#authorlifechallenge

Day 24 post on Day 26 for @sachablackauthor 's AuthorLife Challenge: Favorite side characters. In my upcoming novel Mark of the Champion, my favorite side characters are Bilwen and Tonlin, two old pixies from the West Yorkshire region of England. They're an homage to characters from Last of the Summer Wine: Bilwen is based on Compo (Bill Owen), while Tonlin is a composite of Norman Clegg (Peter Sallis) and whoever the third man was for that season who thinks he's the leader of the trio (Cyril, Foggy, Seymour, etc.) Tonlin is the taller one...unfortunately I couldn't find any examples of senior pixies wearing tweed jackets. 🤷🏼‍♀️ #fantasywriter #indiewriter #writersofinstagram #authorlifechallenge #sidecharacters #pixies #lastofthesummerwine #candyglynnwilder #writingcommunity #markofthechampion #motc https://www.instagram.com/p/CRzZaFnr8vx/?utm_medium=tumblr

Day 23 post on Day 26 for @sachablackauthor 's AuthorLife Challenge: How do you celebrate your writing wins? I think the picture says it all.🍦 (make mine chocolate, plz.) Since all the cool kids are doing it: Preorder 8 Steps to Side Characters by Sacha Black at https://books2read.com/sidecharacters #fantasywriter #indiewriter #writersofinstagram #authorlifechallenge #writingwins #celebration #writingreward #icecream #chocolateicecream #serotoninboost #candyglynnwilder #writingcommunity #markofthechampion #motc https://www.instagram.com/p/CRzOD1_rEoG/?utm_medium=tumblr

Day 22 post on Day 26 for @sachablackauthor 's AuthorLife Challenge: Muse or Sources of Inspiration. (Because what better way to be a rebel author than to make challenge posts after the challenge is over?) Fred has always been a source of inspiration for me, particularly when it comes to characters. A raspy, comedic voice he developed served as inspiration for Keoki, one of the two main characters in my book. I'm also very inspired by Star Wars (a lifelong love since 1977), Studio Ghibli films, Pixar movies, walks through our local arboretum, Renaissance Faires, research into ancient and modern magical practices, spiritualities, gods, and goddesses, Yosemite, and British sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. Since all the cool kids are doing it: Preorder 8 Steps to Side Characters by Sacha Black at https://books2read.com/sidecharacters #fantasywriter #indiewriter #writersofinstagram #authorlifechallenge #inspiration #muse #charactervoices #starwars #studioghibli #pixar #magicalpractices #spirituality #yosemite #lastofthesummerwine #candyglynnwilder #fredwilder #writingcommunity #markofthechampion #motc https://www.instagram.com/p/CRzLUGyrQcg/?utm_medium=tumblr

Day 20 post for @sachablackauthor 's AuthorLife Challenge: Best craft books. I haven't had much luck with outlines. Whenever I'd list the particulars of a chapter, one of two things would happen: I couldn't come up with anything, or what I did come up with wouldn't work. I had partial outlines for each chapter in the second half of Mark of The Champion, but never a unifying outline that encompassed an entire book. I had enough inspiration for the first half, then a loose chapter-by-chapter plan for the second. I'm very pleased with the way my novel turned out. But I will never write another book that way again. While searching for a method that would incorporate my exploration into an outline structure, I learned about @authorkmweiland 's book, "Outlining your Novel," on the WriteNow! podcast. One method for idea generation was to write a list of "What Ifs," for as many scenarios as I could think of. I tried it for my rewrites and it worked like a charm. I bought the book and found a whole collection of methods that worked perfectly with my spur-of-the-moment method of thought. I'm looking forward to making a workable outline for the second book in my series. Since all the cool kids are doing it: Preorder 8 Steps to Side Characters by Sacha Black at https://books2read.com/sidecharacters #fantasywriter #indiewriter #writersofinstagram #authorlifechallenge #writing #outlining #pantsing #outliningyournovel #kmweiland #writenowpodcast #candyglynnwilder #writingcommunity #markofthechampion #motc https://www.instagram.com/p/CRkbUxnL0IH/?utm_medium=tumblr

