tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69192188117996440812024-03-11T21:51:12.302-07:00Learning to WriteNashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.comBlogger117125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-7049411648658513502023-10-23T13:08:00.000-07:002023-10-23T13:08:40.831-07:00Revisions with Kate Hardy<p><b style="color: red; font-size: xx-large;">We have author Kate Hardy talking about Revisions.</b></p><div style="outline: none;"><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 8px;" type="cite"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div class="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yahoo_quoted" id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yahoo_quoted_3684098112" style="outline: none;"><div style="color: #26282a; outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608" style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div class="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608yqt2246847587" id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608yqtfd20208" style="outline: none;"><blockquote style="margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 8px;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div class="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608ydpd0c75aedyahoo_quoted" id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608ydpd0c75aedyahoo_quoted_3118574350" style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608ydpd0c75aedyiv3302232845" style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMtZPnT9P-iTehJiqTtyL4fSOw_faJHH0usr2YahkI8g7EFsr-v0AheG_NDzqvS2rwo42nu9DY3w1-3Bn9qhT9qNwBFJKGQcdzLlE6v7nvQ59z72_7KpgIrCgVn8EtNlD27ASHIXkcYK0cJLHmx1RjKicBNqR0Dp2k8h8Ij1vaaAQFnrWXRpkT4_H2Hei/s142/Kate%20Hardy%20.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="142" data-original-width="142" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNMtZPnT9P-iTehJiqTtyL4fSOw_faJHH0usr2YahkI8g7EFsr-v0AheG_NDzqvS2rwo42nu9DY3w1-3Bn9qhT9qNwBFJKGQcdzLlE6v7nvQ59z72_7KpgIrCgVn8EtNlD27ASHIXkcYK0cJLHmx1RjKicBNqR0Dp2k8h8Ij1vaaAQFnrWXRpkT4_H2Hei/w233-h250/Kate%20Hardy%20.png" width="233" /></span></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Kate Hardy lives in Norwich with her husband, two grown-up children, two spaniels and too many books to count.</span> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 8px;" type="cite"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div class="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yahoo_quoted" id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yahoo_quoted_3684098112" style="outline: none;"><div style="color: #26282a; outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608" style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div class="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608yqt2246847587" id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608yqtfd20208" style="outline: none;"><blockquote style="margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 8px;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div class="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608ydpd0c75aedyahoo_quoted" id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608ydpd0c75aedyahoo_quoted_3118574350" style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608ydpd0c75aedyiv3302232845" style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She’s won three Romantic Novelists’ Association awards for her romantic fiction – and is thoroughly enjoying her new life of crime! When she’s not writing or researching, she’ll be out at a gig or the theatre, at ballet class, doing cross-stitch, taking photographs of the sunrise while persuading the spaniels to stay still for one second, fossicking around on a beach or in archives, or exploring ancient buildings.</span> </div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 8px;" type="cite"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div class="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yahoo_quoted" id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yahoo_quoted_3684098112" style="outline: none;"><div style="color: #26282a; outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608" style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div class="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608yqt2246847587" id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608yqtfd20208" style="outline: none;"><blockquote style="margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 8px;" type="cite"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div class="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608ydpd0c75aedyahoo_quoted" id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608ydpd0c75aedyahoo_quoted_3118574350" style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div id="yiv4015377306ydpe1c996b3yiv3143198608ydpd0c75aedyiv3302232845" style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><span style="font-size: medium;">She loves learning new things, which is why you’ll always discover something different in a Kate Hardy book…</span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></blockquote></div><br /><div><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Kate Hardy on the web:</b></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.katehardy.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Website</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/katehardyromanceauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/katehardyauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/katehardyauthor/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a> <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@katehardyauthor" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tiktok</a></b></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://stormpublishing.co/portfolio/kate-hardy/?portfolioCats=74" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Storm Publishing</a>. <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/profile/kate-hardy" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">BookBub</a></b></span></div><div><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Like most authors, I hate revisions. Even if my editor sends me a letter telling me she loves the book, I know there’s going to be a ‘but’ – and often what she thinks is a ‘little tweak’ means unravelling rather more of the book than she thinks it does!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">However, as a planner, I’ve learned a quick way to take the pain out of it; it’s known among my writer mates as ‘Kate’s Nerdy Table’, and quite a few of the Norfolk branch of the Romantic Novelists’ Association have started using it, too!</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Basically, it’s a simple way of showing what happens in the book now, and what needs to change. And it’s really, really easy to do. It doesn’t matter whether you do it by hand or on computer.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">You need three columns.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMyEbBzNZMYfS1PCgEJLMeoox9l1w49MxJIKaMOGoqyKKwJ-8YMJrv3pQ0bdH_PeDTe7tQnLmfXWskz7zZ2qy5W01xOTaBgPsOWFkOinFEtpjTyV26tVeD66c4kuA5A6O-pYI9zzr8Dzy_QezWbN_kb6yaZUy2_BF1TUSM_4PgKEN-5eEznz1l7gvpR8UE" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="120" data-original-width="936" height="77" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhMyEbBzNZMYfS1PCgEJLMeoox9l1w49MxJIKaMOGoqyKKwJ-8YMJrv3pQ0bdH_PeDTe7tQnLmfXWskz7zZ2qy5W01xOTaBgPsOWFkOinFEtpjTyV26tVeD66c4kuA5A6O-pYI9zzr8Dzy_QezWbN_kb6yaZUy2_BF1TUSM_4PgKEN-5eEznz1l7gvpR8UE=w602-h77" width="602" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">And how you do it is to work through your book, giving the bare bones only. The idea is that you can see at a glance what happens in your book (and possibly pick up plot holes/timing changes), and also see at a glance what needs to change. Each ‘row’ is one chapter.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Chapter/time in book</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">Number your chapters. When does the action happen in ‘book’ terms?</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: large;">So, for example, Rookery Barn takes place over the course of eight days. My first column says when the book starts; because there are academic terms involved, I’ve also made a note of when the murder victim would be expected at work.</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLpbf1pBFu6ojfvZ9r5T425UgrYJx_8XpLKN0i0q9dXRPq4N5CE4P5cxpk_Zv8AiRxLbaj66AL1toVF0oU3OjWaz2eNR1M4wtjTS_E0NDSdUMeZW_KMsq5bXm_dp3o7nIphpbnivyMv3aVLaFj-moSsMx0vQcB4j-MuzNDQSGSDGOTuyB55fTV1ZgVkS0P" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="936" height="269" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhLpbf1pBFu6ojfvZ9r5T425UgrYJx_8XpLKN0i0q9dXRPq4N5CE4P5cxpk_Zv8AiRxLbaj66AL1toVF0oU3OjWaz2eNR1M4wtjTS_E0NDSdUMeZW_KMsq5bXm_dp3o7nIphpbnivyMv3aVLaFj-moSsMx0vQcB4j-MuzNDQSGSDGOTuyB55fTV1ZgVkS0P=w607-h269" width="607" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">What happens currently</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I’m not going to fill this in completely because… spoilers! What you need here is ACTION. Ignore feelings (though you might put a note in column 3 about that, if your editor says you haven’t dug deeply enough, telling yourself to layer in more emotion). Don’t put in huge amounts of detail: just show what happens and when. Work through the book (I find it easier to write mine as I go along), and keep it as concise as possible. For example, I don’t need to say exactly where Georgina discovers the body or how, just that she finds the body and calls the police. </span></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOTP1qtTv2Rsy2gh6YxPw38bLHf0Enk0TJ165pptVhGRmx7dhwm0f_AKMhXPt3JDcXgBYqeRh5R70ud1e-K1_PP5IW_m7Kh-85XUfOjf8Gfk7KdakqEppOrrr7zg15WPHwxCcAy9YZJVD9omL1w3VlEmqzT0twcAJ1nG5TeJ4E5LUpZaqkGRAdu17sH90l" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="936" height="257" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOTP1qtTv2Rsy2gh6YxPw38bLHf0Enk0TJ165pptVhGRmx7dhwm0f_AKMhXPt3JDcXgBYqeRh5R70ud1e-K1_PP5IW_m7Kh-85XUfOjf8Gfk7KdakqEppOrrr7zg15WPHwxCcAy9YZJVD9omL1w3VlEmqzT0twcAJ1nG5TeJ4E5LUpZaqkGRAdu17sH90l=w578-h257" width="578" /></a></div><br /><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><b>What needs to change </b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">This really depends on your revision letter. My editor might have asked for more background before the body’s found. Or, if I’d waffled on for pages, not giving any new information, she might have asked me to cut the background and start with finding the body. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">Actually, my editor did ask for a big change in the overall plot, which I agreed with. There’s a cold case in the book as well as a modern case; she suggested that, rather than solve the cold case over the course of one book, I should solve it over the course of the first three books. That meant laying the clues slightly differently, so I noted for that whole thread what needed to move (and what needed to be saved for books 2 and 3).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">If I’d just printed out the manuscript and scribbled over it, I would’ve ended up in a muddle. Doing the ‘nerdy table’ helped to show me who knows what and when.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div></div><div><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_I_rMa2FO0Ljh_Gnvo_XIbT5Bg92nBytuuphW4CDNfAnpNOGf2Ax2gN78f01Jzi-NMvC1hA5bPD092X15X4e53jqiqBwAqn3S0gHiUgKSBm_a1VFBFqrTDnTA-aofXouvRSmoe7l4UdwPubBMC1OKoJvMmm4hVXNxzw11-ZwnUzE48y6P39qBmqYZA2uM" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="414" data-original-width="936" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh_I_rMa2FO0Ljh_Gnvo_XIbT5Bg92nBytuuphW4CDNfAnpNOGf2Ax2gN78f01Jzi-NMvC1hA5bPD092X15X4e53jqiqBwAqn3S0gHiUgKSBm_a1VFBFqrTDnTA-aofXouvRSmoe7l4UdwPubBMC1OKoJvMmm4hVXNxzw11-ZwnUzE48y6P39qBmqYZA2uM=w578-h256" width="578" /></a></div><br /><div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Clues</span></b></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I then discovered that writing crime is rather different from writing romance, in that we have clues – and people know different things at different times. That taught me to make a second table, ie the clues, to make sure I’d set things up properly. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">In my book, there’s a cold case and a modern case. I need to make sure that they’re balanced, so this is a quick way of seeing at a glance whether I’ve concentrated for one or the other for three chapters in a row and need to move things to even it out. </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Again, there are three columns: the ‘book’ time, the cold case clues and the modern case clues.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The other thing here is that if I move something, it might change what someone knows at any given point of the story. (Cutting out two thirds of the cold case made a huge difference and I needed to be sure I hadn’t left any information in that Georgina couldn’t possibly have known.)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">For clues, you need to know: </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>What the clue is</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Who finds the clue/when</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">•<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Who that person tells and when</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">So, in chapter 1, Georgina discovers the body (modern case) and also looks up some information in the births, marriages and deaths records. Obviously I don’t want to spoil things for you by telling you anything more than you know from the back cover, so I apologise that this is a bit sketchy!</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div></div></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDi3zclrmyUQeXwyv97rxt7TnBKq1ULAOiGSzSTRkia2ZZeE7dTA4aFXY90t7B-sS7A-w7lgxM4EHkWaNt8OhM06WPZ3Az_ud24wTKjJozfewp2KVSmYxFla1lzgA4Scs7_naCCjouGs8nT_fkwXjlhXrpT4dYzH38wb3aVCn3Ap-0XdKkHtomQMWLNyKp" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="302" data-original-width="936" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhDi3zclrmyUQeXwyv97rxt7TnBKq1ULAOiGSzSTRkia2ZZeE7dTA4aFXY90t7B-sS7A-w7lgxM4EHkWaNt8OhM06WPZ3Az_ud24wTKjJozfewp2KVSmYxFla1lzgA4Scs7_naCCjouGs8nT_fkwXjlhXrpT4dYzH38wb3aVCn3Ap-0XdKkHtomQMWLNyKp=w636-h204" width="636" /></a></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Using the revisions table and the clues table together will show me if there are any gaps that need filling, and make sure I’ve moved things to the right places. You might find it useful to use a highlighter pen for different characters, but this works for me.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">The main thing is that you can see what needs to be done at a glance, and that makes it all more manageable. (And it also saves me scoffing my body weight in chocolate…)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;">The Body at Rookery Barn: A totally gripping cozy mystery (A Georgina Drake Mystery Book 1)</span></b></div><div><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><p> </p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;">Outside, Rookery Barn glows in the mid-morning sunshine while fat bees flit lazily between the forget-me-nots. Inside, a body lies dead…</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Widowed </span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;">Georgina Drake</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;"> has no regrets about moving to beautiful, sleepy Little Wenborough in rural Norfolk. Until she opens the door to her rental property and </span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;">finds the dead body of her latest guest</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">, irritable university professor Roland Garnett. And on top of that she’s suddenly hearing a woman’s voice through her hearing aids.</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrmTpB0KT3cSwUwMilBXqR5JAuqztVUpVxJC48l6i8dh8hVaziWj2laCAs7uUOrXE8OSep42xgYhVcLETaa-4A9WulsLDgmwgYCsw17SpbQMv20byLwow1y5e2mQofl_amBPzyHD5m9ChPa6a9lTtNm9xEmAg9ttVvI7oe7Hy5D7ZMMzewUwAL6ZkfGM/s500/The%20Body%20at%20Rookery%20Barn.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="326" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKrmTpB0KT3cSwUwMilBXqR5JAuqztVUpVxJC48l6i8dh8hVaziWj2laCAs7uUOrXE8OSep42xgYhVcLETaa-4A9WulsLDgmwgYCsw17SpbQMv20byLwow1y5e2mQofl_amBPzyHD5m9ChPa6a9lTtNm9xEmAg9ttVvI7oe7Hy5D7ZMMzewUwAL6ZkfGM/w285-h436/The%20Body%20at%20Rookery%20Barn.jpeg" width="285" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Completely shaken by the discovery, Georgina can hardly believe it when the police conclude that <span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;">Professor Garnett was poisoned, with a dinner delivered by Georgina</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;"> herself. </span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;">Is she about to be accused of murder? </span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111;">Georgina needs to pull herself together, try to ignore the distracting voice, and clear her name!<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Asking around, it seems Roland Garnett offended half the village during his three-week stay and made unwelcome advances to the rest. But who was provoked enough to poison him? Georgina’s best lead is the deadly oleander found in Roland’s system. Her gardener, Young Tom, had access to the plant, but before she can talk to him Tom becomes the killer’s next victim.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />As the crimes mount up, so do the clues, but does Georgina have what it takes to follow them to their conclusion? Even when her amateur sleuthing puts her next in the killer’s sights…?<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;">An addictive and completely gripping cosy crime novel. Perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and </span><span class="a-text-bold a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-style: italic; font-weight: 700;">Midsomer Murders</span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;">.</span></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-weight: 700;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Buy on:</span></span></p><p><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://geni.us/86-al-aut-am" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle</a></b></span></p><p><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0CDC7WVCD/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Aust</a></b></span></p><p><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CDC7WVCD/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a></b></span></p></div><div><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com29tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-65983866540091621262023-07-03T20:16:00.000-07:002023-07-03T20:16:45.385-07:00Suzanne Gilchrist on Writing Craft<p><b style="color: red; font-family: "Old serif"; font-size: 24px;">We have Author Suzanne Gilchrist talking about writing craft. </b></p><div class="yiv2685166496gmail_default" style="outline: none;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b> </b></span></span></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b></b></span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><span style="font-family: Old serif;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBnTbF4dJbblhwl61XeMJ9WV6UvwC8OkEvuaeT3q9idJTcIIuTyejJn3MJqI9sW1jeqg2T5Bjo-DXL7YPFbBbA6dSqete49N0vyYW4Vhj9ySctScmeMZlfdl2HWzZIoP8KUR9yFtteYDG-gL98eIQiWcHawzSbwDemkTltkksq6Cvgaw_AfWezohY/s1783/Suzanne%20Gilchrist.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1783" data-original-width="1184" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSBnTbF4dJbblhwl61XeMJ9WV6UvwC8OkEvuaeT3q9idJTcIIuTyejJn3MJqI9sW1jeqg2T5Bjo-DXL7YPFbBbA6dSqete49N0vyYW4Vhj9ySctScmeMZlfdl2HWzZIoP8KUR9yFtteYDG-gL98eIQiWcHawzSbwDemkTltkksq6Cvgaw_AfWezohY/s320/Suzanne%20Gilchrist.jpg" width="212" /></a></b></span></div><span style="font-family: Old serif;"><b><br /><div style="text-align: justify;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Suzanne Gilchrist can't remember a time when she didn't have a book in her hand. Now she dreams up stories where her favourite words are … 'what if' and 'where'? Writing as both S. E. Gilchrist and Suzanne Gilchrist, she loves combining romance with adventure and suspense across many different genres including science fiction/space opera, apocalyptic, and contemporary small towns. </span></b></div></b></span><p></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b> </b></span></span></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b>S. E. takes a keen interest in the environment, anything to do with space, and loves walking her two dogs and spending time with her family and friends. She co-runs the Hunter Romance Writers group and is the organiser behind the multi-author writing ventures: the best-selling Bindarra Creek Romance series, the Deadly Forces series, and the Mindalby Outback Romance series.</b></span></span></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b> </b></span></span></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b>Suzanne Gilchrist on the web:</b></span></span></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b><a href="http://www.segilchrist.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Website</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/segilchrist.19/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Facebook </a> </b></span></span><span style="color: red; font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b> </b></span></span><b style="color: red; font-family: "Old serif"; font-size: 24px;"><a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@segilchrist/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Tiktok</a></b><b style="color: red; font-family: "Old serif"; font-size: 24px;"> </b><b style="color: red; font-family: "Old serif"; font-size: 24px;"> <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/authors/suzanne-gilchrist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bookbub</a></b></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b><br /></b></span></span></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Old serif;"><span style="font-size: 24px;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/SEGilchrist1" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Twitter</a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6587665.S_E_Gilchrist" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Goodreads </a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/segilchrist_author/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Instagram</a></b></span></span></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="font-family: "New serif"; margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><br /></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="font-family: "New serif"; margin: 0cm; outline: none; text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="yiv3365141571gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-align: left;"><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">So you have a fabulous idea for a book and you’re positive it’s going to be the next best thing since sliced bread. That’s excellent. However remember that no matter how wonderful or unique your plot idea is – it won’t matter one iota if the reader isn’t invested in your hero/es.</span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">(Note: The word hero is used in this context as gender neutral and they can be both good or bad.)</span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">The main characters (heroes) are the backbone of any story and whether this is your first book or your hundredth, they are crucial to your success as an author. It’s their ‘reality’ that will capture a reader’s interest. It’s their circumstances and their backstory and/or misbelief (also think personal wound here) that will make the reader care.<span class="yiv3365141571gmail-Apple-converted-space" style="outline: none;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">And this all has to happen in the first ten pages of your book!</span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">Example of the opening paragraphs of Under an Outback Sky which hopefully tickles a reader’s curiosity and makes them want to learn more about Maggie and the mystery man:<span class="yiv3365141571gmail-Apple-converted-space" style="outline: none;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">“Paper cowboy heading your way, over.”</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">The two-way radio crackled to life rousing Maggie Hayes from her heat-induced doze. She swung her bare feet down from where they rested on the countertop and straightened in the chair. Fighting a yawn, she reached for the mic of the ham radio reposing on the shelf beside her, mumbling, “Say again, over.”</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">“Look sharp, Maggie. He’s already outside the store. Remember. Suss him out. We’ve got to know what he’s up to.”</i><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"></span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">And from a little further into my story:</span></b><i style="outline: none;"></i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">After Maggie had handed back his change, she tried again. Snake could be wrong. The stranger could have nothing whatsoever to do with the mining company. Simply someone passing through. But passing through from where? Sturt’s Crossing was a long, long way from Antarctica. A long way from anywhere really. Which made it all the more curious as to who he was and what he was doing in their tiny country town.<span class="yiv3365141571gmail-Apple-converted-space" style="outline: none;"> </span></i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">“So, what brings you to Sturt’s Crossing?”</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">Making your readers care about your characters’ circumstances is a must – regardless of whether they are heroes or antiheroes or even characters who only play a minor role. When readers care, they will become loyal fans of your work and that is a goal writers aspire to – a fan base of readers hungry for the next book. But how do you go about making someone care? A suggestion is that you choose from one but no more than two from the following aspects and work this into your characters’ circumstances and backstory: Suffering; Lack; Humiliation; Embarrassment; Worry.<span class="yiv3365141571gmail-Apple-converted-space" style="outline: none;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">Example of Jace’s misbelief and his current circumstances:</span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">As he wheeled his luggage bag inside the bedroom he’d chosen, he gave a satisfied sigh. Peace and quiet. Miles away from anyone who knew him. Exactly what he wanted. Sturt’s Crossing was too damn far for anyone to think about dragging their sorry butts through the Outback to hunt him down and spew guilt onto his head. No one cared enough to do such a thing anyway. He’d made certain of that – pushing what little remained of his family away until they rarely bothered to make contact. Unless it was when the date of Douglas’s anniversary rolled around which would be in three days time. Seventeen years and yet the rawness of his loss was an ache in Jace’s heart that wouldn’t heal.<span class="yiv3365141571gmail-Apple-converted-space" style="outline: none;"> </span></i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">Example of Maggie’s circumstances and worry:<span class="yiv3365141571gmail-Apple-converted-space" style="outline: none;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">Behind the counter, Maggie fingered the discarded wrappers reflecting on the old biddies’ comments. In particular, she couldn’t help wondering what was behind her parents’ sudden decision to return home. Since their last phone call, worry had gnawed at the back of her mind. Then to receive that text from her brother which had been remarkably light on detail despite her repeated queries to her parents as well as Glen. Could ill-health be the reason they were heading home?