Novel Climax

As I plan out my next manuscript I'm thinking a lot about the final climax. When should the climax come? How big should it be etc.... It made me wonder when I prefer the climax to be. Do I like it to be on the last page with little or no story after it, or do I prefer there to be a scene or two following the climax so we can see everyone is happy or all is okay?

Let's look at both extremes: (spoliers)

Romeo and Juliet. The climax is obviously when they both die. The story basically ends there, there can be no happy ending or anything else. Their deaths kill the story. But man, what an ending. Sudden, unexpected and you'll be thinking about it for weeks.

Twilight's Breaking Dawn. Is there a climax in this? Without an actual fight happening, Breaking Dawn sort of just ends with the Voltaire leaving with their tails between their legs and then we get the super gooey romantic stuff between Edward and Bella, with the added little twist of Bella's new power. Personally I loved all that gooey stuff and like Romeo and Juliet still thought about it for weeks.

How important is it that the climax is big and unexpected?
 What are your favourite books and how important was the climax to you enjoying it?

Interview with Mica from Forbidden Territory

Forbidden Territory is due out July 1st this year, so Brenda and I thought it would be fun to do some character interviews and share little tid-bits about their world before the book is launched. Don't worry - this will be spoiler free :)

Brenda interviewed Lexy a little while ago - here is the link: Lexy Interview.
And now it's my turn to interview Mica Latham. Now I thought I'd include a little model pic, so you can get an idea of what she looks like in my head. I couldn't find the perfect photo, but this was pretty close... this is how I imagine her hair anyway :)

Thanks for joining us, Mica.
No worries :)

So - let's start with some basics. 
How old are you and how long have you been living in Te Anau?
I'm 16. I'll be 17 soon though.
I've lived here since I was 3, so you know, forever.

Do you like it?
Yeah, it's okay. I mean it's pretty and everything. It can get a little boring and majorly claustrophobic. I guess it's lucky I like Lexy so much, huh. She grins. We hang out a lot. She keeps me sane.

What's she like?
Lex is great. She totally cracks me up, because she's my opposite. I mean her room is like, pristine - everything has a home and makes it there at the end of everyday. You can see the carpet and everything. She works really hard and is smart and good at school. She seems to like it, unlike moi. She totally knows what she wants out of life and isn't afraid to go for it.  Um - what else? Oh yeah - she's gorgeous and I'm only a little bit jealous of that. If she wasn't so sweet and unassuming about it, I'd probably hate her. She laughs. She's also really responsible and keeps me out of trouble unless my persuasive skills are on overdrive... then we get up to mischief.

Is there...?

Oh yeah - one other thing. She has the world's hottest brother, who also happens to be sweet and generous and strong and wonderful and everything I could ever possibly want in a guy.

I assume you're talking about Eli?
Grabbing her necklace, she fidgets with the carving and gives a blushing nod.

By the sounds of things you three had quite the adventure hiking over Easter.
Yeah, with Tom as well. Lexy's like totally in love with him, I'm sure she's told you. He's pretty cool actually - the closest thing I've ever had to a brother. I really love him. He's a sweetheart.

But yeah, hiking was... very adventurous. I mean, hell scary and not something I'm overly keen on repeating in a hurry, but in spite of all the crappy stuff that happened, some cool stuff happened too. So I'm still glad we went. I wouldn't change it.

I think we'll stop there for today, but I might ask you and Lexy back in a week or two for some quick fire questions.
Sounds like fun. I'll be there.

Thanks, Mica


If you want to find out a little more about Mica and Lexy, you can check out Forbidden Territory on Goodreads, LIKE the Mica & Lexy Facebook Page and there is also a FREE SAMPLER available with the first few chapters of Forbidden Territory.

Thanks so much for stopping by everyone :)

Friday Favourites - Fight scenes

Before I get started with FF this week, I just want to say... Cooks Beach was AWESOME!! There is nothing cooler than hanging out with your bestie non-stop for 4 days. Love it :)

Now ironically, I'm going to talk about fight scenes... something that never happens between me and my bestie, but something I really love reading or watching on screen.

Am I crazy?

I just love a good fight scene. Do you?

There's something so exciting about being caught up in a fight, whether it's physical or verbal, on the pages or on the screen. Your emotions are stretched to their limit. You are either heart broken or elated... and it's those moments in a story that have you hooked.

