Category Archives: Aubrie L. Nixon

Momentum Because Pixar

Aubrie L. Nixon Character First Drafts Storyline No Comments

Guest Post by Aubrie L. Nixon

prompts. Those clever little devils can really get the creative juices flowing, ya know? When I’m having a rough time creating, I hit up my dear friend Google, and I get myself some clever, witty dialogue prompts. From there, it just comes naturally. When I hit my groove, and I mean really hit my groove, I am able to write for hours. I ride that river of creative momentum and I don’t stop until my fingers bleed. Well, not literally bleed, but you see my meaning.

Finding what brings out your creative flow is VERY important in building up that momentum. Without momentum you are literally stuck, unmoving, not writing! And for us authors that is incredibly bad place to be. Writers Block……a few heathens say it doesn’t exist. That you can just pick right up where you left off….Well to those nay sayers, I say booo!!!! If you are experiencing lack of momentum—writers block, you are among friends here at The Fictorians. We have all experienced writers block at one time or another. Well, thats great Aubrie, but how to I get my momentum back? Well listen up my friend, for I am about to reveal to you a secret that all authors wish they knew….

I have absolutely no idea.

However, I do know that if you don’t at least try to get your mojo back, its gone for good. As I said before, dialogue prompts are very helpful to me. I don’t even always use them for my current WIP (Work in Progress). Sometimes its a completely new story that I spout off with. It really doesn’t matter, as long as I am writing. Another tool I have found helpful is the 22 rules of story writing from Pixar. One of my favorite things from their advice is this:

Once upon a time there was ___. Every day, ___. One day ___. Because of that, ___. Because of that, ___. Until finally ___.

It literally helps me create new characters and story ideas all the time! You can find the rest of the rules here:

http://nofilmschool.com/2012/06/22-rules-storytelling-pixar

If you remember anything from this post, remember this— Never, Never, Never Give Up. -Sir Winston Churchill

You’ve got this. I promise. It may seem impossible at times, tedious, and trying. But you can do it. All you have to do it keep going. Keep up that momentum and don’t stop.

Pre -Order my debut novel Secret of Souls here:
Amazon- https://goo.gl/BkXssp
B&N- https://goo.gl/r1yuuS
BAM- https://goo.gl/zpy1VH

If you preorder from my favorite Indie bookstore you’ll receive a SIGNED copy! Get that here:
One More Page Books and More- https://goo.gl/cQm5qe

I am running a special preorder incentive where you send e your proof of purchase and your address and I’ll send you an awesome SWAG pack! You’ll also be entered to win 1/5 Grand Prizes! Send your stuff here: aubrienixon@gmail.com

Follow me on my website or social media at:
aubriewrites.com
@aubriewrites

-Aubrie

aubreyAubrie is 24 years young. She plays mom to a cutest demon topside, and is married to the hottest man in the Air Force. When she isn’t writing she is daydreaming about hot brooding anti-heroes and sassy heroines. She loves Dragon Age, rewatching Game of Thrones and reading all things fantasy. She runs a local YA/NA bookclub with 3 chapters, and over 200 members. Her favorite thing to do is eat, and her thighs thank her graciously for it. If she could have dinner with anyone living or dead it would be Alan Rickman because his voice is the sexiest sound on earth. He could read the dictionary and she would be enthralled. Her current mission in life is to collect creepy taxidermy animals because she finds them cute and hilarious. She resides just outside of Washington DC.

Liars

Aubrie L. Nixon 3 Comments

Guest Post by Aubrie L. Nixon

This month’s topic speaks to my dark soul! Liars. As a writer and published author my job is to lie. I get paid to do it. I am pretty darn good at it if I do say so myself. Creating characters that lie, manipulate, cheat and steal is my specialty. However, I am not into that whole I am only one thing type of character. Because even people who lie aren’t just “liars” they are also human beings with likes, dislikes, motivations, and emotions. Creating a character that can lie and still be a good person is always fun. In my current series The Age of Endings I don’t think I have one character that is 100% truthful. The whole premise of this series is that “No one is innocent.”

