D-bag guys: Are they a turn off?

I would say Patrick Bateman from American Psycho doesn't think so, but his vote doesn't count, because he is--in fact--a d-bag.

As I sit here contemplating Feral, my new WIP dystopian, I can't help but wonder if my MC guy Jeremy is coming off too strong. Not only does it switch perspective between my MC Anna and Jeremy, his character is pretty sleazy. It's a first person perspective, changing every 2-3 chapters between them to give a glimpse of how the other changes.

For Jeremy, he's a rich, spoiled, 22-year-old playboy who thinks his life is perfect. Until he meets 17-year-old Anna, a rogue citizen who, as punishment for treason, is turned into a slave and sent to Jeremy as a 22nd b-day gift. From the first time they meet, there is a burning hatred. He thinks she's beneath him, therefore doesn't interact much except for giving her orders. She loathes him and tries to make everything more difficult.

This is where I become hesitant to continue. As I said, it switches between Anna and Jeremy's perspective, so I worry about how strong Jeremy comes off. The first paragraph of his POV starts off as:

They were sitting at the bar. Their skimpy miniskirts were barely covering anything, certainly not their long legs, crossed at the knees. The irony that they were sitting lady-like while wearing thin scraps of nothing. Still, I appreciated the view.

Jeremy is a d-bag. There's no questioning it. But that's exactly why I'm in love with his character. For the first half of the book, he remains this way--arrogant, spoiled, sleazy. The last half of the book, on the other hand...well, let's just say that his eyes open. The world he lives in isn't so perfect. Of course, no one would change their ways of thinking instantly. He's not going to turn into Prince Charming and sweep Anna away, but he does change. The decisions he makes, the way he speaks to people--it's all a part of a dawning realization.

But is it worth reading to get to that part. Selling a guy's POV is hard enough. Girl's relate better to girls, can put themselves in the MCs place. Right from the start, you know he's an asshole. What you don't know is if that will change. Of course, I've said it on here so everyone reading this knows he'll find some sort of redemption, if not fully, but as an unbiased reader, would you still be inclined to read a guy's POV novel KNOWING he wasn't the best of people?

It's something that's been picking at my head. I really do love Jeremy's character. He's complex, mysterious, intuitive. To plot out how he changes in his thinking and reactions is exciting to me, but I can't go through another Concealed mishap where I change everything over and over again. I'm at the point where I need to decide whether to keep this plan of having his POV included, or scrapping it before I get too far in. It doesn't affect the plot; I'll still be able to portray everything I want to, but getting into Jeremy's head would be fun.

So what would YOU think about reading a book with a d-bag main character? Input/discussion/criticism is completely welcome. I'd love to see what others think.

It's spring break, and that means...

...I'm more or less doing something like this:

This next week, while I'll also been drowning in that which we call "presentations" and "tests" the week I get back, meaning there will be studying, I do know that I'm not working the entire week. Translation: MOAR WRITING!!!1

Seeing as how our breaks are the same week, me and Sarah have plans to drink ungodly amounts of coffee, drown our ears in Two Steps from Hell, and generally cause chaos and confusion in the human world type away on Lappies. Well, she'll be betaing novels, I'll be writing, but the coffee and music will indeed happen.

As a little side note, just because I'm all sorts of happy, I got an invite to join the group blog GotYA which will be debuting early April. I'm really excited to work with all the rockstar writers again. Their awesomeness...it's limitless.

As a final update, I have (maybe) decided to work on Feral, my dystiopian novel rather than Concealed. While Concealed is still my baby, I feel a bit burnt out on it having written it, partially revised, rewrote it, then started revising again. I'm a decent 55k in, but the beginning now doesn't add up with the rest of the book, nor do I think I want to keep the rest of the book the same. Always-changing ideas and character advancements. Someday soon, I will finish it, but for the time being, I need to set it aside. After focusing for 3 years on these characters, the stress of trying to get it the way I see it is overwhelming. So this Spring Break is dedicated to Feral, which I intend to write lots of. I'm hoping to get at least 1/3 of the way through, if not more. I have an entire week of nothing but writing (with tidbits of studying and getting together with my group for a presentation) and I plan to fully use all of that time.

