The Muse Unleashed
º*NEW On February 15th, Dindy Robinson, publisher of Swimming Kangaroo Books, and some of her authors were our spotlight guests on our Bragging Rites yahoo group. Below are just some of our behind the scenes fun and discussions:
We're also giving away a free e-book to everyone who subscribes to our newsletter-- all you have to do is send an email to info [at]
swimmingkangaroo.com and let us know which book you want from our line up. Once we verify that you are, indeed, a newsletter subscriber, we'll send them you book!
We have a terrific group of writers and a strong line-up of unique books. In the two years we've been around, we've discovered that we like working with new writers and developing them to their full potential, and we like publishing books that just don't seem to fit in other publisher's niches. My sister told me once that I was not a "joiner", and I guess that goes for my tastes in publishing as well.
We are looking forward to a great day here! I want to thank Lea for inviting us and for letting us have this whole day!
Oh, and don't let me forget our prize basket-- we'll be giving away a basket with books and a plush swimming kangaroo at some point during the day so keep tuned!
hold a pen in my hands (I've never liked writing in pencil and only
used one when I was in the classroom.) I wrote my first book when I was
six. It was called "The Dog Who Married a Woman," and I'm sure it was
very charming. I was the only ten-year-old I know of who wanted an
electric typewriter more than I wanted a doll for Christmas, and I
actually started submitting books-- full length novels-- to publishers
when I was 11. When my kids were little I wrote quite a bit but as
family responsibilities and job responsibilities grew, I wrote less and
less. Finally, when I was in the middle of studying for my Masters and
working 6 days a week at a fulfilling but high stress, mucho overtime
job I decided that my writing would just have to be put on the back
burner until I retired. So many years went by, and I didn't do much
writing for fun.
So fast forward several years to me working at an exhausting,
unfulfilling job for a major sob. One day I did what I think everyone
longs at one point in their life to do and told my employer to take the
job and shove it.
The next day I grabbed my daughter and pretty much spewed out the
entire concept of Swimming Kangaroo, which I didn't realize had been
gestating inside of me for years. I didn't even know it's what I wanted
to do until Jaala and I started putting things in motion. At first I
just planned to publish my own works but then I realized that it made
more sense to set up a publishing house and publish other people.
Now I actually find that I get more joy out of helping my writers
publish their books than I do out of my own writing. After 18 months of
working full time plus on Swimming Kangaroo, I did have to go back to
work in order to keep the wolf from my door, but my new job is nearly
always a 40 hour a week job and is much lower stress-- plus the people
are very nice. I come home and work on Swimming Kangaroo till midnight
and then work on it pretty much all day Saturday and Sunday. Swimming
Kangaroo doesn't seem like work-- it's a joy and is something that
comes from my heart.
-sounds like it will be a good day to curl up with a book.
How about mine?
Gretchen Waller never expects to find mystery or romance when takes a job as assistant to wealthy author John David Honeycutt. But she finds both When Shadows Fall. My book is a light romantic mystery, where spines may tingle from an eerie touch of cold or the warm touch of a lover's lips. And it all begins when John tells Gretchen about his current project. Here's an excerpt:
"All the family papers are in storage at Mill Hollow. That's the family estate in the north woods." Our eyes met. "I'm sure you've heard of it." Indeed, I had. Whenever the Honeycutts were in the news, the sprawling compound was mentioned. The family summered there each year. Big reunions were held on the lawns. It had been home to at least a dozen Honeycutt nuptials over the years. And then, of course, there'd been the scandals, including the biggest one, which stretched unspoken between us now. I certainly wasn't about to bring it up and hardly expected him to. But John David Honeycutt turned out to be a man of surprises.
"I've told you I'm planning to do a book. A biography on my family." He waited for my nod. His lips, wide and full, pressed together for an instant, revealing an emotional strain. "And that's true. I do plan to write the definitive work. But, also," he leaned forward, elbows on the desktop, a look of urgency in his eyes, "I plan to clear my grandfather of that murder charge."
Read more at www.swimmingkangaroo.com/shadows.html and let me know what you think. Have a great day!
Kate Fellowes
Ezechial Zachariah McAllister is a true Texan from the top of his Stetson to the tip of his leather boots. Known to his friends as EZ, he works for U.S.Customs out of Boston. They are trying to break an art smuggling ring. Abigail Fairfax, a very proper Bostonian and owner of the newest gallery in the city is enlisted to help them. She has the connections to help them gain access and find information that will help them stop this ring, before someone gets hurt. EZ masquerades as her lover, but fate has ways of turning masquerades into something totally unexpected.
Pandora's Justice
Someone is stalking Pandora Reilly, someone dark and sinister, someone who knows things only her ex husband would know. Her dead ex husband. Justin Andrews is hired to protect her and her children from the danger surrounding them. Can he save Pandora and her children without sacrificing his heart? Or will his past come back to haunt
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~~ Hello everyone. I keep weird hours so I decided to go ahead and just jump in now and revisit throughout the day. My name is Mary Andrews.
I'm the author of The Fireborn Chronicles which was recently (November) released by Swimming Kangaroo.
I met Dindy Robinson at the first MuseOnlineConvention during a class where she offered to critique the first 5-10 pages of writer's works in progress. I sent her the (then) first 10 pages of my novel (it's part 4 now), and she asked to read the manuscript. I think I was in denial, because I didn't really realize what I had done when I sent it to her and when she offered me a contract, i was surprised.
I've really learned a lot from this last year as a Kanga Write and I've signed on for them to publish The Fireborn Chronicles Book II (scheduled to be at the editor by Sept 1).
The Fireborn Chronicles are science fiction--actually they are what I like to call PSIonic Sci Fi since it heavily involves the inevitable fusion of Man, Machine, and the Paranormal.
THE BLURB: Since its creation, only one person has ever escaped The Government's universal workforce on the Hive Planet: A newborn, fully
implanted with compu-link interface temple plates, but not yet introduced to the wonderful and all-encompassing drug meant to enslave him.
He now leads a Dark Ops unit for The Gov. on a mission to uncover a psionic ring of criminals who have taken control of an important
Government Ambassador.
What they find will change the universe.
http://www.freewebs.com/mary-andrews/
The chapter that I have posted on my website's MY BOOK page is the same one that I originally turned in to Dindy.
MY HOME page also contains links to all the places that carry The Fireborn Chronicles for sale.
I have several pages in my website pertaining to Writing, Gypsy research, my blog (MACROCOSM),and even an arcade, so feel free to drop on by.
I welcome advice, criticism, praise, or just plain old comments any time at my site. But I'd also like to invite all of you to please leave your banners and/or links on my Guest book so that others can check out your sites as well. (The ones I have are from some very interesting people so far). So come on by any time, and don't forget to pet the cat.
We at Swimming Kangaroo are delighted to be able to publish Mary's books-- and those of our other authors. We picked up so many good friends and writers at the Muse Conference. Mary's Fireborn Chronicles is a compelling novel. I in no way saw the end coming-- and I nearly always figure out the end of EVERYTHING (I knew Darth Vader was Luke's father at the end of the FIRST movie.)
Dindy Robinson
Publisher
Swimming Kangaroo Books
FROM A READER: WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE BEST PART PUBLISHING WITH SWIMMING KANGAROO?
MARY: Hi Vivian.
Oh, where do I start about the things I like about Swimming Kangaroo? Hmmm. Dindy is straight upfront to deal with. She is quick to respond to my ceaseless number of questions, and she is very flexible and willing to work with her authors--except that she won't give us our own plush kangaroos. (I know cuz I tried to work it into my contract.)
But that withstanding, I guess over all, the ammount of hands on input I'm allowed throughout the production is my favorite part. I was asked what I wanted for my cover, then I got to pick from the top 3 artists that applied.
Furthermore, Dindy kept me in touch and asked for my opinions whenever the artist (Laura Diehl)had questions or wanted input to what the cover should look like--everything from the cover font, color changes, design composition options. It was great. As a new author, I had been really worried about what kind of cover I would get. I got exactly what I wanted, and this cover has continued to draw people to tables when I make appearances, and this cover has gotten complements every where I have held out a copy of The Fireborn Chronicles.
So suffice it to say I feel more like a partner than an employee with Swimming Kangaroo.
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Hi Everyone! Colin here, calling in from the UK. It looks as if the Kanga-writes have taken over!
For anyone lurking, I'm Swimming Kangaroo Books' British author. I write SF, notably Lightning Days, which is SF (Think apocalyptic love story, with Neanderthals) and The Silk Palace, which is a big fat fantasy. That's got a love story as well.
My first novel, Vengeance, was a stealth SF novel (Science-Fiction that reads at first like a fantasy) that's being re-published by SK this May.
Meet the Killers:
A nine-year-old girl, waiting for her friends to roll into town one
Halloween; the vampire working in an old folk's home, taking care of her
patients; the detective racing against time to find his wife's killer;
the psychiatrist haunted by his infant brother; the virtual killer; the
hospital patient who likes to vacation out-of-body.
Eleven original stories by Nebula, World Fantasy and Bram Stoker Award
winning authors, including Bruce Holland Rogers, Paul Meloy, Gary Fry,
Jonathan Maberry and Lee Thomas, amongst others.
Colin
Novels from Swimming Kangaroo Books:
Lightning Days -- SF, Finalist for the USA Book News Awards
The Silk Palace -- "compelling" Library Journal
"Intrigues, betrayals, murders, love affairs, transformations, and
revelations, " Bruce Boston, author of The Guardener's Tale
www.geocities. com/colin_ harvey www.myspace. com/colin_ harvey
For those who do prefer SF to fantasy, here's a link to the opening chapter of Lightning Days.
http://startatbegin ning.blogspot. com/2008/ 02/lightning- days-by-colin- harvey.html
A very clever lady called Nikki Leigh runs blogs in which authors are invited to 'interview' some of their characters, or talk about the setting or the opening chapter of their books. One of those blogs is the link I posted earlier, but here are some other ones. I hope that you like them. I'll post the links below, and you can either click on them, or paste them into your browser.
It's All in The Setting - http://itsallinthes etting.blogspot. com/2007/ 11/silk-palace- by-colin- harvey.html
In Detail - http://detailwithni kkileigh. blogspot. com/2007/ 12/silk-palace- by-colin- harvey.html
Bad Guys & Villains - http://badguysandvi llains.blogspot. com/2007/ 12/silk-palace- by-colin- harvey.html
Let Him Talk - http://lethimtalk. blogspot. com/
ABOUT BLIND FAITH:
Meet Frances Dedman. She works part-time as Faith DuQuayne, reading tarot cards for a living on Brighton Pier.
It's July 2005 and the eyes of the world are on London. The media are distracted. Normally the disappearance of a fifteen-year- old schoolgirl in a nearby seaside town would be headline news, but the July 7th bombings have consigned Natalie Parrish's disappearance to the inside pages.
When Natalie's father hires a private investigator, Frances gets more involved than she should. The police aren't happy about a blind girl and her ex-policeman uncle nosing around, but fighting terrorists is draining their people away, and they need all the help they can get, however much they may not like it, especially when a second wave of attacks and the shooting of an innocent man stretch them to breaking point.
The police would be even less happy about her involvement if they knew the truth about Frances' blindness, but not even being to `read' other people can keep her safe. In fact, her blind faith in her abilities may be the biggest danger of all…
COLIN: One of the things that SK are obviously working on is blending spec-fic and crime/mystery/ thriller.
At one end is the generous measure of fantasy with a large slug of crime that is Karina's Dragon PI.
