Ripping Apart Your Own Work

Two weeks ago I finally finished the first draft of my outline for Veridian. This week I am trying to stitch it back together. This always happens. I finally get the outline done and then I talk it through with my husband who is my sounding board.  He inevitably asks questions that lead to more questions that lead to a meltdown because my plot has holes I didn't see before and now everything is ruined! Or something to that effect.

This time I was going over the technology predictions and political map of my scifi thriller and he pointed out some things I could do better...and some things that I could do without. Needless to say I was both excited to make the changes and frustrated to be back at square-one after finally finishing an outline that was truly a struggle to wrangle into completion in the first place. Blerg!

But a fellow author friend of mine who gives me the best encouragement sent me the graphic above. Its great advice that I promised to keep in mind. What I am doing now is just the beginning. I don't know why I forget this EVERY time I start another book.

Maybe its the dreamer in me that wishes to show you with perfect detail the amazing sights I have in mind. Whatever the reason...I will remind myself that first drafts suck as a rule. I can't very well edit something that isn't there.

So as I head into the weekend I plan on getting a ton done on this outline. We'll see!  Hope you all have a wonderful time recuperating from this busy week!

Feature Friday Futures

Today I am over at Erik Klein's blog for a Feature Friday Futures interview! A technology geek and an author, Erik's questions were so much fun to answer. We explored the interesting treasures research for my steampunk thriller, The Tremblers, unearthed. No pun intended!

Take a peek at the interview where we get into military history and Victorian ingenuity. What was surprising to learn about and what everyday item has a cool twist in my steampunk series, The Blackburn Chronicles.

Lady Villains Need Love Too

Available Now

Lady villains sometimes get the fuzzy end of the lollipop in terms of motivation. Jealousy over a lost love or anger at being rejected are all fine reasons to go to crazy town, but there are so many other more compelling reasons that are so much more interesting.

Fury at your family's mistreatment for one, is a pretty driving reason and it is one I tried to explore in writing my female characters in the second book of my series. 

In the Wind Reapers, Ajala is an incredibly strong, loving, and therefore shockingly ruthless character. Some might argue that she is the villain of the book, but I disagree. I think that her goals just happen to be diametrically opposed to the protagonists (Charlotte Blackburn's) but that they are not, in their purest form...diabolical or bad.

She is a woman fighting for the survival of her family and extended clan. Those vicious Reapers everyone fears came from somewhere. They weren't born on those massive walking machines that troll the Wasteland. And now, as conditions get worse and her people start dying, she has to act in the only way she knows how.

Ajala is a leader, a mother, a warrior, and a formidable negotiator. She is valiant for her own cause and it is why she was one of the most interesting characters to write...

Now, as I headed to speak with Ajala, the clank and clatter of the Wind Reaper’s legs kept time with the sway of the vast vessel. With the sun going down and hiding our location, we moved using the thermal winds to fill the craft’s massive sails. Most of the debris cleared, the fire scorched deck still showed the scars of our battle. 

Yet as I peered at the patchwork material mounted on the reconstructed masts I couldn’t help but be impressed by the speed with which the people recovered from the sky marauder attack.  Ascending the ladder to the outlook tower, I pushed through the heavy hatch.

Ajala started speaking before I pulled off my gas mask. “Beautiful, this horrible place, is it not?” She leaned, arms crossed, looking out of the cracked windows. The gold discs woven to the ends of her scarf reflected the dimming light. “All angry and red and steaming.”

“It is the stuff of nightmares.” I walked over, leaned on the opposite side. My hand twitched, wanting to scratch at the slice in my neck, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction. “But then again…”

“Yes, I know, you aren’t a Reaper.  We find beauty in this wasteland.”

A jagged seam glowed in the dark landscape and then flared with ignited gas that burned a dozen stories high.

Ajala’s eyes narrowed with the flash of brilliant orange and blue fire. “Myself, my people, we all were chambermaids, plantation slaves, and factory workers.”

“Before the quakes.”

She nodded. “Scratching for our piece of freedom before the hand of God smote us all.”

“And so you forged a life out here in damnation.” I let my gaze travel the ink swirls at the corners of her eyes and thought them strangely beautiful. Like the henna designs on the hands of women in India from my books. “Why…why did you leave the Texas-Louisiana Dome?”

“Texiana,” she snorted, a derisive sound that flashed heat into her eyes. “An atrocity for both states. And I did not leave voluntarily, in any case.”

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Find out how Ajala's story turns out and what part she plays in the thrilling steampunk series, The Blackburn Chronicles. And don't forget to check out the #FreeReads as well!

