Beginning Our New Life In Maui

May wife, Danielle, loves the ocean. Like, seriously, if the ocean magically manifested into some tall handsome dude she'd probably leave me.

Her love for warm sun and sandy beaches is why in the winter of 2014 she asked me for a trip to Hawaii for Christmas. She claims she was "only joking," but after she mentioned this two other times I began to wonder just how jokey she was actually being.

I also started to get curious. How much would a vacation to Hawaii really cost? What sorts of things could you do there? How much will the airline industry rip us off for two tickets to Maui? (Because, really, what do the airlines ever do except charge ridiculous amounts of money for what is, essentially, a miserable travel experience coupled with molestations from the TSA?)

"Is this is a joke?" she asked when I gave her the tickets on Christmas Eve.

"If this is a joke it's one of the cruelest Christmas presents ever," I said.

It wasn't a joke. We were going to Maui.

I can always tell how excited she is about something by how quickly the news hits Facebook. In this case, I think she set a new record.

Why Hawaii?

The West Maui Mountains right behind
our apartment building in Kahului.

We visited Hawaii in January of 2015. The moment we stepped off the plane there was this feeling of being home—the island time, the Aloha spirit, the mountains, the water, the palm trees. We belonged there.
After ten days of luaus, snorkeling, whale watching, volcano hiking, surfing, drinking, eating, and swimming our time in paradise came to an end.

Or so we thought.

For months afterward all we could talk about was how much we enjoyed Maui. Eventually we realized that other than our families there was really nothing tying us to our New England roots. We hated the winters. We were tired of the remoteness of everything, the small town life, and the summer allergies. As we considered what kind of a life we wanted to live and where we wanted to raise our kids everything about Maui just seemed to fit with the vision we were developing for our lives.

So finally said: "Let's just move there!"

Holy Crap–We Just Moved To Maui

In the summer of 2015 we closed on the sale of our house. We sold a lot of our possessions and put others in storage. We sold our cars, bought some plane tickets, packed four suitcases, and by January we were back in Maui—exactly a year after we visited.

Honestly, Hawaii was never on my radar of places to go. I've never been drawn to the tropics, but Hawaii is more beautiful and comfortable than I could have imagined. My allergies don't bother me, the heat isn't unbearable, and everyone here lives life slowly. In our culture of busyness and immediacy and deadlines, island life is—as our surf instructor would say—totally chill, bro. It's rare to find that quality of life in a community. I think if one can appreciate it, live it, and give it back to those around them, then it's a life worth living.

So I am now a resident of Maui, HI. We've been here four days. It's kind of surreal. I can't believe I left my whole life behind and came here. It was terrifying, and I'm still not one hundred percent certain that I didn't make a terrible mistake, but time will tell.

The Meaning of All This

I've talked a lot about fear on this blog—fear associated with writing—but I've learned that as I begin to conquer fear in other life situations, fear begins to play a less prominent role in all other areas of my life. Yes, it was terrifying to leave everything I've ever known and move 4,900 miles away, but I knew that if I chose to let fear control this decision I'd spend the rest of my life regretting the choice I didn't make. Personally, I'd rather get to the end of my life and say, "I gave it my best shot," instead of, "I wish I took the chance."

The Ever-Annoying Modifier

If you're one of the many writers asking, "What's so evil about modifiers anyway?" I don't blame you for not getting it. Too many of us have fallen victim to our culture's lazy standards of writing, perpetuated by the shorthand of social media and the explosion of self-published books that go unedited, unchecked, and are held unaccountable.

So what's the big deal about overusing modifiers? Well, let's see.

First: The Modifier

Essentially, a modifier adds information to another element in a sentence. The man didn't just walk from the room, he walked from the room slowly. A modifier can be an adjective, an adverb, or a phrase or clause acting as an adjective or adverb.

Ok, so, modifiers are words that modify things. With me so far?

Second: The Problem

Modifiers kill creative writing. Verbs should be a writer's best friend, not modifiers. Verbs lend action and speed and interest, but if you're not using the correct verbs you'll find yourself falling on too many modifiers to make up for your lazy verb selection. The end result is sloppy looking writing.

EXAMPLE
"The thief slipped stealthily into the room."

A writer who doesn't understand the misuse of modifiers won't see anything wrong with that sentence, but let's take a closer look at the problem.

