Monday, June 17, 2013

Guest Post: "Let's Dream Before a Dream" by Azalea Moone


Let’s Dream Before a Dream

 
Thanks Piper, Melanie, and MJ!

Oh my goodness, I totally spaced that I had scheduled this blog post. *head desk* So while whacking my brain for something intelligent to write about, I came up with a very silly idea. It’s about something that I’ve done for years, and I bet other writers have, too, in their own ways.

“Dream before a dream.” What in the world is that?

A “dream before a dream” is what I used to call plotting when I was a teenager. But “plotting” is sort of a dull word so I needed something spiffy and fun to name it. Plus, I did all my plotting in bed before falling asleep hence the name “dream before a dream”. And I still do, well some of it anyway.

As a teenager, if I had trouble falling asleep, I would think “why not ‘dream before a dream’” and I would think about characters in my stories. What they’re doing, what they’re thinking, and what they’re getting themselves into. And I’d end up passing right out. Sound familiar now?

Now most authors would call this, “OMG the plot bunnies won’t get out of my head at two o’clock in the morning!! ARGH!!” And we certainly don’t pass right out during it. Those characters will stick to us like glue, and they’ll force us to get out of bed to write their story.

Do I still call it “dream before a dream”? Well, no, I’ve grown up since then, but I still do a lot of plotting in bed and I know I shouldn’t. Of course there are those characters that won’t let me sleep. I have to force them out of my head—out of my bed?—and tell them goodnight… Which doesn’t always work.

We all have our most talkative characters. You know those ones that just don’t wanna shut up. In my upcoming, June 28th release “Angel’s Redemption” published by Storm Moon Press, I remember my fallen angel Lynsael, really and I mean REALLY wanted his story told. He kept me up past my bedtime a few nights, writing to just get it out before he drove me nuts.

And, boy, I’m glad I did that too. It’s much better than tossing and turning. Once Lynsael was able to win his man’s heart, I was able to sleep much better at night.

There are other characters who’ve keep me up with their constant talking, too. Vampire’s especially. They’re nocturnal, of course, and make sure I don’t sleep in the midnight hours. In my June 14th release, “A Rogue’s Power” published by Total E Bound, Malachi took me on a literal joy-ride when he first met up with Dante. My before bedtime plotting went from “this isn’t so bad” to “what in the world did I get myself into?”

Is it a good idea to plot before bedtime? Unless you’re a nocturnal person yourself, probably not. Expect to lose hours of sleep and feel like crap the next morning. But authors with kids know how hard it is to plot anything with little one’s around. So, leave your computer on hibernate so it’s easy to get back to work at one in the morning. And prepare to stop writing once the characters stop talking. They’re probably ready to go to bed, too.

 “A Rogue’s Power” is available now at all online retail stores. Grab your copy today!
 
 
 


Eight year fledgling vampire Malachi Faust is living his new life clumsily. He’s thankful to his maker, though he doesn’t know who that is, but he wants to party every night away, not caring about anything in the world—including coven life and other kin.

That is until he meets older vampire Dante, who tells him he’s not only a psychic vampire, requiring sexual energy as well as blood, but he’s also the grandson of a witch. These two gifts make him a wanted man by the most powerful clan leader in the city, who’s set to capture him and introduce him to coven life.

Malachi’s skeptical, though it does somehow explain his strangeness to need sex when he feeds, but he’s also unable to stop from getting caught up in Dante’s promises and passions. In order to survive the coven life, he must follow Dante through a world that he didn’t know existed while fighting his own lustful needs.

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Azalea Moone is a 30 – something writer of M/M romance fiction mostly of contemporary and paranormal, but with a love for historicals and a new-found interest in fantasy.

Born and raised in the Midwest agricultural region, Azalea loved to write horror and suspense short stories in her teens before turning her attention to gay romance.

When she's not writing, she's either gaming, painting, or spending time with family. She has two kids who run her ragged, a pretty little orange kitty, and an awesome boyfriend who helps her with arts and graphics. 

You can check her out at www.azalea-moone.blogspot.com. At twitter @AzMoone and on Facebook!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

WIP Wednesday Crucifox #2 The Ego Has Landed

#WIPWednesday #Crucifox




The Ego Has Landed!



As the first draft of Crucifox #2 is with my editor, I thought I’d divulge a little of what inspires the stories.

Aside from my own life experiences, I adore visuals and always have some on hand when writing. I look at pictures, watch videos and listen to music, then I draw up a blank page and write. 

Crucifox is very much a view from within the band. Having worked on the inside for a few years, I’ve got more than enough experience of ‘the boring bits’…

[see chapter 8 in Crucifox #1, The Gig From Hell.]

