Happy Fall!
Yet again, I went longer than intended without posting a monthly update. If you were dying to hear what went down in September, my apologies!
So here’s what’s up…
In keeping with the whole updating-my-business thing that began during the summer, I spent much of September and October continuing to explore the best direction to head in with my writing. I focused a lot on improving how I plot my books. I also did a lot of market research and read some great advice from various industry professionals.
As a result of this, I’ve made a couple changes that you, my readers, should be aware of.
After much consideration, I have decided to place Thicker Than Water on the back burner (temporarily). I had been struggling to get back into the characters and the story, and my forward momentum was grinding to a halt. While I love Emil and Puzzle, the Shades Below Shorts have always been more of a passion project for me. I realized that my time would be much better spent getting the main Shades Below series books to you guys as soon as possible.
I spent the last half of October plotting out If You Were My Vampire (Shades Below, #2.5), and am delighted to report I have officially broken ground! I will be working on Asher and Grace’s book for NaNoWriMo this year, which should give me the kick in the backside I need to jumpstart my return to writing.
I am SO excited for these two, and I can’t wait to share their story with you!
Current Word Count
2,509
Song Of The Moment
If I Was Your Vampire – Marilyn Manson
Six A.M., Christmas morning
No shadows, no reflections here
Lying cheek to cheek in your cold embrace
So soft and so tragic as a slaughterhouse
You press the knife against your heart
And say that, “I love you
So much you must kill me now.”
I love you
So much you must kill me now
If I was your vampire, certain as the moon
Instead of killing time, we’ll have each other till the sun
If I was your vampire, death waits for no one
Hold my hands across your face because I think our time has come
Digging your smile apart with my spade-tongue
And the hole is where the heart is
We built this tomb together; I will fill it alone
(Beyond the pale everything’s black, no turning back)
If I was your vampire, certain as the moon
Instead of killing time, we’ll have each other till the sun
If I was your vampire, death waits for no one
Hold my hands across your face because I think our time has come
Blood-stained sheets
In the shape of your heart
This is where it starts
Blood-stained sheets
In the shape of your heart
This is where it starts
This is where it will end
Here comes the moon again
Six-nineteen, and I know I’m ready
Drive me off the mountain; you’ll burn, and I’ll eat your ashes
Impossible wheels seducing our corpse
If I was your vampire, certain as the moon
Instead of killing time, we’ll have each other till the sun
If I was your vampire, death waits for no one
Hold my hands across your face because I think our time has come
This is where it starts
This is where it will end
Here comes the moon again
Here comes the moon again
This is where it starts
This is where it will end
Here comes the moon again
Here comes the moon again
Here comes the moon again
Here comes the moon again
Songwriters: Brian Hugh Warner / Tim Skold
If I Was Your Vampire lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, Peermusic Publishing, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, The Bicycle Music Company
Recent Research
Because Asher was an inmate at Buchenwald concentration camp before he was converted, much of my research for If You Were My Vampire has been Holocaust research. Needless to say, it has been heartbreaking. The Holocaust is one of those rare moments in history where time does nothing to lessen the overwhelming tragedy of it. There is no bottom to the intense depravity and depth of suffering, and so it’s something I’ve had to approach in increments.
At various points, I’ve questioned whether including allusions to Asher’s past was necessary or even appropriate. A quote by the late Elie Wiesel really struck home for me, and has played continuously in my head throughout this process:
I believe firmly and profoundly that anyone who listens to a Witness becomes a Witness, so those who hear us, those who read us must continue to bear witness for us. Until now, they’re doing it with us. At a certain point in time, they will do it for all of us.
Pleasure-Reading Recommendations
Sadly, I haven’t been doing much pleasure reading lately. I just don’t read that much when I’m getting into a new project. Hopefully I’ll have some good reads to dish about soon!
WIP Excerpt
He should have left days ago.
Asher Evans hesitated at the corner of Third and South Park. If he was even half-smart, he’d turn around now. He’d go back to his shitty studio rental, toss everything he could get his hands on into a duffel bag, and get the hell out of town. San Francisco had made it pretty clear it didn’t want him anymore.
Asher jammed his hands in the pockets of his battered leather jacket and started forward again. Another half hour wouldn’t make a difference, and in any case, he was already here. He was already committed.
He was going to a tea shop. At close to midnight. Looking for a girl.
It was hands-down the most ridiculous thing he’d ever done.
Asher quickened his pace. He couldn’t even say what it was that had made him notice Grace Alan in the first place. She wasn’t overly attractive, hadn’t spoken more than two words to him each time he saw her. And she worked at a place called Cross Your Teas. Cross Your Teas. That alone should have sent him running in the opposite direction.
In fact, he might not have noticed her at all except for the single, fascinating thing she’d done the first time they met.
She’d looked at him. In the eyes.
People didn’t look him in the eyes. If they weren’t too afraid of him, they mostly weren’t looking at him at all. But Grace Alan had looked, and she’d kept looking. After the first few times, he’d started to wonder what it was she saw.
He’d tried to put it out of his mind, had told himself it probably meant nothing, but it was no use. Lately, that one simple question had grown from a simple prick of curiosity, to a gnawing fascination, to a preoccupation bordering on obsession.
Tonight, he would have his answer.
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Thanks staying tuned! Expect my next update at the end of November (hopefully). Stay crazy!
L.J.K. OLIVA 