Teaser Tuesday

So I decided to do a TT today because my blog has been a bit vacant of posts. Between a painful toothache, soreness from work, and a broken car, I haven't exactly been in the mood to write, but I have written a new intro to Feral.

And with that, I decided to post it. Here's the intro. I'm working out the kinks, so it'll have more of a hook next time around.

**********

*snipped*

Music Monday

I decidedly and not-so-secretly stole this from Sarah. I think it's a great idea for the Monday timeslot, and since I'm working on my own daily post schedule, I thought it would add a nice touch. Music is always a huge part of my music. So many songs that I hear are perfect for certain scenes, trailer music, characters, etc...

This Monday's pick is:

NJ Legion Iced Tea by A Day to Remember (cause I'm obsessed with this band)

I adore this song. In so many ways, it just fits into my book Concealed. It's almost a second theme song, or possibly book one's theme song, since my trilogy theme song position has already been filled.

For any that know my Urban Fantasy/dystopian of magic and evil dudes with the jobs of killing the unnatural, this song is perfect. It's like Neira's thoughts to Morrison, or what she thinks, but doesn't say. Either way, its fantastic.

No-Teaser Tuesday

Yup, you heard me. No, I'm not being anti-TT, I just didn't get enough time to write/edit up a piece, especially since I'm conflicted still.

Mainly because of my History 11 class, which is American History until 1877. Normally this class is my sleep aid, but lately, since I've been into the creative mood, it's my Godsend. I can't count the number of times that I'm listening to lecture and suddenly space out thinking, "Oh man, what if this happened instead." or "I wonder what this would be like if it happened now."

Long story short: I have the missing piece of Feral--my YA dystopian. I don't want to give away any details yet, because it's still in the planning process (Ok, I have a general plot, but I don't know how said plot gets to said scenes in my head :P)

Me thinks I need a break from Concealed and the problems I always have with it. The more I try to write it, the more I end up changing it because it's always getting better. With Feral, I'm planning it as a stand-alone. It'll make my brain less fried doing a solo novel.

Sunshine Award/Teaser Tuesday

Awe, I feel all rockstar-ish. The lovely Maddi tossed a little sunshine my way with an award. Of course, I haven't been the best blogger lately, which I've been meaning to fix, but I appreciate it. Tis my first award and I'm all sorts of happy. Thank you for the love!

As a side note, this'll be a loooooong post as I'll be posting a Teaser this week from my new intro to Concealed. I'll be sure to get to everyone's after my next class. Promise!

So here it goes, my picks. And if you've gotten one already, I don't care. You deserve another :)

The rules of this award are as follows:

1. Put the logo within your post or on your sidebar.
2. Share the love and pass the award to 12 other bloggers.
3. Link the nominees inside of your post.
4. Comment on the nominees' blogs to let them know you've just given them props. :)
5. Give a shout-out to the person who nominated, and post a link to his/her blog as well.

Kate: Your blog is ridiculously entertaining. Hilarious pics, helpful tips, and interesting news. I love passing the time browsing.

Kristin: First of all, you = amazing. The fact that whenever one of us feels the need to spam OPWFT with pictures, we almost always appear in the thread saying, "I smell pic spams!!!" Your blog posts are never dull, I lol many times.

Sushi (AKA Sumayyah): I don't need to tell you how awesome you are, but I will. Your sense of humor is amazing to read in your posts and your teasers are to die for.

Amna: Your posts and teasers are so fun. I find myself laughing at one thing or another. I know you've already gotten this award, but here, have another.

Becca: I know you are on a hiatus at the moment, but I'm still giving you an award dammit! :) Your writing is wonderful and you have an amazing personality to top it.

Karla: You are such a doll. Your posts are always interesting and you are always kind to everyone, showering them with compliments and just making them feel good. You deserve the same :)

Jamie: I told you this a while back when you got your agent, but I'm so happy for you. You totally deserve it. Your posts are quite amusing and random, which is why I love them so much.

