Michelle L. Levigne's Blog, page 162

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY: Down & Out, by Marcy Dyer

Today's Spotlight is on fellow Desert Breeze Publishing author Marcy Dyer and her newest release, DOWN & OUT.
Going home again can be deadly. Suddenly jobless, enterprising Candace Downs returns to the parched and dusty oil-town of Odessa, Texas as a trainee for her cousin's towing company.Rejecting the romantic obsessions of a maniacal stranger intent on capturing her heart throws her life into a terrifying spiral downward.As the clock ticks, and her hunter ups the ante, the charismatic, handsome security consultant, Josiah Bradley, is determined to keep her alive – at any cost.Will they win this harrowing cat-and-mouse game? Or will the unrelenting stalker bury them both deep in the desert? Marcy G. Dyer is a Registered Nurse and suspense author. Like so many other writers, she began writing at a very young age, but never took herself seriously as a "real" writer until about ten years ago when she began taking courses and learning the craft of writing. She currently has two novels from the Desert Winds Series available: Down & Out and Out for BloodIn addition to writing, Marcy is a freelance editor. She does editing for individuals, Desert Breeze Publishing, and Prism Book Group.Marcy is an alumnus of the Christian Writer's Guild and long-time member of American Christian Fiction Writers. She hosts a small critique group for ACFW and is involved in two other critique groups. For anyone seriously interested in becoming an author, she recommends a strong, diverse critique group to help authors hone crafts.In addition to maintaining her website,http://www.marcydyer.com, Marcy hosts a blog to help those with autoimmune diseases. While many autoimmune diseases aren't visible, they still cause chronic pain and disability. If you would like more information, please visithttp://ragimp.blogspot.comAs followers of Jesus Christ, Marcy and her family are active members of Crossroads Fellowship in Odessa, Texas. Sermons are carried live via the web at our online campus -http://crossroadsodessa.tv/ at the following times on Sundays - 9:30 & 11:00 and 5:00 & 7:00 central time.She can be found at http://www.marcydyer.com and http://www.facebook.com/marcydyerSocial Media:Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/marcydyerTwit...  https://twitter.com/marcydyerGoogle: https://plus.google.com/u/0/116097132... http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?... http://www.marcydyer.com Buy Links:Amazon Kindle Edition: http://ow.ly/tFe3kAmazon Print Edition: http://ow.ly/tFe6eBarnes & Noble Nook: http://ow.ly/tFeaG 

Off the Bookshelf: THE STORY TEMPLATE by Amy Deardon

The subtitle of the book says a lot: Conquer Writer's Block Using the Universal Structure of Story.

By analyzing the structure of movies and books, Deardon creates the template for a solid book that works. She takes readers step by step through the entire process of creating characters, locations, situations, relationships, plot points ... essentially, assembling the "pieces parts" for a solid foundation and then solid walls and the finishing touches for your book. Each step of the process, she provides exercises to go through. By the end of the book, you're ready to write.

I have to confess, reading through the exercises made me realize I'm a lot more of a "pantser" as a writer than I thought! I discover a lot about my characters, their situations, their problems and goals and secret pains during the process of writing -- first draft, second draft, third draft. But this book is still useful for pantsers, even if the mere thought of doing all the prep work gives them hives -- because the clear, step-by-step explanations and discussions will be helpful in figuring out why their characters aren't cooperating, why the road the story is on just turned into a dead end, and why the ending isn't quite satisfying.

Note: I had the privilege of meeting Deardon at this year's Realm Makers conference, and she said to pass on that it is NOT necessary or required to stick strictly to the book. Use what works for YOU, and feel free to ignore the rest (or save it for future exercises and experiments).

One of these days, when my schedule is a little clearer and I don't have a rough drafted book to revise, I might just take a story idea and try to go through each exercise to put my book together. I might just find I like the process. On the other hand, I might need an industrial strength dose of Benadryl for my hives ... But either way, the learning process will be beneficial and may just give me some new skills or "muscles" as a writer.

READ it, even if you're the ultimate pantser. If you're a plotter, you're going to love it.

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY: By Any Other Name, by Alana Lorens

Today's Spotlight is on a fellow Desert Breeze Publishing author, Alana Lorens, with her newest release: BY ANY OTHER NAME.

