The Aware Author – People

Posted on 08/05/2016 by Hannah Steenbock

Today, I walked through town, in brilliant weather. The first warm and beautiful Sunday morning.

And I observed people. I love doing that. I always learn more that I can use for my stories or characters. And I always give people at least some of my attention, if not all of it.

Many women smiled back at me. Some even greeted me, even though I didn’t know them.

Men were different. Some were drinking this early. Some were loitering and standing in the way of other pedestrians, oblivious to the fact. Some leered. Some were kind and smiled, too.

It was fascinating.

My impression:

More women are aware of their surroundings and the people around them than men. The women also react much more to what’s going on around them. Could be a survival instinct, even though women rarely get harassed in Germany. (No cat-calling.) That really is just an assumption.

Men seem to be more centered in themselves, to the point of being oblivious of who is walking near them. I don’t know if that’s true. I’m a woman. (Let me know if you have thoughts about that in a comment.) But men are definitely just as capable of smiling and reacting to someone as women are.

And a part of me would like to take this into a fantasy world and twist it. Not sure how. Just wanting to play with this and make readers share in my awareness.

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Introverted?

Posted on 07/05/2016 by Hannah Steenbock

I believe I’m an introvert. I love silence. I love connecting with people through the safety of my computer screen. I think silent reading meetings are a great thing. So are libraries.

And yet… when I meet someone who thinks like me, who enjoys the same things – writing, reading, stories, horses, role-playing, and whatever else – I can talk for hours. And love every minute.

Sound familiar?

Maybe I’m not introverted. Maybe I just need the right people. Maybe so do you.

Think about that. Because we humans are social creatures.

We need the right tribe.

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On Writing Dialogue

Posted on 06/05/2016 by Hannah Steenbock

I spent some time editing today. Nice time, sitting on the balcony, in my new writing place. However, editing is hard for me even in a nice place when the sun is shining and the birds are singing.

Oh, I don’t mean finding and fixing typos. I actually like doing that.

What is hard for me is to unzip a scene, add some more stuff or shift something around and then making it all fit seamlessly again. Because I like how my scenes flow, and sometimes, it’s near impossible to cut them open.

I wish I had some editorial superglue to make that easy.

Anyway, I was adding a lot more dialogue – and I usually find myself writing dialogue that is not straight and polished and to the point. Sometimes, it strays away from the topic, and one participant has to bring it back to where it belongs. People use shorthand and get misunderstandings. Sometimes, they need to double back to untangle things. And sometimes, they are downright funny.

I love it when that happens. Because that’s how real life talk works. Just watch a talk show to see that in action.

So that part of editing was actually fun.

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The Aware Author – Silence

Posted on 05/05/2016 by Hannah Steenbock

This morning, it was quiet.

Even though I live in a large town. And right on a four-lane street.

But it was early morning on a public holiday.

I could hear the birds sing in the yard, and tell which kind was singing. The wing snap of a courting dove was really loud. I could hear the slow rumble of a ship’s diesel in harbour. I could hear the occasional car, and once, the sirens of an ambulance.

And most of all I could hear… silence.

Silence is funny. Because it exists below and beyond and within any sound. It’s so fundamental, it’s everywhere, even in screaming and noise.

But you have to look for it. Open yourself to it.

That’s easy on a quiet, beautiful morning. I love it when it is easy.

Because I love silence.

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What if…

Posted on 04/05/2016 by Hannah Steenbock

… injecting brain dead people with stem cells actually works?

Yes, it’s a thing: Biotech Company Granted Ethical Permission to Use Stem Cells to Reactivate the Brains of the Dead

I mean, sure, what could go wong?

Of course, the first thing that comes to mind is Zombies. In fact, scientists in this project are hoping that simple functions like breathing and regulating body temperature come back, which means that machines can be switched off and the person/body can live on.

But taking this deeper, what will happen to memories, even if the brain can be restarted? It’s likely that memories are wiped since they are stored in an active brain, not in passive connections. Which means the personality won’t exist as it did before.

So bringing back a brain might not bring back the person loved by the families. This could simply be a human who just looks like the person that existed before. Who maybe moves like them. But that might be all. Why would anyone do this?

And why would they – still following the line of thought – subject a person to relearning everything in life? Are we this afraid of death?

Which in turn creates tons of story ideas – at least in my brain. How about yours?

I love how inspiration is everywhere.

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The Aware Author – Rain

Posted on 03/05/2016 by Hannah Steenbock

Today, I observed rain moving in. All it took was being aware of the clouds and the weather, while doing other things.

The clouds were visible in the southwest when I got up. Sunrise was still beautiful and sunny. The band of clouds got darker during my morning computer time, but didn’t really come much closer.

When I walked to work after breakfast, I actually saw the sun peeking through in the northeast. The clouds still hung in the southwest. I could smell a funny, wet, metalic scent just before reaching work, riding in on a gust. Yes, rain was close.

