Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 157

In the Spotlight: A PERFECT VICTIM, by Patrica Dusenbury

Today's spotlight is on fellow Uncial Press author Patricia Dusenbury with her new book, A PERFECT VICTIM.

Claire Marshall’s world crumbled when her husband died in a fire. She’s trying to build a new life - and a business restoring historic houses in New Orleans. When one of her clients is found dead in a burned building, the police suspect her of arson or murder, maybe both. No one believes that her relationship with the late Frank Palmer was strictly business. Frank spent his last days telling the world they were planning to marry.

Some of the mess is her own fault. Finding the charred ruin of Frank’s cabin in a remote corner of Louisiana’s bayou country revived horrible memories of her husband's death. She suffered a panic attack. Calling the sheriff hours later wasn't good enough.

Claire's quest to prove her innocence becomes an investigation into Frank’s life. Why did he lie about their relationship? Why would someone want to kill him? She travels from New Orleans to rural Alabama, to the high desert of New Mexico, and along the way, learns that helping another is the way to help herself. But if she can't escape the killer, she can’t help anyone.

In her previous career, Patricia Dusenbury was an economist and the author of numerous dry publications. She is hoping to atone by writing mystery stories that people read for pleasure. Uncial Press e-published A Perfect Victim, Book 1 of her Claire Marshall trilogy, in 2013 and Book 2, Secrets, Lies & Homicide, in September 2014. Book 3 is a work in progress. When she isn’t writing, Pat is reading, gardening, babysitting for the grandkids or exploring San Francisco, her new home, with her husband. In late April/early May, you can find her in New Orleans, soaking up the sounds of Jazz Fest.
Her website:  patriciadusenbury.comA Perfect Victim is available at most e-book outlets, including:Amazon Barnes & Noble The publisher:  Uncial Press Untreed Reads KOBOFor iPads, Go to books in the iTunes store and search for Patricia Dusenbury

Letters to Kel: SHOW, DON'T TELL ... THROUGH SCREENWRITING

[image error] Have you heard "Show, Don't Tell" so many times you want to scream?

Especially if you can't quite get the hang of showing what's going on in your characters' heads without simply saying (telling) what they're feeling, as in "Fred was furious"?

Write a screenplay.

It's not really that hard. And there are lots of places where you can get samples of screenplays to see the format (not that important, unless you decide you like the technique so much you want to try to write to sell ... which ain't that easy! First rule is to ALWAYS understand the formats, the mechanics, the rules for whatever genre or form of literature you are working in, like a cook needs to understand the tools and ingredients she uses.).

To write a screenplay, you need directions, you need minimal setting descriptions, and you need dialog. (Doing this will also solve a problem a lot of newer writers have: Setting the stage. They forget to say WHERE a scene takes place. All they give you is dialogue, until suddenly a character walks across the room, revealing they're indoors, and picks up a pan or a letter opener or a file or a pillow, giving some small clue where they are. Or worse, two people are talking, and suddenly a third person joins the conversation, and there was NO indication whatsoever a third person was there. When did he arrive? How many other people are there? Or suddenly it starts raining -- no indication of the weather. Etc. Etc. Ad nauseum. SET THE STAGE! Okay, mini snit fit over. On with the lesson ...)

A standard screenplay will tell you time of day (Day, Night, Noon, Dawn, etc.), if it is an exterior or interior scene, and the location. Then it will set the stage -- who is there, what does it look like. "Fred and Lisa walk through the door into an office that has been trashed."

A screenplay will NOT tell you, "Lisa looks around in horror, remembering how she used to come here with her father as a child and learned ..." whatever. A screenplay will say, essentially, "Lisa reacts." Then, it will give dialogue to reveal what she is thinking/feeling:

LISA:
This is awful! I can't believe what they did to this place! I remember when Daddy would bring me here, I was maybe eight. He would let me set up my own office in the corner and I would pretend to fill out invoices and answer the phone.