The thief is the subject of this sentence. Slipped is the verb that describes his action. Stealthily is the modifier adding a descriptive element to the verb. The main problem with this example is that the modifier is unnecessary. Why is the modifier unnecessary? Because we have an inappropriate verb.

Slipped.

What does this even mean? Is the thief sliding along the floor here? Is there a banana peel in the dark? Is he disco dancing? This verb doesn't quite describe our scene. Slipped is something a stealthy thief would prefer NOT to do, I would imagine.

Let's try again.

"The thief snuck stealthily into the room."

Better. Snuck is a much better word for a stealthy thief than slipped. It could just as easily be crept or tiptoed or skulked, depending on what mood you're trying to set or your personal preference.

But now we have another problem. Remember our modifier Mr. Stealthily? He is now making the verb redundant since the word snuck implies stealth.

Let's try again... again.

"The thief snuck into the room."

Ahhh! There we go. And now we have a tightly written sentence. It's succinct. It conveys a good mental image. There are no redundant or unnecessary modifiers and the verb is strong, implying a specific action while still allowing the reader to use their imagination to conjure the scene. If you want to convey more information about the thief's movements or his demeanor, get creative!

"The thief snuck into the room, a shadow of menace and ill intent."

Ok, it's an elementary example, I admit, but hopefully this process shows you how cutting out modifiers forces a more creative use of proper verbs and can lead to stronger, more descriptive sentences.

An Example From My Own Work

In Where Evil Abides, the second volume in my high fantasy series Children of the Falls, one of my heroes starts a fight. In the first draft, the sentence read like this:

"Merek jumped over the food table and overturned it, pushing the soldiers back, but only momentarily."

There are several things I didn't like about this sentence, but for the purposes of this article I'll deal with the modifier.

I realized that the word "momentarily"—a modifier—is a useless word. Is it worth it to emphasize that Merek's actions distracted the soldiers for only a moment? Doesn't the action in the next sentence imply the next moment? What does this modifier do except waste the reader's time?

I decided to get aggressive and axed everything after the comma.

"Merek vaulted over the food table and kicked it over, pushing the soldiers back."

Vaulted was a more appropriate verb to describe the specific action, while the verb "kicked" gave the sentence a little extra, well... kick.

As for the modifer? Gonzo!

Reality Check

Are modifiers NEVER supposed to be used? There are some purists out there who might think the first sentence about the slippery thief is an abomination. There are also some very lazy writers who look at some of today's top selling fiction, see lots of modifiers, and think it's no big deal.

I'm somewhere in the middle. I try not to use modifiers, but I'm also the kind of person who writes by feel. If I feel that a sentence flows better with a modifier as opposed to a verb, I might go with the modifier, but that's AFTER I've already assessed the sentence to see if there isn't a stronger verb that works for the scene.

Here's An Exercise

Do a search throughout your document of all words that end in "ly" and get rid of them. Nine times out of ten an "ly" word is a modifier. I guarantee that most of those modifiers can be deleted without changing the meaning of the sentence. In many cases you may have to hunt for a more descriptive verb, and in other instances you may need to rework your sentence entirely. You'll find your writing getting stronger and stronger the more modifiers you hack out.

So hack away!

Could It Be Any More Depressing?

Cutting a book in half isn't easy. (See Changing An Elephant for the full story.)

At first I thought my biggest problem was finding the right point in the different storylines to make the split, but after accomplishing that I realized there's another problem: the individual endings are all kinda... depressing.

At the end of the book...

• Hero #1 and #2 indulge in a graceless massacre of enemy soldiers. No moral lessons are learned. No one grows or changes. It's just violence.
• Princess #1 witnesses the suicide of one of her friends and gets sucked deeper into a life of prostitution.
• Princess #2 is shoved off the top floor of the castle and left for dead.
• My heroine escapes an attack of enemy soldiers only to find herself trapped in the crypt of a chapel after it burns to the ground.
• My other heroine is abandoned by her mentor and left in the hands of a cruel teacher.
• My anti-hero is arrested by the high king, tortured, and thrown in prison.

And just to be clear: these are my main characters. Could it be any more depressing?

As awful as this all might sound, I really don't think I mind. This story is built on the premise that the people have been abandoned by their gods. Society has come to the brink of ruin and the last shreds of innocence are being purged. Despair is what my characters need to feel before they awaken to the reality of what's needed to save the realm.

But if I could pick one word to describe this story, buried in the middle of a dismal plot, heartbroken characters, despairing heroes, and prospering villains, it would be hope. Hope is a tiny thread in this story that glimmers ever so faintly. Hope—I hope—is something that becomes more evident as the series goes on.

