Kadie Scott's Blog, page 8

Best (Recent) Writer Advice… #MFRWAuthor Blog Challenge

Isn’t it funny how the right advice comes along just when you need it? Kind of like when you learn a word you’d never heard before, and suddenly you hear it everywhere? There are piles of advice I’ve received over the years as a writer that I could list here. But if I did, I’d be here for days. Instead, how about I share the most recent best advice?

Lately, I’ve been working to make some of my scenes less…predictable. Mostly because I’ve written 27 books now, and I need to keep it fresh for myself. Lol. A friend went to a workshop recently (I wish I remembered more about the workshop. My friend can’t remember either.) and she shared this as the best takeaway.

Here it is: When coming up with a scene/plot point, start listing. Discard the first 5-10 you come up with, because those are obvious and will have been done. See if you can get to 15-25 idea on the list. That range of things will be the meat, the most interesting ideas you could come up with.

I’ve been applying this advice to everything (and have to say that it’s turned into one of my favorite exercises because it’s so fun to do).

Here’s an example. This week, I was trying to come up with a reason my cowboy, in my current WIP (Partnering the Playboy–Book 3 in my Hills of Texas), would need to do community service. I need a reason that’s actually honorable and endearing. Since the hero is a playboy and has a reputation for running a bit wild, the reason for his doing community service was easy. He got in a public fight. Pretty bad one. But what would make that honorable, particularly to the heroine? This is where that advice comes into play.

My first few ideas included:

a bet
hit on by another guy’s girlfriend
jealous other contender for a girl at a bar
the other guy hit a woman
defending the female bartender
his buddy started the fight (but he ended it)
someone owes money
breaking up another fight
for beating a dog
for hurting a cat

As you can see, these are all fairly predictable. Of course the hows and whys could make each more interesting. But I kept going.

I don’t want to give away what I eventually settled on, but let’s just say it involves an animal you wouldn’t want to tangle with. I add insult to injury by having his older brother–the county Sheriff–be the one to arrest him, and the heroine be the one to bail him out and come up with the community service that he’s assigned.

Should be fun! Yay for timely, fantastic advice!

I am participating in MFRW’s 52-week blog challenge, and it’s a blog hop! If you want to see how other authors approach this topic, stroll on over to the other authors participating and find out how they deal with character profiles. Each author does it differently.

 

Fresh Fiction Fresh Pick: Resisting the Rancher

[image error][image error]Squee! I am so excited, because today (August 8, 2018), my newest release, RESISTING THE RANCHER is Fresh Fiction’s Fresh Pick of the day!

The Fresh Pick is chosen by a group of readers and is never a purchased advertisement or promotion. Fresh Fiction picked this book because it appeals to them and they like to share their diverse tastes in reading and hope you’ll give it a try.

A huge THANK YOU to Fresh Fiction for picking my book. I’m so honored. 

1st, 2nd, or 3rd – The Person Make a Big Difference #MFRWAuthor Blog Challenge

Before I get into my personal preference, let’s touch on the different “persons” you can write from and make sure we’re all on the same page.

1st Person

1st person stories are written from a single point of view–that of the protagonist. The reader gets to float around inside that persons head seeing all their thoughts and every experience from their lens. The easiest way to identify 1st person is by the pronouns. Everything is I, me, we.

2nd Person

2nd person tends to be reserved more for manuals than fiction, but on the rare occasion this point of view can be used. 2nd person is about making the reader the protagonist in their head. Identify 2nd person again by the pronouns. Everything is directed at “you.”

3rd Person

3rd person is all about the person being talked about in that scene. This allows the reader to experience scenes from a less person, more “fly on the wall” type of perspective but still through the lens of individual character or characters. The identifiable pronouns in 3rd person are he, she, it, they.

Okay, now that we have that down, I’ll share. While I’ve written all 3, I am definitely a 3rd Person fan as both an author and a reader. Here’s why…

Not a Manual

My degree was in Technical Writing–essentially writing instructions an manuals. After having written many, I don’t think I could ever write fiction from this POV. It would be too much like writing a manual.

