JULY 2014 Vol 1.2

I romant ic ized you to the point where the kn ives you pressed in to my skin began to look l ike Cupid ’s a r rows.

- Unknown

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IN THIS ISSUE

Life on the Dark Side

o Lana Sky

That Thing Called Love o L.F Goodfellow

In Another World o Simone Coleman

The Effects of Rewriting o Imogen Isles

What is Love? Baby, Don’t Hurt Me o Mira Toria

The Vault

Survivor Quiz

JULY 2014

VOL. 1 ISSUE. 1

JULY 2014

VOL. 1 ISSUE. 2

What’s new in the MALICE world?

In this issue, we are introducing a new author and putting hints to a password that will allow you to access the vault.

What is the VAULT?

It’s a place where you will find FREE exclusive stories, goodies and more from your favorite MALICE authors.

Who decides what goes in the VAULT? YOU, of course! By participating and communicating with your favorite authors you have the chance to decide just what stories and extra goodies they add!

Check it out and be sure to check out your favorite MALICE authors as well as new ones!

CLICK TO BE REDIRECTED TO THE MALICE VAULT

To access the VAULT, first READ the latest newsletter!

Not only is every newsletter filled with tons of fun info, it also includes clues to the password necessary to open the vault!

When you’re dealing with romance, this character crafting business gets even more interesting because

you have to somehow find a way to make two completely different characters compatible—at least

enough to take their pants off—and, of course, I like to complicate things a bit.

One of the first stories I even wrote was entitled Bloodlust, and was the second book within a crazy series

that featured everything from witches and vampires to bloody war and intrigue. The rest of the series fell

apart, but this one story has stayed stuck within my mind simply because of the volatile relationship

between the two main characters:

- Miranda is a stubborn, borderline neurotic witch who feels betrayed by a beloved friend and at

her wit’s end. She’s a bit reckless, unstable—oh, and she hates vampires enough to sacrifice

herself just to see them all fall.

- Aternan is a stoic vampire warrior with a dark past who would do anything to protect his

people—mainly from Miranda. She may be his captive, but he doesn’t underestimate her for a

second.

Their hatred for each other is all the more complicated by the contrasting relationship of their two friends:

Faye a renegade witch, and Garret, the once irredeemable vampire warrior and Aternan’s right-hand man.

On the surface, these two would never in a million years seem compatible—and that’s the fun part. As a

writer, I like crafting relationships built on trust, which is one of the hardest things for anyone (be them

fictional or not) to forge with another person. A little bit of shaky trust can overcome any differences

overtime—along with a healthy dose of blood, lust, magic, violence and intrigue, of course.

Every writer differs on how and where they like to insert trust or the other elements of building a romantic

relationship—I on the other hand tend to wing it and hope for the best. Sometimes, a series of random

encounters and mistakes make for the best stories.

FUN FACT ABOUT LANA SKY – SHE HAS WRITTEN OVER FIFTY STORIES (AND STOPPED COUNTING)

Whenever I begin a new story, one of the first things I

establish is the main character. Who are they? What

do they look like? How do they think? What drives

them? What causes them to fail?

Plot, pacing, story Arc, and all that other stuff is

important, but for me the most important force driving

a story forward are the characters themselves. Mainly,

how they react, think, feel and learn within their

unique world and situation.

I never gave up trying to write a romance novel. Instead I wrote it my way and steered away from a

typical romance book. While I tested the waters of darker elements with The Wolf Cave, or Forever

Tainted, the book that I really went all out with was His to Keep.

I have no idea how to justify this book. I wanted to write romance, and brought forth this demon. It was

my way of saying I cannot write normal, and I never want to. I am not one of those authors who plan

precisely how their books go. I write in the moment and come up with an idea on the spot. But I always

knew His to Keep was the first draft, and that once I had the basis of the story down, I could go much

further.

So while I am still re-writing and bringing this book to another potential, I ask myself how I can validate

romance in this His to Keep. It is not your everyday love story, not by a long shot, but there is love in it

between two characters. How can you possibly write dark with romance in it? Wouldn’t love be a lie?

Wouldn’t it be unbelievably stupid for a main character in such a position to open her heart like that?

