Michaels musings

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Feeling the Characters

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Where There's Smoke - BL Morticia

Greetings folks. Here’s a blog about writing characters! When talking to an author, you might hear how excited they are about their stories. They tell you about what went into the creating plot, the inspiration behind the story, and then the fun part; how they came up with their characters. In a lot of instances, this character might be made up of someone they know or even an extension of themselves or, it may be a someone they want to know or dream about. A lot of mine are all the above. Their personalities are a mix of someone I know or want to know. If the character is somewhat… Continue Reading Feeling the Characters

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We Writers Are Strange Creatures!

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Plot Bunny - Sharita Lira

Greetings. This is Michael Mandrake aka Sharita Lira with a post about being an author and/or writer since they’re more synonymous that you think. Sooo, what about writing? It’s something authors love to do. We keep strange hours, writing when the house is asleep or awake depending on the members in your household. Or maybe you’re a lone ranger. Oh you’re really doomed! *grins* No one to bother you or answer to? Then you’ll spend a ton of time with your characters. And oh, what about those critters? Yes, the ones you talk to and think about while driving. I discuss parts of the story I need to rewrite and… Continue Reading We Writers Are Strange Creatures!

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What Is Dark Romance?

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Calisto's Quest - Michael Mandrake - Immortals

What is dark romance? Dark – A place or time with little to no light. Romance – A feeling of excitement and mystery associated with love. Greetings readers! Today, I’m blogging about dark romance. Right now, it’s a hot subgenre in fiction with many authors jumping on the bandwagon. First let’s discuss what is dark romance? Looking at the definitions above, perhaps we could see a feeling of love with very little light involved. I don’t mean actual light, but in a figurative sense. Perhaps you have a hero with questionable moralities. Think a vampire or maybe a demon. Or if you’re not going paranormal, perhaps a mobster, a murderer,… Continue Reading What Is Dark Romance?

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So You Wanna Write a Black Person?

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black man - pixabay

Greetings folks. I took April off because of traveling at the beginning of the month. Once I got home, I’d forgotten to post. 🙁 But I’m back, or rather, Sharita is with this very informative blog about writing black folks!  Enjoy! * * * *   So, you’re a writer, huh? You, as a non-black author, want to write outside of your comfort zone and explore someone black, but you don’t know where to start. What are you using for research? Movies? Nope. Not a good source because a large part of movies are stereotypical. Books? Maybe, but not always. There can be books by #ownvoices that are helpful, but… Continue Reading So You Wanna Write a Black Person?

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Writing Outside My Spectrum

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Anasa's Awakening - Michael Mandrake - Immortals

I apologize for being late with this month’s post. *sighs* I was ill earlier in the week, and then Nano and day job and… *sighs* Well, here it is! I’ve wanted to write this blog for a while, and I finally decided why not? You see, other than my Facebook personality, along with the muses, I’m really a shy person. I hide behind the computer screen and most of the time my social media profiles don’t feature a personal picture. It’s not because I don’t think I’m beautiful. *smiles and twists black locks of hair around my fingers* it’s because my writing shows so many different sides of myself. I… Continue Reading Writing Outside My Spectrum

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All Covers Matter

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This is a repost. To see the original with the beautiful covers of other authors represented, please click here.  Also please read the message about Queer in Color, coming November 5th! When you think about book covers, it should represent what happens in the book. If it’s a mystery, it might be dark with big letters or some kind of complex scene. Fantasy, perhaps illuminations, bright lights that appear to be magic. In romance, most of the time you have people. Whether it be one or multiple torsos, that usually implies romance. Now, that isn’t always the case. Many romances have no people on them, which is fine too. Regardless… Continue Reading All Covers Matter

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Writing Paranormal By the Seat of my Pants

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Demons Be Mine - Michael Mandrake - Immortals

*Michael Mandrake is the male muse of author Sharita Lira* Greetings readers. Thanks you Scott at QRI for letting me share my thoughts with you about…well everything. Okay, not quite. While I do enjoy some trivial things like celebrity gossip, movies, and the occasional Facebook or Twitter rants, I will mostly talk about things related to books and writing. I am an author after all, and really, who wants to hear my thoughts on politics, hmm? *blinks* No, you do not. So instead, we’ll stick to author things, such as plotting…. Or not. The topic of today’s post is writing paranormal by the seat of my pants. Now for those… Continue Reading Writing Paranormal By the Seat of my Pants