Not Breaking the 3rd Wall

I actually LOVE when a character breaks the 3rd wall and talks directly to the audience in TV or movies (think Deadpool or House of Cards). However, it’s much easier to pull off in a visual medium. Readers do not like short, jerky POV switches, which makes this technique dang hard to pull off in written fiction. Not my cup of tea.

Heroine & Hero POV

I write romance. Therefore, I want, nay, I NEED to see both the hero and the heroine’s points of view. I love to see what they are both thinking and experiencing as they move through their character arcs. This can absolutely be done in 1st, but I find it more difficult.  Maybe if each chapter is dedicated, but I find it comes off feeling…odd. Much easier from 3rd.

Insight into Multiple Characters

Same as with the above, I actually love to get scenes in secondary character POVs. Doable in 1st, but better in 3rd.

Less Angsty Internal Thoughts

This might be the Gen-Xer in me, but I find most of the fiction written in 1st Person POV these days is just…self-centered and whiny. All we hear are the character’s internal angsty thoughts and it’s very, me, me, me just by nature. I find 3rd person allows the reader to distance themselves from an overabundance of internal dialogue.

Now don’t get me wrong. I read plenty of books in 1st person and love them. 3rd just happens to be my preference. And yes, it probably dates me, but I’m okay with that. Lol. What about you? What’s your preference?

 

I am participating in MFRW’s 52-week blog challenge, and it’s a blog hop! If you want to see how other authors approach this topic, stroll on over to the other authors participating and find out how they deal with character profiles. Each author does it differently.

When I’m Not Writing… #MFRWAuthor Blog Challenge

I would love to say that when I’m not writing I have a life. But that would be a lie.

Sort of. I have my wonderful family, so frequently any time not spent on writing/books in some form or fashion is spent with them. My kids are at that stage where it’s constant activities, homework, and friends. Less “Mom Time” these days, because–let’s face it–I’m not cool enough any more. We do try to force upon them things like family vacations and game nights, just to remind them we still exist. We also live close to both sides of our family, so we spend time with them as well, which is awesome. It’s why we moved back to Texas a few years ago.

“But Kadie, what about other hobbies?” you ask.

Oh, my friends. My other hobbies include book cover design and helping other authors in their self-publishing journeys. These are my brain breaks and, believe it or not, I love doing that. Especially the graphic design. I can get lost in the visuals when I really want to. However, I think most would agree that this hobby still lands in the “writing realm.”

“Okay, so you still have to do things like exercise. Right?” 

Ummm… So a while ago I bought a treadmill desk. This wonderful invention allows me to walk and write at the same time. I will take 20 minutes or so to add things like hand weights, sit ups, push ups, etc. I used to run a ton, and every once in a while I get the bug. I go on an easy short jog, and my aging body proceeds to laugh in my face and break in some way that means no running for weeks.

“Friends? Movies? Dinners out?”

You’re starting to sound a little desperate. I will say that I do all three of those. Well…I don’t “do” my friends, but I spend time with them. Hubby and I are also huge movie buffs. For Mother’s Day he got me Movie Pass, so I can go any time. We also have a theater in our house with a projector and full screen and everything. When I watch at home, guess what I’m doing? Yup writing. Or editing. Or reading. Or book cover design.

“Please tell me you have SOMETHING.”

I will say that my favorite non-book thing to do is travel. Hubs and I love to travel, both with and without the kids. We have our annual trip to Estes Park, but we love doing lots of other things. In 2018 we’ve done a Caribbean cruise, skiing in Colorado, and have plans for trips to Vegas and Orlando this fall. That said, our trip to Estes was piggy-backed onto a writing conference in Denver. Orlando is also a writing conference. I also usually still spend a lot of that time writing. At the very least I take notes of impressions of a place, in case I want to use it in a future book.

So. There you have it. I have no life outside my writing. But the thing is… I am as happy as a clam dug deep into warm, wet sand. Writing is my lifelong dream and I get to do it everyday. Doesn’t get better than that!

I am participating in MFRW’s 52-week blog challenge, and it’s a blog hop! If you want to see how other authors approach this topic, stroll on over to the other authors participating and find out how they deal with character profiles. Each author does it differently.