My answer is no. Since when is falling in love with someone that easy? Does loving someone have to

always be explained? For Ava, falling in love was ultimately her survival.

It’s extremely exciting to re-write this tale. As of now, all characters in the story all play a crucial part into

the horrific events our main character goes through. The Father Aaron storyline has been changed. The

Callum storyline has changed. I am simply adding onto the crazy by writing new scenes and breathing life

into all the characters.

It is a book about finding love in the most strangest of places and using that as a beacon of hope when all

else is lost.

FUN FACT ABOUT L.F GOODFELLOW – SHE NEEDS A CUP OF TEA WITH EVERY CHAPTER SHE WRITES!

Someone once suggested I write a romance novel. A book filled

with love, hope and the journey of two characters. I tried—and

failed, epically.

Why?

Because I don’t have it in me to just write a normal book about

two normal people in a normal relationship that has a few

bumps. I can’t, simply because once you go skipping into the

darkest corners of your imagination, it is very hard to come back

out and write something normal.

FUN FACT ABOUT SIMONE COLEMAN – SHE STARTED WRITING . . . TWILIGHT FAN-FICTION!

My favorite part about beginning any story is the

world-building involved. This can take me anything

from two weeks to five months, but I always feel

better prepared jumping into a story once it’s out of

the way.

From a reader’s perspective, intensive world-building

can be a magical experience. If a reader can immerse

themselves inside the world within which your story

exists, it’s much more likely they’ll never want to

leave. Good world-building brings your fictional world

to life. Reading about badly plotted paranormal and

fantastical elements can be quite jarring to your audience and unless you’re writing a parody or an obviously

humorous story, you’re better off erring on the side of realistic. There’s no hard and fast rule of world creation, but

here’s how I like to do things:

1. Create a Culture

Culture is a huge part of world building. Most of my paranormal novels take place within the same world, so

I’ve had to create different cultures for different creatures, and define how they interact with each other and

how their societies function. Are your werewolves a secret from humans? Are they sequestered away? When

they’re not running around on four legs (or even when they are), what are their hobbies? Where do they live?

How do they acquire an income? What differentiates them from humans? Sometimes you’ll find that answers

to these questions slot cleanly into the human world (your werewolves could run a bank, for example), but

other times, you’ll get to be creative.

2. Question Everything You Create

For example, you’re writing a book where the central conflict is a war between two different factions of

werewolves. Why are they fighting? When did the fighting start? Maybe they’re fighting over a talisman that

belonged to the moon gods. Great—explore the moon gods. Who are they? Why are they important to your

werewolves? Why are they fighting over this talisman? Questioning your world building is a great way to set

limitations for yourself and prevent little plot hole accidents that might have otherwise tripped you up. So

your werewolf protagonist can transform on nights where there’s no full moon. Why? Is he the only one who

can do it? Is that significant to your plot or is it something you should reconsider?

3. Make your world-building relevant to the story.

What is the point of a long, boring monologue about the moon gods when your story is about a werewolf on

trial for eating a human girl? Do the moon gods participate in his trial? Does their talisman aid in his release at

some point? No? Then don’t bother with the history lesson. If the moon gods are relevant to your

werewolves’ religion, then a sentence about their existence is all you need. Don’t dump information on

people; small allusions give the impression of a larger, detailed world.

FUN FACT ABOUT IMOGEN ISLES – SHE WRITES MOST OF HER DIALOGUE IN THE SHOWER ON A SHOWERPROOF NOTEPAD!

FUN CHARACTER FACTS:

Emma doesn’t know how to

drive. She never learned

because her dad feared she’d

have an epileptic fit and lose

control of the vehicle.

Zac is a borderline alcoholic.

Zac is a transfer from the Mid-US

Region, located in St. Louis, MO.

Sam was born with an extra

finger on his left hand, though it

was removed shortly after his

birth. For most of his youth, his

mom called him Lang (short for

Phalange), but the nickname

died when she did.

Daphne and Zac were a long-

term relationship until one of

Zac’s cases went sour, and he

had the collector’s equivalent to

a mid-life crisis.

Sirius can sing like nobody’s

business and finds far too much

pleasure in showing everyone up

in karaoke.

