Blog hop: Sucker Literary volume 3

This morning I'm participating in a blog hop to celebrate the release of Sucker Literary, volume 3! 

Bullied and alone, Ainsley seeks refuge in the arms of a strange boy. Time is slipping away for overachieving Sadie Lin, but reigniting an old flame might help. Scarred by a pressuring ex, Alexandra finally faces the rain. “Pasty and chubby” Charlotte makes a public play for the “Tan and Smooth” king. The beautiful girl in the black, lacy push-up bra says that it’s time for Brenn to stop lying . . . at least to herself. A halfway house is no home for Dawn—or is it? How will Dana survive knowing everyone at school thinks she’s a monster, when they just may be right? JJ and her crush finally get a moment alone—at his girlfriend’s hottest party of the year. Sixteen-year old Sarah prepares for her first day of school by chaining up her Mamí in her bedroom. Alyssa’s life is a well-rehearsed ballet until a tragedy sends her hurtling towards a fall. Loving a boy is as simple as chemistry . . . unless that boy is an unstable element.

Eleven stories that delve into the depths of our experience—driven by fierce and untouched love that makes us seek, lose, fear, desire, long, reflect, survive, steal, protect, fall, and confess.

Sounds interesting to me!

I'm in on this thanks to Margaret S. McGraw:

Margaret S. McGraw’s imagination draws on her lifelong love of science fiction, fantasy, and anthropology. Her education and experience range from anthropology and communication through web design and IT management. Margaret lives in North Carolina with her daughter and an array of cats, dogs, Macs, and PCs, and too many unfinished craft projects. Her writing includes a daily blog, several short stories currently in circulation for publication, and two novels in progress: Mira’s Children is a YA science fiction adventure, andOceanSong is a fantasy begun in the NaNoWriMo 2012 challenge. For more details on her writing, visit her daily blog at margaretsmcgraw.blogspot.com.

So here I'm going to tell you a little more about my own work!

1) What am I working on? 

I'm working on the second book in my Broken Powers series, Into the Storms (working title). You can find the first one here, called Into the Tides.

In the second book, rock star Trax struggles to master his newly acquired magic, because if he can't, he'll never be able to sing on stage again. But his magic threatens more than his beloved career: as the only person to ever acquire magic mid-life, he's the target of rogue scientists wanting to steal magic for themselves, and they'll do anything to get him for experimentation--putting his family and his beautiful new friend Elizabeth on the line. Trax's magic is all that stands between his loved ones and evil--but he'll have to learn to control it to save them.

2) How does my work differ from others of its genre? 

The Broken Worlds series is a contemporary fantasy with romantic elements and a touch of geekery!  While most urban and contemporary fantasies these days have vampires or shifters or other supernatural creatures, the Broken World features humans with specific types of magic called Powers. Each Power type, from strength magic to music magic to illusion magic, has certain unique abilities determined by genetics and strength of magic. While magic itself might seem like a huge advantage, culturally this version of Earth considers magic to be a blue-collar ability, and limits the political influence of magic users, making it as much a curse as a blessing.


 Wild magic carries its own danger, as it can change people into animal-like creatures--but instead of shifters or werewolves, these creatures are monsters enslaved to the magic. It's a humans-only world with magic that works by its own rules.

In addition, as a lover of video games and other geeks, I delight in working references to my favorite fandoms into my books, in ways that won't distract non-fans from the story. As the story is set on an alternate modern-day Earth, Trax and Elizabeth are both gamers themselves, and their love takes shape over video games and other geekeries.

3) Why do I write what I do? 

I love it! I've always loved fantasy, in all its forms. And I love a good love story, so I knew relationships had to play a role in my own books. Plus I've always been frustrated by the lack of regular family relationships in many traditional fantasy stories (ever heard the "everybody's an orphan" sydnrome?), and those that have good family stories are some of my favorites. These are the books I always wanted to read: set on modern Earth, with geekery, love, family, and magic. What's not to love?

4) How does my writing process work?

I'm more pantser than plotter, but I do plot out a vague outline of my story begin. Then I start writing, and the characters change the story on me, so I re-plot. Repeat ad infinitum, or until the book is finished. Then I go back and seed in extras, like foreshadowing for plot developments that appeared later, or bonus developments for the plot that you won't notice until the second read. I'll usually add more details and smooth out plot holes, and then get various beta readers to find plot holes I missed the first time through!

Of course, you'll also probably find a mug of tea by my elbow as I write. I just can't write without a good mug of tea!


 Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you'll take a moment to check out Sucker Literary, volume 3!