Release Day – Resisting the Rancher!

Resisting the Rancher is finally here from Tule Southern Born!!!

Book #2 of The Hills of Texas series is a standalone, cowboy romance with an HEA…

BUY & READ NOW!

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[image error]Rusty Walker has spent her entire life trying to earn her tough, ranching father’s respect and approval by learning the business inside and out. But now her uncompromising parent has decreed she must marry if she wants to inherit. Worse, her husband has to be someone who can help her run the business. As if she needs it!

Williams Hill kissed Rusty in a bar in an act of temporary insanity, and lost his heart to her on the spot. Despite the complications to his own rodeo stock business, he agrees to marry the feisty red-head, hoping to woo her once they’re hitched. But she only views him with suspicion and resentment.

Can this soft-spoken Texas cowboy convince his proud wife, who’s never known unconditional love, that she is everything he wants?

BUY & READ NOW!

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EXCERPT

[image error]“Hey.”

Rusty caught a whiff of cigarette smoke hanging around the man who’d taken the stool beside her. She didn’t bother to look over, keeping her eyes on her drink hoping he’d get the hint and go away.

No such luck.

He leaned forward and raised his voice. “Hey there, red.”

She turned her head and could now see he was swaying slightly. He gave a slow blink, trying to focus, obviously drunk. Great. She didn’t acknowledge the guy in any other way, but apparently looking at him was enough encouragement.

“Wanna drink?”

She held up her glass. “I’m good. Thanks.”

“My treat when you’re done with that.”

“I’m leaving when I’m done with this.” Maybe sooner at this rate.

He reached out and tugged on her arm. “Now don’t be like that.”

Rusty sighed. “I’m not interested.” She couldn’t be clearer than that.

The guy, who was good-looking enough—tall, blond, strong chin, and nice eyes—bristled visibly.

He straightened his back as his eyebrows lowered. “All I did was offer to buy you a drink.”

She turned back to the one she already had. “Thanks, but no thanks.”

“But—”

“Move along.” She waved a hand as though shooing a fly.

He stood suddenly, his stool scraping along the wooden floor with a screech of protest loud enough to be heard over the music and chatter. In the mirror, several heads turned in their direction. Travis and Dave stood up, ready to intervene, but before they could do anything, and even before the jerk could say anything else, let alone touch her, a large hand landed on her shoulder and spun her around in her seat.

“Sorry I’m late, baby,” the newcomer murmured.

Rusty only had time to register the new player in the scene was that Will guy with the blue, blue eyes before he leaned forward and kissed her.

She gave a little squeak of protest and he released her lips immediately. The sudden absence of warmth left her feeling slightly bereft, which was crazy since he’d barley brushed his lips across hers.

Before she could process what just happened, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, “Follow along and we’ll get rid of this guy.”

Realizing he was now standing between her legs, she hid the shiver sliding down her spine by giving him a tiny nod. He pulled back and smiled down into her eyes. The blue of his eyes, up close like this, was nothing short of startling. The irises were rimmed in black which somehow made the blue even bluer. She could drown in those depths, like falling into the sky, or the deepest of oceans. She had the strangest urge to trace the cleft in his chin.

“Miss me?” he asked, loud enough for the ass on the other stool to hear.

“Of course,” she purred.

Some small part of her brain registered that wasn’t exactly a lie. She’d spent a ridiculous amount of time thinking about him given their two extremely brief shared moments. They hadn’t even been properly introduced or exchanged more than a handful of words.

“Me too,” he said as he lowered his lips to hers again.

BUY & READ NOW!

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Stranded on a Desert Island – #MFRWAuthor Blog Challenge

You know the game… if you were stranded on a desert island, assuming things like food, water, shelter, and clothing (and for me air conditioning) were taken care of at the most basic level for survival, what item would you choose to bring with you. In other words, what item can you NOT live without.

This is probably going to shock you, but it would be my… COMPUTER!

