Guest Author: CeeRee Fields

On Wednesday CeeRee featured on my blog with her new-adult fantasy novel, “Naktmerie’s Monster”. I’m pleased to welcome her back today to reveal some of her trade secrets. Thanks for joining us once more, CeeRee.

Let’s get down to business.

What comes first, the plot or characters?

This made me think of the chicken and the egg riddle. Okay, so plot or the characters…

It differs. For Nakt and Shae’s story the characters came first then the plot. I knew I wanted Shae to see the future and I wanted her to be Zroya’s, my main female character from D’Reaper’s Destiny, long lost twin sister. But I wasn’t sure the plot I wanted to take.

It finally came to me as I finished Sara’s Kaos that I wanted one of my scavenger brothers to be a bit of a jerk. And with Naktmerie’s scavenger power being that he gives those who he attacks with his ability nightmares I thought he would be one who would lock his powers down and refuse to form long term relationships outside of his brothers. It felt right and worked out great for the story since Shae is a seer who helps keep humanity safe by nudging certain events into place. Unfortunately, one of those events will lead to her death if she can’t get Nakt to willingly bond with her.

How do you come up with the titles to your books?

With my Woven Destinies, Scavenger’s Bonded, and my upcoming series Assassins of Hellam all the titles are a play on the main character’s names. Naktmerie’s Monster takes a piece from Naktmerie’s name while Monster is a derogatory term the Z’ers and villagers call Shae’s people.

The reason Shae’s people are called Monsters are most of them are 7-10 foot mutants that battled the Z’ers and villagers decades ago.

How much ‘world building’ takes place before you start writing?

A lot. For my New Adult Fantasy Romances I have them all set in future America where there are no more borders except literally to keep the mutants and undesirables away from the cities of the Mutant Free Zone. This is where the Chasm in Naktmerie’s Monster and also referred in Birch’s Faith comes into play as where the Chasm is located there are pieces of a natural river what could be widened and deepened.

I have hints throughout the stories of where the cities of the MFZ are based on degraded landmarks. Like the broken statue of the Lone Sailor in Norfolk, Virginia which that port is now called Icaria in my books. I also named the cities of the MFZ after demilitarized zones kind of as a nod to keeping the civilians safe even though one of the cities is the hub for the military who go on the frontlines of battles to protect the cities and are dubbed ‘Liners or Frontliners.

Here’s me designing the map I use for my world.

When you are writing an emotionally draining scene, how do you get in the mood?

Mostly with music. If I need to write something sad and music isn’t helping me get in the mood, I’ll find a movie or a book that is heart-wrenching and read, or watch, it until I’m in the right headspace.

It’s funny this question coming up as in Naktmerie’s Monster there’s a very emotional scene when Naktmerie rages at Shae because she set him up to be kidnapped, though in her defense she also planned his rescue, and he is angry that she’s basically played with his life as if he were just a pawn on a chessboard.

It took a good bit of time to tweak that argument because most people when they are that angry they’re going to go for the soft spots and do as much verbal damage as possible. So I can’t hold back when I write those types of scenes but I also have to read them several times to make sure I’m hitting the spots that need to be hit but that can still be healed later in the book when the two MCs finally make up and get back together.

It’s a very challenging balance for me.

How many books have you written?

I’ve written a total of six that are published. Five are in my New Adult Fantasy Romance series and one is a Romantic Suspense that’s through Soul Mate Publishing.

Which is your favorite book?

Sara’s Kaos, hands down. I LOVED writing that story. Kaos is that controlled, quiet man you want to keep poking until you get some sort of reaction from. He’s just so locked down all the time. Whereas Sara’s his polar opposite. She never meets a stranger she doesn’t try to befriend and there’s just so much joy in her. Of course, I had to rough her up a bit so she could understand the darkness that lurks in Kaos’s soul.

Naktmerie’s Monster would come in a close second because throughout the story you have two characters who really want a happily ever after but one doesn’t feel he deserves it and the other doesn’t know how to trust it when it happens.

In your current book, what was the process for coming up with the cover?

The red that seems to flow around Shae on the cover is the color of her scavenger abilities. I added the window overlooking the village as in the book that window is commented on quite a bit. She feels distanced but also connected as she can use her abilities to ‘see’ that her villagers are safe and secure since she’s blind she uses her abilities to ‘see’ through her people’s eyes.

Are you working on anything at the present you would like to share with your readers?

I’m finishing up Twin Contract. It’s my first foray into the Contemporary Romance genre so there have been A LOT of re-writes. It’s also the first of a trilogy with two others waiting in the wings.

I also have plans for a character that shows up in Shae’s book and breaks her window. His name is Styx and he’s an assassin who is a bit insane. But in a fun way.

Thanks so much for letting us in on some of your writing practices, CeeRee.

For more information about CeeRee Fields and her books:

Website: https://ceereefields.com/

Twitter: twitter.com/ceereefields

Facebook: facebook.com/ceereefields