At the other end, I've written a crime novel with a slight dash of spec-fic called Blind Faith, which will be out in July, and in September I'm editing Killers, an anthology of original crime stories with a crime/mystery thread.
THE SILK PALACE:
Although she had felt nothing from the silent explosion, Bluestocking lay stunned for several moments, the young man lying spread-eagled over her. In the fevered hinterland between consciousness and delirium she heard a voice say, "The third man is not the key." Someone else snorted, then mumbled a reply in a dismissive voice, which became suddenly clear: "cloak and dagger nonsense."
Although she had heard no sound of footsteps, the voices sounded too real, too solid to be phantasms. As she groped her way back to wakefulness, they gave no sign of going away.
Later, she would realize how lucky she had been, and how brave the young man was to throw himself in front of her, but right then, she didn't feel remotely lucky. While the balefire had only caught her clothes in a few places, where it had, it had scorched through the fabric, and in the few uncovered places it had touched, she could feel it start to burn.
Something, some sixth sense perhaps, warned her not to speak. She felt the young man's body rock and rock again, and opening one eye fractionally, saw the thick sole of a man's boot, pushing at the body. "They're dead," he said.
–A bubble of thought tried to force its way up from the depths of her mind, like a bubble of marsh gas rising, but she pushed it back down–
"Damn. Damn. Damn!" A woman's voice that Bluestocking recognized as Myleetra's said. "We agreed that she was to be delayed– not killed."
"This was nothing to do with us," the man protested. Bluestocking had heard him before, but at the moment couldn't remember where.
"How in all the God's names are we going to free it now, if we don't have her to finish off the translation?" Myleetra said.
"She'll have left papers," the man said grimly. "If we have time, maybe we can get them, and Copel can finish the job."
"That blind fool?"
"That blind fool is all we have now. Besides, he was the one who said that he would be able to work enough wards to contain it when we release it from its bonds. If you thought so little of him, why did you agree to the plan in the first place?"
"Desperation," Myleetra spat. "Agreeing to that meddling old fart's involvement was a sign of how hopeless I felt. It was no vote of confidence in Copel." After a pause, Myleetra added, "Do you know what it's like to find that every day another so-called true-believer has gone over to the Royal family's personal cult? That every day the church gains more power, absorbs another religion, while they believe in nothing except how to lock us ever more tightly into their regime? You'll say nothing except what they allow, do nothing but what they permit, and believe in nothing except what they condone."
"You agreed to his plan, so have some faith in the old man."
"You're right." Myleetra blew out a sigh. "Sorry."
"That's okay. We're all feeling the strain. The boss isn't showing it, but…"
"We should never have relied on that girl," Myleetra said, as Bluestocking felt her nose tickle. She fought the urge to scratch at her burns, which were starting to sting badly. Myleetra continued, "She's good, but finishing the translation so early, would doom us all as well. Delaying her these last few days has been like holding a runaway horse!" She sighed again. "But this, this isn't what we needed…"
"Yes, I'd like to know who did this!" The man added grimly, "I'll come back later, but meanwhile, we should get away from here. Someone is bound to investigate, and the last thing we want is to be found outside a charnel house."
Myleetra's laugh was a snort, "Especially if we had nothing to do with it."
She no more heard them go than come, and Bluestocking didn't know whether it was safe to move. But her flesh now felt as if it was bubbling away. She bit on her lip until she felt the hot coppery taste of blood and kept biting, anything to distract her from the pain of her burns, and kept counting until she passed a hundred, then two hundred.
–The thought someone tried to surface again, but she pushed it down–
The young man made the decision for her by moaning and rolling off her.
COLIN: If any of the Bragging Rites members are on MySpace, it's http://www.myspace.com/colin_harvey, and my website is at http://www.geocities.com/colin_harvey.
Here are a couple more links, this time for for Lightning Days:
Judge A Book By The Cover -- http://judgebookbycover.blogspot.com/2007/12/lightning-days-by-colin-harvey.html
Let Him Talk -- http://lethimtalk.blogspot.com/2008/01/lightning-days-by-colin-harvey.html
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Larriane Wills:
In the wings, just waiting for the final touches and releasing soon: Mark of the Sire, a historical romance;
The quirt swished through the air and cracked to viciously split cloth and skin. The child, a gangly adolescent, did not cry out. He ground his teeth together to keep the screams of pain trapped in his throat. The screams of helplessness and horror came from Lars, a child of the same age, and his Mama. Neither was strong enough to stop the brutal whipping though both tried desperately. Despite Sam Fetchen's skeletal build, both were thrown back repeatedly. The only consolation for Clyde was that they wanted to help, but it only eased the pain of mind. His father didn't stop until Clyde was in the dirt, too weak to get up when Sam dragged him away.
Excerpt two from Mark of the Sire; He jerked the blanket back from Chancy's shoulders and paid no attention to Cathy as she got back to her feet at the foot of the bed. He was too pleased by what he saw.
He smiled in satisfaction over the bandages and actually giggled before he told Chancy, "Think yar so smart. Guess ya know now."
"Get away from him," Cathy said coldly.
Sam glanced at her in annoyance and then looked back quickly, his eyes fixed on the gun she held. Chancy's gun had been out of Fetchen's line of vision, but she had known where it was.
"Gonna shoot me, huh?" he taunted still with the thought she was just a weak woman. She held the gun awkwardly with both hands, and he was
sure she didn't know how to use it, nor would have the courage to. He walked towards her, confident and menacing.
Cathy wasn't afraid of him. She was furious over what he was doing and what he had done, the evidence in the scars on Chancy's back. The
gun was heavy and awkward, but she knew how it worked. She shifted her hand to hold the grip tightly with both hands and used both
thumbs to pull the hammer. The hammer clicked into place and the gun exploded. The recoil pushed the weapon nearly to her nose. She
staggered back, and Sam yelled while dancing a jig from the bullet that plowed into the floor inches from his feet.
"Careful afore ya hurt someone," he yelled frantically.
Cathy recovered from the power of the gun quickly. "I'm going to hurt someone," she growled at the same time she braced herself against the
bed post and cocked the gun again.
Thirteen Souls, a contemporary, hot and spicy romance with ghosts and suspense; "Gee, that's big of you. However, while standing on your
back step sweltering in the heat I made a decision. Whatever the project I continued to wait for your convenience for only one reason." She glanced around, appreciating what she saw walk in, but still talking. "That being to tell you what I thought of your manners."
He was an absolute dream in a white pullover shirt, effectively open at the neck, and white shorts—the tennis racket was missing—a luscious tan, sun-bleached blond hair, sparkling blue eyes, all with the look of perfect conditioning. At five feet and eleven inches in his middle twenties he was even better than the pictures she had seen of him.
"Oh, dear," Harlan DuBois said with a blinding smile and a slow, soft accent that made you want to drool, "has Mother made you angry?" He
took Heather's hand, not in a shake but a caress. "You just have to be Professor Winstrobe. Please don't let her chase you away."
Heather jolted, and Harlan's smile slipped when a second male voice asked sharply, "What are you doing?"
The contrast alone was startling. Older, yes, but that was far from the reason. Gene DuBois--yes, she had done her homework-- was as dark as Harlan was fair, taking his coloring from his mother before age had turned her hair white. His thick mane was almost, but not quite black and his eyes, a little too much like his mother's, were a smoldering chestnut brown. Where Harlan was slim and of medium height, Gene was tall, six feet two at least, broad shouldered and narrowed hipped with nice long legs, and a build rather nicely set off in a tailored shirt and pleated slacks. He also was a dream, in a
dark and brooding way, and Heather immediately recognized danger.
Except two of Thirteen Souls; "No, it isn't going to be as easy as I thought," Heather said into the phone, an expensive satellite model she would make sure Gene never saw. "The youngest son and the mother are what we expected, although she is a bit of a throw back to days long gone The oldest son, the one we couldn't find that much information on, is a different story. He's no fool, and I'm pretty certain what we're here for is on land he owns. He's the one I will have to deal with."
"Like? Ah, in a word I'd say the best way to describe him is angry.
"I don't know about what." She didn't add he was damned good looking and sexy. "I do know he isn't content to sit back and live off the family fortune. He's ambitious, willing to actually work, and seems to enjoy it. He's intelligent, and he's done some reading on the subject, enough that the boys are going to have to be on their toes.
"Are they ready?"
She leaned back on the headboard. "I told him the number was a direct line to the department director. He'll probably call tomorrow…no, if he knows anything about it he hasn't mentioned it."
She shook her head over what she heard. "I know we had to set it up in a hurry and the longer I'm here the more danger of exposure, but I can't go any faster. He's not gullible. If I pitch him too soon, he'll balk." She shook her head again. "I already have, several times. He picked up on it immediately, called it a daze. I've blown them off so far. Pitching in trance and in touch with his ancestors is going to have to wait. There is some dissension in the family though. That may work to our advantage."
A light laugh answered the next comment. "Other than being kicked out on my ass?" She sobered quickly. "I am careful."
from my latest release;
Mourning Meadow.
Before she could answer terrified shrieks echoed through the house.
* * * * *
Emily was huddled in a ball at the foot of the stairs. Between
shrieks she sobbed hysterically and pointed at the door. Kari had
only taken time enough to leave Rascal safely in the apartment before
she followed Steven although she stopped several feet away with a
grimace on her face and winced each time Emily shrieked. Just as they
reached her Edward, still in his pajamas, reached the head of the
stairs.
He had to shout to be heard over Emily's screams. "What is wrong?"
Steven shook his head and knelt in front of her. "Did you fall?" he
asked gently.
"Shake her and stop that horrid noise," Edward shouted as he jogged
down the stairs.
Caroleigh arrived at the head of the stairs with a different
idea. "Slap her," she ordered. She followed Edward with a cloud of
purple chignon floating around her from her choice of sleeping
apparel. "And stop that awful racket."
Steven did neither. He took Emily firmly by the shoulders. "Emily,
look at me and tell me what happened."
"Man," Emily screamed pointing again at the door.
"There was someone here?"
"Bloody," she wailed between sobs. "And…and his… his arm was missing."
Steven twisted to look at the door. He looked at the spotless marble
floor. Last he looked at Edward. Edward shrugged. He'd looked the
same places Steven had and had seen nothing as well.
Edward asked of Caroleigh, "Does she see things, love?"
"Obviously she has," she answered indifferently. "The last time she
behaved this way it was a spider."
"Did it have missing limbs as well?"
Caroleigh gave him a look of annoyance and moved closer. "Emily,
stand up and stop this nonsense."
That was accomplished only with Steven and Edward's help. Emily shook
and gasped.
Evelyn, the last to arrive at the head of the stairs, stayed there to
ask, "Whatever has happened?"
"It would seem," Edward answered, "Emily has seen a spook." He turned
to Kari who still stood off to the side. "Do you have spooks, love?"
Since she still stared intently at Emily without answering, he
added, "Ghosts, specters-?"
"Stop explaining everything to her," Caroleigh snapped. "Kari, go fix
some tea."
"Ah, the famous cure all. Personally, I would rather have a valium,"
Edward drawled."
"I have some," Evelyn told them. "I could use one myself. All that
screaming simply shattered my nerves."
"Oh, goody, drugs, pass them out."
"Edward," Caroleigh said in a warning tone. She turned on Kari. "Tea.
Now."
REVIEW:http://tjbook- list.blogspot. com/2008/ 02/review- mourning- meadow-by-larion-will. html
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Happy Birthday, Swimming Kangaroo Books! Thanks, Lea, for devoting the day to SKB!!