</i><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"></span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">Spend time on developing well-rounded and relatable people – relatable in that they have problems and/or a backstory that readers can empathise with, and/or want to be them. Then check each scene and ask yourself - do your characters react and act in a manner which is consistent with the personalities you have given them?<span class="yiv3365141571gmail-Apple-converted-space" style="outline: none;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">Example in Jace’s point of view:</span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">Jace bolted to his feet and stuffed the book back into the old guy’s hands. “You’re mistaken. I couldn’t care less who Maggie marries.”</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">“Hah! I did wonder.” Brian whipped out a pen and wrote down another name.</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">Unable to resist his curiosity, Jace peered over the other man’s shoulder only to see his own name in bold black strokes. Leaving Brian cackling like a proud rooster on the veranda, Jace stalked inside the house, his head whirling with a fantasy he hardly dared hope could come true.<span class="yiv3365141571gmail-Apple-converted-space" style="outline: none;"> </span></i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></i></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">Example in Maggie’s point of view:</span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">Maggie stared down at her hands in her lap. “I don’t like the idea of spying on my neighbours. I know everyone in this town. It’s hard to imagine anyone working against the rest of us.”</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">“Money does strange things to all of us. Someone could need that money badly. Everyone has secrets.”</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">“Like you?”</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">Turning to face her, he nudged her chin with his knuckle and grinned. “Good one. I didn’t see that coming.”</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">“It was worth a try.” She smiled.</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">“My life isn’t so much a suspicious secret, rather I value my privacy. I’m not one for sharing or getting too close to others.”</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;">Was that a warning? Her spine stiffening, Maggie compressed her lips. Well, she wasn’t that desperate for a man of her own that she’d throw herself on someone who obviously wasn’t interested. She did have some pride.</i></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><i style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></i></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">How your story impacts your characters and their wounds or misbelief, and how they react and act throughout the book will immerse readers and leave them wanting more. It is through the twists and turns of your hero’s journey as your story progresses that adds breadth and depth to any plot and keeps the reader glued to each page hoping that the hero will succeed, solve the problem or attain their heart’s desire.<span class="yiv3365141571gmail-Apple-converted-space" style="outline: none;"> </span></span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;"> </span></b></p><p class="yiv3365141571MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="font-family: "Old serif"; outline: none;">So work hard on those characters and make them intriguing and relatable from the first page to the last page of your story. And happy writing. </span></b></p></div><div class="yiv3365141571gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-align: left;"><br clear="none" style="outline: none;" /></div><div class="yiv3365141571gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-align: left;"><br clear="none" style="outline: none;" /></div><div class="yiv3365141571gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-align: left;"><br clear="none" style="outline: none;" /></div><div class="yiv3365141571gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-align: left;">Best,</div><div class="yiv3365141571gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-align: left;">Suzanne</div><div class="yiv3365141571gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="yiv3365141571gmail_default" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; outline: none; text-align: left;"><p> </p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoMjOUO-xUC8wnNl9StMZ5wNODiBFCl2srrB5X5nsMhchOdJ6gRYq9ZnvSvaAVVwbmbptKQOkKUnvAEo6PQUEBLEEfw1kZNT26O63gp_lwz9svLmCB--Wb4HVz2iEktEQ81GC77dkOBDd-TcOHBIDWaWPQ0Gs1Gj2SDwArBr8mebDn7YBcWZBqhQG2/s2560/under%20an%20outback%20sky%20.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1740" height="676" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoMjOUO-xUC8wnNl9StMZ5wNODiBFCl2srrB5X5nsMhchOdJ6gRYq9ZnvSvaAVVwbmbptKQOkKUnvAEo6PQUEBLEEfw1kZNT26O63gp_lwz9svLmCB--Wb4HVz2iEktEQ81GC77dkOBDd-TcOHBIDWaWPQ0Gs1Gj2SDwArBr8mebDn7YBcWZBqhQG2/w460-h676/under%20an%20outback%20sky%20.jpeg" width="460" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p><span class="a-text-italic" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-style: italic;">Is he her enemy or her future?</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />When a handsome stranger arrives in a remote outback town, Maggie Hayes’ almost forgotten dreams are re-awakened. For too long, she’s denied her adventurous spirit and now suddenly her future is filled with wonderful possibilities. At least it will be if only this intriguing man isn’t her beloved town’s enemy.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />A past tragedy has led Jace de Haven to live without the complications of family or companionship. Yet when he meets small-town Maggie, her big heart and vibrant community spirit show him what he’s been missing. Can he find it in his soul to forgive and allow old wounds to heal?<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />But to have the future they crave, Maggie and Jace will need to take a leap of faith - together.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />***<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Under an Outback Sky is a love story and the fourth book in the Edge of the Outback series. The book is about forgiving the past and finding the courage to forge a new direction in life. If you love reading about small towns, country and rural communities (like Bindarra Creek romances) then you’ll love this series – similar to books by Barbara Hannay, Bella Andre, Melody Grace, Nora Roberts, Maisey Yates, Sarah Williams, Susanne Bellamy, Annie Seaton, Fiona McArthur, Heidi McLaughlin.</span></p><p><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></p><p></p><div style="outline: none;"><div class="yiv2685166496gmail_signature" dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><div style="outline: none;"><div dir="ltr" style="outline: none;"><span face=""Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif" style="color: black; outline: none;"></span></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><p></p><div class="yiv2685166496gmail_default" style="outline: none;"><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="color: #cd232c; font-family: "Old serif"; font-size: 18pt; outline: none;"> Buy on:</span></b></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="color: #cd232c; font-family: "Old serif"; font-size: 18pt; outline: none;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="color: #cd232c; font-family: "Old serif"; font-size: 18pt; outline: none;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C7CP4BDH" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon US </a> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C7CP4BDH" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a></span></b></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="color: #cd232c; font-family: "Old serif"; font-size: 18pt; outline: none;"><br /></span></b></p><p class="yiv2685166496MsoNormal" style="color: black; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: medium; margin: 0cm; outline: none;"><b style="outline: none;"><span style="color: #cd232c; font-family: "Old serif"; font-size: 18pt; outline: none;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0C7CP4BDH" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Aust</a></span></b></p><div><b style="outline: none;"><br /></b></div></div></div></div></div>Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-84714176002398356252023-04-19T03:28:00.014-07:002023-04-21T13:28:58.150-07:00Using Memory to Heighten Emotion with Liz Fielding
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</div><pwa-editor-bar class="bar-minimized" pwa2-uuid="EDITOR-E73-9F7-27C0D-DFB" style="bottom: 28px; right: -657px;"><pwa-editor-bar-status class="checked visible" data-pwa-errors-count="0"><div class="emoji-editor-bar" ng-version="13.3.12"><!----></div></pwa-editor-bar-status><pwa-editor-bar-status class="checked visible" data-pwa-errors-count="0"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>Author Liz Fieding talks about Using Memory to Heighten Emotion. Her new book out this month is with Joffe Publishing, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZJJLRLC" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Murder Among the Roses</a>. </b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXTHB0ksTKA8B-uK2H-w1OPUgt-oHx23z3mRK6dqwn0pTZapGuTrWV6ZVaA3sknxy6bKtwJKgGu_sDGhjPI7nIuv0-fCU11a4XvI2XzyPe4X0vfsc97XHrx8siRc4XRF3xq3jQKAiKHlJL8hADX8OdMMXx1H6Q6X2cg7V7pfGA4bx1VverjI2As_NKQ/s4477/Allsopp%20094%201.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4477" data-original-width="3464" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqXTHB0ksTKA8B-uK2H-w1OPUgt-oHx23z3mRK6dqwn0pTZapGuTrWV6ZVaA3sknxy6bKtwJKgGu_sDGhjPI7nIuv0-fCU11a4XvI2XzyPe4X0vfsc97XHrx8siRc4XRF3xq3jQKAiKHlJL8hADX8OdMMXx1H6Q6X2cg7V7pfGA4bx1VverjI2As_NKQ/s320/Allsopp%20094%201.jpg" width="248" /></a></div><br /> </b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Liz Fielding met her husband when they were both working in Zambia and were keen members of the Lusaka Theatre Club. He was playing John de Stogumber in St Joan, and she was the pageboy to the Earl of Warwick. He swore it was the purple tights that got him.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Years spent in Africa and the Middle East provided the background to many of Liz's romances. Her first, An Image of You, was set in Kenya, in a place where they had spent many happy weekends on safari. It was plucked from the slush pile because the feisty feminist heroine made her editor laugh. Emotion touched with humour has been the hallmark of her work ever since.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">After writing 70 books for Harlequin Mills and Boon, Liz has now turned to crime, signing with Joffe Books for three "Maybridge Mysteries", the first of which, Murder Among the Roses, is published on 18th April.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b> Liz Fielding on the web:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><a href="http://lizfielding.com/index.html" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Website </span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><a href="https://web.facebook.com/lizfieldingauthor/" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Facebook </span></a></span></b><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"> </span><b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><a href="https://twitter.com/lizfielding" target="_blank"><span style="color: blue;">Twitter</span></a></span></b></div></pwa-editor-bar-status><pwa-editor-bar-status class="checked visible" data-pwa-errors-count="0"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIvmy-0yseps5tbsk6hSgUS9mQPl29Xvj8z1GR0or_aCGt1rkX9dhHD0mMHMxGYqPDVfHmC5EDtKXMDaz676gTHGzYQyDfyT4sHhx8irSUEorq7JvLEwlkH3pucXdCX8gHWxPOx02JBB2xApUIAxhXgLbCMJ6O7FnhmXfU0l3M3nFgOsZjhcrmgWUliQ" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="28" data-original-width="936" height="10" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiIvmy-0yseps5tbsk6hSgUS9mQPl29Xvj8z1GR0or_aCGt1rkX9dhHD0mMHMxGYqPDVfHmC5EDtKXMDaz676gTHGzYQyDfyT4sHhx8irSUEorq7JvLEwlkH3pucXdCX8gHWxPOx02JBB2xApUIAxhXgLbCMJ6O7FnhmXfU0l3M3nFgOsZjhcrmgWUliQ" width="320" /></a></div><br /></pwa-editor-bar-status><pwa-editor-bar-status class="checked visible" data-pwa-errors-count="0"><div><br /></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Using memory to heighten emotion</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>"A baby?</i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Her hands were shaking so badly that it took her a minute to remove her gloves before lifting it out of the cold earth, cradling it gently in the palm of her hand as she had once cradled the heads of each of her children in the heart-stopping moment of pure love when first Lucy, then Tom and finally Sophie had opened their eyes and looked at her."</i></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Very early in Murder Among the Roses, my heroine, garden designer Abby Finch, is digging out an old and dying rose, when she uncovers small bones.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Believing it to be a pet burial and taking great care, she begins to remove them, planning to rebury them. Then she finds the skull and realises that it's not an animal. What she's uncovered is the secret grave of a new born baby.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This is a truly shocking moment and, as she lifts it out of the ground, I heightened the moment by taking the reader deep into Abby's emotion memory as she cradles the skull in just the same way that she cradled the heads of her own new born babies in the palm of her hand in exactly that way.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Memory is the trigger to an emotional reaction that puts her directly into the shoes of the mother who gave birth to this infant. Who was she? Had the baby been still born? Was it something more sinister? What had happened to her?</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">And think about your character's experience. Childbirth in Abby's case. Your character's reaction to loss, joy, grief will be the result of everything that has happened to them. Their feelings at the death of a much loved pet will be very different at the age of seven to those when they're seventy-seven. No less acute, but coloured by experience, by the different place they are in their life. By the acceptance, perhaps, that there will be no more pets, a recognition of their mortality.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">Emotion is what makes us human and as a writer, your history will give you the tools you need to write. Those moments that stay with you. Incidents – often small in themselves – that leave a lingering sense of outrage or pleasure. Of resentment, excitement, helplessness, warmth, betrayal, injustice, embarrassment that lodge in the mind and years later surface without warning, the feelings so vivid that you can still feel the hot blush.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">The writer may not have been through the same experience as their characters, but they will all have felt those moments of joy, of tenderness.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">We all know loss, heartbreak, the death of a loved one, the hollowness of disappointment. Search your memory. Relive a moment you’d rather forget. Bring your own experience to the table, use it to colour your writing, give power to your character’s feelings.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">We’ve all read those skim over the surface sentences.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">She hurt. Her heart was breaking. It was like nothing she’d felt before.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">This is the classic show-don't-tell moment. The reader wants to feel her pain, her heartbreak and to share that unique experience. It's the moment to put your reader in the protagonist's shoes and live the experience.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;">You will find more useful writing help from Liz in her <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fieldings-Little-Book-Writing-Romance-ebook/dp/B006YQCE5I/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><b>Little Book of Writing Romance</b></a> and on her "On Writing" pages on her blog at https://lizfieldingblog.com</span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">Liz Fielding has a new book out:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGlMZtFn22qvISgaGtnUBMAGFjkestxGKi8H4W6KF1dFdxVp0QW1VPgFuNptsC3f5opGeBILoSozPtxJy6O8hMh1EH3eUqBj31kLewJxRoMVdxTG3Xsq0C7p-j5oOWAaDx8nFSW8RUKGStP8Tdj2VGkzuj58nwyu6ULX4Pr-YrupHBC913kFqhr5PvFg/s1800/MURDER%20AMONG%20THE%20ROSES%20.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1125" height="446" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGlMZtFn22qvISgaGtnUBMAGFjkestxGKi8H4W6KF1dFdxVp0QW1VPgFuNptsC3f5opGeBILoSozPtxJy6O8hMh1EH3eUqBj31kLewJxRoMVdxTG3Xsq0C7p-j5oOWAaDx8nFSW8RUKGStP8Tdj2VGkzuj58nwyu6ULX4Pr-YrupHBC913kFqhr5PvFg/w279-h446/MURDER%20AMONG%20THE%20ROSES%20.jpeg" width="279" /></a></div><br />MEET ABBY FINCH. SHE’S THE BUSY MUM OF THREE, AN EXPERT GARDENER AND THE STAR OF YOUR NEW FAVOURITE COZY MURDER MYSTERY.</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;">In the </span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;">peaceful Cotswolds village of Maybridge, you wouldn’t expect to find a dead body in the rose garden. And certainly not two.</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Abby is horrified to discover the bones of a baby buried under a rose bush. It’s in the garden of her soon-to-be ex-husband Howard’s family home.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />She immediately calls the police. But she can’t get hold of Howard. He’s off on a jolly with the woman he’s got pregnant.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;">And then, just two days later, Abby finds Howard himself.</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;">Lying dead in the very same rose garden.</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;">Throat slashed with her own garden spade.</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Now Abby is the prime suspect . . .<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;">Fans of Faith Martin, Jane Adams, Frances Evesham, M.C. Beaton, Clare Chase or Jeanne M. Dams will love this addictive cozy mystery!</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;">MEET THE DETECTIVE</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Brilliant gardener and the busy mum of three, Abby Finch’s dreams of winning gold at Chelsea Flower Show were put on hold by an unplanned pregnancy and marriage. But she wouldn’t have it any other way. These days she’s kept on her toes looking by her beloved family, running her own business and dealing with her imminent divorce. In an effort to keep things cordial, she’s allowed her ex to bully her into restoring the garden of his family home. Thankfully she’s surrounded herself with a great group of friends to lean on.<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /></span><span class="a-text-bold" face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700; text-align: start;">THE SETTING</span><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; text-align: start;"><br style="box-sizing: border-box;" />Pretty Maybridge is a charming village set in the sheep-dotted Cotswolds hills, with a long history stretching back to Tudor times. It’s the type of place where everyone knows each other, but there's a wonderful bookshop on the corner of the bridge, a popular riverside café and a bustling market at Christmastime. And with Bristol nearby and a big supermarket round the corner.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b>Buy on:</b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BZJJLRLC" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle </a> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BZJJLRLC" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"> Amazon UK</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B0BZJJLRLC" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Aust</a></b></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;">
<iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aBcDitWfbdQ" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></span></div></div></pwa-editor-bar-status></pwa-editor-bar>Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com46tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-75002674862509054312022-02-21T14:40:00.000-08:002022-02-21T14:40:56.874-08:00Telling Your Story Through Dialogue by Carrie Nichols & #FreeBook<p><span style="color: red;"> <b><span style="font-size: medium;"> This week author</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> Carrie Nichols talks about dialogue writing. She has a new book out this month, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CH5HJCV/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">The Hero Next Door</a>. </span></b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6cAaxD6nMh6aaHGNKMYUK1-eHLZox-7HPW0pCod31heKq4CVQP18lOeMIupzZ78fSO86KxVXihSHSI5d1S2jbhWNt_hz1jun_Qf3PP0xosVPEtbC6G2Cj1VIn5tRfyu6GE0FYbp6Ot9sSfnXUCqbNcUWdcyaI9Y0BhGqOTB_kPc4YTJWRyMAyUmFn=s3000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2400" data-original-width="3000" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi6cAaxD6nMh6aaHGNKMYUK1-eHLZox-7HPW0pCod31heKq4CVQP18lOeMIupzZ78fSO86KxVXihSHSI5d1S2jbhWNt_hz1jun_Qf3PP0xosVPEtbC6G2Cj1VIn5tRfyu6GE0FYbp6Ot9sSfnXUCqbNcUWdcyaI9Y0BhGqOTB_kPc4YTJWRyMAyUmFn=s320" width="320" /></a></div><br />Carrie Nichols writes small-town contemporary romances full of heart, home and humor for Harlequin Special Edition and Entangled Bliss. Carrie Nichols is a hardy New Englander who traded snow for central AC when she moved to the Deep South. She loves to travel, is addicted to British crime dramas and knows a Seinfeld quote appropriate for every occasion. Carrie has one tolerant husband, two grown sons and two critical cats. To her dismay, Carrie's characters, much like her family, often ignore the wisdom and guidance she lovingly offers.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Social media:<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Amazon Author Page: <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Carrie-Nichols/e/B01D9P7X9I">https://www.amazon.com/Carrie-Nichols/e/B01D9P7X9I</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Website: <a href="http://carrienichols.com/">http://carrienichols.com/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Bookbub: <a href="https://www.bookbub.com/profile/carrie-nichols">https://www.bookbub.com/profile/carrie-nichols</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/authorCarrieNichols/">https://www.facebook.com/authorCarrieNichols/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Twitter: @carolopal<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Instagram: authorcarrienichols<o:p></o:p></span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><br /></span></div><p><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">TELLING YOUR STORY
THROUGH DIALOGUE by Carrie Nichols<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Dialogue is my favorite
part of writing. Why do I love dialogue so much? Because if done correctly,
dialogue can be the workhorse of your story. Dialogue can reveal character,
backstory, answer story questions, add humor, or create sexual/romantic
tension. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Dialogue brings
characters to life on the page and makes them and the story emotionally
appealing to the reader. It’s your job as the writer to make sure each line of
dialogue deserves to take up space on the page. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">I think this example from
THE SHERIFF’S LITTLE MATCHMAKER illustrates how a few simple words can
transform a dull conversation into something deserving to be on the page<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">“How
do you two know each other?” Ethan’s gaze bounced between her and Remy.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">“Miz
Honeycutt’s my new teacher.” Evie sidled closer to Sasha, smiling broadly.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">Ethan’s
head jerked back, and his gaze landed on Remy. “<i>She’s </i>your cat lady?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">This
one sentence “She’s your cat lady?” makes all the difference to this
conversation. If Ethan had said “Oh, I see.” Or something equally mundane, then
this conversation would have to go. But because of this little bombshell, can
you feel the tension ratchet up? It transforms “hi nice to meet you” into
something more. So, if you have a dull conversation on your page, look for a
way to liven it up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">Dialogue’s
purpose is to create tension in the present and build suspense for what’s
coming next. I like to think this little exchange does both. Does Ethan’s
outburst make you want to read on to see what will happen next?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Writing short or
mid-length category (50,000 to 60,000) has its own challenges. That’s probably
why it’s been called <i>“Swan Lake in a phone booth or opera in a duffel bag”</i>
but dialogue can get to the heart of the story faster than exposition.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Here’s an example from my
debut book, THE MARINE’S SECRET DAUGHTER: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">"What about your parents? How are they?"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpLast" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">"Mom's in Seattle with husband number three and Dad's in Boca
Raton dating women my age."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">The hero’s one sentence
answer says a lot about his parents. I accomplished in one sentence something
that might have taken a paragraph of narrative exposition to explain. As you
can guess from the title this is a secret baby book and this little bit of
dialogue foreshadows what’s ahead: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">Instead of eating the pizza slice in her hand, she laid it on the
napkin. "Maybe she thought she was protecting you."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpLast" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">He released a noisy puff of air. "Short of abuse, there's no
excuse for keeping a child from his or her father." <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">The combination of
dialogue and children provide opportunities to add humor. An example from THE
SERGEANT’S MATCHMAKING DOG:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">“Theodore Andrew Miller, what do you think you’re doing?” The woman
skidded to a stop, her pink-and-purple sneakers scattering pebbles. She gulped
in air. “What have I told you about approaching strange animals?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpLast" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">“But it’s not a strange animal. It’s a dog.” The boy scrunched up his
face, and the tops of his brown-framed eyeglasses shot past his eyebrows.
“See?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">Here’s
another example from my as-yet untitled Special Edition scheduled for January
2023: <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">The
woman dropped her hand from her mouth to rest again on the child</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">’s shoulder. “Phoebe, why don’t you go pick up your crayons
and put them away?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">The
young girl crossed her arms over her chest. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“But
I want to know why Mitch made you mad.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“He didn’t make me mad, sweetie.”
