Tanya Lisle

Author: Tanya

  • Small details to make your characters more compelling

    Like my cat, characters can be a pain. When you don’t really want them to help you out, they force their way into whatever you’re working on. When you want them, they disappear on you for ages and you don’t know where they are until you hear them meowing at the bottom of the stairs pleading for you to come down to watch her eat.

    Okay, maybe that’s more my cat. 

    Where was I? Right. 

    Characters are strange beasts. And it can be really tricky to make sure that they come across as realistic people. One of the tricks I like to use to make a character feel more well rounded is to give them a habit of some sort that I can refer them to doing when they are stressed or bored.1 Whether that’s tapping, becoming very still, or something else, they fall back to that action to reveal emotion. 

    I find that’s also a really good way to reveal character. The ways different people react to stress can show things like how they will then react to danger or imply how they will react when they are happy. Seeing the reaction show up in a scene can also show that a character is stressed without making it obvious to the perspective character.2

    And, well, it’s nice to be able to show that a character is bored in a scene without having to tell it. Small things can show a lot, I found, and it’s fun to figure out what kind of person a character is when they aren’t actively thrown into peril. 

    What sort of small things do you like reading that make a character feel more rounded? 

    Write Your Story: Unlock Your Creative Potential

    Are you ready to embark on a journey into the world of storytelling? Look no further! Introducing Write Your Story, a comprehensive resource designed to fuel your imagination, enhance your storytelling skills, and bring your characters to life. Whether you’re an aspiring writer, a seasoned author, or simply someone who loves crafting stories, this workbook is your ultimate companion.

    This Workbook Contains:

    • Story planning spreads
    • Setting and location spreads
    • Character spreads
    • Writing session tracker
    1. Because I write a lot of stressed characters [↩]
    2. Which you know I love doing [↩]

  • Books to read while you’re waiting for the next Looking Glass Saga book

    I know, I haven’t announced when the next book is coming out yet even though I said I would. I’ve been having a personal life crisis and I don’t want to pick a date without knowing that I can hit it. I will say that tentatively April, though. And until then, I have a few books for you to check out to get you in the mood for the next release!

    Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll

    Of course! Check out the original and see where the original ideas all came from! It’s a bit of a strange read, but very worthwhile! It’s remarkably both similar and different from a lot of the movie adaptations, and it’s fun to see where the original story went. 

    The Hazel Wood by Melissa Albert

    Alice being a bit of a loner and being called to another world? Yep! Horror elements and questionable life choices? Check! A whole bunch of fairy tales that you didn’t really think belonged together but work surprisingly well in a single book? Bingo! 

    Every Heart a Doorway by Seannan McGuire

    I feel like this one is almost cheating with how similar it is. It follows a young girl going to a boarding school of other young girls who have all been to another world and are trying to either readjust to life in the real world or head back to their fantastical other realms. Also, it’s a lot of fun!

    Miss Mabel’s School for Girls by Katie Cross

    Bianca’s story of going to school to save her own life and the lives of her family from a cruel curse has echoes of a similar journey to it. Also, the universe is a little fun, though I would warn about that one chapter involving a cat for anyone sensitive to that. 

    Sawkill Girls by Clare Legrand

    I know this is a bit of a weird one, but this one has a very similar feel to it as the second half of The Looking Glass Saga. Each of the three girls has elements of Alice or Adrianna to them, and the demon definitely feels like some combination of the Bandersnatch and Cheshire Cat.

  • Graveyard Shift Review

    I’m finally reading again! It took a bit for me to get back into it, but I’ve made my list of books in my TBR and I’m going to start working through all of them. To start off, Graveyard Shift by Angela Roquet, a book I have two copies of with different covers because I have been meaning to read it for that long. 

    The story follows Lana, a reaper who is passable at her job. She was created as a reaper and it’s a fine way to make a living, even if the pay isn’t that good and she is more inclined to bend a few rules if she likes a soul than follow them to the letter. She’s a fun character, with the personality of someone who’s sunk into complacency but doesn’t really want to be there. And when she learns that she’s going to get a promotion1 she looks at it with suspicion rather than as an opportunity. 

    The promotion leads into the bigger story, to the quest from Grim, the first reaper who acts now as their boss, and learning that Lana isn’t all she thought she was. She gets put on a quest and has to navigate some political intrigue2 in order to find the right soul to keep Eternity from devolving into a civil war. 

    Overall, it’s a really interesting concept and I really liked the way the world worked as a whole. The idea is Eternity is where all souls go, and they are shuffled off into their respective afterlives by the reapers. Every possible historical afterlife, from Heaven and Hell to Nirvana are all real, and they need souls to maintain their power in Eternity. During the story, for example, the Egyptian realm has been losing power and Grim’s been shuffling more souls off to them to appease them. 

    The story worked really well to reveal how the universe worked. You get a good look at the political climate of the world, of what does and does not register to who as an issue, and the worldbuilding really does work well in the narrative. I’ll admit to being more enamoured by the universe over some of the subplots,3 but the universe is just so much fun. 

    Also, Lana gets two giant hellhounds pups and I love those babies. 

    I would recommend checking it out. I really enjoyed the story, the world, and am thinking about checking out the next in the series. 

    Get it on Amazon!

    1. Despite knowing full well she doesn’t deserve it [↩]
    2. which she’s terrible at [↩]
    3. Lana gets a boyfriend, but it’s not a focal point [↩]

  • January Quotes Roundup (Plus a meme!)

    It’s that time again to bring back the quotes roundup for the month! In case you don’t follow me on social media, these are the quotes that got posted this month! These are all from The Looking Glass Saga.