At first, writing Zac and Emma’s story was simply because I HAD to get it out. They were caged animals, violently clawing their way out of my brain until I threw my arms up and unlocked the door. I had no publishing goals, no real interest in showing others my stories, but the more I delved into their tale, the more I realized that their story wasn’t right. It wasn’t what they were telling me to write, it was what I wanted to read. It was the easy version of their story. This is what Rewriting has always meant to me. It’s getting deeper to the truth of the tale. So, I spent the next year in a cycle of listening and rewriting, listening and rewriting, and it continued until they told me to stop. To be honest, they still haven’t told me when to stop, and part of me fears they never will, but it is my duty as a writer to simply get a reader as close to their truths as I possibly can. Well, along the way of these heavy rewrites, a lot of their situations changed. The core of their scenes remained the same, but the supporting walls around them had to be broken down. So for fun, I thought I’d let you in on some of those changes. Some of them are severe, but you can sort of track the process of how Thread has become the story it is today, and how exactly Emma and Zac have become well, Emma and Zac.

PLOT CHANGES:

There were originally three different versions of Thread, and all of the top four characters have had at least one name change. (Zacchaeus was originally Treiger and Jimmy. Emma was Hollister/Hailey and Evelyn. Sirius was Lucius. Sam was both Tom and Bridger.)

In Thread’s original version, the title was Ghost, and it’s safe to say it was heavily Patrick Swayze-inspired. ;D

In the second version of Thread, Zac was a guardian angel, but that didn’t fit right with Zac’s personality. His emotions ran too deep for what I imagined a guardian angel was like. He was something darker, something deeper, and when I realized that he deemed his profession as legal murder, he revealed he was a soul collector.

Sam Thoreau was originally an art professor named Tom. He was incredibly sexy, but I felt the teacher/student element detracted from what was really important in the novel.

Emma wasn’t always epileptic. She had visions of random deaths and moments in time, but the touch-induced seizures weren’t a part of the story. But I felt Emma needed a stronger reason for being so shut-off from the world and why she avoided people like the plague, other than family loss being her main cause of suffering. So I was messing around with different transitions, and that’s how the introduction scene between Emma, her dad, and Erica were created.

Troy was always a doctor, but in all the original versions, he was her eldest brother. Originally, Emma’s family consisted of five members: Dan (her father), Lisa (her mother), Troy, Reid (middle brother), and herself. After a lot of debate, I chose to kill my darlings. The story had far too many characters that didn’t serve purpose. So, I combined Dan, Troy, and Reid into Troy Sinclair, the man we currently know as Emma’s father.

FUN FACT ABOUT MIRA TORIA – SHE HAS A PET PEEVE WITH OVER-THE-TOP CHEESY NICKNAMES LIKE ANGEL!

What exactly is love? It’s something we have all dreamt about, listened to songs about, watched movies on, read endless poems and stories on but yet, no one has the perfect formula for what love is. Everyone has a different definition of it – what we want it to be – but why is that? Why is this thing called love so hard to define even though we all want it?

I personally think this is why the topic of love is still around today – because even though no one has a hard and fast rule about it, the concept of love is fascinating. We know the general formula for relationships in movies and books – boy meets girl, they fall in love, a big climax with something world shattering, they resolve their differences and then we have a sunset kiss tying everything up in a neat package ready to go. We know this is going to happen (generally speaking anyhow) so why is it that we’re still gravitating towards the topic? To me, it’s because when we write about love, it can have the basic formula, but it’s so flexible because we can add in factors that make the story unique. They say you never fall in love the same way with different people and I believe that. But then that begs to question – how many ways are there to fall in love? There are so many different ways you can make characters fall in love. It can be a gradual fall, where everyone but them can see it happening and when they realise it, they’re in too deep to stop. It can be one of those moments where people have eye contact and chemistry happens. No matter their initial reaction, just remember you have to give us a reason to believe that the characters have a reason to want to continue talking to one another! You can only tell your readers there’s chemistry before they demand to see the chemistry they’re being told is happening. My short story, Say Something, is about childhood loves. A love that can either fade away as we grow up and just be a passing memory, or something that we hold onto because there’s something so pure about being loved by your first. Addison, my main female character is left with a fleeting memory of her first love, Carver, and though she grows up and seemingly forgets about him, there’s something in her that clings onto the memory. This story is different from the usual ‘fluff’ I write because I’m trying a different way of showing how obsessive, selfish and magical love can be. There aren’t any obvious heroes in love, there hardly is ever, and in Say Something, love can be as unforgettable as it is unforgiving. ----- If you’re interested, this was my playlist while writing the story.

