Barbara Freethy's Blog, page 8

Ongoing and Upcoming Reader Events

I wanted to tell you about some events that are going on right now and upcoming on the web for readers and writers and for everyone in fact.

READERS AT HOME CONFERENCE -- Author Lucy Monroe has set up a Readers Conference on her blog for people who can't make it to the Romantic Times Conference this week.  It began on the 26th and runs through the weekend.  Every day there are guest authors blogging and prizes.  It's a lot of fun.  I'll be guesting on the 29th.  There are several authors each day so stop on by and meet some of your favorite writers!

http://lucymonroeblog.blogspot.com/

BRENDA NOVAK'S AUCTION FOR DIABETES - Author Brenda Novak started this auction a few years ago to help raise money for the prevention and treatment of diabetes, a disease her son suffers from.  To date she has raised over $770,000 and is hoping to hit the one million dollar mark this year.  The auction runs from May 1st to the 30th.  It is set up like E-Bay but all of your money goes to this charitable cause.

And what can you get?  Just about anything.  If you're a reader, there are tons of autographed copies by bestselling authors as well as gift baskets and much more.  For writers there are agent/editor critiques, author mentoring, to name just a few.  For everyone there are fabulous vacation getaways, Hawaii, courtesy of author Jane Porter, the Cascade Mountains by author Susan Andersen, a stay in the Inn run by Nora Roberts.  There are trips to Mexico and the California Wine Country and the list goes on.  Bidders can also win raffle prizes that are amazing.

Don't miss this opportunity to help find a cure for diabetes and get something really good for yourself!

http://brendanovak.auctionanything.com/

Hope you'll check out these fun events!

Barbara

IN SHELTER COVE HITS THE SHELVES!

It's Book Release Day - so I have to do a little promo here ...

IN SHELTER COVE, Book Three in my Angel's Bay Series, hits the shelves Tuesday, April 27th.  If you haven't started reading the series yet, don't worry, you can still jump in.  Each book has a new central story that stands alone, so you won't be lost.  Of course, for the richest reading experience, you might want to read all of them! 


Here's a blurb from the back cover --



A long-ago shipwreck off the California coast led the survivors to the haven they named Angel's Bay. Their  shared adversity brought fellowship and joy ... but also unsuspected secrets...
The theft of three priceless paintings sent Derek Kane to prison and destroyed the dreams of his wife,  Brianna. When Derek unexpectedly dies just weeks before his release, Brianna returns to Angel's Bay with her young son, determined to prove her husband's innocence and find the missing paintings.  Her efforts are stymied by Jason Marlow, the police officer who sent Derek to jail -- betraying his former friend. And when unexpected passion flares between Brianna and Jason, she must choose between the past and the present, the guilty and the innocent, the truth and the lies.  For nothing is what it seems ...
READ AN EXCERPT OF IN SHELTER COVE 
If you haven't yet read ON SHADOW BEACH (book 2) which came out last month, the book is still available at most bookstores and can be ordered online.  
Here are some of the rave reviews ...
"With ON SHADOW BEACH, Barbara Freethy writes an excellent, easy-to-read novel.  It flows beautifully  with intriguing and appealing characters.  It will grab you within the first few pages and just keep getting better." Romance Reviews Today 
"A lovely contemporary romance ... you can never get enough of Freethy's excellent characters. She's a master at creating whole relationships in just a few short paragraphs." Romantic Times
"On Shadow Beach is another heart stopper by Barbara Freethy. The author has an uncanny knack to draw the reader into this little slice of true Americana. On Shadow Beach hums with red hot passion and duplicity that is underlined by a bit of mystique to make this novel one of those you don't want to put down." Winter Haven News
"Ms. Freethy has again written a suspenseful tale entwined with romance, heartache, rekindled relationships, close community ties and even miracles. This captivating tale will leave the reader guessing till the end and surprised by the outcome. Book two in the "Angel Bay" series stands alone, offering a great read." ReadertoReader.com
Hope you'll check out my series.  I just finished writing book four, which is tentatively titled, AT WHISPER FALLS and will be released February 2011.
If you've been reading the series, I'd love to know what you think!  Comment here or send me an email. 
Happy Reading!

Writing Tips #3 - Transitions -- Keep the reader reading!