And yet, it took another three hours before it actually started to rain at my location.

In the radar, it’s obvious why. There’s a band of rain that moves mostly north rather than west, and it reaches practically across all of Germany. Lots of it is to the south of me. The rain isn’t going to stop quickly, that’s for sure, but it’s also not raining hard.

I love being so aware of the weather. I love being close to nature.

I believe that people who spend much time outside simply have to be aware like that. Farmers, for example. Hunters, hikers, rangers, and bird watchers, of course, but also dragonriders, heroes riding out to their quest and other characters in stories regardless of genre.

And that’s why it pays for an author to be aware.

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Who is Joanna Steenen?

Posted on 03/02/2016 by Hannah Steenbock

You might have noticed that new tab up in the menu. And you might have asked yourself a question.

Who the heck is Joanna Steenen?

Well, Joanna is me. Me with a twist.

You see, Joanna write stories just as Hannah does. Adventure, love, fantasy, science fiction. But other than Hannah, she writes explicit stuff. “Naughty bits” as another author calls them. I love that moniker.

So if you like my writing, and either don’t mind or even enjoy that kind of stuff, keep your eyes open. Joanna plans to publish something soon.

Of course, I’ll let you know. And there’s the newsletter, too.

So, what do you think of explicit stuff? Does it bother you? Do you enjoy it? (Yes, that’s okay, too.)

Let me know. I have some advance copies.

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A Story of Intrigue and Lies

Posted on 24/01/2016 by Hannah Steenbock
Cover "Dragon Court"

“Dragon Court”

I just realized I never blogged about “Dragon Court”, the third book in The Cloud Lands Saga. Even though it was published end of November 2015…

Writing that novella was a challenge.

You see, after the Dragon Court debated Debesh’s actions with the rogue dragon and came up with a verdict, the paths of Orlen and Dorelle split. And I did my best to keep both story lines parallel, jumping from Orlen to Dorelle and back. Plus I had to keep Ferren in the picture, doing his dastardly deeds.

And it just didn’t work.

It was confusing, it was way too much for the wordcount I was aiming at, and it was driving my bonkers. Yes, I went as far as creating a spreadsheet to keep track of everyone. There were three story lines to coordinate, after all.

And then I finally realized what that story needed: Separation.

It was like separating Siamese twins. I created two new files and spent a lot of time to copy/paste the right chapters into the right file. And then, it was clear:

“Dragon Court” focuses on Orlen.

As Crown Prince with a newly won dragon friend, Orlen is in a pickle anyway. Add to that the harsh actions and threats by Pesuma, the Dragon Master, the sudden reappearance of his estranged mother and lost sister, and there is plenty of story to tell already.

So Orlen gets to have his adventures, trials, challenges and heartache. He gets to grow in many ways and become a dragonrider. And he really finds out what loyalty means.

As I’m blogging this, I’m working on “Betrayal”, the second Siamese twin. Dorelle and Debesh have to face an ever more rabid and insane Ferren… who followed them to The Cloud Lands.

I’m doing my best to finish this soon, so you can get your hands on it.

“Dragon Court” on Amazon

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I wrote a Limerick today

Posted on 20/01/2016 by Hannah Steenbock

Actually, no. I “wrote” it in my bed last night.

And I have to explain a little how that came about:

I started a mindset support group for authors on Facebook last week, wearing my coaching hat and name. And I’m trying to do regular activities over there, some about goal setting, some games, some inspirational stuff. Just to keep people focused and productive.

Well, and yesterday, I posted a writing prompt, using story cubes.

Story Cubes

Story Cubes

And that’s the limerick that came to me:

There once was a turtle, oh, my!
Who dreamed of learning to fly.
So under her own power,
she climbed up a tower
and parachuted down from up high.

Yep. Your time to laugh. Or comment.

(If you want to take a look at the FB group, it’s here.)

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The Dragons of the Cloud Land Saga

Posted on 17/07/2015 by Hannah Steenbock
Stick figure dragon

Stick figure dragon

Writing dragons has always been a bit of a challenge for me. It has taken me years of writing in my genre before diving into working with that main fantasy species.

That’s for two reasons:

1. Existing dragon stories

Of course, I want my dragons to be recognizable, and yet somewhat different from all the other dragons out there in fantasy land. Or roleplaying land, at that.

The 800-pound gorilla is obviously Pern. And I can’t deny the influence Pern dragons had and have on me. I still go back and re-read those stories. And yes, I had my own dragon’s name all thought up. I still remember it, too. So that’s why my dragons “speak” telepathically and in cursive.

I’ve also played Dungeons & Dragons in a few different editions. And well, dragons feature largely in that Monstrous Manual. Except their abilities are color coded, and most of them are not… friendly.

So I went with something in between. And that’s where the work really starts because I needed to … Continue reading →

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