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Hey folks! This week on the Self Publishing Roundtable we’re doing something extra special for all those live listeners who aren’t too busy gobbling down turkey, mashed taters and all the other fixings that go into yer’ USA Thanksgiving 4-Day Weekend Extravaganza.
As an extra special experiment, those here on the Roundtable who currently aren’t munching down on the aforementioned taters and turkeys, a.ka. Erica Conroy and Xavier Granville, are–along with your help–going to be brainstorming the characters and plot for a short fiction.
Using currently hot-ranking Amazon genres and categories, we’re going to take the characters and plots that you and us come up with, and from there, write stories that will we later on publish and post updates on in the SPRT blog. We might also post video on book cover design as well–but only if you’re very good! (a.k.a. beg either Xavier or Erica about it…well, you don’t have to beg; ask nicely?)
So come help us create two unique stories for two very different genres using the same plot and characters as our starting point.
If you’ve decided to join in and write with us, here are the details:
Genre: Romance and/or Mystery
Wordcount: Aim for 10,000 words
Deadline: 31 January 2016
Settings / inclusions:
- Flooded basement
- Insurance salesman
FMC – Female Main Character (include two of the following):
- Former bike bouncer
- Bike mechanic
- Prone to acting before thinking
- Addictive personality
- Afraid of death
MMC – Male Main Character:
- Anything goes!
Listen in at the usual time of 7pm PST/10pm EST, and don’t forget about the SPECIAL PRE-RECORDED SHOW w/ NY TIMES & USA TODAY BEST-SELLING AUTHOR MINA CARTER, which will air an hour earlier and can be found here:
Hello?
It’s me from the other side…
Who is here today?
BatmanErica Me, myself, and I.
xgranville BatmanErica and me… with my fam in the room…
For those wondering about me licking my fingers, I am eating an apple crumble muffin and it’s gooood 🙂
And I have chocolate milk 😛
the Midwife’s Revolt sounds like a bunch of angry pregnant women…
Bonjour
Carl Sinclair Evening, chum
xgranville Carl Sinclair You’re not my chum, buddy.
Carl Sinclair xgranville You’re not my buddy, friend.
ChrishaunKellerHanna Carl Sinclair xgranville You’re not my friend, pal.
Pick a genre for me. I’ll do one.
Carl Sinclair ChrishaunKellerHanna xgranville You’re not my pal, guy.
ChrishaunKellerHanna Carl Sinclair xgranville You’re not my guy, mate.
Carl Sinclair ChrishaunKellerHanna xgranville you’re not my mate, fella
I’m more of a “millionaire romance” gal, myself
ChrishaunKellerHanna Carl Sinclair xgranville I’m not your fella, bro.
Carl Sinclair ChrishaunKellerHanna xgranville I’m not your bro, dude.
No erotica.
I’ll be calling it the Whimsical Witch of the Outback if so…
Carl Sinclair nice. go for it 🙂
Thoughts folks?
xgranville Different genres imo. I think you need to pick something you understand, or it would be a mess.
xgranville Like Erica should do a romance, as she understands it. If you’re picking the same character, plot, setting, outline etc then it still works out.
xgranville My net cut out; what fun activity are we doing?
xgranville I don’t read mysteries so I reckon I’d fail hard at it. Same with romance. I know sci-fi, thriller and fantasy.
xgranville Whimsical witches is ‘fantasy’ isn’t it?
Raided by Rudolph: a reindeer shifter mystery?
Multiple personality romance? I imagine “You’ve Got Mail” with one nutso Tom Hanks emailing himself
ChrishaunKellerHanna like reindeer rape?
Carl Sinclair ChrishaunKellerHanna more Call of Duty: North Pole
Jan_from_accounting I wrote a short story called “Splits” about a split personality who is trying to save the man’s head he is in, by teaming up with the other personalities he hates.
Carl Sinclair that sounds intriguing
Characters: go. Main charrie? M/F
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair that does.. is that published somewhere?
BatmanErica Female main characters.
Carl Sinclair two female main characters?
