Category Archives: Books

Writing Tips – Worldbuilding

Brainstorming BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS's world!

On a message board I’m on, someone asked about worldbuilding, ie how do you do it.

I’ll admit, world building can be both fun (LOVE, LOVE, LOVE IT!) and intimidating (MY WORLDS AND PLOTS GROW LIKE KUDZU, AND THERE I AM BLITHELY SPRAYING MIRACLE GROW ON THEM. Of course, after the fact, I can be found pulling my hair and wandering around the house mumbling, “How am I going to get all this into one book and the romance, too”), but I did try to find a way to answer the question that might help things click into place.

You know me…I gotta make it visual…well, at least relate it to something one can visualize. :wink: So here goes.

The Puzzle of Worldbuildlng

Try to relay tidbits of the world in the natural course of the story…via characters discussing things or visiting places or events happening where the world building can be woven in seamlessly piece by piece.

Maybe one way to think of laying out the mythology in the story is to do it the same way you would approach working on a 500 piece puzzle. For instance, the bits of your worldbuilding you DO know–the basic framework of your world–would flow easily early on in your story and should be slipped into place without much effort. Consider this first layer of worldbuilding like the puzzle’s outside pieces, where that one straight edge helps you form the main border.

Once all the outside pieces are placed, you then work your way inward, using the picture on the front of the puzzle box to help you decipher the colors and shapes stamped on the pieces, turning them until they all finally come together in a completed puzzle and overall picture. You do this secondary part of your worldbuilding via creative dialogue, action/fight scenes, flashbacks, dream sequences, a hunt for something/discovery of something, etc…anything that flows into the natural unfolding of the story. This deeper level of worldbuilding happens throughout every scene, even down to the last few pages.

P.T.

Brightest Kind of Darkness ♫ PLAYLIST & more great reviews!

Hi everyone!

Well, I tried my best to add BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS’S playlist to this blog post, but WordPress doesn’t like to play nice with flash player…SO I’ll list it below.

PLAYLIST for Brightest Kind of Darkness (Dream, book 1)

Something to Believe In by Parachute
Just a Kiss
by Lady Antebellum
Who are you, really?
by Mikky Ekko
Beautiful Disaster
by Kelly Clarkson
My Last Breath
by Evanescence
Kiss Me Slowly
by Parachute

Click HERE to listen to the playlist

I hope you’ll share your thoughts on the playlist as well as pass this blog’s link along to others others.

Also, I have two more awesome reviews to share for BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS from Nomalicious Reads and Seeing Night Reviews.  I’m posting snippets below with links to Kate and Kristen’s review sites for you to read the full review.

 

“Brightest Kind of Darkness is definitely the kind of book that you want to curl up in bed with on a stormy winter night… or any night really. It doesn’t really matter, because either way, you’ll step away with a great feeling of: heart-warming fuzziness and an intriguing shock worthy end that you wont see coming…” Kate, Nomalicious Reads (click HERE to read the full review)

~*~

“Overall this was such a joy to read, it was dark, mysterious, romantic, and most important it made you think. With each turn of the page I was surprised and really taken with this story. The ending left me hanging a little but I’m happy that the mystery is just starting to unfold. I highly recommend The Brightest Kind of Darkness…” Kristen, Seeing Night Reviews (click HERE to read the full review)

 

New review and a teaser!

Hi everyone!

I wanted to share an awesome review I just received for BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS by Becky at Stories & Sweeties. Here’s a bit of what she had to say about Ethan and Nara’s story!

5 Cupcakes! “A funny little thing happened with this book that rarely happens to me: I bought this after seeing a good review of it on another blog (typical me, can’t remember where exactly) and was furthermore drawn in by that breathtaking cover. Downloaded it, opened it up quickly to read the first few pages, you know, just to get a taste of the story and the voice. Well, after those first pages, I couldn’t put it down. It went with me everywhere, got opened up in grocery store lines, at the pharmacy, even snuck in a few pages on the desk at work (shhhhh!). I was engulfed in Inara’s story from start to finish…” CLICK HERE to read Becky’s in-depth review of BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS!

Also, Kristen over at Seeing Night Reviews has put up at teaser from BRIGHTEST KIND OF DARKNESS for her Teaser Tuesday post. Check it out!