striking.

Well, thanks for talking to me, Luke! I hope you find Rachel.
S-so do I.

==================

So Luke and India and their story are out in the big wide world, and hopefully one agent will bite.

What do you think? Do you like Luke or loathe him? Or something in between?

Where do you get your writing inspiration?

Crazy as it seems, I get my writing inspiration from the weather. I mean, there are other things too, like other books, faces in crowds, newspaper or television programmes (more on this later). But the weather can give me an idea for a WIP when nothing else can.

I write Contemporary YA fiction, and the setting, the characters' little world plays an important part in their lives. For example The Brightest Fell is set in a small, Somerset (Southern England) town, in particular the dull, apparent safety of the suburbs. But the town is right next to thick, dark woodland, which is almost a character in the book (the woodland=the place where bad shiz happens). And it's October, and always raining.

That sets a totally different scene than a book set in a thriving city or swelteringly hot beach, and I found I got most of my inspiration when it was raining. Considering I live in England, I therefore got plenty of story-planning time...

On the flip side, my current WIP is set in an isolated rural village in the middle of a hazy summer heatwave, so I don't expect to get much weather inspiration on that.

Plenty of people say they get inspiration from the news, whether its a person or a situation. The character of Luke Gardener (male main character of TBF) and his plight started when I watched the horrific story of the Chandlers, a couple who were taken hostage by Somali Pirates and held for months and months before they were rescued. It made me think, what if that had happened to a teenager? What if it wasn't on a boat, but somewhere safe and close to home he was taken from? And what if, unlike the Chandlers, he didn't get a hero's welcome, because he wasn't necessarily a hero?

So the whole point of this post is, even random things like the weather can give you inspiration. I don't get good ideas very often, so take everything I say with a pinch of salt, but I wouldn't worry about getting new WIP ideas all the time. They might even come to you when you're eating WagonWheels and hot chocolate in front of the telly...

Where do you get your inspiration? Any crazy, random things that make you think? And is anyone else obsessed with WagonWheels?

The Lucky Seven Meme

Thanks to Robin Moran over at The Nook for tagging me in this meme :)

I'm so close to finishing the 3rd draft/major beta edit on this WIP, so I'm eating, sleeping and breathing The Brightest Fell at the moment. To put my 'lucky seven' into context, Luke is driving through the woods, passing the place where he and his friends were violently abducted. To put it simply, he's not that chilled out about it.

Here's the rules of the Lucky Seven Meme:

1) Go to page 77 of your current MS

2) Go to line 7

3) Copy down the next 7 lines as they're written--no cheating

4) Tag 7 other writers

5) Let them know

My seven lines aren't brilliant, they need work, but here they are:

Luke tried to breathe, tried to keep control.

He felt the prickle of sweat on his neck, and dug his nails into his palms, the pain bringing him back to reality. They were nearly there, the car weaving slightly as Hetty ignored the road, her eyes only on him. Just one more corner and they would be safe.

The cars in front stopped, engines cutting off into silence, and Luke’s heart started to pound. What was happening? The light at the end of the black tunnel of trees grew dimmer, and he felt the heavy air choking him, suffocating him.

And the seven people I'm tagging are:

Sara from Babbling Flow

Jaycee DeLorenzo

Michelle Krys

Eve at Functioning Insanity

Tia at Falling For Books

The peeps at Paper Hangover

Jaybird at Bird's Nest

Writing Kissing Scenes

(image credit)

Kissing scenes are like marmite. You either love 'em or hate 'em, writing wise. You've got to get this big, bubbling mass of emotions and lust and hope and nerves and put it down in a couple of paragraphs that make the reader go "ahhh" or "eurgh" (depending on the situation).

I'm no expert, but there are a few things I think are important to bear in mind when writing a kissing scene.

1) Have they kissed before? Is it their first kiss together, or the point of view character's first kiss ever? This has an impact on the emotions and reactions of the characters - if they've been going out for months, they might be more relaxed with each other, whereas if the guy is your POV girl's total crush and she's so nervous she's dying a little inside, then the dynamics will be all different.

