New Blog

I have started a new blog on my website at www.fionajayde.com
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News and Reviews

Amethyst Moon has be released from Cobblestone Press as a standalone novella! I'm excited about it - I really enjoyed writing that story.
http://www.cobblestone-press.com/catalog/books/amethystmoon.htm

I'm hard at work on my full length mystery project. The weird part? Somehow I'm getting spam from people with the same names as my characters! How trippy is that?

I've recently got some amazing reviews:

Nicole Harvey at Paranormal Romance reviewed Dark Lotus:

"This story blew me away. The way the author built the plot, the way the characters came to life as you read their story, I couldn't get enough. And the way most of us fall for the wounded souls like Kyoto, you can identify with Tia. I look forward to reading more by this author in the future; she is one of my auto-buys from this day forward."
http://www.paranormalromance.org/reviews/review.php?id=29255

Thank you Nicole!

Cholla at Whipped Cream Reviews gave Dark Lotus 5 cherries!!
"Dark Lotus is an amazing combination of passionate sex, intense action, and subtle dark overtones that leaves you wanting more, more, more. Drawn together by magik, held together by something even stronger, Tia and Jim face their fears and their destinies to prove that the magik doesn’t have to lead you to the dark side. A thoroughly enjoyable read."

Thank you Cholla!
http://www.longandshortreviews.com/WC/1008/MagikInkDarkLotus-FJ.htm

He's HERE!

The new Mike4 figure is here! And lets just say wow! I took the opportunity to get aquanted...
(Click on the image to see it full size)

New Review for SpacePort: Drop Zone!

From Just Erotic Romance Reviews:

After having his senses enhanced, Roen Decks began to mine uralium ore-an ore that is dangerously easy to explode. Meeting Kamura Shard, his enhanced sense of smell attracts him to her arousal, until he finds out that she is the distributor who has been aborting his supplies. Kamura knows that she
has to provide to Roen that she is not sabotaging his supplies. Can she mine ore and convince Roen that she's not guilty?

Drop Zone is another of the stories from the multi author series Spaceport. The plot of this story is well-written with excellent characters. I loved Kamura especially for her thoughtful and determined attitude. Roen was a wonderful male character, with his concern for his crew. After they begin to
work together, Kamura and Roen have very hot sex. I was enthralled by their sexual encounters, particularly because Roen was sure that Kamura was intentionally destroying his work. Both Roen and Kamura were falling in love with each other, even though neither trusted the other. There was an
interesting twist near the end of the book that was easily figured out, but even so, I enjoyed the story immensely.

-Marcy Arbitman
Just Erotic Romance Reviews

Thank you Marcy!!

Empress

Another collaboration with Stephanie Arwen Lynch!
This is the Empress card:)

Lovers

I've decided to kick start my creativity. I know less then zero about Tarot cards, but I do enjoy the images and symbolism... And with that in mind, I've set out to create a "virtual" deck of my own..

Thanks to Stephanie Arwen Lynch for her input and ideas!!

Of plots and pantsers

I've been marveling at how my writing process seems to have turned a complete 180. And funny enough my friend - the wonderfully talented Lacey Savage - has been marveling about the same thing. (She has a blog about it here)

Usually I loosely figure out what my characters want and go from there. I HATE plotting. I hate it with a passion. I can never get it to a point where I like it, I paralyze myself with too many "buts" and usually by about 6K in, I decide to change everything anyway. My life as a pantser. (quick 411 -- a plotter is a writer who plots. A pantser is a writer to flies through the story by the seat of their pants)

Something changed recently. I started plotting... And the coolest thing with this new processes of plotting is that I actually ...do not.

Now I've only done 2 stories like that --but so far it seems to fly.

The first thing I do is build the world. Don't matter if its now or aeons from now. I build the rules of my setting.

Next I do a GMC chart. This is the best tool eva -- basically its a chart detailing the main characters' goals, motivations and conflicts. (Check out GMC by Debra Dixon -- its one of those must haves on the writer's shelf IMO) The GMC chart will be in constant flux, but it gives me a good jump start on the next step...

The Snowflake. Basically its a series of steps designed by a software engineer. (Google Snowflake Writing method and hit the first link.) Each step is designed to move you further into the story, and it alternates between "main story" and "characters" story. And as long as you remember that as you move forward you are allowed and encouraged to change you mind, its a wonderful tool to delve from top level of your story into the fine detail.

There's no plotting really -- it just sort of organically grows as you get to know your characters and what major events happen in the story. As you build on that, the story shapes up... So far I haven't actively plotted anything -- at least not for the sake of plotting. Instead, I figured out what happens to my characters and how they overcome their obstacles. Plot? Done.

The best part for me is the second to last step. This is where you take a descriptions of each scene and write "about" it. I can just see the dreaded "show don't tell" rule shuddering.

I "tell" each scene - writing rapid paragraphs about each scene, including anything that comes to mind about it. Bits of dialog, cool setting, a right-on-the-spot word. As I write Dark Lotus, I have the pre-draft ready in 2 nights. And some of it is really solid work.


When I open the predraft to actually write, the words just seem to pour...