#I sure do love pontificating about Tomb of Time

[sunnylucy31]

The key, I think, is to embrace answering all the questions that will naturally come up. The Tomb of Time spends the first 11 chapters, over 100K words, just establishing how the crossover works and meshing the properties together. You don’t have to get that verbose with it of course (I can’t be succinct to save my life), but I find that half the joy in the process comes from exploring the friction between the disparate sources.

What helps a lot in TToT’s case is choosing one of the three properties as the setting and importing the characters from the other two as if they’ve always been in that setting. (Isekai is a more popular way of doing it, one I’ve never been fond of as either a writer or a reader, but that’s another post). The first few questions you’ll have to answer will be foundational things you should know before starting to write, stuff like “What godly parent does each character have?” The answers to that will naturally lead to other questions like “What powers does that give them? How do their existing canon powers mesh?” Which leads into even more character specific questions like “How does Chloe’s canon love of science meet with magic? How does Rachel’s need for love and attention clash with a father that gives her neither? Does Griddlehark’s dynamic change when they’re not the only meaningful people in each others’ lives? How does poor horny Gideon respond to being around someone like Rachel all the time? What would Harrow think of Chloe, and vice versa? What happens to Max in a setting where time powers are considered taboo?”

That last question gave me my central plot, and through the process of answering it, all of my original characters. From there, the cast’s dynamics can naturally grow and intertwine around the plot, with the occasional breakout scene to explore specific interactions, like between Gideon and Chloe or Max and Harrow.

That’s a lot of words (as usual for me) to say, don’t look for a “magic set of properties” to crossover. If they automatically work well together, well, it won’t be terribly interesting to work on. Instead, embrace the contradictions and find fun in answering the questions that arise. You’ll naturally find your story somewhere in the answers.

I need to create my own self-indulgent 3+ series crossover like The Tomb of Time. Unfortunately I'm still trying to find the magic set of properties to mash together 😔

[arnoldjaime13]

Blog Tour- THE PHYSICS OF GRIEF by Mickey J. Corrigan With An Excerpt & #Giveaway! @QuoScript #ThePhysicsOfGrief

 I am thrilled to be hosting a spot on the THE PHYSICS OF GRIEF by Mickey J. Corrigan Blog Tour hosted by Rockstar Book Tours. Check out my post and make sure to enter the giveaway!

  About The Book:

Title: THE PHYSICS OF GRIEF

Author: Mickey J. Corrigan

Pub. Date: April 22, 2021

Publisher: QuoScript UK

Pages: 210

Formats: Paperback, eBook

Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, TBD, Bookshop.org

Seymour, a down-and-out former teacher and semi-alcoholic who is haunted by the death of his girlfriend, tells the story of how he lifted himself out of grief and apathy. The catalyst is a mystery man - Raymond C. Dasher - who enters Seymour's life via a chance encounter and persuades him to accept a job as a professional griever. A series of adventures follow, some macabre, some sinister, some extremely funny, as Seymour encounters an improbably diverse but highly credible set of characters united only by the fact that all are interacting in some way with death. Most complex is Milton Lasker, a former mobster whose relationship with Seymour is ambivalent, to say the least - even his overtures of help are terrifying. But then there's Yvonne, who reminds Seymour what it's like to feel alive. The Physics of Grief is a unique, quirky crime novel presenting the upside of funerals and a hopeful look at second chances - and at death.

Book Trailer:

Excerpt:

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything," the man said. "I've seen you in here a few times this week and … if I may be frank? You look like you need something to do. It just so happens I have a bit of work that might interest you."

            His lips smiled while his eyes stared out coldly from some unknowable interior space. In the crowded café, he was closer to me than the pandemic six-feet regulation allowed, but that didn't faze me. At this point in my life, an early visit from the grim reaper would've been welcome.

 "Shall I tell you about the job?" he asked.

            His solicitous demeanor gave me the kind of creeps I got around priests and undertakers. For good reason, it turned out. The man slid his business card across the stained Formica table. Raymond C. Dasher, Professional Grievers, Inc. was printed on a laminated white card with a local phone number in the same basic block font.

            "Here's how it works," Raymond said. "My service is unique, and I have built my reputation on the promise of complete discretion. My clients come to me reluctantly when they are desperate for help, desperate enough to pay top dollar for my services. And with what do I provide them? I provide them with peace of mind at a time of utmost vulnerability. I provide them with a means of exiting the stage to a standing ovation. A way to say farewell with the kind of royal fanfare they think they deserve. Especially now that funerals are less populated. In the modern era, virus or no virus, we should give the dying whatever they desire. Don't you agree?"

 He glanced around us at the café crowd and smiled in a patronizing way before he continued to pontificate. "In Nigeria when a relative dies you shave your head and refuse to answer the telephone. Can you imagine anyone in our society willing to make such a sacrifice? In certain Australian tribes after the death of a spouse the widow never speaks again. She uses sign language for the rest of her life. No American wife would ever consider shutting up to mourn the loss of her husband." He shook his head in disapproval. "The Canadian Ojibwa would pour ashes on their heads after a loved one died, and the men pushed knives, needles, or thorns through the skin of their chests and arms. The LoDagaa of Ghana are said to bind up the relatives of the deceased in order to restrain their grief. Many cultures once buried alive those closest to the recently departed. Women and slaves were walled up in tombs, some with a view of the church conducting the funeral. Victorians dressed in black and behaved like living monuments to the dead for years afterward."

  The café manager wore a thick double mask. He circled, waiting to come in for the kill. He wanted his table back. When he flapped the check at me, I waved him away. "Go on," I said to Raymond.

  About Mickey J. Corrigan:

Originally from Boston, Mickey J. Corrigan hides out in the lush ruins of South Florida to write pulp fiction, literary crime, and psychological thrillers. Her stories have been called "delightful pulp," "oh so compulsive," "dark and gritty," and "bizarre but believable."

  Website | Tumblr | YouTube | Goodreads | Amazon

  Giveaway Details:

1 winner will win a $10 Amazon GC, International.

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