Tag Archives: speculative fiction

New Release: Gyre by Jessica Gunn + Interview

Posted on February 1, 2016 | Leave a comment

Hey everyone,

Long time, no see. I know, I know. It’s been a while since I’ve been around these parts. It’s been quite a crazy past few months, you see. Between secret projects and new manuscripts and a new business I launched in October, I’ve been a little out of sorts and definitely slacking on blog posts.

So, I’m back! And to kick off my return, I have an interview with an amazing New Adult Speculative Fiction author (and good friend of mine) named Jessica Gunn whose first novel Gyre has been published TODAY (AHHH!!!). Check it out:

  1. Hey Jessica! Congrats on your first novel being published! Having had my first one published last year, I know it is an awesome yet terrifying experience. How are you holding up? Any plans for release day?

Hah! I was doing okay until the book went up on Netgalley. But really, I’m excited. This is my dream! Regardless of what happens next—though I do hope readers enjoy the book—there’s self-satisfaction in this and I’m going to enjoy every bit of it. Especially because this is Gyre that’s being released into the world. Gyre and I have been through a lot!

  1. What was your journey to publication like?

Long and filled with many revisions! I started Gyre in November 2012 for NaNoWriMo, then spent many, many months revising the bookGyre Cover_2000.jpg. It was the first novel I really took seriously as far as publication went, so it was also the first manuscript that’s had critique partners look at it. Since 2012, I think Gyre went through 4 major overhauls and 2 querying rounds, including a Pitch Wars run, before it finally found a home at Curiosity Quills who, actually, was the first press I looked at in 2013 that I wanted to send it to if I went the small-press route.

  1. So, let’s be clear, Gyre is awesome (check out my review)! Where did you get the idea? What are the major inspirations for this novel?

I’ve always been in love with the idea of Atlantis and other ancient mysteries. I find the idea of Atlantis almost romantic and I really just wanted to explore it in a new way and without the various sea creatures usually attributed to it. The rest of it sort of just fit together.

  1. Without giving too much, Gyre focuses on the lost world of Atlantis. Have you always been interested in lost worlds? Why did you choose to write about Atlantis?

Yeah, pretty much. I’m not sure exactly when or how the fascination with lost worlds started but I’ve always been into ancient history and dinosaurs and fantasy, especially Atlantis. I’ve always wanted to use Atlantis in a story, so for Gyre it was an instant choice, but it also worked because I wanted to use a more atypical setting for new adult fantasy/sci-fi, and “underwater” fit. Besides, the story of Atlantis is so timeless! I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of Atlantis stories 🙂

  1. On your website, I saw that you have a degree in Anthropology. That’s so cool! How do you think that influences your writing and Gyre?

I think I approached the mythology and historical aspects a bit differently, in that my characters tend to try debunking things instead of just going with it. For instance, Chelsea doesn’t want to believe they’ve found evidence of Atlantis. In fact, she might be the last person on the whole station that accepted what they found. I’ve found anthropology, specifically the archaeology field, is as much about studying humans as it is debunking crazy claims until there’s nothing left but the truth.

  1. I was excited to find out the Gyre is the first book of a larger series called The Atlas Link Series. How many books will there be? What can readers expect from the rest of the series? Can you give us any tidbits to tide us over until book two?

Yay! I’m glad you enjoyed Gyre enough to want to read more 😉 There are five planned books! I so really shouldn’t give tidbits for risk of spoiling Gyre but I can say that as far as the time traveling and ancient history aspects go, what the characters discover in Gyre barely scratches the surface.

  1. Now that your first novel has been unleashed on the world, what advice do you have for prospective published authors? Is there anything you would have done differently?

There’s a fine line between writing for yourself and writing what the market wants. Sometimes it’s good to steer way away from that line and do what you love, and sometimes there’s a good reason to tread carefully. I wish I’d have known that, as well as knowing that everyone’s on this journey at a different pace. Your publication journey will never be identical to someone else’s, so there’s absolutely no use in comparing. Easier said than done, I know.

  1. Last question: in a sense, Gyre focuses on travel and uncovering the unknown. I myself am a huge travel nut. If you could travel anywhere, whether the place is in the real world or completely fantastical, where would you go? What would you bring with you?

