Tuesday, January 15, 2008

A roar for powerful words


I've been tagged by Mary "Lynn" Lewis of the Virtual Wordsmith and been presented with the Roar for Powerful Words award. Now it's your turn. The rules follow:

* Link back to the person who tagged you.

* List three things that you believe are necessary to make writing good and powerful.

* Tag five others and comment on their blog informing them that they've been tagged with this award:

1) Do things on purpose: Though the subconscious mind plays a large role in the writing process, it's still imperative to know your themes in advance, and to then use literary devices such as symbolism, metaphor, allegory, dramatic irony, and foreshadowing to back these themes up.

2) Write what pleases you, not what you think will please the reader: Psychologists say this all the time: It's impossible to love anyone, if you don't first love yourself. The same goes for writing. If you try to write for the reader, most often you'll fail. But if you write for yourself -- with passion, honesty, and courage -- the reader will be more likely to enjoy your work.

3) Pull no punches: We all have limits as to what we can tolerate, in terms of joy, sorrow, pleasure and pain. As a writer, you need to push yourselves to your limits -- and beyond.

The five people I choose to carry this on are:

Chris at Alpha Adventures.

Terrie at Kappa no He.

Judy at Welcome to My World of Dreams.

Michael at Avatar Lore.

Jaime at Fiction Scribe.

Note: the image of the lion above can be found here, saved as a jpeg, and uploaded.

2 comments:

Judy said...

Thanks, Jim. My post is up at http://jhthomas.blogspot.com/2008/01/roar-for-powerful-words.html. Congratulations on your books being sold out...are they in line for reprints and when will they be ready?

Jim Melvin said...

Books 1 and 2 were reprinted just recently, with some major improvements to the appearance of the interior. I'm hoping they will again be available on Amazon by the end of next week. And I'll check out your blog now!

Synopsis

The Death Wizard Chronicles is a sexy, action-packed six-book epic fantasy series: Book One (Forged by Death), Book Two (Chained by Fear), Book Three (Eve of War), Book Four (World on Fire), Book Five (Sun God), Book Six (Death-Know).

The DW Chronicles is not for children and teenagers -- or the faint of heart. But if you like graphic fantasy that is bursting with excitement yet still has a lot going on between the lines, I think you'll love my series.

In a groundbreaking paradox, the Death Wizard, a champion of good, derives his power from a source traditionally seen as negative -- death. His nemesis, an evil sorcerer, derives his power from the sun, the benevolent source of all life. Their struggle to control the fate of the planet Triken will take your breath away.

In an original twist never before seen in this genre, the Death Wizard is able to enter the realm of death during a "temporary suicide." Through intense concentration, he stops his heartbeat and feeds on death energy, which provides him with an array of magical powers.

The series also is a love triangle involving two desperate characters attempting to come together despite the machinations of an all-powerful psychopath with incestuous cravings.

Graphic and action-packed, spanning a millennium of turmoil, The DW Chronicles carries readers on a journey they will never forget.

Do you fear death? The Death Wizard does not. Find out why.

-- Please go to www.jim-melvin.com for more details.

About Me

My photo
Clemson, SC, United States
I was born in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., but grew up in St. Petersburg, Fla. I graduated from the University of South Florida (Tampa) in 1979 with a B.A. in Journalism. I now live in South Carolina near the Blue Ridge Mountains, a pleasant setting for writing, to say the least. I was an award-winning journalist at the St. Petersburg Times for twenty-five years and I currently work at the Charlotte Observer. I am married with five daughters.

The author

The author
Jim Melvin, a veteran journalist, debuts as novelist.