Not Just Best Friends by S.A. Hoag

by S.A. Hoag

Notice – the views expressed here are mine and not those of the SFRB.

Character building is a complex and time-consuming affair.  You want them to be realistic, but usually they are extraordinary people caught in extraordinary circumstances.  In The Wildblood series, I’ve used the relationship between two unusual people to reveal the storyline.  The catch is – they are best friends, and it’s complicated.

No, really it is, and there’s the fun part.  The dynamics between these two reveal important subplots and hint at things that I hope keep the readers intrigued.  While Wade is nearly a perfect example of an alpha male, and Shannon a head-strong alpha female, there are enough twists to make them unique.  I’ve been character-building around this pair, and I’ve been world building through their interactions.  Using them, I’ve expanded on family interactions, their friends and co-workers, and perhaps most importantly, the world they occupy.

What makes this work for me, in this series, is that they have a unique relationship.  The little quirks and details, complications that might echo similarities in Real Life.  They bicker, sometimes they fight, they laugh and joke, they share their hopes and fears with each other.  What are they afraid of, and what do they cherish most?  In this series, the question is, what would they do to protect their home?  People, even fictional ones, have their limits.  The author should exploit those, and the reader should enjoy them.  

When I’m reading, that’s what catches me – details that I can relate to.  Is this character confident and well-mannered, but afraid of large group of people?  Does she dance alone when she’s happy?  Does he keep a secret stash of romance novels?  When all is said and done, why will I remember this character?  Why would I read more, or why wouldn’t I? 

These are the things I consider during my many edits.  Spelling, sentence structure, plot, all those things of course are important.  If the story is boring or the characters don’t catch the imagination of the reader, technical stuff won’t matter.

What hooks you, in that first page?

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Renegades: Book 2 of The Wildblood
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LYNY774

Uncontrollable. Unpredictable. Dangerous. The Wildblood.
Now, Team Three know what they are.

Renegades: Book 2 of The Wildblood takes up with Team Three out among clans of the Altered, and cities where civilization has held ground.  Their efforts to establish The Vista’s domain create unique conflicts and forge unexpected allies. One of the most pressing obstacle turns out to be their own governing council, a threat as real and dangerous as the nomads of the outlands.

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Find all my books, in eBook formats and paperback here - www.topaz08.com

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The Wildblood Series

No one remembers what started the war, the big one. It happened too fast, and there were too many lies, for the truth to be known. Civilization stopped, and what came next was fueled by rage and fear.

Twenty years on, a tiny refuge, a place called The Vista, may be one of the last vestiges of humanity. Isolated, guarded, and hiding a dark secret, the people have survived World War Last, and they are content with that. Their children, however, are not. The search for others will send them out into a world they know nothing about, where the line between enemy and ally is blurred. The war may not be over.

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S. A. Hoag - Author

I've been a lifelong Sci Fi addict, from Saturday morning monster movies, to a well-stocked public library, and being absolutely thrilled at the advent of CGI.

Writing came about naturally. I love contemplating 'what if' or 'what next', and then books happen. Detailed plots, intricate relationships, surprise twists, these are a few of my favorite things. I want my readers to be entertained.

Now I watch sunsets in the desert, the stars at night, and enjoy being with my family. You can find all my current books at my website. I hope you have as much fun reading them as I did writing them.

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Where you can find me

Website – http://www.topaz08.com

Wordpress - https://topaz08.wordpress.com/

Twitter - https://twitter.com/HoagSheila

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/thewildbloodseries/

Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/topaz08/

Amazon Author Page - https://www.amazon.com/-/e/B00WARWIHY

Portals: Volume Five Release Day! #scifi #romance #SFRB

Portals: Volume Five is out! 

Welcome! You have arrived at a portal to the galaxy.

Enter, and you'll be introduced by award-winning authors to worlds beyond imagining, with heroes & heroines who dare to take it to the edge and beyond. Count on these adventurers to take their best shot … at their enemies and at romance!

Contains 10 first chapters, with links to purchase any or all of the complete books, should you wish.

All Portals volumes are FREE. Get yours today at your favorite publishing platform:

 Amazon  Barnes&Noble  Apple  Kobo  Google Play  Smashwords  ARe

Enjoy!

Writing With A Soundtrack

by S.A. Hoag

I generally write while listening to music. It relaxes me, gets a rhythm going, and the words flow. If I'm writing an action scene, I've got Metallica, The Scorpions, AC/DC, Iron Maiden . . . You get the idea. For general writing, there's always the stand-bys of Rush and Journey.

I'm fairly eclectic when it comes to music. My MP3 player has Hugo Montenegro and David Garrett, AC/DC to ZZ Top and lots of 80's music in between. Music has always been my muse. There are a couple Easter Eggs in 'The Vista' that are song references. I snicker and don't really expect anyone else will notice them. That's all right too.

Why music? Why not! Every culture has a love of music; it transcends language barriers. For me, it pulls out emotions and words and lets me put them into thoughts that turn into stories. Sometime I keep them, sometimes I don't. When I'm doing a later edit, I pick out a soundtrack for the particular book. Love songs when the scene is there. Instrumentals for other parts, loud guitars for fights and conflicts. 'I'll Follow You' by Shinedown was on repeat for quite a time when I edited the ending of book 1.

Pick something that fits and go with it. I'm not trying to advertise any particular music, just music. Many of you are way ahead of me on the publishing side and probably already knew this. Another thing that helps? Find new music. I'd never heard Shinedown but that song stuck, that was the one I needed for the scene.

