All Mad Here By Brantwijn Serrah

All Mad Here

By

Brantwijn Serrah

Length of Book: Short story, under 10k

Genre: Fantasy erotic romance; Alice-in-Wonderland theme; NC17 for language and graphic sexual description

Blurb:

Finn expected a quiet birthday: a night off, touring the local bars with his sister Reagan. But his two princesses, Nineva and Nerissa, have already planned a big surprise. Before he knows it, Finn finds himself in a version of Wonderland, racing the Red and White Queens for his fondest birthday wish. Can he best the Red Knight, find the White Rabbit's missing token, and outsmart the Chesire Cat, before he gets turned into a sheep?

And can Nina and Neri possibly know his true birthday wish...is them?

Buy Links:

Champagne Books     Amazon     Barnes and Noble

Author Bio:

When she isn't visiting the worlds of immortals, demons, dragons and goblins, Brantwijn fills her time with artistic endeavors: sketching, painting, customizing My Little Ponies and sewing plushies for friends. She can't handle coffee unless there's enough cream and sugar to make it a milkshake, but try and sweeten her tea and she will never forgive you. She moonlights as a futon for four lazy cats, loves tabletop role-play games, and can spend hours pencilling naughty, sexy illustrations in her secret notebooks.

Brantwijn has two romance series currently in-progress with Champagne Books.  She's also had short stories published in several small press anthologies. She has author pages on GoodReads and Amazon, and loves to see reader comments on her work. Her short stories and audio readings occasionally pop up at Foreplay and Fangs, her blog at http://brantwijn.blogspot.com.

Social Media Links:

Facebook     Foreplay and Fangs on Facebook     Twitter     G+     Tumblr

Excerpt:

“You are almost free,” she said. “But alas, for riddle number three.”
Finn had no worries. The first answer had been tied to Spring and Autumn, the second to Winter. She had but one Court left to draw from.
Nineva swept up close to him. “What did my sister give you, which I now wish for you to give to me?”
“Wait, what?” he asked.
She seized him before he could react, pulling him to the grass with her, drawing him into another kiss. Finn flailed a moment, once more caught off-guard, but he planted his hands on either side of her, holding himself above her.
“Bloody hell, lass! Whatdo my Ladies mean by all this?”
“Finn,” she said. Her hand stole down, sneaking to his groin, where she teasingly caressed him.
“What did my sister give you, which I now wish for you to give to me?”
He stared.
“Nina,” he whispered. “The rules of this game are...very unclear to me.”
“Ah, well...allow me to make them clearer,” she said.

 The Characters Run The Show

Have you ever heard an author say, "This character doesn't want to do what I tell them to!"

Believe it or not, this is a legitimate complaint. Characters have minds of their own, and quite often they do not want the story to go as planned. They have their own ideas of where to go, what to do, what their author should be focusing on (usually them), and how the story is going to end.

You'd think the author would be in control of all this! Sometimes I find myself the target of very strange looks and the occasional, "Aren't you in control of what you write?" Honestly, people think we're crazy sometimes. That's not an exaggeration. They really do think we have a bunch of strange voices in our heads.

Honestly, though, we do!

Characters are complex little beasties. At least, if you're doing it right, they are. A good character has a very unique voice, developed based on the details of the background the author envisions for them. You wouldn't have a posh, well-educated character speaking in the same tones and language as a kid from the street, as any good writer knows. They also have their own wants, needs, and opinions. Even if they are mostly supporting roles in your book, they still exist outside the vacuum of the scenes where they appear. And this, of course, is where they get the pesky ideas that they are running the show. Usually, though, they are.

Or at least, they should be.

I learned the importance of character background development actually through my high school drama classes, and through tabletop roleplaying (I'm a Pinnacle Games Deadlands girl). There are lots of exercises out there designed to get you thinking about your character's personality. Here's one that requires relatively simple answers, and here's one that looks for more complex ones. There are, by the way, a lot of questions on both. You'll probably want to set aside a good chunk of time!

Of course, this kind of really in-depth character development is a big investment. I wouldn't recommend it for every character, obviously. If you're not used to doing this sort of background study, though, you should practice quite a few times, with a few different main characters, to get the hang of it. In some cases you'll find lists of more than 100 questions, but I think 100 is probably about enough. Once you've done a few of these, you'll understand the importance of providing different answers for different characters, and start to see the fine details of each individual personality emerge.

Like I said, this is a time-consuming process, and probably not a terrific one if you're under a deadline. So I suggest doing them in your free time between projects, when you've got a character in mind and time to really explore them.

You'll get the hang of this soon enough, and eventually you should be able to see these characters as deeper, more complex beings without having to outline them in 100 different ways. You'll begin to see them in terms of the things that have shaped them, and how those things have shaped them; their fears and phobias (I always like to give each character one interesting phobia, even if it never comes out in the story…I just find it interesting); how they feel about their stories, settings and conflicts; and how they feel about other characters around them.

This is where they start to be tricky little bastards, though. Because now they have more complex motivations and they won't simply be pigeonholed into the roles you may have created for them.

I've had more than a few characters flat out refuse to be paired with the love match I originally intended for them. I might be the one writing their dialogue, but nothing I wrote sizzled with any chemistry, not if I wanted it to sound natural. I've had characters derail the train entirely by falling in love with a character I never planned for, or someone I planned to write into a different love match. I've had characters reveal to me they were gay, and in no way interested in my opposite-sex partner for them. Other characters revealed themselves far more open to new "kinks" than I would have thought. Kyriel, the love match in Angel's Keeping, might appear shy, but I found out she has a salacious sexual appetite behind closed doors.

My advice to all new authors is, embrace these revelations. Discover more about your characters, and delve deeper into their wants and needs. It will open up new possibilities—and certainly new complications—in your stories. Mind you, of course, you do have to set some parameters…you'll have to judge what is important to keep and what goes too far, depending on the nature of your current project. For example, a story about one love pair can't be hijacked by another, more outspoken character. Leave that for a sequel. It's a balance, as all things are…but if you're not letting your characters step out and become fully fleshed-out, dynamic creatures with minds of their own, you're limiting the unique and individual "voice" your work could have.

I have an interesting little dimension somewhere in my brain, where all my characters hang out in a wild-west-style saloon. (Maybe it’s the Deadlands thing). My historical vampires, my fantasy goblins and elves, my steampunk pirates, and even my real-world contemporary pairs, they're all there. I like to think this is where they come after hours to talk about their days, and argue over who gets the spotlight next. It's a little bit of a silly idea, I know…but I hold onto it, and love it. It makes them more alive to me, and the more alive they are to me, hopefully the more alive they will be to my readers.

Read, write, and be merry!