The woman bared her teeth in what was probably supposed to be a smile, as if
that would put some weight behind her words.</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; mso-layout-grid-align: none; text-autospace: none;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;">Phoebe
tilted her head and pointed. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">“Then why
does you got your mad face on?”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Dialogue can be used to
create sexual tension. Here’s an example for THE HERO NEXT DOOR:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">“Looks like you’ve got some fresh freckles,” he said, gently touching
the bridge of her nose and lightly tracing across the top of her cheek.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">She frowned. “I didn’t use concealer this morning. I was in too much of
a hurry.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">“Concealer? What’s that? Some sort of makeup, I assume. Why would you
want to conceal them?”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">She gave him a look. “Because they’re freckles and I’m not ten years
old.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="Body-TextCxSpLast" style="text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-size: 16pt;">He reached out and touched the end of her nose. “I like them.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">Dialogue is naturally
faster paced than narrative exposition. So, you can use dialogue to get things
across without slowing things down with narrative. And if you haven’t already
guessed, I try to use dialogue whenever possible.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">And finally, my #1 tip
for writing effective dialogue is to read it out loud!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p><b><span style="color: red;">Get a Free Novella!</span></b></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbeYWlg4b3n9TlQUqHzyedm4Qz_iIE1qQcJJ1bhmkelxF6yx94czMXsVFN8Zj213U5nyOZvgjG75M2RIH46ctA-CCEwSUjSyjdj1Ajs2OiPKul-W3OzRbjWR3ZlSwCB_KyzntHrRCiLwVbeWnbAsSKMoez45-ziPzf-9rG0RAYHHu2Ie_MyH6DOmdy2Q=s604" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="604" data-original-width="400" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhbeYWlg4b3n9TlQUqHzyedm4Qz_iIE1qQcJJ1bhmkelxF6yx94czMXsVFN8Zj213U5nyOZvgjG75M2RIH46ctA-CCEwSUjSyjdj1Ajs2OiPKul-W3OzRbjWR3ZlSwCB_KyzntHrRCiLwVbeWnbAsSKMoez45-ziPzf-9rG0RAYHHu2Ie_MyH6DOmdy2Q=w289-h436" width="289" /></a></b></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><br /><span style="color: red;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14pt;">A freak snowstorm traps a surly sheriff with his very pregnant ex. Can he convince her to give him another chance or will his secret destroy them both?</span></p><div style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br /></div><p></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Here's the link. <a href="https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/vDAMM1F3" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" style="color: blue; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; text-indent: 0.5in;" target="_blank">https://claims.prolificworks.com/free/vDAMM1F3</a></div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></p><p><br /></p><br /><p></p><h1 class="a-spacing-none a-text-normal" id="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="a-size-extra-large" id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">The Hero Next Door (Small-Town Sweethearts Book 6)</span></h1><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi79bEPD3VSZhUZDWnFSKRqyvkhZF1vFEKe4qmGrYAsR9U852ya0RQW9IvSzsC0CjcLLCO2v6dU9h11oj7lbqIWicouHl5Zas3pQmUJUZpopyMy7EQPaD92CMI3KfN5-dacot7RpDIXmG0uVgjMqpSZWON6R2uEF4sy4S1hyD_1ls_S_CxTmpzu4OE8=s345" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="345" data-original-width="220" height="464" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEi79bEPD3VSZhUZDWnFSKRqyvkhZF1vFEKe4qmGrYAsR9U852ya0RQW9IvSzsC0CjcLLCO2v6dU9h11oj7lbqIWicouHl5Zas3pQmUJUZpopyMy7EQPaD92CMI3KfN5-dacot7RpDIXmG0uVgjMqpSZWON6R2uEF4sy4S1hyD_1ls_S_CxTmpzu4OE8=w296-h464" width="296" /></a></div><br /><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700;">Love—and kittens—to the rescue!</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">Olive Downing has big dreams for her Victorian bed-and-breakfast. She doesn’t need her handsome new neighbor pointing out the flaws in her plan. But Cal Pope isn’t the average busybody. The gruff firefighter can be sweet, charming—and the perfect partner for the town fundraiser. Then Cal surprises her with two adorable rescue kittens. Maybe there’s a soft heart underneath his rough exterior that needs rescuing, too…</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700;">From Harlequin Special Edition: Believe in love. Overcome obstacles. Find happiness.</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px; font-weight: 700;">Small-Town Sweethearts</span><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">Book 1: </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The Marine's Secret Daughter</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">Book 2: </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The Sergeant's Unexpected Family</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">Book 3: </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">His Unexpected Twins</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">Book 4: </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The Scrooge of Loon Lake</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">Book 5: </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The Sergeant's Matchmaking Dog</i><br style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #0f1111; font-size: 14px;">Book 6: </span><i style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The Hero Next Door</i></span></div><p class="yiv0159723440MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b>Buy on:</b></span></p><p class="yiv0159723440MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="yiv0159723440MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09CH5HJCV/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Hero-Next-Door-Small-Town-Sweethearts/dp/1335408436/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Paperback</a></b></span></p><p class="yiv0159723440MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><br /></b></span></p><p class="yiv0159723440MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09CH5HJCV/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon UK </a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B09CH5HJCV/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Amazon Aust</a></b></span></p><p class="yiv0159723440MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1d2228; line-height: normal; margin: 0in;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><span style="color: black;"><br /></span></span></p>Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-62456205149607606222021-10-25T12:45:00.000-07:002021-10-25T12:45:16.946-07:00Show Vs Tell with Janice Lynn<p> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;">This week we have author Janice Lynn. She talks about Using Secondary Characters to Show Vs Tell. She also has a new book out, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VJNH2KM/" target="_blank">Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope</a>.</span></b></p><p><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ng-Q2n5kOznLZe1EDGy-YhR8NQyYIEvBUGhWDkPn48u2DvLZevUVS9VUDEsq7pu1lEEGOxOoHri4SHTQ1lBr1wks1bkVLnciauK-T0jxc1GcJdPKgzkDHrlrBhVE-OaqU7DJk1UB04Xn/s2048/Janice+Lynn.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1682" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ng-Q2n5kOznLZe1EDGy-YhR8NQyYIEvBUGhWDkPn48u2DvLZevUVS9VUDEsq7pu1lEEGOxOoHri4SHTQ1lBr1wks1bkVLnciauK-T0jxc1GcJdPKgzkDHrlrBhVE-OaqU7DJk1UB04Xn/s320/Janice+Lynn.jpg" width="263" /></a></b></div><b><br /><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p><b style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;">Janice Lynn</span></b><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-size: 12pt;"> is a USA Today, Publishers Weekly, and Wall Street Journal Bestselling author. Janice writes sweet romances for Hallmark Publishing and writes contemporary Medical Romances for Harlequin. Her books have won numerous awards, including the National Readers' Choice Award, the Golden Quill for Best Short contemporary Romance and for Best First Book, Romantic Times Magazine's American Title, and the Holt Medallion Award of Merit. Janice lives in Tennessee with her Prince Charming, their seven kids, her vivid imagination, and an adorable Maltese named Halo who's the true princess of the house. In addition to writing romance, Janice is a nurse practitioner, a quilter, an exercise queen, a military mama and a member of and an avid supporter of the Quilts of Valor Foundation. Just kidding on the exercise queen.</span></p><p class="yiv1930832765MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><p style="background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">For more information, please visit </span><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#m_-8529981325646319597_REDACTED" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" style="color: blue;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc;">www.janicelynn.com</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif">. You can also connect with the author on social media at: </span><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#m_-8529981325646319597_REDACTED" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" style="color: blue;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc;">https://www.facebook.com/janicemarielynn</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif"></span></p><p style="background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif">or </span><a href="https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#m_-8529981325646319597_REDACTED" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" shape="rect" style="color: blue;" target="_blank"><span face="Arial, sans-serif" style="color: #1155cc;">https://www.instagram.com/janice.lynn.author/</span></a><span face="Arial, sans-serif">.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; font-size: 12pt; margin: 0in 0in 0.0001pt;"><span face="Arial, sans-serif"><br /></span></p><p class="yiv1930832765MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "New serif";"><b><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></span></p><p class="yiv1930832765MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "New serif";"><b><span style="font-size: large;">Using Secondary Characters to Show Vs. Tell</span></b></span></p><p class="yiv1930832765MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt; text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: "New serif";"><br clear="none" /></span></p><p class="yiv1930832765MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "New serif";"> I'd written 30+ books for Harlequin, Dorchester and a few smaller publishing houses when I sold to Hallmark Publishing in 2018. Writing for them has been a dream come true, but also a whole new experience as I've had to relearn how to write my stories. Although a bit intimidating at first, that wasn't a bad thing as continuing to improve one's craft should always be the goal.</span></p><p class="yiv1930832765MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "New serif";">With Hallmark Publishing, my stories have to be 'movie ready' even though they may never be made into a movie. What does that mean exactly? That I have to reveal as much as I can via dialogue and action, rather than just staying inside my characters' heads. Let me be honest, that was difficult for me, because I like being in my characters' heads. I mean, it's real life, what each of us do when we encounter a situation. We think about it. We don't just blurt out our every thought...well, most of us don't and probably shouldn't. When reading a book, it's easy for the author to reveal what the characters' are thinking by giving us those thoughts. So, basically, I was TELLING my characters thoughts and emotions rather than SHOWING them. Don't get me wrong, doing this to some degree is okay, but as much as possible, as writers, we should strive to show rather than tell. That's not been easy for me, because I really do like being in my characters' heads. So, I had to discover a new way to SHOW what my characters were thinking, feeling, experiencing inside. Secondary characters are a wonderful way of taking that internal dialogue and revealing it through vocalization. In Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope, I'm blessed to have a full cast of colorful secondary characters that are Pine Hill staples, but there are some new characters, too. John, a veteran who is a patient at the assisted living facility where my heroine works, is one of those new characters whom I fell in love with. While taking care of him, Morgan did the same.</span></p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"Actually, I really was thinking of Rosie," Morgan said.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">John wasn't buying it.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"I was remembering how happy she was about Andrew picking up reindeer for her. She couldn't go on enough about him at church yesterday."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Of course, all the Butterflies had been spouting off wonderful things about Andrew. Did they think she didn't know how great he was? Him being wonderful wasn't the problem.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Well, it was the problem, in the sense that it made it impossible not to be attracted to him.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"A more accurate answer would have been that you were imagining Andrew," John corrected.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"Maybe," she admitted, surprising even herself with her honesty as she wrapped a blood pressure cuff around John's left arm.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">John was quiet until she'd finished taking his reading, then he asked, "So what's the problem?"</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Had the military trained him in mind reading, or what?</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"I loved my husband."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"I never thought you didn't."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Morgan paused next to the valiant man's bed, taking in his Korean War Veteran's hat that he was rarely without, then heard herself say, "He died in a mountain climbing accident. Bad weather moved in much quicker than anticipated. They should have turned back, but Trey and a couple others didn't want to stop until they reached the summit." She paused, then sucked in a deep breath. "Three from their group didn't make it. They told me Trey died while trying to rescue the other two and..."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">She couldn't finish. Why had she even started? This wasn't something she talked about with anyone. Not ever.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"I'm sorry for your loss, especially at such a young age, but this old mind of mine still isn't seeing why this means that you liking Andrew is a problem."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Morgan sighed. "I'm trying to learn my lesson about being attracted to men who are so reckless with their lives."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"Reckless?" John shook his head, studying her a moment, then adding, "Not sure recklessness has much to do with it. Sounds more to me that you're attracted to men who are willing to risk their lives to save others. It's an admirable trait."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Yeah, she supposed that was one way of looking at it. But try telling that to all the fears that kept her up at night.</p><p class="yiv1930832765MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "New serif";"> </span></p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in;">So, in that passage, I used Morgan's conversation with John to reveal Morgan's backstory (secondary characters are a great way of doing that, as well) and to give insight to the struggle she's experiencing over her growing feelings for Andrew. To be 'movie-ready', I couldn't have her just think all those things (tell), but had to have a scene that revealed them via action and/or dialogue (show).</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in;"> </p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in;">In the next scene, my characters are at a Quilts of Valor sew-in. The scene I pulled is between Andrew (hero) and Morgan's five-year-old son.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"I didn't know you'd be here!" Greyson told him, not hiding his surprise.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"You think I'd miss out on being a part of something so special? I'm smarter than I look," he teased.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">The kid's nose crinkled. "Sewing is for girls."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Andrew shook his head. "Not hardly, bud. It's a necessary life skill." Listen to him sounding like his grandma. "Plus, if you ever decided you wanted to be a smoke-jumper, you'd need to be able to sew."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Greyson gave him a confused look.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"Smokejumpers sew their own parachutes, harnesses--you name it. They always make their own. Base camps are set up with rooms for sewing equipment."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Greyson's eyes widened. "Really? You're sure?"</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"Absolutely."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"Do you sew?"</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Andrew nodded. "My grandma started teaching me when I was about your age."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Greyson regarded him thoughtfully. Then, a hopeful look in his eyes, he asked, "Will you teach me?"</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Andrew felt something big. Gigantic. Colossal. It was incredible how humbled he felt at Greyson asking him to teach him to sew. It was as if he'd been granted some awesome privilege.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">"As long as your mom is okay with it and you promise to listen closely. I don't want to have to make an emergency room run because of Frankenstein fingers." Andrew wiggled his fingers back and forth and made a funny face.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Giggling, Greyson imitated him. "I promise."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Man, he really liked this kid. "Then, let's go ask your mom."</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">Pride hit that he was hopefully going to teach Greyson a useful new skill while also opening the kid's eyes to the fact that he shouldn't be so quick to judge what was or wasn't considered manly. Who would have thought he'd be the one steering a kid in, hopefully, the right direction of seeing beyond preconceived ideas to accept new life experiences?</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;">He kind of liked the feeling. A lot.</p><p class="yiv1930832765gmail-MsoNormalCxSpMiddle" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "New serif"; line-height: normal; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </p><p class="yiv1930832765MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "New serif";">This scene served multiple SHOW purposes. One, I needed to reveal that Andrew could sew and well and why. I also wanted to SHOW that it was something he considered masculine even though our society doesn't always few sewing as a manly skill. And, I wanted to SHOW that Andrew's feelings toward Greyson were evolving into so much more than my never date a single mom hero had bargained for.</span></p><p class="yiv1930832765MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "New serif";">Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope is my third story with Hallmark Publishing. My writing is much stronger because of the use of secondary characters to reveal details about the hero and heroine. Learning to incorporate SHOW versus TELL is a skill I'm still working to improve with each story I write, whether that be for Hallmark or another publisher. When penning your next story, I challenge you to look for ways to use secondary characters to SHOW information about your hero and heroine, whether that be their backstory, their emotions, or what their thoughts/views/beliefs are, rather than falling back on Tell.</span></p><p class="yiv1930832765MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 15.6933px; margin: 0in 0in 8pt;"><span style="font-family: "New serif";"><br /></span></p><h1 class="a-spacing-none a-text-normal" id="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="a-size-extra-large" id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Wrapped Up in Christmas Hope</span></h1><div><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;"><b><i>He’s willing to risk his life to save others.</i></b><br /><b><i>Is she willing to risk her heart on him?</i></b></b></span></span></div><div><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><b><i><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;" /></i></b><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Morgan’s late husband was a daredevil…and now she’s a widowed single mom. All she wants now is to set up a stable life for herself and her son in the small town of Pine Hill, Kentucky.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Andrew’s a firefighter who thrives on the rush of saving others. His secret dream is to become a smokejumper and fight raging wildfires across the country. But it’ll mean leaving his hometown and the people who rely on him.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzIcJ7iqXwzt1EYXglltSbrtjSS-GeLXH9MVMVIs48UEfZt1sBJtLO7i8TQvqS6Ti1-ey6RIVcZVyWC9IpPfySKukAYfqt_Ed244JLA4MJEVUiMfWMM6zEWUcdkGSUr6n1PN_H08t2ZxW/s500/Wrapped+Up+In+Christmas+Hope.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="333" height="425" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnzIcJ7iqXwzt1EYXglltSbrtjSS-GeLXH9MVMVIs48UEfZt1sBJtLO7i8TQvqS6Ti1-ey6RIVcZVyWC9IpPfySKukAYfqt_Ed244JLA4MJEVUiMfWMM6zEWUcdkGSUr6n1PN_H08t2ZxW/w283-h425/Wrapped+Up+In+Christmas+Hope.jpg" width="283" /></a></div><br /></span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif;" /><span face=""Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif" style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Morgan and Andrew are drawn together as they both volunteer to make quilts for veterans at the local quilt shop. Morgan’s son looks up to Andrew, and Morgan can’t help but notice how good Andrew is with him. Meanwhile, Andrew’s torn between his ambition and his growing attraction to Morgan. They both have choices to make about their future…and about each other.</span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Buy on:</span></b></div><div><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VJNH2KM/" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wrapped-Christmas-Hope-Janice-Lynn/dp/1952210410/" target="_blank">Amazon Paperback</a></span></b></div><div><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><div><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08VJNH2KM/" target="_blank">Amazon Aust </a> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08VJNH2KM/" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a></span></b></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-90343591155928548442021-10-18T12:40:00.000-07:002021-10-18T12:40:13.472-07:00Just Do It by Mickey J Corrigan<p> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;">This week we have author Mickey J Corrigan. She talks about <i>Just Do It.</i> She also has a new book out, <i>Me Go Mango</i>.</span></b></p><p></p><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Originally from Boston, Mickey J. Corrigan writes tropical noir with a dark humor. Novels include <i>Project XX</i> about a school shooting (Salt Publishing, UK, 2017) and <i>What I Did for Love</i>, a spoof of <i>Lolita </i>(Bloodhound Books, UK, 2019).</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Social media links:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.mickeyjcorrigan.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.mickeyjcorrigan.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://mickeyjcorrigan.tumblr.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://mickeyjcorrigan.tumblr.com/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/Mickey_J_Corrigan"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">https://www.goodreads.com/Mickey_J_Corrigan</span></a></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"> </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Xg-coWXfGdTKrkN2jBmciQn6it0hmWL3EOwQtL86d0hZqucHISHdRqVvvs3OLvSSTs4woHSMGqyuJXvCsQU4gUAjGT3QjJnNZ50YhHIvkNCXb-u2LYReowF3FnaGoCEtoSqXnsx8YS0b/s1563/Mickey+J.+Corrigan-001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1563" data-original-width="1172" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Xg-coWXfGdTKrkN2jBmciQn6it0hmWL3EOwQtL86d0hZqucHISHdRqVvvs3OLvSSTs4woHSMGqyuJXvCsQU4gUAjGT3QjJnNZ50YhHIvkNCXb-u2LYReowF3FnaGoCEtoSqXnsx8YS0b/s320/Mickey+J.+Corrigan-001.JPG" /></a></div><p></p><div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><br /></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is a difficult post to write. I'm struggling
here, so I must be doing something wrong. Maybe I need more coffee? Or should I
change my location, sit outside in the fresh air instead of inside this stuffy office?
What if I revert to old form and write in a notebook in pencil first, then
transcribe on my laptop? Seems as if I need to meditate on the subject for a
bit, get inspired. Or something.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And what happened to the muse? Seems like she's fled.
Or is relying on a fickle muse a bad idea?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Not sure about you, but I like to avoid these kinds of
inner conflicts when I'm writing. I prefer to plan out the time I will need,
sit down at my desk, and hammer it out. But that doesn't happen all the time. Sometimes,
I get in my own way.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In the various writing groups I've attended over the
years, we've often discussed issues like this. The sudden lack of motivation, prolonged
writer's blocks, and protracted periods of unproductivity. My solution to these
problems was always the same: do whatever works to get back to work. But I've
met folks in these groups who have been working on a single book project for a
decade. Or longer! These are people who really cannot get out of their own way.
Nothing works.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The truth is, there is no right way, no secret to
being a productive writer. There's just AIC, ass in chair, and GID, get it
done. Excuses are normal, procrastination is human, but a book can only be
published after it has been written from start to finish. Whatever stops the
supply chain of your creative mind can be as simple as feeling lazy or as deep-seated
as a profound fear of failure—or of success. You can worry yourself sick, you
can try to outwit yourself. You can bemoan the muse or blame your environment,
upbringing, lifestyle, partner, kids. You'd like to start/finish that writing
project but, well, you just don't have the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">So yes, there are all sorts of ways to stay stuck. But
none of that matters, not ultimately. There's no right way to be a writer,
there's no muse to save you from your unproductive self, there's no solution to
not writing—except to just do it. Just write. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">To quote John Steinbeck: "</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If there is a magic in story
writing, and I am convinced there is, no one has ever been able to reduce it to
a recipe that can be passed from one person to another. The formula seems to
lie solely in the aching urge of the writer to convey something he [or she]
feels is important to the reader. If the writer has that urge, he [or she] may
sometimes, but by no means always, find the way to do it."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></p></div><div><br /></div><div><h1 class="a-spacing-none a-text-normal" id="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 28px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="a-size-extra-large" id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Me Go Mango Anthology: Two Women Find Their Bad Selves </span></h1></div><div><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><br /></span></div><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizL3bqqv3BA5q74UQV9f8ivy8RvR3lB90djfAXK9PHf9622rzcabpGOJizSNLBDJQ1DXOrgPRqsjRjnGrUneeX57F_Tq_LPZkDGnnLGJBvx-P4LhT3Mxy2GUOELUHWNCdTSPHYEc257frL/s2048/Me+Go+Mango.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1465" height="497" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizL3bqqv3BA5q74UQV9f8ivy8RvR3lB90djfAXK9PHf9622rzcabpGOJizSNLBDJQ1DXOrgPRqsjRjnGrUneeX57F_Tq_LPZkDGnnLGJBvx-P4LhT3Mxy2GUOELUHWNCdTSPHYEc257frL/w356-h497/Me+Go+Mango.png" width="356" /></a></div><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Two novellas in one fun anthology: a group of college friends revisit their past, and a young woman gets a job that launches her into a very surprising future. Who doesn’t want a chance to rewrite their past?</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">ME GO MANGO</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Erin Monahan reformed her bad girl ways, only to discover the good girl act can’t save her marriage. Hiding out in a love hotel with a bottle of Two Buck Chuck, she calls for reinforcements. Her college friends organize a weekend reunion in small town Vermont.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Ellen has money from suspicious sources. Maggie seems perfect, but she's got a big dark secret. And Sandy's a mess—plus she's hiding something. When Ellen proposes the four of them go in on a business venture, a retreat for middle-aged bad girls, Erin thinks she’s crazy.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Then Erin meets Roberto, a hot Cuban chef. Soon she decides she doesn’t want the mango to end.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">DREAM JOB</b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">After Adrianna sleeps with her hunky boss, she has to face him every day at the office. She has to test the company’s software with him in the office hot tub. She has to ignore the fact that she’s fallen madly in love with him—but is her infatuation only a dream?</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">To make Adrianna's life in tropical Florida even more confusing, Davis, a geeky guy from her past, is stalking her—but only in the murky dream world they appear to share.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">Something strange is happening to Adrianna. And it’s making her wonder about her dreams. Could it be that dreams are the entry way to another world? A real world? A </span><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333;">hyperreal</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"> world?</span></span><br /></span></div><div><br /></div><div><b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">Available from <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09J35PK19/" target="_blank">Amazon</a> and <a href="https://champagnebooks.com/store/coming-soon/910-me-go-mango-anthology.html?search_query=Me+Go+Mango&results=1" target="_blank">Champagne Books</a>.</span></span></b></div><div><b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></b></div>Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-13536746342519074922021-05-05T16:14:00.000-07:002021-05-05T16:14:50.477-07:00Show Don't Tell: But How? by Mickey J Corrigan<p> <b><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;">This week we have author Mickey J Corrigan. She talks about Show Don't Tell. She also has a new book out, The Physics of Grief.</span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Xg-coWXfGdTKrkN2jBmciQn6it0hmWL3EOwQtL86d0hZqucHISHdRqVvvs3OLvSSTs4woHSMGqyuJXvCsQU4gUAjGT3QjJnNZ50YhHIvkNCXb-u2LYReowF3FnaGoCEtoSqXnsx8YS0b/s1563/Mickey+J.+Corrigan-001.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1563" data-original-width="1172" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5Xg-coWXfGdTKrkN2jBmciQn6it0hmWL3EOwQtL86d0hZqucHISHdRqVvvs3OLvSSTs4woHSMGqyuJXvCsQU4gUAjGT3QjJnNZ50YhHIvkNCXb-u2LYReowF3FnaGoCEtoSqXnsx8YS0b/s320/Mickey+J.+Corrigan-001.JPG" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;">Originally from Boston, Mickey J. Corrigan writes tropical noir with a dark humor. Novels include <i>Project XX</i> about a school shooting (Salt Publishing, UK, 2017) and <i>What I Did for Love</i>, a spoof of <i>Lolita </i>(Bloodhound Books, UK, 2019).</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Social media links:<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://www.mickeyjcorrigan.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">www.mickeyjcorrigan.com</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><a href="http://mickeyjcorrigan.tumblr.com/"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">http://mickeyjcorrigan.tumblr.com/</span></a><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br /></span></span><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/Mickey_J_Corrigan"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">https://www.goodreads.com/Mickey_J_Corrigan</span></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></p><div><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-align: center;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Show Don't Tell: But How?<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The best way to write fiction or narrative
nonfiction is to create a movie screenplay but in beautiful, readable prose.
Sound difficult? Well, yeah. But what you are trying to do is incredibly hard.
Because ultimately you want to recreate your own imaginings or memories in
someone else's head. Yikes.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The most successful writers provide us
with stories we can fall into as if we'd lapsed into a dream. This means as a
writer you will want to be able to convey your story so that your readers can
dream it. Or at least see it in their own mind as if watching a film.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">How do you accomplish this? The key is to
give readers as much detail as may be required for them to see and feel and
experience your story to the maximum effect. This means you must continuously
set the scene. And every time the action shifts, you will set a new scene. So
you set the scene when you begin the story, for each chapter, and with every
new section in a chapter. The story does not tell, it shows as you make sure
the reader knows who the characters are, where they are, what they are doing
and feeling and experiencing. You share myriad details so the reader is
invited—no, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">lured</i> into each scene:
the smells, sights, tastes, sounds. The clammy fish-scented sea air. The purpling
sky at dusk. The bitter tang of bile. The screech of a lone owl in the ice-crusted
woods. The biting wind, the scratch of his Irish knit sweater when it brushes
against the flushed skin of her face. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">In addition to writing crime novels, I
help other writers by editing their manuscripts. One of my most common
suggestions is to set the scene. Writers will begin a chapter by recounting a
narrator's or protagonist's thoughts. This is telling, and the reader is left
wondering: Where is this person? Are they driving in a speeding car, running
through an urban park, hiding in a walk-in closet, drinking gimlets in a dark
bar? Don't leave it up to your readers to create the scenes. Don't leave them
sitting in a movie theater with a blank screen in front of them while you
narrate your (boring) story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">And please don't begin your memoir, story,
novel, or chapter with backstory. Backstory is telling. Start with the showy action.