Are you shocked? No? The various reason why might surprised you a bit, though. Even without internet, and assuming I’ll have a way to charge said computer (my island, my rules – HA!), there are so many facets of my computer that would help me on a desert island. I’ll start with the obvious…

Writing My Books

Having my computer means I could spend all that time with some manner of distraction writing my books. Not just because I need to write my books (which I do), but to also give me a purpose. I don’t sit idly well.

Kindle App w/ Books

I have a lot of books on that app which (I think) can be accessed without internet as long as they were downloaded first (which most are). Entertainment and friends come out of books for me. It’s the next best thing to real people. (Sometimes a good book is better than real people.)

Some Movies and Music

Seeing other faces and hearing voices (not in my head) would help with the whole sanity thing I think.

Journal My Experience

On the off chance I don’t survive, this would be a good way to let my family know what happened (assuming someone discovers the island). Plus, I’d sneak clues in there about my buried treasure.

Calendar

The calendar would help me keep track of the days and time.

Reflective Surface

To possible signal passing ships or planes with.

Pictures of My Family

This is the biggie. If they’re physically not with me, I’d want my computer with pictures of them. I couldn’t live without some access to my family. They would be my reason to keep going and survive.

 

What about you? What item could you not live without?

 

I am participating in MFRW’s 52-week blog challenge, and it’s a blog hop! If you want to see how other authors approach this topic, stroll on over to the other authors participating and find out how they deal with character profiles. Each author does it differently.

Best Gift Ever: Zombies & a Silver Bullet

I count myself lucky. I grew up in a family of gift givers and I married a very thoughtful giver. It’s made me appreciate putting thought into the gifts I give, tailoring a present to the person and their unique interests or something you share. We’ll get to gift giving next week. This week on the MFRW Blog Challenge, we’re talking about the best gift we’ve ever received.

I didn’t have to think hard about this one, because I know my favorite gift. You might think it would be my engagement ring (which I adore), or my first car (which was a surprise from my parents). Or perhaps a gift like the blanket with mine and my husband’s names embroidered on it that was a wedding gift, or the baby blankets a friend knitted my kids, or the wonderful memory book given to us by our bridesmaids and groomsmen at our wedding. While all of those are wonderful and mean so much to me, my favorite is a little…unusual.

 

To give a little context: My dad likes to give coins as special gifts now and then. He researches the artwork and history and quality and all the things you research about coins. He likes to give particularly beautiful coins. Usually.

Meanwhile, my dad loves to tease me about my slight obsession with planning for random catastrophic events. I plan for the strangest things. For example, when we were living in California, with all of our family still in Texas, I came up with a plan for “if the apocalypse happens how do we meet back up.” That’s right. Because I assumed things like phone lines and cell phones would be knocked out. A little bit nuts, I’m well aware. I also love all things zombie–The Walking Dead, Resident Evil, Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. Love them all.

For Christmas a few years ago, I received a gift from my dad. The card said “From Survivalist Santa” which cracked me up to begin with. Inside the bag I found a silver bullet (because werewolves), a regular coin, and a zombie version of that coin (the front on the left and the back is in the other picture).

To this day, this gift makes me smile because Dad both gets me and is teasing me at the same time. I should mention that I learned my paranoid planning from him. Lol.  I still have the bag and little note with all the items.

Thanks Dad! Love you.

My Favorite Social Media Platforms? – #MFRWAuthor Blog Challenge

Ummm…. Yeah. I can’t say that I have a favorite social media platform. It’s more like a tolerate/hate relationship with the ones I’m on, because I can’t say I love them, really. So instead of waxing poetic on one, I’ll give my Pros for each.

The Con on all of them is really the same–a boat load of time often totally wasted for a very small percentage of readers even catching the posts. And don’t get me started on the politically black holes. But let’s put that aside and look at the positives:

Facebook

This is where I get to see what’s gong on with all my friends. Not necessarily my all my readers, because allegedly, Facebook is more for my generation. But I do love the chance to catch up with authors and readers alike. I work from home and I have family and friends spread all over the planet. This is a fantastic way to check in on them easily.