Is that glimmer of hope in book 1 enough to keep readers from getting depressed? We'll see.

*Gulp*

Island Time: I Don't Know What It Is But It's Awesome

I think my wife and I were destined to be "islanders" the day we decided to honeymoon on Kelly's Island in Lake Erie and we got our first taste of "island time."

Actually, we wanted to hit up the roller coaster capital of the world in Sandusky, OH, but then someone told us about Kelly's Island, which is just a short ferry ride north. So on our honeymoon we rode roller coasters and spent a lot of time basking in the sun in a little island community. And I loved it!

Island time is defined differently depending on who you ask. Some say it simply means a time later than what the clock says. Others say it has to do with an unwillingness to conform to the norms and structure of modern culture.

But it's more than that.

Island time encompasses a way of life in relation to the attitude you have about the world and the people around you. It's no coincidence that islanders have far fewer worldly possessions and are happier, feeling more fulfilled with a love for life and experiences. They're enriched by enjoying every moment that passes. Not concerned about the mistakes of yesterday. Not worried about tomorrow, but fully involved in today. THAT'S island time.

When Danielle and I vacationed in Maui, HI, last January we fell in love with the place. It was like coming home, a feeling I never felt before.

Even before that, however, we were feeling called to a simpler life. We sold our house. We started downsizing our possessions. And once we got a taste of Hawai'i we slowly began the long process of moving there. Right now we hope that by January we'll officially be "islanders."

What does this mean for my writing career? I'm hopeful that nothing will change. I've been writing since I was 14. Had my first novel published when I was 18. I've authored two other books and edited, illustrated, and designed countless others.

With my fingers fully embedded into my new fantasy series Children of the Falls, I'm in for the long haul. I look forward to completing this series while sitting on the beach, enjoying the sights and sounds of the ocean, pretty girls, and pina coladas.

Changing An Elephant

Writing is a lot like cooking. The ingredients don't always have to be precisely measured out. If you want to add a little more paprika, go for it! If halfway through you decide to change things up, then change things up. You don't have to follow the recipe.

On my bucket list of things to accomplish while writing the first book in the Children of the Falls series was to hit 200,000 words. Comparatively, the first Harry Potter novel was about 75,000 words, while the longest in the series, The Order of the Phoenix, was over 250,000 words. I had never written a novel longer than 129,000, and I wanted to shatter that standard with something epic.

However, when my book reached 300,000 words—that's right, 300,00!!!—I knew I was running into a problem. I didn't like the idea of beginning a new self-published series under a new pen name with a massive 300,000 word novel. I wanted the series to be more accessible to tentative readers who weren't ready to bite off such a massive novel.

My wife was the first to suggest splitting the book in half, and after I thought about it I realized there was a good midpoint at which I could accomplish that. I knew it would require shifting a few events around and possibly adding a couple extra chapters to wrap things up for a new ending, but the idea was exciting. It instantly gave me two books to start marketing instead of one. It also allowed me to narrow my focus in the first novel and spend a little more time building my characters.

Where Evil Abides, the original book one, became book two, and a new 170,000 word book became book one. This meant I needed a new title. I mulled it over for a few days, but couldn't come up with anything.

After one particularly dream-filled night's sleep I awoke around 6am with a title sitting on my lips. I whispered it, hoping to commit it to memory, and promptly fell back to sleep. Thankfully my brain was able to recall the title and I quickly plopped it onto a new cover for a new book one.

Coming soon: Where Serpents Strike.

Author Interview: J.C. Stockli

"I have always been the under dog wrapped up in a little blonde package with a sometimes overwhelming sense of imagination. In a lot of ways, I'm still that little girl scared of the dark."

—J.C. STOCKLI

Sometimes I read a book just for fun. Other times I read a book and study it. J.C. Stockli is one of those writers who actually had me taking notes. Her style is crisp and smart, and her most recent novel, The Nothingness, is a gritty paranormal mystery that grabs you by the jugular and doesn't let go.

Stockli's work was so intriguing that I messaged her and asked if I could interview her. She eagerly agreed, much to my delight!

C.W.: Your book is very dark with some frightening imagery and ideas. I've gotta to ask, what were you like as a child?

