Lyn C. Johanson's Blog

Lyn C. Johanson's Blog / en-US Tue, 26 Feb 2019 03:04:25 -0800 60 Lyn C. Johanson's Blog / 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg /author_blog_posts/18008477-researching-for-my-stories Sun, 24 Feb 2019 16:39:13 -0800 Researching... for my stories /author_blog_posts/18008477-researching-for-my-stories Since mine is a magical world born entirely in my head I don't need to track technological advancements of a certain century or delve into the rules and etiquette of a certain era. What I do need is to be as realistic in details as possible.

I have demons with wings. I have gods who can freeze time. In a fantasy world, it's only natural. But when I write about things that also happen in our (real) world I need to be careful.
A horse can't run for three days straight, nor can we pick a lock with a wooden stick. At least I haven't seen any evidence of it being possible.

Then, there are the fighting scenes. And magical fights aside, I do have characters using fists and legs. I have to admit that I trained in taekwondo years ago. I remember countless hours of practicing kicks, but the safe gym environment and monitored fights are definitely not the same as a fight in Hell for survival.
In a real situation you wouldn't waste energy for round-house kicks no matter how amazing they look. (I am guilty of adding a few of those while writing my Book3. We'll see if they stay there.)

What about fighting with swords? Daggers? I have no experience there whatsoever.
So... I turn to Google.

And just for the fun of it, I'm going to show you a few of my questions.

How to defend yourself from a dagger/knife attack?Torture devicesHow to make a sword?How to pick a lock?What are the symptoms of slow-acting poisons?How long does it take for a person to bleed out?Where to hit on the head to knock someone out?Photoshop tutorial for creating a mapThe distance a horse can run in a dayThe amount of manure a horse creates...�� Yes,��that's something I have been researching. The answer is about 50 pounds of manure per day (if anyone was wondering :D )
The last few inquiries aside I have seen some pretty disturbing things. I have watched countless videos of people forging weapons and showing how to wield them. How to attack with a knife.
All for my books. I promise!

One last thing I wanted to share - I decided to do an impromptu sale.
If you haven't tried my books yet, here's your chance to get only for $0.99!
It's a limited time offer, so be sure to take advantage of it.

posted by Lyn C. Johanson on February, 26 ]]> /author_blog_posts/17948018-first-draft-rewrites-and-the-chaos-it-causes Sun, 10 Feb 2019 07:34:00 -0800 <![CDATA[First draft rewrites and the chaos it causes]]> /author_blog_posts/17948018-first-draft-rewrites-and-the-chaos-it-causes , but I don't want to give any spoilers yet. So my lips are sealed. For the moment :)
That said, I must admit that I love the rewriting process.

Once I have my first draft done, I print it out and attack the pages in my hands with renewed energy.��
It takes a while, but it's so different from staring at my laptop screen that I don't ever get tempted to open an internet page and ... procrastinate.

I always loved writing with a pen far more than typing on the keyboard.

So... I had a few pages done when I realized that I needed to find all relevant information I had scribbled in my notebook. The only problem was - which notebook?

Over the years I used anything I had to write down my ideas and scenes that popped into my head.
Notebooks... Napkins... Sticky notes...
It was easy at first - to find what I needed. Now... not so much.

Now, it's a pile. And it will take me countless hours to sort through the mess and bring some order out of this chaos.

But on the bright side, I can finally finish my series Bible. It's something I have wanted to do for a long time now. I even started it on a few occasions.
I have character information, timelines, relationship trees, but everything scattered��across��different notebooks and pieces of paper. It's about time to gather it all in one place.
��
In other words, I'm neck deep in work. Happy Birthday to me!��

