Here be Magic: Mt. Olympus Employment Agency

Showing posts with label Mt. Olympus Employment Agency. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

How I Plot a Book

Due to circumstances both in my head and in my environment, the finale of my Muse trilogy has been ridiculously delayed. But a miracle occurred a little over a week ago. I finished it. Finally. It’ll be out in May. (Guess what I’ll be talking about here next time!) Time to move on to the next project – book two of the Djinn Haven series, To Seize a Wayward Spirit.

So, here I am at the beginning again. The beginning is glorious! The beginning is exciting!

The beginning is terrifying.

I am a hardcore plotter. I cannot possibly begin a book without knowing all the plotlines, how they fit together, how the relationships of the main characters will change and grow, the first line, the first scene, and how it ends. (I’m sure the pantser folks are rolling their eyes right about now.)

The turnaround on this book is tight. I have to have it to my editor mid-July. No problem. But I’m also considering a novella project that would have to be finished by around the same time. Now it’s getting tricky.

I’ve allowed myself two weeks to sort out the plots of both projects. If I can’t get solid outlines for both, I’m dropping the novella (which isn’t contracted.) So, a week and a half into those two weeks, here’s how it’s going:

Mickey is my friend. He knows how to distract me.

In a sudden belief that my work isn’t dark enough, I’ve grown a fondness for the television show “Snapped.” Wow. You never know who might go off the deep end and chop up her husband so she can burn the parts at someone else’s house.
I started taking a new swimming class. It combines “elements of yoga and tai chi.” I took this to mean there would be no cardio. Lies. All lies.
Visited two separate lakes yesterday because driving helps me think and water relaxes me. Have you tried the new Bistro Boxes from Starbucks? They’re pretty good. Make sure you add a cakepop to cancel out your healthy choice.
Halfway to the lake, the first scene appeared in my head, word for word. I did not have a recording device handy. I could not write it down because I was driving.
Oh, my gosh. We really need to go to the comic book convention later this month. It’s crucial to my storyline! My husband was totally cool with this.
Hey! I haven’t started building my LEGO Cinderella Castle yet. I promised myself I could build it once the book was finished. This is going to take awhile. The first four stages took most of Saturday. There are fourteen stages.
I cannot believe the laundry is caught up. That’s so weird.
I have come to the conclusion that writing darker fiction wouldn’t suit my brand. I’m trying to write True Blood when my style is more like a supernatural version of Psych. Stick with what’s working.
Well, crap. My cover artist is booked until August. If I’m going to write this novella, it’ll cost extra to rush the cover.
Paused what we were watching on television last night to talk through my plot with my husband. He helped fix the problems I was having. Looks like I might have the plot figured out. Wait. Wait. I need to write a blog post for Here Be Magic first.

So, there you go. You might think I could sit down and whip up an outline out of thin air, but my brain isn’t focused enough for that. Still, I think I’ve got the whole story worked out for Djinn Haven #2. As for the novella, I think Extinguished Cupid might be a go after all. A male cupid who doesn’t believe in love?

I think can handle him.

Rachel writes stories that drop average people into magical situations filled with heart and quirky humor.

She believes in pixie dust, the power of love, good cheese, lucky socks and putting things off until the last minute. Her home is Disneyland, despite her current location in Kansas. Rachel has one husband, two grown kids and a crazy-catlady starter kit.

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Friday, September 30, 2016

Exclusive Excerpt: Emergency Cupid

Posted by: R.L. Naquin

An excerpt from Emergency Cupid
by R.L. Naquin
(a Dallas Fire & Rescue Kindle Worlds/Mt. Olympus Employment Agency crossover story coming to Amazon on October 13th!)

Chapter 1

Love was in the air. Literally. And it was a gods-awful mess.

Somebody—no telling who—had acquired or concocted a love bomb and set it off in the middle of Dallas, Texas. Spells like that were usually scams off the Internet, and they rarely worked. Or they worked too well, like this one.

