A Peek into your Life- EJ Wesley

A peek into your life, is a segment spotlighting authors, specialists, and friends who brave my countless questions day in and day out. It's the best way I can share with you all, the many people who taught me the bizarre things I know, who satisfy my thirst for knowledge and adventure, and who keep me motivated.

Visit EJ Wesley at The Open Vein. I met him during a crusade (I know, scary stuff). I remembered his first comment and really, it just is so EJ that it says it all.

 "I can spot a fellow smart-arse a mile away. We're going to be great friends!"

Well, I didn't want to prove him a liar but at that point, I wasn't so sure. I had been treated pretty rudely by some bloggers and really, I didn't seen any friends in my future via this route. Luckily, his comment haunted me, made me feel among friends. It was so easy to be friends with this guy. If you visit his blog- and I suggest you do- you'll discover for yourself how open, honest, frank, and down to earth he really is. Plus! He's just a lot of fun to hang around. What more do you want in a friend? Besides, I like people who can predict the future like that. They come in handy.

I'm enjoying the Moonsong Series. Read them. All I gotta say. They made me laugh, sit up full of tension, and shove them at my friends. Quick, fun reads that leave you thinking, cool, can we do that again?

Blood Fugue, Moonsongs Book 1:
Amazon
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble

Witch's Nocturne, Moonsongs Book 2:

Amazon
Smashwords
Barnes & Noble

Dark Prelude, Moonsongs Book 3:
Amazon
Smashwords

      Barnes & Noble

We're talking monsters, hunters, and some brave kickass characters. I laughed out loud at many of the thoughts Jenny has. What a character. My fav has to be the last one, and I don't want to spoil it for you, but it just didn't end how I expected it to, and well, I always like that. Being a writer I am hard to surprise.

Let's take a little peek into what makes EJ, well... EJ.

I know you've been visiting a lot of blogs these days promoting The Moonsongs Books, but I also know that as a writer, once we get in over our head, we just keep digging. So tell us, what are you currently working on when you're down in the trenches?
You definitely know how this works. *hands you the shovel so I can take a break* :) Let's see, I'm plotting out more Moonsongs stories, just started writing a contemporary New Adult novel I'm very excited and nervous about, and trying to keep up with the weekly New Adult Twitter chat I organize. Oh, and I'm still getting my feet wet as a new contributor to the New Adult Alley Blog. We're writers, yet we get so little time to actually write it seems. *takes shovel back and starts digging* 

Each character is so unique, I feel like I know them well and I'm always laughing with them or worrying about them. When Dark Prelude ended, I must admit, I was a little worried about Marshal, but then... well... I know he'll be fine, cause he's very well grounded. Kinda got me thinking that those are character traits I would like to have. You know? So that even when all hell breaks loose, others don't worry about me, they just know I'll survive cause I'm me. Which character do you see yourself being, or not being?

This is a tough one! I'll do the one I wouldn't want to be--mostly because all of the characters have so much baggage. I don't think any of them have what I'd call an ideal life. LOL So for me, the person I'd least want to be is Bill from the newest story, Dark Prelude. I really don't like that guy! He's ignorant, mean, on a constant power trip (he's a very BAD cop), and just kind of a miserable human being. Nobody wants to be THAT guy, and he is. :)

Ha! That he is. Stupid jerkface annoyed me too.

So what are you most proud of?  
Getting my Master's degree was a big life accomplishment for me. Neither of my parents were college educated, so even attempting higher education seemed like a leap from where I'd come from. Not only did I go to college, but I excelled and got an advanced degree. It really made me understand that so long as you're willing to work for something, and stick with it, there's really nothing you can't do--I guess I'm saying you're only limited by what you're willing to do. That has helped me in my life in a lot of ways, but particularly on my writing journey. 

What did you learn on this journey that you wish you could pass on to other writers?
YOU decide how your writing career/journey is going to go, no one else. It's going to seem like other people and things are constantly dictating what you can and can't do in this business. That's crap. We live in an age of doers, where your desire dictates your success.

Neil Gaiman did a fabulous commencement speech, and basically said, "Don't wait for permission, just do." So learn the craft, read lots, surround yourself with other writers who care only about writing and getting better, and write the stories you'd love to read. Don't worry about who's going to publish it or how. When that story is ready, there'll be a path. Take it.


Now that, is some kicka advice.

About the Author:

E.J. Wesley resides in South Texas. He holds degrees in psychology and counseling, but prefers to examine the heads of fictional characters over the living ones. He likes his food and his stories spicy, and tries to give a little extra 'kick' to paranormal, horror, and the other genres he writes. In true Texas fashion, he is very neighborly, and enjoys chatting about books, movies, music, and family. He is the author of the Moonsongs books, a series of speculative paranormal action novelettes, with a Texas twist. Say 'howdy' at:  Blog | Twitter | Facebook |Goodreads

Thanks for the peek EJ! Can't wait to read the next one.

Rewriting

Rewriting. It's probably the most magical thing I do. Apart from healing boo-boos with a kiss, I mean.

On a whim I decided to read my first manuscript-- after almost twenty years of pushing it aside on my shelf . With my new eyes I saw some interesting things. 

First, I pulled out the three characters that had enough tension between them to explode in an erotica. And well, I put them in one. Trust Me was born at the end of last year and is still a draft.

Then I took the stale plot and twisted it up with some magic, demons, and two new characters. I created an urban fantasy- Guardian of the Notebooks- with it that still needs an end, but I'll get to it shortly. If you ask me, this is the book it was intended to be, I just didn't know how to get there back then.

After all that, I decided the original amateur murder mystery was still worth saving and so I added it to my pile of manuscripts that need a rewrite and for now, The Donor sits in limbo, not in hell

It got me thinking about how my work evolves over time and well... I came across this scene in my cut pile that I thought I'd share just to prove how important everything we write is. It was from the first draft I wrote of a romance called Fire and Ice. I tore that romance apart, using parts of it in various novels, but the moment I saw this little paragraph I knew where I'd re-used it, even if it was an unconscious action on my part. I shared this scene before, but here it is at it's birth and maturity.

1ST DRAFT-2007 Fire and Ice

Melody’s body moved to the heat of the water and to my delight, every time I touched her, but still she slept. It was awesome, when at one point she mumbled “ice”.

           IN FINAL EDIT-2012 Finding Balance

Her body moved to the heat of the water and to my delight, every time I touched her. I took my time, tasting her, smelling her, whispering to her body. She had me so entranced that when she moaned I moaned back.

Her breath was sweet and her body heaved up to meet my hands.

“Markus.”

My world stopped.

What did she say?

Who the fuck was Markus?

Rewrites. Code word for magic. You ever go back and see how your writing evolved? What happened to your first manuscripts? Ever recycle scenes from dead books and turn them into ones you love?