Guest Post by Ally K., author of Special Minds
I've worked on this novel for two years, I've tried to make the universe as plausible as possible, even though it's fantasy, working not only on the first book, but also planning the plot and universe extension of the whole trilogy. It was a struggle, but I guess so is everything for the first time.
I have bipolar disorder, headaches are normal for me, I always have them, so the whole idea for the story came to me, when I woke up with a horrible headache, worse than I ever had before. It was so painful, that I wanted to somehow split up my mind to feel at least only half of the pain. And that's when I thought of the "mind split" for the novel.
I was very inspired by Richelle Mead's VA series, which gave me the idea of the bond. I reworked the whole bond thing and made my own story out of it. I also was very affected by Orson Scott Card's book "Ender's Game". The thought of children that are smarter and more mature, than most adults was very appealing. There are no children in my novel, but it has a similar idea - age is only a number.
I have a few writing tips that helped me write and actually finish this book:
1. When I just started writing I thought of how I want the story to go and how I want it to end. Then I just wrote down chapter titles. This is a really great way to stick to your original idea and not be distracted, so the story moves it's original flow. So if you're like me and prefer to write, when you have a clear image of how the story will go, write those chapter titles like a rough plan that you of course can change later.
2. If you have writers block, stop forcing yourself to write. In my opinion it's bad for you AND the book, if you force yourself to write. Get a break, watch some movies or read your favourite books. My favourite childhood Disney movies were a great help for me, I always got so inspired after watching something I loved in my childhood.
3. It's always hard to keep the right balance of your descriptions. When I notice that I am describing too much I stop, go back to the start of the chapter and read it. If I get a clear image in my head then I'm good, if I get too many details and I feel bored by it, then I rewrite it.
4. So, recently I found a great site that helps me a lot to work on my sequel. In 3 days I wrote 3 chapters. I'm not going to promote things, but the site is called Inkitt and it has this great Writers Write Program, where the challenge is to write a 50 000 WC book in a month. This challenge really keeps me on my toes and helps me move faster with the sequel.
Book description:
Millicent Kale, an ordinary girl it might seem. An incident shows, that she's not that normal after all, but destined to keep life and death balanced in this world. Yet she's not the only one.
If I could split my mind, make another me, would I just see myself like in a mirror? Or would I see through two sets of eyes? And if one of us died, would it feel like me? Could I keep on living? Or wouldn’t I feel anything at all?
If you would live your whole life in pain, do you think it would affect you? When mental and psychological pain become physical, it's hard not to change, and Millicent Kale changed a lot.
Grief, hurt and pain follow Milly every day, but when the closest person she has dies, Milly uncovers that she's not quite human. And she's not alone.
Fate entangles her life with a man she would rather avoid, yet in the end making her listen to reason. Of course it's really hard not to listen to your inner self, when she can actually punch you.
"Special Minds" is a love story, with fantasy parts that make the story work. You'll find fun sidekicks, strong characters and topics that will make you think more on today's social and psychological problems.
Author Bio:
I was born in Uzbekistan. When I was three years old me and my family moved to Germany (we lived in Bonn, it’s a small town near Cologne) and lived there for eleven years. I went to a Russian school which was one of the two Russian schools in the whole country (the second one is in Berlin).
In the year 2011 we moved to Kazakhstan where I live now. I finished school here. Now I am a student at a Russian university and a technical translator for my father’s IT firm.
Right now I’m working on my second book and a few other projects I’m thinking about doing. In the past few months I’ve also become an avid reader, I do reviews on indie books on my blog, I also started a youtube channel recently.
I’m also a gamer, I play Dota 2, among other games, and I’m a hobby photographer.
Links:
My book on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36074149-special-minds
My book on Inkitt (free access to read) https://www.inkitt.com/stories/romance/174956?utm_source=shared_web
My Goodreads author page https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/13458926.Ally_K_
My Inkitt author page https://www.inkitt.com/allykay
Facebook profile https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010528571200
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/allybooksandreviews/?pnref=lhc
Twitter https://twitter.com/Ally0kay
Blog https://allybooksandreviews.blogspot.com/
Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdURa-xAa6T6v-C7h01qZeg
Allpoetry (I also write poems) https://allpoetry.com/Ally_K
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