Readers these days are not going to give your book much (if any) time to draw
them in. You have to grab their short-lived attention at once—then you must
keep it. How? Start with a hook, a good strong scene that leaves readers
curious. Give them a delightful, naughty, mysterious, or otherwise delectable
taste so they can't stop. Hook them fast and you can reel them in slowly. You
can insert your backstory in between all the intrigue, action, romance, and
plot devices you use to keep them reading. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">This is not easy. Readers these days can swipe
away your book and pick up a remote. Ho hum, on to more enticing entertainment.
You didn't work so hard all this time to end up with that kind of audience
reaction! So be sure your storytelling skills are sharp as talons as you show,
not tell, your story.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><br clear="all" style="mso-special-character: line-break; page-break-before: always;" />
</span></b>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="background-color: white;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></b><b style="color: red; font-family: "Times New Roman", Times, FreeSerif, serif; font-size: x-large;">Latest book from Mickey J Corrigan</b></span></p><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyiANksPz5hfVMnRfavsab1HsPxsEMMML81rTM19Ft-08R4bFWPB7ihh0vBrrsZAv6s4uAggdYq2LppXU9VDOzvxdTice9X08wJaarnP79-QLmWru3gmpXM6pH8lQ8aNt8kHy5fMubHHO/s2048/Physics+of++Grief.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1336" height="391" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIyiANksPz5hfVMnRfavsab1HsPxsEMMML81rTM19Ft-08R4bFWPB7ihh0vBrrsZAv6s4uAggdYq2LppXU9VDOzvxdTice9X08wJaarnP79-QLmWru3gmpXM6pH8lQ8aNt8kHy5fMubHHO/w256-h391/Physics+of++Grief.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal"><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When Seymour Allan loses his girlfriend, his depression is as dark as a South Florida thunderstorm. He hides out in a retirement community, drinks too much, and hangs with a feral cat. But when he meets the mysterious Raymond C. Dasher, Seymour's life changes as he embarks on a new career: professional griever.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Seymour's depression lifts when he spends time at the wakes and funerals of some very unpopular people. He cares for a dying criminal who loves T.S. Eliot and refuses to pass on, and he attends some unique burials that may or may not be legal. He also meets Yvonne, a sexy redhead dealing with the loss of her mobster boyfriend. Out in the Everglades, he has to face down a group of armed mourners and an alligator in attack mode.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 36pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Nothing like sex and danger, guns and gators, to make a man remember how good it feels to be alive.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 36pt;"><i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;">The Physics of Grief</span></i><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman",serif; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi;"> is a unique, quirky crime novel presenting the upside of funerals and a hopeful look at second chances—and at death.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-indent: 36pt;"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0cm;"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Buy on:</span></b></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08YNZLMLW/" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Physics-Grief-Mickey-J-Corrigan/dp/1838267204/" target="_blank">Amazon Paperback</a></span></b></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08YNZLMLW/" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08YNZLMLW/" target="_blank">Amazon Aust</a></span></b></o:p></p><div><o:p><b><br /></b></o:p></div><p><br /></p>Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com27tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-38248889369602596142021-02-08T20:49:00.000-08:002021-02-08T20:49:17.914-08:00After the First Draft with Rachael Thomas<p> <b style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: red;">This week we have author Rachael Thomas talking about what happens after the first draft. </span></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzE3JeDuonPjW5qmTQr-1atwDm6zyeMKGKSIh4ZzWCvS0L2JAPl2Ma89EZHctvx-dY26WjlRgOf6wMMUswCXF-mZ4voYraNXdj_ZCxre5Mk_joQweDKL0FmzHrPxEi7DpySXNP8THm-8/s1600/Rachael+Thomas.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUzE3JeDuonPjW5qmTQr-1atwDm6zyeMKGKSIh4ZzWCvS0L2JAPl2Ma89EZHctvx-dY26WjlRgOf6wMMUswCXF-mZ4voYraNXdj_ZCxre5Mk_joQweDKL0FmzHrPxEi7DpySXNP8THm-8/s320/Rachael+Thomas.jpg" width="195" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt;"><b><span style="color: red;"><u><br /></u></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 16.8pt;"><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">I love escaping to distant shores with my characters, entering their glamorous world and feeling all the emotions they experience as they discover their love for one another. A love so strong it will overcome all obstacles eventually, leading to that promised happy ever after.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"><br /></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: large;">Connect with Rachael Thomas on the web:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://rachaelthomas.co.uk/"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Website</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> </span></b><a href="http://rachaelthomas.co.uk/index.php/blog2"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Blog</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> </span></b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/rachael.thomas.35977?fref=ts"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Facebook </span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> </span></b><a href="https://twitter.com/rachaeldthomas"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Twitter</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";"> </span></b><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/65740.Rachael_Thomas"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif";">Goodreads</span></b></a></span></div></div><p><br /></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB"><b><span style="font-size: large;">After
the First Draft</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">You’ve
written those magical words ‘the end’ and that achievement alone deserves
celebration. The fact that you have committed yourself and finished the story
is amazing. Once you’ve celebrated it’s time to get the manuscript out again –
because ‘the end’ is only the beginning! <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">I’m
a self-confessed perfectionist and I can so easily tie myself in knots,
deleting words because they are not good enough or going over and over what
I’ve written knowing it isn’t perfect. First drafts can be a garbled mess. A
string of words from the writer’s mind in some sort of order. A first draft is <i>never</i>
perfect. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">Finally,
I am beginning to accept that first drafts aren’t meant to brilliantly crafted
pieces of writing. The first draft is merely an assembly of words with which
you will create your story later on, during the editing and revising process
ahead of submission.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">Now
we’ve established that a first draft is not carved in stone and that the words
within it can be changed, deleted, added to, or moved, it’s time to look at how
to deal with that jumble of ramblings which make up your first draft. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Put the manuscript away. Walk
away from it and don’t look at it. I would suggest at least two weeks, more if
you have the time.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">Doing this gives you
space from the story, from the words that are <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">drafted</i> on your page. It will give you thinking time. When you
return to your first draft your mind will be refreshed and the story will
appear either new to you or not as bad as you think.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">Time away creates
distance from the jumble of words that poured on the page and will also allow
you to see those glaring plot holes you happily skipped over in the first
draft.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Print out the manuscript. This
is something I find really useful as reading the story on the computer screen
is different to reading it on a printed page. It’s amazing how you can read
something on the screen, yet it appears completely different when it’s on a
piece of paper. This allows anything from silly spelling mistakes to massive
continuity issues to show up.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">For best results
ensure your printed copy is double spaced so there is plenty of room for notes.
I always have a notebook to hand, for things I want to go deeper into as I
revise the story. If you have made notes whilst writing your first draft, like
timelines, character studies, gather these up. Arm yourself with coloured pens,
sticky notes and anything else which will help you pull together the threads
within the first draft.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Read the full manuscript,
jotting down any issues you stumble across either in your notebook or on the
manuscript. Once this is done you can go back and read scene by scene, delving
deeper and using your earlier notes as reference.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">Asking yourself, does
each scene move the story forward? Do my characters achieve their goal? Are
there any glaring plot holes – major inconsistency in the story which are
totally out of place? Have I made the most of a scene or even missed one out completely?<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Re-read the revised manuscript.
Check for smaller inconsistences. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">Things like a change
of eye colour for a character, or a minor character suddenly finding themselves
with a new name. They sound silly things, but they are so easy to do when you
are in the throes of creating your first draft!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">Look for spelling and
grammar errors.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">Ensure all minor
threads are stitched up neatly. For instance, the reader will want to know what
happened to that minor character which flitted into one of your scenes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: 46.35pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: 0cm;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-GB">Now it’s time to send your
manuscript to your critique partner or beta reader if you are lucky enough to
have one. If you are not happy with that thought, then reading the manuscript
through again in yet another format helps, such as loading it onto your kindle.
Make notes or collate your readers’ notes so that you can make any final
changes. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">Now
your story is ready to go to your editor. That magical fresh pair of eyes who
will help you polish your words into the best story it can be – which will
undoubtably mean yet more revisions!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; text-indent: 0cm;"><span lang="EN-GB">But
remember. There isn’t a right or wrong way to revise your first draft, just as
there isn’t a correct number of times to do it. Each writer, even each story,
is different and certain techniques work for some and not for others. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p> </o:p></span><b style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Latest book from Rachael Thomas</b></p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-GB"><o:p></o:p></span></p><h1 class="a-spacing-none a-text-normal" id="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #0f1111; font-size: 28px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 36px; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="a-size-extra-large" id="productTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">The Greek's Outrageous Marriage Deal</span></span></h1><div><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><b style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px;">A deal to reclaim his wife…<br />Becomes so much more!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5D0mjIG72osAkqenkhXGMakQhxbbeow7oAkOkOUCG39-uU4t5zHLyxKLhctgyFuUcpQ-K1Zqv1NUhLx_m2KFG5QWtQ4dyyF1xBTMJUAKPPhcIMzhErp597yfcffyJaWOnIFdU52Z8sKF/s1170/The+Greek%2527s+Outrageous+Marriage+Deal.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1170" data-original-width="762" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR5D0mjIG72osAkqenkhXGMakQhxbbeow7oAkOkOUCG39-uU4t5zHLyxKLhctgyFuUcpQ-K1Zqv1NUhLx_m2KFG5QWtQ4dyyF1xBTMJUAKPPhcIMzhErp597yfcffyJaWOnIFdU52Z8sKF/s320/The+Greek%2527s+Outrageous+Marriage+Deal.jpg" /></a></div></b><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px;">When Athena returns to their marital home in Crete, billionaire Kostas Kyriakou seizes the opportunity to reunite with his wife and have an heir for the empire he has created from nothing. It’s the only deal he’s prepared to consider. After all, heady passion and hot desire had never been lacking in their short marriage.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px;">Athena has promised her father, who is again battling illness, that she will return to Athens with her estranged husband. Seeing the man she’d loved so completely, and hearing his outrageous demands to have his child, forces her to face all the pain and heartache of losing her mother as a young girl.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px;" /><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px;">Time together, acting out a marriage reunited, brings back all that explosive passion, but can they truly share who they are this time and mend the marriage for real?</i></span></span></div><div><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-size: 14px;"><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="color: red; font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: white;"><b>Buy on:</b></i></span></span></div><div><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 36px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #333333;"><b><br /></b></i></span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08RC3SXM2/" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle</a> </b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span></div><div><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B08RC3SXM2/" target="_blank">Amazon Aust </a> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.au/gp/product/B08RC3SXM2/" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a></b></span></div><p><br /></p>Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-21173452531022892232020-10-26T13:58:00.000-07:002020-10-26T13:58:32.574-07:00Put Your Bum On That Seat with Joanne Austen Brown<p> </p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Put Your Bum on that Seat.<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">One of the hardest things I had to
do when becoming a more effective writer, was putting that bum on the seat, and
actually writing. It sounds logical but life tends to get in the way. So, for
me I had to start to develop habits that would have me at my computer and
writing. I also needed to develop time to plot etc.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So here are some of the things that
I do to find me behind my computer writing.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Find the time that you like most to write and set it
as your time. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I dress up unless I am cold then I wear my snuggle
clothes. But if your dressed for work that helps me put my mind in the right
place. It might help you.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At first, I gave myself a goal of writing 500 words a
day. But I always put down on a note pad where I plan to go in the story when I
start writing the next day. But now I can get 2,000 or more words down in one
sitting. But I always jot down where I want to go when I sit down again.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">How many numbers can you achieve? That really depends
on you, but I have found if I focus and just keep writing I can achieve some
really great results. My biggest day was just over 5,500 words.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now that won’t be perfect writing, but I have
got the foundations and with clear directions and good editing I can make it
great. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I will often read my work aloud. My cat often turns
his nose up when I do that. I am sure he thinks I am nuts.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">6.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Don’t go back and edit all the time. Once a week I
edit what I have written that week. I find that the work flows better.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -18.0pt;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: Arial;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">7.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Always use an editor. Once I have finished my work, I
leave it for a few weeks or months if I can. Then I edit it again. If I am
happy or close to it, I send it to my editor. She has a new set of eyes and
will see things that I haven’t.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So, I hope this helps you to
progress in your writing.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><b>About the Author</b></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5-nli_WQnOpYdL9-DGYH6emA1DPr4PEMPM6WloVhHw89xnR0E00zXG6y_y7zwYRwS3ZS6MvUFn-0eZuk3AvJ2bnSbsLB534T41gBMQo_vbjQSEGHWheKRlI2TxDdkZ0g1MUVA1VImjLyk/s641/Joanne+Austen+Brown.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="641" data-original-width="640" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5-nli_WQnOpYdL9-DGYH6emA1DPr4PEMPM6WloVhHw89xnR0E00zXG6y_y7zwYRwS3ZS6MvUFn-0eZuk3AvJ2bnSbsLB534T41gBMQo_vbjQSEGHWheKRlI2TxDdkZ0g1MUVA1VImjLyk/s320/Joanne+Austen+Brown.jpg" /></a></div><br />Joanne is a true romantic and is
married to a man who most call Mr. Romance.<o:p></o:p><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She has two sons, a beautiful
daughter in law and four gorgeous granddaughters.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She has two loveable cats, Oscar,
and Arthur.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">She writes Historical Romances with
a mystery, murder, criminal aspect and in some, Time Travel.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Joanne Austen
Brown on the web:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="background: white; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.joanneaustenbrown.com/">Website </a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/joanne.austenbrown/">Facebook</a> </span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="background: white; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/joanne_austen_brown/">Instagram</a>
<a href="https://twitter.com/joanne_austen">Twitter</a></span></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 27.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 21.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Rachael's Jaunt
(Come With Me Book 1) <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 27.0pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpS0qDoPeEAXigy36rkeAQ3qJiWlsJDXV0YNXt-pseN70nlz5VKMehmHSkfyRQJU6-gknYgGlQFw-JZnVpkGH8ju8RflJ9_z_lDOCpSdIWI-4TWJPEoTX3BAtwwgp1VX4l40q-uV5S9apM/s2048/RachelsJaunt_Final.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1339" height="387" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpS0qDoPeEAXigy36rkeAQ3qJiWlsJDXV0YNXt-pseN70nlz5VKMehmHSkfyRQJU6-gknYgGlQFw-JZnVpkGH8ju8RflJ9_z_lDOCpSdIWI-4TWJPEoTX3BAtwwgp1VX4l40q-uV5S9apM/w253-h387/RachelsJaunt_Final.jpg" width="253" /></a></b></div><b><br /><span style="color: #111111; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 21.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"><br /></span></b><p></p><p style="background: white; margin-bottom: 10.5pt; margin-left: 0cm; margin-right: 0cm; margin-top: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Rachael Fielding loves Scotland. She escapes her busy life for
some down time but does not expect that time to be in 1822. Is she
dreaming? And why is the man she knows as her dream Scotsman suddenly there in
front of her?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm 0cm 10.5pt;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Duncan
Murray is a laird though he does not want to be. But he was born to the
position. Then Rachael shows up and his world is turned upside down. Can she be
the love of his life and what have the Fae got to do with it?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p style="background: white; margin: 0cm;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Is
she a spy for the soon to visit, King George 4th? Can he believe her stories of
the future? The two will be tested to their limits. Will the Fae have their way
and is there a future for Duncan and Rachael?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-AU"> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-no-proof: yes;">Buy on:<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: red; font-family: "Palatino Linotype",serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%; mso-ansi-language: EN-AU; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-no-proof: yes;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08KXDP8RF/">Amazon US Kindle</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B08KXDP8RF/">Amazon Aust</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08KXDP8RF/">Amazon UK</a></span></b></p>Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com32tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-83681738943559226492020-05-04T12:26:00.004-07:002020-05-04T12:29:33.964-07:00Share Author Amy Ruttan's Writing Journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>This week author Amy Ruttan shares her about writing journey. And she has a new book out this month, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081553ZMC/" target="_blank">Baby Bombshell for the Doctor Prince</a>. </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 22.8267px;">Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Amy fled the big city to settle down with the country boy of her dreams. When she's not furiously typing away at her computer, she's a mom to three children.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 22.8267px;">Life got in the way, and after the birth of her second child, she decided to pursue her dream of becoming a romance author.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 22.8267px;"><b>Connect with Amy Ruttan over the web:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="http://amyruttan.com/" target="_blank"><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 22.8267px;">Website </span></b></a><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 22.8267px;"> </span></b><a href="http://twitter.com/ruttanamy" target="_blank"><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 22.8267px;">Twitter</span></b></a><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 22.8267px;"> </span></b><b><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 22.8267px;"> </span></b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/AmyRuttanAuthor" target="_blank"><b><span lang="EN-CA" style="background: white; color: #0070c0; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 22.8267px;">Facebook</span></b></a><span style="color: #0070c0; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 22.8267px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I thought I’d write about the things I’ve
learned since I first became a published author back in 2007. Wow. It’s hard to
believe that sometimes it’s been over a decade. I have books no longer in
publication. I’ve survived houses shutting, rights reversing and changes to
editors.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I’ve navigated a lot, I’ve taken a lot
of classes and these are the pieces that work for me. They might not work for
you, because every one is different in their process, but I thought I would
share some advice that has proven right for me.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">1. The best thing I ever learned when
I wanted to start writing category was read. And if you want to write for
category, which is a different beastie compared to single title books, <b><i>read
the newest acquisitions in that line.</i></b></span><b><i><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">It’s all great and good to have been
reading that particular category line you’re targeting for as long as you can
remember, but when you’re targeting that line, read the newest stuff out there.
Lines change, wants and needs of editorial changes, so always read the newest
thing they’re publishing. In fact, this is no secret and most publishers tell
you this on their submission page.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">2. Don’t chase trends. What’s hot
today, might not be hot when the editor is looking for it. When I write a book,
it’s usually not out until 6-12 months later. Unless you have a manuscript for
that hot trend, work on developing your brand and your voice. I spent a few
years doing, what I call, spaghetti writing. I was throwing stuff out there to
see what stuck and that was no way to build a brand.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">3. What works for author A, might not
work for author B or C or even D. Do what’s right for you. You’re not a
plotter, that’s okay. You plot, perfect. You edit as you go, great. You don’t,
it’s okay. You do you.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">4. On the flip side, don’t beat yourself
up if you can’t write every day. If you’re staring at a blinking cursor, get up
and move. Do something else. For me, I have to think. The books is percolating
in my head for a while, even while doing other stuff. Then there’s this moment
where a light bulb switches on and it comes out. It’s taken me over ten years
to realize that this is my process and that it’s okay that it’s my process.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The most important thing is to be kind
to yourself. Protect your health and your mental health. Be professional, in
the age of social media, you have to be mindful about what you say and to whom
you say it to.</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">I don’t often recommend courses
because again, what might work for me, might not work for you, but I’m going to
HIGHLY recommend Becca Syme’s WRITE BETTER FASTER. It’s not so much writing
faster, but it was this course that changed me. Turned me around from burn out
to production again because it focused on my personality strengths and I was
ready to do the work.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Amy's new book:</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 28.5333px;">Baby Bombshell for the Doctor Prince<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<strong><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18pt;">His secret: he’s a prince!</span></strong><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 18pt;"><br /><br /><em><span style="background: white;">Her secret: she’s carrying his baby!</span></em><br /><br /><span style="background: white;">After ER doc Lev Vanin shared one unforgettable night with gorgeous Dr. Imogen Hayes, he never expected to see her again. He couldn’t tell Imogen he’s actually a prince! But when a revolution at home forces Lev into hiding, he ends up working in Imogen’s hospital and his secret is out! Plus, Lev’s life is about to be turned upside down once again…because Imogen’s pregnant with his heir!</span></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-size: 18pt;">Buy on:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B081553ZMC/"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 18pt;">Amazon Kindle </span></b></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bombshell-Doctor-Prince-Harlequin-Medical/dp/1335149384/"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 18pt;">Amazon Paperback</span></b></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B081553ZMC/"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 18pt;">Amazon Aust</span></b></a><b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B081553ZMC/"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 18pt;">Amazon UK</span></b></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></b><a href="https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781488066382_baby-bombshell-for-the-doctor-prince.html"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 18pt;">Harlequin US</span></b></a><b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><a href="https://www.millsandboon.co.uk/collections/new-releases/products/hqnsingle-07204202"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 18pt;">M&B UK</span></b></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span></b><a href="https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebook/baby-bombshell-for-the-doctor-prince-mills-boon-medical"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 18pt;">Kobo </span></b></a><b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13.5pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"><br /></span><a href="https://books.apple.com/gb/book/baby-bombshell-for-the-doctor-prince/id1485703688"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Apple Store</span></b></a><b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;"> </span></b><a href="http://www.harpercollins.co.uk/9780008902407/"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18pt;">Harper Collins UK</span></b></a><span style="font-size: 18pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-55390402772905810442020-04-27T14:55:00.001-07:002020-04-27T14:55:10.649-07:00Carolyn Wren on Her Writing Journey<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: red; font-size: medium;"><b><span style="font-size: large;">This week we have author</span><span style="font-size: large;"> Carolyn Wren talking about her writing journey.</span></b></span> <b style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">She has a new story out "<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Puddles Valentine</span></span><span style="font-size: large;">" in the anthology by <a href="https://www.gumnutpress.com/product-page/paw-prints-of-love" target="_blank">Gumnut Press</a> "</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Paw-Prints-Love-P-L-Harris-ebook/dp/B08426FL5Z" target="_blank">Paw Prints of Love</a>".</span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0cm;">Carolyn Wren was born just outside of London and moved with her family to Western Australia when she was four. They returned to England when she was eight and came back again when she was eleven, all by cruise ship, meaning Carolyn had traversed most of the words oceans before she became a teenager. The resulting passion for travel has never left her. </span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0cm;">After a working life in the finance sector, Carolyn began writing fiction in 2009, for fun. She won the very first writing contest she entered which gave her the incentive to keep going. As of 2019, she’s published over a dozen stories through USA and Australian publishers, with upcoming releases through a UK publishing house. Her award tally so far is 6 wins and 14 finalist placings from all around the world. The trophies and certificates are displayed with a great deal of pride.</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0cm;">She’s a proud member of the Romance Writers of Australia. Australian Romance Readers Association. Australian Society of Authors, and the KSP Writers’ Centre.</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px; padding: 0cm;">Carolyn doesn’t like to limit herself to one genre, preferring to let her characters take control. The resulting stories can range from light hearted comedic contemporary through to sexy, action packed romantic suspense and emotion driven urban fantasy. Because she’s a true romantic at heart, one thing remains constant in all her books, she loves a happy ending.</span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.4px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="border: 1pt none; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt; padding: 0cm;"><b>You can find Carolyn at the following links:</b></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://carolynwren.com/"><span style="font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">https://carolynwren.com/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: #222222; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/carolynwrenauthor" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">https://www.facebook.com/carolynwrenauthor</span></a></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: #222222; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/carolynwrenauthor/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">https://www.instagram.com/carolynwrenauthor/</span></a></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="color: #222222; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://twitter.com/carolyn_wren" target="_blank"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "garamond" , serif; font-size: 12pt;">https://twitter.com/carolyn_wren</span></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">My writing journey for Puddles Valentine is an
interesting one, because the story had its origins as a ‘writing prompt’
exercise back in 2013. A group of author
friends and I would set ourselves a monthly challenge, and this particular one
was to create a complete story in 800 words or less. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I had never written something so concise, and I was
struggling, until an advertisement came on social media for upcoming St
Patricks Day celebrations. An idea
popped into my head for a Rom-Com featuring a matchmaking leprechaun and a
mischievous puppy, and the entire story raced from my fingers in half an hour,
followed by a full week of head scratching revisions to meet that essential 800
word rule. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">The exercise taught me so much about word usage and
pacing and I loved the heart behind the story.
