It’s almost Christmas and I'm feeling somewhat prepared; I need to wrap some gifts but otherwise I’m okay. How about you? Are the holidays here too quickly? This last quarter of 2024 has been weirdly fast. Seems like Hurricane Helene hit then Hurricane Milton, Halloween, Thanksgiving, BAM! Christmas!
The good news is the THREE Stuff Your Kindle Events I'm in will be here next week. In case you haven’t heard, Dark Mode Stuff Your Kindle is on December 27th. It’s DARK Fiction and will consist of hundreds of books for FREE in Dark Romance, Horror, Sci-fi, and Fantasy genres. I’m going to have VioleNt up for Free on Amazon and you can get Origin of Violet Free on my website www.enchantingauthor.com when you subscribe to my newsletter. I rarely send out a newsletter, its quarterly on average. I only send it when I have something important to say such as a new release, a FREE book, or a giveaway. I’m also doing the Fireside Café Stuff Your Kindle Event it’s a multi genre free book event as well. Both Force of Corruption and VioleNt will be offered free in this one.
Please mark your calendar and join me, I’m participating in a Takeover Party on Shalene Marie's Plot Twisters Group on Facebook on December 28th. My time slot is 2pm EST, I'll be interacting with everyone and having a GIVEAWAY! The prizes include a stone skull bracelet valued at $50, a $25 Gift Card, some signed books, and exclusive SWAG! Link below!
I’m working on the edits for Vile and I’m about three-quarters of the way through. I found a minor plot hole and had to write a few pages to fix it. But now it’s a random event that doesn’t quite connect with anything else in the story, so I plan to write in some connected events to make it a closed loop in the story line.
What’s a PLOT HOLE? For me it means there’s something that happens in the story or an event is mentioned but then it goes nowhere. Or if a character says, “I’m going to do ____.” But then they never do it. But it can also be something as simple as saying a character has dark hair then later in the book saying they are blonde. In a story you have a beginning, a middle, and an end. But if you miss the middle, your story isn’t complete, it has holes, therefore a plot hole. It’s important to close up those holes so your story makes sense for readers. Trust me, readers will notice those mistakes and that takes them out of your story and lowers their enjoyment and your reviews.
Another thing that an author needs to watch out for is use of trademarked and copyrighted material. The rule of thumb is that it’s okay to mention a celebrity as that celebrity, but you can’t include them in your story as a character without permission. For example, “She’s as popular as Taylor Swift.” Is okay because I mentioned Taylor Swift in her real life and in a positive way. (Most brands don’t mind a positive mention, but a litigious celebrity or product owner might still come after you so tread carefully.) An example of what not to do, “She met Taylor Swift at the coffee shop. Taylor swift was rude and told her to get away from her.” Or: Taylor Swift said, “Get away from me! I don’t want to sign an autograph; I just want my coffee.” I’m glad I didn’t try to talk to her, she’s rude.
These examples of what not to do illustrate how you shouldn’t speak negatively about a celebrity and when I start writing what she said, I’m quoting her and making her a character in my story. Neither of these things is okay and she could come after me with a lawsuit, especially since I painted her in a negative light it escalates the possibility of her wanting to stop me from publishing this story. The same is true of her music. It’s okay to mention the title of a song or the musician performing it by name, but don’t write any lyrics in your story, those are copyright protected. So, if a character in your book says, “My favorite song is Shake it Off, by Taylor Swift,” that’s okay. But if you have your character writing or singing song lyrics, that would not be acceptable. Please keep in mind, I’m not an attorney and I cannot offer legal advice, this information is anecdotal, and you should speak to an attorney if you have questions.
Obviously, the best practice is to avoid mentioning celebrities, trademarked products, and copyrighted material. If you have a choice to say Coke or cola, go with cola and save yourself the headache. I walk the line on occasion, my stories are set in Florida, and I like to talk about some real things that exist here. I often mention the local grocery store, Publix, and I say how good their subs are because it’s a way of life if you live here. I also named a weapon after a deceased celebrity in one series, and I named a bad guy after a famous bad guy from a movie. To be safe, I gave credit to the author in my story and said how much my character loves those movies and books.
It’s like life, we use lines from movies and characters all the time in regular discussions with friends and family. When we try to make our characters come to life, we use real conversation and life experiences to give them authenticity. You might say “He’s like Superman the way he rescues people all the time.” Or maybe you would say, “He ran so fast he went faster than a speeding bullet.” Both are references to the comic book character who is also on TV and in movies. Not only does your character say these things, but you use metaphors and analogies in your everyday life and so would your characters if you’re going for realism. These references are usually okay, but you couldn’t write a comic book using this superhero as the main character without stepping on copyrights.
So how does “Fan Fiction” work? Is it okay? Usually, it’s acceptable because it’s advertised as fan fiction and it’s an acceptable form of art these days. However, could the original author come after you for hijacking their character and storyline? Yeah, they could. But most fan fiction isn’t sold for a profit and is free online as just an homage to the original. Most authors and artists love fan fiction and see it as a compliment and respond kindly flattered. But again, tread lightly and think twice before putting it up for profit. Copyrights generally last for one a hundred years and deceased celebrities won’t come after you, but their estate might.
It's best to get advice from an attorney if you have questions or plan to use something like this in a story. My dad told me that the old Bugs Bunny cartoons used all those old classical music pieces for their background soundtracks because the copyrights were expired since the music was so old. Therefore, they were able to avoid paying for the rights to use the music.
You can search online to check if you need to pay for rights to use music or anything else that belongs to someone else. Most products, bands, celebrities, authors, etc have a way to contact them on their website so you can request use of the name, lyrics, or anything else. I personally have a copyright usage agreement with my voice artist colleague, so he has the right to record my stories, and I have the right to post his recordings of my books.
My husband says I have a habit of jumping to a new topic without enough of a segue.Its how I write too and I have to consciously choose to fill in the gaps but on my blog my A.D.D. can be free. While I've been reading Vile and editing it, I’ve come across a few passages that surprised me. I know that sounds weird but the way I write is to let the characters tell their story. I know logically the words come from me and I absolutely tweak them to make them clearer, but sometimes I’m so far into the characters it’s truly as if they are writing their own story. I find evidence off this when I go back to edit like now. There are things I don’t recall writing, sometimes entire scenes. In Vile, a character describes the scene around him as: “Many of the winding miles of asphalt are lined with beautiful oak trees dressed in moss like an ethereal veil for a mystical bride.” When I read this, I thought wow, that’s a great line of description. Not remembering writing, it. Has this ever happened to you? Or am I a weirdo? You know what, don’t answer that.
As always, thanks for reading! Happy Christmas and Merry Hanukkah!
My author website: www.enchantingauthor.com find Origin of Violet free, events, triggers, shop my books, everything is there.
12/27 Dark fiction Stuff Your Kindle Event link: www.DarkModeSYK.com
My personal book link: https://www.darkmodesyk.com/winter24/violent
12/26-12/28 Fireside Café Stuff Your Kindle with Romance Event link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/thefiresidebookcafe/?ref=share
12/28 2pm EST, Shalene Marie’s Plot Twisters Takeover Party link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/907005587511214/?ref=share