Why do I say write a screenplay to learn better how to show versus tell?
In screenwriting, you have to give the actors hints to how they feel, how they should act, through their ACTIONS and their WORDS, as in the above bit of dialogue. You have to leave the interpretation to the actors and the directions to the director.

If Lisa walked in, looked around, shrugged, and said, "Good riddance," would you think she is upset at the desecration of her last memories of her father? Uh .... no!

Just type "Screenplays" into your search engine, and you'll find a good assortment of places to get FREE copies of screenplays of your favorite movies. Download them, read them, STUDY them to see how it's done. Then apply those principles when you write a scene. Later, you can go back and insert  things like memories, feelings, thoughts, to flesh out what your characters are SHOWING through their actions and words.

In future posts, I'll talk about two screenplays I wrote a long time ago, that I am turning into books now. It's not as easy as it sounds -- but since I wrote them, easier than someone adapting someone else's screenplay into a novel. I know what I wanted the characters to think and feel as I was writing them. Inside knowledge is always a good thing!

Off the Bookshelf: THE WITNESS by Nora Roberts

Half Price Books is a great place. Because, yes, you get books cheap -- and because I can take books I know I won't read again and turn them in for some cash and to "set them free" so someone else can enjoy them.

Last week, I treated myself to THE WITNESS, by Nora Roberts. Elizabeth is the brilliant daughter of a controlling, brilliant, emotionless mother. She had Elizabeth's life planned for her before she chose a sperm donor. At sixteen going on seventeen, Elizabeth has finally tasted freedom and realizes she doesn't want her mother's life -- instead of being a surgeon, she wants to work for the CIA or FBI. When she stands her ground, her mother simply leaves on her business trip instead of arguing -- leaving Elizabeth alone in the house for a few days, certain her daughter will follow the schedule planned for her and report for advanced summer classes.

Elizabeth packs years of rebellion into one day, starting with cutting and dying her hair, going shopping, trying makeup for the first time, forging I.D.s for herself and a girl from school, and going to a nightclub -- a nightclub owned by members of the Russian Mob. That night she witnesses a murder and her entire life changes from that moment.

As always, Nora creates "real" characters you have to care about, nasty side characters you want to see squashed oh, so badly, along with testing and trials that help her characters grow and triumph. I was so glad to find this book at Half Price Books. I've wanted to read this one, and hey, I can justify a new book at such a great price -- even if my to-be-read bookshelf isn't clearing off as quickly as I'd like it ...

In the Spotlight: SWEET DECEPTION, by Nancy Kay

Today's spotlight is focused on a fellow author at Desert Breeze Publishing: NANCY Kay

SWEET DECEPTION
Ten years ago their lives took separate paths.
Delilah sought a career in New York City; Kevin entered the state police academy, but when Delilah Wyeth inherits Cocoa Treats Chocolate, danger trails the cool city ad exec back to their hometown and draws State Police Corporal Kevin McClain into her unraveling life.
Kevin admires the cool, professional woman she's become, and misses the feisty girl he once knew. Though he vows to uncover why fear lurks in Lilah's stunning eyes, his less than stellar ancestry haunts Kevin, and he struggles to keep his hands off her tempting body.

Lilah faces life-altering choices. Precious memories pull her to stay and convince Kevin he deserves more in his life than a badge and a gun, but if she abandons her smooth-talking, manipulative New York supervisor, will she trigger a deadly reaction?
Her decision turns Lilah's fear to reality, and more than duty drives Kevin as he races to save her life.
Buy links:AMAZON BARNES AND NOBLEDESERT BREEZE PUBLISHING
Also in Paperback at Grape Country Marketplace in North East, Pa. – Romolos Chocolate 8th St. in Erie, Pa. – A la Carte in Shops at Colony 8th St. Erie, Pa. or your local Barnes and Noble.

Off the Bookshelf: TAKEDOWN TWENTY by Janet Evanovich

Okay, I confess -- I read two Stephanie Plum books in a row. I earned the relaxing and laughing time after the hard summer of working and writing that I had.