The head office detected the higher-than-average number of bad matches being made in the area and sent a manager to check on the situation. The manager’s report sent the entire office into a tizzy.

So, there I was, the Cupid department’s number one Cupid. My record for making love matches exceeded Devon Yorkshire’s record by thirty-five percent. Devon was the number two Cupid. Not to toot my own flugelhorn, but sending me to fix this problem was an obvious choice.

The affected area was a nine city-block area—a three-by-three section. Right in the center, where the loose magic was thickest, sat Station 58, a firehouse filled with heroic and extremely fit men and women who saved lives every day.

So much potential for matches, both good and bad. If I could clean up the stray magic and disconnect the bad matches the love bomb had caused, I could potentially make an unprecedented number of matches in record-breaking time.

There had to be a gold watch or a trophy or something for that, right? Maybe a party in my honor?

As I moved down the sidewalk—invisible since I was wearing my Cupid wings—love magic floated around me in the form of small, fluffy feathers. Each time I came close to one, I flipped the switch on my handheld Magic-Vac 5000 and sucked it into the attached bag.

At the first corner, I came across a couple wrapped in an embrace and leaning against a blue Volkswagen. The two were oblivious of anything but each other, and their hands wandered each other’s bodies in a way that was highly inappropriate for the middle of the street.

The woman’s hand snaked into the man’s hair as they explored each other’s lips. “Oh, Gary,” the woman murmured.

“Steve.” He nibbled her ear. “My name is Steve.”

As a certified Cupid with a high success rate of instigating true love, I was appalled. This was unnatural. This was a travesty.

I stepped off the curb and drew closer to them. Magical feathers clung to the back of Steve’s neck and poked out of his companion’s dark hair. I fired up the Magic-Vac and ran it over both of them until they were free of fluff. While I was at it, I went ahead and took care of the white dog hair on the man’s pant legs.

“You’re welcome,” I said. I wasn’t concerned about them hearing me. With the wings on, I was as silent as I was invisible. They felt nothing, either, as I ran a hand down first his arm, then hers, removing the self-made match and any residual magic.

They both came up for air and blinked at each other.

Steve stepped back, hands in the air. “I am so sorry, miss. I have no idea what happened.”

The woman’s expression was confused, and her face turned pink. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I don’t know either. Steve, you said?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Megan.” She gave him a shy smile. “I think…I think I’m late for work.” She climbed into her VW and drove around the corner, leaving Steve standing in the street rubbing the back of his neck. After a moment, he crossed the street and strode past a storefront under heavy renovations, then ducked into a pet shop.

Tuesday, March 1, 2016

Gorgons Need Love, Too

Posted by: R.L. Naquin

So, I made a Thing. In fact, over the course of this year, I intend to make several more of these Things, then put them together to make one Big Thing.

When I first dreamed up the Mt. Olympus Employment Agency series, I envisioned this massive five-trilogy series exploring five different departments with five different main characters. Fifteen books. Sure. That'll keep me busy for a couple of years, right?

I didn't expect the gorgon receptionist to step forward and tell me she wanted in on the project, too. I'm not a huge snake-lover, so when a woman with a headful of snakes makes demands, I listen.

So, I wrote her a short story. I named it "Undercover Gorgon," and I figured that would be the end of it. Nope. It turns out Patrice has lots of adventures to share.

A few months ago, I gave Patrice her own cover, repackaged that first short story as "Undercover Gorgon: Episode #0, Becoming," and sent it out into the world for free. It's an origin story, where we find out how Patrice went from mousy human to gorgeous gorgon and how she came to sneak around the building at night stealing--borrowing--magical items from other departments to solve problems in secret.

Yesterday, Patrice's first real adventure came out with "Episode #1, Witches War." It's a bit longer than a short story--more a novelette bordering on novella. The cover is the same, except for the episode number and title. Not a serial, exactly and not really standalone stories, Undercover Gorgon is sort of a hybrid. Once I get book three of the Muse series out this spring, the Gorgon stories will start coming faster. Until her story is told, at which point I'll put them all together.

