Coastal Magic Featured Author: Kristen Painter - The Seven Dwarfs of Writing

The Seven Dwarfs of Writing
By Kristen Painter

After a recent rewatching of Snow White, it got me thinking about how the seven dwarfs sort of correlate to the stages of writing a book. No, I’ve never had cartoon bluebirds flying around my head or tasted a poison apple, but I do live with my Prince Charming, so that’s got to qualify for something, right? Here’s my take on what stage each dwarf represents:

Happy – Yay! A brand new book! It’s shiny and exciting and there are no massive plot holes we have to fix yet. We LOVE this book right now! We love everything about it! Every day is an adventure. Plus, our deadline is light years away.

Bashful – Still in the early stages, we fall so madly in love with our story, our characters and our creative genius, that we dare not talk about the book. When people ask what we’re working on, we shrug and coyly respond, “Oh, nothing much.” Or “just a little story I’ve been playing around with.” We might even smile behind our hand. Because that’s how we roll.

Doc – As in we need one. After hitting our first major plot hole, we call our other writer friends and explain what’s going on. Fortunately, they are able to diagnose our problem and we’re off and writing again, but not without a little recovery time. Fixing a broken scene takes work. Suddenly, our prescribed deadline is approaching faster than we realized.

Dopey – We’re writing constantly. Eating writing, sleeping writing, walking up with scene ideas and falling asleep with characters arguing in our head. We sometimes talk to ourselves. Our friends wonder if we’ve lost our minds, because we seem a little crazy.

Grumpy – Yes, we know our deadline is imminent. No, we don’t want to talk about how the book is going or how many pages we have left to write. We post a sign on our office door that indicates only head wounds and fires are acceptable interruptions. And then on a case by case basis. We may, on occasion, snarl.

Sneezy – We’re sick of the book, sick of the characters, sick of how many things we have to fix to make the ending happen just the way we want it to. Even so, we keep coughing out the pages, feverishly tapping away at the keyboard.

Sleepy – The book is done! After hitting send, we keel over and fall asleep, trying to make up for the last month of caffeine-induced insanity. We try to dream of a world where there are no deadlines, but Mr. Sandman brings us a new story idea instead…

Queen of Hearts: Sin City Collectors Novella(Sin City Collectors)
by Kristen Painterebook
Released: July 1st 2014

Welcome to Las Vegas, home of the Sin City Collectors. The job description is easy: Bring the offending supernatural in to the Boss and don’t ask any questions.

Feline shifter Claudette Marchon traded life as a showgirl to become a Sin City Collector, giving up the glamour to earn some serious cash in order to buy her own business. Mission accomplished, she now runs a pawn shop specializing in gems and jewelry.

Life is good until a Collection job requiring her specific skill set lures her back in. The Queen of Hearts, a museum-worthy ruby and diamond necklace has been stolen from the Boss’s private collection and she’s his last hope to do what two other Collectors have already failed to do. Bring in the necklace. And the thief.

But gargoyle Jason Tennant isn’t quite the dangerous criminal Claudette expects. In fact, he’s not a thief at all. He’s former Special Ops and being set up by the real mastermind, forcing her to decide between the man she’s falling for and the man she works for. Proving Jason innocent may risk the Boss’s wrath, but Claudette’s heart says it’s a gamble worth taking.

What’s Collected in Vegas, stays in Vegas.

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About the Author:

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Kristen Painter likes to balance her obsessions with shoes and cats by making the lives of her characters miserable and surprising her readers with interesting twists. She currently writes award-winning urban fantasy for Orbit Books.

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