Here is my interview with C. B. Dixon

I got an interview with Fiona. When she asked what I wanted on my headstone I was stumped… Here’s how it went.

authorsinterviews

Hello and welcome to my blog, Author Interviews. My name is Fiona Mcvie.

 

Let’s get you introduced to everyone, shall we? Tell us your name. What is your age?

My name is C. B. Dixon and I am 27 years old.

Fiona: Where are you from?

I am from the Sunshine Coast, BC, Canada and I love it!

Fiona: A little about your self (ie,  your education, family life, etc.).

I’m married to a handsome commercial diver who I met when I was 17. We moved from Alberta to make our lives in British Columbia with our two lovely kitties. At the moment we are looking to adopt our first child!

Fiona: Tell us your latest news.

I am editing book two of my trilogy! It has me super stoked! I can’t wait until Mortal Soul Ascension is published.

Fiona: When and why did you begin writing?

When I…

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Giveaway! Get a Free Book!

I’m over the moon excited about learning about Instafreebie.com. I have been nervous about giving out copies of my novel Wicked Soul Ascension due to how many horror stories I hear from other authors finding their book for free on some random website.I talked to an author friend of mine, Kolleen Fraser, about this fear and she pointed me towards this site. She said she does all her giveaways using Instafreebie. With The Ascension Trilogy about to have book two released soon, I thought it would be fun to give away a few copies of Wicked Soul Ascension.

So here is the link to get your free eBook of Wicked Soul Ascension: https://instafreebie.com/free/Krw4S

 

For Blaze Nemasa there is no escape from the nightmares that hunt her. Hope maybe the only one who can save Blaze’s human soul.
Demons lurking in the shadows are only myths, or that’s what Blaze’s parents told their adopted child before she fell asleep. That all changes when Blaze finds out the truth about her family which burned alive in a house fire on her third birthday. A book of Sin drags her deep into the underworld where Blaze learns the truth about her wicked nature.

(Wicked Soul Ascension is a paranormal fiction book for adults. Be prepared to be sucked into Sin to experience heart-pumping adventure.)

Writing: Scenes for the Senses

After writing Wicked Soul Ascension I considered getting my head checked. The settings that I had imagined in my head were twisted and brutal. I dampened them down to let the reader’s mind add in their own details, but that didn’t make them less scary to see, write, and read. The senses of the reader had become a fascination as I attempted to put them right in the midst of the story.

For Wicked Soul Ascension, I felt the settings were everything. They had to be right! Not only did the objects need to be in their places, but the colours had to have a role in the play of emotions. Red, crimson, are colours that I used to bring forward the readers emotions. This colour was obvious. It was the greens and blues that were hidden in corners of the story that brought light into the darker places of the Sinful Realm. Since colour is mainly grey and red in the realm, the brighter colours reminded Blaze and Hope of the Earthly Realm. This played on Hopes mind since she began to ask to go home.

When I first brought sound to the story I felt awkward. It felt cheezy. Really cheezy. After I did a read over I couldn’t see the story without it. It would have taken the wind out of the air and quieted the whole story. A world with the absence of sound was not what I was going for. So, I added the crack of bone and the slam of a door. It accented the scenes like a mint leaf on top of vanilla ice-cream.

It’s fair to say you wouldn’t want to taste a book. The ink and paper don’t please the tongue. On the other hand, if writers do it right, you can taste a story. I’m a huge foodie. I love different tastes and textures of all types of foods. And when an author adds this element to a story I get all gitty. Since Blaze undergoes a dramatic change I tried to make the reader taste and smell the world around her as she experienced it all for the first time. This was fun to write. There were times I would go and smell/taste something so I’d write it right. There were odd looks from those around me, but research is research.

Wicked Soul Ascension taught me that a story is much more than words. I knew this from reading a book, yes. But, everything changes after writing a book. As a writer, I realize that the reader has scenes that you can play with. I hope to develop this skill as I grow. My goal is to have the reader engaged with more than their mind. Book two, Mortal Soul Ascension, is going to be released soon. I hope to apply my expanding knowledge to the book as I do my read-overs.

 

 

 

Wicked Soul Ascension 
Want a read that will get your heart pumping?
Available in print and eBook.

 

 

 

Extra:

The Void.
The void had to be my most favourite plaything while writing WSA. I could do whatever I wanted in that nightmarish dream space. The scene at the school was the beginning of it all. Once I let the sinister writer out, it became hard to put her back in.

Writing: Blaze and Hope

The characters Blaze Nemasa and Hope came to me in my original stories that I would write in middle school throughout high school. In one copy of the story that I wrote in middle school, Blaze and Hope visit Japan to explore all the things that my friend Kim and I wanted too. It was our own little fan fiction that we had created. Of course, Blaze and Hope were not called by the names they have today. Over time their names developed into the story for the roles that they play through Wicked Soul Ascension. Hope brought light to Blaze’s life where as Blaze felt like all she did was destroy things that got close to her.When I first learned about the art of writing a story I was fascinated by symbolism and foreshadowing. I would look for it in movies, books, and even everyday life to see if it would apply to the real world. I took this to heart when I renamed my new characters for the Ascension Trilogy.

