Selkie_Queen

As I've said countless times, writers fascinate me. I love getting to pick their brains, and enjoy the luxury of wallowing around in their ideas, experiences, superstitions, etc. I positively thrill when I find a commonality between myself and a writer who has obviously been immersed in an actual "process" for a while, but I think I delight even more when I catch a snippet of insight that I never considered. As of late, I'm not writing much but I'm reading tons; soaking up information and examining styles to my little heart's content.

I've completed a textbook that was just stuffed with fantastic essays from both amateur and professional writers; I've read two Margaret Atwood's, and a Bernard Cornwell, Steven King's On Writing, and I'm beginning to collect literary magazines. Once I would have thought that such an array of information and writers' styles would confuse me, perhaps stifle my own creativity. Instead, I'm relishing in being a student, and honestly, right now I just can't get enough of this stuff!

My newest textbook for Advanced Composition starts out by delving into the "writing process" in order to help student writers examine strengths and weaknesses, and develop a strong process suited to individual style. What is my process? I really don't know. I've approached practically every work of fiction, essay, creative non-fiction, and poem I've written in different ways. The ideas come. Sometimes, they flood me and I eagerly watch and listen as characters come to life for me. Sometimes my creative juices and work ethic stir together nicely and I'm able to generate something entertaining. Other times, I get only a glimpse of an idea that wrestles vigorously as I tug it loose from murky depths of distraction and try my best to beat it into submission.

Should I be worried that I can't name the stages of my process? Maybe, but for now I'm content that the ideas come and my characters like to speak to me once in a while.

This week's featured writer says, "My stories really come from my characters... " Well, I think that's as close to perfect as any writer can ask for, but I'm still curious as to what her process might be in retrieving stories from those delightful characters! My darling FLAMERS, I give you Selkie_Queen!

Bio:

Hello my fellow Writers and Readers,

I guess I should begin with who I am. To people in the "real" world, I'm Michelle, but to those closest to me I'm Belle, thus my usual icon. I'm from New York, the state, not the city. I'm actually a teacher; I'm certified to teach Biology, Earth Science, and Math, which is most likely why I write so much fantasy and science fiction.

I began writing back when I was in sixth grade. I wanted to be the next R. L. Stine. I really got into fanfiction when I was a junior in high school but as I entered college my writing for fun slowly fell behind writing papers for school. I had just graduated when I found the Flame and I've been thrilled ever since.

I really never know where my inspiration comes from. A lot of my free writing inspiration comes from music. The most inspiring music to me is scores from movies. You don't appreciate scores too much, but I do and whenever I see a movie I always think "I need to download that later." Sometimes, especially for the monthly contests, I'll look at the definition, then I'll look up the meanings, and then POW I've written a story without any idea where the inspiration came from. My muse is a fickle mistress, but I love her work.

Currently I'm working full time, taking 9 credits of graduate courses, tutoring on Saturdays, and I'm a bridesmaid in a friend's wedding ... so I really don't have a lot of free time. However, this summer is mostly mine as far as I can tell so I plan to finish the rough draft of my book. Yes, like so many others I have a book and I'm currently 98 pages into it and that's only about half-way done according to my idea. Once my graduate courses are done I plan to try and find a publisher for a few of my stories.

My stories really come from my characters, I have several individuals who pop up over and over again. Ash is a Fey character who shows up regularly in my submissions, she sometimes wins, sometimes loses for me. I don't blame her, faeries aren't for everyone. Another one of my big repeats is a character who was supposed to be a one-shot. Jessica Brown is a necromancer, no coincidence she's set in New York, but she was originally going to be a one time character and then once my mind bore her, she stood up and said "I'm not going anywhere". Actually Jessica shoved her way into the world of my last character. The last is Joseph Black Paw, he originally started out as Jacob way before I ever knew about the Twilight series, when I first posted a piece on the Flame with Joseph as Jacob Black Paw, someone pointed it out and I had a Doh moment. Still Joseph is a shape-shifter in the world where Jessica and a few of my other characters live. I actually have a book series idea for Joseph and Jessica's world, however, they may only appear as secondary characters in it. Still these characters were born first and their worlds have grown up around them. I actually have several characters who don't have a world but I hope with the Flame I can develop them. In all honesty without the Flame, Ash's world would be a lot smaller and Jessica wouldn't even exist. Thanks for everything you guys, my characters owe you a lot and so do I.

The Chosen Piece

"Home for Christmas" has been floating in my head for ages but I could never get it to come down just right until this winter. Noelle, Jonah, and Johan have been childhood friends in their were-tiger streak, literally, their mothers were pregnancy partners. Noelle is an extremely rare type of shape-shifter and Jonah and Johan are twins. They have grown up together and are now coming home from college together to spend an average Christmas at home. Average for a group of people who can change into large cats. This was a very sweet, first glimpse into their world with a mention of Black Paw, Joseph's father. You don't need to read any of Joseph's stories to enjoy this one.

The Link
http://selkie-queen.livejournal.com/128937.html

 

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