Unless I scanned the messages too quickly, think I'm the first Swimming Kangaroo Books Wading Pool author to show up today. For less than the price of a cup of coffee, readers can download a short story. Here's an excerpt from mine: (Sorry for the odd formatting. It looked fine in the "compose" window & terrible in the Preview mode. Haven't a clue how to fix it.
|
TROUBLE AT THE DOOR
Excerpt: I was hanging onto the bathroom sink for dear life when the pounding started again. Not drums after all, just somebody trying to bang through my front door. It was barely dawn, too damn early to have to drag myself to the door. Nothing waiting to make the trip seem worthwhile either. The young woman was too skinny, too pale and much too scared to be appealing. "You must be Mr. Zacharius." She obviously hadn't started at the beginning of the yellow pages or she would have asked if this was A-Aardvark Investigations. Hadn't bogged down in the middle or she'd be looking for Monroe Inquiries, Ltd. Zacharius & Associates meant her fingers walked all the way to the end of the line. That identified her as a true loser in my book. The two hundred dollars in crumpled bills she passed my way bought her a cup of reheated coffee that looked like mud and tasted worse. Paid for that and as much of my attention as I could spare while wishing somebody would have the decency to give my stomach a good Christian burial. "I'm not really sure where I should start, Mr. Zacharius... " "Zach, Zach Monroe. Doesn't matter how you tell your story. The important thing is for you to relax." The blonde obviously didn't know the meaning of the word. Her hands were bloodied where she'd bitten her nails into nonexistence, and I was beginning to get dizzy from watching her shake. "I need you to help me find my husband, Jason, and our daughters. I went to the house, but there's a bunch of Arabs living there, and I just couldn't get them to understand- you see, I've been away for a while..." One look at the saggy polyester pants suit and the haircut that looked as though it had been done by a near-sighted moron coming off a three-day binge suggested the absence hadn't exactly been voluntary. Parolees look a helluva lot better than that these days so I decided she'd spent the time someplace with padded suites and Valium cocktails. The retainer would make all the difference between coming close to covering the monthly bills and slinking around to try to avoid creditors, but I had a nagging hunch this was gonna be one of those cases that made my former line of work seem mighty tempting. Plumbing isn't such a bad way to make a living. Matter of fact, it sometimes pays better than what I do now and most days you come home feeling a helluva lot cleaner. A sharp pain in my right knee made up my mind for me. No way that old football injury was gonna put up with squatting under some bored housewife's terminally leaking sink all day. If I didn't take this fruitcake's money, somebody else would. Somebody else might not believe her rambling story, care about the way those sapphire eyes blazed at the injustice of her whole family disappearing into thin air. Somebody else might have tossed the pitiful blonde out the door when she claimed to be Juli Armitage Farrell. The Armitage heiress made the front page when she slipped off her yacht and drowned. There was no way in the world this blonde could be telling the truth, or was there? |
You can also read my Valentine story, "THE KEY TO MY HEART," originally published in The Muse Marquee. Just click on the link and click again to download the Feb. newsletter.
I'll drop in later to check for questions and get caught up on all the wonderful excerpts.
Susanne Shaphren
http://www.swimming kangaroo. com/newsletters
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DINDY ROBINSON_ I am pleased to announce that Karina Fabian has signed with Swimming
kangaroo to bring us the second book in the Dragon Eye PI series.
KARINA FABIAN: Another definition for the Magic, Mensa and Mayhem glossary:
Keeper of Ages: An honored position among the High Elves, the Keeper
is in charge of the most valued documents of a an Elvish House (like a
tribe or nation). These are chosen for historical, educational and
(what) value and have at times included major treaties with other
races, comprehensive House histories, and the Ballad to
Awbebeyewottyelfteese, which was written on the back of the vest of
the Bard Sir Jake Toffler. (He didn't have any paper handy.) Bard Sir
Jake was quite smitten and quite drunk at the time of writing, and
this particular "ditty" (to elves--it was 12 verses long) is so badly
written that the elves treasure it as a great comedy classic.
Incidentally, it was in Ballad to Awbebeyewottyelfteese that Bard Sir
Jake coined the title, "Keeper of the Ages." The real title,
translated into English, takes about five minutes to say and doesn
scan well. It was suggested he use, "Keeper of the Relics" or
"Records," but he couldn't think of a good rhyme.
www.fabianspace.com: my home site. All about me and my works
www.dragoneyepi.net: home site for Vern and Grace and the DragonEye, PI universe
www.isigsf.com: Infinite Space, Infinite God website
www.leapsoffaithsf.com: Leaps of Faith website
www.firestormofdragons.com: Firestorm of dragons website
_.======================================================================_,_.___
My novel -- my first published non-fiction (except for some SF fanfic
way back when) -- is a cozy mystery called CHANUKAH GUILT. To quote
my PR blurb: Rabbi Aviva Cohen is a 50-something, twice-divorced
rabbi living a rather uneventful life in South Jersey. True, she has
a family that is rather unconventional. And her first ex-husband is
moving to her town. But her life takes a truly interesting – and
sinister – turn when she agrees to officiate at the funeral of an
unpopular land developer. She doesn't expect to be told by two
different people that he had been murdered. Nor does she expect that
the first funeral will result in a suicide. Her search for the story
behind the suicide (or was it murder?) will lead her to discover the
truism "appearances can be deceiving" is accurate, while putting her
life in jeopardy.
I come by the subject matter honestly, as I was one of the first six
women rabbis ordained in the U.S. Otherwise, Aviva and I are not
quite the same, as I've been married for over 30 years to the same
man, have two kids, and was a pulpit rabbi -- part time -- for only a
few years when I went back to school for my doctorate in education.
My professional life has been spent mainly in Jewish education and
with non-profits. Currently, I'm a hospice chaplain. (And, yes, a
future Aviva Cohen mystery will be set in a hospice.) Aviva and I
also share many of the same hobbies (we're both birders) and taste,
and, like me, she is vertically challenged and horizontally ample;
i.e., short and fat. They say to write what you know, and I find it
very difficult to empathize with someone has trouble finding pants
that are long enough or bras that are small enough.
You can read more about my other writings and me on my website:
rabbiavivacohenmysteries.com
Rabbi Ilene Schneider, Ed.D.
www.rabbiavivacohenmysteries.com
Chanukah Guilt, Swimming Kangaroo Books, 2007
Coming November 2008: Talk Dirty: Yiddish, Adams Media
.======================================================================
Being still February and the month of romance, I thought you'd like to read what Karina Fabian wrote about Rob and herself in her blog:
http://fabianspace. blogspot. com/
GENERAL QUESTIONS:
how many are confused by the lumping of paranormal? when I first started in the loops paranormal to me meant esp, ghosts, spirits that kind of thing. I was surprised to find the classification taken over by vampires, werewolves and shapeshifters.
LEA: Well, there are difference classifications for paranormal as there are for romance and other areas like mystery.
A paranormal thriller is a book based on an emotional turbulance-think Alien, where you find a group of characters one by one separated by the rest and tension mounts as the adrenaline level builds in your reader. so this is 'emotional' disturbence you are causing.
So vamps, werewolves, and other demonly beings have this emotional aspect because a victim is isolated at one point.
Makes sense?
You won't believe how many different catagories there are for mystery.
THE GRAND PRIZE WINNER IS:I took the names of everyone who posted yesterday during the Swimming
Kangaroo Books Day on BragginRites and tossed them in the kangaroo
pouch. I then pullled one of the names to determine our prize winner
for the day. Our prize winner is Peggy Fieland (sound of a thousand
kangaroos clapping)
Peggy wins a Swimming Kangaroo gift box with four SK Books and other
goodies-- bookmarks, pens, plush and a t-shirt!
Peggy, please contact me off list so we can work out the details.
Congratulations to Peggy and thank you to everyone who dropped by
yesterday!
Dindy Robinson- Swimming Kangaroo Publisher
On Thursday, January 31st, 2008 we held one of our Publisher/Author Spotlights. Our guest of honor was Vivian Zabel, publisher of 4RV Publishing. Below you will find some of our Behind-The-Scene discussions with Vivian, her editors and authors, followed with the transcript of their real time chat later that night. Enjoy!
Here is just some information and excerpts from books coming from 4RV in the next year:
Lion in the Living Room by Crystalwizard - Tentative release date fall 2008- artist chosen: Beau Turkey
There's a lion in the living room,
A leopard on the floor,
A cheetah in my easy chair --
I hear more at the door.
Prairie Dog Cowboy by V. Gilbert Zabel - Tentative release date fall 2008
In the late 1890s and early 1900s, Buddy grows up on his family's homestead in No Man's Land. The boy wants to be a cowboy, and a neighboring rancher promises Buddy that he will hire him once he can lasso prairie dogs.
The hot summer sun beat on the ground, plants, and people. No clouds teased life with a hint of rain. The cattle herd that Buddy checked for his dad no longer had only cows and calves; a few steers being fattened for cattle sale and for butchering nosed the dry prairie grass, looking for some nourishment.
"Okay, cows, we'll head for the barn as soon as I practice ropin' some more." Buddy swung the lariat loop over his head. "Those prairie dogs'll be more sluggish in the heat, maybe. Anyway, they'll head below `for long."
Patch lay panting between the boy and the cattle, his ears drooping as much as the heads of the cows', calves', and steers'. Still the dog's eyes watched Buddy flip the lasso toward one prairie dog that had switched its attention to something on the road. The loop settled over the dog and tightened.
"What have we got here," a voice mocked from the road outside the pasture fence.
Buddy kept the rope tense around the light brown body as he turned to see a couple of Jake's classmates sitting on their horses. "Uh, hello, Ross, Hulmet."
Ross laughed. "Now I have seen everything – someone ropin' prairie dogs." His laugh became sharper. "Thought you wanted to be a cowboy. Anyway that's what you tell everyone."
"Guess he can't tell the difference between those things and cows." Hulmet sneered. "Guess we got us a prairie dog cowboy."
The two boys rode off, laughing, while Buddy loosened the rope, allowing the prairie dog to scamper free and bolt down its hole. He turned his head so that if the boys looked back they couldn't see his face, or the tears that slipped over the bottom lids of his eyes.
From the time Buddy is five until he's eighteen, he develops into an honorable young man, struggling to help his parents keep their farm after his dad's stroke, working as a ranch hand, and being told by his mother that the whole homestead will belong to his brother. He not only becomes a cowboy and breaks horses, but he also learns his own worth.
Spider in Our Mailbox by Linda Asato – Tentative release date late 2008 or early 2009
On Monday I go to the mailbox to get the mail for mommy.
I open the front of the mailbox and take out the mail.
Way at the back of the mailbox I see a big black spider bouncing, bouncing, bouncing on his silvery web.
I run to the house and tell mommy. "Mommy, there's a spider in our mailbox".
Mommy smiles.
On Tuesday I go to get the mail for mommy.
In my front yard, I see 2 black crows poking their way through the grass.
And the big black spider is still bouncing, bouncing, bouncing on his silvery web in our mailbox.
I tell mommy, "There's 2 black crows poking their way across the grass and a black spider bouncing on his web in our mailbox."
Mommy smiles.
Skeleton in the Attic by Jacque L. Graham
Belle Cobb became one of the first woman doctors west of the Mississippi , a woman doctor during a time when women were actively discouraged from being a doctor. The first Indian woman doctor in Indian Territory , her life is brought to life by the research Jacque Graham did into the life of her husband's great aunt.
Tentative release date, 2009
More information about Bubba and Giganto by Lea Schizas to be released later.
