Contortion Trivia

Tags

arcanium, contortion, contortionist, dark erotic romance, demonic circus, erotica, novel, supernatural, valorie

For every novel, I have a few interesting tidbits to share about aspects of the story and/or its place in its series. I love movie trivia, so it only makes sense I’d do the same for my books. Here are a few facts about Contortion, the fifth book in the Arcanium series. As always, it’s best to read the book first, lest you encounter spoilers.

1. Valorie is named after the actress Valorie Curry, to whom she bears no resemblance.

2. Lennon is inspired by but doesn’t physically resemble Tim Roth. John is inspired by Leonard Roberts. Valorie isn’t really inspired by anyone. She’s just in my head.

3. Contortion differs from the other Arcanium novels in several different ways. Like Kitty, she’s a veteran cast member of the circus, but she doesn’t bring anyone new in, so this is the first novel where there’s no formal introduction to Arcanium. Secondly, most of my main characters, they struggle with the demon side of Arcanium; Valorie struggles with her humanity.

4. When I wrote Ringmaster, I was writing about a woman with hair all over her body when my problem is that I have trouble keeping mine on. In Contortion, I write about a woman who can twist herself into knots. I can’t even reach my toes without bending my knees.

5. Between getting a dayjob and edits for other Arcanium novels, Contortion took over three months to edit prior to submission, even though it took less than a month to write.

6. Valorie’s jeans when she steps through the portal are high-waisted and acid-washed. It’s really quite bad.

7. I affectionately call this story ‘The Bitch and the Beast.’

8. I consider this the most human of the Arcanium novels thus far. Coincidentally, it was also the least interesting for me to write (doesn’t mean I don’t like it, because I enjoyed spending time seeing things through Valorie’s eyes – just in matters of comparison).

9. Was the second book written for NaNoWriMo 2014, started halfway through that month. I resolved to write 50k for each novel (at least 50k to finish the first novel, at least 50k to start the second novel), and I succeeded.

10. Shortest Arcanium novel thus far.

Contortion (Arcanium Book 5) – Day 23 COMPLETE

Tags

arcanium, complete, contortion, contortionist, demonic circus, erotic romance, horror, novel, series, valorie, work in progress, writing

Title: Contortion

Series: Arcanium

Summary: After having toured with Arcanium for over twenty years, Valorie is considering leaving Arcanium. Her long-time relationship with Bell, the one in charge of the demonic circus, has been invalidated by a lack of deeper love, if not a lack of passion. Her interim lover, another demon, keeps straying with the circus’ mermaid. Valorie’s feeling neglected and unwanted for anything more than her ability to twist herself into knots.

When the heavily cursed fire-eater John shows willingness to do anything for Arcanium and its inhabitants to make up for the crimes he committed against them, Valorie takes the opportunity to exorcize her frustration.

She finds the mutually beneficial arrangement surprisingly satisfying…until her fiancé from twenty years ago stumbles across the circus and discovers where the woman meant to be his wife disappeared to.

Notes:

It’s definitely the shortest of the Arcanium novels, and I’m predicting some repetition that needs to be edited out. I’m not complaining. :) It also feels like a book apart, not as freaky, not as demonic, not as horrorful. Not sure how to handle that, nor am I sure whether this story will need a complete overhaul. I’ll have to see – although that would really suck, to have wasted three weeks of 2014 writing.

I’m really more of a supernatural/horror writer, and I sometimes have trouble relating to realistic aspects of a story if I can’t temper it with unrealistic things. The fantasy in fiction is what drives me, and it makes real-life problems easier to handle. I’m a sideways kind of person.

I don’t have a ton more to talk about, since I wrote a progress report two days ago. I’m mostly just glad that the story is finished within the first week of December rather than in the middle like the last two. It is, in fact, conceivable that I could finish Call for Blood before the end of 2014.

My December schedule has altered somewhat. I decided to do my baking next-next week instead of the coming week, so I’m going to start Call for Blood on Tuesday. Tomorrow is for outlining Call for Blood, and the rest of Sunday and all of Monday is for work things. That gives me some time off to get my head back on, which I need. Suffice it to say, as much as I love writing, I’m looking forward to editing for a month or so. These last months have been packed, and a girl gets burnt out. I think that’s what the numbness might be. I push through the pain when it comes to productivity, but I think I lose the emotional connection. Whether that translates through the writing is up to the edits to decide.

First Ringmaster in January, then Contortion. I might edit Bloodbound first, though. I’m running into money issues, and self-publishing sooner rather than later could cushion the fall.

Stats:

Word count: 82,291 words

Projected word count: 80,000 words (Thank goodness I was off by 2k instead of 20k like Fever & Fray, right?)

Days to write: 23 days (Fewer words in more days than Ringmaster, but Ringmaster was more in my wheelhouse with the whole horror and demon thing. Plus it was earlier in my multi-month writing marathon, so I had more umph.)

First line: “Lately, Valorie had been feeling more solo.”

Largest number of sexual participants at once: 3 (But mostly 2.)

Number of sex scenes: 7 (Also the fewest of the Arcanium novels, but I think that’s more a function of it being shorter. I think, sex scenes to word count, it’s about average for me.)