For all the writers out there, thought I'd jot down some of my thoughts on transitions, scene breaks, chapter endings and changes in point of view.

Great transitions keep the reader reading.  Poor transitions make it easy for the reader to put down the book.  Some common traps to avoid:  Putting your character to sleep at the end of the chapter.  When the protagonist goes to bed, it often provides a good place for the reader to put down your book and also go to bed.  Try to avoid this type of chapter ending.  You don't want to encourage napping!

Consider these craft techniques:  End a chapter in the middle of a scene, perhaps with a question asked by one character, or the entrance of a new character into the scene, or a change in the point of view.  All of these type transitions will encourage the reader to turn the page.

When breaking between scenes and chapters, think about finding a connective link ... a repetition of a word or a theme or a thought can sometime provide an almost subliminal connection.  For example, in a book I'm current writing one of my characters is desperate to be a mother and has just learned that the baby she wants to adopt may not be an option.  My next scene moves to another character who is having trouble dealing with her ailing mother ... it's a subtle connection but one that provides a smooth transition and links by the word mother, and the theme about mothers and children that plays a role throughout the book.

Another tip, taking the chapter ending a bit further, is to end the chapter with a question.  But don't provide the answer in the next scene, make the reader wait, introduce something else that's new and compelling.  One cautionary note -- if the next scene isn't compelling, you may annoy the reader by making them wait so make sure it's a good one!

To keep the reader turning the pages, vary the tempo of your book, emotional scenes might move a little slower than action scenes.  Use short, rapid dialogue to increase pacing.  And after you've written your first draft, be a ruthless editor. Don't let yourself fall in love with all of your words.  If sentences or scenes don't move a story forward and wouldn't be missed if they were gone, then take them out.  The reader will love you for it!

Anyone run into any transitional type issues?  Ask away.  Maybe I can help.

It's a Real Book!

Today the second book in my Angel's Bay Series, ON SHADOW BEACH, was officially released!  It's the 26th book I've published, but I never get over the thrill of actually seeing the book as a book, no more looking at manuscript pages or reading on the computer.  It's there between the beautifully designed covers and on the shelves, too!  Although, I haven't yet seen it on an actual shelf, I'm planning to do some signings starting this weekend.

And this time around, the excitement won't end soon as the third book in the series, IN SHELTER COVE, will be released on April 27th. I had asked my publisher to release the books as closely together as possible since some of the characters continue, and I think readers enjoy reading a series of books when they're published fairly frequently.  Luckily, my publisher was able to put me in the schedule for the back to back books and I'm just thrilled.

There will also be a book 4, still to be titled, coming out in the fall, and maybe a couple of more books depending how readers respond to the series.  I'm hoping everyone will enjoy reading the books as much as I've enjoyed writing them.

I'm currently finishing up book four, and I can't wait to get into the next story!

If you haven't yet read an excerpt from On Shadow Beach - check out my book buzzer widget on the right and you can read the first chapter.

And if you have read Suddenly One Summer or are currently reading On Shadow Beach, come back and let me know what you think.  Would also love to hear any On Shadow Beach sightings, especially at the drugstores and Wal-Marts - I never know exactly where the books will show up!

Writing Tips #2 - Don't Write What You Know - WRITE WHAT YOU DON'T KNOW ...

When I first began writing every how-to book suggested that a writer begin writing what they know.  But while this advice might be great to jumpstart a writing career, unless you have a really unusual life, you may run out of things you "know" pretty early in the game.  And sometimes what you "know" can be an obstacle to creating good fiction.

When we know a subject very well, we're sometimes too close to it to fictionalize. For instance I love movies or books where one character is a writer and her editor actually comes to her house to help her write or just to visit.  I've been writing for almost twenty years and I've never had one of my almost a dozen editors ever come for a visit or to help me write.  If you don't live in New York or L.A., chances are rare that you'll see an editor anywhere except at a writer's conference or if you go there to meet them.  But I digress -- I couldn't write that scene because I know too much about writing and yet for the purposes of many fictional stories and movies, it's kind of cool to have an editor visit the writer.

Now, you might be saying but if it wouldn't really happen, then you're wrong in writing it -- no, that's why it's called fiction.  As long as it can happen within the realm of possibility, you're cool.