Laurie: I.Love.Your.Writing. Your guys are always damn sexy and drool-worthy. I'm indeed envious of your sexual tension between characters.

Corey: We have the same TV addictions, which makes you incredibly awesome. Love bantering with you about them and reading your posts, which I can relate to at times.

Inkspatters: You have to get bored of me saying this, but you have an incredible and unique writing style that I just adore with intriguing story lines to accompany it.

Annie: I get a bunch of reading material from you, which is awesome because with all the choices, it's nice to hear opinions of them :)

And lastly:

Sarah: One word: rockstar. I wish my blog was half as entertaining as yours (though we're both bad bloggers :P). I don't need to tell you how much I love your book/characters/smexiness, but being the best friend, I'll tell it all to you again. I also know that you got this award already, but I demand you get another!

And that's mah list. I only did 11 more because of lack of time between writing this and class, but every one of them are amazing writers and people. If you haven't read their blogs, you best do it!

Okay, now onto part two. I decided to do a teaser of the first chapter of my WIP Concealed, which is being rewritten.

**********

*snipped*

oh hai

I know, I've been a bad blogger. I won't bore with the details of work and school, but I figured that I would do a quick update. I promise to post something more interesting when I have time.

First of all, I'll start by saying, "My Muse is back from vacation." At least, that's where I liked to think she went. For the last couple of weeks, I've been in a writing funk. The exciting intro rewrite that I had planned for Concealed took a turn for the worse. For some reason, it started out as dark and dreary, and moved onto lame and cheesy. Not sure what happened exactly. But as I was taking a look at deleting a section and trying to point it in a different direction, I came across ANOTHER idea. Yes, you heard me, yet another intro idea.

So what did I decide to do? Start over of course. I plotted it out better this time: adding in smaller details, giving good reasons for why Neira is doing what she's doing. I even have dialogue down. And best of all, I'm introducing my villain into the first chapter. Out of everything I have in my book, the relationship between my antagonist and protagonist is my favorite all around. It's amazing to write, to picture, to create. The more I thought about their characters, the more details started popping up for the second book.

I know, I know--I'm not even done with the first, why am I thinking about the second? Because the second is not only going to be absolutely fantastic, it's also important to the first book. I'm not a one-book-at-a-time writer. I look at the big picture, the jumbled up puzzle being put together throughout three books.

In all honesty, as much as I hated not writing for several weeks due to lack of motivation, I never stopped thinking about wanting to disappear into my own head and party with my characters my book and my characters and my story. The longer I took a break, the better my ideas were becoming. They were stewing, simmering inside. I know I always say I'm excited for this new idea or this new chapter, but this time, I think this is it. I think this is the start I've been aiming for. This time, I'm not stopping. I'm going to write this new intro, mesh it with the 50k I wrote before, and finished the last 20k. It's going to take a lot of work, but I'm done letting my Muse slack off. This story has gone through a full 2 drafts and almost 3 years. I'm too excited to stop now.

As a last side note, the awesome folks over at YA Highway have posted this lovely link to Publishers Weekly about dystopian novels. I wouldn't be a good little dystopian/urban fantasy writer if I didn't relink it. It's a great article that makes me very happy seeing as it tells of dystopian novels growing quickly in popularity and numbers. I can't wait to read some of them.

Off the beaten track

My writing, for the most part, revolves around young adult. It's a genre that my heart belongs too. Emotions, hormones, coming-of-age--it really wasn't so long ago that I was smack dab in the middle of acne and angst. I relate very well to YA. I'm only 21. I'm still in the middle of my coming-of-age story. We, as new adults, are still finding our way. We're in college or looking for careers, searching for love, contemplating our futures.

We're also at an in between. No longer teens, not quite adults. Sure, we're over 18, but does age really determine what makes us adult? The stories, emotions, and thoughts in teens are so different from adults. But early to mid 20s are so different from teens and from late 20s/early 30s. We are our own genre. We're the transition. There's still maturing to be done.