I kept it in my ‘works’ folder as a reminder, and there it sat until Gumnut
Press announced its submissions for the Paw Prints of Love Anthology. I remembered it, rummaged through my old
folders, and was delighted to discover the leprechaun <i>wasn’t</i> an essential part of the love story, but the puppy was.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">Even better, the tale (no pun intended) was perfect
for expansion, giving me the opportunity to weave the world of Stonecrest Bay
into its plotline. I went back to the
story’s basic roots and recrafted it, using the knowledge I’d gained from my
years as a published author, and the wonderful insights of the editors I’ve
worked with.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m so thrilled that my mischievous puppy and the
love he generates will finally be released onto the world’s stage. And I guess if there’s a moral to this
writing journey, it’s to keep learning, challenge yourself every day and <i>never</i> waste a good story, no matter how
old or how short it is. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: red; font-family: "amazon ember" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 28px;">Paw Prints of Love</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Anthology Authors- Lisa Knight, Fiona Greene, Teena Raffa, Susan Dunn, Helen Walton, Leah Kinninmont, Jenny Lynch, Lisa Wolstenholme, Carolyn Wren and P.L. Harris.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Love can call on us in the most unusual places. In this fictional seaside town of Stonecrest Bay, love is on the horizon and the one place you’re sure to run into the unexpected is The Funny Bone, Dee Chambers’ dog grooming salon.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A solo-dad comes to Stonecrest Bay to start a new life with his young son. A four-legged pastry loving friend causes havoc in more ways than one. A house-sitter finds herself in a hair-raising chocolaty situation. A man bent on finding a replacement farm dog finds more than he planned at the town fair. A woman gets more than she bargained for when she comes face to face with her ex. A new resident arrives with hidden secrets. And a pro surfer finds unexpected romance.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">From reignited high school crushes to unexpected birthday surprises, readers will be swept up in these stories of young love blossoming, heartache and healing, old lost loves rekindled, and of new hearts connecting in Stonecrest Bay where the unpredicted could stroll around the next corner. There’s a story for everyone in this light-hearted collection of sweet romantic stories reminding us that it’s all for the love of dogs.</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Enjoy this collection of stories from ten different Australian authors set in the fictional seaside town of Stonecrest Bay.</span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Buy on:</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Paw-Prints-Love-P-L-Harris-ebook/dp/B08426FL5Z" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle</a> </span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Paw-Prints-Love-P-L-Harris-ebook/dp/B08426FL5Z" target="_blank">Amazon Aust</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Paw-Prints-Love-P-L-Harris-ebook/dp/B08426FL5Z" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a></span></b><br />
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-22461818344388682822020-02-17T13:22:00.000-08:002020-02-17T13:22:35.466-08:00Writing is a Balanced Diet with Juanita Kees<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><b><span style="color: red;">We have author Juanita Kees sharing about writing.</span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Juanita escapes the real world by reading and writing Australian Rural Romance novels with elements of suspense, Australian Fantasy Paranormal and Small-Town USA stories. Her romance novels star spirited heroines who give the hero a run for his money before giving in. She creates emotionally engaging worlds steeped in romance, suspense, mystery and intrigue, set in dusty, rural outback Australia and on the NASCAR racetracks of America. When she’s not writing, Juanita is mother to three boys and has a passion for fast cars and country living.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><b>Juanita Kees on the web:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.juanitakees.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Website</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juanitakeesauthor"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Facebook</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://twitter.com/juanitakees"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">Twitter</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.bookbub.com/authors/juanita-kees"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;">BookBub</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/kees2review/">Instagram</a></span></b></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 19.9733px;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;">Writing is like a balanced diet - everything in moderation.</span></i></b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Long
before I was a writer, I was a reader. In embracing the art and craft
of writing, we aim to improve with every book we publish. Each conference we
attend, every workshop we take and with every round of edits on our
manuscripts, we're honing our technique and learning new skills. As a reader, I
never noticed things like 'point of view' swings nor did I care about the hero
or heroine's 'mirror moment' or 'character arc'. All I knew was that the story
did or didn't work for me. I didn't understand what it was that drew me out of
the story after the opening paragraph, made me reach halfway point only to be
unable to finish the book, or (most importantly) what it was that kept me on
the edge of my seat entertained until 'the end'.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then came
writing, editing, research, competition entries and finally, publishing. I
learned technique, the do's and dont's of writing a good book, publishers'
guidelines and styles...the list goes on to assist you in presenting the reader
with a book you hope will be the next international bestseller. And who knows,
you might just be lucky :)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So that's
book one on the shelf, all nicely packaged and ready for ripping through the
roof of sales charts world-wide...until that devil named Self-Doubt comes
knocking on your door. And you don't have to be a writer for him to come
knocking.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">My
current work in progress is a small town romance and I'm having a little
trouble with my characters. I've plotted and planned out the chapters, defined
their personalities, their arcs, their mirror moments, and generally organised
them within an inch of their lives. Three chapters later, I've hit the wall
with them dancing around each other like boxers in the ring with no fight plan.
Right after that comes, "I can't do this. What makes me think I can write
a book? What if readers don't like it?"<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Why am I
having trouble? Because I'm trying to stick to the 'rules'.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">When the
monster Self-Doubt comes calling, I back away from my keyboard and curl up with
my all time favorite author, Nora Roberts. It's there I see all the 'rules'
being broken that, as a reader, I didn't recognize before. Here's a few:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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a sentence with 'And' - Nora did it<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Starting
a sentence with 'Because' - Nora did it<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Starting
a sentence with 'But' - Nora did it<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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in and out of POV's - Nora did it!<o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">The
editor in me shouts "No!" while the writer in me shouts,
"Yes, yes, yes!" Why? Because that's how 'real people' speak and
since our characters are 'real people', they should be allowed to speak
naturally. What gives your writing a 'voice' is the uniqueness of your style,
the way you structure your sentences, scenes and dialogue; that little bit of
'you' in every story. So perhaps it's time I followed the same advice I give to
others in my role as an editor - write from the heart and apply the rules
later, if they apply. If we apply the same rules to our work all the time, all
our books would be the same - like a recipe passed down through the family -
until someone comes along and adds a twist to it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Be that
person to add the twist - in moderation of course, you don't want to
break the rules all the time! Write from the head and the heart of your
characters, and you're on the road to writing a book that will resonate with
the 'real people' out there - your readers. And when Self-Doubt steps into the
ring, tell it to rack off and remember: <b><i>Nora Roberts did it</i></b>.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Juanita Kees has a new book out this month:</b></span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" id="ebooksProductTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Promise Me Forever (Bindarra Creek A Town Reborn Book 8)</span></h1>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcgLJvGfs2pKcXWEpLKpHVP7lt1l3MXqoKOVjwwdjAU5aEWEzvLvhS2h8aCPYRLpv9xuD4dZ7nMhCcr6t8erqjL0xYnDPLFaBUAC7RciAvCNzNmunS8t3-vQFD3bjsLbqW4cCcdXKQSEN/s1600/promise+me+forever+ebook+cover+b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1089" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGcgLJvGfs2pKcXWEpLKpHVP7lt1l3MXqoKOVjwwdjAU5aEWEzvLvhS2h8aCPYRLpv9xuD4dZ7nMhCcr6t8erqjL0xYnDPLFaBUAC7RciAvCNzNmunS8t3-vQFD3bjsLbqW4cCcdXKQSEN/s400/promise+me+forever+ebook+cover+b.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">News correspondent, Jack Hughes, is sent to sleepy Bindarra Creek to escape the spotlight after a scandalous fake video goes viral. He’s in the fight of his life to save his reputation. In a town only determination has kept from dying, the last thing Jack is looking for is love.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The Bindarra Creek Museum is Meg Moonie’s life. But with her granny dead, a murder suspect on the run and the police asking questions, she struggles to keep the museum and Mary Moonie’s dream alive. Jack is a handsome distraction, but Meg has been hurt by a roving reporter before. Men who couldn’t put down roots never promised forever. If only he wasn’t so easy to fall in love with…</span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0843CKWKM/" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Promise-Me-Forever-Bindarra-Creek/dp/0648499537/" target="_blank">Amazon Paperback</a></span></b></span></span></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-16747520782996067002020-01-26T22:39:00.002-08:002020-01-26T22:39:42.344-08:00Character Development- Quick To Tell You, But Not So Quick To Do<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: red;"><b>We invited M&B Historical Romance author Nicole Locke and she is sharing with us about Character Development. </b></span><br />
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 24.5333px;"><span style="color: red;">Nicole first discovered romance novels hidden in her grandmother's closet. Convinced hidden books must be better, Nicole greedily read them. It was only natural she should start writing them (but now not so secretly). If she isn't working on the next book in the Lovers and Legends historical series, she can be reached at:</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 24.5333px;"><span style="color: red;"><b>Let's connect with Nicole on the web:</b></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 24.5333px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/NicoleLockeAuthor/">Facebook</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NicoleLockeNews">Twitter</a> <a href="http://nicolelocke.com/">Website </a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/9807979.Nicole_Locke">Goodreads</a></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I love writing tips. Over ten books in the Lovers and
Legends series and I’m still discovering them. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Sure there’s the organisation factors, the
plotlines, the story arc. Ah, but character tips. Those aren’t so easy unless
you do it all before you start (trust me, you may have good intentions and good
organisation, but even this fails at some point).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">So what do we do about characters. Before you
start, I suggest astrology or birthday books. They’re great to get personality
traits that aren’t necessarily yours.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What do you do if you’ve already started? If, by
chance, you’re at the end of the story and you have problems. Ah, then, it’s
not so easy. But there are a few tips. Things that will take a lot of time.
Just remember to do a bit every day and you’ll get through it. I have.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Flat character? Read <u>only</u> their parts. Watch
the arc of that person. How are they thinking? Developing? What can you do to
add to their depth?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All your characters sound like you, the author? It’s
probably because they’re using words that you use in your speech: ‘just’, ‘well’,
etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">All your characters sound similar? Give them words
that only one of them will use. Perhaps you need more than that, a phrase or
physical traits.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Physical descriptions sounding the same from one
character to the other? Start looking at pictures. Put a scar somewhere, a
freckle, a mole. Maybe the female has a crooked toe from when she broke it and
it didn’t set right (that would be me).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">These little things will take time, and you’ll
need to keep track because eventually, one hundred books, in you’ll be wondering
who had what and where and how. But I can guarantee this: your characters will
be far more interesting for it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="color: red;">Nicole has a new book out:</span></b></span></div>
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<h1 class="a-size-large a-spacing-none" id="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 21px !important; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3 !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span class="a-size-extra-large" id="ebooksProductTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Her Dark Knight's Redemption (Lovers and Legends Book 8)</span></h1>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">“This man was shadow and night.</strong><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">He was Darkness.”</span></span><br />
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7DVHT8ocoWkrvi20MjzPWhEhn2HyPSndxUjXzYyZkChAJIRQQk8vFwYUA61RYnDiGr2NxQjdcQ1ToKfUSO_x1SHhQl1D_WI0nTuDGzGaGMuj65va5pbGQ3czhK2O-ft48jM2ykh-FBTp/s1600/Gif.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="330" data-original-width="200" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF7DVHT8ocoWkrvi20MjzPWhEhn2HyPSndxUjXzYyZkChAJIRQQk8vFwYUA61RYnDiGr2NxQjdcQ1ToKfUSO_x1SHhQl1D_WI0nTuDGzGaGMuj65va5pbGQ3czhK2O-ft48jM2ykh-FBTp/s400/Gif.gif" width="241" /></a></span></span></div>
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Homeless Aliette is saved from punishment for stealing by a mysterious knight. To stay alive, she’s informed by this stranger that she must claim his child as her own. She should fear the dark knight’s power, yet it’s clear there’s more good to this man than he’s prepared to show. Can she break down the barriers of the tortured knight she calls Darkness?</span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Knights-Redemption-Lovers-Legends-ebook/dp/B07T7GV4KN/" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Knights-Redemption-Lovers-Legends/dp/1335505253/" target="_blank">Amazon Paperback</a></b></span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dark-Knights-Redemption-Lovers-Legends-ebook/dp/B07T7GV4KN/" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Dark-Knights-Redemption-Lovers-Legends-ebook/dp/B07T7GV4KN/" target="_blank">Amazon Aust</a></b></span></span></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-3367933877191736402019-12-03T11:16:00.002-08:002019-12-03T11:16:52.079-08:00Point of View with Jane Godman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;"><b>Point of View (or how to avoid head-hopping)</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Head-hopping is what happens when a writer suddenly changes orientation so that the reader is thrust unexpectedly from one point of view to another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">One moment we’ll be deep in the heroine’s viewpoint, seeing the world through her eyes, appreciating events through her experiences and expectations, and in the very next sentence we’re seeing events through the hero’s perspective. We’re shaken out of our identification with one character and left scrambling to get used to another.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Most books include shifts in point of view. Head-hopping takes place when those shifts happen in the middle of a scene, or paragraph. Even, occasionally, in the middle of a sentence. Sometimes, it happens repeatedly so that the reader has to make the switch back and forth several times within a scene. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I have to confess that my first attempts at writing romance were littered with point of view (POV) shifts. I wanted to let my readers know what was going on with all my characters, all the time. I could see into everyone’s heads and I wanted to share that.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">How could I show my readers what was going on if they didn’t know that the hero was thinking about walking away from the heroine at this precise moment? Or if they weren’t aware that the villain was about the reach for his gun?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">But, of course, that’s the skill of learning how to create and manage properly constructed POVs. Put simply, you need to:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">1. Stay in one character’s head/POV per scene.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">2. Keep the perspective and voice of each POV consistent.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">But if you can’t head-hop, how can you show readers what the other characters are doing and thinking within a scene? Here are some of the tried and trusted ways:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">1. Don’t worry about what other characters are thinking<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">It’s difficult to do, but actually quite liberating. I found the best way to do this was to write first person. When I switched back to third person, it became easier to stay in one POV.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">2. Do include multiple POVs – just not in the same scene<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">In a multiple-POV narrative, you view the story through the eyes of several different characters, but only one at a time. The writer makes a conscious choice and remains in control.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">3. Allow the POV character to infer what other characters are thinking and feeling.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">As the POV character learns about the other characters, so too do the readers. The POV character can read body language, and non-verbal cues, just as we do in real life, to infer what in going on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">4. Use eyewitnesses to keep POV characters informed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Have another character who was present tell the POV character all about it. Or the POV character might read about it in a letter, a newspaper article, or see it on TV. In certain genres of story, perhaps she might even have a premonition or dream about it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Point of view can be a challenge but, once it’s mastered, it becomes an enjoyable part of the writer’s toolbox, another skill to help you write a story that will entertain and delight your readers. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 19.26px;">JANE GODMAN is a 2019 Romantic Novelists’ Award winner and 2018 Daphne du Maurier Award finalist. She writes thrillers for Harlequin Romantic Suspense/Mills and Boon Heroes and paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne/Mills and Boon Supernatural and St. Martin’s Press Romance. She also self publishes her historical and gothic stories.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 19.26px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 19.26px;">Jane was born in Scotland and has lived in Germany, Wales, Malta, South Africa, and England. She still gets the urge to travel, although these days she tends to head for a Spanish beach, or a European city that is steeped in history. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 19.26px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 19.26px;">When she isn’t reading or writing romance, Jane enjoys cooking, spending time with her family, and enjoying the antics of her dogs, Gravy and Vera. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 19.26px;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US"> </span></b><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red;">Connect with Jane Godman on the web:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://janegodmanauthor.com/"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Website</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/JaneGodmanAuthor/"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Facebook</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://twitter.com/JaneGodman"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Twitter</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6923685.Jane_Godman" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span></b></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://rbpp-janegodman.blogspot.com/2019/10/colton-911-family-under-fire.html"><span style="color: #3334ff; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 27pt; line-height: 38.52px;">Colton 911: Family Under Fire</span></a></span><o:p></o:p></h1>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /><strong>An unexpected family</strong><br /><br /><strong>A once-in-a-lifetime reunion in danger…</strong></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br /><br /><span style="background: white;">After a bitter breakup, FBI agent Everett Colton never expected to see his ex-girlfriend, Alyssa Bartholomew, again. Suddenly, tragedy reunites them—and makes them guardians of an orphaned baby girl. Everett suspects that her parents’ deaths were anything but innocent. When his instinct for danger proves correct, it’s his job to protect the child he’s grown to love…and the woman he never forgot.</span></span><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Buy on:</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Colton-911-Family-Under-Fire-ebook/dp/B07W99HBP3/" target="_blank"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Amazon Kindle</span></b></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Family-Under-Harlequin-Romantic-Suspense/dp/133566226X/" target="_blank"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Amazon Paperback</span></b></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Colton-911-Family-Under-Fire-ebook/dp/B07W99HBP3/" target="_blank"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Amazon Aust</span></b></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Colton-911-Family-Under-Fire-ebook/dp/B07W99HBP3/" target="_blank"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Amazon UK</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781488041563_colton-911-family-under-fire.html" target="_blank"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Harlequin</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/colton-911-jane-godman/1132091881" target="_blank"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">B&N </span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebook/colton-911-family-under-fire" target="_blank"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Kobo</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Colton-911-Family-Under-Fire-Jane-Godman/9781335662262" target="_blank"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">Book Depository</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://books.apple.com/us/author/jane-godman/id604189124" target="_blank"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;">iBooks</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-85403830046715005312019-09-30T05:02:00.002-07:002019-09-30T05:09:20.281-07:005 Hard-Won Writing Tips by Linda Charles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>This week we have author Linda Charles with 5 writing tips. She has a new book out this month, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WYRYJPM/" target="_blank">No Looking Back, Bindarra Creek: A Town Reborn.</a></b></span><br />
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<strong><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Linda Charles</span></strong><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #1d2228; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> has been reading romance since high school. Her reading life started very early, but changed direction after she read <em>Gone with the Wind</em>. She was born in Sydney and spent her teenage years in drama classes, and then taught Speech & Drama for many years. She still loves to go to the theatre, but her plan was always to write. Linda lives in Newcastle and when she's not writing, she can be found walking, browsing the bookshops or planning her next holiday.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-size: large;">Linda Charles on the web:<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.lindacharles.com.au/"><b><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Website</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/LindaCharlesauthor/"><b><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Facebook</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://twitter.com/LindaCharles167"><b><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Twitter</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> </span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1058365.Linda_Charles"><b><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Goodreads</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 25.68px;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com.au/lindacharles165/"><b><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 25.68px;">Pinterest</span></b></a></span></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; line-height: 17.12px;"><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">5 hard-won writing tips = do not give up! – by Linda Charles<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Writing takes a while
to learn and some say it’s not for the fainthearted, but, we all write
something at some stage, whether for pleasure, or for work. We all want that
writing to be good. There are so many arms to study – mastering description,
plotting, discovering the internal as well as the external conflict, what to
show, what to tell, dialogue – the list seems endless once you start. It seemed
daunting to me when I first started. I loved to read and have two to three
books on the go at any one time, but I soon discovered to sit down and write a
book is not quite so easy. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once you start, you’ll
discover there is always something to learn. I discovered early on that when I enjoy
my characters and their situations it crosses over to the scenes I write for
them. If I don’t enjoy writing them I can’t imagine readers would enjoy reading
those scenes. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">When it comes to learning
to write a story, we should live by the old English proverb for patience which
is <span style="background: white; color: #222222;">'Slowly, slowly catchy
monkey'. It means that if do not rush or if you avoid being too hasty,
then eventually you will achieve your goal.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have five things I do
every week to feed my writing. It’s requires a little discipline, but after a
while it becomes a natural part of what you do as part of your writing life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Reading<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is number one for
a number of reasons. Read every day because when you read you learn, you notice
things and it replenishes your creative well. The brain is a wonderful thing
and while you’re sleeping its working and months later it will surprise you
with a scene you did not see coming, but which flows naturally from the characters
you’ve created.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Write every single day <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This makes sense, but
is so often left to Sunday, which is too often the designated day of writing.
Stop that thinking, I did that for years and when I started writing on a daily
basis, everything changed in my writing. I used to kid myself Sunday was my
writing day, in reality, it was my re-writing of the previous Sunday’s work and
my stories (and my growth as a writer) stagnated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Learn the specifics</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Do learn what is
required of the genre you like to write. If it’s romance be aware of the
different tropes that are expected and enjoyed by the romance reader. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Study your words and vocabulary</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This seems
self-explanatory, but it gets forgotten in the excitement of writing. </span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Revise</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Revise, revise, revise and then some. It’s
surprising how little extra words pop in a sentence, or is left out –
especially in your excitement as you get caught up writing the scene. It
happens very easily and some people are known to change from third person to
first person mid-scene because they are so involved. Be aware of this when you
revise. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Letting go is so hard
to do, but at some point we have to stop tinkering and send our story out into
the world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you for the invite to write this blog. I’ve been
fortunate to be part of the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://bindarracreekromance.com/a-town-reborn/">https://bindarracreekromance.com/a-town-reborn/</a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"> and have just
released the third book in the series – <i>No
Looking Back</i>. It can be found on Amazon - </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://amzn.to/303nrQW"><span style="background: white; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">https://amzn.to/303nrQW</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #1d2129; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">About the book:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Sometimes it’s good to take a risk…<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Hannah McKenna</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> loves working with horses and is trying hard
to keep it altogether after her first horse syndication deal turns sour. Since
then she’s been careful and played life straight, and has had enough. She runs
into trouble when she meets Blake Hudson – the man who put together the failed
deal – who rescues her when she takes a nasty tumble from a horse. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Blake
Hudson </span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">is
known as Mr Nice Guy, but there are dark shadows in his past. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He’s the dealmaker, the perfect go-between
who puts together horse syndications and once the deal is done he moves on.