It has been so much fun to come up with such a dark story where literally no one and nothing is as it seems. I am not a huge fan of heroes and heroines always being so black and white, it’s just not realistic. I love stories where people have a dark side. And I LOVE exploring the darker side of human nature. Let’s take my main character Aerona for instance, she is a cold blooded assassin. But she also loves fancy parties, food and sex. She has people in her life who she loves and people who she dislikes greatly. She literally loves blood and murder. She absolutely loves bring the one to do it. Yet, she has this softer side where she cares about people who are less fortunate. She is complex, dark, beautiful and vulnerable. If you didn’t know better though you would just see a killer. Like I stated above I LOVE stories where no one is as they seem.

I try my best to create characters who are as human and flawed as possible. Those are the kind of character that I relate to, and I think a lot of readers do too. None of us are perfect, so why would characters in a book be perfect? I certainly hope Aerona and the other characters in Secret of Souls are relatable.

My favorite character (at the moment) is Daegan. He is broody, dark, mysterious and overall a compete ass hole. I feel like Daegan is my most reliable character because while he doesn’t reveal every truth, he almost never lies. He is reliable and in my opinion the easiest “narrator” because for the most part he is straight forward and honest. He was a blast to write because I knew he backstory and why he is such a meanie. Daegan is so broody and I freaking love broody. Writing him was so easy because I feel like out if all of the character in this series he and I are the most similar.

In life, I try as hard as I can not to be untruthful. I find lying unacceptable (except for my writing) and as much fun as it is to write dishonest characters and read about them it’s not as fun in real life. I try to remember that when I write liars. Especially when the lie can ruin a relationship or can potentially lead to harm or death. I guess what I am trying to say is that liars are easy and fun to write. The people they lie to and who are effected by their lies are much harder to write.

It’s hard for me to write from the perspective of someone who has been lied to. It’s difficult of find that raw emotion of betrayal that comes with some lies. There are a few lies in this particular series that are life altering. When the truth comes out (and it ALWAYS does) the consequences are monumental. That is the not so fun part, having a character face those consequences. It can often be the end of a characters relationship, which I find heartbreaking. It also forces characters to potentially change their ways. I say potentially because they don’t always change. It is always interesting to me to see where characters that are deemed “dark, liar, broody etc.”  go. Or if they change at all.

What are some of your favorite characters? Are there any “liars” that you love? Or do you only love the truthful type? Do you think there is ever a time where lying is acceptable? Why or why not.

-Aubrie

aubreyAubrie is 24 years young. She plays mom to a cutest demon topside, and is married to the hottest man in the Air Force. When she isn’t writing she is daydreaming about hot brooding anti-heroes and sassy heroines. She loves Dragon Age, rewatching Game of Thrones and reading all things fantasy. She runs a local YA/NA bookclub with 3 chapters, and over 200 members. Her favorite thing to do is eat, and her thighs thank her graciously for it. If she could have dinner with anyone living or dead it would be Alan Rickman because his voice is the sexiest sound on earth. He could read the dictionary and she would be enthralled. Her current mission in life is to collect creepy taxidermy animals because she finds them cute and hilarious. She resides just outside of Washington DC.

Mental or Emotional Strain

Aubrie L. Nixon Character The Writing Life No Comments

Guest Post by Aubrie L. Nixon

Oh boy, do I love this subject. I have been told by many readers and a few friends that I am a wee bit, err…CRAZY. That the dark side of me comes out to play in my writing. Honestly? I wouldn’t argue with them. I like to torture and create the most delicious tension for my characters. Not only do I enjoy making them suffer physically and emotionally, but I am huge fan of sexual tension.

To create tension is to create a pace where your characters are suffering. For me, it is quite easy to do that. I have always found that the more you suffer the greater the reward. In the case of fictional characters, at least for my characters, it is the same. In order to grow and become who you need to become there needs to be tension, trials, etc… In the series I am working on now, there is a lot of strain put onto my characters and their relationships with one another. They are expected to accept what they have been assigned to do, and do it with ease. Now this lovely group of people are warriors and assassins. You can imagine what spending weeks with a group of killers that you don’t particularly like can do for the amount of tension in an already bleak situation.

To say it makes my dark heart sing would be an understatement (insert evil laugh).