Up-and-coming mommyblogger and single mom Marisol Herrera Slade returns to her old hometown in western Pennsylvania for her 20th high school reunion, reluctant and yet compelled to see her high school sweetheart, Russell Asher, who dumped her for the homecoming queen.
Russell’s marriage to the golden girl, however, ended in a nasty divorce, and he has been systematically excluded from his sons’ lives. In his Internet wanderings, he’s found feminist blogger named Jerrika Jones, who glorifies single motherhood, essentially putting a stamp of approval on what’s happened to him. He’s vowed to take this woman down if they ever should meet.
What he doesn’t know, when he thinks to rekindle what he had with Marisol, is that Marisol and Jerrika are one and the same. When he discovers the truth, will his drive for revenge derail any chance they have to reunite? Or will they find they have more in common than they ever expected?

Barbara Mountjoy has been a published writer for over 30 years, and has raised seven children. Writing as Alana Lorens and Lyndi Alexander, she still keeps her day job as a family law attorney and her night job as mother to two special-needs children. In her off-hours, she volunteers to help victims of domestic violence (a recurring theme in her Pittsburgh Lady Lawyer series stories) and sews quilts for Project Linus, a program that provides homemade blankets for kids in hospitals.
Her blog on autism and family life can be found at www.awalkabout.wordpress.com.
For more information on her many romance/romantic suspense books under her pseudonym of Alana Lorens, including the Pittsburgh Lady Lawyer series, visit http://alanalorens.com. Her fantasy and science fiction writing can be found at http://lyndialexander.wordpress.com .

Letters to Kel: REVISIONS -- Yes, you MUST!!!

As a freelance editor, I get an unfair amount of books from people who have just written their first book -- people who have been rejected by traditional publishers and never asked why their books were rejected, but just decided, "I'll show them and publish this myself" -- people who decide that "rules are for other people" because what they have to say is so important -- people who wouldn't know proper grammar/spelling/punctuation if it knocked them down and rolled them in the mud and stole their wallet.

Far too often lately, I have opened up manuscripts and watched as Word marks all the mis-spelling and questionable grammar and word choices with the little red and green squiggly lines. Now, these books have been submitted as Word documents, so that means these people USED Word to write their books. How come they couldn't be bothered to go through the manuscript and at least TRY to correct the spelling mistakes displayed on their screens, at the very least? Why didn't they use the spell-check tool?

Why didn't they go through the book at least once, looking for the simple mistakes of spelling, grammar, punctuation? One revision would have caught so much. Even if they don't know anything about writing and publishing, wouldn't common sense tell them that they should look over what they just created to make sure it says what they want to say, that they didn't leave anything out, that they didn't make stupid glitches that will make them look stupid and sloppy? REVISE, people. Everyone must revise. Everyone who CARES about their writing REVISES. Best-selling authors revise -- so that means you should, too.

I don't care what your publishing goals are -- this is YOUR baby. YOU need to make it the best possible book you can before you hand it off to someone else to tweak the things that got past you, to find the holes that you can't detect, and to suggest fixes for problems you can't fix even after you've puzzled yourself into a headache. This is YOUR baby -- would you let someone else dress your baby in clothes you didn't pick out, dye her hair, cut her hair, paint her toenails, and put makeup on her to suite THEIR vision of what she should look like?

That's what happens when you toss a first-draft mess to an editor. His or her vision is going to form your book, no matter how light a touch the editor employs, no matter how hard he or she works to preserve your voice. If the general impression of your manuscript is that you don't care, the editor will take it over, take it out of your hands, and even make major decisions that you might not agree with. Do you want that to happen? Then give your editor as few reasons as possible to change your book -- give the editor very little that needs fixing. REVISE. Multiple times, if necessary. And the closer you are to the starting point in your writing career, the more revisions you need.

Fine, you're unsteady on details of grammar, but doggone it, USE the spell-check program. If you can't figure out that the first word in every sentence should be capitalized, and you finish a sentence with a period, a question mark or an exclamation point, and when you write dialogue you put punctuation INSIDE quote marks ... you shouldn't even try to write at this stage. You should be reading dozens and dozens of books to learn from those who know what they're doing, and in school, learning the basics.

You may have something important to say with your book, but you have to learn to express yourself clearly so that people understand you, before anyone will listen. And that means REVISING.

Off the Bookshelf: BORN AT MIDNIGHT by C.C. Hunter

YA paranormal series. A new take on the whole vampires/werewolves/other "weird" people living among us theme.

I got this book at a local writing conference I went to, courtesy of the author's publisher. C.C. Hunter was the featured speaker/teacher at the one-day conference -- under her romance writing name of Christie Craig.

She caught my attention, talking about her YA series, how she decided to write it, and her sometimes snarky, sometimes offbeat, self-deprecating sense of humor.

The story? Kylie, a high school girl, feels her life is in the toilet. Her boyfriend dumped her, she's been having horrific nightmares that wake her screaming, she's seeing things (a dead soldier), her parents are divorcing, she went to a party and got picked up by the police and she didn't DO anything ... and now her therapist has recommended her mother send her away to a camp for troubled teens for the summer. And just from the people she meets on the bus going to the camp, this is a weird place.