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Case of the Missing Coach by V. Gilbert Zabel, aka Vivian Gilbert Zabel, photograph illustrations by Vivian Zabel "Hey, Ryan, what are you doing?" Colby whispered from his bed. "I, uh, I don't know what to do," Ryan answered, also in a whisper. "Huh?" Colby slipped from his bed to sit beside his friend. "What do you mean you don't know what to do?" "Look behind us. Coach Randy never came to bed." Ryan raised his wrist to see the time. "And it's 3:30." Someone doesn't want the Jonesville Chargers to win the championship, and when the team refuses to forfeit, their coach is kidnapped. Will the team be able to rescue him in time, or will their dreams be dashed, perhaps forever? |
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QUESTION AND ANSWER SECTION WITH 4RV publisher and her authors:
I'd like to find out your reasons for starting out your own publishing house. Also, if there are any criterias you look for when a submission comes your way.
Vivian: I started 4RV because I saw that most authors had little choice if they wanted to be published. They could go the self-publishing or vanity route, or if they were very, very fortunate or famous, be picked up by the large traditional publishers. A few small presses helped fill the gap, but many of them still did little or not enough editing.
In all cases, marketing and promotion was left up to the author.
We wanted to fill the gap and offer help with marketing and promotion for the first year. We work one on one with our authors, as Norbert and Holly can tell you.
As much as I am enjoying everyone's exchanges, I'd like to find out some of your promo and marketing ideas to help your books. Someone here mentioned school visits.
Vivian:
It depends on the school system. Some jump at the chance to have an author visit; others ignore the opportunity.
We're preparing pamphlets to send out to school districts in our authors' home area. Norbert has an advantage because Janelle works in his local school district. As soon as the librarian, who schedules such things, comes back, Janelle will arrange for him to visit.
Jacque has an "in" with the Blackwell, Oklahoma school system, and will arrange visits. She also has one with another school district.
I have contacts in several school districts. So, we're using personal contacts first and then sending out pamphlets.
Other promotional ideas come from networking through writing conferences, other authors, book festivals, etc.
What would be the top three things that will get a manuscript rejected by 4RV:
Vivian: 1. Typos, spelling mistakes, grammatical errors, and/or incomprehensible writing. Yes, we all have fingers that don't always work, and we can't depend on computer programs, but the mistakes should be few and far between.
2. Boring writing – the author needs to grab and keep our attention from the first page, preferably the first paragraph or two. Ways to do that are many, but a couple include the following:
(1) Use action (action verbs and active voice) and avoid passive voice (which is always a form of the verb have plus a to-be-verb, not what some people call passive voice) when possible. Yes, at times we have to use being verbs or passive voice, but we need to be sure they can't be avoided by using active voice and/or action verbs.
(2) Use only enough detail as necessary to develop the plot or characters. Use dialogue, a must, to move the plot forward, but not to give expository details.
3. Telling rather than showing.
What genres do you write? (This question was posed to the 4RV authors)
At the end of the day, 4RV awarded three door prizes to three lucky winners:
ChrisChat won Spellbound
Elysabeth won Walking the Earth
Bagheera won The Base Stealers Club
Congratulations to all three winners!
TRANSCRIPT FOR OUR REAL TIME CHAT:
‹Lea› First off I want to thank Vivian and her awesome authors for being our spotlight guests today
‹Lea› I have had such a wonderful time meeting everyone
‹Vivian› Thank you, Lea.
‹Lea› Even though through emails, you get an idea of their personality
‹Lea› and I have to say, if and when it's time to sign on the dotted line...
‹Vivian› Next week
‹Lea› I will be very proud to say I'm a 4RV author, too. SUCK UP
‹Vivian› Heheheh
‹Vivian› Thank you for joining us. And thank you for giving us this opportunity, Lea.
‹Vivian› Oh, everything goes through at least 3 editors.
‹Lea› Awesome!!
‹Vivian› We want only the best quality out there with your name on it.
‹Jacque› Each of us has our strong points on editing
‹Lea› it was your book, Vivian, The Missing Coach that pulled me to your publishing house in all honesty
‹Lea› to go back to The Missing Coach...you get an impression on the pub house's integrity by their books and this drew me in
‹elysabeth› I'm not an 4RV author and am committed for 5 years to Living Waters for my stories right now
‹Lea› about fifty states, a really neat mystery idea for kids
‹elysabeth› I'm working on a geography series
‹Vivian› We only have authors contracted for 3 years after a book comes out, and not for other books ahead of time.
‹verona› I didn't get a chance to get to the earlier discussion (and I'm regretting that. Can you update us on what you publish?
‹Vivian› Seriously, right now our main releases are children's, young adult, some others in the works.
‹Vivian› We accept all genres as long as it doesn't have erotica, graphic sex, or violence or language not appropriate to the material.
‹Lea› may I ask if words such as "shit" would be offensive
‹Lea› seeing how it's teenagers
‹jlzabel› Lea if it's appropriate to the material......
‹Vivian› It depends.
‹Lea› or using Gawd instead of God
‹jlzabel› if it's just there for the sake of putting it in
‹jlzabel› we don't want that
‹Vivian› There's enough shock language out there.
‹Vivian› We just want good writing.
‹Jacque› Some of that is appropriate to a character, but not an overuse of it.
‹bagheera› using "Gawd instead of God ...." and similar, Vernacular [slang] to give a sense of familiarity .... would this be considered gauche? 'flavor'
‹jlzabel› I don't think we have rules about language that are set in stone
‹Vivian› It depends on the character, Bagheera. If it fits, use it, but not to excess. A little gives flavor, too much is too much.
‹jlzabel› we can tell what is appropriate to the material
‹Jacque› We will work with an author on language if we have problems with it
‹Lea› in a middle grade novel, how much descriptive detail do you really need?
‹jlzabel› we are really just looking for good writing that we can be proud of
‹Vivian› That's one thing we do, work with the authors.
‹Lea› can dialogue overpower the descriptive narrative?
‹Vivian› Enough to move the plot or develop character, Lea.
‹bagheera› Dialogue vs. description. Are you interested in SCRIPTS (theatre, not TV)??
‹Vivian› No, not scripts.
‹Vivian› We're not set up for that -- yet.
‹Lea› script selling Bagheera is a whole different ballpark
‹Lea› how long usually does a book take to get published?
‹Vivian› Usually, about a year.
‹Jacque› We have several planned for this next year
‹Vivian› Of course it also depends on whether illustrations are needed.
‹Jacque› Length of ms, etc
‹verona› I am working on a story about some teen moms that have all been sexually abused. Would you touch something like that?
‹jlzabel› I would say yes
‹Vivian› Yes, we would if handed tastefully as can be under the circumstances.
‹jlzabel› that type of story needs to be written
‹Vivian› Again, it depends on the writing.
‹Jacque› I was a social worker with these kids also and it can be written to benefit
‹Dianeto› How many books do you publish in a year, or want to have published?
‹Vivian› We can't do more than 12 right now.
‹Vivian› We have 8 that will be out this year.
‹Dianeto› That's more than I would have thought for a small press. ty
‹Lea› Many writers have no idea what entails until a book is finally published. Can you give us a hint of the process?
‹Vivian› Children's full color books take a longer time.
‹Vivian› Oh, my. Well, first a book has to go through the editing process, which can last up to months.
‹Jacque› It depends too on how fast the author responds to any corrections
‹Vivian› Then if it's a children's colored book, the illustrator has to do all the illustrations.
‹Lea› and an awesome cover it is
‹Vivian› Then I get to format the book
‹Jacque› Then there is the formatting required by the printer
‹Vivian› So far we have spent nearly a year on Trockle.
‹Jacque› And any corrections the printer asks for such as in photos or illustrations
‹Vivian› Al-the-Gator and Freddy Frog took 11 months.
‹Lea› these are hard cover for kids?
‹Vivian› Trockle is, Al is soft.
‹Jacque› Our work on books overlaps sometimes as we wait on processes to complete, we fill in with other submissions
‹bagheera› I am looking to place two completed children’s' stories, fairly short, aimed at 10-11-y-o confident independent readers. There aren't many openings in the
‹Vivian› Yes, we do.
‹Vivian› And the printer for our soft back books has a plant in the
‹verona› On YA books, what word count would you be looking for?
‹Lea› do you recommend a teacher's guide with children's books?
‹Vivian› Yes, any more teacher's guides are great to have.
‹Jacque› As a former teacher, you needn't ask that
‹Lea› she asked the word count for a YA novel
‹Vivian› It depends on the age of the wanted audience.
‹verona› late teens
‹Lea› so you accept both fiction and nonfiction?
‹crystalwizard› 50K is a fairly thin book
‹Jacque› Definitely not over 50K
‹Jacque› There are some exceptions depending on reading level and subject matter
‹Vivian› However, some older teens enjoy reading more than others, so it's hard to set a definite count.
‹Vivian› 50 K is about 200 pages.
‹jlzabel› yes on the fiction and non-
‹Vivian› Look at Harry Potter.
‹Dianeto› Any tips on being accepted by a publisher?
‹verona› The group I'm targeting are usually very poor readers if they even read. Is there any advice on how to attract that kind of reader?
‹Jacque› Yes. Send a clean MS
‹jlzabel› edit
‹jlzabel› edit and have someone proofread
‹jlzabel› then edit again
‹Vivian› We have submissions guidelines on our web site.
‹crystalwizard› Lots of pictures,
‹Vivian› To target reluctant readers, illustrations help. Also an exciting story.
‹Jacque› As with any story, reluctant readers also like characters they can identify with.
‹jlzabel› don't write about what is popular to the moment....
‹Vivian› Depending on the age, 150 pages with illustrations is about the limit of what teens can manage if they have trouble reading.
‹Jacque› Right
‹Vivian› Don't worry about fads, but concentrate on writing a good story.
‹bagheera› What sort of plotlines have you found commercial with teen readers?
‹bagheera› Teens seem to be more interested in a violent plotline to the latest "shoot-em-up" video game. What sort of plotlines have you found commercial with teen readers?
‹Jacque› As with adult readers, teens like a variety of genre also
‹Jacque› Yes, mystery, fantasy, teen characters who conquer the "problem"
‹jlzabel› I think most teens what something they can identify with
‹Vivian› Yes, and they want action, and mystery is good. But extreme violence shouldn't be offered all the time.
‹Lea› bullying, drugs, theft
‹jlzabel› I think those are important topics
‹Jacque› In non fiction, they like to hear how to be "accepted" by peers
‹bagheera› SHould we be trying to "teach" moral values, ie. how they can COMBAT bullying, theft, drugs and other problems in the reading matter?
‹Vivian› Not always. Many teens are interested in science.
‹Jacque› Authors for teens need to respect the teens they know. They don't want to be talked down to
‹Vivian› Any moral values should be woven into the story/plot, but not hitting the reader on the head.
‹Jacque› True
‹bagheera› agreed
‹Jacque› Vivian's "Case of the Missing Coach" is an example
‹Vivian› That type of writing turns everyone off.
‹Vivian› Thank you, Jacque.
‹Jacque› The moral is in how the characters respect the adults and peers as well as solving the mystery
‹Lea› which brings me to a question now that I remember it
‹Lea› should all stories have a social theme to better relate to a reader
‹jlzabel› I think almost any topic can be written in a way that is helpful to people even teens
‹jlzabel› I wouldn't want anyone to read a book that glorified rape, but it is part of our world and can be the subject of a book
‹Vivian› But we shouldn't worry about a theme for a story, just the story. Then if a theme evolves, fine.
‹jlzabel› it depends on the writing
‹Jacque› I would personally hate to write a book that did not bring something good to others, even pleasure
‹Vivian› for good fantasy, Kelly's books are the best I've read.