Blaze’s last name was a different story. I had a bad dream one night and I remember a voice calling out Neeeemaaaassssaaaa! It was the creepiest thing. The next night the trees growled it. I knew that morning that I had Blaze’s last name. I then had the joys of trying to spell the blasted sound. I have to admit that it didn’t come out perfect, but it was close enough and easy to pronounce without hesitation.

The personality of Blaze came naturally. She seemed to want growth. She longed to break out of her shell and blossom into the daring, passionate, character she became by the end of the book. I struggled with her voice in the beginning. Once I got a hold of her it was hard to let go.

Hope on the other hand…her character jumped out of the book with her bubbly personality that balanced perfectly with Blaze. She almost scared me with her vibrant voice and spontaneousness.

I feared to put the two together so often. Blaze seemed so monotone and Hope to hyper. As the story progressed I realized that they were a match for each other. The story took a strange twist when their traits begin to switch. Hope becomes dull voiced, withdrawn, and less bubbly and Blaze gains this conference that she never had before. I really enjoyed this part. Watching the story take its toll on the friends. The horror of the Sinful Realm effected Hope and Blaze equally in an opposite way. I thought I would struggle to do the change, but it was fascinating to see the effects. I felt like a scientist experimenting on them as I threw those twists at their personality traits. How would they react if I did this to them?… Well, that was interesting! What about this? I found when one progressed the other degressed. As if they could never be on the same plain together. If one was wild the other was level headed.

When I finished writing Wicked Soul Ascension I had troubles with self-doubt about the friendship. It seemed too fictional. It wasn’t until I received the printed copy months after the revisions, edits, and formatting that I got a chance to sit down to read the story. I understand that there is always something knew to learn, and this pairing taught me meany things. I am quite in love with Blaze and Hope. I am happy with the way they turned out.

If you have read Wicked Soul Ascension I would love to hear your comments on Blaze and Hopes friendship.

Do you have a friend that is bubbly or monotone? Does your personality complement theirs?

 

 

 

 

Wicked Soul Ascension 
Want a read that will get your heart pumping?
Available in print and eBook.

Started the New Year Right

The new year has begun with great success!
I finally finished the first draft of the sequel for The Ascension Trilogy.

November caused finger cramps and tired nights. I’m thankful for the November writing challenge, NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month has always been good to me. I hope to set more goals that I can accomplish this year that will bring Mortal Soul Ascension to your bookshelf! Today I spoke with the cover illustrator, Christine White, to tell her what my vision is for the artwork. She is stoked to get started. “I already see it!” -Christine. I hope to have her started on the artwork this spring.
The next step for the story is for me to revise it and do self-edits until I feel it’s worthy enough to go to my editor, Ann Westlake. That process takes a long time to accomplish. I feel more confident than I did with Wicked because I have learned so much over the last publication. I have created a wonderful group of writing friends that have my back. I love bouncing ideas off of them as I move forward. My passion for writing keeps growing as my knowledge expands.

 

 

Wicked Soul Ascension 
Want a read that will get your heart pumping?
Available in print and eBook.

A Month of Tears. A Month of Happiness.

The end of November is a fearful day for NaNoWriMoers. These writers are finger cramped, shoulder achy, and brains are pulled like taffy. The 30th of November is a time to cheer and/or a time to cry. They have to write a novel in a month. That’s 50, 000 words!

Here’s how it happens:
National Novel Writing Month…November.
Goal: Write 50, 000 words in a month.

November 1st: Writers at the ready? On your marks, get set…GO!
November 3rd: Thinking everything’s fine. A little behind, but that’s alright.
The first Saturday: Turn off the phone, ignore people that live in the house…write like the end of the month is tomorrow.
Sunday…day off. Saturday took all the writing ability out leaving fingers and arms like wet noodles. 3,000 words over the target. Do’in alright.
This lasts until the next Saturday.
November 11th: Take the day off for Remembrance Day (Canadian Holiday) Push writing aside, only a few thousand words off of the goal…
November 18…another Saturday…when did that happen? Oh! No! No…no…no! Write with fingers on fire. Nothing makes sense but it’s words, that’s all it needs is words…right!
Four sleepless nights, 79 pots of coffee, 13 bags of chips, and 2-3 missed showers later. Finally back on track.
November 25: The last Saturday of the month. Sleep becomes a distant memory. Could cry tears of coffee. Might turn in to a potato chip…when is the last time a real meal was eaten? What’s that smell?
November 30: Finally did it. A winner! A winner! Pumps arms in the air. The smell knocks out the dog and cat from the stink, but it’s okay. A NaNoWriMo Winner!