Twitter

I see the most interesting posts on Twitter, maybe because it’s less about the memes than Facebook? Also, maybe because I see all the accounts I care about (unlike Facebook who limits what I’m seeing). I’m a particular fan of Nerdist. In addition, I find my author friends who are more about Twitter have funny posts, and that keeps me entertained (Sarah M. Anderson, I’m looking at you).

Pinterest

Okay, now that I think about it this might be my favorite one, but not because I use it as a social thing. I use it as a research thing. I have boards for each series and pin all my research and images to those boards. Having those images is a huge help when I’m writing.

Blog

I actually do like blogging. Most of the time. It takes a lot of time, but I love that it’s a chronicle of sorts, keeping track of my writing life as it goes along. I also enjoy sharing knowledge with other writers.

 

Technically I’m on Instagram, but I can’t say I’ve gotten into the flow of using it. I should. I enjoy the images. I’m sure there are others people will insist I should be using, but who has the time. I’ll wait until one of those gets to Facebook/Twitter level and then try it. I guess. I’m getting older, which means I’m less inclined to jump at change, so we’ll see. Lol.

What are your favorite social media outlets, and why?

 

I am participating in MFRW’s 52-week blog challenge, and it’s a blog hop! If you want to see how other authors approach this topic, stroll on over to the other authors participating and find out how they deal with character profiles. Each author does it differently.

Ummm… Isn’t It Supposed to Be “Happy” Mother’s Day?

It’s Mother’s Day today. Newsflash to everyone this snuck up on…better run to the grocery store for flowers and a card quick.

I’m a mom. Many of my readers and friends are mothers. So of course I planned to post just a quick, simple “Happy Mother’s Day” message on my social media. Usually this just involves a graphic and the words, but this year I thought I’d mix it up and include a fun or interesting article link. Right?

Wrong.

I did a search on Google for “Mother’s Day” and went to news, and what I found was not happy at all. Instead, I got a list of mostly depressing articles. On Mother’s Day. What does it say about our news outlets and our society in general that on a day that is supposed to be happy, these are the options about the topic in the news…

Don’t get me wrong. There are women who are hurting today who should absolutely be acknowledged and given love. And yes, this holiday comes around every single year (and okay, could be a boring one), so perhaps there’s not a ton to say about it that’s new. However, I honestly think this has more to do with our society and the bent toward negativity.

My mother was a high school English teacher. She talks about a writing exercise where she has her classes think of the best moments in their lives and the worst and write them out in a list. When writing their worst moments, the students could fill pages. When writing their best memories, they struggled to come up with even a handful. These news articles, I feel, are a reflection of that thing inside all of us that says why focus on the good when we could focus on the bad.

I’m not saying that there isn’t tragedy around days like today that needs to be included. It’s not that I want only positive stories, either. How about a good mix, though?

Out of the 15 articles on the first page of the search on a day which really should be about happy, 8 were depressing or negative in some way, 1 was about how Mom’s should celebrate like Dad’s instead (guess we were doing it wrong all this time), 2 were about the weather on Mother’s Day (because apparently there’s nothing else to say about today), 2 were about gifts, and 2 were actually positive (one of which was from Lancaster Farming rather than a national news outlet).

Only 13% positive news articles in my first page of search results (because I don’t count weather or advice on gifts as positive news). On Mother’s Day. Are you kidding me? I’m calling you out news media. Especially CNN, USA Today, and the Los Angeles Times (which had not 1 but 2 depressing articles up in the top 15 search results for the topic this morning).

I went to the home pages of those 3 publications, just HOPING something positive might show up about Mother’s Day. Here’s what I found.

CNN

Really? The best you could come up with was baby names? Do you have NOTHING positive to say about Mother’s Day?

USA Today

All you had on your home page was the below (uh, thanks?) and the article about someone spending the day away from his/her mother. (Which I did not read, sorry. Did it turn out to be positive?)

Los Angeles Times

Finally, one had something positive. Followed by the 2 negative-themed articles already mentioned. But still, some balance…

To say I’m disappointed is a gross understatement. I’m also less inclined to use those sources (especially CNN – jeez guys) for my news, because if you can’t find one good thing to say about today, of all days, I don’t need your negativity in my life.