Blood Blizzards - Trembler Weather Pt. 4

In book 2 of The Blackburn Chronicles, the Wind Reapers, Charlotte and Sheriff Riley brave the tumultuous Wasteland to secure a cure for the deadly Ashen Croup -- a devastating illness that drowns victims in their own lungs. Caught up in a storm just outside the glowing electric dome that protects the city, they find a way in through the decaying grid...

In the distance, lightning lit up the dark sky illuminating an enormous black cloud. I squinted, adjusted the violet lens of my goggles down over my right eye, and froze. A roiling mass of churning wind and ash, the dark cloud rumbled with flashes of light in its belly. It moved like a massive wave towards us.

Riley motioned and I followed him along a tacky path to an opening just ahead in the dome. The tar never could seem to set into its final hardness where the dome met the street. Lit only by the flickering pulses of the grid’s energy, we stole along the curved base of the protective covering. Behind us, the howling winds raced in from the dark, hot abyss of the wasteland. 

A deep rumble tore across the landscape as the mounting wave of ash and rain built to a colossal storm. It was far off still, but closing in. Already, frigid splatters of the Blood Blizzard flew at us. They hit the cross sections of the grid and hissed as water evaporated and ash burned to shiny hard spots on the ground. The tainted rain left red splashes on my gloves and sleeves and made me appear as if I had survived some terrible, bloody battle.

The strangely violent and unpredictable climate of the Blackburn Chronicles world was so much fun to use as a way to push the characters to the limit.  The Wasteland offered a multitude of dangers to anyone foolhardy or desperate enough to venture into the desolate lands between the domes.

Red ash from the fissure fires mixed with the water of the storm left anyone caught in the torrent dripping wet with crimson. Quite a frightening sight, but an appropriate warning for those thinking they might try the journey.

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If you like dystopian thrillers with lots of adventure and strange devices, they check out The Blackburn Chronicles.

For a taste of this fantastic world, try the FREE NOVELLAS here.

A World Gone Mad - Super Territories

In my steampunk series, The Blackburn Chronicles, a disaster fractures all of America, sends California into the ocean, and blocks off the north leaving the country in a shambles.

Powerful governors of the remaining states merged under giant electric Tesla Domes to create super territories. As a result, American rose from the quakes as The Peaceful Union, which was anything but peaceful.

Ruthless governors, created a new government. One with no central seat of power to avoid losing the President as they had in the Great Calamity. Each dome is like a separate country unto itself with its own specialty. Giant agri-factories grow what few kinds of vegetation that are left.

Some city-states control the coal factories that fuel the massive steam engines running the domes. Others house cities repaired with metal façades which house the precious remnants of culture, music, and art. The frozen territories of the north keep terrible secrets locked behind icy fortress walls.

All of this was so fun to imagine, but challenging to get across to readers. However, a wonderful artist sent me this map of the Thirteen City-States of the Peaceful Union bringing The Tremblers that much more to life for me.

If you're interested in finding out more, take a look at the free novellas which offer a peek at the dangerous world of The Blackburn Chronicles.

Waves of Fractured Ice - Trembler Weather Pt.3

I recently did an #AuthorAMA (Ask Me Anything) in which people posted some questions for me to answer.  One of the questions was about the strange and unpredictable weather in my steampunk novel series, The Blackburn Chronicles.

In the final book, the Chasm Walkers, the hero and heroine crash land in the northern territory that has been sent into a mini ice age as a result of the calamitous quakes that fracture all of north America.

They are trying to beat an ice storm that is bearing down on them. Slowed by the knee-deep snow and bitter cold, they hear what can only be described as a freight train full of glass crashing underwater.

It is ice stacking and it is barreling towards them at breakneck speed and threatening to cut off their route to the only shelter.

To truly appreciate the noise, watch a video of this amazing phenomenon...

Here is an excerpt from that scene:

Ashton stumbled up ahead and beyond him flashes of gold twinkled in the shifting light. The rumble grew to a roar, shaking the fragmented ground, the sound reverberating up my legs. A shroud of mists lifted revealing a massive wave of ice shards moving along the surface toward us.

Like countless pieces of broken glass, the thin fragments of surface ice shifted over one another, their edges catching the sun as they tumbled on the waves and wind over the ice, the sound like a train rumbling toward us. Ashton skidded to a stop, going down on his heels.

“What is that?” I gasped, flailing to reverse my stride, my boots squealing on the chunk of snow.
“Stacking,” Ashton shouted. “Back…back the other way!”

This was such an exciting scene to write! I had to get up and pace bit to calm down.  This crazy natural occurrence is extremely loud and can move quite fast. 

