Passion, Romance, Intrigue... Forbidden

Last month a friend of mine started reading this book and she kept raving about it. “You have to read this, Brandi” she insisted, and so I agreed. She sent me a copy and I cracked it open, not at all aware of what I was getting into. I don’t pay attention to genres, and I certainly don’t read reviews to determine if I want to read a book or not. I read a description and make a judgment call, because really, like every new relationship, I think a book needs to be approached without bias. How else will a “bad book” ever get a fair shake? 

So, as I start reading I am making mental notes. Not the greatest of writing, pretty basic really, but it has something. So I keep reading. I tell myself, this girl is kind of silly, but her inner monologue is getting tiresome, but it still has something, and I keep reading. Enter the closed off, mysterious male, and I am sitting forward in my seat. Definitely has something. Sprinkle in some humor and embarrassing situations, and I am hooked. Before I know it, I have hit the last page and I am thinking, well, darn! Where’s the rest? I immediately tracked down copies of the final two in this trilogy and it has been in the back of my mind ever since. 

The book I am talking about is Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James. 

By now it is no secret that this book is taking the world by storm. Gracing headlines everywhere, Fifty Shades has worked its way into the homes and lives of housewives around the world and opened their eyes to something that was previously a no-no, and told them all “It’s okay to like this sort of thing.” The reason it is the shocker that it is can probably be contributed to the fact that for centuries society has pigeonholed women into the role of wife, mother, and homemaker, and never given them permission to be the sexual creatures they were made to be. Men can be forward with sex, it’s to be expected even. For women, when the topic of sex hits the table, it is usually hushed and secretive. When others find out we’re talking about it--and enjoying it!--it suddenly becomes a sensation. 

When did “sex” become a dirty word? 

Fifty Shades of Grey tickled something in my brain that I had been denying for a long time. For me, it was like a breath of fresh air, an opening of windows and doors after a winter of being cooped up inside to let in the fresh, crisp springtime air. I finally realized that sex is okay to talk about, to think about, and especially, to crave. Women everywhere are saying that this book translated to the bedroom and has rekindled their love lives, and I will admit to the same. There is nothing taboo in this book. Everything is touched on and explored and if you were previously inclined to feel embarrassed by any of the roads Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele ventured down, you won’t be after you finish this series. 

As a fair warning to anyone considering this trilogy: It’s not for everyone. You’ll either love it, or hate it. You have to keep an open mind and be ready for anything. Realize that, although these books have a strong sexual base, they also have a glorious story in between—this is what really hooked me! Consider it a romance novel, but the heat level has been turned up…to scorching. 

If you’re ready to open your mind and explore a world of forbidden pleasure, check out Fifty Shades of Grey. 

It's well worth the read.

It's 2012!!

Happy New Year! 

For all of our readers who might have been wondering where we've run off to: 

Like most of you, we have taken the last couple of weeks off to spend time with our friends and family, celebrating the holidays and reigning in the new year like it's 1899. We've decorated cookies, trimmed the tree, wrapped presents and enjoyed the smiling faces of our children on the big day. Some of us have even given our sanity when opening our doors to out of town family members. Secretly, we have enjoyed every minute of it. Well, maybe that's a bit of a stretch. 


Now we look forward to starting fresh. Some of us do that by making resolutions. We at Fictitious Chronicles choose to toss aside that old tradition and continue striving to be the best person we can be. 


Some things we consider news worthy:


The two of us have been writing up a storm. Mrs. Holly is well on her way toward finishing yet another novel, and she is keeping this one completely under wraps. The only thing she is willing to say is, "Like The Notebook, this one is guaranteed to make you cry your eyes out." As for me, I have also been keeping my newest creation close to the vest. What I will say is that it's a mystery/thriller and I hope it knocks your socks off. 


If you are reading this, we assume that you are an avid reader in general. Well, so are we! In fact, last year we challenged ourselves to a reading contest. I don't know about my partner, but my challenge was 40 books to be read by the end of the year. I am proud to say that I came in at 49! My new challenge for 2012 is now 100.I hope all of you are challenging yourself and your mind this year, too. 


With all the writing going on, we have decided to step out of our comfort zone and begin outlining in a major way. Because of this, we wanted to share with all of the authors out there a couple of sites we found particularly helpful with our own writing.


--The Snowflake Method shows you how to start small, get organized, and build your novel into something great. 
--8 Easy Steps for constructing and outline in less than an hour! 
--And my personal favorite: The Writer's Digest Novel Idea Summary Sheet, which has boosted my writing platform and kept me organized and on point. 

For those of you who need a little help brushing up your novel idea, whether it's for an agent or a self-publishing venture, we felt this program was a must have (Plus, you can get a free 14 day free trial. How cool is that!): Stylewriter

Finally, a note to our authors on our TBR list: 

We haven't forgotten about you! In all the chaos that comes with the holidays, a small break was called for. Now that the kids are returning to school and the schedules are getting back on track, so will our reading and reviewing of your wonderful works of art. 