And you made me rant…on Mother’s Day, only adding to the negativity. Dammit!

To bring some positivity to this, I was going to give a list of funny memes to all the moms out there. In an ironic twist, most of the memes in the lists I found are (gasp) sarcastic and not exactly positive.

Lol. I give up. Here are some of my favs (And no, I guess they’re not all hearts and flowers either. I’m only human after all.)…

 

Romance is Still Alive – #MFRWAuthor Blog Challenge

For all the romantic gestures I write into the world, romance to me sure as hell isn’t some prescribed holiday (ahem, Valentine’s Day). Or course, the best days ever are our wedding day and the days our children were born. But when I think of my most romantic memories, most of them are little things. A glance, a moment, being on the same page, doing things for each other.

So rather than touch on just one, I’ve made a top 10 List, counting down…

#10 – First Boyfriend

Ah, young love. My first official boyfriend (who lasted longer than a few days and went on actual dates) happened my freshman year of high school. That high of having the boy I was interest in be interested back only got better. We dressed up for the school Valentine’s dance. He gave me a silver bracelet (still have it) and my first kiss. I still smile when I pass by the spot where it happened. So sweet.

#9 – That Guy

My senior year of high school a boy I’d had a crush on years before (for a really, really, really long time), asked me out. We only dated a few months. But the romance of getting the ungettable get made me feel ah-maz-ing. He was a lot of fun, too.

#8 – Excited to See Me

I had a long term boyfriend in college (3 years – I think). There are lots of little moments in there, but the one that stands out the most is coming home from spring break in separate cars, he was a good 10 hours behind me. I went to bed thinking he wouldn’t get home until really late. I woke up to him running up the stairs to wake me up. He’d left early and hurried, just because he missed me for a few hours.

#7 – Flow ers for My Table

Any time my husband does the grocery shopping, he buys flowers for our kitchen table. Just because he knows I like it.

 

 #6 – Stay

Shortly after my breakup with the college boyfriend, I dated a guy who went a long way toward making me feel human and desirable again. He was wonderful in so many ways. But my favorite was a night we were out with a bunch of mutual friends (including my ex). I was miserable and thinking of leaving when I get this text that says two words. “Don’t Go.”

#5 – Lots of Laughter

My husband and I make each other laugh. Admittedly, he’s better at it than I am because he’s funnier. But part of what I love about our romance is laughing with him. Every single day.

#4 – I Love You

My husband and I both broke up with each other once before finally figuring out we were meant to be (had a lot to do with timing). When he finally told me he loved me was the day he asked me back. He’d broken things off, and a month later asked me to meet him at Jason’s Deli. There he told me how much he missed me and that he’d fallen in love with me without even knowing. I knew that day that I’d marry that man.

#3 – Proposal

I thought he was going to break up with me. I had gone on vacation to Colorado with my family and we talked every night, but he kept having fewer and fewer things to say. He was picking me up at the airport and I thought, “He’s about to end it.” I turned the corner to find him standing there in a suit with a sign (like a limo driver) that said “Mrs. Owen?”. He proposed right there in the airport (and my man is not the public exhibition type).

#2 – To the Ends of the Earth

Of the two of us, I am the more prone to make snap decisions and do things like move. I had moved apartments something like 10 times in 5 years, during which time he’d bought and lived in the same house. People would tease me that I’d have to stay put now. Six months after we married, I got a job in another state. And that man not only supported me, he jumped on my crazy train. He did it again when I suddenly decided we needed to move home to Texas.

#1 – Pursuing a Dream

My husband is supporting this author dream of mine in every way he can. He could call it an unrealistic pursuit and (quite reasonably) request I go back to a steady job with a steady income. He could get frustrated with how my head is in the clouds 90% of the time. He could get irritated with how dishes take a back seat to getting the next scene on paper. But because he loves me, and believes in me, and supports my dreams, I get to pursue my dreams.

All my best romantic memories are thanks to my husband. Guess I’ll hang on to this one. Lol. And you’d better bet that some of these will (or already have) end up in my books.