If you'd like to know more about the steampunk thrillers in my Blackburn Chronicles series or to sample the free novellas that set the whole adventure in motion, you can find them here.

The Blackburn Chronicles and Novellas

Thundersnow - Trembler Weather Pt. 2

I recently did an #AuthorAMA (Ask Me Anything) in which people posted some questions for me to answer. If you haven't taken part in one of these, they are a fun free-from cousin of an interview, but more interactive.

Anyway, one of the questions was about the strange and unpredictable weather in my steampunk novel, The Tremblers.

It takes place after a disaster set off  hidden fault-lines triggering a chain of calamitous quakes that fracture the continent and plunge Victorian America into a post apocalyptic nightmare.  It gets better...there's some kind of sickness sweeping the population that is turning people into monsters called the Tremblers.  All of this is happening whilst the climate goes haywire.

The weather is horrendous and deadly, but NOT made up. Thundersnow is an actual thing and was one of the freakiest weather phenomenon to research. The conditions have to be just right, but they do happen and its been caught on tape.

So in the middle of a snow storm, with all the white flakes blowing about obscuring your vision, the sky will start flashing and booming just to make things that much worse.

Now, imagine you're locked in a battle with monstrous knights while suspended on walkways swaying a mile above the ocean.  Awesome, right? I thought so too.

For a look at what Thundersnow looks and sounds like, take a peek at the video below...

It was such a rush to write that scene, but it was inspired by real weather that people live through all the time. As a Californian, where our weather is hot and a lot hotter, the idea of this type of storm just gives me shivers!

If you'd like to know more about my steampunk thriller, The Tremblers, now is a great time.

The entire series is on sale for under $3!

All 3 for $3

For a taste of the Blackburn Chronicles World, try the free novellas, Of Books and Blades, This Perilous Path, and new release, Riley's Rise, available here.

I'm Hosting an #AMA!

If you aren't familiar with an AMA then you are in for a treat! Ask Me Anything or AMA's are freeform interviews where you can ask the questions you want answered. They're fun and social and you really get to interact.

Tomorrow I'm excited to be over at AMAFeed to do an  #AuthorAMA where we chat about the craft of writing and how to capture what moves people. Let's discuss the pitfalls and pleasures of the author's life and how to stay motivated to finish that first draft.

I will be answering questions on May 8th at 4pm EST but you can enter your questions ahead of time here.

Come hang out and ask me, well...anything!

Fire and Terrible Beauty - Trembler Weather Pt.1

Elena Pleskevich

We don't have weather where I live. The southern California desert where I make my home and write my books has two modes. Hot and much hotter. That's it. I tell you this to explain my fascination with weather and natural phenomenon that is unusual. I try to incorporate the things of this world that I find strange and lovely in my writing.

When I was creating my Gothic mysteries, I used the soggy, gray weather of Noble Island to create isolation, even danger. The storms became antagonists unto themselves and it was great fun.

Now for my new steampunk series, the Blackburn Chronicles, I was able to truly play with all that mother nature had to offer. First with the calamitous quakes that fractured an entire nation to the terrible beauty of ignited gas seams that burn in brilliant colors. They light up the night and sand skimming craft use them to navigate the dark wasteland much like sailors avoided shores with the real thing.

Mount Chimaera, located in Olympos National Park in Turkey, is a flame that has burned for almost 2,000 years. Methane seeps through the vents in the rocks. It is quite stunning and a popular attraction. There are actually quite a few natural  'eternal flames' around the world. Here is a list of just a few of them.

I based the constantly burning seams of the Tremblers wasteland on these eternal fires. Beautiful, unpredictable, and deadly these flames from the center of a fractured world evokes a sense of ominous fascination for me. It was the perfect backdrop for an epic race against time and overwhelming forces.

To find out more about The Tremblers and Charlotte's battle to survive this chaotic world, check out my author page.

Next up...Blackened Skies and Ash

Charlotte's Battle Rages On in Wind Reapers + Giveaway!

Available Now

It has been so exciting sharing the world of the Blackburn Chronicles with you! I've had such a great time hearing what all of you think about Charlotte and her spy, Ashton, and their dangerous destiny with the Order of the Sword and Scroll.  And Charlotte is just getting started! 

I'm giving away a copy of the first book in the series...the one that set the calamity in motion,  The Tremblers. Enter via the rafflecopter below.

Continue her fight with the Wind Reapers...

Charlotte Blackburn—Hero, hunted, the unwitting symbol of a dark rebellion—she thwarted the deadly intent of the treacherous Order of the Sword and Scroll, but at a shattering cost. Now, she fights to survive among a tribe of fierce Wind Reapers who troll the wasteland aboard massive metal walkers. But a new storm is brewing and Charlotte is once again the linchpin in a deadly plan.