I’ve devoted 4 years to National Novel Writing Month. I won all four times, although I deleted last years win from the website. That’s how badly I pushed myself. The whole thing was a mess.
This year I aimed higher than the 50, 000 because I had won each year I’d competed. This year I aimed for 60, 000 finishing with 62, 000. I was quite proud of myself for getting there. I did, however, avoid all contact with the world outside of my own imaginary one. I did shower, go to work, and eat regular meals. Other years…well, not so much.

What National Novel Writing Month has taught me:
I’ve learned that I can write a novel in two months. Why it takes me until November every year to complete my novel is due to the goal. I need to start setting personal goals, as well as keep to those goals. Without them, I don’t think I’d get anything done. This is something I am going to strive for in 2018. I will start setting personal goals. Who knows maybe in November 2018 I will be working on a whole new trilogy.

Cheers,
C. B. Dixon

To All Those Writers in NaNoWriMo,
I know that you tried your hardest. The month is a hard adventure that can take you to some strange places; physically and mentally. Remeber on all the good times; laughs you might have shared with your characters, writing buddies, or things that happened to you while you were writing. Remember all the friends you might have met online as you posted for help, shared stories, or Instagrammed a picture. Reflect on all the fumbles, mistakes, and blocks that you might have had. How did you get past all of it? Did you grow stronger as a writer because of it?

To Those Who Didn’t Make the 50k,
Life can get in the way of many things. You put yourself out there, you tried. Great job! It’s hard to write a novel in a month. I hope to see you next year, and the year after that, and then the year after that.

To Those Who Won,
Congratulations! Your back must be sore. Go relax with a nice cup of something other than coffee/tea. Maybe a bottle of rum? See you next year!

 

Wicked Soul Ascension 
Want a read that will get your heart pumping?
Available in print and ebook.
Amazon
Chapters/Indigo
Barns and Noble 

Reply to Cheyanne’s Book Review

I didn’t expect to be linked to a book review when I clicked onto my Twitter app yesterday afternoon. I was floored since I always had to ask to get my book reveiwed. Being a first-time author is hard work. I want to get my book out there and seen without rubbing the cover into peoples faces saying, “Here! Here! I wrote a book! See!”

This shock got even better as I read through her review. I have an idea about where my strengths and weaknesses are in writing, but it’s nice to hear them from someone else that has a better understanding then I do. I am always looking to improve my craft. Without constructive criticism how will I ever know where I need to focus my attention.

**The clips that I have in bold below are from Cheyanne Lepka’s Blog.**

“Even though I found this book had a slow start, there’s a lot to love about it. The brilliant description and unique world/story definitely stick out in my mind.”

That slow start… Somehow I missed this when I was in the revision stage I had read the manuscript over and over. I ‘ve focused my attention on this issue for Mortal Soul Ascension.  I hope that book two will kickstart on the first note.

“Unique world – Now I normally read straight fantasy and this is arguably horror-fantasy but the world that I was presented with is both vivid and a little disturbing (I mean this as a compliment!)…”

Complement accepted!

“Instead of the same stock images that fantasy often conjures up I was presented with a world that is both unique and richly imagined. Moreover, it’s presented in such a way that the world isn’t overpowering to the story nor is it flat and undeveloped.”

Is it okay to be in love with the world I created? I know that it’s a bit, umm, well… brutal. I couldn’t stop thinking up more and more detail. The world was inspired by nightmares that I had as a child. I wonder if that had something to play in the world building.

“Vivid detail – As part of the unique world, we’re exposed to some incredibly vivid scenes. The detail was done so well that even a couple weeks after reading the book my imagination conjures up various scenes. My favourite part is that it is so subtly described that I’m not entirely convinced that she wasn’t injecting images straight into my brain (seriously, you have to tell me if this is what you were doing!).”

The vivid and subtle description was purposeful. Every time I wrote a scene I would lean back and feel it play all around me. What does it smell/sound/taste/appear/feel like where I am? I tried to activate all senses without being wordy. I even did this for the darker scenes. It makes me happy to hear that my world has imprinted on you.

Dialogue – I’ll be honest the dialogue was my least favourite part of the book. Either the characters sounded all like each other or they were way over the top (looking at you Hope). It improves throughout the book to the point where it hardly bothered me at the end, so I’m hoping that it’s a kink that’s already been ironed out.

Ah, yes, my dreaded time with dialogue. This is something that I have to put most of my attention in. I’ve been striving to make this better. I’m glad to hear that it got better throughout the story. Thank you for letting me know that my studying wasn’t for nothing and that I did manage to learn something as Wicked was being written.

Thank you Cheyanne for giving me a suprise book review. I had no idea this was about to happen. This was the best thing to open today. I am really greatful for the knowledge that you have shared with me. I will work on becoming better and expanding my craft.

Cheers,

C.B. Dixon

 

If you would like to read the origanal post please visit: Cheyannealepka.com

Wicked Soul Ascension is available in paperback and eBook:
Chapters, Indigo, Coles
Amazon
Barns and Noble