Now that we have all that covered, I'll let all you party animals get back to your black coffee and hours of rest. We hope you enjoy your new year every bit as much as we plan to enjoy ours. 


Cheers!

  

Snippet of new book

This is the new book I am working on.. I wanted to share a part with everyone who reads my work. Enjoy. And remember sometimes my work is foul mouthed like a sailor. If you are offended easily then I suggest not reading any further. But if you have a sense of humor then enjoy! *Explicit Language* I wanted to share a little snippet of what I am currently writing. “Pop pop, there you are.” I said, delighted to see him upright and eating. He poked around at his scrambled eggs, trying to get a hold of them on his plate. “I don’t like organic eggs. They want to feed me outer space food,do I look like Neil fucking Armstrong?” He grumbled, working the fork into his mouth with such anger. I hoped he didn’t stab himself. But I kept quiet because he didn’t like being told what to do. “Organic is just healthier. It has nothing to do with outer space.” I took a seat, grabbing my sketch book from his table. Wiping off the toast crumbs, I flipped the cover and surveyed my work. It was almost finished. A portrait of Pop pop, with the normal scowl and tuft of ashen hair sticking up all over his head and some coming out of his ears. The last signs of his raven colored hair nothing but a memory, the smallest amount of gray peeked through his stark white hair. If it wasn’t for his eyebrows you would have never known he once had a head full of black hair. “If they didn’t fuck up the food, we wouldn’t have to pay extra for healthy versions of this bullshit. It’s the government’s way of sticking it to us. Food is food. They are trying to kill us.” “You’re not paying for it, Pop pop. The hospital is. So just eat it.” I started sketching out his hair, remembering to add “extra” hair like he wanted. “Fuck you and your commie bullshit,” he growled. He chucked the plate to the floor. Which sent his nurse running into the room. She was a young girl, short hair, with a quick reaction time apparently. “Eugene, are we having a grouchy moment?” she said, talking to Pop pop like he was a little kid throwing a fit over his spilled milk. She kneeled down, collecting the eggs one by one. “I’m having a ‘I’ll smack the smirk right off of your face moment, Blondie.’ Why don’t you get me some real food? Not this bullshit that you want to call eggs.” He grabbed his bed controller, plummeting himself downwards and this only upset him further because he wanted to turn the television on not lower himself into a reverse downward facing dog. “Back in my day remotes were getting your ass up and turning shit on!” I laughed at his bad mood. He meant no harm; most times he was completely unaware what he was even saying. “Back in your day Eugene there were no televisions.” The nurse said, taking the plate and its contents and heading out of the room. “Back in my day we rode dinosaurs to work. And woman knew how to shut their pie holes and make their men dinner. And they didn’t have men’s haircuts. What are you one of those carpet monsters?!” I was thankful the nurse was out of my view. I could only imagine the horrified expression she was probably wearing all thanks to Pop pop.

What sparks my creativity?

I have been writing since the age of eleven, I remember sitting at my Mother's kitchen table with a big stack of fresh notebook paper. We didn't have a computer back then lol (I don't think they were even cool yet.) Back then I wrote about girls who had crazy lives, but it was all so innocent. As I got older(Nkotb wasn't cool anymore by the way, but to me and my dear friend they still were in our hearts haha) I was so into NKOTB they seemed to represent my male characters in anything I wrote. Its funny now to sit back and think about my writing and what inspired it. Nowadays, I have seen a lot. I have met a lot of people, friends, family etc. I think what sparks my creativity when I write my books now is remembering the moments that sparked my own emotions, when I can honestly say 'I had goosebumps". When I watch a movie and there is a powerful dialouge I am blown away, and my brain starts going off! My most memorable movie that I watched where I wanted to express that emotion the same way through my writing was Good Will Hunting the scene where she tries to get through to him and they scream and cry, that emotion all in a measly four minutes its thrilling. My creativity comes from human emotions, the raw and real emotions that we all have, some are to afraid to let them out. But the best way to show what real emotion is, is through my writing. Reading a good book , feeling like a fly on the wall as real emotion is slung all over the place like trash in a tornado its pure beauty!

High Hopes

So I have recently found out that there is a book called Publisher's Market and it contains addresses for publishers. I have a friend helping me get the ball rolling and she is going to get that book for me. And we are going to work together to send it to everyone.

Also today Anne told me that trying local publsihers may be a good thing, as well as the big ones and the small ones.

I have visions of this book becoming super sucessful and I think it would be very cool to work with someone who has never had a chance to get there hands on the next big thing. I know sounds very cocky but thats just the way I feel. LOL

So its a matter of getting a hold of this book, and going to work on sending the right things out there. One thing I was leary about doing was giving my book to people that I didn't trust.
So after some research I found that you send a query letter and that is a brief description of yourself and your book and also a self addressed envelope. There was a very helpful website explaning all of this.

I have an english teacher going over my book for spelling or grammar type errors. I am so amped to get this underway and let everyone read my creation!!!!