Today we welcome guest author Candice Gilmer! Take it away, Candice...
Let’s Make It Complicated! (Read--How I Give Myself
Headaches)
By Candice Gilmer
Hi.
My name is Candice Gilmer.
And I am addicted to over-complicating my plots.
Ever heard the phrase “His eyes were bigger than his
stomach”? Yep. That’s about how I write.
My ideas are bigger and much more exciting when I’m
initially writing/plotting/world-building than when I’m actually doing the
writing.
Take my latest book, Under His Nose. It’s the first in the
Guys and Godmothers series.
The series overview? Three Fairy Godmothers decide to take
on men for their charges instead of women. Sounds simple, right?
One would think.
Then I get in there, and start pre-plotting (whether this is
a real term, I don’t know, but it’s what I characterize the series flow, etc.)
and think, sure! Let’s make three books happen simultaneous! That’s no big
deal, right?
Oh my God…
Seriously.
Someone kick me the next time I try to write three books
that are going on at the same time. Especially where, in the beginning, the
middle, and the end, all six main characters are together.
Don’t get me wrong, I really do love these books, they’ve been
a lot of fun. You wouldn’t know it, to look at the spreadsheets, notecards, and
outlines that litter my office space. I think I scared my husband the other day
when he accidentally glanced at one of my outlines.
But they are.
I mean, Fairy Godmothers taking on boys? How fun is that?
And in the first book, Under His Nose, the Fairy Godmother, Christy Molar
(Married to Ewan Molar, a Tooth Fairy), has her work cut out for her, because
what should be easy--best friends since grade school--turns out to be much more
than she bargained for. Especially when her arch nemesis, Cupid, is running
around with all his cherubs, shooting arrows into people, and screwing up all
of Christy’s hard work.
The second book, Before His Eyes, comes out in early 2014,
and the third, later in the year. And of course, with every book, I make it a
little more interesting -- read ‘complicated’-- than the last.
So when they’re all done, I get a big bottle of wine, or a
very large margarita, and cheesecake.
And believe me, I can’t wait for that margarita. Because I
will have earned it.
What about you, when you complicate things, how do you
reward yourself? (Leave a comment for a chance to win a $10 gift certificate to
Amazon)!
Candice
http://candicegilmer.com