I’m not sure if this is cheating, but I would 100% go to the Tardis and I would bring the Doctor. Then I could go anywhere, in any time. Even if the Tardis decided to be snarky like she sometimes is and drop us off wherever she wanted, at least I’d have gotten to the Tardis!

Not cheating answer: Stonehenge, right after it was built. That’s one mystery I want to see absolutely solved!

And Now… More About Gyre:

Chelsea didn’t try to teleport. All she wanted was to play the Battle of the Bands show. But after accidentally teleporting onto classified Navy vessel SeaSatellite5, all she’s rocking is the boat. Once it’s sorted out that Chelsea’s not a threat, SeaSat5’s top scientist offers Chelsea a position on the crew as an archaeology intern. Dr. Saint studies people with powers, believing them to be descendants of Atlantean refugees, except Chelsea’s powers are beyond anything on previous record.

While great for everyone else onboard, the miracle of Chelsea is Trevor’s worst nightmare. The same girl who’d given him a brief lifeline to sanity three months ago literally fell from the sky, under a mile of ocean, and onto the very station where he’s employed. Making matters worse, Trevor’s family are Lemurians, Atlantis’s enemy, and Chelsea’s presence is unpredicted—a wrench in an already unstable situation. But Trevor wants no part of his family’s war. The only thing he wants is Chelsea, Atlantean or not.

Days into Chelsea’s sudden appearance, SeaSatellite5 uncovers Atlantean ruins and a massive artifact cache, placing its entire, hundred-man crew in the crosshairs of an ancient war. There are those who want the Atlantean relics inside the ruins destroyed, and only Trevor knows the treasures for what they really are: Link Pieces, tools used by the ancient civilizations for their time-travel war.

With lies and shifting alliances abound, Chelsea and Trevor will have to think fast in order to save the station. If they don’t, the Lemurians will seize the artifacts and Atlantis will be destroyed forever.

Buy GYRE on Amazo

More About Jessica Gunn:

Jessica GunnJessica Gunn is a New Adult author and avid science fiction and fantasy fan. Her favorite stories are those that transport the reader to other, more exciting worlds. When not working or writing, she can be found binge-watching Firefly and Stargate, or feeding her fascination of the ancient world’s many mysteries. Jessica also holds a degree in Anthropology.

To catch up with Jessica, follow her on Twitter (@JessGunnAuthor) or on her website, www.jessicagunn.com.

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Wednesday Writerly Update #5

Posted on June 10, 2015 | 8 comments

Well, hello!

It’s that day of the week again, the day where I fill you in on my minimal writing progress so that you can feel better about your own word count. And spoiler alert: I didn’t do much writing, but that’s okay because I *thought* about doing some writing, and intention is the first step to progress, right?

Right.

Anyways, I did a free write last week (Thursday? Friday? I don’t know). It was a 500 word scene, presumably some sort of speculative fiction. It has a distinct Middle Eastern edge that I like because I have a fascination with Middle Eastern culture at the moment, and it involves the desert and traveling gypsys. I kind of like it, but I don’t know what to make of it, and I don’t know if I like it because it’s incorporating Middle Eastern culture or if I *actually* think there may be a story there.

In any case, now that my NA Inception-meets-The-City-Trilogy WIP is in that weird limbo between completed self-edits and pre-publication shenanigans, I want to start focusing on other projects. I have the first draft of a YA  Horror novel I wrote over the winter, and the next step is going to be editing that one. I feel like it’s going to take a good bit of rewriting though. My intention was to write a classic horror novel with seances and Ouija boards and the like, but now I need to make sure I don’t fall into the trap of writing stereotypical horror.

Also, I have that YA contemporary WIP that sits at 15,000 words and has been since autumn. It’s completely different from anything I’ve ever done (it’s not spec. fiction at all; rather, a drama). I did a chapter-by-chapter outline the other day (which I rarely do) to see if direction would motivate me continue writing, but to be honest, I don’t feel all that motivated.

And lastly, for news pertaining to The Black Oracle:

  • The review tour is winding down, but there are still two stops on June 14th, so if you want to review The Black Oracle, now is the time! You can still review after the tour, of course.
  • The Black Oracle will now be sold at Forster’s Book Garden in Bolton, Ontario (an independent bookstore). Copies should be available shortly. Are you a bookstore owner? Contact me, and we’ll arrange some copies for your store!
  • Some cool promotions are headed your way soon! I have a few ideas in the works for promos over the summer months, so stay tuned.

