Welcome to My Official Web Page!

Welcome to My Official Web Page!

Thursday, March 31, 2011

A is For Abracadabra!



I have invented a magic wand. It makes the best peanut-butter chocolate brownies ever (calorie free, of course) AND gives you the choice of either magically finishing that pesky first draft of your WIP or revising it to a spit-polished shine.

But you can only choose one. (The brownies are on the house).

I detest first drafts (although I'm still enjoying my current one and am on the home stretch), but I love revising so I'm going with the First Draft Wand.

Which do you choose?

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Show Me the Voice Blogfest- Come Critique!



Brenda Drake is having her Show Me the Voice Blogfest and I've decided to post the first 250 of my new MS.

WARNING: It's barely edited, but I wanted to get some early feedback on the voice. This is my first foray into first person, but I'm really enjoying it. Here goes!


My life began the night my father died.

I lay on the straw pallet with my sisters and listened to Comito’s snores and Anastasia’s even breathing in the dark. An animal snorted, probably the scraggly new bear Father had acquired to train for the Greens, a beast scarcely fit for the spectacle of the Hippodrome. I scratched my stomach and kicked Comito, none too gently. The fleas were bad tonight and Constantinople’s summer heat made the stench of the nearby garbage heap especially pungent. I missed our old home in Cyprus, the salty smell of the Mediterranean and the cicadas’ screams amidst the olive trees. Our ramshackle house near Constantinople’s amphitheater could scarcely compare.

I heard a shuffle in the dark—possibly a rat—but then my father grunted.

“Quiet, Acacius.” My mother giggled. “You’ll wake the girls.” She gave a little moan, followed by the sounds of their lovemaking. I snuggled into Anastasia’s bare back and drifted toward sleep.

“Acacius.” My mother’s voice woke me. She sounded annoyed, the same tone she used when my father played too rough with us girls. There was another sound, a thud like a sack of flour hitting the ground. “Acacius!”

“Mama?” I opened my eyes, but wished I hadn’t. My father lay facedown on their pallet, his arms crumpled in strange angles under his bulk.

Departing this life in the throes of passion is probably as good a way to go as any—in later years I’d wish such a fate on many men—but now was not a good time for my father to greet Saint Peter.

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Belize, Honduras, & Mexico- Oh My!

The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page. -St. Augustine

Our trip to Belize, Honduras, and Mexico was quite an adventure, even without my 102 degree fever (blecch). We saw plenty of monkeys, but thankfully no tarantulas!


A "Jesus Christ" bird in Orange Walk, Belize.



The temple of the Jaguar in Lamanai, Belize. Grrr...



The start of our climb of the main pyramid. It was more than a little scary coming down!


The Mask Temple. I have a sneaking suspicion this is all restoration, but it's still nifty.


Two very soggy explorers. Rain in the rain forest? What the heck!


Monday, March 14, 2011

New URL!

I have a new URL!

I started this blog with the intent of sticking to Hatshepsut, but let's face it- my new WIP isn't even set in Ancient Egypt.

*GASP*

Shocking, I know. So it's time for a new look (coming soon-ish) and a new URL.

You can now find me at www.stephanie-thornton.com.

See you there!

Friday, March 4, 2011

Bon Voyage!

Spring has sprung!

Well, not really. The bears are still asleep and there's a ton of snow on the ground, but today marked the first day of Spring Break. Yahoo!

I'm off to get my Vitamin D fix in Mexico, Honduras & Belize. I'm super excited for Belize- we're going to the ruins at Lamanai.

Here's what comes up if you Google Lamanai:

Ruins

and...

Tarantulas

I'm really hoping for the first one.

See you soon!

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Historical Fiction 101- Make It Real



I won't do it. You can't make me. Nope, nuh-uh, not on your life. Not even if you promised me an all-expense paid trip to Egypt.

Well... maybe.

There is one rule for writing historical fiction.

Don't mess with history.

I can't make Hatshepsut eat with a fork (they weren't invented yet) or ride a camel through the desert (no camels in Egypt in 1500BC). On a bigger scale, I can't ignore events that really happened, but instead have to work them into the story and make them believable.

Sometimes this is a royal pain in the arse, but it makes the story real. That's what matters in historical fiction- a good story that really could have happened.

What's the #1 rule for your genre?
Calvin & Hobbes comic from Bill Waterson.