3 Tips for Writing Paranormals by Mina Khan

This week we have not just one but two guests! Feels a little strange because that means I'm not blogging on here except for Friday's round up. But when I have guests with great things to say, I can't resist! 
So today I'm welcoming back Mina Khan who is debuting Nov. 1 with Harlequin. Congrats, Mina!
Now, over to Mina...



3 Tips for Writing Paranormals
by Mina Khan

Hi all!Thank you Roni for having me over again!

I loveRoni’s thought-provoking blog posts that make me think and always teach mesomething new. So when she invited me blog here to celebrate my upcomingrelease – THE DJINN’S DILEMMA, available Nov. 1, I wanted to try and uphold herstandard.

I writeParanormal Erotic Romance because, well, that’s what I love to read.  I like a story that helps me escape the chaosof ordinary life (having kids, cats & dogs will do that) with itsparanormal elements, that brings together love and spicy sex for combustiblechemistry. Mmm, delicious!

So itsaddens me to hear predictions like the paranormals are on the way out,vampires are dead (actually, they are the undead…so there!) and the market isglutted, so new stories aren’t selling. Here’s what I believe: there’s alwaysroom for a good story with great characters.

The bestthing about being a paranormal writer is bringing to life the fantasticcreatures that haunt our dreams and live in the shadows of our psyche. Thehardest thing is bringing them alive in readers’ minds. Here are some tips Ipicked up in my writing journey:

1.       Look within you. You can assign thesame topic to five separate writers and end up with five very different storiesbecause people are individuals. We all bring our own brand of fears, secrets,desires, and experiences to the writing table. Use them and you will create newtwists and unique creatures. 
For my novella, THE DJINN’S DILEMMA,I delved into stories of djinns and ghosts from my Bengali childhood, broughtin my experience as a journalist in Texas, and added a liberal dash of what Ilove about men as a grown woman. J

2.       Yes, you’re writing monsters andcreatures, but make them real, almost flesh and blood.  I’m not saying they have to be human in anyphysical sense, but they have to be real and relatable for readers. Things Ilove about my hero Rukh O’Shay include his sense of humor and his take on life.When he hurt, I hurt. I actually cried when I wrote one scene toward the end.

3.       Have fun, stretch your imagination,and then make it plausible. Since this is your world, populated by yourcreatures, don’t limit yourself. Write what you want to write. Rukh, my djinnassassin, melts into shadows and controls air, he flies around all over Austinwithout an airplane, and he pops in on the heroine (the Texas journalist) inthe middle of a shower.  All completelyfun…and plausible within the context of the story.

As a writerI love letting my imagination run and play with crazy possibilities. Some daysI feel quite a bit like Dr. Frankenstein. How fun would it be to have a ghostwho’s scared of the dark or a super-model who turns into a hairy werewolf? So,if you were coming up with paranormal characters, what kind of specialcreatures would you create?


MinaKhan is a Texas-based writer and food enthusiast. She daydreams of hunkyparanormal heroes, magic, mayhem and mischief and writes them down as stories.Between stories, she teaches culinary classes and writes for her local newspaper.Other than that, she's raising a family of two children, two cats, two dogs anda husband.

You canfind her on facebook www.facebook.com/Mina.Khan.Author
Her websitehttp://minakhan.blogspot.com/
or ontwitter @SpiceBites



The Djinn's Dilemma will be available Nov. 1 from HarlequinNocturne’s Cravings line.
Blurb: Rukh O'Shay,half-djinn and assassin, is used to taking out the bad guys. But his latestassignment, Texas Journalist Sarah White, is nothing like he expected. Aglimpse of her bright aura reveals her gentle spirit, while her beauty makeshim long for only one thing—to taste her.
Sarah sharesthe raw desire to connect with Rukh. He can turn her on with a glance, andsatisfies needs she didn't even know she had.
But Rukh hadbeen hired to kill her—and the only way to save her is to find out who wantsher dead before someone else finishes the job….

"Revved up and red-hot sexy, CRASH INTO YOU, delivers a riveting romance!" --Lorelei James, NY Times Bestselling author of the ROUGH RIDERS series

CRASH INTO YOU is now available for pre-order!
Read an excerpt here.

All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2011 |Copyright Statement|

The Beta Club: Darkness Comes Calling (YA Paranormal) - Agree with my Crit?

 

It's Beta Club Tuesday!  I apologize for the late posting.  I had the joy of going to the dentist this morning and forgot to set up the post.  I also am not going to post the excerpt uncritted because the document has no paragraph breaks and would be too big of a block of text to read easily.  So for this time only, I'll just include the critting version for you to view.  Please don't let that stop you from providing your own feedback to the author.