- All I Want – Dawn Golden - Say Something – A Great Big World ft. Christina Aguilera

PASSWORD– IN ALL CAPS, THE LAST NAME OF THE AUTHOR WHO SAID FALLING IN LOVE WAS FOR HER CHARACTER TO SURVIVE

HOW TO CONTACT US

Like the MALICE Facebook page as well as the individual

authors to keep in touch!

Letting the MALICE author know you’ve read their short

story or excerpt with a simple comment on their page

can make their day – don’t be afraid to talk to them!

We are all open with chatting with you guys so we can

try having stuff in the newsletter that’ll make it fun!

The next issue will be focused on everyone’s favourite

genre. That’s right, it’ll be everything paranormal.

Be sure to message us with what kind of prompt you

want brought to life! Want to suggest a collaborative

one shot between two authors? Want a particular story

extended? We won’t know unless you tell us!

Watch out for the next issue – the vault will definitely

be filling up!

- The MALICE Authors

WHAT IS TO COME?

Stay connected with us by liking out facebook pages as

well as the MALICE one:

MALICE

Lana Sky

Mira Toria

Imogen Isles

Simone Coleman

L.F Goodfellow

QUESTIONNAIRE

ANSWERS

Out of all the authors

listed here, how

many do you think

are using pen names?

A: We are all using

pen names

Which author has

been made fun of by

the UPS man because

of the sheer amount

of books she had

purchased?

A: Imogen purchased

so many books, the

UPS made said she

was keeping the

delivery business up

herself!

Which author do you

think has had the

experience of using

sticks to ward off

angry badgers?

A: Simone has a tip

for travellers who

may encounter

badgers – do not

engage them! They

are cuter in cartoons

than in real life!

MALICE QUIZ!

WHO’S WHO!

MIRA TORIA

Editor in Chief and

Production Director

LANA SKY

Managing Editor

and Public

Relations Director

IMOGEN ISLES

Graphic Director

SIMONE COLEMAN

Music Director and

Graphic Assistant

L.F GOODFELLOW

Photography

Director

MARIELLE PERIKLY

KOKOSIDOU

Ornamental

Designer

1. You’re trapped in the basement with a psychotic priest! What do you do? a. Scream for help! b. Check out the hottie in the room with you – locked in a

basement with him isn’t bad at all. c. Find a sharp object to kill yourself with. d. Punch the priest and then confess your sins.

2. You find out that there is a cure for your disease but you have to do one of the following – a. Sell your soul. b. Travel back and forth between the world of life and death –

because damn is that collector fine. c. Forget it – you’ll just chance it and hopefully die a peaceful

death! d. Bite a werewolf and then run for your life!

3. You have to pick your poison – which one do you choose? a. Beg for another option besides death! b. If the hot guy dies – you’ll die willingly with him! c. The bullet in the brain – it’s the quickest! d. Psyche out the person and then run for the door!

4. The boy you have a crush on is coming up to you! What do you do? a. Check his pulse – because you can never be too sure. b. Ask him if he’s a soul collector because your soul is up for the

taking. c. Bumble around because you’re getting tongue tied! d. Run away screaming because you want to make an

impression.

Mostly A’s – A die hard survivor! You’re ready for almost everything except death and will do anything to get out of it. Mostly B’s – A survivor of love! As long as there’s a cutie next to you, you’ll do what it takes to survive! Mostly C’s – An unwilling survivor! If there’s pain and prolonged torture, you’d prefer to put yourself out of your misery ASAP! Mostly D’s – A survivor of opportunity! Your motto? If there’s a will there will always be a way!

What Kind of Survivor Are You?

She was chaos and beauty intertwined.

A tornado of roses from divine.

-shakieb orgunwall