I think this post came to be from a new novel idea. While I haven't even written anything of it yet, I did type up a brief summary. The SNI (shiny new idea) came to me a couple of months ago. I have no idea what random thought/image/sound stirred it up inside, but suddenly this idea was here and it wouldn't go away. For the most part, I pushed it aside. YA was the genre I loved writing for and this new idea, it was adult. BLASPHEMY! I had other SNIs waiting. Feral, Ultimatum, Inescapable--not to mention the book I am actually writing now, Concealed. No, this new idea would have to wait.

But the more it sat in my head, the more it grew. I didn't even consciously think about it. These scenes just started moving into my head, dropping off their suitcases at the door and making themselves at home. I pointedly (and mentally) stared and politely asked them to leave. Now was not a good time for company when I already had all these other scenes visiting me as it was. They refused and continued to simmer...until tonight.

There was no more shuffling it to the back. It made a home inside my head and it was not leaving. Finally, I wrote something down. I plotted, mapped, contemplated the major plot and sitting back and looking at it now, I'm quite proud. I guess the real question is, after Concealed, do I pursue 100 Lives, or do I work on my others? My best friend and lovely writer, Sarah, had suggested that I work on Ultimatum (working title) which is a YA contemp-turned-suspense. She really enjoyed the idea, and so did I, but if I keep getting bombarded with 100 Lives scenes, I'm not sure I can resist the urge to write it. It holds a very special place in my heart and tells stories that I hope will be moving, beautiful, and chalk full 'o messages. It's emotionally and spiritually intense and I just hope I can portray that as well as I can in my head.

I love making graphics

Because even if others don't like them, at least I do.

Curious about the broken-8 tattoo? You should be.

TV is invading my head

I love Netflix. Not only am I having DVDs sent to my house every 3-4 days, I can also stream some online. Since I started my subscription, I've been finding all these treasures that I never knew about before. My parents stopped the cable bill and me and Sarah never paid for TV at our apartment, so I never got into many TV shows other than the ones I was obsessed with before like Lost, Scrubs, Family Guy, etc...

Now I'm finding a plethora of amazing TV shows--each one inspiring me to write. My head is buzzing with ideas, and I finally realized the HUGE plot point for the second book. I mean, in the second book I had this kid that my MC Neira has to protect. Sadly, I didn't have the reason why. I knew he was important to Neira because he was important to the Initiative--the branch of the government who hunted down people with magical abilities. I didn't know why he was so wanted though because he doesn't have powers, he isn't a Drifter, but Morrison (Leader of the Initiative) wanted him, so Neira had to get to him first.

Well thanks to the buzzing in my head from the new shows I've been watching, the reason came to me and really, I like it a lot. It fits in perfectly with the idea I had.

Not only that, these shows are helping me to form characters that were lacking. Adarin comes to mind when I think of that. His character is very difficult for me to nail down, though I'm not sure why. I think it might have something to do with the fact that there aren't many guys in my book to divide all of the character traits that I like. Adarin can't be a d-bag, charming, nice, brave, playfully arrogant, actually arrogant all in one. It's choosing which traits that I want him to have the most. I think I'm starting to realize which ones he should have.

I think I give thanks to Darken Rahl and Richard from Legend of the Seeker, and Doctor Who for character development. These two shows are the ones stirring thing up in my head. Both are simply epic, bigger-than-life shows. These are the kinds I really enjoy.

(This screenshot...is hawt.)

(o hai thur!)

TV has even been invading my dreams. Like last night, when I had a dream about me and Sarah having a casual conversations about our books--while doing hand-to-hand combat. Not intentional, but rather practicing. I blame Legend for that. Those fight scenes are so ridiculously epic that my mind has to dream about it.

Let's not forget about the dream I had about zipping around the galaxy with Doctor Who a few weeks back. Nuff said.

Anyone have a TV show that really gets your mind spinning? Do your dreams ever involve them?