For now, I'm calling it a miniseries. That works, right?

Will Patrice ever be happy with her receptionist job? Will she get caught breaking into the other offices after hours? Will she be be punished for stealing magic from the gods?

Will she find love in her new glamorous--but intimidating--body? Come find out

Undercover Gorgon: Episode #1, Witches War

Patrice is finally comfortable in her life as a gorgon. By day, she rules the Mt. Olympus reception area with a fist of iron, a glare of stone, and a headful of snakes. After hours, she sneaks around “borrowing” magical items from other departments to aid in her secret missions to help people behind the scenes.

She thinks she’s covered her tracks until a powerful goddess comes to her for a favor. If Patrice agrees to help, she could start a war with all the witches of ancient Greece.

But if she refuses, she could anger the most powerful witch of all.

Buy it here: Amazon Barnes & Noble

Sunday, November 29, 2015

Finding My Smile

Posted by: R.L. Naquin

2015 has been a rough year. The previous year, my dad had a stroke, and we spent nearly a year taking care of him and hoping he’d get better. This year, we said goodbye to him. Having never before lost anyone close to me, let alone a parent, it rattled me pretty hard. It's easy to wallow in the hard stuff, especially with the holidays here, and somewhere along the way, I'd lost my smile. I’ve had to take stock of my year and try to refocus on the good things that happened instead.

Not only did I find a lot of good in my year, thanks to modern technology, my phone kept a photographic record to remind me. Let me show you.

In January, I published my short-story collection, Transmonstrified. In March, Phoenix in My Fortune, the final book in my Monster Haven series, came out. And in July, Unfinished Muse, book one in my new Mt. Olympus Employment Agency series, released. Book two, Unamused Muse will be out before the year is over. I wanted to do more, but I've learned where my limits were, at least while dealing with grief. Still, I'm really pleased with how much I managed to get done. Four releases in a year means I'm finally getting the hang of this. But work isn't the only good that happened this year.

I love going on adventures, and this year, that was how I coped. Adventures can be grand and planned out, or they can happen in the quiet moments when you're feeling your lowest. You just have to be open to them. Here are some of mine for the year:

One afternoon I took a long drive to clear my head. I came around a corner and found a herd of reindeer in an enclosure. Since then, I've visited them several times and come to realize they're probably just regular deer, but in my head, I found magic reindeer. No matter what they are, they were beautiful and unexpected.

My husband and I went on a drive-through safari. This zebra looked up from his grazing, made a beeline for me, and stuck his head in the car for me to scratch. He stayed a long time, even though we weren't feeding him. It was magic.

Mother's Day this year was all about dinosaurs. Because I love dinosaurs and my family loves me. My daughter made me this T-Rex pancake, because when your children grow up, they can do loads of cool stuff for you.

I was a guest at Kansas City's SFF convention, ConQuesT. I was on several panels, met new people, drank a lot with my friends, and pretended that George R.R. Martin was too shy to approach me in the bar. Bless his heart. I am intimidating.

We went to a Huey Lewis/Jimmy Buffett concert. My first. It was spectacular.

Went to the drive-in for the 4th of July. Best non-Disney fireworks I've seen, plus a double feature afterward. In jammies. With snacks. You can't beat that.

We spent the night in one of the most haunted rooms in the Stanley Hotel. Though we failed to see or hear anything supernatural, we did freak ourselves out. There was also a weird moment where the front desk guy came to our room because he thought I wanted corn. I did not. But the question was--if he thought I wanted corn, why didn't he have any corn to give me?

I went to Denver to hang out with my best friend since third grade. We went to a butterfly garden, tried on squid hats, and went to the Celestial Seasonings factory. The factory was already closed, but we drank tea samples and spent money on tea-related goods. The next day we all went to the museum and saw dinosaurs. Did I mention I love dinosaurs?

Not exactly an adventure, but I bought a new car. (My daughter was using my old one, which left me stuck at home all day, every day. So, I needed a car for adventures. And sanity.) She's purple in the sunlight. I named her Iris in honor of a certain skunk ape from Monster Haven.