Problem is, Hannah is the exception and he can’t keep away, but fears she will
walk if she knew the truth about his past. </span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">He hadn’t bargained on
dealing with a mischievous third party called attraction.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When she discovers the
truth, both realise they could lose everything, including each other.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 25.68px;">No Looking Back: Bindarra Creek: A Town Reborn<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0aGE7pslvvNJF1tZmavnT7IFvfPTnyLXeoaR-JxjV-oam1jsttU_QfKXhvTijtejxnINTpOXVkP1gu5Sg8_OR6BZ7vCy3t9KxXF7WXB0YsBcNQhLZ7rMdgQ7oAnZvE843AG9PKEYJuCpS/s1600/No+Looking+Back.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="340" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0aGE7pslvvNJF1tZmavnT7IFvfPTnyLXeoaR-JxjV-oam1jsttU_QfKXhvTijtejxnINTpOXVkP1gu5Sg8_OR6BZ7vCy3t9KxXF7WXB0YsBcNQhLZ7rMdgQ7oAnZvE843AG9PKEYJuCpS/s400/No+Looking+Back.jpg" width="271" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 17.12px;">Hannah McKenna loves working with horses and is trying hard to keep it altogether after her first horse deal turns sour. She runs into trouble when she meets Blake Hudson – the man who put together the failed deal – who rescues her when she takes a nasty tumble from a horse. She likes him, simple as, and finds plenty of reasons to make him want to stay. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /><span style="background: white;">Blake Hudson feels like an imposter because he knows loved ones would walk if they knew the truth. He’s the dealmaker, the perfect go-between who puts together horse syndications and once the deal is done he moves on. His life takes a turn when he meets Hannah, the woman at the centre of his worst deal. Problem is he can’t keep away, but fears she will walk if she knew the truth about his past. </span><br /><span style="background: white;">He hadn’t bargained on dealing with a mischievous third party called attraction.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; line-height: 17.12px;"><br /><span style="background: white;">When she discovers the truth, both realise they could lose everything, including each other.<span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Buy on:</span></b><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07WYRYJPM/"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Amazon Kindle</span></b></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07WYRYJPM/"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Amazon Aust</span></b></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br /></span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07WYRYJPM/"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Amazon UK</span></b></a><span style="font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-10801102317096438782019-08-05T16:11:00.001-07:002019-08-05T16:11:23.500-07:00How to Create Relatable Characters with Suzanne Gilchrist<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: red;"><b>We have author Suzanne Gilchrist sharing how she creates relatable characters.</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_ocFx3OEZwTDgPgMQOljVtZ2-kRf4Ng3CEZo5kBPkPYSAAckQPDSUh4YnRp1OmvfMSwkJVif-OOVpwpX88lsBXpJGjM69SAlkGfZJ0pFkGIqXsUEWrSqBSxmMDU7hvxFyFgBr347vbfK/s1600/Suzanne+Gilchrist.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1063" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjP_ocFx3OEZwTDgPgMQOljVtZ2-kRf4Ng3CEZo5kBPkPYSAAckQPDSUh4YnRp1OmvfMSwkJVif-OOVpwpX88lsBXpJGjM69SAlkGfZJ0pFkGIqXsUEWrSqBSxmMDU7hvxFyFgBr347vbfK/s320/Suzanne+Gilchrist.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Suzanne
Gilchrist lives in the Hunter Valley, Australia with her family and pets and is
the author of over twenty books, several of which have finalled in writing
contests. As S. E. Gilchrist, she writes science fiction, ancient historical,
apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic romances and romantic suspense. As Suzanne
Gilchrist, she writes women’s fiction and contemporary small-town romances,
often with a splash of suspense.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Suzanne takes a keen interest in the environment
and animal welfare and loves bushwalking and kayaking, spending time with
family and friends and walking her dogs. She co-runs </span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="http://hunterromancewriters.wordpress.com/" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-AU" style="border: none 1.0pt; color: #8b681c; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; padding: 0cm;">Hunter Romance
Writers</span></a></span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"> and is
the organiser of several group writing ventures.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Suzanne
Gilchrist is published with Escape Publishing / Harlequin Australia and is an
indie author.</span><span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #1d2228; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Suzanne
Gilchrist on the web:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="http://www.segilchrist.com/"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Website</span></b></a></span><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/SEGilchrist"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Facebook</span></b></a></span><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://www.bookbub.com/authors/s-e-gilchrist"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Bookbub</span></b></a></span><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="https://twitter.com/SEGilchrist1"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Twitter</span></b></a></span><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; mso-color-alt: windowtext;"><a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6587665.S_E_Gilchrist"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Goodreads</span></b></a></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; text-decoration: none;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><span class="MsoHyperlink"><b><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/segilchrist_author/"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instagram</a></span></b></span><b><span style="color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b><br />
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<span style="color: #26282a; font-size: 12pt;">Hi, I’m S E (aka Suzanne) Gilchrist and I’m excited to be here on Learning to Write as part of my celebrations for the release of my sweet, small-town romance, Take Me Home. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #26282a; font-size: 12pt;">One of the most important aspects of crafting a compelling story, is ensuring that the reader becomes fully engaged with the characters. You need to get them cheering your hero and heroine forward and you need a likeable, supporting cast. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #26282a; font-size: 12pt;">But how to create relatable characters?</span></div>
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<span style="color: #26282a; font-size: 12pt;">What helps me is </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">I ask questions of my characters. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I always start with goal, motivation and conflict. I’ve noticed that my initial answers can change in unexpected ways as my characters continue to reveal their true selves.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">For example, my initial idea for the two protagonists for Take Me Home, was a couple in their late twenties / early thirties. But the more questions I asked, I realised they were older with a lot of history behind them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I needed to know why they were living in this small town, what had brought them there, what was their current situation in regard to relationships, and what did they want out of life.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">When I asked this of my heroine, I realised she was almost 40 and had moved to this small country town to begin a new life alone. But why was she alone? What had happened to her? Why, after four years, hadn’t she formed any close friendships?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">So – she avoided people. What kind of people? Why? I went back to my first answer - she was going on 40 years old and living alone. I knew immediately that she couldn’t have children. This was why she still kept herself apart.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">This gave me her conflict and the bones of my story.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I knew I had to challenge her – force her to confront her past. Show her a different future. Give her the motivation to find the strength to move forward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">And what could be more challenging than put her in a situation where she feels compelled to give a temporary home to two orphaned boys? Of course, they couldn’t be the babies she’s always wanted – no, I made them older, 11 and 14 and with their own wounds.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">But I wanted to give her support. Enter her estranged husband and a new set of questions. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Who was he? Why had he left? Where had he been living since their separation? Why had he returned?</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">I knew the reason he came to town had to be that he still loved her and when he’d heard she was in danger, dropped everything to be by her side.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 17.12px;">Not only did the answers to these questions give life to the hero but they also provided more flesh to my plot with additional emotional conflict.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Over the years, I’ve drawn up quite a large list of questions that I pick from when I’m inventing new characters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;">Begin making your own lists. You’ll find that you won’t need to use every question on every character, and as you can see from my experience, the answers can help define your story.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">Take Me Home (Bindarra Creek A Town Reborn)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-size: 13.5pt;">Forgiving the past was too painful until now.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
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<span style="background: white;">Almost forty, Abby Taylor has built a new life
for herself in the small country town of Bindarra Creek. When an old friend
convinces her to give two adolescent boys a temporary home, she is torn between
a growing love for these orphans and the grief in her past.</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">After his marriage fell apart, Roman Taylor has
focused on his career. An unexpected phone call sends him rushing to Abby’s
side where he is drawn into his estranged wife’s new life – a life that could
offer a future he thought he’d lost forever.</span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Will they seize this second chance to have a
family of their own? Or will fate once again destroy their dreams?</span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">Welcome to Bindarra Creek – A Town Reborn, a
fictional town set on the western slopes of the New England tablelands. Take me
Home is the first book in this new group writing venture series. With a
community full of quirky characters, the books feature compelling romance,
heart-warming family life, drama, and even suspense.</span></span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-size: 13.5pt;">Buy on:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></b><span style="background: white; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07T2J8WL2/" style="font-weight: bold;">Amazon US Kindle</a> </span><span style="background: white; font-size: 13.5pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07T2J8WL2/" style="font-weight: bold;">Amazon UK</a> </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07T2J8WL2/"><b><span style="background: white; font-size: 13.5pt;">Amazon Aust</span></b></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://books.apple.com/au/book/take-me-home/id1470131650?mt="><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">iBooks</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/take-me-home-suzanne-gilchrist/1132202182?ean=2940156536139"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Nook</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.kobo.com/au/en/ebook/take-me-home-47"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Kobo</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> </span></b><a href="https://www.angusrobertson.com.au/ebooks/take-me-home-suzanne-gilchrist-s-e-gilchrist/p/9780648451075"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Angus & Robertson </span></b></a></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-69343850422613574902019-07-29T12:34:00.000-07:002019-07-29T12:34:20.608-07:00Learning to Write with Juanita Kees<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="color: red;">We have author Juanita Kees sharing about her experiences.</span></b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEgD1Ykk9rlCDXBoXm4CGSlSB1dA5wNjionhYgc8xXFAB2uSblnn8zn8oTH6o2AhB2KYmcTbMn9aQmx7-G3Y55lSbn8g2p112V5a26ONQd4InGOIgYmn_PTEUfeRZjK4gyM220Rc13CAn/s1600/Juanita+Kees.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1072" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMEgD1Ykk9rlCDXBoXm4CGSlSB1dA5wNjionhYgc8xXFAB2uSblnn8zn8oTH6o2AhB2KYmcTbMn9aQmx7-G3Y55lSbn8g2p112V5a26ONQd4InGOIgYmn_PTEUfeRZjK4gyM220Rc13CAn/s320/Juanita+Kees.JPG" width="214" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Juanita escapes the real world by reading and
writing Australian Rural Romance novels with elements of suspense, Australian
Fantasy Paranormal and Small-Town USA stories. Her romance novels star spirited
heroines who give the hero a run for his money before giving in. She creates
emotionally engaging worlds steeped in romance, suspense, mystery and intrigue,
set in dusty, rural outback Australia and on the NASCAR racetracks of America.
When she’s not writing, Juanita is mother to three boys and has a passion for
fast cars and country living.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Juanita Kees on the web:</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://www.juanitakees.com/"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Website</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/juanitakeesauthor"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Facebook</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://twitter.com/juanitakees"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Twitter</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://www.bookbub.com/authors/juanita-kees"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">BookBub</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/kees2review/">Instagram</a></span></b></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"> Got a great idea for a book? Awesome! Write
that story. But there’s more to writing than ideas and dreams of achieving
bestseller status. Like any skill, an author needs to hone their craft. The
publishing industry is a highly competitive business, and simply writing a good
book isn’t enough to get noticed anymore. So, for all aspiring writers out
there, here are a few tips that helped me along my writing journey:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <b> </b></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Critiquing and Competition Entries</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is a great
way to get feedback on your work. Find a writing group or critique partner who
will give you an honest opinion and help you grow and develop. And I don’t mean
your mum or your sister or your best friend. I’m talking about an outsider.
someone who will see your work outside of the people who think you’re amazing
anyway and be able to identify areas in the manuscript that might need
tweaking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Competition
judges can be harsh, sometimes unnecessarily so. Sometimes it feels like a
personal attack on your book baby. The trick is to look past the emotions. Is
there advice in that feedback you can use? Did you write too much telling and
no showing? Is your plot under-developed or your heroine TSTL? (That’s feedback
that will make you cringe when the book gets to review stage.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Workshops and Conferences</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">When I first
started writing, I didn’t have Google or internet (yes, I’m <i>that</i> old!) I
bought craft books like Valerie Parv’s <i>The Art of Romance Writing </i>from
good old brick and mortar bookstores to learn how to write. In this day of
modern technology, we have so much more material right at our fingertips. Now
you can do online workshops, webinars, podcasts, audio books…the list goes on.
So get those fingers moving on the keyboard. Find a few good online workshops,
attend conferences, writing centres and get involved. These are all great
places to bump into editors and agents too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">3.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> <b> </b></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Plotter or Pantser</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I’m a terrible
pantser. I give my characters too much power over the plot. That worked fine
for me when my memory was reliable and I had 20/20 vision (okay, I’ve never had
20/20 vision!) Even if you’re not a plotter, at least have an idea of where
your plot is going. Know your characters inside and out. What do they do for a
living? What color eyes do they have? What color is their hair? Do they like
animals? Build a profile of each character (or at the very least, of the main
characters) so you know them as well as you know yourself. Consult Dr Google
and find great ideas on how to plot your novel scenes, arches and valleys so
you don’t lose track of how your story unfolds. I use Scrivener which is
amazing for keeping my plot on track and holds me accountable for a word count
every day.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">4.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Polish – Wax On, Wax Off</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Like good wood
furniture, there is nothing better for your manuscript than polish. Once you’ve
written that first draft, set it aside to rest. Finish the next book. Yes,
we’re all in a hurry to get our work in front of a publisher, but the industry
won’t be shutting down tomorrow. You have years ahead of you, so don’t rush.
Give yourself some distance from your book, at least a month or two before you
look at it again. Why? Because when you come back to it with fresh eyes, you’re
more likely to recognize areas that need tweaking. Get another round of
feedback on the first draft. This will help you polish up your story.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">5.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Submission and Patience</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Rome wasn’t
built in a day and neither were the long-standing traditional publishing
houses. Patience is the key to submission. Submit and forget. (Yes, it’s hard,
I know!) Work on the next book while you wait. It could be a very long wait or
you could be lucky and it lands on the desk of an editor who loves it and wants
it now. But don’t be in a hurry to rush out and self-publish if it’s rejected.
Have a look at the reasons why it was rejected by the publisher. How can you address
their concerns, how can you polish that book before you hit the self-publish
button?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">6.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Trust your Editor</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Here’s a tough
one for you because you won’t always like what your editor has to say. And
sometimes what they say results in almost a complete rewrite of your precious
book baby. Editing is like putting yourself through the rollers of a
pre-electricity 1930’s washing machine and squeezing the life-blood right out
of your veins. You have to sacrifice plot bunnies, kill off characters and strike
through some of your favorite lines. Harder than any of that, is seeing past
the emotion to the technical advice that your editor is giving you. Your
publisher knows what they’re looking for, your editor knows what works in the
market and what doesn’t. Trust them. Even if you don’t like what they have to
say. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">If you’ve
decided to self-publish, a good editor and proofreader will make all the
difference to your work. It doesn’t matter that your best friend is an English
teacher and has offered to check the grammar and spelling for you. Editing
isn’t only about grammar, spelling and punctuation. Plot, structure,
delivery–all these are important factors in turning your book into a novel that
readers will never forget. So even if your friend proofreads the final,
pre-submission manuscript, invest in a qualified editor who is listed with a reputable
editing organization before your book reaches the proofing stage.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">7.<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b>Take Care of YOU</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">This is my last
piece of advice. Writing is exhausting, draining and rewarding, in no
particular order. It’s a constant journey of highs and lows, so it’s really
important to take care of yourself both physically and mentally. Stay happy,
healthy and wise. Exercise, don’t forget to socialize (occasionally,
introverts!) and keep on learning. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Happy writing,
and may you career be a long, rewarding and successful one.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Fast Lane (Calhoun Customs Garage Book 2)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir4c_60KvGDyTG61f8coskfJ0NoIcKUYvOqXcg0YiPjq0_VTys7SO8YSn3HL_Tan2ev2ASLIXWbQK7WbWmlPDtOF8qaf3yShqTGT0YuoyFb-dNvs-3kY10FEsTbNGZ-YW8gGDHNbsrZPu1/s1600/FastLane-LARGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir4c_60KvGDyTG61f8coskfJ0NoIcKUYvOqXcg0YiPjq0_VTys7SO8YSn3HL_Tan2ev2ASLIXWbQK7WbWmlPDtOF8qaf3yShqTGT0YuoyFb-dNvs-3kY10FEsTbNGZ-YW8gGDHNbsrZPu1/s400/FastLane-LARGE.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3CVygGwKBEH-CwOfX0SsWJrM6CLPEu2s5j3FdDJS-K5R7nshIk_FTK1R04kFTmMmneglR0WZDkFYnBCT_eZmq-Lqe1TOqSk1a1cDeW12RW4C8REBVQaxTVWbdxcZ2V-BsD4l0RR2G4gM/s1600/FastLane-LARGE.jpg"><span style="color: blue; font-size: 13.5pt;"><br />
</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Trinity Calhoun is a name everyone knows on the
race circuit, but her days in the hot seat are numbered. She’s tired of the
limelight, meaningless relationships and long hours behind the wheel. When her
father calls her and her sister home, she’s ready. She slips right back into
the family business, finishing off the custom car projects her father has lined
up. But racing is in her blood and she’s lured back to risking her life on the
hot rod drag strips outside of town. It’s there she meets paramedic and
volunteer firefighter, Reece Balmain, who has her re-thinking the road her life
is taking.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Reece Balmain
arrives in Big Fork a broken man. He’s lived and breathed through horror accidents,
haunted by the faces of the people he’s cut from vehicles. He knows one
thing–speed kills. He’s hoping not to see too much of it in small town Montana,
until he hears about the drag races taking place outside of town. He knows
Trinity Calhoun. He’s watched her race, seen her win, held his breath when her
car somersaulted into barriers in Daytona Beach. He doesn’t like what she does,
but he can’t stay away from the woman who’s claiming his heart.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span><b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;">Buy on:</span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><br />
</span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07SB23K84/"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;">Amazon
US Kindle</span></b></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><br />
</span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07SB23K84/"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;">Amazon
Aust</span></b></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;"><br />
</span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07SB23K84/"><b><span style="background: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 18.0pt;">Amazon
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">OVERDRIVE (Calhoun Customs Garage Book 1)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirQaBMCM3Uh1Rl5S82RbBFCA764Vmnrs_n8amzCuFpD95P63AyCOpX_CaZ6wj17N3mwIFx7_9x4aPDqs3E0exhzHbH0esGZb29IGgzBMgPkyML1aSOrlMnq9y1AV5WkVBJAB_RsBtyCAoc/s1600/Overdrive-LARGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirQaBMCM3Uh1Rl5S82RbBFCA764Vmnrs_n8amzCuFpD95P63AyCOpX_CaZ6wj17N3mwIFx7_9x4aPDqs3E0exhzHbH0esGZb29IGgzBMgPkyML1aSOrlMnq9y1AV5WkVBJAB_RsBtyCAoc/s400/Overdrive-LARGE.jpg" width="266" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Chase Calhoun has worked hard at making Calhoun
Customs a world-wide sensation and keeping his father’s dream alive. He hasn’t
had time to think about settling down, so he’s not expecting to find love or
new life hiding in the attic of their garage among the ghosts of his family’s
past.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Charlotte Jackson is on the run from a rebellious
past, determined to prove she can be a good mom to three-month-old baby, Zoe.
Tired of being delegated to the back office of the racing team her famous
NASCAR family owns, she sets out to establish herself as a custom design
artist. But she’s out of money, luck and time, and she can’t hide in the attic
at Calhoun Customs forever.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">While Chase slowly loses his heart to his
refrigerator thief and the baby bundle asleep in his laundry basket, Charlotte
learns that sometimes family is more than just blood and DNA.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Paperback</a></span></b></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Aust</a></span></b></span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-61044611399565729062019-07-15T03:47:00.000-07:002019-09-30T04:52:59.147-07:00Rania Battany Talks on the Importance of Building Tension<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">This week we have author Rania Battany. She explains the importance of building tension in a story. </span></b><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rania Battany lives with her husband and three
children in the beautiful Yarra Ranges, Victoria, Australia. When she isn’t
getting her hands dirty in the garden, frolicking with her chickens or dog, or
chasing after her three young children, she is writing contemporary romance
novels that tug at the heartstrings or curled up with a cup of tea and a book.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Rania Battany on the web:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #1f497d; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://raniabattany.com/"><span style="color: #1f497d;">Website</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/raniabattany/">Facebook</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.instagram.com/rania_gardensandwrites/">Instagram</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/RaniaBattany">Twitter</a>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: large;">Over to Rania...</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Writing Craft: The importance of building the tension
and chemistry between your hero and heroine (or your hero and hero/heroine and
heroine).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Romance books end with ‘Happily Ever After’, or, at
the very least, ‘Happy For Now’. It’s what romance readers want. It's one of
the main reasons we choose to read this genre. We don't want to reach the last
page and discover a twist in the story, finding then that the hero dies and the
heroine is grief-stricken. We want to finish the last page with warm fuzzy
feelings.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Recently, a friend
questioned whether I got bored with reading romance since, and I quote, “every
book ends the same way”. I guess for a non-romance reader it can seem that way,
especially considering I said above that every romance book ends with ‘Happily
Ever After’. The truth is that while we know the story will end with the hero
and heroine together, it’s the <i>how</i> we’re interested in. It’s watching
how they overcome their hurdles, hardships and emotional baggage. In a
paranormal romance, it may be discovering how they save the planet from an
alien invasion. In a historical romance, it may be how the wealthy duchess
finds a way to be with the poor groundskeeper. It’s the <i>how </i>that means
so much to a romance reader, and that relies on one main thing: whether or not
the reader believes in the connection between the hero and heroine.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">As readers, we need to be
emotionally invested in the hero and heroine’s relationship. We need to be
rooting for them to find their way, to become whole heartedly invested in them
overcoming all obstacles. The connection needs to be strong enough to keep us
interested in their struggle to be together. If we don’t feel the connection
between the hero and heroine, then their struggle towards happily ever after
won’t seem worth the time or effort to keep reading.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">Creating tension, desire
and rapport between your hero and heroine is essential. Their attraction to
each other can be either intellectual, emotional or physical, or all of the
above. Either way, the connection needs to be believable. We need to be teased
with glimpses of their growing affection. This may be in the form of secret
glances in passing or their hands accidentally brushing. We need to feel the
way their heart drums in their chest, or how their palms grow sweaty when
they’re close to one another. Perhaps it’s more overt than that. Maybe it’s
long conversations that establish a deeper connection or a traumatic incident
that brings them closer together through understanding. Perhaps it’s a
love/hate relationship, and we see them arguing passionately, only to feel the
tension of their attraction burning beneath the surface, all the while begging
to see how they finally come together.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 106%;">If you build the
connection well enough, then the reader becomes invested—and longs for—all the
big moments: The first time they touch, kiss … make love. It also makes their
conflict—the one thing that pulls them apart, whether this is physical,
external or internal—all that more powerful. It will keep your reader turning
the page, eager to see if they make it through whatever is trying to keep them from
being together. And when they <i>do</i> finally make it to their happy ever
after, it is what will make us exhale one long dreamy sigh of relief.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;">Maya is floundering. She’s
stuck in a dead-end job, is isolated from family and friends, and her
father—the only person that ever truly understood her—has been gone four years.