    Also, I tried to make a meme.

    I tried.

  • Halfsoul Review

    One of my fellow Wylde Wooders put out a comic a while ago and I’ve finally gotten a chance to check it out! It’s also been on my pile for far too long, so… 

    Halfsoul is… well, not fun. It’s honestly a little dark and kind of depressing in places. It’s a story about a group of people who hunt down people who have traded in half their soul for power and kill them for that. At least, on the surface that’s what’s happening. We start with an execution without knowing what they’ve done. Later, we meet a kid who is being bullied and whose immortality appears to be getting paid for my taking the lives of her bullies. And we learn that Tale, our main character, is not quite the whole soul that he seems. 

    It turns into a story about finding yourself and some of the darker sides of Tale. He’s the youngest and most resentful member of the group, and he’s got a bit of a complicated past. We learn that he’s lost his brother, his parents are dead, and his sister blames him for just about everything. Meanwhile, he’s grown up acting out, becoming a half soul, and ultimately dealing with depression that eventually took his brother. 

    It’s a pretty interesting read and I’d say its well worth it if you can find the artist and get it directly from her. meanwhile, I need to read the whole thing…

    Read it on Tapas or check out the paperback!

  • Roses and Rot Review

    Another fiction book off my TBR pile! This time, it’s Roses and Rot, a book about sisters who go to an artist retreat that is not all it seems. And by not all it seems, I mean one person from the year will be sent to live with the Fae for seven years as the tithe and, when they return, they will have all their artistic dreams come true. If they survive being the tithe.

    The main character, Imogen, is an author and her sister is a dancer. As an author that was once a dancer with dreams of going pro1 so this book felt like it was targeted at me. I really liked watching their relationship develop as the book progressed. There were a lot of relationships in the book that weren’t romantic and it was great to see all of them evolve throughout the story.

    Well, everything but relationships with mothers. It seems all mothers in this book were terrible.

    The way the book was set up with the Fae and the main story line was interesting, particularly since the way used to make it feel more like a fairy tale was to intersperse little anecdotes frames as fairy tales throughout the book. It worked a little against the book because the implication is that these vignettes are Imogen’s writing and I didn’t find them to be as amazing as I think I was meant to, but it certainly helped to keep the mood and tone consistent.

    Overall, I really liked it! it was a little slow in places, but having a break from YA and seeing how urban fantasy stories for an older audience could be done without it revolving around a romance was refreshing for me and I had a lot of fun with the story.

    Get it on Amazon!

    1. Parents were not fond of this idea, so that didn’t happen! [↩]

  • 11 things for people who are just done with everything

    It’s that time of year to try and capitalize on listicles and gift guides! For today, some suggestions of things to ask for or to get for people who are just kind of done with everything.

    Fuck off socks

    For those who want to be a little more quiet about how completely done they are with everything, you can get started with a pair of socks that express your innermost thoughts. No one has to know. Yet.

    Eff this bracelet set

    For those a little more bold, there’s always this lovely set of stackable bracelets. You can pick the one that suits you best on any given day, or you can just wear them all!

    Bitch please necklace

    There’s also the option of a necklace that will call other people on their bullshit for you. And two colour options!

    Fresh out of fucks hat

    For those who are less into jewelry, there’s always a hat that will say just how done you are.

    Fuck off backpack

    For those who would much rather not have swearing on them as they are walking around, but do still want to tell people to go away, there’s always a backpack that should get the point across.

    Sorry not sorry print

    Want people to know just what they’re getting into as soon as they get into your place? Well, why not get a print that makes everything nice and clear?

    You look like shit pillow

    Still kind of social? Find your own way to be hospitable with a throw pillow that gets right to the point!

    Calm the f*ck down tea

    You know what I love? Tea. And you know what would be a lot of fun to offer people once they follow the instructions of a pillow? This tea.

    Don’t fuck up the table coasters

    And once you hand them a cup of tea, what better than a coaster to remind them not to damage the table?

    I’m not always a bitch mug

    Once you sit your friend down with their tea, you’re going to need a mug for yourself. How about something to make sure you keep the record straight?

    Get paid sticker

    Lastly, because there’s so many freelancers out there, I wanted to add in something for people who have had the discussion before. You know the discussion. Get paid, everyone.

  • October Quote Roundup!

    Another month, another roundup of quotes from The Looking Glass Saga!

  • NaNoWriMo poll closed!

    Thank you everyone for participating in the poll this year and giving me this gift of which novel I’m writing for my birthday. Cloned Evil won the poll and I am very excited to get started on it! Now to figure out if I can somehow manage to write the whole series in one month…

    NaNoWriMo 2019 Poll!

    • Cloned Evil (45%, 58 Votes)
    • Dreamscape (38%, 49 Votes)
    • Reckless Abandon (30%, 39 Votes)
    • The End (26%, 33 Votes)
    • Atlantis Project (23%, 29 Votes)

    Total Voters: 128

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  • Which Path You Take is out!

    Which Path You Take is out!

    Which Path You Take, book 7 of The Looking Glass Saga, is out! Digital for now, I’ll let you know as soon as the paperback is ready!

    Alice might have won, but she was far from finished.

    The Bandersnatch is gone and Alice is free of the bet they made. Adrianna is awake. Wonderland may be spiraling further into madness but at least with school back in session Alice can try to get her life back to some semblance of normal. 

    Adrianna, however, is not the same girl she was before. Since she woke up, she is much more aware of the truth behind Alice’s lies and more determined help free Alice of Wonderland’s grasp, whether Alice wants it or not. 

    Get Which Path You Take now!