2) Who starts the kiss? This shows you a lot about who has the most power, also mega important in kissing scenes. Oh, and I don't just mean physical power, I mean who's the dominant one. Also think about who ends the kiss - is your shy POV girl going to stop because she can't breathe, is so excited, or because they're both so hopeless he bites her tongue by accident? This actually happened to a friend of mine. Not nice.

3) External Factors. Where are they? If they're at a crowded rave-up party, then they might be getting it on on the dance floor, or they might find a quiet bedroom to...continue. If they're sitting on the roof, they might be freezing but have an epic view. Describe the sights, sounds, and smells, too: the bassline thumping through the house, the seagulls calling at the beach, the smell of barbequeues at the park...

5) Personality and mood. This is SO important. Are they shy, angry, lusty, scared, euphoric? Are they super confident, mega popular, snogging the hot jock? Are they trying to pretend that they're super confident, mega popular but actually totally hating the way the hot jock gropes them to show his mates what they're missing? Are they about to fight each other in a huge intergalactic war/football match?

And here's a little teaser of the kissing scene I wrote yesterday. It's a first draft, so it's certainly not perfect, but I like it. To set the scene, India and Luke are in the middle of some woodland after having broken into someone's property. They've been enemies and then casual friends, but are now seeing each other as something more...

India reached out, twisted his hands apart, stepped in closer. She would push the misery away. On her tiptoes she bounced up, planting her lips on his cheek. His skin was cold, unexpectedly so, and Luke hadn’t expected the kiss either, twisting to face her, and her lips were on his. Warm and soft, compared to his cheek, a lingering, fumbled moment, long enough to enjoy it and they sprang apart, both blushing furiously. All India could think was that Jem was wrong, he wasn’t a superior kisser, and now he was blushing, he looked warmer, two bright spots of colour in his pale face, his fingers tangled with hers strong and alive.

She blinked, uncertain. ‘Uh...well…God.’

‘That was…’ Luke searched her eyes.

‘Unexpected.’ India backed away slightly, tried to regain her composure. ‘I suppose I tried to go for your cheek and I -,’

‘Missed? I…it was…I l-liked it.’

‘Me too, I –,’

He cut her off with a kiss. This was different, more urgent, as if India’s kiss was the only thing that could save him from drowning. She slid her arms around his neck and pressed against him, feeling reckless and out of control. Luke tasted of sugar and peppermint and lust, his lips hungry against her own, and he deepened the kiss. His hand was on her breast and she reached for his belt buckle, revelling in this wild, churning feeling that she couldn’t hold back. Luke moaned into her mouth, sliding his hand down and up under her t-shirt until he found her bra clasp. His touch was hot against her cold back, pulling her closer to him.

What do you think about writing kissing scenes? Do you hate 'em or love 'em? And do you have any tips for writing them well?

Waiting on Wednesday: Grand & Humble by Brent Hartinger

I saw this on For The Love Of Contemporary yesterday (love love love this website, check it out), and immediately added it to my TBR list. Boys' POVs, secrets, an "intense psychological journey" - it sound so me.

Here's what Goodreads had to say:

Harlan's a popular kid and Manny's a geek.

But something strange is happening to both of them. Harlan is slowly losing his grip because he's plagued by panic attacks he can't control. And Manny has started having nerve-racking nightmares that leave him exhausted and terrified.

In this complex and original novel, popular author Brent Hartinger takes us on an intense psychological journey as Harlan and Manny struggle with a fear they can't name. It's a journey that eventually leads downtown, where a secret lies at the intersection of Grand and Humble.

Doesn't it sound awesome?

And on a totally different note, me and my sister went out into the foggy woodland with a camera and and 2 hours on our hands, and between us (mainly me) made a book cover for The Brightest Fell.

It would only become the cover if I didn't get traditionally published, but I totally love it and I'll be posting it on this blog this afternoon...