For me, there is something so alluring about two people battling it out... especially if it's a guy fighting to save his girl. Yeah, yeah, I know - I'm a romantic sap!!

But come on - you can't pass up the moment in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves when Robin catapults himself over a castle wall and runs through the hallways shouting "Marion!" only to battle it out to the death with the Sheriff in order to save her life. (Okay - hands up if you think that sentence is too long!) But you get the idea - it's cool!

Or what about that moment in Twilight when Edward arrives in the ballet studio just in time to save Bella.

Or that moment when Ren finally gets to punch the crap out of Chuck in Footloose.

It's those times you want to throw your hands in the air and cheer. It's those moments when true character is revealed. When everything is put on the line and the MC finally finds what they need to fight it out and win the thing they crave the most.

What kind of fights do you enjoy?
Do you enjoy them? If so - what is it that makes them so enticing?

Time For Some Fun At The Beach!

With our gorgeous husbands both being a school teachers, we have decided to take advantage of the holidays and head to the beach.

We will be away this week with our families. Awesome!! We're so looking forward to hanging out and having big chats while our kids play together :)

We will be back on Friday for Friday Favourites.

In the meantime, we hope everyone has a stupendous week!!

This is where we will be... Cooks Beach, this gorgeous little place on the Coromandel coastline and just around the corner is Hot Water Beach where you can basically dig your own spa pool. Super fun :)

Friday Favourites ~ hair styles

I have long hair. I grew it long when I was 15, after years of my mum cutting it short and not letting me grow it. I guess you could say I rebelled!! And I haven't been able to cut it short since. Recently it was so long it almost reached my butt, but I got my brother (a hairdresser) to give me a new style and now it's layered, which is great as it suits my hair curly and straight (I love my straightener).

Anyway I do tend to get stuck in a rut with my hairstyle. I don't really follow trends, I just like it long. When it comes to the characters I write, I always give them long hair too. I seem to have a 'thing' about short hair (I still blame mum and my childhood). I wear braids a lot, throw my hair in a ponytail or messy knot but hardly ever wear it down (my children tend to pull on it).

What I was wondering today was, does a character's hair say much about who they are?

When I watch movies, I find it unrealistic that females have their hair down and styled through the whole movie when that SO doesn't happen in real life. We girls put our hair up to get it out of our faces (or out of the way of grubby baby hands), we don't have it dangling down while we clean the toilet etc... etc... so I'm thinking it's probably good to be aware of that while we are writing so our characters are real, not movie characters!

After saying all that, what is your fave hairstyle or what hairstyle would you love to have ?
I have messy curls that aren't tight and springy or loose and gorgeous, did I mention I love to use my straightener!! But if I had more time (and skill) I'd love those loose big curls that hang perfectly around the face and shoulders!

That first kiss!

How far into the book do you prefer the inevitable first kiss to be? The book I'm reading right now, has the kiss on the first page. The girls' FIRST kiss and it's on the first page. No build up, no getting to know the character, no story. To be honest, it was too soon for me. Yet I don't like the kiss to be left until the last page either.

As a teen, I couldn't WAIT to be kissed. It was what I dreamed about, what I read about... I can remember vividly my first kiss with my husband (back in high school a few months after we started going out) it was on his trampoline one sunny afternoon. It was perfect and very much anticipated.

Writers: do you carefully plan that first kiss in your books?
Readers: what are your favourite first kisses in books?

What Are You Reading Right Now?

I was hoping to do a book review today, but things keep getting in the way of me finishing my book. I am not great at reading multiple books at a time and when my proof copy of Pure Blood arrived, I had to set aside 13 on Halloween so I could do a final read through and get the last book of my trilogy ready for paperback release on May 1st.

Are you the type of person that can read more than one book?

What type of books attract you the most?

I get bored with just one genre, so I like to jump around. I am reading a ton of YA at the moment, which I love the most, but every now and then I like to pull out an adult book.

I really do like a wide range - everything from chick lit to action/thriller, my only criteria is a little romance.

How about you? What's your criteria?

Whatever you're reading at the moment, I hope it's a great book and you're managing to get lost in a world of drama, humour, magic, mystery, romance or all of the above :)