I hope everyone had a good (and successful) writing week. Until next time!

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5 Ways to Stretch Your Word Count

Posted on April 22, 2015 | 3 comments

writing

This time last year, I thought my newest New Adult speculative fiction work-in-progress about the collective subconscious and evil corporations was finished and ready for the world. Since then, I have gotten sidetracked by the release of my first novel entitled The Black Oracle and by the launching of my full-time writing career. During all this time, I have been on a steep learning curve, growing exponentially in the world of writing, publishing, and editing. It wasn’t until I *actually* went to prepare my New Adult speculative fiction novel for publication that I realized I had a problem: the word count of 50,000 words was too short.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. In fact, I’ve already heard it from my critique partner. “When your novel is done, it’s done“. That is to say that once a piece is finished from beginning to end, and it has been edited to the point of being ready for publication, it’s silly to go back. It is what it is, so to speak, even if it is a little short.

But that didn’t stop me from doing research. In fact, Literary Rejections has a fantastic post about standard word counts for all genres, and they peg the average for New Adult at between 60,000 and 80,000 words. “Be the rule, not the exception,” they advise.

And whether or not writers want to admit it, word counts count, and editors and agents judge you on them every. single. day.

So that’s when I decided to pump 10,000 to 15,000 new words into my New Adult speculative fiction novel. Currently, I’m trudging through it, daily word count goals slowly driving me insane. It isn’t easy to add more words to a novel that I thought was finished. I needed a plan. Luckily, I was able to find 5 tricks that help to stretch word counts without adding mindless filler and unproductive storytelling.

Explore Backstory

For me, this is going to be one of the best ways to gain a few thousand words. Writers spend a lot of time fleshing out a character’s past experiences and thinking about how those experiences lead them to their actions within the story. The problem: much of this backstory stays with the author. These character sketches don’t always make it to the finished product.

But why not? Why not make those experiences available to the reader?

Write a good flashback. Have a character tell a story about a past event. Have your main character reflect back on a past event. There are many ways to weave backstory into your plot without writing entirely new scenes and without info-dumping, and doing so is a great way to increase your word count.

Slow Down the Pacing

I must admit, I am a fast-paced sort of writer. I don’t like writing filler scenes, and I don’t like taking my time. I want the action to happen, and I want all my storytelling to be as productive as it can possibly be.

Downside: I write shorter manuscripts. It’s not a crime since some of the bestselling books of all time have been short, but it definitely makes me a touch insecure when I read about word count expectations. So when writing, I try to keep mind to slow my pacing. One of the techniques I use is to plan out my scenes before I write them. Without a plan, I could probably write an entire novel in ten pages (a crappy novel, no doubt).

Secondly, I aim to slow my pacing through my word choices and sentence structures. We live in a society where a lot of description in prose is frowned upon, and though I don’t go all Tolkein-esque and spend pages upon pages detailing trees and rocks, I use my sentences to better flesh out ideas and settings. A longer word count is just a happy by-product of that process.

Develop Your Characters

One-dimensional characters are often the death of a potentially great novel. No one likes to read a character that has no goals, no genuine emotion, no life. The best ways to develop your characters are to give us access to their thoughts and dreams, give them a backstory (see above), and give them reasons for being in your story.

Again, by-product: all of this character development takes a time, thus stretching your word count.

Write a Subplot

This is my favorite word count stretching technique. I love subplots. LOVE. I would write an entire novel of subplots if I could. There’s so much freedom in taking a character and developing their actions into a quasi-separate story. And then when the subplot mixes and mingles with the main plot? Gold. GOLD, I TELL YOU.

Check out this cool post on the different types of subplot and how they can seriously enrich and advance your story.

Make Things Complicated

Last but not least, stay away from easy. This technique sounds like a given, but believe it or not, a lot of authors fail to make their stories complicated and thus interesting. Some stick to the A-event + B-event = Conclusion model, and this is terribly boring.

Give your reader something more. Add additional events to your plot-development equation, ones that make the main character work for their reward. If the story is straightforward and predictable, the reader will also find it straightforward and predictable. Add some uncertainty. Add some misunderstanding. Add some betrayal.

All of this will help to enrich your story and yes, stretch your word count.

Got any techniques for increasing your word count? Do you even bother to try to meet industry or self-imposed word count standards?

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