WIP The Movie Blogfest - The Brightest Fell

LUKE GARDENER (George MacKay)

My main male character. Luke, along with Noah and Rachel, was one of three popular 16-yr-olds who were abducted on their way to a party. Luke escaped, and together with India (below) he plans to track down Rachel before it's too late.

Personality: Before the abduction, Luke was an outgoing joker who always knew what to say (especially to girls). Now, he's losing his mind and only India can save him...

INDIA JEFFRIES (Jacqueline Jossa)

My female main character. Dyslexic India is as tough as it gets - she doesn't show weakness, and defends her position as the leader of the 'special' kids with everything she's got. In a moment of weakness, she agrees to help ex-friend Luke find the girl she's never liked, and it changes her life.
RACHEL TRENT (Kaya Scodelario)

Rachel is very much a man's woman. She doesn't get on well with other girls, preferring to hang out with her two best friends Luke and Noah, and terrorising the social outcasts of Wakeleigh Community College. Five months ago, she was abducted along with Luke and Noah, and is the only one still missing. But is she still alive?

NOAH RICHARDSON (Benjamin Gur)

Every school has a Noah. Wealthy, hot, and a charmer, Noah was the king of Wakeleigh school - until his body was found five months after he and his friends were kidnapped. He and Luke were like brothers, and Luke takes Noah's death very, very badly. But does he know more about how Noah died than he's letting on?

ROSS DARENT (Jack McMullen)

Ross is a nasty piece of work. Always trying to get into the popular gang, and in unrequited love with the unnatainable Rachel, now that there's a vacancy for most popular kid in school, Ross plan to take it...

HETTY GARDENER (Clair Skinner)

Luke's mum. The massive change in her son and financial circumstances means that life is very different for this 'lady of leisure', and she starts to crumble...

KITTY DIXON (Ruby Bentall)

India's best friend, Kitty is actually ginger (actress Ruby Bentall would have to dye her hair). She's annoying, giggly, and the total opposite of India. Strangely, they get on pretty well.

The soundtrack of The Brightest Fell (and it fits Luke's state of mind perfectly) would have to be You Me at Six's RESCUE ME - have a listen, it's awesome. The lyrics sum up Luke's state of mind perfectly - for example:

I know, I'm finding it hard to breathe

And I've been drowning in my own sleep

I feel a hate crashing over me

So rescue me...

So there we have it. My cast of characters, and my soundtrack. They're all British, relatively unknown, but are perfect for the roles, give or take a few accents and hair colours.

What do you think? Any favourite characters so far? And who do you think is the hottest?

This is going to be one messed-up movie...

So I've signed up for my first ever blogfest: WIP: The Movie Blogfest, hosted by Kyra at Write Here, Write Now and Rachael at Writing On The Wall, which I found on fellow AW-er Robin's blog.

Here are the details from Kyra's blog:

WiP: The Movie - March 9th
Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to post a photo of the actors or actresses you would like to play the characters in your WiP if it were to be made into a movie. It can be just one character, or the entire cast!Secondly, we want you to soundtrack your movie! Head over to YouTube, and post a song that best describes one of your characters, or your story as a whole. Again, you can pick one song, or several, it's entirely up to you!All we ask is that you follow these simple rules:

1, Follow me
2. Follow Rachel (We will follow back)
3. Sign up using the linky list at the bottom of the page
4. Add one of our funky graphics to your blog to promote the event
5. Post your entries on March 9th, and hop around to see the other entrants on the list!

The PrizesRachel and I will each pick a winner at random, and we will be giving away a copy of one of our favourite books which were turned into movies!

Please note: If you write a blog post about this fest before March 8th, you will get an extra name in the draw to win a prize!

From me: Water For Elephants or Bridget Jones' Diary

From Rachel: The Princess Bride or The Hunger Games

I've already got a couple of actors in my head for Luke (my leading man), Rachel (one of the main characters) and Noah (another main character) but India (my leading lady) I'll have to have a think about...