Welcome to the Blog!
I'm sitting back with my feet up this week, while my critique partner, Kath Boyd Marsh, takes over the blog! Grab your favorite drink and join us!
Hey, Kath. That's all the intro you're going to get!
Being Contrary
Hi, Ally and all the readers out there,
I bet you know what I’m doing today. Yep. I’m being contrary.
I was thinking about how often I get asked where my book ideas come from. They pop in most unexpectedly, but every idea has one thing about it that is the same. Each starts with being contrary, and if possible includes a dragon.
Maybe today’s dragon-fire lit sunrise has a good story in it. Definitely ripe for dragons. And being contrary my dragons will not be the bad guys. Dragons are supposed to be the bad guys, the killers, but not mine. That wouldn’t be contrary.
Loving dragons came out of loving animals most people have on their ‘yuk/ugly’ list. I realized I was this kind of contrary before I hit kindergarten. I watched my toddler sister sitting companionably next to a full grown sloth. The pair were gobbling up leaves and ground debris. Pat was a much faster eater, but the sloth took no offense. How could this gentle animal, the sloth, be ‘ugly’?
My contrariness about ‘uglies’ got stronger years later when my favorite animals at the wildlife rescue center became two black vultures. I was cleaning their outdoor cage when one of them snuck up from behind and untied my boot. When I went to retie it, the other grabbed the debris bag and dragged it off. Not that they were interested in keeping their debris, but this was their daily entertainment. How could I not fall in love with these natural comedians?
When my first middle grade fantasy popped into my head, it starred a dragon who was funny instead of a scary killer. And with him came Sir George as my bad guy (a comic rendering of the mythological dragon-slayer Saint George). With the bad knight and the good dragon came a bumbling girl wizard instead of an old powerful one. Contrary.
Being full-time contrary, all my writing projects start with an unexpected character. I need my protagonist and my plot to be… contrary to expectations. So there are plenty of dragons, unicorns, banshees, gargoyles, angels, and demons, faeries, and even a princess, who are … unexpected, not your average fairy tale character. My story starts with the unexpected hero and travels along the Contrary Trail to the end.
I bet you know what I’m doing today. Yep. I’m being contrary.
I was thinking about how often I get asked where my book ideas come from. They pop in most unexpectedly, but every idea has one thing about it that is the same. Each starts with being contrary, and if possible includes a dragon.
Maybe today’s dragon-fire lit sunrise has a good story in it. Definitely ripe for dragons. And being contrary my dragons will not be the bad guys. Dragons are supposed to be the bad guys, the killers, but not mine. That wouldn’t be contrary.
Loving dragons came out of loving animals most people have on their ‘yuk/ugly’ list. I realized I was this kind of contrary before I hit kindergarten. I watched my toddler sister sitting companionably next to a full grown sloth. The pair were gobbling up leaves and ground debris. Pat was a much faster eater, but the sloth took no offense. How could this gentle animal, the sloth, be ‘ugly’?
My contrariness about ‘uglies’ got stronger years later when my favorite animals at the wildlife rescue center became two black vultures. I was cleaning their outdoor cage when one of them snuck up from behind and untied my boot. When I went to retie it, the other grabbed the debris bag and dragged it off. Not that they were interested in keeping their debris, but this was their daily entertainment. How could I not fall in love with these natural comedians?
When my first middle grade fantasy popped into my head, it starred a dragon who was funny instead of a scary killer. And with him came Sir George as my bad guy (a comic rendering of the mythological dragon-slayer Saint George). With the bad knight and the good dragon came a bumbling girl wizard instead of an old powerful one. Contrary.
Being full-time contrary, all my writing projects start with an unexpected character. I need my protagonist and my plot to be… contrary to expectations. So there are plenty of dragons, unicorns, banshees, gargoyles, angels, and demons, faeries, and even a princess, who are … unexpected, not your average fairy tale character. My story starts with the unexpected hero and travels along the Contrary Trail to the end.
Why not try your hand at being contrary?
Writing Prompt: I wonder if there will be a dragon-fire sunset tonight? If you told the tale of dragon-fire sunrises and sunsets, who would be the unexpected villain? What would the unexpected plot be?
Kath Boyd Marsh
Writing Prompt: I wonder if there will be a dragon-fire sunset tonight? If you told the tale of dragon-fire sunrises and sunsets, who would be the unexpected villain? What would the unexpected plot be?
Kath Boyd Marsh
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
At seven years old Kath Boyd Marsh self-published her first fantasy on lined notebook paper, stapled together by her grandfather, and starring a creature based on her little sister- the ‘PB.’ Before Kath moved to Richmond, KY to write about dragons, wizards, and other fantastic creatures, she lived in seven states, Panama, and one very haunted house. The Lazy Dr'gon and the Bumblespells Wizard was her debut novel, following by a sequel and several short stories (with more in the works).
Author Links:
Website: kathboydmarshauthor.com
Blog: kath-lettersfromearth.blogspot.com
Twitter: @kmarshfen
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kath-Boyd-Marsh/e/B01LVUP8KU
At seven years old Kath Boyd Marsh self-published her first fantasy on lined notebook paper, stapled together by her grandfather, and starring a creature based on her little sister- the ‘PB.’ Before Kath moved to Richmond, KY to write about dragons, wizards, and other fantastic creatures, she lived in seven states, Panama, and one very haunted house. The Lazy Dr'gon and the Bumblespells Wizard was her debut novel, following by a sequel and several short stories (with more in the works).
Author Links:
Website: kathboydmarshauthor.com
Blog: kath-lettersfromearth.blogspot.com
Twitter: @kmarshfen
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Kath-Boyd-Marsh/e/B01LVUP8KU
The Lazy Dragon and the Bumblespells Wizard: http://amzn.to/2c6IOH4
Dragon Bonded: https://amzn.to/2MMNhhF
Bubbles and Smush: Closet Monsters: https://amzn.to/2mW7OrJ
Bubbles and Smush: Trick or Treats-: https://amzn.to/2mWjf2C
Bubbles and Smush: Dragon Rescue: Amazon
"The Pendragon Crystal" from the Dragons and Witches anthology: Amazon
"Becoming" from the Perilous Princesses Anthology: https://amzn.to/2In05gn
All Books: https://www.amazon.com/Kath-Boyd-Marsh/e/B01LVUP8KU
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