Doug Sahlin's Blog, page 2

Writing Dialog

When you write fiction, you need dialog. Dialog adds meat and interest to your stories. Your characters come alive when they speak. But the question is, what dialog to leave in and what dialog to leave out. Starting a conversation with, ���How are you?��� bores the reader and doesn���t engage the character. When a character speaks, he���s either telling another character something, or asking for information.��But you can cut dialog like, ���Hello. How are you today? ��� Boring.

The best way to get dialog, is to listen. Elmore Leonard was a keen listener. He was known as the ���Dickens of Detroit���. I always carry a notebook with me. When I hear something interesting, I write it down. During a trip to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I had breakfast in a place called ���Louies Cafe���, which is close to LSU. The chef, a guy know as ���Frenchy��� rambles on in a Jack Kerouac stream of consciousness. His dialog is colorful and witty. While cooking eggs, he said, ���Pavlovian primates waiting for maturation of the egg.���

Frenchy the Chef

Authors in my writing group, tell me I write good dialog. My protagonist is a PI named Yale Larsson. He talks in short, staccato sentences. Just the facts, ma���am. His cohort in crime, half-brother and gourmet cook has different speaking characteristics. When you write a scene with many characters speaking, it���s important to identify a character by his speech. The eliminates the need for ���he said���, or ���she said��� after every sentence. You can also differentiate between character, by having on do something before the dialog such as:
She furrowed her forehead. “I can’t condone that, young man.”

Here a snippet of dialog from my upcoming novel, ���A Pocketful of Euros.���

********

Blind Melon strummed the last chords of the song and placed Sweet Melissa in her case. A couple of people dropped coins in his singing bowl.
���Song was great, but Sweet Melissa sounded out of sorts,��� I said.
Handed him the box that was delivered yesterday. He broke it open and smiled.
���Strings.���
���As promised. Six sets. Should last you a while. ���
Blind Melon tipped his Pork-Pie Hat. ���Thank you, my friend.���
���Blind Melon, got a list of local kids from an Internet Social Media website. Wonder if you can identify them for me.���
���Okay.���
I read the list to Blind Melon. He knew five of the families.

To find out more about Yale Larsson scan the following QR code with your phone to see my Yale Larsson Private Investigator novels at Amazon.

My Morning Ritual

Writers can be creatures of habit. I am a creature of habit. One thing I do every day before sitting down to write is Morning Pages, three pages of longhand stream-of-consciousness stuff. Your morning pages don���t have to make sense. They can help you plan the day and prioritize what needs to be done. You can use them to get things off your mind, like how shitty the first draft of your novel is. Write whatever you want. This is ���Your Eyes Only��� stuff. Morning pages help engage your mind.

I write my morning pages in a ���5 x 8.25��� book. I buy them five at a time from Amazon. I use a book that 120GSM paper which takes fountain pen ink. I never re-read my pages and I toss the book when I���m done.

My Favorite Books About Writing

As an author, I get inspired by reading books in my genre. I also read books about writing. And they are written by some of my favorite authors. The following is a list of my favorites:��

On Writing
Stephen King

This is a great book, part autobiographical, the rest filled with tips and techniques from a master author. The book begins with the story of his near fatal accident, his recovery, and his writing. He shares some of the tools of his trade. I read this book at least once a year. And I have an autographed copy on my bookshelf.

Writing Down the Bones
Natalie Goldberg

Natalie takes a very zen approach to writing. I read this book often. She gives solid advice in this book. The book is divided into short easy-to-read chapters. When I need some inspiration, I read a chapter or two, and then sit in front of my computer and create.

 

Zen in the Art of Writing��
Ray Bradbury

Another inspirational book I read often. Bradbury was a wildly creative author who lived a long life. His book inspired me to dream, think, and then write.

 

Writing Tools: 55 Essential Tools for Every Writer
Roy Peter Clarke

This useful book is divided into four sections: “Nuts and Bolts,” “Special Effects,” “Blueprints for Stories,” and “Useful Habits.��� Read the book from cover to cover, or pick an essay that piques your curiosity. This is a book that has something for every writer.
��

Bird by Bird
Anne Lamott

The title was a quote from Anne���s father, when his son asked him how to write a report on birds. His answer was, ���Bird by bird, buddy. Just take it bird by bird.��� Great advice, especially when you���re writing a novel. Just write a chapter or scene at a time. Great book.

Those are my favorite books on writing. Leave a comment with the title of your favorite book on writing, and why it is your favorite.

Postcards from Paradise

I live on the West Coast of Florida. Paradise for sure. When I���m investigating a case, I see the best of Sarasota, as well as some pretty horrific crimes. I take a camera with me when I���m out and about. Sometimes I use it to photograph crime scenes. My half-brother Jayson says I���m a Neanderthal, says I should use my phone to photograph. Heck, I���m so analog, I���d use a film camera if film wasn���t so damned expensive. But I digress. The following slideshow shows the beauty I���ve seen while investigating some awful crimes. There are pictures of a huge gator in the slide show, maybe the same one who ripped off my old man���s arms in my first case, The Myakka Murders. You���ll also see a picture of Marlowe the Cat warming up the throne for his master. I hope you enjoy the show.