‹Vivian› Whoever gets Spellbound will be fortunate.
‹Jacque› some readers can work with more difficult themes than others also.
‹Lea› quick blurb on Spellbound please
‹crystalwizard› Spellbound is a paranormal urban romance, ages 17 and up
‹Lea› you got me right there with paranormal. love that stuff
‹crystalwizard› and a mystery
‹ChrisChat› how do you judge the age group?? like why is Nancy Drew considered for 10 year olds now
‹Lea› link?
‹crystalwizard› its' available on amazon.com. just search on crystalwizard
‹elysabeth› paranormal and mystery - my kind of story
‹crystalwizard› you'll find all my stuff on there
‹crystalwizard› and spellbound is even available for the Kindle
‹Vivian› Kelly also has a wonderful series. *wants her to hurry and send me the next one*
‹Lea›
‹crystalwizard› the book we're doing right now is Lion in the Living room
‹crystalwizard› it's a short poem, for very young children
‹crystalwizard› and will be both a picture book
‹crystalwizard› and a coloring book
‹Jacque› It will be a great book for the younger set
‹Lea› what a neat combo
‹Vivian› There will be two versions.
‹Lea› will they be offered as a set or separate?
‹crystalwizard› I'm hoping that they'll be offered as a set. but it might be a good idea to offer them separate
‹crystalwizard› would you like the story behind where that poem came from?
‹ChrisChat› pls
‹Lea› yes by all means
‹Vivian› There's a lion in the living room,
‹Vivian› A leopard on the floor,
‹Vivian› A cheetah in my easy chair --
‹Vivian› I hear more at the door.
‹crystalwizard› I have three cats.
‹crystalwizard› I was standing in my kitchen one night and noticed one of them sitting in the window, looking out.
‹Dianeto› Love it!
‹crystalwizard› and went 'there's a lion in my living room!'
‹crystalwizard› and the rest of it just crawled out of my brain.
‹crystalwizard› Thanks Diane
‹Vivian› The poem is adorable.
‹crystalwizard›
‹Jacque› Second that
‹ChrisChat› easily pictured for everyone
‹Vivian› The rough sketches from the illustrator are good, too.
‹crystalwizard› my cats are a constant source of inspiration
‹crystalwizard› I've got a poem called Chocolate Cat that I wrote about my siamese
‹Jacque› I would like to thank everyone for joining us tonight. Hope we will see you more.
‹crystalwizard› other than that, I just have to say that it's a lot of fun to work with Viv and crew.
‹Vivian› I've enjoyed the day. The authors are wonderful and the staff is more important that they realize.
‹Jacque› Thanks Lea for this opportunity to get to know some of our great visitors
‹Vivian› Thank you for coming to join us, and thank you, Lea.
MORE TO COME. PLEASE BOOKMARK AS I UPDATE OUR DISCUSSION WITH 4RV PUBLISHER AND HER AUTHORS.
On Friday, January 25th, we held our first monthly workshop: Character Building: Part One. We had a great time dissecting everyone's memorable character and learned that most of our characters held similar traits: a backstory that made them more human and realistic, possessed some sort of a gift they would rather not have or felt it hindered them in some way, held inner conflicts that helped to shape their characters, and tics.
Below is the partial transcript we were able to copy for your enjoyment. Stay tuned for our next workshop to be held in February by Dave Webb with his Blurb Workshop. More info to come.
Now, to start things off I’ll post my favorite character and reasons why I believe they are so unique. Some of us may not know the characters we’ll be introducing today but that’s fine because what we will get out of this workshop is all the traits we will discover about them and see if these ‘stand out’ characters follow similar characteristics to help us with our own character building chart.
ChrisChat: Louis L’Amour’s Tell Sackett.
ChrisChat: First introduced to this character via Sam Elliott’s portrayal of him in movie “The Sackett’s.”
Lea: readers like out of the box characters
ChrisChat: These stories…and all Louis L’Amour’s protagonists…are strong of character, have a moral code – their word is their bond, honest, hero without trying to be hero, simple and direct, very few words, with Tell it’s family first.
ChrisChat: Which now makes me think of other favourites – Bond, The Saint, Mike Hammer, Spencer – simple, direct, few words, own moral code.
ChrisChat: Open Discussion
Lea: they are basically all puzzlers
Lea: meaning they solve mysteries
Lea: this has an appeal to mystery readers because they connect with the protag to try and solve the mystery with them
ChrisChat: not so much Sacketts...they fight injustices
Dianeto: I like Sam Elliott so I'd watch it, but I'm not much on westerns. The character would transcend all genres.
ChrisChat: Sacketts - westerns
dontkickmycane: But puzzles too, since it takes time to get under all the layers and see what they're really like. They don't give much away
jcpams: eveyone loves the hero, especially if they don't try too hard
ChrisChat: don't give away much...yes, but also very open
Lea: is it the hero or his obstacle he faces?
ChrisChat: don't take no BS
Dianeto: Open in what way?
Lea: so that means strong characters then Chris for not taking BS
Lea: what I'm missing here is 'why should I like him?'
ChrisChat: more like...figuring out my meaning
Lea: he's strong, yes, seen that many times in other characters
Lea: characters need backstory-something that makes up their character
ChrisChat: Strong as in internal character
Cherley: I love westerns and the white hat aspect
ChrisChat: these characters are more internal
jcpams: what is the white hat aspect?
Lea: characters need the internal and the external factors to make them round characters
BarbaraB: He's kind to his horse.
ChrisChat: their strength and for my readability is standing up for themselves and the underdog...won't take stupidity or silliness or BS
Lea: Quick tips: a character needs to have a motive for his actions. This motive will cause him to come up against some sort of obstacle(s) down the line. He needs to surpass this in order for you, the writer to show him a changed person at the end. Not all obstacles need to be successful, but what needs to be defined is the change in them at the end of the book. And this change is a direct result of what he/she will go through.
ChrisChat: But these are round characters...
Lea: Cherley your character
Cherley: Monk
Cherley: Monk is a man who came unglued when his wife was murdered but he's extremely good as a detective and now works as a police consultant. His good Qualities: Phobic, quiet/unobtrusive, Smart. Organized, Clean language, and Funny. His bad qualities: Phobic, One track, and Miserable.
Cherley: OPEN DISCUSSION
Lea: I like the phobic part. It sets him apart. Gives him a weakness he needs to struggle with
Dianeto: How is Phobic a good quality?
Lea: shows a human side to him Diane
Lea: he's not all that
jcpams: Monk is great, his Phobic quality makes him memorable and funny
joylouise: I like Monk. There is a little bit of him in most of us, even though we might not admit it.
Joe Trent: don't get to see Monk much. But I like the complex character behind the oddball that most people would see on the surface.
Lea: there's a part of him he needs to fight with
ChrisChat: Now, ya see this is a perfect example of how readers/watchers differ...and Thank You Cherley for giving this opportunity...I find Monk annoying and can't stand him
jcpams: he has internal conflict that we can relate to
Lea: but I"m sure he's in the back of your mind, Chris for exactly those traits you hate
joylouise: I haven't watched him in years, but I remember him and when you wrote his name it brought a smile to my lips
LisaHaselton: he's intelligent and awkward but pushes himself through his phobias to solve the puzzles
Cherley: I love him. Because, I think he overcomes well when he has to and so have I
Lea: that sets him apart and keeps him fresh in your mind
Cherley: I think because of his phobias he sees life differently
BarbaraB: There's no end to the number of phobias he has and each one allows other characters to interact with Monk-- gives the writers new plot lines
ChrisChat:I think this shows that if we see/like something in our characters someone else surely will too
joylouise: also because of his phobias he is very detail oriented
Dianeto: I "got" the part about dealing with his phobias and trying to get on with life in spite of missing his wife.
Lea: okay, let's assume that Monk had the same characteristics as Mannix, Bond, he'd be a carbon copy and nothing to indicate he's different. And that's what we, as writers, need to find
Dontkickmycane: I think it might be easier to like a character we can see as human, and who can rise above their flaws to do what needs to be done
Lea: yes,
Cherley: He's not a man who would get in a fight
Lea: exactly, the reader would be pulled in to see what will happen to him, will he change, how will this affect his work
ChrisChat: See....I'm always on the other side of the group...I plainly see the differences in Mannix, Bond...don't see them as being carbon copies at all...
joylouise: being detailed oriented gives you lots to work with as a writer. You can really delve into things like details in someone’s clothing, or details seen as one drives down the street, things like that
Cherley: Will people come to his defense or will he get out on his own
Jan: Monk is not a cardboard character, he is multi-dimensional. That is what makes him interesting.
BarbaraB: each detective has a gimmick for the writers to hang the plot on.
Roadwriter: Characters are breaking into two parts -- those who use the rules to solve something, and those who use their own rules
Lea: Diane your character
Dianeto: Joanne Walker from C.E. Murphy's "Shaman Series.
She's determined to *not delve into her special talents* but always strives to save her friends from events. My interest in her stems from her extending herself physically, then crawing out of bed the next day to go on with life. OPEN DISCUSSION
Lea: what are her talents?
ChrisChat: what are her special talents, and what do you mean extending herself physically...don't know character
jcpams: What kind of physical extension does she do?
Lea: from this I don't see anything extraordinary other than extending herself which means to me she puts her full force into what she's doing
Dianeto: This is kinda of woo woo stuff, she's a Shaman who does not want to be...she wants to be like everyone else.
jcpams: as in witchcraft?
Cherley: I don't know her character either, give us more.
Lea: so she hides behind a wall and doesn't want her heritage to come through
dontkickmycane: So her internal struggle is what you like?
Dianeto: Saving the world takes extreme physical strength. She's had fights with the *The Wild Hunt* leaders, with deamons, etc.
ChrisChat: so when she's extending herself...you mean she does this both mentally and physically wears out by the practice of being a Shaman
Lea: from this discussion I’m seeing as readers/viewers, we are so far attracted to characters that have weaknesses and inner struggles
Lea: what do you guys think? True?
LisaHaselton: I agree Lea
joylouise: I agree too
ChrisChat: Here's a thought....is it the actual characters at times we like or the theme of situations they are in
Dianeto: But her character gets up and tries again.
dontkickmycane: Yes, Lea, I'd agree, I know that is what really stands out for the character I chose
Cherley: I think we are, Lea, and I like overcomers.
Dianeto: I like the part where she gets up and tries again.
Lea: Chris, it has to be both. The character is the one with the weakness and he/she needs to pull that through the reader to make them feel for them
Cherley: They work together Chris.
dontkickmycane: There's a dichotomy there, Dianne.. She doesn't even want to do it in the first place, yet she does, it lays her out, but she gets up and does it again
Cherley: It's important to put the right type of person in the right or wrong situation.
dontkickmycane: What would be interesting to me is why does she keep doing it if she doesn't want to? What drives her to keep going back for more of what she doesn't want?
Cherley: Her friends are her driving force.
Lea: yes, that driving is the inner challenge they struggle with
Dianeto: It matters to her that the world goes on, and if she's the one who has to save it she does
Cherley: She's the super hero
Cherley: I'm not familiar with him or the book but he sounds a little like my character in my book.
BarbaraB:
Cherley: The not so ordinary person who has to step up to the plate.
Dianeto: Do you think he's *real* in the sense we have to have some social skills to get along in the world at large?
Lea: wow there are so many neat traits here
Jan: I remember the movie The Librarian and enjoyed it but I would not pick him as a memorable character.
jcpams: what is your favorite trait in your character,
Cherley: I think the nerdy hero is interesting.