Close your eyes and just listen.

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  Blurb - The Vista by S. A. Hoag

Team Three has a secret, one they think they've kept from all but a select few colleagues. They couldn't be more wrong.

Allen, MacKenzie and Wade are Vista Security's top officers, part of the first generation post-World War 3. They've trained all their lives to survive and thrive in a cold, hostile world. Their secret - they believe they are genetically enhanced and are unquestionably connected psychically. Hidden away in an enclave in the Rocky Mountains, they're also at the forefront of the movement to see what's left of the outside world. Not everyone in The Vista is as eager to venture forth.

As they attempt to learn the truth, their mere presence makes them targets of a vicious renegade with the means to destroy everything they know. Facing exile or worse, Team Three has short time to figure out who is enemy, who is friend and how to save their home and themselves.

The Vista: Book 1 of The Wildblood series takes place in the near-future where the Earth has been nearly emptied of human beings by a short and devastating world war. Venturing beyond the safety of their valley may be the best move Security has ever made; it's absolutely the most dangerous.

 

On sale now: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00W6R8WNM

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S. A. Hoag is an author, lapidary artist, very amateur astronomer ("I just look at the stars, I can't name 'em."), and accidental desert-dweller. Born in the middle of the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, more specifically Salida, she has lived in a number of cities in a number of states before crash-landing in the New Mexico desert. Not Roswell, however. Science Fiction has always been her first interest in reading and writing; many other genres sneak into the novels and that's alright with her.

Where to find her -

S. A. Hoag, Author Website: http://www.topaz08.com

Blogging It All: https://topaz08.wordpress.com/

 

Sheila's Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/topaz08

 

And her Twitter: https://twitter.com/HoagSheila

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this guest post are solely that of the author and not that of the SFR Brigade.

Getting A Custom Book Cover

by S.A. Hoag

With my first novel getting close to being online, I had to figure out a few things - the cover being an important issue. Having scrolled through hundreds of books in the same genre I noticed a lot of stock covers in use and knew I didn't want that. A fabulous internet friend (hi EJ!) who happens to be a couple books ahead of me on the internet learning curve has offer invaluable advice. She said a custom cover was the way to go.

 

After a bit of research I connected with an artist, Joe Kawano. We emailed, we did some PMs, and things got moving. This is the very first sketch.

 

Joe made sure to explain how the process progresses and that this was a mock-up for him to work from. The finished cover would look pretty much nothing like this.

 

Stage Two!

After some personal glitches on both ends and getting through the holidays, we got around to some more PMs and polishing the details.

This Monday, I received an email from Joe with this picture attached. He is taunting me!

So very close. In the meantime I've been lining up the other things I need to get this project finished. If I have any advice to offer as a first-time novelist or to anyone new to publishing online, I'd say do your research. Find out what's involved. Get ahead of yourself. Do the 'impossible'. I should have gotten to some of the details sooner, but I didn't know. You can learn something new every day.

'The Vista' is almost a reality now. While I've been concentrating on this, I've also got the rough draft of a prequel about half finished. It will be a novella and promises a few surprises. So, let me introduce you to the world of 'The Vista'.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BLURB

Team Three has a secret, one they think they've kept from all but a select few colleagues. They couldn't be more wrong.

Allen, MacKenzie and Wade are Vista Security's top officers, part of the first generation post-WW3. Their secret - they are genetically enhanced and psychically connected. Hidden away in an enclave in the Rocky Mountains, they're also at the forefront of the movement to see what's left of the outside world.

As they attempt to learn the truth, their presence makes them targets of a vicious renegade with the means to destroy everything they know. Facing exile or worse, Team Three has short time to figure out who is enemy, who is friend and how to save their home and themselves.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Excerpt from 'The Vista'

A storm moved in after nightfall, the rain almost ice as it fell from a black sky. No thunder, sparse lightning and that was the worst part of it – the broken, eerie silence between downpours. Shannon didn’t like being in the city for any reason. Twice a week, four months a year she was anyway. It was her job. They might say ghosts weren’t real, but most of ‘them’ had never spent a night in the long dead place. Sometime after midnight, she gave in and headed for home.

Crossing the Continental Divide, the rain turned to snow, huge white flakes splattering on the windshield and not melting. The road was mostly clear. Static on Shannon’s radio was thick, but moments later, she understood two words. Code Seven. Active aggressive incident outside the outer perimeter, but active aggressive still. She kicked it into overdrive and came down the mountain full tilt, pushing the car and pushing her luck on a road known to devour Scouts.

Then the outer marker merely went ‘blip’ as she passed it. If there was an alert, proximity warnings would have gone off all over Security. Alarms should be sounding in Dispatch and her car. She stared at the radio for a moment, realizing what she had stumbled in to.

Wargames. The call-out wasn’t real.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

BIO

I knew before I got to high school that I wanted to write books. I did, too, dozens of short stories I thought someday I’d turn into novels. Oh, how I wish I had those spiral notebooks full of wild ideas and teenage musings.

I still have the ideas of many of those stories – some of them make me cringe. A few will become something more as I add books to my list of those that are published.

For now, I live in the desert and many nights, in between writing and sleep, you can find me out watching the stars. It’s dark, out here in the desert and I can see so many stars that weren’t there before. I make time to write now. The tiny seeds of stories demand that I write them down.

I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy creating them.