So once you get past the "write what you know" advice, my advice is to write what you DON'T KNOW but WOULD LIKE TO LEARN.  Researching has been one of the most enjoyable parts of my writing career.  I have learned how to sail, grow orchids, ride horses, win the Kentucky Derby, cure amnesia, steal million-dollar paintings, catch thieves who steal million dollar paintings, find famous missing Russian orphans, solve cold case murders, find long lost family members, sew quilts, move up in the police department, decipher psychic visions, change my identity and find lost shipwrecks.  And I rarely left the house.

Writing what I don't know engages my curiosity, gets my energy going, makes me excited to create a world where I'm going to share some of what I've learned, and I do mean "some".  Never overburden your fictional story with too much research.  Carefully pick and choose only those points that make your story better.  Always remember that you're telling a story, not writing a how-to book.

So if you think you don't know anything worth writing a book about -- think again!  The world is waiting.  What have you always wanted to learn?  Where have you always wanted to go?  Who have you always want to be?  As a writer, you can do it all!

What Writers Can Learn From The Olympics

I've caught Olympic Fever ... I find myself watching speed skating and actually being able to converse with people about how the Korean team knocked each other out allowing Apollo to take second and the young American J.R. to take third.  I've watched people ski and the shoot rifles, and watched the snowboarders do incredible tricks in the air.

And after listening to the stories of how much the athletes struggled to attain perfection, I couldn't help comparing some of that struggle to writing.

I love the snowboarders' motto, GO BIG or GO HOME -- and think that's really how as a writer you have to attack your writing.  You can't hold back, play it safe, write with an eye to what other people are going to think about what you have to say.  You can't let the constrictions of the market make you second guess your plot or just how over the line one of your characters might be.  You can't let yourself write scenes similar to ones you've written before because it's faster and you know how to do that.

You have to push your plot, have to hone your craft, work harder, aim higher with every book that you write.  I'm writing my 28th book at the moment and sometimes I think I've done everything and then ... I realize I haven't.  Because there are millions of stories to tell and various ways to tell them, and I want every book to be better, richer, deeper ... to have more of everything.  Because as writers, just like Olympians we want to pull out the best performance every time and especially when it counts.

When I think of how hard some of those athletes have worked to get where they are ... it makes me realize that there's no excuse for writer's block ... writing may not be a sport, but it's still a struggle to create something out of nothing.  And despite the bad breaks writers can encounter in a writing career, poor covers, bad book distribution, snarky anonymous reviews, those breaks are nothing like skiing down the face of a mountain, flying head first into the snow at 80 miles per hour and then getting up and doing it again, because it's what you love, it's what you do.

So I'm heading back to work ... inspired ... as I hope you are, too, by the Olympics and how they can bring out the best of us.  What's your favorite Olympic Sport - any athlete that has inspired you?

Discovering Yoga!

In my effort to de-stress, lose weight, and get out of the house during the rainy season, I signed up for a yoga class at the local recreation center.  My teacher, Margaret, is in the most fabulous shape of anyone I've ever seen.  I'm in awe of the poses she can get into.   According to Margaret, yoga is her medicine.  She takes absolutely no pharmaceuticals and is in perfect health, not a bad goal to have.

I got into the class with some friends.  We're all beginners, so we immediately headed to the back row, hoping we could hide out there with our inflexible bodies.  Unfortunately, Margaret likes to roam the class and pay special attention to the beginners.  So pretty soon we're using blocks and belts and stretching every which way.

My favorite pose was the "Warrior" pose, maybe because it made me feel strong even as my legs started to shake.  I couldn't understand all the words Margaret used, and am still a long way from putting my head on the floor while bending over at the waist, But I did love the stretching and the slightly sore achy feeling at the end of it.  The next day I realized I was feeling muscles I hadn't felt in a long while.


As we were practicing one of the poses -- lying down, resting on forearms and putting hands behind small of back and kicking legs into the air in a bicycle fashion, my friend exclaimed, "I used to do this when I was a kid". I remember doing it, too, but couldn't quite fling my legs into the air the way I used to.  But I'm determined to progress slowly but surely.  I hope to get to the point where I'm concentrating less on doing it right and more on just sinking into the pose and letting the stress of life melt away.

So Yoga is my new hobby -- anyone else gotten the itch to get into the lotus position?