Beth Alvarez - Author of Epic Fantasy

  • Friday Photo Break, vol. 10

    If you never have the chance to travel in your lifetime, I am terribly sorry. I’ve never really traveled much, but the trip to Acapulco is one I’ll never forget. It’s hard to believe the ocean was that blue, especially since we ended up living on the east coast and seeing the Atlantic’s choppy, dark waters for the next year after our trip.
    Every time I look back at the pictures I took, I think of the quote printed on the cover of one of my journals used for writing: The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only one page.

  • Exploring Influences: The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey

    As some of you may remember, I blogged last year about the various series I felt had earned a place on my influence map. I kept each paragraph brief, but there’s a lot more to say about each of them, so I decided to do a series of posts on the matter. Over the next few months, we’ll explore the different influences, one each Thursday, and I’ll share a bit about what it is that made an impact on my writing.
    First up: The Black Gryphon.

    The first book of my first and favorite series by Mercedes Lackey, The Black Gryphon introduced me to a lot of world-building concepts. The gryphons had their own unique backstory, the mages had a detailed and interesting power source for their magic, and the world was abound with its own fictional species.

    Lots of fantasy books contain the old staples and standbys, orcs and elves and dwarves, even my own books do. But The Black Gryphon was the first I’d read where the author broke away from the traditional mythos and created a lot of their own races and bestiary.

    It also introduced me to the idea of including artwork of characters, locations or special items at the chapter headers, something I definitely want to try when it comes time for my own fantasy books to see the light of day.

    Both of these are things I’ve seen in other books and series since then, of course, but since this was my first exposure to the ideas, it’s what I’ll always remember the series for, and a strong reason it continues to influence my work.

    Next week: The Wheel of Time.

  • Making the most of your social media

    Everywhere you go, people tell you that having an internet presence is very important for writers. But why? We aren’t in a position to give our work away for free through our internet presence, what else do we have to offer? I’ve spent a lot of time looking around online, trying to figure out what I can offer the people who come here and read what I have to say. After weeks of research, the conclusion I reached is that all I have to offer is an opinion.

    So why use social media? Why spend the time building up a platform and a presence? There’s a few reasons for it that I’ve found. Though they, too, are only opinions.
    An author should be accessible. Once people have read your work, you should be easy to find. If you don’t maintain a presence on the major social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, you’re less likely to be found by your fans. Likewise, a blog is sure to turn up on Google, as the dynamic, ever-changing content of blogs makes them very easy for search engines to find.

    Something important to remember is that these connections are not really meant for selling your work. Look for authors on Twitter, especially indie authors. What you’re going to find is a sea of voices, all fighting to shout louder than the rest, all trying to convince you to buy their work. This is a bad thing for a lot of authors to do, because you just become another nagging advertisement echoing in the ears of people who are tired of being treated like nothing but a wallet with legs.

    It’s more important for these connections to be used for interaction. Yes, the kind of interaction you’d have with a friend in another state or your mom back home! Regular, human, face-to-internet-face interaction. While branding yourself and your work is important, it’s more important to be what you are: A person.

    Some of the best advice on using social media I’ve come across came from Allison, the manager of the online handicraft marketplace Delighted. It’s advice good enough to repeat here, along with a useful infographic for Twitter and Facebook that I originally found on their forums.

    Twitter
    The advice Allison shared for Twitter surprised me: If you’re not excited about using it, forget it. This was sort of a relief for me, because while I use Twitter, I’m more of a casual user. I don’t tweet a whole lot, sometimes just once every few days, and I have a tendency to forget it exists.
    That said, at least I have a presence there. And if a Twitter user is looking for me, they can find me. I can still be contacted that way, it’s just not my first choice.

    Facebook
    There were a few important points for Facebook usage. For starters, don’t post a lot. Once a day is plenty. If you post more than that, you’re going to be mentally categorized as spam, and users will start hiding you from their feed. That’s exactly the opposite of what you want! Whenever you post, you want to include questions or encouragement for users to interact with your media. Inviting interaction can be as simple as posting a picture of your main character’s car and telling users to “like” the photo if they’d drive one. And always acknowledge your commenters. Everyone wants to be recognized.