Dianeto: I think most people like the underdogs
Lea: everyone is picking on his hero and skills--what about the fact he's living at home at that age
Cherley: I noticed that too Lea,
Cherley: Kind of a Mamma's boy
Lea: is there an insecurity to be on his own?
Lea: is he close to his parents?
Roadwriter: what does his mother add to the mix? ( I've never heard of the Librarian)
Lea: needs to take care of them?
jcpams: good question
Lea: these are all questions interesting to a reader to pull them into a story
Vivian: Or does he hide his real purpose by appearing to be a "momma's boy"?
Lea: good one vivian
BarbaraB: Maybe he's looking for a smart woman to marry. An ordinary woman won't do.
Lea: like Superman and his glasses
Dianeto: Does he use his parents to hide his lack of social skills?
NancyS: I think why I like him was when he realized the fate of the world was in his hands and he he stood there shaking his head trying to figure out how to deal with it and says "the fate of the world in my hands...thats just sad. he has no faith in himself
Cherley: He's a late bloomer.
Lea: previously we found a weakness in some of the exercise characters; do you guys see a weakness in him?
Roadwriter: maybe Mom is the brains behind him, or the reason he spends so much time not in touch with people
dontkickmycane: Maybe it's a point of stability in his life where the rest of it has spun out of his limited control?
jcpams: lack of self trust
Cherley: Lack of worldly experience
Cherley: Sheltered life
Lea:
Cherley: But he knows about life outside of his own self through books.
Vivian: Also, wouldn't living at home leave him free from a home life and time to do whatever he has to do?
Dianeto: It would depend on what he reads
dontkickmycane: which may or may not be a limiting way to look at the world
Lea: so his traits are: loner, and?
Cherley: He is fulfilling his destiny
Cherley: He doesn't know that he's destined
BarbaraB: Does he have an analytical mind?
dontkickmycane: I wouldn't call that a trait so much as an obstacle.
dontkickmycane: the fulfilling a destiny, that is
BarbaraB: If there is a destiny angle, it would have to be mentioned.
Roadwriter: does he understand his great power, like spiderman or superman, or is it more of an accidental thing, like Monk?
Dianeto: I was taught, piece at a time. This was written as a back story
ChrisChat: but should we twist someone else's character? Thinking out loud
Vivian: A prologue that is a story within a story.
joylouise: how about in pieces throughout the story, woven in maybe in italics or thoughts
Lea: we're talking about our own characters now Chris. Only dissecting and discussing others
ChrisChat: seep and written...when either is the better choice for the piece
Cherley: I've heard that a lot of people never read a prologue
Lea: Okay, let me give you a quick example because we're off topic now
Lea: we have a fireman who is remembering the way his mother held him when he was afraid of fire
Lea: look at this first:
Lea: He stood there, remembering how his mom held him when he was ten years old
Lea: boring, no?
Lea: now look at this possible way to introuce this
dontkickmycane: Dialogue is useful, as are thoughts, and sometimes, those tics come in handy. I have a character who grew up with nothing. He constantly 'fixes' his clothes, makes sure he's 'put together' since he didn't have that when he was young
Lea: He closed his eyes for a second, felt the passing warmth of his mother's touch in his mind. "Hey, Joe, you dreaming again?"
Lea: I'm giving you backstory but the scene is still in the present.
Lea: and you know this by the dialogue
Cherley: Using the image of touch
Lea: there are many ways to discuss backstory but that's another workshop :)
Lea: Okay, Dontkickmycane, your next
dontkickmycane: Vanyel Ashkevron - Mercedes Lackey's Magic's Pawn series.
dontkickmycane: I like his voyage of self discovery, not just his sexuality, but his magic, his power, his inner strength (because unlike the rest of his family, he wasn't strong physically), make him a very likeable character.
dontkickmycane: That he has to let go of so many things; his home, his father's expectations, his own dream of becoming a Bard, and eventually, the love of his life, and he still manages to find it in his heart to take what he has, what he can do and what he never wanted to be, and use those gifts to help others in the face of losing everything he loves, even, eventually, losing his own life.
He grew from an introverted, frightened child to a man, no less frightened, but strong enough, caring enough, to take the big risks for the people he cared about. OPEN DISCUSSION
jcpams: I'm not familiiar with him, what big risks did he take?
ChrisChat: sounds like he stood up for those who couldn't even when he wasn't sure he could...but his moral code made him
Lea: so his biggest trait is being honorable
dontkickmycane: He saved the world. He used magic he didn't know he had at first, to destroy enemies.
Lea: has he ever been tempted to the 'bad' side ?
dontkickmycane: More than that, he knew what it was going to cost him before he did it, and he did it anyway, because no one else could.
Cherley: How would he not know he had magic?
Lea: Cherley, think Potter
ChrisChat: in this story would the bad side be more staying on the safe side...what his dad wanted him to (dad's expectations)
Cherley: Haven't read Potter.
dontkickmycane: part of his struggle was resisting the power of the enemy that tried to lure him away from his friends, making him think his fighting would get them all killed. He had to see through that lie
ChrisChat: think someone who discovers they can paint, never knew they could till presented with chance
Cherley: But he's a grown man at what age when he discovers his talents
Lea: ah, so he does or did have a weakness but overcame then
Cherley: What did he do for a living?
Lea: so deception was in front of him and his character had to decipher - in other words he was faced with a puzzle he needed to solve and move on
so yet again we see another character who faces an inner conflict
dontkickmycane: starts out the story about fifteen, and we see him grow into a man spans about twenty years, I think. His powers take about three to fully develop, if I remember right
Lea: does he have a weakness?
joylouise: are there any other kind that are memorable?
Cherley: What made him give up his own life. Was there romance involved?
Lea: Joy, inner conflicts structure the outer conflicts in books
Lea: when you establish a weakness or a missing factor or a motive in a character, then you the writer knows exactly what obstacles to place in front of him
ChrisChat: what are inner conflicts?? See, I'm thinking some of my favourites really don't have what I would consider inner conflicts
dontkickmycane: yes, lots of romance, but not why he gave his life. He wanted to be a Bard. He in fact turned out to be a much stronger mage, though he never thought of himself as very strong or brave
Lea: we'll discuss inner and outer conflicts Chris in another workshop but quickly- inner conflicts are emotional turbulence the character faces within himself
dontkickmycane: he was born into a family of strong men, warriors, leaders. He was the runt, I guess you could say
Dianeto: We're Bard's. They are storytellers, sometimes with music
Lea: oh, that's one heck of a dilemma he needs to conquer
Lea: but makes for one interesting pull to a reader
dontkickmycane: Yes, Lea. He wasn't anything his father expected him to be. he couldn't be what his father wanted. He turned out to be exactly that in the end, but found it on a very different road than the one he was supposedly 'meant' to take
Vivian: Even with all my reading, I chose a TV hero. Thomas Magnum of Magnum PI. He was a mixture of hero qualities and human failings.
He wanted to do what was needed and right, but he had a slightly warped sense of humor, and he had a tendency to use his friends.
As the show progressed, we learned that the love of his life, his wife he thought was dead, was alive and still married to someone before believed dead.
He not only had to let her go again, he lost her, and he thought their daughter, too.
He was the hero and yet the clown.
OPEN DISCUSSION
Lea: from all of this, as a reader, what would pull me in is his loss
That makes him human to me
Cherley: I didn't know about his wife, but it's been years since I've seen it.
jcpams: His human side is easy to relate to, and we like his looks:)
Vivian: It made him very "human."
Lea: readers relate when they can associate with an emotion
joylouise: I like his humor
Vivian: Oh, yes, Tom Selleck became Magnum.
Cherley: I think he had a sex appeal and a mystic
Lea: he was quiet, reserved, yet had a strength to him
Vivian: Exactly.
dontkickmycane: I think his humor made him. It always brought him back down to earth
Vivian: His closest friends couldn't really "read" him.
Lea: so do you think he used humor to cut down the loss in his life?
Cherley: As I remember him, he was always taking cases he didn't want to take
Roadwriter: and the backstory, about
Vivian: Yes.
dontkickmycane: Yes. I think his sense of humour put everything in perspective for him. It was his way of dealing. Like Hawkeye on MASH
Lea: so we have his humor, his
Cherley: I think I liked Tom Selleck more than Magnum and watched the show more for that reason, even though I didn't really like the show.
dontkickmycane: I think they might be a start, Lea, but without the face to go with, you'd need more to hold onto a reader
Vivian: He had more than humor and friends. He had his own sense of honor that he upheld.
Lea: forget the hunk, as a book character, what one or two things would stand out about him?
Roadwriter: like the Spenser series -- books and tv -- there's always room for one more situation to be faced
ChrisChat: yes, cause his moral code was very much like the characters of Louis L'Amour's characters...which Tom Selleck has played over and over
Dianeto: It's a starting place, Lea. The humor put other people off, enough so they wouldn't get close
Lea: sense of honor, is one big factor that makes him an appealing character because would he dare face committing direful deeds in order to uphold this?
Vivian: Yes, which he did.
Lea: would a reader think he might to pull them into the story?
ChrisChat: yes
Cherley: Most of the crimes weren't murder, Were they?
Vivian: no, they weren't
Roadwriter: Mary Russell, by Laurie King
LOST SOME TRANSCRIPT HERE
Cherley: That she overcomes and becomes better
Lea: so we have once again proved that this character has an inner struggle just like most of our characters
Cherley: More secure, more satisfied
Lea: so inner struggles seems to be the main point tonight
BarbaraB: Sometimes the setting is a character. The story cannot be told but in that one place.
Dianeto: Would you read a book that did not have some struggle?
Kathy_H: 1. The protagonist character that I have in my head and struck an accord with me is a new one, Hugo Cabret. I just finished reading the 2008 Caldecott winner, The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Bruce Selznick. The book won the award for the illustrations, but the story is wonderful.
What are the reasons Hugo has stuck with me? He is persistent, clever, overcomes obstacles, and faces his fears. His story made me empathize with him; I wanted him to be able to reach his dream of fixing the automaton. Although his was an orphan, homeless, did not attend school, he was able to survive and overcome his problems. He survived by eating from trash bins and stealing, not a good thing, of course, but when he was found out, shop owners felt sorry for him and gave him a job fixing mechanical toys and sweeping and in return provided food and eventually a home.
Lea: another Annie and Oliver Twist complex...orphan with a need to survive
Kathy_H: Hugo was a very strong character. I truly liked him!
Lea: one main trait stood out for you?
Kathy_H: his courage
Cherley: Yeah, I like those kind of stories.
jcpams: his inner struggle was not reaching his dream?
Cherley: Survivors
Lea: so when a character has to struggle to overcome is again at the forefront
joylouise: I like those kinds of stories too
Lea: and the best part for me here is the fact he's an orphan
BarbaraB: Sounds timely, too, what with so many homeless people.
Lea: this gives room for backstory,
giving a social theme to your stories always connects a reader because they can relate with your character's plight
Cherley: I guess we want to see how their struggle helps them to overcome, in case we ever need to overcome something.
Lea: in one of the future workshops we'll be hitting on plots and subplots which will help to pinpoint how many subplots and how they should fit in with your characters
Kathy_H: I like that we are comparing these characteristics so that we can give these important characteristics to our own stories and protagonists.
jcpams: sounds good
Cherley: We all want to conquer our fears and our flaws.
Lea: any similarities in this character with some of the others we've talked about?
Lea: that's the whole point Kathy
jcpams: overcame obstacles
Joe Trent: What's the price of failure in these stories?