 

Title: Darkness Comes Calling
Author: Monica Q. (she is looking for beta readers, email her HERE if you are interested)

 
 
 

Below is my detailed critique.  Please select FULL SCREEN to view, then once the document is open RIGHT CLICK to ZOOM and view the comments.

 
 

Alright, so what do you think?  Are you hooked?  What did the author do well?  What things could be improved? Agree or disagree with my crit?

Thanks ahead of time to everyone who comments and to the author for volunteering!

**Today's Theme Song (Author's Choice)**
"How Far We've Come" - Matchbox Twenty
(player in sidebar, take a listen.)

 

The Beta Club: The Phelan Chronicles (Sci-Fi/Paranormal) - Agree with my Crit?

 

First of all, thanks to everyone for your comments on my one-year blogiversary post yesterday. Today is officially the date, but I didn't want to do it today because it's...

 

Beta Club Tuesday! Sci-Fi/Paranormal Thriller is on the agenda today. Read on and let the author know what you think! Remember, this will be one of the last Beta Clubs, so give it all you got. ;)

For newbies: If you haven't been here on beta club day yet, don't be afraid to jump in with your comments. All feedback is welcome as long as it's constructive.

Alright, please read through the author's excerpt, then provide your feedback in the comments. My detailed critique is below.

Author: DA Trevino (He is looking for beta readers, email him if you are interested!)
Title: The Phelan Chronicles
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Paranormal Thriller

Excerpt:
My name is Phelan--Phelan Martin Llewellyn--don't blame me, blame my parents, I know I do. The Order has asked me to chronicle some of my encounters; they seem to think that you can learn something by listening to this stuff. I agreed to chronicle but if you have ever listened to or read any of the chronicles you know they are boring. I am going to tell it my way.
#
Of course she was hot and blond--probably a cheerleader too--and she was looking up at him with doe eyes that said, Oh! Eddie, my tall dark beautiful tortured love and eternal-soul-mate take me in your arms and sweep me off to Barf-ville. Gag! I can't tell you how much that whole romance with the undead thing grosses me out! And yes, before some smart-ass psych major asks; yes, as a guy I take it personal. I work out, a lot, for reasons you will soon see, so if some normal guy were to see this, a blond hottie throwing herself on a walking corpse--like football players aren't bad enough--he would be seriously pissed, disillusioned, and jealous, at the very least. The only difference between him and me is I can do something about it. But back to the chronicle. To make matters worse, her being there at that moment messed up my night. I was going to have to wait to kill him.
Not that you could kill something that was not alive. I mean, killing the undead isn't murder or even killing. I mean, when I kill a cockroach, I'm killing a living, breathing creature--they do breathe, don't they--that serves a useful, if revolting, ecological purpose. This thing was a vampire. A vampire that was leaning over to bite the blond on the neck. Great! This was going to eat up my night. I pulled up my camera, checked that it was still mirror-locked-up and took their picture, really her image was the one that mattered. Unfortunately, I might have to kill her later.
Details keep you alive in this business. Yes, you heard me; it's a business, not a calling, not a yearning, not a whatever, and don't forget it. You think I didn't have better things to do that Friday night then track a master vampire and his latest late-girlfriend? Get it, late-girlfriend? Vampire hunting was--still is actually--how I paid for my car, paid for my killer game systems, and how I intended to pay for my trip to Tokyo. Yes, LANapalooza!
The biggest, baddest, LAN party on the planet was in Tokyo that year and I was going. And that master vampire's head was going to pay my way. Yes, it was a master; the Fraternity doesn't farm out jobs unless they're killer, but they pay well if you live. Remember that, you only get paid if you live!1 And details are what get you paid.
Fact: Vampires have great hearing. But what most people do not know is they are better at picking up sharp noises, like the sound of a twig snapping or the mirror in a camera clicking up and down. So, take your pictures from far away--I was using a 70mm-300mm zoom image stabilizer lens with a 2x teleconverter--and lock the mirror up.
Before I realized it, he was finished snacking. That was too fast, which could mean he was not hungry--NOT likely--or he was saving her for transformation. Back then that was pretty rare. Vampires, despite silly movies to the contrary, did not go around making more vampires. Not like cockroaches. Vampires also got all ritually when they transformed a new vampire. That would have explained why they went walking off into the park, hand-in-hand. Ain't that sweet, gag!
OK, I told you if you want to get paid you have to stay alive and that comes down to details. Vampi and Bambi went walking into Tyler State Park, my home turf. I knew every blade of grass on a first name basis. If I'd been someplace else I wouldn't've been too eager to follow.
That night sucked! It was a heavy overcast new moon night, which in Bucks county Pennsylvania we're talking blacker that a witch's--actually I shouldn't say that, witches ain't that bad, and some are sexy cute. I mean, could this dip vampire get any hokier? I mean, he could turn her in the middle of the day with clear skies. All this drama meant was that I was going to be cold, miserable, and maybe wet before I killed him—the air smelled like rain.

