YAlicious: Writing

I was chatting to an author friend of mine the other day about bad boys and good guys. We were discussing the merits of both types of love stories.

The ones where the bad boy is turned around by the love of a good girl is appealing. There is something very sexy about it, yet also redeeming. I think it's easy to be attracted to a bad boy. There is something dangerous and sexy about them. The only thing I don't like about it, is the way these female characters put up with being treated like crap. Because sometimes bad boys are just bad boys and there is no redemption for them. I read a great book last month by Anna Cruise - If I Fall and it was actually refreshing to read about a bad boy, who actually stayed bad, because at his core he was a callous jerk. It made the good guy in the story so much cooler.

Which leads me to the good guys.
I love good guys. I love the idea that they exist :) Because they do. There are plenty of amazing men in this world who really care about their women. They want to protect and cherish their girl and I love writing characters like that. They may not be quite as dangerous and sexy, but they are just so incredibly sweet and good, we don't need them to be.

This discussion got me thinking about all the love interests I've written in my books and I've quickly come to realize that I like writing characters that are now good, but used to be bad - like Dale Finnigan from the Betwixt Series. He has been one of my favourite characters to write. Because of his bad boy years he has a depth of character that I love.

Who are you attracted to in books?
Do you like the bad boy? The good guy? Or the guy who has redeemed himself and become worthy of the girl's love?

Me personally - I like reading all three. Variety is the spice of life, right?

I have been lucky enough to meet this lovely author through a Facebook Group I recently joined. When I saw she had recently released Forged by Greed, I really wanted to invite her onto YAlicious. Now, I haven't read the book yet, but the cover is stunning and it looks like a great read. It's sitting on my kindle, eagerly waiting for me to get through my TBR :)

Two Seattle 16-year-olds, Jatred and Jasmira, are not your typical star-crossed lovers. They are not even your typical Shape Shifters. Sure, they try to live an ordinary life. At least, as ordinary as the Prince and the Princess of the rivaling ancient Races--the Winter wolves and the Summer leopards--can live. But eventually they learn that not much about their existence can be normal. Especially when the Races' two commanding Goddesses are involved.

One of the Goddesses is on a quest to tilt the scale of power to her side. The other will never let it happen, even if it means kicking Jatred and Jasmira's love to the curb. Nothing is off limits, including removing Jatred's memories of Jasmira.

To complicate things even more, there are the Universe's powers to consider. They are trapped in an ancient Amulet in order to protect the stability of the world. But the Universe has a mind of its own, and when the powers are unleashed, the forces of nature are disturbed; earthquakes, tsunamis, and volcanic eruptions shake the Earth. All Shifters of both Races are summoned by their respective Goddesses to fight in the name of, or against, the normalcy of the world.

From the author:

Forged by Greed is a Young Adult paranormal romance novel with elements of high fantasy, thriller, mythology, and humor. Readers of novels by Maggie Stiefvater and Cassandra Clare might consider adding this book to their list.

Forged by Greed blends the elements of urban fantasy, paranormal, and contemporary. It is a story about teenage shape shifters, goddesses, the powers of the Universe, and magic.

This is the first book in The Forged Series. Book two is scheduled for publishing in summer 2013.

*****

It is my total pleasure to have Angela share her guest post on Why Writers Write. Welcome to YAlicious, Angela :)

Why do writers, write? Why do we publish our stories? Is it to express ourselves, or to make that bestseller list? Is it to share the product of our imagination, or is it simply to make a living? There isn’t one answer that would fit all. Every writer has her/his own reasons. So let’s see what some of the famous authors say about why they write and what, in their opinion, the writing is about:

"You don’t write because you want to say something. You write because you have something to say." F. Scott Fitzgerald

"As far as I'm concerned, the entire reason for becoming a writer is not having to get up in the morning." Neil Gaiman

"The answer to that is fairly simple-there was nothing else I was made to do. I was made to write stories and I love to write stories. That's why I do it. I really can't imagine doing anything else and I can't imagine not doing what I do." Stephen King

"If there is a magic in story writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to a recipe that can be passed from one person to another. The formula seems to lie solely in the aching urge of the writer to convey something he feels important to the reader. If the writer has that urge, he may sometimes, but by no means always, find the way to do it. You must perceive the excellence that makes a good story good or the errors that makes a bad story. For a bad story is only an ineffective story.” John Steinbeck

"To get the right word in the right place is a rare achievement. To condense the diffused light of a page of thought into the luminous flash of a single sentence, is worthy to rank as a prize composition just by itself... Anybody can have ideas—the difficulty is to express them without squandering a quire of paper on an idea that ought to be reduced to one glittering paragraph." Mark Twain in a letter to Emeline Beach, 1868.

"Writing, at its best, is a lonely life. Organizations for writers palliate the writer's loneliness, but I doubt if they improve his writing. He grows in public stature as he sheds his loneliness and often his work deteriorates. For he does his work alone and if he is a good enough writer he must face eternity, or the lack of it, each day. You know that fiction is possibly the roughest trade of all in writing. You do not have the reference, the old important reference.

You have the sheet of blank paper, the pencil, and the obligation to invent truer than things can be true. You have to take what is not palpable and make it completely palpable and also have it seem normal and so that it can become a part of experience of the person who reads it." Ernest Hemingway

"You get ideas from daydreaming. You get ideas from being bored. You get ideas all the time. The only difference between writers and other people is we notice when we're doing it." Neil Gaiman

"You can approach the act of writing with nervousness, excitement, hopefulness, or even despair, the sense that you can never completely put on the page what’s in your mind and heart. You can come to the act with your fists clenched and your eyes narrowed, ready to kick ass and take down names. You can come to it because you want a girl to marry you or because you want to change the world. Come to it any way but lightly. Let me say it again: you must not come lightly to the blank page." Stephen King

Are you a writer? If so, do you write for living or just as a hobby? What does writing mean to you? What, in your opinion, is the most important aspect of writing?

Thanks so much for these quotes, Angela. I know I write, because I would feel less of a person if I didn't. I write because I have stories burning inside me that want to get out. I write because I love to lose myself in a story and I share those stories, because I want to give other the opportunity to step out of reality and lose themselves in another world for a while.

If you'd like to lose yourself in Forged by Greed, you can purchase the book here:

Amazon US

Amazon UK

If you'd like to connect with Angela online, you can follow the links below:

Goodreads