ChrishaunKellerHanna BatmanErica Carl Sinclair No, I don’t publish my shorts. I just write them to cleanse the palate. I can pull it out if you want to read it. Only about 8k.
Carl Sinclair ChrishaunKellerHanna BatmanErica I would love to read it…
Carl Sinclair sell a bundle?
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair Hmmm. Then pick what sells.
There should be a character who believes they have lived before.
Penises: the unicorn of the genital world
BatmanErica Carl Sinclair Some of them become basically ‘outlines” for longer books. Some of them are just random ideas that go nowhere. Some are only 3k etc. One is 500 words.
They’re all over the place in genres too. I don’t think they would sell. I may give them away at some stage to the list etc.
ChrishaunKellerHanna Carl Sinclair BatmanErica I’ll see if I can find it and send you a copy. Probably wont be edited though.
Carl Sinclair ChrishaunKellerHanna BatmanErica no worries…
Any main traits for the main female character?
I’ll do 1st. I never write in 1st.
BatmanErica former biker bar bouncer and bike mechanic,
BatmanErica She has an addictive personality. Easily addicted to things.
Carl Sinclair Are we talking 1st from just one of the women? Or alternating both?
ChrishaunKellerHanna the chick?
Jan_from_accounting Carl Sinclair 1st person perspective
Jan_from_accounting Carl Sinclair I don’t believe in alternating 1st persons. That’s why we have 3rd. I know people do it… but it’s not for me.
BatmanErica ChrishaunKellerHanna yes…. prone to screaming and using her fists before her brains…
Yanks always get offended when I call them yanks. But we call them all yanks where I come from.
BatmanErica She is afraid of death.
Naughty naughty.
BatmanErica depending on genre… this maybe the actual being ‘death’ too…
How about settings?
I think a flooded basement should be used.
Carl Sinclair BatmanErica I read a short story once where a woman ended up being Death’s secretary
Carl Sinclair BatmanErica It could be that she cheated Death in a bar fight and is running from Death, who she can always identify, no matter what shape he takes…
Carl Sinclair BatmanErica or cheated Death through one of her addictions..
Loads of ideas instantly for that…
bloated body floating or
a whimsical accident or
a bad storm causing carnage..
Male: insurance salesman. Everybody deals with them at some point in their adult life. Possibly offering a special on… life insurance? Dum dum dum!
I am a plot bunny generator…
ChrishaunKellerHanna I am the Lord of all Ideas
The man could like wearing women’s panties.
The man may have been a POW. Has had brainwashing OR just loads of mental damage done to him. Keeps is secret.
Carl Sinclair Brainwashed into wearing women’s panties?
Carl Sinclair BatmanErica It was in an Anthology called “I Shudder at Your touch”
Plot ideas?
So all stories start in/with a flooded basement
Character’s backstory/issues told through sorting through things ruined by the flood (photos, clothes, random crap)
Maybe this is too cheesy, but feels romance-ish. Maybe I secretly find romance cheesy…?
some friend of the FMC is found dead and floating in a flooded basement and she is asked to look into because the police called it an accident… She is poking around and she is crosses the path of an insurance investigator (the MMC), who also thinks that it was suspicious, but the FMC sees him for what he is… Death (who is tasked with putting the soul at rest so it will leave peacefully.
Jan_from_accounting Could be sappy, but it could be tragic. Who knows what/who was lost in the flood
The flood could be the event that starts all the stories.
Romance and/or Mystery
Settings / inclusions
Flooded basement
Insurance salesman
FMC – Female Main Character
Former bike bouncer and bike mechanic – prone to acting before thinking
Addictive personality
Afraid of death
MMC – Male Main CharacterAnything goes!
Carl Sinclair the anthology can be called “The Flood”
BatmanErica She used to be a guy and just won “Woman of the Year”
Do you know what I love?
Dead air.
how long is this work…? is there a word limit…
ChrishaunKellerHanna 10k
Carl Sinclair ChrishaunKellerHanna Thanks… I missed that bit
AFTER PARTY if you dare…. https://hangouts.google.com/call/g2pjmkfr6eze5drppdq5iynl5aa
xgranville hurry, i’m lonely!