When her boyfriend leaves her for another woman, the rocky foundations of
Maya’s life crumble to dust, and she sinks even further into the pit of grief
and despair.</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 10.5pt;"><br />
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<span style="background: white;">Until she meets him. Sam. The one with the
animated smile and gentle eyes, who always sees the positive no matter how bad
the negative. And the one who reignites Maya’s passion through his enthusiasm
and zest, helping to rebuild her life, piece by piece. </span><br />
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<span style="background: white;">But when ghosts from Maya’s past resurface, her
decisions almost destroy the few important relationships she has left, and the
happiness she’s so recently found is threatened. She must overcome her demons
and decide what matters most—the familiarity of the past, or the hope, love and
possibilities of the future.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;">Buy on:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: large;"><a data-lynx-mode="hover" href="https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks2read.com%2Fu%2F4j1wqo%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR06t0E0GVNFHQavpgyEplrtoVA5DBirsP7kiFMCBLOLReRM4ztVoKeEow0&h=AT0_OONKtw2iX3UId-J_NVwrOOwqJ8PYgbhsDooAAiNec4_Qi-WR4ojuYuQd7tE00jq0TejYXiq44J0L7CBsU99Ii2xEROLWtNPudMsuZ9c9ZxWlfcRNmqOnGnH4SHOuYpAm6ngHMDU" rel="nofollow noopener" style="background-color: white; cursor: pointer; font-family: system-ui, -apple-system, system-ui, ".SFNSText-Regular", sans-serif; font-weight: 400; white-space: pre-wrap;" target="_blank">https://books2read.com/u/4j1wqo</a></span></b><br />
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Kindle</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07SH354YW/">Amazon Aust</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07SH354YW/">Amazon UK</a></span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: #111111; font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 16.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-55605548273479988262019-06-10T01:09:00.000-07:002019-08-29T12:30:03.833-07:00Finding the Balance Between Reality and Fantasy: Part 2 by Dani Collins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>We have author Dani Collins this week talking about <i>"Finding Balance Between Reality and Fantasy"</i>. She also has a new book out this month, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HP46YDH/" target="_blank">Untouched Until Her Ultra-Rich Husband</a>. </b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvY9a0gfmo-IOjTA8MIG2RhuGKDeUqapeXkKIyfkhLAbSWPraq0y7jO_x84ognLw8ey3z7MotZS2k-gxS3qh5CkgMreNhEsyx_C8FgRBGorInlI9JrMiJxdtrgSBZqkGDAPjgzhaeto9KT/s1600/Dani+Collins+Headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="639" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvY9a0gfmo-IOjTA8MIG2RhuGKDeUqapeXkKIyfkhLAbSWPraq0y7jO_x84ognLw8ey3z7MotZS2k-gxS3qh5CkgMreNhEsyx_C8FgRBGorInlI9JrMiJxdtrgSBZqkGDAPjgzhaeto9KT/s320/Dani+Collins+Headshot.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;">Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author</i><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2228;">Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with some laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. Mostly she writes contemporary romance for Harlequin Presents and Tule’s Montana Born, but her backlist of fifty books also includes self-published erotic romance, romantic comedy, and even an epic medieval fantasy. When she’s not writing—just kidding, she’s always writing. Look for Dani’s latest Presents, Untouched Until Her Ultra-Rich Husband, out now!</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b>Dani Collins on the web:</b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white;"><b><a href="https://danicollins.com/" target="_blank">Website</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaniCollinsAuthor/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DaniCollinsBook" target="_blank">Twitter</a> <a href="https://www.instagram.com/danicollinsauthor/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> </b></span></span><br />
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<b><span lang="EN-US">Finding the Balance Between Reality and Fantasy: Part 2<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">One of the most common criticisms of the romance genre is that it’s not ‘realistic.’ I take issue with this because I work really hard to make my characters relatable and ‘real.’</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbWGhj_xPTTz_JjxNz7mBjE-icPmwb6oYpt4X93ivwQwyYd3u-rCsqM9l9oFKOWNqWMBI3eeLqEK9cLWtSPbnqHAhxhlffCAuIfVcwPDclpUJWPwDjwYt_EBGteB-34Tr2IDS3iXUbTNEu/s1600/Untouched-UK.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbWGhj_xPTTz_JjxNz7mBjE-icPmwb6oYpt4X93ivwQwyYd3u-rCsqM9l9oFKOWNqWMBI3eeLqEK9cLWtSPbnqHAhxhlffCAuIfVcwPDclpUJWPwDjwYt_EBGteB-34Tr2IDS3iXUbTNEu/s1600/Untouched-UK.jpg" /></a></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">At the same time, with Harlequin Presents/Mills & Boon Modern, the whole point is to sweep the reader into a world of glamor and luxury. In my latest book, <i>Untouched Until Her Ultra-Rich Husband, </i>I was asked to take those touches of wealth into the stratosphere, which ran the risk of being cartoonish.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Today I’ll share some tips on how I build the fantasy world of obscene wealth (when I don’t actually live one myself) yet ensure my characters feel like someone the reader wants to be friends with.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b><span style="color: red;">Part 1 of this 2 part post is on <a href="https://revisionseditions.blogspot.com/2019/06/finding-balance-between-reality-and.html" target="_blank">Revisions & Editions here</a>.</span></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">3)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Allow the characters to acknowledge what the reader is probably thinking—that this is over-the-top.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">My heroine, Luli, has been living in Gabriel’s grandmother’s Singaporean mansion. She isn’t a complete stranger to Gabriel’s standard of living, but she’s been a servant and sheltered in other ways. When he buys her a trousseau in Paris, she doesn’t appreciate until later how much it costs:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“What reason would I have to lie?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“The twenty million I just dropped on clothes and shoes, perhaps?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“You didn’t.” She stopped dancing. The world continued to sway and swirl. She thought she might faint as all her lifeblood dropped into her feet. “Please say it wasn’t that much.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“With the ring, closer to thirty. It’s Paris, Luli. What did you think?”</span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Sequin-covered bikinis and formal evening gowns were expensive, but they were the price of pageant entry, maybe the cost of bus fare or a flight to get to the competition. They weren’t the value of a district’s worth of housing. What had she done? She clung to his sleeve to keep herself upright, vision hazy as she absorbed that she had indebted herself to him far beyond anything she could have imagined.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">4)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Show the characters valuing things beyond material wealth<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">After the scene above, Luli suffers a type of culture shock. Gabriel shows her his aquarium to soothe her, because who doesn’t chill out when they watch fish swim? It’s still a ridiculously expensive aquarium, but the value is in the way it meets her needs in the moment.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">He didn’t turn on any lights as they entered the massive room with the massive bed. She barely looked that direction or took in anything else. She was drawn to the primordial glow of the floor-to-ceiling aquarium.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">She gasped, pulled forward by the muted burble to feast her eyes on the iridescent blues and neon pinks, the fierce reds and flashing yellows. Spots adorned long lacy tails that swished in slow motion while striped orange missiles darted into crevices in the colorful fingers of coral and swaying blades of sea grass.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">She didn’t know where to look and grew dizzy trying to take it all in. She wanted to lean against the glass, breath fogging upon it as she watched.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">5)<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Show the characters wanting what all humans want – human connection<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Luli is an ex-beauty pageant contestant from Venezuela being held as an indentured servant in Singapore who has taught herself computer programming. You may be excused for thinking she sounds a bit far-fetched, but I’m receiving a lot of great feedback on her. I think it’s because readers relate to her loneliness, though she doesn’t wallow in it. Here she’s explaining one of the reasons the rest of the servants didn’t like her:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“I sat in on the butler’s meetings with Mae when they reviewed household expenses and raises. It was my task to prepare the performance reviews and suggest appropriate wage increases.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">Gabriel’s laugh was a single cut of disbelief. “Have you made any friends here?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">“Perhaps you’ll be my first,” she said with a smile of false hope.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US">As you can see, keeping the reader believing the story—no matter how outlandish it might be—comes down to showing character reactions and making those reactions relatable. The reader doesn’t need to believe the world is real, only that the people within it are actually a lot like herself.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><b>FUN FACT:</b> <i>Ironically, Luli was inspired by a real person. While my son was at school learning computer programming, he mentioned his classmate named Luli. I liked her name so much, I stole it for my heroine (with her permission.)</i></span></div>
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<h1 class="a-size-large a-spacing-none" id="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: "Amazon Ember", Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 21px !important; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3 !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
<span class="a-size-extra-large" id="ebooksProductTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">Untouched Until Her Ultra-Rich Husband</span></h1>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39bCQ8JPzhn0uv1W42HV_SREEgLd3qEREYVun6UvJLfQ56M55x9pTLBD2fqlqDv97KVVZQm5LlaXF6q_aW-sazibuj4Wfedrj_2jOMoi0I0c-LhrrBKj88larsQmoStmm13DLKCNd1m7t/s1600/untouched-until-her-ultra-rich-husband+Aus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="389" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj39bCQ8JPzhn0uv1W42HV_SREEgLd3qEREYVun6UvJLfQ56M55x9pTLBD2fqlqDv97KVVZQm5LlaXF6q_aW-sazibuj4Wfedrj_2jOMoi0I0c-LhrrBKj88larsQmoStmm13DLKCNd1m7t/s320/untouched-until-her-ultra-rich-husband+Aus.jpg" width="207" /></a><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><br /></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><em>The only woman to challenge him…</em></strong><strong style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></strong><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">…is the only woman he’ll marry!</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Multibillionaire Gabriel Dean is so outrageously wealthy that when computer genius Luli Cruz uses her skills to hold his inheritance to ransom, her audacity simply amuses him! Innocent Luli needs Gabriel’s help to avoid destitution. Gabriel’s solution? He’ll secure both their futures by marrying her! But sweeping wide-eyed Luli into his luxurious world, Gabriel discovers the chemistry with his untouched wife is </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">priceless</em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">…</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Welcome to the exclusive world of the ultra-rich…</span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07HP46YDH/" target="_blank">Amazon Aust</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07HP46YDH/" target="_blank"> Amazon UK</a></span></b></span></span></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-85350815457783613262019-05-14T11:35:00.000-07:002019-10-04T21:20:11.032-07:00Writing Rules with Author Georgia Carter Mathers!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Author Georgia Carter Mathers is talking about "Writing Rules!"</b></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9k8PawflYLs-Jh45OOMYfArfxa8DHu0UmkDmLNzpiE1zG5N2FBxi-5EzzAtIL_wS0fnxZ0hEWApG237FOn_A4IbxaaW1gIHDxXCbxETVq4beUtUrsSUqPgg2HT89emxu_xI_hoCMJ6xk/s1600/GeorgiaCarterMathersOfficialPhoto_Medium.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="375" data-original-width="300" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9k8PawflYLs-Jh45OOMYfArfxa8DHu0UmkDmLNzpiE1zG5N2FBxi-5EzzAtIL_wS0fnxZ0hEWApG237FOn_A4IbxaaW1gIHDxXCbxETVq4beUtUrsSUqPgg2HT89emxu_xI_hoCMJ6xk/s320/GeorgiaCarterMathersOfficialPhoto_Medium.jpg" width="256" /></a><span style="color: #111111;">Love is just around the corner when you open one of Georgia's books. This is her promise to you. </span><span style="color: #111111;">She writes paranormal romance to chase happiness. There is so much hate and misery in this world, and she wants to show that love can conquer all.</span></div>
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Some of her stories talk about issues that feel insurmountable, but her stories always end with a happy ever after. That is the point. No problem is too big.</div>
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Her stories are written about those who conquer it all, and she hopes you find hope and happiness within her books.</div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Georgia on the web: </span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #111111; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.facebook.com/georgiasparanormalromance/" target="_blank">Facebook</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/romancegeorgiac" target="_blank">Twitter</a> <a href="https://georgiacartermathers.com/" target="_blank">Website</a></b></span><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: red;">Free book can be obtained here:</span><span style="color: #111111;"> </span><span style="color: #666666;"> </span><span id="yiv4518923515gmail-sample-permalink" style="color: #666666;"><a href="https://georgiacartermathers.com/free-book/" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="color: #0096dd; outline: transparent solid 1px;" target="_blank">https://georgiacartermathers.com/<span id="yiv4518923515editable-post-name">free-book</span>/</a></span></span></b><br />
<b style="color: #111111;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></b><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Over to Georgia now...</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Most creative writing rules are there to be followed, but in some respects, most of these rules can and <i>should </i>be broken.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">However, there is one rule I will never break: write for your audience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Let me explain with an analogy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Writing is a bit like driving.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When you're learning, you follow (or should follow) the road rules to the letter.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">You don't want to make a mistake, and you don't want to have an accident.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But as you grow as a driver (and similarly as a writer), you learn when it is okay to break those rules.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">You learn you have to do certain things to achieve your goal—to get to a certain place safely.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">With writing, you learn you have to serve your readers’ needs. Otherwise, you will have no career.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Of course, those authors who write literary fiction will never admit to needing to serve their audiences’ needs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They will tell you proudly they produce their art from deep within their psyche and that they will never adhere to trends.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But in the end, they are merely serving literary fiction tropes. Nothing more.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Literary fiction audiences expect them to produce something that emanates from their psyche, talking about the human condition etc. etc.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Learning this is part of each writer's journey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">My process is to take inspiration from my environment and surrounds, and I apply this stimulus to the type of story I am trying to write.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Many writers and creative producers see themselves as mirrors of society, and in many respects, I adhere to the view that cultural production is a massive circular process with no end and no beginning.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Most creative writing rules are there to ensure the story is communicated as clearly as possible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">So of course, writers ignore these particular rules at their own risk.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">But other creative writing rules are nothing more than elements of style. Others become a matter of politics, control, and belief.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Writing has always been a political activity. Particularly, if you are writing in a genre people enjoy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Those who think books should only be reflective, academic, or informative politicize romance as books for those who don’t want to think too hard or those who want porn.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">They frame romance and all its sub-genres as books for the masses who want titillation.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Effectively, their criticisms and assumptions try to censor and control the reading preferences of others.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Writing rules operate hand-in-hand with these elements of control.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Some authors will argue until the cows come home whether the Oxford Comma should be used, or whether an author should write outside of their personal experience. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Should a book be denied publication because the writer is black or white?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Should a book about mental illness be written, even if the writer has had little experience of mental illness?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Some new writers ask whether they should use a sensitivity reader or not.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Should they write in US English?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Should they publish their first book?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">All these issues need to be considered in the context of the audience.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">In the end, the writer needs to work to produce a book that best serves the audience’s needs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">This is the overriding rule to which I adhere.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It is the one rule I advise new writers to use as their guide. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">It may seem vague, but in the end, it will serve you well.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><b>Georgia says...</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I have recently launched two new reverse harem books about Amanda, a Fire Witch. She can't resist her hot addictions (five sexy-as-hell fire marshals), and it gets awful hot along the way. </span><br />
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<h1 class="a-size-large a-spacing-none" id="title" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: "amazon ember", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 21px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="a-size-extra-large" id="ebooksProductTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="color: red;">Claiming Her Fire Marshals: A Paranormal Reverse Harem Prologue (Hot Addictions Book 1)</span></span></span></h1>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifW78sP1PFpyWbBxPUW79oaZFNqInxoHrq7bIAL00lW4DW53_q8ZXIxxnggVG0ATZuOGEUXUmfI4cdKD4A2Ss40C7sCWgH-Fdg_pA6WRuCKgx0i9J1pkUxv0njTzothV_AjPWki46Q5x8/s1600/Claoming.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifW78sP1PFpyWbBxPUW79oaZFNqInxoHrq7bIAL00lW4DW53_q8ZXIxxnggVG0ATZuOGEUXUmfI4cdKD4A2Ss40C7sCWgH-Fdg_pA6WRuCKgx0i9J1pkUxv0njTzothV_AjPWki46Q5x8/s640/Claoming.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Amanda's five fire marshals are more than just eye candy.</b></span></span></div>
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><br /></span>
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: justify;">Sure. They're sexy. They're sweet. But there is more to them than just that. </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: justify;">And the Fire Jinns are telling Amanda she should take all five of them.</span></span><br />
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span><br /></span>
<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: justify;">My God. Her body isn’t arguing.</span><br />
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But her sisters of the Ruling Coven won’t approve. Not ever.</span></span></div>
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"></span></span><br /></span>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">She should take a cold shower. Better make that five cold showers. But damn…</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">She should take what is hers anyway. This is more than lust.</span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><i style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">If you love heroines not afraid to take what they want, be sure to pick up Claiming Her Fire Marshals now.</i></span></div>
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "helvetica" , "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"></span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Buy on:</b></span></span><br />
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QYML9WR" target="_blank">Amazon US </a> </b></span></span><br />
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07QYML9WR" target="_blank">Amazon Aust</a></b></span></span><br />
<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07QYML9WR" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a></b></span></span><br />
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">Book 2 in Hot Addictions series:</span></b></span><br />
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" id="ebooksProductTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span style="color: red;">Claiming Her Dragons: A Paranormal Reverse Harem (Hot Addictions Book 2)</span></span></span></h1>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><b style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-size: large;">Dragons are more fun when they've been cursed.</span></i></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And when they've agreed to Amanda's terms. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">She wants them all. Why not be a little naughty? </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Even when a fire investigation drops them into an explosive situation, she's not going to let that stop her.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Each one of her dragons are different in their own way. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Insecurities? Yep. Emotional baggage? Yep. Ability to make her forget her own name. Yep.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">They make her do stuff. At least, stuff her sisters wouldn’t let her do.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Until now.</span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizelegibility;"><i style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>If you love watching all the different ways a dragon can be at a Fire Witch's beck and call, you'll love reading this fast-paced, sexy reverse harem.</b></i></span></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-31478710052305702822019-04-22T21:17:00.000-07:002019-05-30T20:16:12.602-07:00Adverbs with Jane Godman<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<b style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">Author Jane Godman is talking about </b><b style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i>Adverbs</i></span></b><b style="color: red; font-size: x-large;">. She has a new book out this month, Colton's Secret Bodyguard (The Colton's of Roaring Spring).</b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">JANE GODMAN is a 2019 Romantic Novelists’ Award winner and 2018 Daphne du Maurier Award finalist. She writes thrillers for Harlequin Romantic Suspense/Mills and Boon Heroes and paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne/Mills and Boon Supernatural and St. Martin’s Press Romance. She also self publishes her historical and gothic stories.</span></div>
<div class="yiv3424038721gmail_default" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1553160546166_5899" style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Jane was born in Scotland and has lived in Germany, Wales, Malta, South Africa, and England. She still gets the urge to travel, although these days she tends to head for a Spanish beach, or a European city that is steeped in history. </span></div>
<div class="yiv3424038721gmail_default" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1553160546166_5906" style="background-color: white; text-align: start;">
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">When she isn’t reading or writing romance, Jane enjoys cooking, spending time with her family, and enjoying the antics of her dogs, Gravy and Vera. </span></div>
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<b><a href="http://janegodmanauthor.com/"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Website</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/JaneGodmanAuthor/"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">Facebook</span></a><span style="color: black; font-size: 14pt;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><a href="https://twitter.com/JaneGodman"> Twitter</a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6923685.Jane_Godman" target="_blank">Goodreads</a></span></b></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Are Adverbs the Enemy?<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“<i>I believe the road to hell is paved with
adverbs.”</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Stephen King<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">It’s a well-known
quote. But, seriously, what’s wrong with adverbs? They have served a useful
purpose for centuries. Should they be banished because of a new “rule”? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Firstly, let me say
that, in my opinion, there is nothing wrong with adverbs. Oh, and there are no
“rules” in writing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">While there’s
nothing wrong with adverbs, they can get in the way of richer language. If a
dog is barking, is it necessary to say it’s doing it ‘loudly’? If a person is running,
there is no need to add that they’re doing it ‘quickly’.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Stephen King was
giving good advice to writers to guard against the temptation to overuse
adverbs. We should focus on strong, vivid verbs instead. There is no rule about
eliminating all adverbs. Instead, we should strive to be precise in our
wording.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Adverbs can
distance the reader or fill in details the reader should be filling in. Too
many adverbs take away the reader’s ability to put their own interpretation on
a story’s events. And too many adverbs can get wordy (or boring).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Then again, there
are always examples that break the “rules”…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely
under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by
some, to dream. Hill House, not sane, stood by itself against the hills,
holding darkness within; it had stood so for eighty years and might stand for
eighty more. Within, walls continued upright, bricks met neatly, floors were
firm, and doors were sensibly shut; silence lay steadily against the wood and
stone of Hill House, and whatever walked there, walked alone.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The Haunting of
Hill House, Shirley Jackson.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Would the “no adverbs”
rule have improved this opening?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">My advice would be
to use adverbs when they add something to your writing. If you find yourself
relying on them, try finding alternatives. If a character “surges up” from her
seat it makes more impact than saying she “rose quickly”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "georgia" , "serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 200%;">As always, it’s
important to remember that, when it comes to writing, there are no rules, only
advice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "georgia" , serif; font-size: 13.5pt;"><span style="color: red;">Colton’s Secret Bodyguard (The Coltons of Roaring Spring)</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<strong><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">His mission: keep her safe, no matter what…<o:p></o:p></span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"><br /></span></strong>
<strong><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">A Coltons of Roaring Springs thriller.<o:p></o:p></span></strong><br />
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<strong><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">Just as Bree Colton is about to take the local art world by storm, someone is determined to sabotage her success…unless Rylan Bennet can keep her safe. Bree doesn’t want anyone to protect her—not even gorgeous Rylan, whose secrets threaten them both. But can the former soldier win the battle for Bree’s heart and the war against a sinister foe?<o:p></o:p></span></strong></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">Buy on:</span></b><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07J3GLLXR/" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">Amazon Kindle</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/133566193X/" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">Amazon Paperback</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07J3GLLXR/" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">Amazon UK</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/gp/product/B07J3GLLXR/" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">Amazon Aust</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781488041235_coltons-secret-bodyguard.html" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">Harlequin</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/coltons-secret-bodyguard-jane-godman/1129705412" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">B&N </span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebook/colton-s-secret-bodyguard" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">Kobo</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Coltons-Secret-Bodyguard-Jane-Godman/9781335661937" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">Book Depository</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"> </span><a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/coltons-secret-bodyguard/id1438313052" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;">iBooks</span></a><span style="font-family: "palatino linotype" , serif;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-21436568766814304122019-04-01T15:44:00.000-07:002019-04-01T15:44:48.096-07:00Chocolate Empires and the Women Who Made Them by Eliza Redgold<b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">We have author <i>Eliza Redgold</i> talking about </span></span></b><b style="text-align: center; text-indent: 48px;"><i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 42.6667px;"><span style="color: red;">Chocolate Empires and the Women Who Made Them</span></span></i></b><b><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;"> this week!</span></span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1553542558243_76023">Eliza Redgold is an author and ‘romantic academic’. Her natural pen name is based upon the old, Gaelic meaning of her name,</span><a href="https://edithcowan.academia.edu/ElizabethReidBoyd" id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1553542558243_76022" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background: transparent; color: purple; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank" title="Dr Elizabeth Reid Boyd"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1553542558243_76021"> Dr Elizabeth Reid Boyd</span></a><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1553542558243_76004">. English folklore has it that if you help a fairy, you will be rewarded with red gold. She writes fiction as Eliza Redgold and non-fiction as Elizabeth Reid Boyd. She is represented by </span><a href="http://www.delbourgo.com/" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background: transparent; color: purple; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Joelle Delbourgo Associates</a> US.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1553542558243_76013">Eliza Redgold’s bestselling historical fiction includes her <i><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0cm;">Ladies of Legend</span></i> trilogy, starting with “</span><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Naked-A-Novel-Lady-Godiva/dp/1250066158" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background: transparent; color: purple; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">NAKED: A Novel of Lady Godiva</a>” released internationally by <a href="http://us.macmillan.com/naked/elizaredgold" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background: transparent; color: purple; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">St Martin’s Press</a><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1553542558243_76015"> New York. Her ‘Romance your Senses’ series of contemporary romances are published by</span><a href="http://www.millsandboon.com.au/author/eliza-redgold" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background: transparent; color: purple; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank"> Harlequin</a> (MIRA) Australia. Her Victorian historical romances are published by <a href="https://www.millsandboon.co.uk/authors/p3652/Eliza-Redgold" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background: transparent; color: purple; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Harlequin Historical </a>London (<a href="https://www.harpercollins.it/Autori/ELIZA-REDGOLD" rel="nofollow" shape="rect" style="background: transparent; color: purple; margin: 0px; outline: none; padding: 0px;" target="_blank">Harper Collins</a><span id="yui_3_16_0_ym19_1_1553542558243_76016">) and translated internationally. They include the W.H. Smith historical romance bestseller ‘Playing the Duke’s Mistress’. Her new Harlequin Historical ‘The Scandalous Suffragette’ is out now.</span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 21.4667px;"><a href="http://elizaredgold.com/">Website</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ElizaRedgoldAuthor?fref=ts">Facebook</a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="https://twitter.com/ElizaRedgold">Twitter </a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><a href="http://rbpp-elizaredgold.blogspot.com/">Author Page</a></span></b><br />
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<b><i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 200%;">Chocolate
Empires and the Women Who Made Them<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">“Every step of the process of making chocolates had
always fascinated her. Now she was seeking improvements in the procedure.