J.C. Stockli

J.C. *Laughing* I was a pretty normal kid, the younger of two siblings, two parents, a dog and cat. I had a wonderfully playful grandmother, a real quirky aunt, and some rascally cousins whom I loved to visit with when growing up. There was a lot of make-believe in my childhood. Yes, I had an imaginary friend and I'm still terrified of the boiler monster in my basement. I always had nightmares, but forced myself to get into horror movies to get over my fears. I had a neighbor who was obsessed with the Poltergeist franchise, and I'm sure she helped to foster my fears, but I learned to love them. I have always been the under dog wrapped up in a little blonde package with a sometimes overwhelming sense of imagination. In a lot of ways, I'm still that little girl scared of the dark.

Your book delves into some truly harrowing realities about the lives of addicts. Your depictions of their struggles are very real and heart-breaking. What sort of experiences have you had, or what research did you do, to capture all of that so vividly?

Understanding that I looooooove when endorphins flare, I know I have an addictive personality. If it feels good—I want more—period. To that end, I have never ventured beyond tobacco and alcohol because I've just never trusted myself. Sadly, I've seen others around me fall to much harsher substances. Addiction is non-discriminatory. It cripples even the strongest and wealthiest, and it can be a subtle threat. I think that's why I wanted to weave that into my story. What originally started off as a mere fantasy in my mind transformed into a fictitious platform with which I could depict how easy addiction can be. There's a stigma wrongly placed on substance abuse, and I wanted to address that.

Give us some insight into your main character, Evie. What should would-be readers know about her?

Evie is your everyday girl. She's flawed, makes mistakes, but is in fact human and has a good heart. I didn't want her to be pristine. She's insecure, doesn't realize her own worth. I've had a few reviews where people have questioned why she would have been dumb enough to do action A or B, but in reality isn't that the human condition? Don’t we always question why people do some of the things they do? Evie is just like you and me, trying to figure life out.

The Nothingness is the first book in a series you're planning correct?

Yes, the Addictions of the Eternal series.

So what sorts of places do you see Evie going to in the future—emotional, mental places?

Evie is going to run the gauntlet with her addictions. The Nothingness is only her first exposure to the drug. She's going to have others who try to shield her from it, but she's got to taste it (so to speak), experience the high for herself, succumb to it, and hopefully free herself from it. The series will carry her through the highs and lows of addiction and through said journey we'll all slowly exit reality and become immersed within the fantasy of the vampire world lurking in the shadows.

Vampires are definitely the rage these days. What drew you to write about them?

I have loved vampires since I was a kid. Who didn't love The Lost Boys? Honestly, the fact that they have become all the rage is sort of surreal for those of us who have been mystified by the supernatural our entire lives. Am I right?

So true! I've got to ask, are you a Twilight fan?

*Laughter* I read and enjoyed the books for the YA value they offer. They challenged the convention of what vampires could be, which I enjoyed... but they were too soft for me, as most YA tends to be.

Ok. We can be friends. *Laughter* So what made you decide to depict your vampires in such a gritty, realistic way?

I didn’t want superhuman powers or the traditional convention of what a vampire could be. I’ve seen other authors tackle this subject, and some challenge the norm, while others embrace it, masterfully—I wanted to challenge it. I have this firm belief that all legend must stem from somewhere. That said, the concept of a tangible origin suggested a more realistic existence than the aversion to sunlight or flying bats with no reflection. I'm not saying that I do not value the cross and garlic stuff, but that’s not real life... unless we’re going to talk about the medical conditions behind it all. I decided I wanted to stray away from tackling the scientific angle, that's been done quite well already, but what about the sociological evolution? Or perhaps the spiritual origin? We’ll see this exposed as the series progresses.

I really liked your approach to vampires in The Nothingness. I think in recent years my taste for vampire stuff has been tainted by their treatment in Hollywood and in books like Twilight, but I felt like you breathed new life into the genre for me. I can't wait to read what you come up with next!

Thanks!

Your prose has such a distinct style. It's very beautiful. Tell us about your writing process. What does it look like? How do you best like to work? Do you have any weird quirks?

This story stemmed from a nightmare that lingered. When an image is so vivid that I can live and breathe it, then it's easy to tell it. I take every experience from my day to day and make mental notes. What was that smell? What did it stir in me? I love silent exchanges of eye contact, so each time I find myself envisioning Lucca staring across the room, I try to tune it to how my body reacts. Music is a large influence, again monitoring how my body reacts to a rhythmic beat. I cannot write in silence, I need to choreograph the scene to the song. Actual writing is haphazard for me. If I have an idea, I get it out quick. I email notes to myself constantly, sometimes a full scene or dialogue. I email notes to myself throughout the day and jumble it all together when I get home and in front of the computer.