This book was well worth the wait (for time to read, as well as waiting for it to come out in paper -- hey, my bookshelves are running out of space! Paperbacks take up less space. Yes, I know I advocate e-books, but I started this series in paper and I want to keep the "set" together, know what I mean?).

In TWENTY, Stephanie has a HUGE problem -- hunting down a mobster character who happens to be her cop boyfriend's godfather, a member of Grandma Bella's family -- and you don't want to get on Bella's bad side. Joe's grandmother is a mean old lady who'll give you the "eye" and destroy your life. And she just keeps coming after Stephanie. Just like the hoods who are trying to discourage her from finding their boss -- even to the point of throwing her off a bridge!

And that's just the beginning of the insanity. Poor Stephanie -- she's finally come to the point of agreeing with her mother, that she needs a new job. But of course, being Stephanie Plum, that doesn't exactly .... work out.

If you have a big chunk of time to stretch out on the couch and just read, do it with this book. You won't want to put it down. I read until past midnight several nights in a row, and only closed the book because my eyes were closing!

In the Spotlight: SPINSTERED, by Sharyn Kopf

Today's Spotlight is on fellow ACFW Ohio author, Sharyn Kopf, with her first novel, SPINSTERED.

Three friends. Three stories. Three women trying to figure out how they ended up over 40 and still single.
Committed to her job and pushing fifty, Catie Delaney has almost given up on her dream of love and marriage. Maybe, she tells herself, she’d be happier just embracing her singleness. Maybe that's been God’s will all along.

Catie's friends, Jolene and Uli, have their own struggles with men, careers, and family.
Then into this mix of feminine angst walks Brian Kemper—the latest GWP (Guy With Potential) to join their church’s singles group. But just as something seems about to happen between him and Catie, her world falls apart.
With their hearts on the line, these three friends search for hope ... and find it in unexpected places.

You can buy her book at: http://www.lulu.com/shop/sharyn-kopf/spinstered-the-novel/paperback/product-21794165.html

Sharyn blogs at: www.girlsnightin40.com.

Off the Bookshelf: NOTORIOUS NINETEEN, by Janet Evanovich

I love Stephanie Plum -- especially when I haven't read one of her stories in a looooong time. The silliness and the "what is WRONG with my life?" attitude underlying the narrative voice is great fun. Relaxing. A treat. A reward for working hard the last few months.

Janet Evanovich struck gold when she created Stephanie Plum -- the bounty hunter from the Burg, with the big hair, who hates guns and has no domestic skills, caught between the bad-boy-turned-cop and the ex-Special Forces security specialist. Yeah, the girl who trashes more cars in one book than a smash-up derby.

In NINETEEN, Stephanie is trying to catch a man who vanished from the hospital following surgery and embezzling from a nursing home. Plus someone is out for Ranger's neck and he hired Stephanie to help guard a friend who is also a target, during his wedding. The dress Stephanie has to wear as a stand-in bridesmaid is the WORST! Appearances by Grandma Mazur and previous visiting characters are wonderful, as usual.

Want to laugh and be assured your life isn't half as bad as you think? But start with the first book -- people join the storyline and you learn bits and pieces of their lives as you go along. All the insanity aside, the characters and their interactions are the best part of Evanovich's stories.

Spotlight Saturday: A STRANGER ON MY LAND, Sandra Merville Hart

This Spotlight Saturday is focused on a new book by fellow ACFW author, Sandra Merville Hart:

A Stranger on My Land 
Carrie and her little brother, Jay, find a wounded soldier on their land after a battle which later became known as "The Battle Above the Clouds." Adam, a Union soldier, has been shot twice in the arm. Though Carrie is reluctant to take Adam to their cave where her family hides their livestock from both armies, she cannot turn her back on him. 
But her Aunt Lavinia, bitter over what Yankees have done to their land, urges Carrie to allow Adam to die. Carrie refuses, but cannot remove the bullets. Adam's friendship with Jay softens her heart toward him. It's not long until his gratitude and teasing manner spark a friendship between the young couple. Even though Carrie's father fights for the Confederacy in far-off Virginia, her feelings for the handsome young soldier begin to blossom into love.