Sebastian Riley has one goal: Help the citizens of his floating Outer City to survive the Ashen Croup, a terrible affliction that drowns victims in their own lungs. But help comes in the form of the infamous Lady Blackburn, a woman wanted for treason who is determined to run headlong into destruction to prevent a coming war—even if it means reaching out to those who want her dead.

Pursued by the shadowy Order and hunted by the furious Reaper clan, Riley and Charlotte brave the monstrous hordes of decaying Tremblers and the terrors of the Wasteland to stop the bloodshed and secure a mysterious calculating engine—a device that can bring about the destruction of an entire nation.

With brutal forces gathering against the unsuspecting citizens inside the Tesla domes, a vicious scientist intent on capturing Charlotte for his experiments, and the whole of the country in deadly peril, one of them must make a sacrifice too terrible to comprehend.

What people are saying about Wind Reapers:

"This book is a non-stop adventure led by Charlotte, Tesla, and Riley. Technology can only do so much in the face of "blood storms" and a desert veined with fissures releasing searing gas and lava. Outside the dome there are a new set of obstacles and Charlotte doesn't know who she can trust. Having followed Charlotte's journey from naive girl to the point she is at at the start of this book, a competent and somewhat Machiavellian champion for what she perceives as right, this story follows her continued evolution. What struck me the most about this was that the author made the bad guys very real, not archetypal villains. I understood and sympathized with their motivation as well as I understood Charlotte's. This made the right and wrong of the matter very much a gray area. It was thoughtful and threatening, ruthless and emotional. I cried (when a book makes me cry, it has won me over) and cheered and gasped... I couldn't put it down. Wind Reapers is a heartrending adventure that full of hope and fear, a story that challenged me and made me question my own values."


~ Spocktastic Reviews

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Tremblers Is On Sale...

I am so excited to announce that tomorrow The Tremblers

will be on sale for 99 Cents! 

 From breathless moments with her wayward spy, Ashton, to facing her darkest fear amid the caverns of a fractured world, Charlotte Blackburn's story is EPIC...

Charlotte Blackburn—Beautiful, intelligent, a gifted tinkerer—lives in a cloistered world of wealth and privilege beneath the Electric Tesla Dome that shields survivors of The Great Calamity. But when her father is abducted, and a strange sickness starts transforming men into vicious monsters, she discovers that technology is no protection at all.

Ashton Wells has a dire mission: Secure Colonel Blackburn and deliver his research to The Order of the Sword and Scroll. But the plan goes awry, and he is left with nothing but the colonel's daughter who has a target on her back and is willing stop at nothing to rescue her father—including handing over to the enemy the only means to stop the monstrous plague.

Branded as traitors, Ashton and Charlotte brave the treacherous floating sky ports of Outer City to hunt down the elusive inventor who is the only person able to activate the strange device that harbors the secret to their salvation.

With the government closing in, a rebellion brewing in the streets, and terrifying Tremblers attacking the innocent, the two must work together to stop their fragile world from crumbling once more into destruction.

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Don't forget to check out the exciting sequel to Charlotte's thrilling fight to save the Peaceful Union in...

The Wind Reapers

Available February 9th!

Charlotte Blackburn—Hero, hunted, the unwitting symbol of a dark rebellion—she thwarted the deadly intent of the treacherous Order of the Sword and Scroll, but at a shattering cost. Now, she fights to survive among a tribe of fierce Wind Reapers who troll the wasteland aboard massive metal walkers. But a new storm is brewing and Charlotte is once again the linchpin in a deadly plan...

Romance on the Run + a Giveaway!

As an author, I often find myself scouting for book locations while on vacation in real life. A trip to visit my brother in Seattle sparked one of my first romantic suspense novels. I think it was the stormy sky and all that flannel that opened up the idea of a city being part of the emotional journey for the main character. The scent, the light, the hum of a place that isn't your home can really be exciting and just the thing to spark some romance.

An old abandoned building with its shifting shadows could make for an intriguing meeting place. Perhaps the cute cabin on our family hike would be ideal for my sweet proposal scene. The zoo was fun. I am well prepared for a lion escape.

Locations can be a major force in storytelling. From windswept cliffs and creepy mansions in a Gothic romance to the sunlit hills that soothe the soul of a returning heartbreaker. I'm always on the lookout for unique places to spark that romance.

My husband is good at this. He'll point out an especially strange buildings or unsettling dark alleys and ask me what I would do to cause havoc there. He knows me so well. Often my stories of romance come at an edge-of-your-seat pace. And maybe a few explosions.