posted by Lyn C. Johanson on February, 12 ]]> /author_blog_posts/17913268-bonus-content Sun, 03 Feb 2019 04:53:27 -0800 Bonus content /author_blog_posts/17913268-bonus-content
It's a short story of how Nyssa met Logan. It was never meant to be in the book. It was never even written. So it is definitely not a deleted scene. But I decided to write this down because:She is someone who might have been a heroine of her own book, but instead her fate was to play a secondary character who had too few line.I always found her interesting.I knew there was a story hiding when I finished ��but exploring it, and placing it in the book was out of the question.
Without further ado, here's Nyssa's first glimpse of Logan:
(and yes, this contains a few spoilers, so reading first would be better) Nyssa couldn’t understand the commotion. And as always, no one was telling her a thing.
Well, she would just find out for herself, she decided. She put on her boots and poked her head through the door, leaving the gap as tiny as possible. Her mother was outside, and the last thing Nyssa wanted was to be caught.
Sometimes she was tired of fighting. But fight was what she got every time she insisted on making her own choices. She might only be sixteen, but she hadn’t been a child since she was eight years old and the Order had attacked their town.
At ten years of age she was the one bringing food to their table because her mother had been too traumatized by the attack. She was the one working until exhaustion overtook her. She was the one caring for her brother when her mother insisted on leaving the baby in the woods.
For her, sixteen was only a number.
But of course, if her mother were to catch her sneaking out that number would be the sole reason for punishment.
What she saw through the crack both shocked and captivated her. It seemed everyone was outside. Hundreds of people. The broken conversations took her hostage urging to investigate, to leave the relative safety of her home.
The second Nyssa stepped outside she was pushed into the milling sea of people. The noises enveloped her. She was forced to dodge elbows and weapons as she navigated through the crowd, confused as to the purpose for such an uproar.
Was the Order attacking again?
The last time she and her brother had been ushered into the main mansion where women had barricaded themselves whilst men fought an army. Now the mood felt different. There was tension. Even anger. But there was no underlying fear. She didn’t see the dread in the eyes of the people. What she saw reminded her of the time the mob tried to execute a witch. But that couldn’t be it. The only witch she knew was the one master Raven protected. And few would dare to go against his wishes.
There might be some willing to risk his anger, but they wouldn’t do it in broad daylight.
So what was happening? Nyssa wondered, searching for the reason. She was about to ask when she realized that she ended her journey at the main entrance of the mansion where people formed a semi-circle.
The line was drawn, and no one was crossing it.
It both seemed bizarre, yet familiar somehow.
For a reason she could not fathom, Nyssa lifted her hand and placed her fingers against the imaginary barrier only to feel resistance. It was real. People didn’t advance not because they didn’t want to, but because they couldn’t. The anger and fragments of conversations she’d overheard made sense now. Still, why would they want...
Nyssa’s gaze drifted to the front steps and the train of her thoughts vanished. Sitting in front of her, maybe some twenty feet away, was a man she’d never seen before.
Granted, he had his head buried in his hands, preventing her from recognizing his face, but she could swear he wasn’t a local. One look at clothes he had on and the truth was plain to see—no one here had clothes this fine. Her own dress was adorned with multiple patches, barely fit for a scarecrow. But she wasn’t complaining. Some had it way worse.
She squinted, trying to determine the origin of the ring on his thumb and didn’t even notice how she took a step forward, crossing the boundary line.
Everyone else remained a captive.
Nyssa didn't stop to analyze the oddity. She saw the opportunity and took it—quickly, she slipped behind one of the three statues encasing the left side of the steps. She glanced around to make sure no one had noticed her and then concentrated on the stranger sitting less than five feet away from her.
It was as if he was one of the statues himself. Still. Lifeless. Only on closer inspection did she notice how tense his fingers were, or how hard his jaw was locked. For the first time, she began questioning her decision to come this close. He might not have a weapon in his hands, and there might be a lot of people around, but none of them would be able to help her if he attacked.
Sometimes, the difference between life and death was one wrong step.
Nyssa debated against returning to safety when the man lifted his head and she realized he wasn’t exactly a man. He couldn’t be older than eighteen. There was also no anger contorting his features. If anything, he appeared lost. And when he looked at the crowd, Nyssa was positive he saw no people. His clear green eyes looked glassy and unfocused.
Any other day she would have been thrilled to find someone her age. There was not a single adolescent living in this area. If one didn’t count the ones in the town nearby. Nyssa didn’t. Those in town regarded people here, her included, as trash. Or worse—witches and their sympathizers who deserved to be burned.
And those were people just like her, this one�� she only needed to glance at his hands to know they hadn’t seen a day of hard work in their lives. She looked at her own chipped off nails and callused palms, and a laugh escaped her lips.
“What’s so funny?�� the boy asked, his attention solely on her.
Nyssa’s eyes widened, and her heartbeat accelerated.�� She gulped and hid behind the statue. But it was too late. He had noticed her. Please keep in mind that the scene hasn't been checked by a professional editor, but if you would like me to continue, leave a comment below.

posted by Lyn C. Johanson on February, 28 ]]> /author_blog_posts/17871291-updates Wed, 23 Jan 2019 18:08:53 -0800 Updates /author_blog_posts/17871291-updates The new pages will contain fun facts, behind the scenes material and even deleted scenes.

