Friday 16 March 2012

Trying To Be An Author...

For about two years solid I've been really, really trying to write. Every time I'm at home I try to log in to my laptop and get the creative juices flowing but my mind changes so often about what is and isn't a good idea that it's quite hard to find a great plot and stick to it. Planning a story is fun for me, I love building characters and giving them a history and a purpose, finding an inspiring setting and finally weaving together the characters' lives.

Then, I have to write it. I start off well, like a racehorse with a temporary spurt of energy, full of enthusiasm for my characters and where the plot is going. Inevitably, after a night of writing I go back to day to day life and suddenly a newer, better idea springs to my mind and clogs it up, blocking out the possibility of ever focusing on other ideas because this one is just too good!

Rinse and repeat.

Finally, finally, I managed to finish a 30,000 word ebook that I ended up being very proud of, called Salvatore. A fantasy story with a teenage girl as a main character who doesn't mind working to keep her family, who loves mushrooms and is suspiciously immune to fire, who has been trained with a sword from a young age and has oodles of ambition and heart. All without the typical teenage girlishness of "my hair isn't perfect so I refuse to leave the house today!" or "Ohmygod, he is the fittest boy I've ever seen, I must flutter my eyelashes in an attractive way immediately!"

I can't actually remember what inspired me to write about Alexa, but when I started plotting and drafting, it all just seemed to fit. I wrote three pages of a general storyline I expected to last one book, but after 30,000 words I only just got past the third sentence. So now Alexa has expanded to probably at least three books, if not more. This time feels different, rather than being a character on a piece of paper, in my mind I can really see her, and I know what choices she would make and because of that the plot flows around her and her two best friends trying to survive against the surmountable circumstances thrown at them, rather than being a static plot that might not stay true to her character, which develops with the story.

All in all, I'm very happy at the moment and I'm about a quarter of the way through writing a sequel, called Salvatore: Book Two. I've written a very loose basis for the story, but I know Alexa, Olin and Rocco will help me with the direction they want to go in, the adventures they fancy enjoying, the lands they want to explore. So I'll say goodbye now, Salvatore is calling and a celebration is about to occur...

Jess x


Discover titles by Jessica Cambrook at Smashwords.com:
Salvatore  – Alexa is a lonely traveller eager to return home to Opura but torn by having to leave her only friend Rocco. When her grandfather dies and leaves her his generations old sword, she decides to enter a fighting tournament in a strange little town. In a cut-throat competition with a prize that isn't what it seems, will Alexa be able to hold her own? Or will the consequences be fatal?
The Boy Who Found Himself - Nick doesn't understand how his life has reached such a low. Sitting on the edge of his bathtub, razor blade in hand, he remembers everything that led him there, from ex-girlfriends to his murdered dog. As he probes deeper into his own mind, he discovers a dark secret he buried away even from himself... 
A Following of Demons - They want you. Do not panic. Stop your pulse racing. Do not close your eyes. Hear that? They are coming for you. They will get you.

Jessica Cambrook is an eighteen year old sushi addict from England.
To find out more or to leave a review, go to her Smashwords page or e-mail her at j.s.cambrook@live.co.uk.


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