Of course, the book is all about how Kylie learns why the weird things are happening and just how weird she is among the weird people. It's a fun book, at the same time it deals with some painful issues, and establishes the groundwork for the whole supernatural community. I'm so glad the book is a two-book set, so I can keep reading!

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY: Catch of the Day, by Petie McCarty

Today's Spotlight is on fellow Desert Breeze Publishing author Petie McCarty, and her newest romance release, CATCH OF THE DAY.
Cody Ryan gets way more than she bargained for on her vacation when she enters the annual all-male Loon Lake Tournament and finds herself paired with a sexy Coast Guard captain.
Gage Connor needs a break from chasing drug smugglers off the Louisiana coast and heads to Alabama to do some fishing. He locks horns with Cody Ryan the moment he arrives at Loon Lake, and the sensual sparks fly. 

The mayor of Loon makes up his own rules for the private town tournament. His knucklehead son plans to cheat to win the event, and his daughter just plans to cheat to win Gage Connor.
To further complicate matters, Gage is unaware Colombians stashed uncut diamonds on  his borrowed bass boat before he left Louisiana, and they want their diamonds back. The Colombians are playing for keeps and will stop at nothing to retrieve their stash -- even kidnapping.

Petie McCarty works at "The Most Magical Place on Earth" by day and creates her own fairy tales by night. Her third release No Going Back is a 2014 EPIC eBook Award Finalist in the category of Contemporary Romance.

Letters to Kel: FAIR USE -- EMPHASIS ON "FAIR"

In a handful of books I've edited lately, the authors have quoted songs and poems. Almost without exception, they quote the ENTIRE song or poem. And again, almost without exception, they don't mention the name of the author or composer or publisher or copyright date.

Now, that's just plain rude!
How would you feel if something you wrote was quoted in someone else's book or article and you didn't get credit?

But more important than that, it's a violation of copyright law. Because consider this: You read a book, you come across a poem, and if credit isn't given to another author, don't you assume that the author of the book wrote the poem? So in effect, quoting someone's song or poem without giving them credit is STEALING. It's about as tacky as buying a pre-made Thanksgiving dinner and then telling your guests that you did all the cooking yourself.

"But what about Fair Use?" you may ask.

Fair Use grants you permission to use a SMALL portion of a work -- but you still have to give credit.
What percentage of the whole are you using? Four paragraphs from a 100,000-word book is considered a fraction of a percent, while one line from a poem is a huge chunk. It's all proportions and percentages. Would you put the entire manuscript of War and Peace into your book? Then don't put the entire poem or song you want to quote.

Not without permission, anyway.

If the material you want to quote is in public domain, then say so, and feel free to quote the whole thing. If it is NOT in public domain ... then you have to get permission. I'm sure some of the people I edited sighed and rolled their eyes and decided to ignore me. Or they had a hissy-fit when they "wasted" time finding out the name of the author and publisher, and went through the process to ask permission and were told they had to pay a fee.

My advice: Paraphrase the message of the song or poem. List the title and author/composer and recommend your readers look it up. Don't shrug and decide to take the chance that the author won't learn that you used her poem or song without permission. Because guess what? Authors and publishers can and do sue for copyright infringement. If you have to quote the material, then bite the bullet and pay the fee. I can guarantee it's a lot cheaper than paying a lawyer when you get sued, on top of whatever the publisher demands.

Bottom line: Using a big percentage of someone else's written work without giving them credit or asking permission is STEALING -- and a violation of the Fair Use doctrine, which is supposed to make things FAIR, remember?

Off the Bookshelf: WRITING LOVE, by Alexandra Sokoloff

Yes, I know I'm breaking the chain of steampunk novels and novellas I've been reading and reporting on, but I've been reading a chapter of this book every morning and finally finished.

I advocate reading writing books on a regular basis just because they present writing principles and techniques from different angles and approaches. Somewhere in there, even if you're reading and re-reading things you already know and are already putting into practice with your writing, somewhere in there will be an "Ah HAH!" moment and you'll get a breakthrough. You'll find a tool you never had before.

The nifty thing about Sokoloff is that she approaches novel writing from screenwriting techniques. She analyzes a large handful of movies, pointing out the patterns they have in common, what makes them good stories, how they control the pace and flow of the story, the various types of characters, the elements of plot that are necessary, and adapts Campbell and Vogler and what they teach about the hero's/author's journey. She gives exercises and homework assignments that you can apply to your current work-in-progress. There's a lot of meat to this book, a lot of common sense advice. Well worth the time to read -- and maybe in a year when you've forgotten some of the principles and exercises, going back through to read again and refresh your brain.