Contortion (Arcanium Book 5) – Day 21

Tags

arcanium, contortionist, demonic circus, erotic horror, erotic romance, erotica, novel, series, valorie, work in progress, writing

Title: Contortion

Series: Arcanium

Word Count: 75,015/90,000

Summary: After having toured with Arcanium for over twenty years, Valorie is considering leaving Arcanium. Her long-time relationship with Bell, the one in charge of the demonic circus, has been invalidated by a lack of deeper love, if not a lack of passion. Her interim lover, another demon, keeps straying with the circus’ mermaid. Valorie’s feeling neglected and unwanted for anything more than her ability to twist herself into knots.

When the heavily cursed fire-eater John shows willingness to do anything for Arcanium and its inhabitants to make up for the crimes he committed against them, Valorie takes the opportunity to exorcize her frustration.

She finds the mutually beneficial arrangement surprisingly satisfying…until her fiancé from twenty years ago stumbles across the circus and discovers where the woman meant to be his wife disappeared to.

Notes:

I’ve got two scenes to write that will hopefully comprise the final two chapters. It’s my hope that I can finish tomorrow, Saturday at the latest.

I feel that, at best, this climax scene I’m working on right now is sloppy. I’ll definitely have to clean it up in edits. It doesn’t help that I’m juggling so many characters. I never like doing that in a story. It ends up feeling like a circus and not in the Arcanium way.

I’m still not sure about this book. Is it good? Is it exciting? Is it something that people will be interested in reading? Is it just predictable to me because I’ve had most of the story locked down since summer? There are parts of the story that were a surprise to me…during the plotting process. Does it lose its spontaneity with the readers too, or just with me? Is it just not as exciting for me because no one’s having sex with demons, but the average reader would be perfectly okay with that? I’m having trouble answering those basic questions, but I may just be in that stage of the writing. You know that stage. It sucks.

Also, I’m ready to be done – I’m behind in my head as well as in my schedules, and I’m ready to do my December things. I’m ready to bake Christmas goodies like crazy, plan for the madness of the new year, and outline Call for Blood, since I’m still not sure how that’s going to go. I’m missing motivations. I’m ready to start preparing for Bloodbound edits.

The good thing about this last quarter was that I got to delve even deeper into Valorie’s complexities, particularly related to her past when compared to her present. Plot is sometimes a struggle for me to get down on paper in the right words, but I think characterization is one of my fortes. I’m a character-study kind of girl, and I think empathizing with villains has made me better at writing non-villains, because I’m more willing to write in characteristics that I don’t like and don’t have to like. Just a thought. The plot problems are more descriptive in nature – choreography has always been a challenge.

In case you were wondering, I did cross 125k words written in November, from both Fever & Fray and Contortion, four minutes before midnight at the end of November. Over 50k words for both stories, so no matter how you turn it, I won the month. :) I took a couple days off after that to breathe, which is why I’m only just getting to 75k on Contortion.

If things work out, I should be able to start Call for Blood next Thursday. That’s my goal. I might start a little early on Sunday and save baking for the weekdays, but I think I’ll take that time to work on other projects before taking on the next novel. I hope Call for Blood is as generously shorter for me as Contortion has been. :) I really want to finish it before December’s end. I want to be free and clear of writing in the new year for a few months. Just editing and working. Editing I can do in the mornings. Writing, not so much. Editing, I can have a beer or wine. Writing, not so much. I have a feeling a glass of alcohol or two might be needed in the new year. Stressful but potentially exciting things happening in my non-writing life. We’ll have to see. I may have news to share by then.

Contortion (Arcanium Book 5) – Day 7

Tags

arcanium, contortion, contortionist, demonic circus, demons, erotic horror, erotic romance, erotica, novel, series, valorie

Title: Contortion

Series: Arcanium

Word Count: 25,085/80,000

Summary: After having toured with Arcanium for over twenty years, Valorie is considering leaving Arcanium. Her long-time relationship with Bell, the one in charge of the demonic circus, has been invalidated by a lack of deeper love, if not a lack of passion. Her interim lover, another demon, keeps straying with the circus’ mermaid. Valorie’s feeling neglected and unwanted for anything more than her ability to twist herself into knots.

When the heavily cursed fire-eater John shows willingness to do anything for Arcanium and its inhabitants to make up for the crimes he committed against them, Valorie takes the opportunity to exorcize her frustration.

She finds the mutually beneficial arrangement surprisingly satisfying…until her fiancé from twenty years ago stumbles across the circus and discovers where the woman meant to be his wife disappeared to.

Notes:

Valorie isn’t my favorite person from Arcanium, but damn if she isn’t fun to write. Just goes to show that you can dislike the person (although I like her more when I’m writing her perspective, because I know her better than anyone else has yet known her) and love the character. She’s not concerned what other people think of her, and so she can be abrasive, but she’s also interesting in so many ways.

Contortion sets itself apart from many of the other novels in several ways. For one, like Ringmaster, Contortion is written from the perspective of a veteran cast member. But Contortion doesn’t introduce anyone new to the circus, so I have to find a different way to show the circus for what it is, pulling back the curtain in more subtle ways.

The other things that’s different about Contortion is that the main characters of previous novels have been humans trying to come to grips with the demonic side of Arcanium and resolving it with their humanity. For Valorie, she’s been saturated with the demonic side of Arcanium. She’s embraced it for her own self-preservation and because she’s been given no good reason not to. It’s her humanity that gives her pain. Plot twist. :)

I’ve set this novel’s word goal relatively short at 80k words. I wouldn’t be surprised if it went a little over, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if it went a little under. Part of this is because there’s less Arcanium introduction. I’m not going to count my chickens, but at this point I doubt it’ll reach 90k. Which is a relief. I think my head would explode if I took on another over-100k job.