A few days ago I realized that while I have shared some information, it's all over the place. And not complete.��
I still have to gather everything and package it before I can press the POST button, but it's coming.

Second, I realized that for the longest time I kept myself hidden. I posted about promotions, my books and sometimes characters, but when it comes to me... I was absent.
Well, New Year, New Me! And no, this is not a New Year resolution! We all know how those end.
In other words - I need to stop running. But not literally.
I started running almost a year ago. Hated it at first. Had to stop every few minutes. Worse still, when I finally began seeing progress I discovered I fractured my shinbone.��
But now, I'm slowly getting into shape again. And loving it!

Even when the weather is like this:

posted by Lyn C. Johanson on February, 19 ]]> /author_blog_posts/17790723-character-q-a Wed, 02 Jan 2019 09:00:08 -0800 Character Q&A /author_blog_posts/17790723-character-q-a
See, sometimes characters come to me, and force me to listen to their story (this is what happened with Amira). Sometimes, I have to discover the story while writing it - it's a really fun experience (this was what happened with Forged in Fire). But when I started writing my third book I decided to get to know my characters in a bit different way - I sat down with them and asked a few questions.

Everywhere I turn to, it seems, people are advising to know your characters before you even start writing. To know their fears and desires. What motivates them. And this was never my way! I discovered those things along the way - that's half of the fun! And yes, I'm not a planner. But for my third book I tried to walk the planner's path; I tried something different. And I managed to find the hugest writer's block ever!

For the longest time I had no desire to open up my draft. But that is another story. Today should be about the Q&A I had with Natalie and Hadrian. So here it goes:

Me: What is your opinion on Hadrian?
Natalie: I detest him! He does nothing but mock me. Constantly.
Hadrian: The first thing the little princess said upon meeting me was - no. She didn't know who I was, or what happened, she just dismissed me. Grant you, I'm used to this, but for some reason I felt my teeth grinding together.
Me: So maybe you were attracted to her from the start?
Hadrian: /scoffs/�� As if.
Me: What? You don't find her beautiful?
Hadrian: What kind of a question is this? She is my charge. My duty. Period.
Me: Period?
Hadrian: /His jaw starts to grind again/ And besides, even if there was more, it cant be.
Me: If you say so...
Hadrian: Since when does it matter what I say?
Me: Do I hear resentment?
Hadrian: No. Only frustration at this line of questioning.
Me: Ah... /I laugh/�� My mistake. Now that we established that... tell me what you really think of her?
Hadrian: /Eyes narrowing/ None of your damned business!��
Me: And I thought this was supposed to be informative...�� /I sigh/

Moreover, while writing this blog post I began writing a blurb for the next book (Natalie and Hadrian's book); but writing a 300 word blurb is harder than writing a 100k word story. But I'll get there :D And once I do, I'll share it.��

posted by Lyn C. Johanson on March, 12 ]]> /author_blog_posts/17747096-merry-christmas Mon, 24 Dec 2018 15:50:10 -0800 Merry Christmas! /author_blog_posts/17747096-merry-christmas
On such a beautiful day I decided to post another one of my deleted scenes. Actually, this is more like an extra scene, since it was never meant to be put in my book. It's just something that popped into my head when I was writing .
I hope you enjoy it!

