Writer Wednesday - Raine Thomas

Every Wednesday I like to introduce indie, self-pubbed and small press authors with the hope that you'll meet an author new to you and find some new favorite books. Today we have fellow contributor at The Writer's Voice Raine Thomas.

About Raine:

Raine Thomas is the author of the exciting and original series of YA fantasy/romance novels about the Estilorian plane, including the Daughters of Saraqael trilogy and the upcoming Firstborn trilogy. She is a proud member of Romance Writers of America and is a contributing blogger to The Writer's Voice. When she isn’t planning weddings, writing or glued to social networking sites, she can usually be found on one of Florida’s beaches with her husband and daughter or crossing the border to visit with her Canadian friends and relatives.

About Becoming:

Every three years, Amber Hopkins explodes. Okay, not a blown-to-smithereens explosion, but whatever it is always hurts like hell and leaves her life a shambles. She’s already worked her way through five foster placements, and she’s doing whatever she can to avoid getting blasted into a sixth.

As her eighteenth birthday approaches and she feels the strange and powerful energy building, disaster looms. When the inevitable explosion occurs, her life gets its biggest shakeup yet. She’ll not only learn how her fellow foster and best friend, Gabriel, really feels about her, but she’ll discover that she isn’t really without family.

To top it all off, she’ll finally find out why she’s having the power surges: she isn’t entirely human.

Amber must Become, transitioning to another plane of existence and risking the loss of the most important relationship she’s ever had. Her choice will impact the future of an entire race of beings, and will pit her against an enemy that will prey upon her doubt to try and take her very life.

Kind of makes the explosions now seem like a cakewalk.

Sounds awesome, right? Will have to check it out!

Raine (don't you love that name???) has a special post for us, so let's get to it. Hi, Raine! Thanks for coming!

Thanks so much, Kristie, for giving me the chance to take over your blog for the day. I’m excited to have this introduction to your amazing followers! Now, however, comes the pressure of finding a great topic. Hmm…

*Taps chin in thought*

*Watches Tristan—er, the Promise trailer—for the seventh time*

Inspiration strikes! I’ll make a writing confession: I love writing guys. By this I mean that I adore writing about guys and experiencing scenes through their perspective. I wonder what that says about me? *taps chin again**shrugs*

In the movie As Good as it Gets, Jack Nicholson plays an author who is asked by a female fan, “How do you write women so well?”

He replies, “I think of a man…and I take away reason and accountability.” An insult, yes, but impeccably delivered and straight to the point.

So, how does a female author writing in the third-person (my favored form of narration) put herself in the mind of a male? Does she “think like a woman and take away sensitivity and the desire to replace the toilet paper roll?”

Okay, okay…sorry! But this reiterates the point that men and women are just plain different, making it a challenge for one to fully understand (and write) the other. In my case, I grew up with three brothers and no sisters. My husband also has only brothers. Family gatherings are heavily laden with testosterone and the viewing of sports of one kind or another.

Thus, I find writing from the male perspective practically second nature. I get into a scene and ask myself, “What would my husband say here?” or “How would my brother act in this situation?” I also get feedback from guys regarding whether scenes from the male perspective are realistic, which certainly helps.

I thought I’d present you with a short blurb from Becoming, the first book in the Daughters of Saraqael trilogy. This scene is written from the perspective of the male protagonist, Gabriel. Do you think I captured a realistic “male” moment here?

“So, who’s the chick?” Ethan asked when Gabriel approached. There were many ears tuned into their conversation.

Gabriel raised an eyebrow. “What—seriously?”

“Yeah, man.” Ethan glanced back at Amber. “She’s smokin—” He cut himself off. Tilted his head. Stared harder. “Holy—is that?” Now he looked stunned. “No way.”

Ignoring the comments around him, Gabriel glanced to his right and spotted Jason Harrison among the would-be volleyball players. Giving the other guy a nod, he said, “Hey, Jason, can I run something by you?”

Shrugging, he said, “Sure.” He looked wary, though.

They stepped away as the others began selecting teams. Staying within sight of Amber but out of hearing range of anyone else, Gabriel stopped beside a neatly-pruned rose bush. When Jason stopped beside him, he said without preamble, “Michelle dropped by yesterday.”

Jason frowned. His eyes were less friendly than usual, as was his tone. “Yeah. She already told me.”

“Told you what, exactly?”

Jason’s face flushed. Crossing his arms over his chest and shifting his gaze to Amber, he muttered, “Amber told Michelle she, uh, didn’t want to come to the party with me.”

“Michelle said that, did she?”

Perhaps gleaning something from Gabriel’s tone, Jason caught his gaze. He hadn’t been class valedictorian for nothing, and realization was quick to enter his eyes.

Gabriel continued, “I imagine she said that Amber laughed at the idea of coming to the party with you or something?”

Jason uncrossed his arms, running one hand across the back of his neck. “Essentially. She said Amber told her that she wouldn’t go out with me if I was the last guy alive—crap like that.”

“You know Amber,” Gabriel said, indicating their years together on the high school track team. “You know she isn’t like that. Everything you just said is complete B.S.”

Jason nodded in understanding and looked again toward Amber.

“Damn. What a bitch.”

Knowing he meant Michelle, Gabriel smiled dryly. “You have no idea.”

“Guess I should’ve known better, considering the source. I imagine you didn’t ask her to ask me to get Amber off your hands, right?”

Gabriel just raised an eyebrow.

“Figured. Well, screw it. At least I know. Thanks, man.” Now, he grinned. “Come on. Let me at least kick your ass at some V-ball if you get the girl.”

“You’re sure welcome to try.”

What do you think? Do you have other tips on writing the opposite gender? I’d love your comments!

Thanks for giving me a reason to view Tristan—er, the Promise trailer—for inspiration. If you’re interested in YA fantasy/romance featuring strong male and female characters, I hope you’ll check out my Daughters of Saraqael trilogy, available in all e-bookstores, as well as in paperback on Amazon.com!

Haha! Yeah, I like to watch Tristan, too. I call it getting into character. Hehe. Thank you, Raine, for joining us!

Raine can be found at:

Twitter (http://twitter/Raine_Thomas)
Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/rainethomas)
Website (http://rainethomas.com)
Blog (http://RaineThomas.com/blog/)