Now that I have a daughter who loves to dress as a princess and LOVES to watch the Disney movies to see the “pretty princesses”, I’ve had a LOT of experience watching Disney movies (over and over, again). I noticed a general trend with the Disney princesses: Most of them don’t have a mom. Or if they do, they’re an evil stepmother. So, like any curious person, my next thought is why?

As an author, I understand that it’s great to give characters adversity, and losing your mother certainly falls into that category. But for almost all the princesses? Isn’t that getting lazy with giving the character a background of tragedy?

Or perhaps it gives the character ample opportunity to be rebellious or take charge in a way that they wouldn’t be able to if they had a mother? I don’t really know – just speculating here.

Of course, it’s been mentioned that these stories are based off of fairy tales from a different time when women generally didn’t live a long life span. While this is true, I must also point out that Disney has adapted many of these fairy tales to their own versions. I’m pretty sure that, had there been a Princess Jasmine in the original story of Aladdin (there wasn’t), she wouldn’t have been so snarky and independent. And I know they changed around The Little Mermaid. The original version has Ariel turning into sea foam while Prince Eric marries another. So, they could certainly change the parental dynamics of they chose to.

What I’m hoping is that everyone will just agree that mothers are so essential in a child’s upbringing that if the mothers had been in the picture, they would have been able to solve the princesses’ problems early and then ruin any chance of a story filled with tribulations for the princess to overcome. Right? Maybe…

Maybe not. Let’s be honest here; women are more dramatic than men. Much more emotional. I think that having a mother in the story could bring an interesting element to the story. Possibly make it that much richer.

But, I suppose we should keep this simple, right? After all, they are Disney movies meant for young kids. So it’s not that big of a deal.

Now that I’ve given my two cents, what do you think? Does it bother you at all that most of these stories are young women without moms? Or with evil female influences?

Beauty and the Beast: There’s no mother in this story.

Cinderella: There’s no biological mother, but an evil stepmother.

Aladdin: There’s no mother in this story.

Snow White: There’s no biological mother, but an evil stepmother

Sleeping Beauty: Princess Aurora is estranged from both parents and raised by fairies – the closest to having a mother, or at least a positive female role model.

Tangled: Rupunzel is estranged from both parents, raised by an evil witch mother-type. One does wonder how her character turned out to be so nice with such a bad influence!

The Little Mermaid: There’s no mother in this story.

Mulan: She has both parents! No wonder she’s one of my favorite Disney characters. 🙂 But seriously, this story is one exception to the unspoken rule that a Disney princess must come from a broken home.

Pocahontas: There’s no mother in this story.

The Princess and the Frog: She does, in fact, have her mother! Though her father died, whom she was close to. So still just one parent while the other died.

Brave: Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner! Not only does she have both her parents, but the storyline is about her relationship with her mother. My friend said they made this movie solely because others have brought up the same points I did in this post. Either way, they did make the movie. Unfortunately, it’s not one of my favorites…

We’ve all grown up hearing about vampires. The most common depiction of these creatures stems from Dracula. When Interview with the Vampire came out, it shifted slightly to something more attractive. Then, with the Twilight movies, the idea of vampires has become two opposing views of romantically sexy, or just a big fat joke.

So you want to hear some facts about vampires? Well, first thing I can tell you is that since they’re fictional, there are no facts about them! Everyone likes to make up their own version of what vampires are capable of and how to kill them. Since there’s such a wide variety of vampires from all over the world, I thought I would give you five facts about vampires from The Blood Inheritance Trilogy. These are facts from the books, but can be applied to the general cliche of vampires as well.

 

1~ They drink blood to survive.

Obvious one, right? Well, the vampires in Dissension (Book 1 of Blood Inheritance) definitely follow this, but there’s a slight difference: If they don’t drink blood, then The Hunger will take over their mind and their body and feed from a victim in a most gruesome and brutal way.

2~ They each have special powers.

The powers that vampires develop over the years are usually some kind of psychic power. The immortals (sworn to hunt down and kill all vampires) also develop similar powers. Very rarely will a vampire have a physical power that is unique from their fellow vamps.

3~ They can’t fly.

The vampires have amazing strength and agility. When they jump high, it can appear (at least to a human’s eye) that they are flying. But the fact is that they can’t fly – not like Superman. It’s more of “falling with style”.

4~ They keep their souls.

There’s some speculation that one is turned, they lose their soul and become a different person than when they were alive. Not so. When someone becomes a vampire, they keep their same personality they had in their human life. Of course, the compulsion to drink blood and new abilities can change anyone. But they still choose how their new life affects them.

5~ Everything is heightened.