What does J.C. Stockli like to do when she's not writing?

Well, it sure isn't folding laundry! I have a beautiful family to keep me company, and thanks to e-books, I have a virtual library in the palm of my hand at all times.

What sorts of things have you learned about yourself while writing?

I’ve learned to push myself out of my comfort zone. Every writer is an introvert, and sharing is difficult. Especially being an indie author, I’ve had to suck in a deep breath and put myself out there, put my writing out there. This was a huge leap for me, but now I feel freer, liberated. It’s been a cathartic experience.

What books are you reading right now?

I just finished a fantastic adventure, Mabel Bunt And The Masked Monarchs, and I’m currently reading My Hood Your Barrio His Beat. I love meeting fellow indies and experiencing their work, working with them and doing book reviews and character interviews on my blog www.jcstockli.com. Writers can contact me if they want me to feature their work.

You're awesome! Thanks so much for entertaining my questions.

Book two in Stockli's series, The Saving, will be available next weekend, October 2. The Nothingness is available now in print and digital formats from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. In anticipation of The Saving, The Nothingness is on sale this weekend for $.99. If you go to her blog she's offering a sneak peek of the next novel!

J.C. Stockli is scheduled to be part of the first ever Virtual FantasyCon, which runs November 1 to 8. Presented by Flavour of Fantasy, FantasyCon will be held online in a Facebook Event with panel discussions via YouTube, a Scavenger Hunt, Giveaways, and a Cosplayer Costume Contest with a daily prize for the best selfie and costume and a grand prize.

To learn more about J.C. Stockli's work, visit her blog at www.jcstockli.com.

"Facing Your Fears" Wrap-Up

I once heard a great little maxim: "A writer is halfway done the moment he begins."

It's a true enough statement, but why is it true? Because for many writers overcoming fear is the biggest obstacle. Sometimes just beginning is what it takes to overcome the manacles of "maybe" and "might" and "what if." Sometimes all we have to do is start.

And then all we have to do is keep going.

We can study great writing. We can absorb good advice (like you're doing now. *wink, wink*). We can accumulate lists of dos and don’ts, but until we learn to keep on keeping on we're doing nothing except gathering information. Information, I'll add, that is useless until it's put into practice.

A child learns to ride a bike by riding a bike. There's no other way to teach them.

Likewise, a writer learns to write by writing. Sounds simple enough, right? Sure, unless fear is holding you back.

Over the past few (okay, many) weeks, I've examined some of the different aspects of a writer's fear—the fear of looking foolish, of being called out on our grammatical mistakes, of being boring, of being misunderstood or unliked, of failing, of not meeting our expectations—and, as I've said before, every single fear a writer can have stems from one commonality: they all MIGHT come true.

But we'll never know unless we begin.

Maya Angelou once said, “There is no greater agony 
than bearing an untold story inside you.”

Your fear may be telling you that your words don't matter, but that is a lie. Your words do matter. Your story matters. Your story may only ever bless one single person, but until you write it and get it out there you'll never know.

If I had cancer and only three days left to live, and if I found myself sitting face-to-face with you, a writer paralyzed by fear, this is what I'd scream at you regardless of how many people thought me a lunatic:

• Don't be afraid to be you! Write what's in your heart. Who cares if the world thinks you're nuts. The universe has put this on you to write, so write it already!


• Don't get tied up in grammar and technical mistakes now. Yes, those things are important, but you'll get to them during the later editing stages. For now, just write!


• Don't try to be perfect, just write!


• Don't worry about failing. Everyone fails. It's how we learn, so just write!


• And, for the love of Christmas, just write, damn it!

So let your fingers fly across your keyboard today—or if you're really old school: the typewriter, or if you're really, really old school: the piece of paper. Whatever you've got, just have at it. Enough stalling, enough procrastinating, enough excuses, it's time to overcome fear and get to work.

Now, if you'll excuse me I need to go follow my own advice. :-)

Face Your Fears

Part 1: Identify Fear
Part 2: Admit You're Afraid
Part 3: Shift Your Focus
Part 4: Overpowering Perfectionism
Part 5: Navigating Hardships
Part 6: Retrain Bad Habits
Part 7: Do What Scares You
Part 8: Hold Your Course
Part 9: Be Logical
Part 10: Fearing Fear