Characters drive your story, to create more depth for them you need to see the struggle and grow. Tension, the dirty bastard that she is, can do that. My personal form of torture, I mean tension, is the big S. Sexual. It is perhaps the most fun to play around with. Especially when you have two characters who don’t particularly like one another. You can put them in the most ridiculous of situations, like having one tackle the other while they are arguing. They can stare at each other with anger, when we all know what they realllyyy want. You can create silly nicknames that one character gives another, that one doesn’t like. There can be beautiful banter, pranks and arguing. It will probably drive the other characters in your book batty, because everyone can what is happening but the two characters the tension is between. It is one of my favorite things, and I always get particularly giddy when I read it or write it. You always know how perfect it is going to be when they finally explode and just jump each others bones! Pure perfection.

No matter what kind of tension it is, I am a big fan! What about you?

What kind of tension do you like? What kind of tension makes you roll your eyes?

aubreyAubrie is 24 years young. She plays mom to a cutest demon topside, and is married to the hottest man in the Air Force. When she isn’t writing she is daydreaming about hot brooding anti-heroes and sassy heroines. She loves Dragon Age, rewatching Game of Thrones and reading all things fantasy. She runs a local YA/NA bookclub with 3 chapters, and over 200 members. Her favorite thing to do is eat, and her thighs thank her graciously for it. If she could have dinner with anyone living or dead it would be Alan Rickman because his voice is the sexiest sound on earth. He could read the dictionary and she would be enthralled. Her current mission in life is to collect creepy taxidermy animals because she finds them cute and hilarious. She resides just outside of Washington DC.

From Self Published to Publisher

Agents Aubrie L. Nixon Goals Publishing Rejection Starting a Career Successes Your Writing Career No Comments

Guest Post by Aubrie L. Nixon

Most of you know that I self-published my first book in November of 2016. It is the first in a trilogy titled The Darkness Series. I had a plan to release the trilogy and a few novellas to accompany it. I was living my dream, I had written a book (Darkness Whispers) , AND published it. My sales were steady, I had a growing fanbase, life was good. Then, out of nowhere, I was getting offers from agents and a few small publishes houses. I had no idea what to do. I was enjoying being my own boss, setting my own schedule etc.. I turned down the offers just because none if them felt like the right fit. Does that make me sound snobbish? I really hope not… I am just as shocked as you are that in the process of all of this I have now turned down 5 agents and 1 publishing house. Like, who does that? Apparently anxiety Aubrie does…
Anyway, back to my topic this month: Starting Over. This topic is perfect for me this month because I get to start over! I recently signed with Winterwolf Press, and I am happy to say we fit well together! They are kind, and creative and have my best interest at heart. When I first got in touch with them, I knew that they were the ones, that I needed to be apart of their pack! And so I am! I have become faced with a rare opportunity. I get to rewrite the parts of my book, Darkness Whispers, that I wasn’t so keen about. I’ve heard every author has regrets about their book that they wish they could change. And I get the awesome opportunity to change the things that I wished had been done differently. Essentially, I get to start over. Isn’t that exciting?
I am so thrilled to be venturing back into the world of Darkness Whispers (soon to be retitled), and get to work with this story again. I have been loving writing the sequels to this book, but I can’t explain the feeling I have that I get a do-over. I LOVED writing Darkness Whispers. I love the fresh, nostalgic feeling I get when revising the scenes and characters. I am beyond ecstatic to flesh the story out a little more, and rewrite a few things. I am so blessed that I get to start over. Except his time, I have a big team behind me, rooting for me. This time, I have a fan base of people, just as excited as me to get this newish book out there!
Staring over may seem like a hard and tedious thing, but it isn’t always. I’ve learned that if life gives you a second chance, take it and run! Start over, do the things you couldn’t do the first time, and learn to love every minute of it!
Has there ever been a time you had to start over? Good or bad? Tell me in the comments below!

aubreyAubrie is 24 years young. She plays mom to a cutest demon topside, and is married to the hottest man in the Air Force. When she isn’t writing she is daydreaming about hot brooding anti-heroes and sassy heroines. She loves Dragon Age, rewatching Game of Thrones and reading all things fantasy. She runs a local YA/NA bookclub with 3 chapters, and over 200 members. Her favorite thing to do is eat, and her thighs thank her graciously for it. If she could have dinner with anyone living or dead it would be Alan Rickman because his voice is the sexiest sound on earth. He could read the dictionary and she would be enthralled. Her current mission in life is to collect creepy taxidermy animals because she finds them cute and hilarious. She resides just outside of Washington DC.