All five of their senses are heightened, so vampires can see, hear, and smell a lot more than humans can fathom. But it doesn’t end just there. People often forget touch. Vampires feel everything with more sensitivity, making pain all the more intense, as well as pleasure. And we must not forget taste! They can taste things so much more than we mere mortals ever dreamed of. So yes, vampires may be snobs when it comes to fine dining, but if you could taste everything to the tenth degree as well as feel the textures over your tongue so profoundly, I imagine you would feel the same. But don’t let their persnicketiness fool you; they love to enjoy delicious, gourmet food!

Sound intriguing? Does it make you want to become a vampire? I suppose it has its allure… but everything comes with a price! 😉

I just got back from a writers retreat. It was three days in a large cabin high in the mountains in Utah. It’s the second one I’ve been to and I feel so blessed that I’m able to attend these.

It started because a gal in my critique group has access to this cabin through her father. So we don’t have to pay to stay at this grand place. Since most of the people in my critique group are married with young kids at home, it’s still difficult to get away – even if the cabin is free. But we all got so much work done at the first one that we decided we would make it happen twice a year.

The one this last weekend was amazing! Not only did I get a ton of work done on my final book in the Blood Inheritance Trilogy, but I got to talk to other writers who feel the same passion about books and writing for three whole days! It was so fun to sit quietly at the table (It seats 12, so there’s plenty of room!), and one person would get really excited and share this major epiphany they just had about their story. I did it myself when I wrote a battle scene at the end of the book. (I can’t tell because I don’t want to give anything away, but it was an exciting development!)

Most of us are discovery writers, so it really was living the story as we wrote it out, and I rarely get to jump up and exclaim about this awesome part that just came to me as I was writing. So that part was really fun.

We didn’t work the entire time. We took breaks at the end of each night to get junk food out and watch a movie. I mean, a bunch of women in a big cabin all to themselves without any obligation to kids or spouses? Oh yeah, we definitely had fun! There was hiking and air hockey and a pool table. There was so much to do that we didn’t have time to do it all (like I said, we accomplished a lot with our writing too, so we weren’t playing… the entire time.).

So why am I telling you all the boring details of my writers retreat? Because I realized this weekend that stuff like this is incredibly therapeutic on many levels. The most obvious one is that it helps as a writer because I’m able to get more written in three days than I can usually do in a month. But it was also a great escape from life in general.

My wonderful husband is a great father, so I didn’t have to worry about him or my kids while I was away. I got to take a mental (and physical) break from the whole stay-at-home-mom gig and came home ready to jump back into life again. It really is important to take time for yourself.

So am I saying that everyone should go on a writers retreat? Well… they are really fun, but no – that’s not what I’m saying. I guess the point I’m trying to get across is that it’s a good thing to take time out for yourself every once in a while. Even if you can’t get away overnight, you could still go out on a girls night (Or guys night. Sorry men – I’m not trying to exclude you. It’s just as important for you to get a break as it is for us women!) or something. Whatever your escape may be, it’s healthy to get it in two or three times a year. And if you can do it more often than that, consider yourself truly blessed!

 

 

1: Would you rather listen to the Beatles or Green Day?

I think I hit the sweet spot between Beatles and Green Day fans by liking a lot of music from the ‘70s and ‘80s. With two teens in the house, I am no longer the boss of the music. By default there’s a lot of Imagine Dragons, Taylor Swift, and Lindsey Stirling thumping through the walls. When I’m home alone I like the quiet unless I’m cleaning house. Then it’s an embarrassingly loud cheesy-rock-out-sing-along-fest. It’s a good thing I live in the country.

2: How was your writing process different with this book than with your first?

The process was very similar. I knew the audience I was writing for and where the story started and ended. Every morning in the shower I’d think about what needed to happen in the story next. I’d get a glass of ice and pour the first Diet Coke of the day in it, read yesterday’s work, and start typing. About three chapters away from the ending, I wrote the ending and worked backward. From the time I start to really write—as opposed to thinking about writing—it takes me about a month to finish a Niuhi Shark Saga book.

3: Who is your favorite character in your book and why?

In One Shark, No Swim I really enjoyed writing more about Char Siu. Her interactions with Jay and Zader highlight the differences between 12 year old boys and girls. She worried about make-up and high heels and fitting in seventh grade and the boys are still, Hey! Look at this awesome box! Let’s build a cardboard sled! She doesn’t want to be a girly-girl or just one of the guys and those are the only choices she sees right now.

4: Do you prefer salty or sweet snacks?

Salty! One of my go to snacks when I’m writing is mixed nuts. I love things like chips and French fries. The weird thing about salty foods is I can eat some and it’s enough. Sweet or sugary snacks simply create a desire for more and I end up in a feeding frenzy. It’s not pretty.

5: What authors do you look up to and why?

