Cool eh? Shelli is dishing the dirt...

So the lovely Shelli Rosewarne is my guest...

Hi Raven,

Thanks so much for having me over today. I’ve been a bit manic lately so nice to get out of the writing cave for a bit.

I have a few projects on the go at the moment, but I’m currently engrossed in a zombie-themed romance. It’s a definite step outside my comfort zone but I’m really enjoying it. So, I thought on that theme I would talk a bit about pushing your own boundaries.

At the moment I’m making some big changes, both personally and professionally, and while it’s very exciting it’s also quite scary. It is very easy to cruise along sometimes, to stay where you are purely because it’s easy and simple and feels quite safe. For some people they might be quite happy carrying on like that, but sometimes it can be too easy and simple. You might want something more but taking that extra step or making that change can seem just too daunting. So you can make excuses, you can be waiting for the ‘right time’, you can be wanting to be a little more organised and plan a little bit more extensively.

While I would never recommend jumping into something blindly then I think sometimes you can plan forever and there needs to be a point where you draw the line and just take the leap.

I think it can be especially important for creative people like writers to be constantly trying new things and pushing their own limits. If I look back to a year ago I can see how far my writing has come and I know that some of the things I’m trying now would have seemed impossible to me back that. With writing it can be easy to be put into a box – people are constantly trying to classify what you do, to pigeon hole you. If you want to try a different style, or genre, or heat level then you can be met with negativity – what about your current readers, what about your ‘brand’, what about your marketing? To be honest I think it gives readers a lot less credit than they deserve; both in terms of being able to appreciate good writing no matter the subgenre and also in terms of choosing what they want to pick up and read anyway.

It’s taken me a long time to be able to ignore other people’s negativity and my own insecurities enough to be able to follow my own path, push forward and follow my own dreams. I have such huge respect for those I know who are doing the same, and for those who might not be quite there yet or who are still ‘planning’ – I hope you can make the jump soon!

Anyway, I seem to have rambled on for a bit there, so will try and earn my keep and share an excerpt from my current WIP. Little bit rough at the moment but hope you enjoy!  

She heard shocked gasps from behind her, but the vibrations were already running through the ground. She could feel the energy rising, waves spreading out. Quickly she smeared the blood around the edges of the circle. The energy was rising now, she could feel the hairs on her arms standing up and tiny vibrations through the soles of her shoes. She drew a final symbol in the blood on the gravestone itself, the rough stone grazing her fingers and making the lines awkward.

“Patrick Connell rise. Come from your grave at my command, rise from your sleep at my bidding.”

The earth in front of her was almost bubbling now, and then it parted and a tall figure emerged. She heard Neil almost shriek behind her but her attention was on the corpse in front of her. He was newly dead and so perfectly preserved. In fact, she thought, gazing at him, you would barely know the difference if you saw him walking down the street. She was actually quite proud, she didn’t do this spell much but this was a damn good raising!

“Patrick Connell, you have been raised at my command. You will do as I say and nothing more, bound to me by blood and magic. Do you understand and obey?”

The corpse looked at her, surprising clarity in his deep blue eyes. She didn’t think she’d ever raised one this ‘new’ before and it was actually a little disconcerting how alive he looked. He’d obviously been a handsome man, tall with broad shoulders, thick dark hair, strong jaw and quite startling eyes. Then he opened his mouth and said a single word.

“No.”

oh wow got to read eh?