Below is my detailed critique. Please select FULL SCREEN to view, then once the document is open RIGHT CLICK to ZOOM and view the comments.

Alright, so what did you think? Are you hooked?  What did the author do well?  What could be improved?  Agree or disagree with my crit?


Thanks ahead of time for taking the time to comment and for the author for volunteering!

**Today's Theme Song**
"Attack" - 30 Seconds to Mars
(player in sidebar, take a listen)



 

The Beta Club: Keepers of the Order (Paranormal) - Agree with my crit?

 

 



It's Beta Club Tuesday!  Paranormal fiction is on the agenda today.  Read on and let the author know what you think!  Remember, this will be the only Beta Club of the week, so give it all you got.  ;)  


 For newbies:  If you haven't been here on beta club day yet, don't be afraid to jump in with your comments.  All feedback is welcome as long as it's constructive.  And if anyone has an itch to be critiqued, the rules for submitting to the Beta Club are under the "Free Critiques" heading at the top of the page.
 

Alright, please read through the author's excerpt, then provide your feedback in the comments.  My detailed critique is below.

 

Author: Shain Brown
Title: Keepers of the Order
Genre: Paranormal


Beta Readers:  She would  love extra beta readers, so drop her an email if you're interested: shainer72@gmail.com

 

Excerpt:
 
 
 

I could hear the waves violently crashing down on the white sand, kind of symbolic I thought. The moonlight illuminated the crushed shells like diamonds spread along the sand.  It was apparent that much of my time was being spent here. And it wasn’t for the view, but it was one of the places they frequented to hunt and to feed.
Turning my face downwind I buried my nose deep into the crook of my arm, and with each step their stench further surrounded me, turning my stomach like rancid meat of a rotting corpse. Their voices growing louder, filling my head with the deathly screams. Every night was this way for me it felt like a curse; a curse which forced me to endure my own personal torture.
No matter how long or how often I was exposed, it never dissipated. It hovered over me. No matter how much I resented the breathers deep down I desired their normalcy more than anything.
“If you are going to patrol with me, you have got to keep up.” I told him.
“I’m trying.” He said in a winded voice. Continuing up the stairs I was greeted at the top by a steel door. It was apparent the alarm was dead by the frayed wires hanging down from inside the door jam.
“Will this work?”
He handed me a steel pipe that he had lifted earlier, most likely for his own protection. With a firm grasp, I wedged it behind the lock bar and using all of my weight I leaned back. With a single jerk, the metal snapped echoing in the tiny corridor, where it fell to the floor.
Apprehensively I pushed the door open, leaning forward I eased my head slowly between the door and the jam, where the warm wind rushed my face. The darkness surrounded me as if it was swallowing me whole. As I looked up there wasn’t a single star to be seen. The eeriness continued as it covered my skin like a thick sweat slowing me down. “Stay low, and follow me.” I whispered in a forceful tone.
I took off across the roof at a blistering speed. Lucas knelt down on all fours where he low crawled along the black tar that covered the roof. All the while he worked to keep up. I headed to the base of a large billboard sign that was mounted at the front of the building. It offered a perfect place to take cover. After several minutes Lucas sat down joining me, still winded.
Lucas was my partner, and his appearance said GQ. In his early twenties, and always sporting some new fashionable hair do, which currently resembled that of an angered porcupine. He seemed to pride himself in wearing the latest style of Martin Dingman’s. Though he had money, well his family did, he never flaunted it or made anyone think he was better than they were. It was just who he was. His position in The Order had been secured long ago by his family’s lineage.
Lucas was a definite pain in my ass, but he was well educated and his multiple degrees from MIT were an asset. We sat patiently on the roof waiting. During which I couldn’t help but think, if only the humans knew what the night held, they might consider how freely and carelessly they scattered about after dark.
“Lucas, you need to get back to the car.” I whispered.
“Are they close?”
“Get going. I’ll meet you there soon.” I pulled both Glocks chambering the first round.
The pain tightened through my sides as I tried to expand my lungs, reaching for a breath. Sitting hunched over seemed to be the least painful as I worked to take in the larger breaths of air.
“Maybe I could stay? I can help.”
“Lucas you’re just not ready.” I winced in pain.
“If you don’t ever give me a chance how will you know when I am ready?”
“Don’t argue or you can stay at headquarters from now on.”
 “Soon though?”
“Soon Lucas, providing you’re ready.”
He scowled as he turned to get up.
“Give it time you are still new, you’ll have your day.”