For sheer enjoyment of the way they write I like Diana Gabaldon, Kiana Davenport, Chris McKinney, Tyler Miranda, Amy Tan, Terry Prachett, Christopher Moore, and Stephen King. (Yes, I like Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Dean Koontz, and JK Rowling. Remember I also said I like cheesy music from the ‘80s.) As writing professionals developing their brand I’ve learned a lot from people like Toby Neal, Lani Wendt Young, and Laurie Hanan.

6: Which author do you think you write like the most?

Although I read a lot of books, I can’t think of an author whose writing voice is like mine. Probably because I’m still finding that voice!

8: What’s your favorite movie?

I see almost every non-slasher movie that comes out and while there are several I really enjoyed, I don’t have a favorite or one that I’ll watch over and over. I’m a story junkie, be it books, tv, or movies, but not a big collector. Not video games, though. I had to draw the line somewhere.

9: If your book series was turned into a movie, who would you cast for the main characters?

You’d think as a movie addict I’d have this info down, but I don’t. Probably some undiscovered kids on Kaui or Maui surfing or eating shave ice right now. I’d know them when I saw them, and they aren’t working in film or television today.

10: Describe book 2 in one sentence.

Zader suspects he’s Niuhi, a shark that can appear as human, and spends the whole book trying to decide if he should jump in the ocean and find out.

11: What kind of interaction do you hope to see from your fans?

I love to hear from kids who saw a little of themselves or felt an authentic Hawaiian lifestyle in the series. Adults from Hawaii tell me they wished they had a series like this when they were growing up. There’s a growing body of Pacific Literature that showcases Polynesian cultural narratives and I’d like to be part of that larger conversation.

12: Would you consider yourself an introvert or an extrovert?

I am secretly an introvert that can fake extrovert when I have to. It’s easier if I have a reason to talk with people or if I’m the host of an event. Otherwise I’d rather hide in a corner with a book. I can be an uber mingler at business functions and the wall flower at anything that’s strictly social.

13: If you could meet anyone in the world, alive or dead, who would it be and why?

I’m sure my answer would change hourly, but right now I think I’d like to kick back with a couple of Diet Cokes and talk with JK Rowling. I’d pick her brain about processes and world-building and ask her all kinds of questions about what she wished she’d known back when. I’d also ask what she’s working on now and if she’ll ever return to Harry Potter’s world. She lived in it for almost 20 years. I’m sure she has more stories to tell.

Blog: www.LehuaParker.com

Series: www.NiuhiSharkSaga.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LehuaParker

Twitter: @LehuaParker

Writing horror stories can be enjoyable but there is always one thing to keep in mind before you start. You need to be sure that the idea is really unique and not something that you saw or read in the past and managed to store in the back of your mind. That can be the downside of writing about things you love, it’s not always as new and fresh as you think it is.

Setting the Scene

When finding something to write about try to find something that is genuinely frightening. It can be tempting to choose a personal phobia, but if it is an unusual phobia readers won’t identify with it and if it is a popular one there are probably books out there already. Make sure that details are in order and you don’t get events and people mixed up. Keep it simple as if you can’t follow what you are writing how will the readers. There is a lot to be said for keeping a few steps ahead of yourself and the plot. While there is nothing wrong with throwing readers a curve ball from time to time, it will help if you always have one eye on what you are writing and one eye on the next chapter. Knowing what you want to happen later on can make it easier to write the chapter you are still working on

Grab the Attention

Intrigue the readers from the minute they pick up the book. If things get a little difficult in the middle readers will often carry on, but if there first chapter is tedious they will give up. It does not matter if it is an interesting character or a cliff hanger right at the beginning – grab their interest as soon as you can.

At one time it was necessary for writers to make sure that they were well organized before they began to write. With modern equipment there is the option to put down every bit of detail you can think of and sift through it later to make sure it is interesting and important. It is easier to delete the parts that are not needed anymore that to try and remember that vague idea you had weeks ago. Horror readers love detail and will want the story to be graphic. Keep them gripped and wanting more. It may be easier to scare people with films, but the written word can still intrigue and entice.

Stay Focused

Always explain what happens to people and at the end of events. Readers don’t what to have to reread sections to make sure they have not missed anything. Be realistic with the setting as there are some places that just won’t be as scary as others. Make it sensible and if you are making a seemingly everyday setting the center of the action explain why everyone should fear the place.

And Finally

Once you think you have finished, go through it again. Make alterations, add as much detail as you can but make sure it is relevant detail. Don’t spend more time writing about how the barn door creaked in the wind rather than expressing how the characters felt.

This article is by Luke Casey, a professional freelance writer and an upcoming novelist. He says he writes all kinds of articles and essay for magazines, blogs and newspapers. His hobbies include reading and gardening.