The following scene happens just before the events in start.��

“Would you hurry up, please,�� Ciaran all but growled at his sister, who sat curled up on a window seat reading a book and showed no signs of stirring from her favorite spot. “Or will I have to leave you here?��
He wouldn’t, of course. And she well knew it. The problem was—her dallying cost time. Time he didn’t have.
He glanced at the clock and cursed. They were late. His uncle and aunt were probably already gone, off to help the king—a little tidbit he knew only because he happened to walk in on the conversation. Not because he was invited.
The invitation wouldn’t have mattered, he would have invited himself, but leaving his sister, or Amira for that matter, was out of the question. Especially with Amira’s penchant for disappearing.
If he was not fast enough, she would vanish once again. He knew it. He hated living in constant fear that something might happen to her. The country was full of witch-hunters and the members of the Order sniffing around. It was dangerous.
The thought brought him back to the image of his sister Natalie twisting her long golden hair around her finger. If he didn’t know better, he would have sworn she was stalling. Only it didn’t make sense.
Natalie and Amira had no friendship lost between them. If anything, it was fear chaining his sister every time she was near their cousin. Which actually made him realize the reason for the delay.
Ciaran had to admit Amira had a certain way about her. An aura, or probably a spirit. As if she had the whole world on her shoulders. He had the strangest feeling every time he glanced at her lifeless eyes. Something he couldn’t name, or even begin to comprehend.
Natalie had once told him she had chills crawling down her spine every time she came in the vicinity of her cousin.
It seeps through her pores, had been Natalie’s exact words. And even if Ciaran didn’t have a clue about what she’d referred to, Amira’s gaze sometimes unnerved him too. Only he refused to succumb to that feeling.
“That’s it,�� he barged into her room, prepared to drag her if needed. “I would like to leave this house before I turn eighty.��
“B�ܳ�--��
“No buts. Logan is waiting and I wager Amira is not.��
Natalie lifted her chin. “But I haven’t finished the book!��
Ciaran grabbed for the thing, intent on returning it to her when they were in their uncle’s mansion, but the picture on the cover caught his attention. He looked at the bloody dagger, his eyes narrowing.
“Haven’t you already read this?�� he asked, convinced he’d seen this dagger before.
Instead of answering him, she gritted her teeth in irritation. “I’m about to find out who the murderer is.��
Her words jogged his memory and suddenly he knew�� “The duke. It’s always the duke.��
Not only had she read the book a few times already, but she’d also told him the plot. In detail.
“Ciaran!�� Natalie exclaimed. “You just ruined it!��
“You’ll live,�� he shot back. Gods help him to be that lucky after a week with Amira.

I loved this little glimpse into Ciaran and Natalie's interactions (pre-TDAB), especially since I got the opportunity to witness Ciaran's journey in Forged in Fire, and now I'm writing Natalie's story.

Once again - I hope you enjoyed it. And Merry Christmas!

posted by Lyn C. Johanson on March, 06 ]]> /author_blog_posts/17737061-christmas-wishes-do-come-true-but-be-careful-what-you-wish-for Sat, 22 Dec 2018 12:59:58 -0800 <![CDATA[Christmas wishes do come true. But... be careful what you wish for!]]> /author_blog_posts/17737061-christmas-wishes-do-come-true-but-be-careful-what-you-wish-for Back in September I had an Amazon freebie mostly hoping to see how this service works. I didn't have any expectations what so ever. I'm not that naive. And that's a good thing, because without pouring money into advertisement the results were bleak.��
I had more than a hundred downloads, but they resulted in 0 reviews.

Now fast forward a few weeks when I decided to do a goodreads giveaway (the one for $119, yes! I am crazy!!!). But I wanted to check if the paid service would result in something better.
Oh, it resulted...

On the plus side more than 700 people added my book to their goodreads "to-read" list. But after the giveaway ended and the winners got their books, my��Customers who bought this item also bought��list on Amazon book's page got completely screwed up. This is how it looks now:��

It might be just me, but I imagine that most people who read about spirituality or educational reforms don't read many romances. But hey, maybe I'm just narrow minded. Who knows. The funny thing is - that row looked very differently prior to goodreads' giveaway.
Another plus would be - I finally got a review! But is it the review I was waiting for?

And here we come to the part about Christmas wishes.
I must confess that for about a week (or even more) I have been listening to��Mariah Carey - All I Want For Christmas Is You nonstop (I was in the Christmas mood, what can I say :D). And somehow I would always end that line with the word "reviews". So when a few days ago I saw that there was a new review on Amazon, I was ecstatic!

Now every author knows how important reviews are. More importantly, how hard it is to get them sometimes. Little did I know my joy would die a sudden death the moment I started reading it.

Don't get me wrong. This is not a post to whine or bitch about a bad review. I have had them before. And I respect people having different opinions or giving constructive critique. The latter is very welcome. (I do want to improve.) What threw me, however, was the part where the reviewer basically admitted that she knew she would not like my book before even reading it because it was not her cup of tea.

And to think that's precisely the thing I asked before doing the giveaway - for people who know they wont like it not to enter!