When Adam's condition worsens, Carrie knows a Union surgeon is needed to save his life. How can she accomplish this and keep her family's hiding place a secret?
This book is available on Amazon at  http://www.amazon.com/Stranger-My-Land-Sandra-Hart/dp/1941103278/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1405606746&sr=1-1&keywords=A+Stranger+on+my+land.

 Sandra Merville Hart loves to find unusual facts in her historical research to use in her stories. She and her husband enjoy traveling to many of the sites in her books to explore the history. She serves as Assistant Editor for DevoKids.com where she contributes articles about history and holidays. She has written for several publications and websites including The Secret Place, Harpstring, Splickety Magazine, Pockets Magazine, Common Ground, Afictionado, and ChristianDevotions.us. Her inspirational Civil War novella, A Stranger on My Land, released on August 21, 2014.  

Letters to Kel: NANO TIME!

Saturday, November 1 -- National Novel Writing Month begins!

This is one of the best tools I've found for getting that dreaded first draft out there.

NaNoWriMo focuses on QUANTITY -- the goal is 50,000 words in 30 days -- roughly 1,667 words per day. When you break it down into small chunks like that, it looks so do-able, doesn't it?

You're going for number of words per day, and the focus on just getting the words out there sort of breaks past the barrier that your internal editor puts up in your brain. It teaches you to ignore the nagging little voice that insists, "It has to be good the FIRST time you write it down."

Umm ... NO! It ain't necessarily so.

I've found that just going for it, writing anything that comes to mind, giving myself permission to write a lousy first draft and follow tangents and rabbit trails ... leads to wonderful surprises. If you can't figure out what's supposed to happen next, forget about the outline or the general idea of what your character needs to do to get to your goal at the end of the book. Write about something weird. Put some obstacles in his or her path. Have someone nasty show up. Have someone show up who knows more about your character than you do -- and then spend the day's quota of words figuring out what it is, teasing your characters and your readers. As one author said, whenever you hit a block, SHOOT someone. Guaranteed to get things stirred up! Well, you don't have to specifically shoot one of your characters, but have some catastrophe hit. Who knows? You might just decide the weird event -- a meteor shower on a sunny day, a cop insisting that someone pay the traffic tickets now, a long-lost brother when the character thought he was an only child, a lottery ticket with the winning numbers .... get the idea? -- that weird event might just reveal things about your character you didn't know, or set up a sub-plot that is a lot more fun than what you planned to use.

It could be the fix for your block.

So NaNo in November. It'll be great fun!

www.NaNoWriMo.org

I'll be reporting on my progress on rough drafting my next Neighborlee, Ohio novel, "Hoax, Inc." In several previous stories, I mentioned Kurt Hanson's girlfriend, Jane, who runs a spa and has .... interesting talents. This is the story of how Jane came to Neighborlee and the "wizard's duel" that occurred between her and Kurt before they decided they liked each other!

Today! PARANORMAL BLOCK PARTY on Facebook

Come chat with me and other fantasy and spooky and paranormal authors about upcoming books Today, MONDAY, October 20, at the PARANORMAL BLOCK PARTY, sponsored by Author Island, on Facebook. Just type PARANORMAL BLOCK PARTY in the search field. Easy enough?
Authors of all sorts of fantasy and spooky types of books will be chatting starting 8am, EST, a new author every hour.
My time slot will be noon EST. I'll be talking about my November 15 release from Uncial Press, LONDON HOLIDAY, set in my weird little town of Neighborlee, Ohio. The "weirdness capital of the United States -- possibly the world." I'll be posting excerpts from the book and offering some hints at upcoming novels in the series.
What do you get when you combine a computer programming assignment, an odd video camera, an interdimensional invader and the magic of Divine's Emporium? Get a hint who -- or what -- London Holiday is. And maybe get a chance to win your own "baby werewolf."
I'll also be discussing other books set in Neighborlee, along with other fantasy novels. PLEASE don't make me face that time slot all alone!