Sometimes she took visitors on tours, to show them how their famed floral
creams were made, from start to finish. The cocoa beans came from the Orient.
They were ground into a buttery mass. At the factory, in huge vats, sugar and
milk were added and cooked together, to make a delicious smelling warm liquid.
When the liquid was evaporated, a crumbly chocolate mixture was created, put
through a mill, and mixed with liquid and butter, to the correct consistency
for Coombes Floral Creams.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">In another part of the factory, essences were made
from fruit and flower petals, to make the flavouring syrups. They stood in
glass bottles, glowing in jewel colours. The syrups were mixed with sugar and
cream, then kneaded by hand smooth fondant. The fondants were then dipped by
hand into the chocolate, by women Violet had known since she was a little girl.
A crystallised petal, dusted in sugar, was always the final element. After
scrubbing her hands, she’d often been allowed to place the petal on the top of
the completed chocolate sweet.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">The process looked easy, but Violet knew how many
times her father had failed at creating the taste that made their chocolate
fondants so popular. He’d never given up.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<i><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">That was the Coombes way, Violet reminded herself.”<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">~
Extract from<i> </i><b> </b></span><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://www.harlequin.com/shop/authors/13629_eliza-redgold.html"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">‘The Scandalous Suffragette’</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 200%;">by
Eliza Redgold<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><i><span lang="EN-AU">When chocolate heiress Violet Coombes is caught hanging her
suffragette banner in a most shocking place, Adam Beaufort Esquire proposes a
marriage of convenience! His good name will avert scandal for her family, and
her money will save the estate Adam’s father gambled away. Violet accepts, but
she’s determined nothing will distract her from the Cause – including her
oh-so-tempting husband!<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjurjF6Ak5CVtMGVurjHZI36Y8PkVRgsCklsi99r-h5b0wCaTDUjxjofOuPC81meR0aP9AXvWpjaohXq0QqKnI3YhdKXsVuf8WO9LIK-0S5_lTisy66EsTi_iHb5jJmPVegHWaKAseL3Ddx/s1600/The+Scandalous+Aust.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="469" data-original-width="298" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjurjF6Ak5CVtMGVurjHZI36Y8PkVRgsCklsi99r-h5b0wCaTDUjxjofOuPC81meR0aP9AXvWpjaohXq0QqKnI3YhdKXsVuf8WO9LIK-0S5_lTisy66EsTi_iHb5jJmPVegHWaKAseL3Ddx/s640/The+Scandalous+Aust.jpg" width="406" /></a></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I am thrilled to present </span></b><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://www.harlequin.com/shop/authors/13629_eliza-redgold.html"><b><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">‘The Scandalous Suffragette’</span></b></a></span><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: Harlequin
Historical’s first ever Edwardian romance.<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Violet’s story is inspired by the daring
suffragettes who fought for the women’s vote. Today we might not be able to
imagine what it was like to have no vote and few legal rights, but in Violet’s
time this battle had not yet been won. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The time period in which Violet’s story
is set was when great chocolate empires such as Cadbury and Fry had come to
prominence. The confectioners generally provided excellent conditions for their
workers, especially for women. In this, Violet’s goals at Coombes Chocolates
factory make her very much a woman of her times. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">It also meant I had to research …
chocolate!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">My <i>extensive
r</i>esearch had me delving into the history of chocolate factories, such </span><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="file:///C:/Users/fiji/Desktop/Cover%20Ads/Eliza%20Redgold/Bournville"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Bournville</span></a></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">
village in England, which was built especially for the factory workers. The original ‘factory in a garden’, it was
designed to make working life … sweeter. Seriously, it’s an inspiration, and a
dream we could do with re-imagining today. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I was also forced to taste a range of floral-flavoured
chocolate fondants. Fortunately, edible
flowers are coming back into fashion, so I was able to do some vital tests.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Here are a few of my findings on where
to find Violet Creams:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span class="MsoHyperlink"><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">A friend kindly gave me a box of
Charbonnel et Walker’s fine <a href="https://www.charbonnel.co.uk/collections/the-grand-ballroom/our-fine-rose-violet-creams-the-grand-ballroom-275g.html">English
Rose and Violet Creams Grand Ballroom Collection <span style="color: windowtext; text-decoration-line: none;"><o:p></o:p></span></a></span></div>
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<!--[if !supportLists]--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12.0pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">I’m still waiting to sample the
exclusive </span><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://www.royalcollectionshop.co.uk/buckingham-palace-rose-and-violet-creams.html"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Buckingham
Palace Rose and Violet Creams</span></a></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Somehow I always find my way to Haigh’s
Chocolates in Adelaide, Australia, where they make delicious </span><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://www.haighschocolates.com.au/dark-violet-cream-250g"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Haigh’s Dark
Violet Creams</span></a></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">In the USA, floral fondants are not easy
to find, so I may still need to make a special research trip, but a good place
to start is </span><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://www.vermontcountrystore.com/candy/category/candies"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">The Vermont
Country Store</span></a></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Or who not try your hand at making your
own chocolate creams? At </span><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://www.elizaredgold.com/"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">elizaredgold.com</span></a></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> you’ll find my
recipe for </span><span lang="EN-AU"><a href="https://elizaredgold.com/scandals-and-suffragettes/"><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Violet Creams</span></a></span><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;"> (I
ate far too many while writing this book).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , "serif"; font-size: 12.0pt;">Please let me know in the
comments if you have any other important research findings! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><b><span lang="EN-AU" style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 42.6667px;"> <i>The Scandalous Suffragette</i> <o:p></o:p></span></b></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J1J8D51/" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Scandalous-Suffragette-Eliza-Redgold/dp/1335635076/" target="_blank"> Amazon Paperback</a></span></b><br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B07J1J8D51/" target="_blank">Amazon Aust </a> <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07J1J8D51/" target="_blank">Amazon UK</a> </span></b><br />
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Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-32403417656656830792018-11-26T13:37:00.000-08:002018-11-26T13:37:57.213-08:00Tackling Revisions by Karin Baine & Giveaway!<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>This week we have author Karin Baine talking about 'Tackling Revisions'. And she has a kindle copy of her new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07CCG5RWK/" target="_blank">Midwife Under the Mistletoe</a> to give away to one commenter! </b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #2a2a2a; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 16px;">Karin Baine lives in Northern Ireland with her husband, two sons, and her out-of-control notebook collection. Her Mother and Grandmother's vast collection of books inspired her love of reading and her dream of becoming a Harlequin Mills & Boon® author. It wasn't until she joined her critical group UCW that she started to believe she could actually write – and only her husband's support enabled her to pursue it. At least now she can tell people she has a proper job! </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: large;"><b><span style="color: red;">You can find Karin here:</span></b><o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="http://www.karinbaine.com/">Website</a> </b></span><b style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/KarinBaineAuthor?ref=hl">Facebook</a></b><br />
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://twitter.com/karinbaine1?lang=en-gb">Twitter</a> </b></span><a href="https://uk.pinterest.com/karinbaine/" style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Pinterest</b></a></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><u><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Tackling Revisions – Karin
Baine </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></u></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It
doesn’t matter what stage your writing career is at, when you get that email
attachment from an editor with suggested revisions your heart always skips a
beat. Being faced with pages of changes to the story you’ve slaved over for
weeks, or months, can be intimidating and often it’s difficult to know where to
start. It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve opened an attachment and closed it
again without even reading it because I’m scared to look! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">I’m
no expert but with ten medical romances published with Harlequin/Mills&Boon
I’m going to share my process with you on tackling those dreaded revisions. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">First,
make sure you read the notes thoroughly and give yourself time to digest your
editor’s comments. It can be just as tempting to jump straight in and get the
changes back ASAP as it is to put them off but try to find a happy medium. Your
editor doesn’t want to wait weeks for you to get back to them but equally,
there’s no point rushing and not doing a thorough job. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">After
reading revisions through I immediately print them out and highlight all the
key points. It’s easier to see them at a glance this way, especially if you
have a notice board to pin them to. I also find it helpful to separate the
comments into things my editor did, or didn’t, like. This means not only
condensing the notes into easier to manage sections, but it also provides a
list of positives to look back on when feeling discouraged! <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">It
can take several read throughs of your manuscript to cover all the points
raised and to make sure any changes haven’t affected your timeline but it’s
important to check and save yourself another round of revisions. Of course, if
there are certain things you disagree with you can raise these but the
important thing to remember is that an editor wants to work with you to write
the best possible book you can. </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 200%;"><span style="font-size: large;">All the hard work will be worth it in the end.</span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="a-size-extra-large" style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><strong style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A kiss under the mistletoe…</strong><br style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" /><em style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">A family for Christmas?</em><br style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">GP Fraser McColl longs to be part of a loving family, but past experience has taught him he’s better off alone. Only, thrown together with gorgeous yet guarded midwife Iona Munro, to care for two children at Christmas, he’s tempted to believe in miracles… After one passionate night together, can he persuade Iona that they deserve a lifetime of happiness—</span><em style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">together</em><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">?</span></span></div>
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<br />Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-34563509724396331222018-11-13T11:22:00.000-08:002018-11-13T11:22:57.151-08:00Writing to Your Market by Dani Collins<span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>This week we have author Dani Collins talking about 'Writing to Your Market'. She has a new Christmas book out this month, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJS9DRC/" target="_blank">Wedding at Mistletoe Chalet</a>.</b></span><br />
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Award-winning and USA Today Bestselling author Dani Collins thrives on giving readers emotional, compelling, heart-soaring romance with some laughter and heat thrown in, just like real life. Mostly she writes contemporary romance for Harlequin Presents and Tule’s Montana Born, but her backlist of forty books also includes self-published erotic romance, romantic comedy, and even an epic medieval fantasy. When she’s not writing—just kidding, she’s always writing. She lives in Christina Lake, BC with her high school sweetheart husband who occasionally coaxes her out of her attic office to visit their grown children—or travel.</div>
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<span style="color: red;"><strong><a href="http://danicollins.com/" style="color: red;">Website</a> <a href="http://blog.danicollins.com/" style="color: red;"> Blog</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DaniCollinsAuthor" style="color: red;">Facebook </a></strong></span></div>
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<span style="color: red;"><br /></span><span style="color: red;"><strong><a href="https://twitter.com/DaniCollinsBook" style="color: red;">Twitter</a> <a href="http://www.pinterest.com/DaniCollinsBook/" style="color: red;">Pinterest</a> <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6572063.Dani_Collins" style="color: red;">Goodreads</a></strong></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">One of the biggest mistakes I’ve made as a
writer (and trust me, I’ve made pretty much all of them) was not understanding
early enough how important it is to write to market—<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">if you want to publish</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">First, it’s important you understand that
writing is yours and no one can take it from you or tell you how to do it. You
can write what you want and share it or not, that’s your decision. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">However, if you want to sell your stories,
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<span lang="EN-GB">Before I published, I did follow my bliss.
I wrote many different types of books: Harlequin Presents, romcom, erotic
romance, medieval fantasy romance, Harlequin Presents… I won’t say I regret
those books. They were learning ground and I’ve since indie published some of
them with mixed success in terms of sales.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I had always read widely in romance
subgenres so I didn’t see a problem in writing many types of romance. I made it
my goal to write aspirational characters. I kept my prose clean even if my
language wasn’t. I wrote the kind of book I wanted to write at the time, not
realizing that a career is not built on one romcom or one medieval fantasy.
Readers who love an author in one genre may not follow to another. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">For instance, I might love Nalini Singh’s
shape-shifters, but I wouldn’t necessarily pick up an Amish Christmas story if
she put one out. While some readers pick up both my Montana Born stories and my
Harlequin Presents, many stick to reading one or the other. Readers have
preferences. They’re like humans that way!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">Which doesn’t mean you can’t take chances.
Just be strategic. For instance, this year, I’ve dipped my toe into sweet and
wholesome (no sex, no swearing) with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Wedding
at Mistletoe Chalet</i>. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">It’s a standalone book, which is always a
risk, but in this case I don’t think I’ll have to start at zero with finding a reader
base. It’s enough like my Montana Born books to appeal to those lovers of small
town romance. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB">I also think readers who enjoy sexy books can
be coaxed to try a sweet romance, especially if it’s a Christmas story. If I
had a dozen wholesome books under my belt and suddenly put out a story with hot
love scenes using saucy language, I think it would be a much tougher sell. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB"><b>Have you found your lane? Or are you still
figuring out where your place in the market is likely to be?</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>New Book from Dani Collins!</b></span></span></div>
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<h1 class="a-size-large a-spacing-none" id="title" style="background-color: white; box-sizing: border-box; color: #111111; font-family: "amazon ember", arial, sans-serif; font-size: 21px; font-weight: 400; line-height: 1.3; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<span class="a-size-extra-large" id="ebooksProductTitle" style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 28px !important; line-height: 1.2 !important; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility;">Wedding at Mistletoe Chalet</span> </h1>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eODE0M8V3BRTVxrvbWaDA28Z5WiHtlrrgzCI52bmP6NVCaLjwVVPCDGz_D9yrVaH4AQD6qYYS_WI5Yh0QaDORhNjAPR00o_Rw3QMF1Li9Ti-oIo1VoXTMv_2eOtK8Cv-G54ltDiFGniK/s1600/WeddingAtMistletoeChalet-LARGE.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3eODE0M8V3BRTVxrvbWaDA28Z5WiHtlrrgzCI52bmP6NVCaLjwVVPCDGz_D9yrVaH4AQD6qYYS_WI5Yh0QaDORhNjAPR00o_Rw3QMF1Li9Ti-oIo1VoXTMv_2eOtK8Cv-G54ltDiFGniK/s640/WeddingAtMistletoeChalet-LARGE.jpg" width="426" /></a></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Eager for a home-style Christmas while she considers a career shift, Kristen Benz leaps on the temporary job at Mistletoe Chalet. Soon she’s wrapping presents, trimming the tree, and helping her new boss’s tween daughter plan a Christmas Eve vow renewal for her parents. The holiday is imbued with a magical glow—especially when Kristen’s high school sweetheart appears on the doorstep.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">After years of medical school, Finn Garrett has promised his parents he’ll be home for the holidays. His detour to see his first love is supposed to provide closure, not rekindle their long-ago romance.</span><br style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Can a matchmaking tween and the magic of Mistletoe Chalet spark the happily ever after that eluded them in the past?</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>Buy on:</b></span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HJS9DRC/" target="_blank">Amazon Kindle </a></b></span></span></span></div>
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<br />Nashttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14984530648140460594noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6919218811799644081.post-72677666292611525342018-09-03T13:46:00.001-07:002018-09-03T13:46:27.964-07:00Learning to Write with Pippa Roscoe! <span style="color: red; font-size: large;"><b>This week we have author Pippa Roscoe talking about writing. She has a new book out, A Ring to Take His Revenge (The Winner's Circle).</b></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUP5wvAQ3aQkuhmyyFV2UdjPKXJJAv5FngiDbKREsfDH3OeCPNsts35zYHv4_cbt1oLLnoA20HFUoiKf1k0PTVPIiJWqSThbpQ5yRbyXdaomefrBYQ7m9g_PZqIVc0cj80t1KxGLfQiNh/s1600/Author+Pic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1143" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbUP5wvAQ3aQkuhmyyFV2UdjPKXJJAv5FngiDbKREsfDH3OeCPNsts35zYHv4_cbt1oLLnoA20HFUoiKf1k0PTVPIiJWqSThbpQ5yRbyXdaomefrBYQ7m9g_PZqIVc0cj80t1KxGLfQiNh/s320/Author+Pic.jpg" width="228" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Mills & Boon author Pippa Roscoe lives
in Norfolk near her family and makes daily promises that </span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14pt;">this</span><span style="background: white; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14pt;"> will
be the day she will leave the computer and take a long walk in the countryside.
She can’t remember a time when she wasn’t dreaming of gorgeous alpha males and
misunderstood heroines. Totally her mother’s fault of course—she gave Pippa her
first romance to read at the age of seven! She is inconceivably happy that she
gets to share those daydreams with her readers. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14pt;">Pippa Roscoe on the web:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="background: white; font-family: "Palatino Linotype", serif; font-size: 14pt;"><a href="http://www.pipparoscoe.com/">Website</a> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PippaRoscoeAuthorPage/">Facebook</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/PippaRoscoe">Twitter</a> <o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Keeping
your characters on the page together<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Ever get that moment when your hero wants to
stalk off the page and brood all over his thoughts? Or when your heroine just
doesn’t want to play ball because she’s had enough of the outrageously
demanding hero? Or when there is an absolutely vital plot point that requires
one character to spend at least a chapter with a secondary character? You know,
you <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">know</i>, that your hero and heroine
should be together, but… but! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">For my debut book, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Conquering His Virgin Queen</b>, keeping the Odir and Eloise on the
page was easy – the entire story took place in twelve hours and there wasn’t a
minute or word to waste in plot points or secondary characters. But <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A Ring to Take His Revenge</b> was slightly
different. It was the first in a trilogy about three powerful heroes and there
was so much brooding fun male bonding I wanted to get onto the page, I found
the heroes-in-waiting nudging my heroine out of focus. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">What
you want to show and what the readers <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">need</i>
you to show can be different things:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">In A Ring to Take His Revenge, I had a perfect
prologue that set up the whole trilogy. All three heroes were there, and even a
heroine-in-waiting. There was fun, banter, back and forth and intrigue… just
not Emma, my heroine for this book! I was adamant that it couldn’t be changed.
That all the information there was vital for the entire series. But my editor
was right. I needed to bring Emma and Antonio together, because <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">they</i> and not the other characters were
what was important <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">there and then</i>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found a way to still hold on to some of the
key things I loved so much about it, and chose to start the scene earlier –
thus allowing Emma to make her fabulous entrance on to the page and I now love
the prologue even more than the original.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Explore
ways to make your hero and heroine interdependent:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">The hero needs a marriage of convenience, fine.
Your heroine can take the ring and go off around the world on an all inclusive
tour! Your heroine is pregnant, fine. Child support could easily help her
become a single mother! Often the very thing that could force these two
characters together, doesn’t necessarily mean they <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">have</i> to be together. But we do want that, so why? Why does the
hero/heroine have to stay with the other? Is it social pressure – the public need
the marriage to seem real? Or personal pressure – the hero <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">will</i> be a part of his child’s life? In A Ring to Take His Revenge,
Antonio knows that Emma is the only person who will understand his need for a very
public fiancé, who won’t make ‘emotional’ demands on him, who – he thinks – will
treat it like a business proposition. Ultimately Emma becomes both the key to
his revenge and the one thing that prevents him from reaching it. Exploring the
tension between these two aspects was huge fun and hopefully deeply
satisfying!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Find a
situation that they can’t easily walk away from:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Some of my favourite Presents books are the ones
that force the hero and heroine together, alone, for a period of time. Do they
get stranded on an island, with no immediate hope of escape? Is there a
snowstorm that locks them in a idyllic country cottage? Are they stuck on a
boat at sea? Is the heroine stranded in a desert kingdom where the Sheikh is
the only person who can save her? These moments not only allow the hero and
heroine to be alone together, but also force them to confront some of the meaty
emotional issues that are keeping them apart. Neither can simply walk away –
they’re stuck together, even when things get tough… or hot and heavy!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Georgia","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 107%;">I hope that you have found this helpful, but I’m
curious… how did your favourite book keep your hero and heroine on the page
together?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br />
<h1 align="left" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-top: 0in; text-align: left; text-indent: 0in;">
<span class="a-size-extra-large"><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 18.0pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">A Ring to Take His Revenge (The Winners' Circle)</span></span><span style="color: #111111; font-size: 18.0pt; font-style: normal; mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><o:p></o:p></span></h1>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHVxp_UdUaekZ1EqQZ7aMvqNMtaC4s8tsqcpDRaxcxthOa8pi9R_4Cf6-46gL9r3L_9I-TNHncPAEkDAtrBm5aeVz77oKzNsMZl-IzyaXcfeOy3ap_hUhKwweRL5vJj57ftB1tBUB5qdO/s1600/A+Ring+to+Take+His+Revenge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="607" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLHVxp_UdUaekZ1EqQZ7aMvqNMtaC4s8tsqcpDRaxcxthOa8pi9R_4Cf6-46gL9r3L_9I-TNHncPAEkDAtrBm5aeVz77oKzNsMZl-IzyaXcfeOy3ap_hUhKwweRL5vJj57ftB1tBUB5qdO/s400/A+Ring+to+Take+His+Revenge.jpg" width="252" /></a></b></div>
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<em><b><span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">He’ll do
anything to settle the score…</span></b></em><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">…even fake an
engagement!</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">To secure his
revenge against his cruel father, billionaire Antonio Arcuri needs a fake
fiancée—fast! He demands his shy PA, Emma Guilham, wear his diamond. In return,
he’ll help fulfill her dreams—starting with a jet-set trip to Buenos Aires!
It’s a simple charade, until the burning tension between them erupts into
irresistible desire. Now Antonio must decide between vengeance and Emma…</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #333333; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.5pt;">A powerfully
intense revenge romance!.</span><span style="color: black; font-size: 13.5pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</span></b><b><span style="background: white; color: red; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078HLPRWQ/">Amazon Kindle</a>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B078HLPRWQ/">Amazon UK</a>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://www.bookdepository.com/Ring-Take-His-Revenge-Pippa-Roscoe/9781335419712" target="_blank">Book Depository</a> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/a-ring-to-take-his-revenge/id1327305083?mt=11" target="_blank">iBooks</a></span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-ring-to-take-his-revenge-pippa-roscoe/1127687498?ean=9781335419712" target="_blank">Nook </a>
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;"><a href="https://www.harlequin.com/shop/books/9781488083716_a-ring-to-take-his-revenge.html" target="_blank">Harlequin US</a></span></b><span style="color: black; font-size: 14.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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