SPOTLIGHT SATURDAY: More Than I can Bear, by E.N. Joy

Today's Spotlight is on fellow ACFW author E.N. Joy, and her novel, MORE THAN I CAN BEAR.
Some would say that God will not put on a person more than they can bear, but Paige begs to differ, because she is truly on the edge. One more unexpected and unpleasant occurrence and she’ll be free falling.
As if physical, mental, sexual, and spiritual abuse from her husband doesn’t weigh heavily enough on her, Paige learns that her best friend and sister in Christ slept with her husband. Thank God for Norman, one of Paige’s co-workers. He is there to catch her fall before she hits the ground. But will Norman be there when Paige receives news that may not only push her off the edge, but cause her to jump willingly?

In More Than I Can Bear, Paige must decide if she is going to allow herself to drown in the storms she finds herself in, or catch hold of the lifesaver God extends to her.
BLESSEDselling Author E. N. Joy is the writer behind the five book series, “New Day Divas,” which has been coined the “Soap Opera In Print.” Formerly writing secular works under the names Joylynn M. Jossel and JOY, this award winning author has been sharing her literary expertise on conference panels in her home town of Columbus, Ohio and cities across the country as well as instructing literary workshops. 
Joy writes children’s and young adult titles under the name N. Joy.  Her children’s story, The Secret Olivia Told Me, received the American Library Association Coretta Scott King Honor.  Book club rights were acquired by Scholastic Books and the book has sold almost 100,000 copies. 
 Currently, Joy is the executive editor for Urban Christian, an imprint of Urban Books in which the titles are distributed by Kensington Publishing Corporation.  In addition, Joy is the artistic developer for a young girl group named DJHK Gurls.  Joy pens original songs for the group that deal with messages that affect today’s youth, such as bullying. You can visit Joy at www.enjoywrites.com.  The title can be purchased in bookstores and online, in both print and ebook:http://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Can-Bear-Always/dp/160162669X/ref=pd_sim_b_3/178-3173447-6359501http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/more-than-i-can-bear-en-joy/1116818344?ean=9781601626691

Letters to Kel: DO YOU HOP?

I'm in the process of major writing surgery -- turning a fan novel I wrote decades ago into the pilot/launch novel for a new SF series. I haven't read this story in years, and had to go through it just to reacquaint myself with what I wrote. Besides changing all the character names (this was a Star Trek fan novel, by the way -- Paramount, which holds the copyright, doesn't take too kindly to people writing books with characters they own, putting their own names on them and making money. Another blog will discuss respecting other people's copyrights.), the first go-through was just to make note in my mind of all the story holes, and the major changes in the society I would have to make (as in no alien races, everybody is Human, so some major plot points and "revelations" had to be dropped and/or changed).

I was in pain before I was halfway through the revision. Not because of typos and small holes in stories and forgetting to tell readers who was talking and other stupid glitches.

No, I was in agony because I caught MYSELF head-hopping.
I started a scene in one person's POV (that's point of view, for those who don't know writer lingo) and then included a paragraph or two in someone else's POV, and then shifted to someone else's. For instance, a Klingon came into his commander's office with some news. I took a sentence to tell readers how much he despised his superior and couldn't wait to trick him into a major mistake so he would be demoted.
THEN in the next paragraph, I told you that the commander knew what his underling thought of him and he wasn't worried because he had a lot of powerful people on his side.
*sigh*
In my defense, I wrote this Trek fan novel 30-some years ago, when I had very little training and very few books on writing, no teachers up to that point other than "Writer's Digest."  And just because I did it, and got caught, does not make it all right for everybody else to head-hop.

Like I ask people I edit, HOW does your POV character know what someone else is thinking or feeling? Is your POV character telepathic? Unless this is a science fiction or fantasy novel and invading other people's thoughts is a major plot element ... DON'T head-hop. STAY in the POV of the person who starts the scene. That means you cannot ever tell us what another character is thinking or feeling or planning to do, because the POV character doesn't have any way of knowing ... UNLESS you head-hop. And unless you're a big-time, bestselling author who can handle head-hopping without confusing readers, DON'T do it. All my publishers insist on staying to one POV per scene. If you absolutely must shift POV because it is essential to tell readers what another character is thinking, then either break the scene (starting a new chapter is a great way/place to do it) or make it very, very, very clear you're shifting to a new person's POV and then you STAY in that POV until the end of the scene.

No hopping.
Period.
Unless you have long ears and a puffy tail, NO hopping!