This is a lesson for me, I guess. And my Christmas gift apparently!��
But speaking about Christmas gifts... I remembered that a have a few deleted scenes for Book1 and Book2 that I wanted to share for a long time now. But I could never manage to do that. See, I'm a perfectionist! And I publish only after rounds of editing and rewriting. But these little scenes have never seen an editor in their lives! (They could definitely use some polishing.) But somehow, after this bad review I feel like I can finally do this.
��

This is a scene that got cut from Till Death and Beyond because the book had already more than 100k words, and it wasn't that relevant��to the plot. (Although I hated cutting this, and not being able to explore this.)
Please be advised that the scene contains a spoiler. And if you haven't read Till Death and Beyond yet, you should do that first.

With a deceptive calm Pharell stood at the edge of his sister’s grave, not ready to throw the dirt on her lifeless body.
�� She’d always been so lively, nothing had ever brought her down. And now, nothing but her cold shell remained. Burying her, leaving her �� felt like a betrayal.
�� Pharell tried to reach for the dirt, yet his hand grabbed for his hip-length braid instead. A single tear rolled down his cheek.
�� That braid symbolized a prince’s journey. His power. It was meant to grow till the coronation day. Then it would be cut. Pharell felt anything but powerful.
�� He hadn’t been able to protect her the night she’d been taken by the Order, nor had he been able to save her from their prison. He’d been a prince, yet he’d been useless. Powerless to stop her from being gutted on a filthy dungeon floor.
�� But it wasn’t only his or the Order’s fault. Half of the nobles turned coats at the time when they had needed support the most. The takeover had been treacherous and swift.
�� If only it had been just the crown he’d lost.
�� Once, it had been his destiny and desire. Now, it was nothing but the cause of Sofie’s death.
�� He unsheathed one of his blades and without a second thought cut the braid off. It wasn’t his destiny anymore. It wasn’t his path.
�� Pharell placed the braid on the grave, offering more than just dirt. With his sister he also laid his past into the ground. He laid a part of him.
�� “Be at peace,�� he uttered and took a step away, knowing that nothing would ever be the same again.

posted by Lyn C. Johanson on December, 23 ]]> /author_blog_posts/17358966-limited-time-offer Mon, 24 Sep 2018 04:13:04 -0700 Limited time offer! /author_blog_posts/17358966-limited-time-offer Yes! The book has sex. And yes, it is fantasy! It's not something I hide. The genre IS Paranormal Romance after all.
So if you don't like this genre, please refrain from downloading. You won't like it.
For everyone else... download to your hearts desire :)

The reason I'm doing this could be that September is my first books's birthday. And I wanted to celebrate this occasion somehow. But there is another reason too.��
I was looking into goodreads giveaways (I used to giveaway a print copy of the book once a few months and it used to be free; well, shipping and book cost aside), now - they want $119 for the service.
I almost clicked the button. Almost. But after some googling, and some reading I decided to try a service Amazon let's me use for free.��
If goodreads can deliver a 100 copies of my e-book for $119, I wonder how many e-books can I give without spending a hundred dollars. Without spending anything!

Maybe to do a comparison I'll do a goodreads giveaway one of these days. For now...
Enjoy! It's limited time offer.��

posted by Lyn C. Johanson on March, 05 ]]> /author_blog_posts/16152745-december-sale Fri, 15 Dec 2017 04:42:53 -0800 December Sale! /author_blog_posts/16152745-december-sale

posted by Lyn C. Johanson on February, 24 ]]> /author_blog_posts/15954824-nanowrimo Fri, 03 Nov 2017 09:53:27 -0700 NaNoWriMo... /author_blog_posts/15954824-nanowrimo

Third day in, and all seems good! Of course, good is a relative word. After work, kids, and everything else, I have to stay really late to finish my goals.
Yesterday I wrote till 3am, for example.
It's not easy, but I am so excited to be participating in NaNoWriMo this year, staying till 3 or 4am doesn't seem so bad.
And the most important thing... my blank pages are filling out!��
It's ugly, and rushed, and half of it might need to be cut out at some point, but I am making progress on Book 3 in my Witch World series.

During these November days I might even give a few hints about what's it about, and who are the culprits of my not being able to sleep. But for now, this is it. :)��

posted by Lyn C. Johanson on March, 13 ]]>