We went to the Oztoberfest and watched the Oz shenanigans while eating lunch from a food truck. Then we tasted many different wines from the Oz Winery and bought several bottles. Lest you should think the Oz winery was a spontaneous side trip, you should know the bartender recognized us from several earlier trips, despite the unusually heavy crowd. Oz wine is special. It comes from the other side of the rainbow.

A lot of other things happened this year. Two of my dearest friends were married. My daughter started college. My son moved out, but started coming home most days to have lunch with me. My friends showered me with love and support. My readers were enthusiastic and patient. My brother and I grew closer through all the difficulties we shared. And as always, my husband stayed by my side no matter how grouchy, sad, or introverted I became.

So here we are, nearly at the end of the year. Not a bad year after all, was it? I looked for the good, and I found it. And in the end, I remembered where I left my smile. I hope your year has been filled with more good than bad. And I hope you never lose your smile.

Tuesday, September 15, 2015

The Gods Are Screwing with You

Posted by: R.L. Naquin

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been fascinated by Greek mythology. Now that I’m an adult, I’m also a fan of Greek yogurt, the architecture of Greek Orthodox churches, sandals, olive oil, and the movie Grease. Sadly, I’m not allowed to move to Greece, because I’m not crazy about olives. Or fish. But spanakopita is pretty awesome, so there’s that.

My new series, the Mt. Olympus Employment Agency takes all the Greek mythology I’ve been absorbing since before I thought boys were interesting and spits it back out into something weird, crazy, and perfectly ordinary, all at the same time.

No, that’s not true. I never thought boys weren’t interesting. Let’s just say, I’ve been absorbing mythology for a long time.

I love the magical creatures myths bring. I love the faraway places and exotic cultural habits. But most of all, I love how Greek gods act so human. The only difference between them and us is their power. They cavort with humans in nearly every story, usually to the detriment of the poor humans who became involved—willing or not—with a god.

I’ve taken this idea of the power the gods have over humans and modernized it. As humans, someone is always in power over us. When we’re children, it’s parents and teachers. Then we grow up, and the government and our employers hold the power. Someone will always be there to tell us what to do and how to do it.

In my Mt. Olympus series, the gods are our employers. In the first three books of the series, we’re following Wynter Greene, who’s being forced—as a result of her own poor life choices—to work at Mt. Olympus in the Muse department. It’s not an easy job. But behind the scenes, someone is constantly screwing with her. Even in my modern, shiny world, the gods won’t leave humans to live their lives undisturbed.

Now that we’re in book two, she’s tootling around the Underworld in a golf cart running errands for Hades. And the gods are still messing with her life.

Because that’s what the gods do. And why not? They’ve been around for thousands of years with little changing from day to day. You can only eat so much ambrosia, and there’s no vacation from making the sun and moon rise and set ever single day. What else is there to do?

Humans are endlessly amusing.

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Author Confession

Posted by: R.L. Naquin

This is Oatmeal. He has trouble finishing what he starts, too.

When people who know me read my Monster Haven books, they laugh and say they hear my voice coming from Zoey. She often says things I would say and in a way I would say them. I laugh and reassure them I am not Zoey.

Now I have a new series out. Wynter says a lot of things I would say, too. I am not Wynter.

But here’s a confession: I was Wynter, not too long ago.

Wynter starts a lot of things—relationships, jobs, craft projects—and she never finishes them. She’s stuck in a life she doesn’t like with no hope of ever changing it because she can’t follow through to change herself.

I never patterned Zoey after anyone but the character I made up in my head. Wynter, however, was born from the memory of what I once was.

Depending on how you count, I’ve been engaged four or five times. I have credits from six different universities, but never finished the degree. (Don’t ask. I moved a lot.) I have bags and bags of half-finished cross stitch, polymer clay, crochet hooks, knitting needles, and yarn.