These days I need to remind myself about the good bits. What draws me and others to music, to rock bands? The sounds, the visuals. The hot men. [fans self] The sex appeal. I love it all!

When I visualised the members of Crucifox for Sky’s story, I had clear ideas of what the guys looked like. All around my desk and on my walls are pictures of rock bands, and sometimes I take a few visual cues from there, add them to the mix of people I’ve come across in my life, and my own imagination [eyebrow waggle].

Brandon was the last character to be ‘formed’. Because I was viewing him from the outside – Sky’s POV – in book #1, I concentrated on his image first. I knew that a guy like him – flamboyant, flirtacious – would be more than a little image obsessed. I wanted someone eye catching; tall and thin, androgynous, beautiful, with long black hair, and dark eyes.

There’s a few long haired hotties in bands, but if I want any specific visual material, I would have to go with a young Ian Astbury from The Cult.





When I saw this vid, below, of The Cult playing on Top of the Pops in the ‘80s, I thought yes, that’s it. The singer here is absolutely everything I love; from the way he’s dressed to the way he moves and smiles. Beautiful. 

The Cult - She Sells Sanctuary



[Crucifox nerd moment: the guitar that Billy Duffy plays is the much coveted White Falcon that Sky has wanted for years. Later, Gretsch issued a black model called the Black Falcon.]





For a whole band vibe, I love this vid of The Cult playing in concert. 

The Cult - Sweet Soul Sister


The imagery, the slow mo shots, the slighty sweaty hair, the sexy moves... [fans self again]. This video encapsulates why I am so into rock bands; it’s classic, beautiful, every shot could be a poster. I’m in love with all this imagery. 

And I much prefer guitarist Billy Duffy’s hair long!
 



But looks are one thing, personality is another. Ego, stage presence, attitude. While I love the look of a doe-eyed brunette, my guys in Crucifox are too rough around the edges to be just pretty faces. So to ‘get in the mood’ for writing a goth ponce like Brandon, I looked to other bands for some gritty charisma, to tap into his male ego. 

This band, in particular: Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction.




I like the rough and ready, sexy dishevelled biker look. Albeit effeminite bikers, I’ll give you that, but I like the bit of rough mixed in! When one of my friends suggested the band name Crucifox and I went with that, it felt natural to have a lead singer with the surname Fox.

[Sam Fox, and John Foxx from Ultravox were also fab ‘80s inspirations on this.]

I adore foxes; they’re one of my favourite animals. In the second Ghostbusters film, I loved the bit where a ghost posesses that rich woman’s fur coat, and the stoats on her stole come to life, screeching at her.  

While I am a vegetarian myself, I like the visual of bizarre taxidermy in the same way that I like the visual of smoking, or any other decadent behaviour.

[In real life; no way.]

I thought to myself, if I have a singer called Brandon Fox, then he HAS to wear a fox stole. Like Zodiac Mindwarp wore furs on his biker leathers! So all that was my fox stole inspiration.


ZOD are British band, and I really love the sleazy sex appeal of them and their songs. 

Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction - Planet Girl


This is a “very 90s” rock video, but forget that; just watch how the singer moves, the way he grinds up against the mic and sheds his jacket like a pro stripper. Listen to the way he sings; that’s not singing, that’s sex talk. Omg [fans self hard!].



I’ll just have a little girl crush moment; Zodiac Mindwarp, aka Mark Manning, wrote songs for other bands (‘Feed my Frankenstein’ for Alice Cooper among them) and is also one of my favourite authors. If you have a strong stomach and a good sense of humour, check him out:


I would recommend perhaps starting with Bad Wisdom, by Mark Manning, and also Bill Drummond from The KLF.




So these are some of the sounds and visuals that inspire me. [Sound-wise, I think Crucifox would be like The Cult meets The Sisters of Mercy, blended with New Model Army.]

Of course, in my story Brandon is Scottish, so I’ve had to pay attention to the way my character speaks. I couldn’t just write as I normally would for the cockney guys... [my natural voice/accent is far flung London suburb].

In lieu of seeing my Scottish friends face to face – as we don’t live near each other right now – I’ve been re-watching a lot of Rab C. Nesbitt. Good series; I recommend it. The upshot of this is that I’ve been talking to myself a lot (to get the sounds right) and have started using ‘ach’ and ‘wee’ in my everyday speech. 

Funny how that turns out.


Crucifox #1 The Green-Eyed Monster is out now from Storm Moon Press!

Don’t forget to check out all the Crucifox freebie stories and exclusive comic strips 




Crucifox #2 will be out in the later half of 2013