M.M. Brownlow's Blog

In anything you do in life, there's always a certain amount of angst when you decide to expand your repertoire. Whether you're a business person who's required to present to a new group of rather scary looking management-types, or a teacher who's facing a new grade for the first time, it's HARD to do something new.

I think there's a desire in all of us to do a good job, regardless of what we're trying, and it's quite likely some deep, ingrained fear of failure that holds us back. For me, I'm currently thinking about branching out into the world of "children's literature". Officially, I'm looking at a mid-grade novel, and it's taken a fair amount of research to figure out how to do that, exactly. There's a lot of really good advice out there on the World Wide Web (and a fair amount of not so good advice), but I was able to amass what I consider a good list of characteristics for my new upcoming mid-grade novel. But there are still a TON of questions left to answer. Do I want to pursue a traditional publishing contract, or do it myself? Do I want to hire a professional graphic artist for my cover? How do I go about marketing this new book, when it's outside of my current realm of readers?

There's still a lot to figure out, but I think that branching out is likely going to be worth it in the long run.

Contemplating the death of a character is a very difficult thing to do. Does the plot benefit from killing said character? How will it affect the other characters? Will it kill your series?

These questions, among others, are currently on my mind as I'm mapping out the final two books to my series. How do I end the series while still leaving an opening to bridge to a new series? I'm not planning to stop writing, so I need to keep myself a loophole somewhere...and avoid horrible cliches while doing it.

Ever been reading a book when the author killed off one of your favourite characters? How did that make you feel? Was there still life in the book or series for you after that death?

This is an interesting idea. Generally, the so-called "good guys" end up victorious when all is said and done, but does it have to be that way? Would you ruin a series if the villains get the prize?

As I'm working through my story line, this is a question that has arisen. My Beta team, a lovely group of young ladies, seem equally divided in their hopes for the inevitable conclusion of my series. If my villain not only survives but gets what he is striving for, where does that leave me? How cliche would it be for the next generation to take up the torch of their parents' fight?

Now since I tend to write by the seat of my pants, and since my characters have a rather annoying tendency to do things that I don't expect them to, I can't comment about the eventual end of my series. I guess I'll just have to wait and see who comes out on top.

I have to admit that I love the freedom to write my stories the way I see them in my head. I love not having to justify why a certain scene or chapter should work out a certain way. I like picking out my own covers, my own titles, etc.

However, there are some down sides. I dislike having to edit on my own - I always seem to miss something no matter how many times I read it. I also dislike the whole self-promotion thing that is part and parcel of being an indie writer. It makes me uncomfortable to try and justify why people should read my book over any other...

Oh well. Writing is still so worth it!