On the writing process; on characters that reincarnate; on working with air dry clay!

A frequent question writers are asked is whether one is a pantser or a plotter. What this means is whether one begins writing a story without really knowing how the story will develop or whether one first plots all the scenes, characters etc. and only then begins writing. Most writers fall somewhere in between. In my case I only begin to write once I have a pretty good idea who my characters are, how the story begins and a general idea how it develops and ends.

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My first air dry clay creation! It’s not perfect, but I’ve fallen in love with air dry clay. It’s so easy to use.

On writing chapter 1; on ‘This Is How You Lose the Time War’ by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone; on making cold pasta salad

This week’s newsletter is out on http://carolinesciriha.substack.com

I’d love to know what you liked / did not like and what you wish to read about in future newsletters.

Coming soon…

Thank you all those who have already subscribed to my newsletter and for the encouraging messages I’ve received. I’m glad you enjoyed the short story ‘When Two Rivers Meet’

I’ll be uploading posts every alternate Friday, starting from this week. Looking forward to meeting you there!

carolinesciriha.substack.com

Launch of Caroline’s Newsletter

I’ve long felt the need for a space where we could chat about books we love, about the process of writing and about other creative activities. With this in mind, I’ve set up a newsletter. If you think this is something you’ll enjoy receiving, or if you simply wish to read one of my short stories, head over to https://carolinesciriha.substack.com .  Looking forward to seeing you there.

The end of one adventure

I’ve been AWOL for some time but due to circumstances the publisher and I have parted ways and book 3 will not be published next month as scheduled. I’m disappointed of course, but there are so many other more serious issues in the world at the moment that I’m keeping things in perspective. Thank you all for your continual support. I’m writing a new story at the moment and that helps. And in the meantime: Keep Safe.

Shael and the dragon in Days of Wind and Snow

The meeting between Shael and the dragon was one of the scenes I enjoyed writing most in Days of Wind and Snow – especially as he took over the page, arriving complete with attitude and smelly breath!

Fight scenes in the Hyllethan Gifts trilogy

Two weeks to go till the release of Days of Wind and Snow. Since the first chapter was attached to the back of Dawn of Purple and Gray, some of you may remember the excerpt reproduced in the picture.

Writing fighting scenes can be both fun and problematic. Short phrases instead of whole sentences, or short sentences help to quicken the pace and give the impression of a lot happening in a short time. Alternatively, one can ‘stretch’ a moment in time to create tension and a feeling of doom. Using multiple senses (smell, touch, sound, not just sight) helps too to make the scene seem realistic. Below is an excerpt from a fight scene in book 1:

The (cloak’s) ties dug into Shael’s airways. She couldn’t breathe. Frantically, she groped for the hilt of the knife in her boot. The comforting touch of wood in her grasp, Shael slashed.

Yelping, the girl let go of the material, a line of blood trickling down her arm.

Shael gulped in air, sweat stinging her eyes. She pulled herself away from under the girl’s weight, the asphyxiating smell of unwashed clothing and stale sweat making her head spin even more.

As can be seen from the above passage, concentrating on the protagonist’s thoughts and reactions and on particular details (e.g. the smell of unwashed clothing) makes, I think, for a better read than a blow-by-blow account.

Do you enjoy reading fight scenes? What makes them enjoyable, or not?

 

Days of Wind and Snow: the Prince Regent

As the countdown to the release of book 2 – Days of Wind and Snow – begins, today I’m attaching an extract that reveals more than anything Shael’s impression of her grandfather and her own sense of unease in her new role.

Short Stories 366:9 — “A Crooked Road Home,” by Caroline Sciriha

A great review on one of the stories I enjoyed writing 🙂

'Nathan Burgoine

Most of the stories in Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space) bring a protagonist to the table to really root for, and while Sciriha’s pirate is conflicted, I struggled to wish well of him given the first we see of him is his dooming a colony ship worth of passengers to suffocate and die. So this wasn’t going to be a Rah-rah, you go, guy! kind of story.

Pirates aren’t kind people, and even in a futuristic setting there’s going to be that level of death in play, and as his past is explored, there was some sympathy given for how he got to where he got. He feels bad about it, and that’s at least something, and he’s in an impossible situation, too, with a horrendous father higher up on the piracy food-chain, and a near insurmountable debt he can only repay by piracy, but… I couldn’t…

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Release of Hyllethan Gifts #2: Days of Wind and Snow

I’ve been busy these last couple of weeks editing book 2 and there’s still some more work left to be done, so I wasn’t surprised when the publisher told me we’re running late. This means the release date of Days of Wind and Snow has been postponed by a couple of weeks. Sorry to disappoint those of you who told me they can’t wait (!) to dive into book 2. However, since we’re about a month away from the release date, I’ll start dropping a few teasers—hmm—excerpts 🙂 from it. Here’s the first one from the opening paragraphs of Days of Wind and Snow.

(If anyone who’s enjoyed Dawn of Purple and Gray (now also available through Book Depository) feels like leaving a review on Amazon and/or Goodreads, it would be greatly appreciated… 🙂 )