Seeerah @sarahvhines@writing.exchange

Meanwhile, unaware of my newest success, Balthazar will just go ahead and curl right up against me with his butt against my wrist, because I exist solely to be his butt rest. Cats don't care about your success or your comfort.

I've sold some pre-orders! I'm officially a book-selling author!!!!!!!!

Whew, it was a whirlwind birthday last night. Here's to hoping 37 treats me a little better than 36!

Here it is! In case you couldn't get to the livestream, here is my cover! And if you're interested in pre-ordering a copy of Hubris for its April 1st release, you can do do so here: https://balance-of-seven.square.site/product/hubris-the-siren-tragedies-book-1-paperback-preorder/150?cs=true&cst=custom

In other news, I need to remember that I like the fediverse so very much more than other social media sites and use my time here. It's just so pleasant. Like coming home to a comfortable, perfectly temperatured house after walking through the bowels of Hell.

Come join me live on my birthday Friday for my cover reveal at live.sarahvhines.com (website soon to be completed)

I COULD be writing but I also COULD be pouring over my MRI results on my torn meniscus and looking up all of the medical terminology I don't know. Guess which one I'm doing while snowed in and awaiting my rescheduled flight tomorrow.

I'm going out on a limb and have set up a gofundme for a year of marketing for Hubris. This step is super expensive.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/marketing-for-new-novel-hubris?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer

These are just three examples. There is a lot of versatility when writing these characters, and the possible conflicting emotions and motives makes for an interesting read. I like to throw in multiple antiheroes in my writing. What are some antihero qualities that you enjoy? [7/7]

Unstable Morals - this character is a bit more dangerous than the other two; they can be on the side of the protagonist one moment and then directly challenging them or putting them in harm's way the next. While the other two may have a limit to their unpleasantness, this character cannot be trusted to have any sympathy for the protagonist if it doesn't suit them. [6/?]

Marriage of Convenience - this character is ultimately at odds with the protagonist. However, what they want is connected to what the protagonist wants, albeit for wildly different reasons. The character does not change or show any "goodness" like GG,BA, but they are willing to make some concessions for the sake of getting what they want. [5/?]

Good Guy, Bad Attitude - This is the one that jumps to mind for most people. This character may be unpleasant, uncooperative and have questionable motives, but ultimately does the right thing. This comes about either by coincidence (the character's interest and the protagonist's interests line up) or because the character is genuinely a "good" person with a bad attitude. [4/?]

As such, I love the story of an antihero. Moral ambiguity and conflicting interests are compelling to me. Antiheroes are the most interesting characters. In fact, in my story, a lot of my characters, including my main protagonist, fall somewhere on the antihero spectrum. So how should you write one? Again, I believe that the antihero isn't one, formulaic entity, but exists on a spectrum of qualities. Consider these examples: [3/?]

As an author, I firmly believe different authors fall into one of two camps: plot-drivers or character-drivers. I happen to be the latter. My entire series centers around conflict that comes from within. Themes such as what moral concessions must be made for diplomacy and cooperation between uncooperative people, what part of ourselves do we bury deep inside from even ourselves and how much of our true personality do we show others play front and center in my writing. [2/?]

What Makes a Good Antihero?

As readers, we live for conflict. Unless you're reading non-fiction (and even then, steering clear of biographies and historical texts), chances are you're all about the struggle of the main character. Great stories revolve around conflict. [1/?]

Hi, all. As I mentioned before, I'm writing a series of short stories (~4500 words each) for NaNoWriMo. These stories will hopefully be turned into podcasts later, which is proving a bit challenging. I wanted to see if I can get a few opinions on a (currently unedited) snippet that I have so far. I posted it to Tumblr, so if you can read it there (I'm not entirely sure if you need an account to do so), and give me some feedback here, I'd be thrilled!

https://sarahwritessirens.tumblr.com/post/667428985801785344/nanowrimo-short-story-snippet

So, who all is doing NaNoWriMo? I'm doing a collection of short stories (I know, not really a novel) on the topic of Winterween--Halloween, but in the winter. I have a rough cover that I'm using for my NaNo profile. (Marked as sensitive for those who may not like horror images.) I've already written one short story, and I hope to find some good readers that can turn these into podcast episodes. #horror #amwriting

Excellent list of BIPOC dystopian authors. I would also include Tomi Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone and Marie Lu's Legend, as well.

https://mywritinghero.com/dystopian-novels-by-bipoc/

"Speechless" from the new Aladdin movie is at the top of my writing playlist and is a sorely underrated newer Disney song.

Trying to generate ideas for fiction novels? Take something you're passionate about. Take another thing you're passionate about. How can these two things compliment each other?

I used international relations and comparative mythology to write my story. This is after about 30 years after feeling 'meh' about other story ideas. I stuck with it because I loved the topics. Being passions of mine also helped make the words flow.