Lea: by discussing characters who have touched us, regardless if we've read or know them, it helps us to see similar traits in most of the unique beings
Lea: good question Joe
dontkickmycane: inner strength and persistence
Lea: success isn't always a need to be there
Kathy_H: Failure to me would be like giving up
Lea: by showing failure you must also show how he's changed because of it, or even because of his success
Lea: not necesarily Kathy
jcpams: we learn from our mistakes
Cherley: Yeah, I think they have to have an investment; death, love
Lea: they might be trying to overcome an obstacle, like winning back a girlfriend, let's say, but fail in the end
Lea: but perhaps something else has filled that void
Kathy_H: yes, but that's opportunity to try something else.
dontkickmycane: sometimes characters can grow by realizing what they were striving for has become irrelevant or unnecessary
Cherley: helping someone else
Cherley: saving the world
Kathy_H: right, I agree with that
jcpams: I chose Shrek
jcpams: Shrek is a memorable protagonist for many reasons. He is a unique, funny and philosophical creature that charms women, gingerbread men, donkeys and small children. My son and I have watched all 3 Shrek movies and love Shrek's outlook on life and fun spirit.
dontkickmycane: Character growth is the point of a story, not necessarily saving the world
Lea: and we've been here almost two hours. Hope you guys are learning and enjoying
jcpams: He loves peace and solitude. He befriends Donkey, what a guy!
Cherley: Yeah, I like the wounded lover stories too. Where they find new loves usually totally different.
Lea: I love Shrek from so many angles
Lea: his troll like being can take on so many meanings
jcpams: He is a large, crude green giant, yet he is gentle and funny and wise!
Lea: like beauty and the beast
jcpams: open discussion
ChrisChat: he almost breaks the 4th wall and looks at the audience/reader as if to say...are you kidding me
Dianeto: And, he got the girl in the end. ;-)
joylouise: he has a good sense of loyalty
Cherley: It was witty
Cherley: I like wit and a bit of a challenge
Dianeto: I only saw the first one, but I like the extremes he went to to keep the show of being an ogre, when he was actually kind-hearted
Dianeto: He finally, had to go save his world to get some piece and quiet.
ChrisChat: but it's not his inner struggle
Lea: he doesn't care that he's an ogre
Lea: he loves who he is
ChrisChat: he's fine with it
dontkickmycane: of course not! that's the beauty of this movies, Roadwriter. It appeals on so many levels
ChrisChat: he actually doesn't give a hoot what anyone thinks about him
Lea: his struggle is figuring out how or what his love thinks about him
Lea: that is a struggle to see if she's on the up and up with him. He’s insecure in that area
BarbaraB: Yeah, Lea. Both learning and enjoying. It's good to see all of this is a concise format. I've also heard about some characters I never knew before. It's almost time for Monk. Catch ya next time.
jcpams: OK I see that
Cherley: I think it's really geared toward adults.
ChrisChat: but isn't he only insecure when it's been pointed out to him...by donkey
Kathy_H: Yeah, I'm watchng Monk, too. Now that's a character!
Joe Trent: Leto Atreides II - Dune by Frank Herbert. He’s stuck around with me, although it’s been fifteen years or more (already?) since I read the book. Larger than life and complex. There are things that bothered me about him, yet... He uses people for a larger purpose. It’s hard to know sometimes whether I should be rooting for him.
Joe Trent: Leto ruled the world of Dune. He possessed the memories of generations of ancestors. And He merged with the sandworms (?) to gain physical power.
Joe Trent: He’s powerful, but his power isolates him. And he’s stuck. Where else could he go?
Joe Trent: It’s been so long since I read the books I’ve lost a lot of the detail. But the character stayed with me.
Joe Trent: Open discussion
dontkickmycane: like my choice, Joe. He's got to do this thing that maybe makes him less of a true hero, but in the end is the thing that needs to be done and no one else can do it
Joe Trent: I don't think this part of Dune was ever made into a movie. This was the second and maybe the third book in the series.
museitupeditor: does he feel no option but to continue with this struggle?
Cherley: He must have been a good character to stick with you.
Dianeto: I do and don't like that he uses people, even though he wants the larger good
Joe Trent:
museitupeditor: so it's not as much the power he possesses but the human side of being stuck with it
dontkickmycane: I don't think he liked using people, either, did he? I don't remember now
Joe Trent: He did what he had to.
Dianeto: Yeah, that's the net net of all the *super hero types* we've discussed. They have to deal with what they are becoming
museitupeditor: from what I remember he was an enigma in the sense he seemed at times to love his position and other times a melancholy side took over
museitupeditor: so this mixture of emotions is like a struggle
Joe Trent: Dang, now I'm going to have to read it again.
dontkickmycane: which isn't the same as doing it without thought, or doing it without caring what happened to the people he used, or agonizing over their fate
Dianeto: That's why I buy books, Joe. To read again and again. LOL
Joe Trent: In his case the price of failure was disaster for the people of Dune.
museitupeditor: I suppose the people he used are the images of a dark side he needs to conform and deal with when the situation appears
Joe Trent: At least initially.
museitupeditor: so what have you guys picked up about memorable characters today?
Roadwriter: they are inconsistent
Cherley: Inner conflict
Joe Trent: They have to be real. Or maybe realer.
Cherley: Tics
museitupeditor: like that, realer :)
joylouise: I've gotten lots out of this tonight. Thanks Lea and all.
Roadwriter: they waffle when faced with choices
dontkickmycane: that they show some distinct and dramatic growth from beginning of the story to the end, whatever the outcome of their striving
Roadwriter: but they act
Dianeto: Use their faults and weaknesses to let the reader see their humanity
novah: Thank you, Lea...this was very nice!
dontkickmycane: thanks, lea
Cherley: I've learned a lot. Thanks.
Our weeklong guest on The MuseItUp Club was none other than Jeanne Gassman. Here are some of the questions and answers we bombarded her with. She was a terrific guest! --Jeanne Gassman - http://www.jeannelyetgassman.com
Jeanne Lyet Gassman is an award-winning writer whose work has been published in magazines, newspapers, and anthologies. She received a grant to attend the Creative Capital Artist Skills Building Seminar in 2006 and was awarded an Encouragement Award in Creative Writing for her short fiction from the Arizona Commission on the Arts in 2002. She writes a column, "Jeanne's Writing Desk," for "Mike's Writing Newsletter," and teaches classes and workshops in the Phoenix metro area.
º*NEW
Welcome to the club, Jeanne. I wonder if you could give us your best tip on writing dialog. I notice you've had a piece published about dialog recently. Many of us have a time making dialog seem natural. How can we improve?
I'll start with some dialogue basics. If I don't address what you want to know, feel free to fire off more questions, okay?
First of all, dialogue is compressed speech. Your characters should NOT tell each other what they already know. For example, if they're both sitting on a park bench in the sunshine, there really is no point in one of them telling the other that the sun is shining.
Dialogue serves two basic functions in a story:
1. It advances the plot.
2. It enhances character development.
If you are using dialogue to advance the plot, be careful that you don't use it for a plot summary or to fill in backstory. Have you ever watched a soap opera? Many times, during a big dramatic moment, a character will lecture another character about everything that's happened in the last ten episodes: "Butch, you don't remember this because you were in a coma for three weeks, but when Sabrina thought you were going to die, she cleaned out your bank account and ran off with your best friend..." You've seen it, I'm sure. The soap opera writers are just making sure that their audience keeps up with the twists and turns in the plot. However, this is NOT something you want to do in your own story!
There are really three forms of dialogue, and they all work in different ways:
Verbal
Internal monologue (the character's thoughts)
Body language/physical response
You can use the last two types to provide context and meaning for the first. Here is an example using the exact same conversation:
"You're late," Joan said.
"I told you I had to work late," Mike replied.
(This example is flat with no emotional context. We have no idea how Joan feels or what John thinks.)
"You're late," Joan said.
You stupid old hag, Mike thought. If you really knew why I was late, you'd be scared out of your mind. "I told you I had to work late," Mike replied.
(Now we've added some meaning with internal monologue. We know Mike has a secret, and he doesn't think much of Joan.)
"You're late," Joan said.
Mike lobbed his car keys across the kitchen, barely missing Joan's eye. "I told you I had to work late," he replied.
(The physical action shows us that Mike is probably abusive and creates tension in the scene.)
I like to think of dialogue as a tennis match. One character hits the ball over the net; the other character responds. That response can be verbal, the character's thoughts, or a physical action, but if character A says something to B, then B needs to respond--even if his response is to walk out of the room without saying a word.
Some other things you want to remember--"Said" is the invisible word. The reader will gloss over "said" without ever noticing that it's there. However, strong words like "croaked, hissed, spit, gurgled, snarled, etc." all call attention to themselves. Use them sparingly and only for emphasis. Also, be aware of their exact meaning. Hissing refers to a sibilant (the "sss" sound). You can't hiss these words: "Put down the gun."
Adverbs ("ly" words) add little meaning to your dialogue and are examples of telling vs. showing. This is telling: "Put down the gun," Andrea said angrily.
You are dictating emotion without context.
If you show the emotion, you can do this (and lose the adverb in the process): "Put down the gun," Andrea said, slamming the door so hard the glass rattled in its frame.
Now we have a physical representation of her anger and a context for that emotion.
Those are rough examples, but I think you get the idea.
Dialogue also has beats. These are pauses in the conversation that allow for a description of physical action or internal monologue. The beats add to the natural rhythm and flow of the conversation. They may allow a character to gather his thoughts or calculate his answer. They also prevent that most deadly of all dialogue diseases: talking heads. Have you ever read a book where you have to go back and retrace who is speaking? That's an example of talking heads. The characters aren't grounded in space or time; they sound alike; and they have no physical or emotional response to what is being said.
It's important to remember one more thing here. The very best dialogue has a subtext of meaning. In other words, your characters may say one thing but mean something else entirely. The real meaning is made clear with those beats.
I always tell my students that they should become good eavesdroppers. You will learn much about the natural flow of conversation by listening in unobserved. Go to a mall, a movie, a restaurant, or just stand in line anywhere and listen to what people are saying around you. Pay attention to how they place emphasis on their words. Do they use their hands? Do they touch each other? Look away? Do they raise or lower their voice? All of these little detailed observations will help you add the necessary beats to the conversations you write.
Do you work on several stories at one time? If so, how do you manage to turn off that internal thing that is always thinking about ONE of them, and thus, you never get to the rest of the stories?
The answer is: one book and multiple short stories in various states of completion. I don't have much trouble working on more than one short story because they are so self-contained. However, I tend to focus on one story at a time--working it through until I think it's almost ready. When the story is in decent shape, I may start mapping out a new story idea and then go back for a final polish of the first story. Does that make sense?
The novel is different. If I stay away from it for too long, I find that I need to re-read a few chapters to get into the flow again.
Like you, I find it easy to switch to nonfiction. That type of writing seems to come from a different part of my brain.
Question about promotion and networking. What steps do you take to get traffic top your site? At what point in your writing career did you start your site? What other venues do you use for promotion?
I think someone on here said something about this earlier, but it's important that you have something to offer people on your site other than your work that you want to promote. People tend to visit Web sites for one of several reasons:
1. They are looking for information or resources.
2. They want to buy a product or service.
3. They follow a link from somewhere else.
If you can tailor your site so that it has all of these features, you will increase the traffic. If you look at my site, you'll see that I state upfront on the homepage what people can expect to find. In addition to promoting my writing and my teaching, I post articles about the craft and business of writing; I post information about my writing classes; I post helpful links and resources for writers; and I have announcements about upcoming writing events. I find that most of the people visit my site to read the articles or make use of the links and resource information.