For my upcoming series, I faced a new challenge with regard to location.  My steampunk romance, The Tremblers, is set in alternative history. Victorian America after a calamitous event that nearly leveled the country. So the set pieces of my romance needed to be both beautiful and haunting. There had to be echoes of what was lost and a hope for what was to come. A lot like the relationship between my hero and heroine.

The most romantic places in The Tremblers are also the most dangerous. Outer City, the boomtown in the clouds boasts romantic vistas of the entire fragile land. The sky boardwalk and floating markets with blimps and dirigibles in bright colors is a sight to see while sipping from a glass with your swashbuckling sweetheart.

I know that the massive electric Tesla domes protecting the cities sparkle purple at dusk against a pink sky....but I would love to cuddle with my husband and see it for real. However, I think it is the stark beauty of the wasteland desert where multicolored flames lick against a crimson horizon that is the most romantic place.

Whether you are on your own front lawn or sailing on an aero ship, one can find romance in unexpected places.

Article originally appeared as a guest post on InkSlinger Blog

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I'm having a giveaway to celebrate the release of The Tremblers!

Only two more days to enter...

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Tremblers

by Raquel Byrnes

Giveaway ends January 31, 2018.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Travel Tales & Goodies!

Today I am over at Tanya's Travel Topics to discuss the inspiration behind the bustling sky settlement of Outer City in my YA Steampunk thriller, The Tremblers!

Stop by to say hello, leave a comment, and don't forget to sign up for the chance to win a free, signed copy of The Tremblers below!

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Tremblers

by Raquel Byrnes

Giveaway ends January 31, 2018.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Cant wait to win? How about TWO FREE NOVELLAS? Discover the secrets that set in motion the incredible adventures of The Blackburn Chronicles with two FREE READS!

Guest Post and Giveaway!

Hop over to Shannon Vannater's blog, for a fun interview where we talk secrets, catastrophe, and Mice King battles.

And don't forget to enter the GoodReads giveaway below for a chance to win a signed copy of The Tremblers!

Charlotte Blackburn—Beautiful, intelligent, a gifted tinkerer—lives in a cloistered world of wealth and privilege beneath the Electric Tesla Dome that shields survivors of The Great Calamity. But when her father is abducted, and a strange sickness starts transforming men into vicious monsters, she discovers that technology is no protection at all.

Ashton Wells has a dire mission: Secure Colonel Blackburn and deliver his research to The Order of the Sword and Scroll. But the plan goes awry, and he is left with nothing but the colonel's daughter who has a target on her back and is willing stop at nothing to rescue her father—including handing over to the enemy the only means to stop the monstrous plague.

Branded as traitors, Ashton and Charlotte brave the treacherous floating sky ports of Outer City to hunt down the elusive inventor, Nikola Tesla—the only person able to activate the strange device that harbors the secret to their salvation. 

With the government closing in, a rebellion brewing in the streets, and terrifying Tremblers attacking the innocent, the two must work together to stop their fragile world from crumbling once more into destruction.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

     

The Tremblers

by Raquel Byrnes

Giveaway ends January 31, 2018.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway

Space Trash - Interview & Giveaway

Stop by J.C. Steel's blog, Space Trash, for a fun interview on his Galaxy of Authors series!where we talk secrets, catastrophe, and Mice King battles.

And don't forget to enter the GoodReads giveaway below for a chance to win a signed copy of The Tremblers!

Charlotte Blackburn—Beautiful, intelligent, a gifted tinkerer—lives in a cloistered world of wealth and privilege beneath the Electric Tesla Dome that shields survivors of The Great Calamity. But when her father is abducted, and a strange sickness starts transforming men into vicious monsters, she discovers that technology is no protection at all.

Ashton Wells has a dire mission: Secure Colonel Blackburn and deliver his research to The Order of the Sword and Scroll. But the plan goes awry, and he is left with nothing but the colonel's daughter who has a target on her back and is willing stop at nothing to rescue her father—including handing over to the enemy the only means to stop the monstrous plague.

Branded as traitors, Ashton and Charlotte brave the treacherous floating sky ports of Outer City to hunt down the elusive inventor, Nikola Tesla—the only person able to activate the strange device that harbors the secret to their salvation. 

With the government closing in, a rebellion brewing in the streets, and terrifying Tremblers attacking the innocent, the two must work together to stop their fragile world from crumbling once more into destruction.

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Tremblers

by Raquel Byrnes

Giveaway ends January 31, 2018.
See the giveaway details at Goodreads.

Enter Giveaway