    As an aside, images generally receive a stronger response than text updates. You should always be sure to upload the images to your own page, rather than sharing them from elsewhere. That way, if a user shares what you have posted, it will be linked back to you!
    Also, be sure to include a link to your blog or website in your “About” info, so that it appears on the top whenever someone views your author page!

    Pinterest
    Pinterest may not seem like an obvious choice for writers, but it can be a useful tool because of the way photos shared can quickly go viral.
    Make sure your profile is filled out and includes a link to your website or blog. Create boards for each of your stories and then fill it with relevant things – Outfits your characters would wear, snapshots of cities they visit in their travels, and of course, the cover of your book, if it’s already published. Try keeping a board for inspiration, too, so you can share glimpses of objects or scenery that motivate you.

    And of course, be sure to make the most of your descriptions. Fill out the description fields of all of your pins and the boards you’re pinning to, and make the descriptions as relevant as possible. After all, what’s more likely to be found in a search engine? A statement of “I love this!”, or something like “These red flowers look just like what the vampires grow in Arizona!”?
    The latter provides a lot more keywords and variables, meaning your pin might turn up when someone’s looking for any of those things – Flowers, vampires, Arizona, or just the color red.

    Blogging is my favorite, but what’s your preferred social media platform?

  • Caturday no. 2

    As with most cats, Noodle started her life as an adorable, fluffy kitten. Don’t let the sweet face fool you, she was naughty and mean from the very first day, but we kept her anyway.
    This picture was taken by my little sister, Hannah of Super Cosplay Café.
    I think Noodle was 9 or 10 weeks old by this time. When we brought her home, she fit in the palm of your hand.

  • Friday Photo Break, vol. 9

    Can you believe it’s already been two months since I started photo breaks?
    Number 9 here is a strange flower I saw on our honeymoon. There were a lot of them, and I tried to take pictures of them many times over the course of the stay before I got a decent shot.
    This was, of course, the only decent shot.

  • Fear of Fanfiction

    Fanfiction is a topic of debate for many writers and readers alike, perhaps more so after the writing and subsequent publication of 50 Shades of Grey. The feelings that writers have on the matter are often a very mixed bag, though on the whole, according to their official policies on the matter, the majority of authors seem to be in support of it.

    I must confess, now that I’m grown and writing my own books, I’ve discovered something about myself: I’m afraid of fanfiction.

    Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea of it. As a matter of fact, fanfic was a part of my growing up. In my early years of internet usage a good 15 years ago, I heartily enjoyed participating in a Dragonriders of Pern-based roleplaying game. As I aged and my ideas and creativity matured, I pulled away from it, preferring to write my own stories instead. Some people grow of fanfiction like it’s a phase, others continue to write it throughout their lives, but everyone develops an opinion on the matter.

    I love the idea of people being able to build in my worlds, create their own characters (Referred to on the internet as OCs) to take on adventures in situations I’ve created, even sharing those adventures with others across the internet. But then there’s the concept of others using characters I’ve lovingly created and brought to life, and just not being able to cast them in the light they deserve.

    Okay, so I’m not really afraid of fanfiction, exactly – I’m afraid of bad fanfiction. I’m afraid of poor personification and fans who can’t quite get into the heads of these fictional people I’ve made, who don’t understand their motives or maybe aren’t skilled enough in their craft yet to portray them well. I’m afraid of the inevitable My Series x Disney crossover fics. It’s going to happen, because that’s the way the internet works. Everything exists. If it doesn’t yet, it will be created.

    On the whole, I shouldn’t worry. If ever I reach a point where my writing is prolific enough that it’s honored with fanfiction, I will revel in the idea of original characters being placed in the worlds I’ve made, helping solve its problems, even meeting my own canon characters along the way. I will welcome it with open arms.
    But writers are discouraged from reading fanfiction based on their works, so even though there will likely be less than stellar fics out there, I’m never going to see them. I shouldn’t worry, so I’ll try not to. On the whole, I have faith in readers.

