Finding Yourself

I've just been crying my way through the special features on the final Harry Potter film (yes I'm a geeky emotional girl. Sue me!) and as per usual when I think of the magnificence of these stories I get to thinking about Jo Rowling, how she works and her immense talent, tenacity and imagination. It also got me thinking about how she'd written EXACTLY the kind of story I would want to write, had I one tenth of her imagination.

Jo's world building has been so immense that she knows everything about her characters and the world they live in. Now I don't think, actually I KNOW I don't have the faintest idea of where to begin to create a world with that depth, but I do like the idea of the secret world hiding in plain sight (a la Harry Potter and Stephanie Meyer's Twilight) as these are places you can escape to, but you also feel could be just around the corner. My first story 'Feral' incorporates the idea of 'others' living amongst us incognito, and when I decided I was going to give this writing lark a go, it was always with a paranormal edge (Joss Whedon and Buffy have a lot to answer for!). Unfortunately, coming up with original ideas and characters has been slightly less easy, as you know anything with witchcraft is going to be likened to Harry, and anything with vamps is going to be... well let's just say Twilight isn't the only one in that parade!

To date my writing attempts have been limited to romance, for no other reason than, it's what I know! I know about love, I've been in love a few times, all of whom were very good boys/men. I am fortunate not to have a horror story or a bad break up. I also know attraction in it's many guises, and that physical attraction won't necessarily relay to an emotional or mental connection. I know these things so I attempt to write about them.

The question is do I stick to what I know (and don't read nearly enough of), or do I get thinking and make that leap to fantasy/paranormal Teen/YA (which I read more of), but is definitely a saturated market at the moment?! So 'Who am I?' who the hell knows, but I'm having fun finding out!

X M

Kia ora and Welcome

Hi, I've decided to bite the bullet and attempt to write a blog.  For a person who wants to write I'm completely crap at this kind of thing.  I could never keep a diary as a kid, I don't tweet very well, and my social networking is passable.  But here I am to give this a go.

A bit about me.  I'm a Kiwi (New Zealander) living in the UK with my husband and two young children.  I decided at the end of last year that I'd like to give writing a go.  I made a half-arsed attempt many years ago, but like I say it was half-arsed!  I grew up reading my Mum's Agatha Christie's though I wouldn't call myself an avid reader, even though I enjoy it very much.  

I was a TV addict growing up, it was mysteries and action shows when I was a kid, Hart to Hart, The A-Team, Knightrider, that kind of thing.  As a teen I loved vampire things, read Dracula, loved The Lost Boys, watched Fright Night a few times, though I in no way was a fan of horror!  In my early twenties Buffy the Vampire Slayer arrived (on tv) and I LOVED it.

Thirteen years down the line, married, two kids and I decide to write a story, 'but what about?' I ask myself.  Hmm 'paranormal romance' I answer.  I've always had a thing for vamps, but damn they've been done to death, so for a first attempt I decided on shape-shifters, everyone makes up their own rules/lore these days anyway, why don't I.

I then found (stalked) a wonderful author, Serenity Woods, who offered to look at my story.  She gave me some great constructive criticism and kept me in fits of laughter with her comments like 'Yum' about my hero.  So thanks to Serenity's influence and the other wonderful women I've met via her at TMAS, I am hopefully learning to be a better writer.  If you'd like to see a snippet of my work check out my website by clicking on the picture of me with two wonderful Buffy (amongst many other things) actors, Brian Thompson and James Marsters.