The Long and Short of It - Chris Marie Green

Thanks for having me over! I thought I would expand on a topic that came up in a recent interview because I’m often asked about how long it takes to write certain projects and how much work is involved.

When answering, I always have to start out by clarifying just what I write, and this includes urban fantasies (as Chris Marie Green and, later this year, Christine Cody), Harlequin category books for Special Edition and Blaze (as Crystal Green), plus the occasional novella or short story.

It’ll come as no surprise if I tell you that the most hair-pulling, intensive, complex plotting and layering goes into the urban fantasies. First, they’re about 100,000 words long, and if you’ve ever read my Vampire Babylon series from Ace, you’ll know that these books contain main plots plus subplots that support the themes, characterization, and action for the primary plot. The longer books allow me to really explore the world of my vampire hunters and their quarry—each have their own layered societies that require lots of room for building. Also, the word count lets me flesh out the noir mysteries and to explore new developments with characterization. These books can take months to write, but I think the end result is always worth it.

In comparison, my category novels are like sanity-restoring breathers between the longer books. While urban fantasies can be very dark, the romances pull me back up to a place where there’s light and a guarantee of happiness. They’re not as long, either—approximately 55,000 to 60,000 words. This shorter range means that I need to concentrate on developing that main plot, and a romantic subplot (which focuses on a second couple who normally support the theme of the primary couple) isn’t always beneficial. For instance, in my newest Special Edition, TAMING THE TEXAS PLAYBOY, book 2 in the Billionaire Cowboys, Inc., miniseries, almost all the effort goes into the building love between a bad boy tycoon and the good girl he tries to pursue (with much success, I might add, ).

As for novellas and short stories… Well, you’d think that they would be a walk in the park compared to writing any full-length book. Not so. Short stories, in particular, take a lot of editing and strategy. For example, when I wrote a Vampire Babylon short for the horror anthology THOSE WHO FIGHT MONSTERS (out this month!), I had merely 6,000 words—a chapter and a half in my category books—to build my urban fantasy world for new readers, to establish the rules of my paranormal creatures, and to introduce and advance the characterization of my main players. However, I do believe that short stories, in particular, can pack a real wallop since they’re so compressed. Getting to that point sure takes a lot of revising, though, because every word is important!

(You can follow Chris on Facebook(http://www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Marie-Green/1051327765), Twitter (http://twitter.com/ChrisMarieGreen), or her blog (http://crystal-green.blogspot.com/).

She also has a newsletter (http://www.vampirebabylon.com/lists/?p=subscribe ) and a web site at http://www.chrismariegreen.com/.)

I’m giving away a signed copy of the sixth book in the Vampire Babylon series—DEEP IN THE WOODS. To enter, just leave a comment. A winner will be randomly chosen on Monday, March 20, 2011. (Void where prohibited.) Good luck, and thank you!