Day 19 post for @sachablackauthor 's AuthorLife Challenge: A writing moment you're proud of When I started writing what would become Mark of The Champion, I wanted Sheila and Keoki's hunt for an ancient magical artifact to culminate in a wild action scene inside an amusement park. Trouble was, I had no idea how to set up the chase, or how to write crazy, theatrical action. As a result my writing came to a halt for ten years. Then in 2017, after a decade of challenging life experiences, I got the inspiration to write that scene, and the rest of the book. That chase scene is currently in Chapter 20, which is my favorite chapter in the book because it represents a total victory for me after years of being blocked. Plus it's just a lot of gosh-darned fun! Since all the cool kids are doing it: Preorder 8 Steps to Side Characters by Sacha Black at https://books2read.com/sidecharacters #fantasywriter #indiewriter #writersofinstagram #authorlifechallenge #candyglynnwilder #writingcommunity #markofthechampion #motc #writing #actionscenes #perseverance #sticktoitiveness https://www.instagram.com/p/CRhBdqELSk4/?utm_medium=tumblr

Day 18 post for @sachablackauthor 's AuthorLife Challenge: Your book pile (written or TBR) Please excuse the generic book pile photo, but 99% of the books I read are all digital. There's just no room in our little house to store any more books, unless they're super special. Some books I am reading: T. Thorn Coyle's Witches of Portland series, Six of Crows, a three-book Percy Jackson collection, and a bunch of writing craft books. Since all the cool kids are doing it: Preorder 8 Steps to Side Characters by Sacha Black at https://books2read.com/sidecharacters #fantasywriter #indiewriter #writersofinstagram #authorlifechallenge #candyglynnwilder #writingcommunity #bookstack #bookaesthetic #bookshelf #ebooks #reading https://www.instagram.com/p/CRehYclrNQ5/?utm_medium=tumblr

Day 17 (on Day 18) post for @sachablackauthor 's AuthorLife Challenge: Last book you bought. Ok, so this is sorta kinda cheating because I'm posting this a day late, but I just got all three of @david_combs_author 's books today: Thieves' Honor and the first two books in the Witches of Pioneer Vale series, Ascension and Guardian. Thieves' Honor is available for the low low price of *free,* and the Pioneer Vale books are 99 cents each, but today is the last day of the sale. Getcher self a new ebook stack! Since all the cool kids are doing it: Preorder 8 Steps to Side Characters by Sacha Black at https://books2read.com/sidecharacters #fantasywriter #indiewriter #writersofinstagram #authorlifechallenge #candyglynnwilder #writingcommunity #bookstack #davidcombsauthor #witchesofpioneervale #thieveshonor #supportindieauthors https://www.instagram.com/p/CRedp5drdgd/?utm_medium=tumblr

Day 16 (on Day 18) post for @sachablackauthor 's AuthorLife Challenge: Fave Villain I am a huge fan of the Discworld books, and my favorite (so far) is Night Watch. It has a chase sequence at the beginning that is so well-paced and dramatic, I could see a movie of it in my head. Commander Sam Vimes faces off against Carcer Dun, a vexing criminal who's always two steps ahead of Vimes. When Sam finally pins him down, Carcer produces a third blade (Vimes thought he only had two) and slashes at his face. In that moment a magic-charged thunderbolt zaps them back into the past. Carcer does away with John Keel, the policeman who mentored young Sam. Older Sam has to impersonate John Keel and teach his younger self everything that Keel taught him, while also trying to catch Carcer and find a way back to his own time. It's a spectacular book. Since all the cool kids are doing it: Preorder 8 Steps to Side Characters by Sacha Black at https://books2read.com/sidecharacters #fantasywriter #indiewriter #writersofinstagram #authorlifechallenge #candyglynnwilder #writingcommunity #carcerdun #samvimes #nightwatch #discworld #terrypratchett #favevillain https://www.instagram.com/p/CReXxRErUSo/?utm_medium=tumblr