 

 
 
 
 
Below is my detailed critique.  Please select FULL SCREEN to view, then once the document is open RIGHT CLICK to ZOOM and view the comments.
 


Alright, so what do you think?  Are you hooked?  What did the author do well?  What things could be improved? Agree or disagree with my crit?


Thanks ahead of time to every one who comments and to the author for volunteering!

 

 

**Today's Theme Song**
"Night of the Hunter"- 30 Seconds to Mars
(player in sidebar, take a listen)





 

Why do you read what you read?


As I start this blog, I found myself wondering how I became such a book-obsessed dork and why I prefer certain types of stories to others. Looking back, I've decided that reading development is kind of like that Plinko game from the Price is Right--certain people and book experiences bump you in one direction or the other. Some of us land in the $5000 slot and become lifelong readers of every type of book, others land in zero and miss out completely, and many of us fall somewhere in between finding a particular reading niche. Here's how my Plinko game went:



4th grade: Inspired by my mother's love of mystery novels, I start reading James Howe's Bunnicula: A Rabbit-Tale of Mystery series and Betty Ren Wright's The Dollhouse Murders .
Result: A love of stories that scare me and make me laugh. This also leads to me being convinced that my room is haunted by an evil stuffed monkey that has sat on my shelf since toddlerhood. Monkey gets evicted to the attic, I sleep on the couch for six months (seriously.)


5th grade: My teacher, Mrs. Hymel, starts reading a chapter a day of Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time to the class. I'm hooked. I go to the library to get the book because I can't tolerate waiting for her to finish. I proceed to read the rest of the series in rapid succession. When I'm finished with those, I move on to The Neverending Story by Michael Ende
Result: My love for both fantasy and series books is planted.

6th grade: We're assigned to read Where the Red Fern Grows
and Bridge to Terabithia . Amazing literary books. But both tore me to shreds. I had just lost my grandmother who I was extremely close to and books involving deaths just shattered me.
Result: I develop a respect but also a wariness for literary fiction. In addition, I acquire a lifelong aversion to novels that kill off the dog. I go on a binge of R.L. Stine horror books (such as The Baby-Sitter (Point Horror Series)
)and Roald Dahl instead. I also began to indulge my budding interest in the paranormal. My science fair projects for this year: ESP and Poltergeists.

9th grade: I dig through my mom's book collection and pull out V.C. Andrews' Flowers in the Attic and Petals on the Wind . These books were depressing, full of drama, gothic, darkly romantic, and totally addictive. But why do I remember these? Because in the second book there was (wait for it) sex. Gasp. I was a very naive at fourteen and found this to be so scandalous. This is the first time I remember hiding the spine of the book while I was reading in public just in case. Of course, I went on to read like twenty more books by Ms. Andrews.
Result: Discover that romance + sexy + darkness = awesomeness

10th grade: I realize that most of my favorite horror movies started as books. I go through a Stephen King and Anne Rice phase. I also read a "based on true events" book called The Black Hope Horror: The True Story of a Haunting that scares the bejesus out of me. I have to remove the book from my room at night so I can sleep.
Result: Decide psychics, monsters, vampires, and ghosts are by far way cooler than normal humans.

9th grade-12th grade: My teachers beat us over the head with the classics because that's their job. I know now these books are works of art, masterpieces, etc. But as a teenager, I thought all of them (outside of Shakespeare and Poe) were big giant suckfests.

Result: I raise the stock of the Cliff Notes company (allowing me to ace all English tests and papers) and am further turned off by the term "literary."

And what do I do with the time I should be using to read my assigned books? I write my own romance novel because clearly there is no chance of actual romantic interludes in my own angsty life. A hundred and fifty typed pages of sappy teenage indulgence is born and titled Kismet. My male protagonist bears a striking resemblance to Joe McIntyre of New Kids on the Block.

College: I start off with a double major: Psyc and English, but feel overwhelmed. I drop English because it's not as "practical", but still sneak in a few classes. LSU offers a Vampires in Literature class. How frigging cool is that? Not only do I get the chance to read stacks of vamp novels, I get the chance to write short stories about them, too.
Result: Regret dropping the English major. Promise myself that once I get settled in my psychology career, I will try to write in my free time.

So now, years later, where does that leave me?

Reading and writing the same things I grew to love as a child. My Plinko chip landed in the voracious reader of genre fiction slot. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not closed off to the literary side, but honestly its not the first thing I pick up. So, be warned that most of my reviews on here will fall under genre fiction.

So, I'm curious. What books from your past guided your tastes? Can you remember that first moment or first book that really hooked you on reading? Or something that turned you away from a certain genre? Leave a comment and let me know.