And up until four years ago, a hard drive full of unfinished short stories and novels.

Despite being, technically, in my senior year, it would take me at least two years full-time to complete a degree at this point. I’ve let it go. I’m 47 and doing what I love. (The P.E. and math classes I still have to take won’t make me a better writer.) My eyes aren’t as sharp as they used to be, so cross stitch is probably done for good. My hands hurt from typing all day, so crochet and knitting attempts are over. I’m married to the man of my dreams, so I won’t hightail it out of here like a runaway bride and restart my entire life—again.

Last week, I published my seventh full-length novel in less than four years. So, no. I am not my character, Wynter. But I was, not so long ago.

And maybe by the time her whole story is told, she will be more like me. After all, aren't we all works in progress?

Unfinished Muse (Mt. Olympus Employment Agency #1)

Wynter Greene is a chronic quitter—in work, in life, and in love. When she quits a job, a boyfriend, and a seemingly minor craft project all in one day, the dormant deity blood in her veins triggers a Welcome Package from the gods. A talking—and singing—houseplant named Phyllis bullies Wynter into taking a job at the Mt. Olympus Employment Agency.

Stuck with a job in the Muse department, Wynter discovers that helping others finish what they start isn’t easy, especially for someone who can’t seem to finish anything of her own. And how is Wynter supposed to focus on anything when that guy from the Dreams and Nightmares department keeps distracting her with his rippling muscles and magnetic stare?

Wynter needs to figure her job out soon. Each failure is a tick mark on her record, and if she continues to miss her deadlines, she’ll be reassigned to the Underworld as a dog walker.

And scooping poop for a giant three-headed dog is nobody’s ideal career.

Amazon * Barnes & Noble * Kobo * iBooks

Tuesday, June 16, 2015

Top Ten Reasons Mt. Olympus Is As Much Fun As Monster Haven

Posted by: R.L. Naquin

So, yesterday something crazy, terrifying, and wonderful happened. I finished the first book of my brand new Mt. Olympus Employment Agency series. People have been so positive about my Monster Haven series, beginning something new has been really intimidating. Throughout the writing of Unfinished Muse, I’ve waffled back and forth between “THIS IS AWESOME!” and “OMG, everybody’s going to hate me because this isn’t Monster Haven and that’s all I know how to write.”

Honestly, I just handed it off to my editor. No one but me has read this thing, and I sure can’t be trusted to tell if it’s any good or not.

So, here’s what we’re going to do. In an effort to convince you to give it a try when it comes out in July, and in an effort to convince myself that I should trust myself a little more about not sucking, I give you this:

Top Ten Reasons the Mt. Olympus Employment Agency is as much fun as Monster Haven

A talking plant named Phyllis who sings pirate shanties and the theme song from “Fresh Prince” in the voice of someone’s beloved grandmother.
A mom who can’t remember if she slept with a firefighter, a traveling Bible salesman, or a Greek god before she got pregnant.
A gorgon receptionist with an attitude and a stylish updo.
A super hot guy from the Dreams and Nightmares department who keeps showing up dressed as a cowboy, Roman gladiator, or vampire.
The ability to be invisible and snoop through the hot neighbor’s apartment looking for clues.
Transmutational Thought Transference Bubbles and Beastie Discombobulator Dust.
Clubbing in the Mt. Olympus Euphoria District.
The threat of being transferred to Hades to scoop the poop of the three-headed dog, Cerberus.
Secrets, lies, paranoia, and sabotage.
The fate of the world is someone else’s problem. She’s just trying not to get demoted to hell.

So, there you go. If I did my job right, the new series will be loads of fun. But if I didn’t do my job right, my editor will be more than happy to let me know and make me fix it. Either way, it’s going to be fun in the end.

Keep an eye on this space or any of the many places you can find me out in the virtual world to find out when Unfinished Muse goes on sale. Better yet, add yourself to my newsletter and find out before anyone else!

Now I’m off to work on book two, Unamused Muse. I’ve already got the cover, so I should probably get back to work.