    But I’m pretty sure artwork of my characters paired with someone else’s OC on deviantART will still make me twitch.

    What are your feelings on fanfiction? Have you ever written any of your own?

  • Caturday no. 1

    Noodle was, when we got her, a very mean cat.
    Most kittens are cute and fluffy and sweet, but oh, no. Not Noodle. She was cute, fluffy, and mean.

    Noodle will be two years old in early April. She is a tortoiseshell tabby, an American short-hair mongrel. “Mongrel” is a term that’s always used so negatively, and I’m not really sure why. Extensive crossbreeding and unknown ancestry aren’t bad things. I’m an American mongrel, myself, I guess Noodle and I have that in common.
    Of course, I’m a human, not a cat, and I’m of the long-haired variety.

  • Friday Photo Break, vol. 8

    One of my rare non-flower photos, this one is a favorite of mine because it’s so humorous. Well, the circumstances leading up to it were humorous.
    I went to the Memphis Zoo with a neighbor and her son not long before they moved away, a spur of the moment decision. It was a dreary, cloudy day and all of the animals had been in hiding. I’d taken my camera, but hadn’t gotten anything worthwhile.
    Then there was this guy, a sea lion out lazing on a rock. He was asleep, and try as I might, I could only get a shot of his back end.
    “Come on!” I yelled, because yelling at a sea lion is totally something you should do. Then again, I was surrounded by kids, so it wasn’t like I was the only person yelling. “Give me something to work with, here! Strike a dramatic pose or something!“

    Much to my surprise, he did exactly that, rising to his flippers and lifting his nose toward the heavens, just as the clouds parted and a shaft of light fell into the arena.

    Perfect.

  • Cat Pictures

    I’ve been around the internet long enough to be familiar with the importance of cats. The internet loves cats, which is why it was no surprise that when Monopoly was looking to the internet for a new piece to use in the board game, the proposed cat won by a landslide.

    Some cats, like Maru, become internet celebrities in their own right. Maru even has books about him published! I’ve read one, actually, thanks to my friend Ashley over at Of The Ash Tree. It’s cute and charming, but what else would you expect from an internet cat?

    There’s another interesting  thing about cats and the world wide web. You see, cat pictures are sort of a form of internet currency. People with kitties often trade pictures of them, or give pictures of particularly cute cats as gifts to their loved ones.

    Cat pictures also serve as greeting cards, something you might send to a friend when they are down or feeling under the weather. Goodness knows I’ve done that before. That picture of a kitten buried in marshmallows? Adorable.

    In any case, cats are well-loved and popular online. I am not, so pictures of a cat are surely more valuable than the words I’ve written in this post. That said, I am quite fortunate to own a cat, and cat ownership means I am obligated to share pictures of said cat with the internet.
    So, I’ve heard of this thing called “Cat Saturday” – or Caturday, if you will – and I figure it won’t hurt anything to join in. I’ll try to share a picture of my feline friend each Saturday (ahem, Caturday) and tell you a little bit about her. In the meantime, I’ll go ahead and start it off now.

    Meet Noodle, my cat.

    That’s worth one internet point, correct?

  • Friday Photo Break, vol. 7

     
    I spend a lot of time photographing flowers. There’s something wonderful about capturing them, preserving something that’s so ephemeral. Here one day and gone tomorrow, but the pictures will always be here. Or until I suffer a major hard drive crash after forgetting to back them up, anyway.
    These yellow flowers were all over at the resort my husband and I visited on our honeymoon. We spent a week in Acapulco, at the Camino Real Acapulco Diamante hotel.

    The place was amazing, from the front lobby to the room to the gardens and beach behind the resort. It rained while we were there, which kept us from exploring the whole first day. Instead we ate ice cream and watched I Am Legend, which was probably not the greatest idea, given my irrational mortal fear of zombies.