So, you start by defining the purpose of your site. What can you offer besides a storefront for your book or writing? Let's say you write paranormal romance, but you don't really feel comfortable writing articles about how to write. What else could you offer? You could write stories about paranormal events. You could post links to other sites that specialize in this topic. You could write book reviews of other authors who write in the same genre. You could post information about conferences, classes, etc. All of these methods will draw people to your site. It's also important to update your site regularly so that the data is fresh and new for returning visitors.
Another way to promote your site is to participate actively in various forums and make your hyperlink part of your signature. (You'll notice that it shows up on my posts.) Just be sure that this isn't a violation of forum rules. Most forums have no problem with you using your site as part of your signature--as long as you don't spam the boards just to get the links posted. If you are going to participate in forums, you should offer more than just an advertisement for your site. Give advice. Ask questions. Answer questions. If you respond intelligently in a public forum, people will clink on the link to your site just out of curiosity.
Metatags are also very important. These are key words that your site host asks you to list regarding your site. They are designed to help the search engines find your site more quickly. When you select these key words, think about what words someone would use to find information on your site. For example, I wanted people to ask about my writing classes because I hoped to reach out to my community and find more teaching opportunities. I used these words in my metatags: "writing, classes, workshops, Phoenix, Arizona." If you type in "writing classes Phoenix Arizona" in a search engine (such as Google), guess whose site is #1 on the list? :-D
Linkbacks are another way to network and promote your site on the Net. In this case, you agree to post a link to someone else's site in exchange for their placing a link to your site on their Web page or blog. The more linkbacks you have, the more people will become aware of your site.
However, I don't depend on the Internet to promote my site. My site address appears in my contact information for every letter and every email. It's printed on my business cards, and it's on every piece of promotional material I use for my writing classes.
I think I've had my Web site up for about five years. The counter is actually wrong on there. It's running about 3,000-4000 hits short because the software turned buggy for a while and decided to run the counter backwards! Hits were being erased as soon as they came in. GoDaddy never did figure out what happened.
Mmm...Other sources of promotion? Word of mouth. Active participation on forums of like interest. (Are you familiar with the best-selling book, Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen? When Sara was researching her book, she joined a number of circus forums where she asked and answered questions about circus life. She had a ready-made audience when her book was published!) Membership in professional organizations, including professional writer's groups, critique groups, etc. Publication of related material in other venues. (I've received several teaching jobs and writing jobs simply from articles I've had published about the craft and business of writing.)
However you choose to network and promote yourself, remember that it's a small universe out there. I participate in a half dozen forums, and even though those participants are from all over the world, I still recognize some of them when I visit a new place on the Net. Always be polite, always be professional, and don't ever get involved in flame wars. People will remember you for the right reasons then.
I have a book I call my eternal book, because I've been working on it so long. It was really my first, and I learned a lot going through it.
What do you suggest doing when you get a book to the place where you know the beginning needs to be really reworked, maybe even come at from an
entirely different angle, but you've been working on the book for so long that you're starting to go cross-eyed from the experience?
How close are you to the end? If you haven't finished the book yet, I would make a final sprint to finish a complete draft before I went back and reworked the first chapter. It's so easy to get caught in the trap of making the first chapter perfect and then finding yourself stuck. If you have a complete draft of the book, the final chapter may dictate what you need or want to put in at the beginning.
If you haven't done so already, I highly recommend storyboarding. This is a great way to see the big picture. I have a large bulletin board in my office that I use just for this purpose. Under each posted chapter heading, I place an index card with a one-sentence description of each major scene. Each scene gets its own index card so I can readily see how many scenes are in that chapter. For example, my first chapter would look like this:
Chapter One
Scene 1: D. gets into an argument with a stranger in the marketplace and is attacked. (first index card)
Scene 2: D. learns that his best employee is going to work with the man who attacked him. (second card)
When you look at the big picture this way, you may discover that a scene that was originally in Chapter 15 would work much better if it appeared earlier in Chapter 5.
Okay, let's say you have a complete draft. Now what? My next advice is to take a vacation from the book. Put the book aside and don't even look at it for several weeks. In the meantime, start on a new writing project, something that's been nagging at you while the BOOK has held you in its guilty clutches! You will probably start thinking about the book or that first chapter, and that's fine. Just jot down your thoughts where you can find them when the time comes. It's important not to re-read your book yet because your best revisions occur when you come to the writing cold. You will then have a more objective eye.
When you're ready to re-read the book and start revisions, set aside enough time to read the book all the way through in one or two sessions. As you read the book, make notes for changes in a spiral notebook or separate folder. (It can be on the computer if you prefer.) These notes will be the foundation for your first major revision of the whole book--not just sections. Part of that major revision, however, can be your first chapter. But don't revise it until you've read the whole book. Remember, what happens in Chapter One could affect what happens in Chapter 20. You need to be aware of that continuity.
After you've made that first major revision, then it will be time to do the fine-tuning. The best way to do this--Are you ready?--is to read the book, the whole book, aloud. It's even better if you can find someone to read it to you. As the writer, you are now becoming the active listener. You will be listening for the awkward phrase, the wrong word choice, the misplaced commas (you can hear them), the missing words, the stilted dialogue, and the general flow of the story.
I know it sounds like lots of work, but you know, I love revising! For me, the hard part is getting the bones written down. Once I have that in place, I can put some flesh on that skeleton and dress it up in dozens of different ways until it looks just perfect.
Do you believe a good manuscript might be overlooked by a publisher if the guidelines were not met?
Oh, absolutely I believe this. In fact, I've seen publishers return a ms. unread because the writer ignored the publication' s guidelines.
When you submit something, you want to tip the scales to your advantage as much as possible.That means you need to send a finished, edited, and polished product. Your work should be thoroughly checked for spelling errors, grammar problems, typos, missing words, etc--anything that might draw negative attention to the writing. In addition, it's very important to follow the submission guidelines so that the editor knows you understand his market and what he's looking for. You want that editor to look at your writing with the expectation that this piece might be just perfect for his publication.
Jeanne, editing for a few publishers I am always, and I do mean ALWAYS amazed how so many writers still don't get why they shouldn't flip POVs within a scene, and I'm talking from one paragraph to the other.
My question isn't a question as much as a request if you can give some sound reasoning why this is such a no no so members here can avoid doing this mistake in their own work. Mind you, from what I"ve read, past and present, Musers do understand this area quite well. But because some of our questions and answers are placed in The Muse Unleashed for our nonmembers to get a glimpse of our discussions within the walls of the Muse, reading it from an expert as yourself will be very helpful.
This is known as "head hopping." The writer jumps from the POV of one character into the POV of another without any break or transition. It leaves the reader feeling disoriented and confused--something you don't want to do. It pulls the reader out of the story and reminds him that the author is controlling the events.
I like to think of POV in terms of looking through a camera lens. This lens narrows the focus to the character's limited awareness and perspective. When you, the writer, present a story from a character's POV, you can tell us what only that character sees and experiences. Whenever I write a story, I'm constantly reminding myself of what my character knows and sees. Where is he in the setting? Is he standing, sitting, running? Who is in the room with him? What can he hear? What can he touch, smell, see? What is hidden from him (both in knowledge of past events and in current personal experience)?
It's sometimes difficult to recognize that you are head hopping until a reader points it out to you. The writer is so aware of what is going to happen in the story that he forgets that not all of his characters know as much as he (the writer) does. One trick you can use is to write the identical scene from multiple points of view. First, write the scene from you main character's POV. Then write the same scene from the antagonist's POV or from a secondary character's POV. What does the secondary character know or experience that the main character doesn't? You may find yourself surprised by how little one character actually knows! Think of yourself as an actor who is playing all the parts. This exercise will help you recognize when you've flipped the POV.
Here is a fun exercise you can do. Look in the back of one of those freebie weekly papers where they advertise estate sales. If you can find an ad that lists most of the stuff for sale (with some detail about style, color, condition, etc.), cut it out and then go through it. Based on what the person had in his or her house, what do you know about him/her?
We often define ourselves by the possessions we have. The kind of car we drive, the clothes we wear, the things we carry with us--all of them make a statement to the world at large: This is who I want you to think I am.
What things would your character value? What possessions does he or she own that make that same kind of statement?
Okay, let's start from the beginning. For the entire month of November, in celebration with NaNo, I'll try to gear our discussions into motivating as many as possible to get off their writer's block, unsure where to head, how to start, and anything else I can dream off to get a novel in the works.
First thing:
What is causing you to procrastinate at times?
For me, it's been not knowing with which story to go with first. Got so many ideas in that head of mine I never know which one to head off with. I begin many and many are still sitting there UNTIL I come upon a deadline for a contest or a new call for submission. So I know my problem is a deadline to get going and finish with one idea at a time.
You?
Lea
http://leaschizaseditor.com
Below are some of the answers Musers offered to PROCRASTINATION. Do you see your answer in there? If you'd like to follow up with some of your own input, then simply head off to our forum on this site and visit our BEHIND THE SCENES forum topic.
Like the others, I have too many stories, articles, ideas whirling round my small brain. I know I'll forget them, so I start them all. Add to that
trying to keep a website up-to-date (That's #1 priority for today!), moderate two groups, answer e-mails, participate in five other groups, and keep up with crits and rewrites for eleven people (two groups).
Shirley Corder
WEB: http://www.shirleyc order.com
BLOG: http://www.shirleycorder.com/blog.html
Ok, Lea --
On the Eneagram, I'm a Nine -- one who sees all sides of issues and has difficulty choosing. I have so many ideas, so many projects I want to
work on, I get very stuck trying to make a decision which to do and which to hold.
I also get too tangled up in Perfectionist Mode -- I "should" write in blocks of time, in a well-organized space, and an orderly fashion. When
I have the actual time to WRITE, I'm usually "getting ready" or "getting organized". (I do make great lists. Perhaps there's a book to be
compiled with the Poetry of Great Lists)
I also edit the hell out of inconsequential things, like polishing emailmessages to my friends. . .
My goal this year is to take it in Baby Steps, but keep moving. I don't need an outline to write -- in fact that usually trips me up. Sit down
and do it.
I could use a "Dija Buddy" -- as in "Did ya do it yet?"
Michele M. Graf
http://mgraf-roadwriter.tripod.com/
I don't like to say it, but reading emails keeps me from writing. Like right now. I have an article and a lesson critique due tomorrow and I'm checking out words of wisdom from all of you. That's a good thing, but it does lure me away from my agenda. Deadlines do keep me in line most of the time but not always.
Carol
My top three reasons for procrastination are:
1) In the absence of a drop-dead deadline or a weekly deadline, trying to do several long-term projects at once
2) Obsession with perfection
3) Self-doubt-- especially when writing for someone else and not feeling authentic
Kristen
I think my issue is similar -- I end up with a lot of unfinished projects, simply because I start something new in the meantime. There are SO many things I want to do, explore, I just get plain distracted.
So, for November, my strategy is to schedule myself really, really tightly and during my NoNoWriMo time, I'm going to do NOTHING but
write my NoNoWriMo novel - no email checking, no photoshopping, no eating, nuthin'.
Amber Lea Starfire
Writer/Editor/ Photographer
http://www.amberstarfire.com
What leads me to procrastination is two-fold. First, I'm darned tired of working on my book (I call it my "eternal book") and think if I can leave it
for awhile and work on something else, then go back, it'll be okay. Hah! That leads to the other fold - I have a hard time turning off the part of my
brain that is so invested in my book, so that I "can't" work on something new when my thinking is so tied up with the old. It becomes a vicious
circle.
Katie