Right now I���m butt deep in alligators, trying to drain a swamp. What began as a murder investigation of a Brit who was found with a pocketful of Euros has turned into a full-tilt boogie investigation with the usual cast of players from the Sarasota County Sheriff���s Office, my girlfriend Laurie, plus a good cop and a bad cop and some terrible criminals who need to be brought to justice. My author, Doug Sahlin and I are looking for clues at the scene of the crime. Stay tuned for more information on my latest caper, A Pocketful of Euros. If you���d like to find out more about the mysteries I solved while taking these pictures, scan the QR code and you���ll see the stories of the first three mysteries I solved after I got my private investigator���s license.

Respectfully submitted,
Yale Larsson
Private Investigator��

Yale Larsson Private Investigator Rules

I���m Yale Larsson, a private investigator. In a previous lifetime, I was a cop for the Sarasota County Sheriff���s Office. Then somebody almost snuffed me out. Fortunately, my partner, a boot named Dustin Kennedy saved my bacon. While convalescing, I won the biggest Powerball in recent history. Then I retired. Then I got my private investigator license.��

During my time as a cop and ��an Army Ranger, I learned the importance of rules. My life is guided by rules. And I live by rules when I investigate. Here are a few of my rules:

Yale Larsson Private Investigator Rule Number 1: Carry a small notebook and two pens at all times.Yale Larsson Private Investigator Rule Number 3:��When interrogating a suspect, always answer a suspect���s question with a question.Yale Larsson Private Investigator Rule Number 4: Never leave home without a baggie in your pocket.��Yale Larsson Private Investigator Rule Number 6: stay awake and be alert when on surveillance.Yale Larsson Private Investigator Rule Number 7:��Sometimes you need to bluff to get what you need.Yale Larsson Private Investigator Rule Number 11: Always keep the lines of communication open.Yale Larsson Private Investigator Rule Number 12: He who speaks first loses.Yale Larsson Private Investigator Rule Number 17:��Assess before you access.Yale Larsson Private Investigator Rule Number 21: When in doubt, always err on the side of caution.

To find out more about me and my rules, check out the Yale Larsson Private Investigator series, written by a wordsmith named Doug Sahlin. The books are available in Kindle format or paperback at Amazon.��To learn more about the books, click the following link: Yale Larsson Private Investigator Series

When Bad Things Happen in Beautiful Places

Sometimes bad things happen in beautiful places. On a picture perfect day in paradise while I was watching my next-door neighbor���s girlfriend do sun salutations in the nude, my ex-girlfriend Janet Brown, a deputy with the Sarasota County Sheriff���s Office called. Needed me to ID a body at Myakka River State Park, a state park with breathtaking landscapes and birds and alligators. And a dead body with one arm missing. Can you say, ���gator bate?��� The deceased was my estranged father, Yale Augustus Larsson Sr. And that day was the beginning of a mystery. Was my old man murdered? If so, why? Take a look at the video and you���ll see the beauty of Myakka State Park.

To find out how I solved the mystery, click the book cover.

Becoming a Better Writer

One of the best pieces of advice I���ve received about writing is to rewrite something from a novel you love. It���s best to choose a work you admire that���s in your genre. After deciding which novel, you���re going to rewrite copy the first two chapters by hand. This gives you a good idea of how the author portrayed the characters and how the characters act and speak. You���ll also get a good idea of how the author piques a reader���s curiosity and gets her to keep turning the pages. After copying the chapters, rewrite them from memory using your style. This is a great exercise to fine-tune your writing chops. It���s also a great way to warm up when starting a new novel, which is something I���ll be doing soon. But first I need to finish novel four, ���A Pocketful of Euros.���

Business Cards That Work

I���ve been experimenting with several ideas for marketing my Yale Larsson Private Investigator series. I���ve independently published three books in the series: ���The Myakka Murders���, ���Sarasota Sour Grapes���, and ���Overexposed on Bird Key.��� I���m currently working on Book 4, ���A Pocketful or Euros.��� My first marketing ploy was to use Amazon�� Ads. I spent a lot of money with very poor results. I also used Book Bub to create an ad that appears on the bottom of their eMail with slightly better success.

I also created several Facebook Ads. The results were fairly dismal. I attended a book fair where I sold enough copies of my books to break even. At the event I handed out business cards and bookmarks. Then one day I brainstormed and had a blinding flash of insight, or BFI, to create a business card with a direct link to every Yale Larsson Private investigator book I���ve published. But before I could do that, I needed to set up a page on Amazon with all of my books. I did this through my KDP account by designating that the books were part of a series. Once I had a URL for my books, the next step was to create a QR code. If you���re not familiar with QR codes, they are images that can�� be scanned with a phone and will take the user directly to the associated web page. You can get a high resolution QR code for free from this website: Free QR code��

With that bit of housekeeping out of the way, it was time to create the business card. I wanted a card that was unique, so I used Moo��to create a Mini Moo card. Moo offers free templates for Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. The cards are small and pique the curiosity of the people you give them to. The cards measure 1.3 inches by 2.75 inches. Moo also offers a small plastic card carrying case you can put on your key chain. I never leave home without my Moo author cards. I���ve been monitoring the results through reports on KDP. Handing out the cards has increased book sales.

Listen and Learn

Authors need to be good listeners. When you listen, you learn. And you may just uncover a great line of dialogue or a name for a character. I remember shopping for clothes in a department store. As I was waiting to go into the dressing room to try on a pair of pants, an old man walked out of the dressing room. He looked at his wife and said, “Do you like these pants?”��She said, “Turn around.” He turned around. She said, “I don’t like ’em. They make you look like you got no ass.”

Elmore Leonard was at a book signing. A man walked up to him with one of Elmore’s books. Elmore said, “Who to I make it out to?” The man said, “Chili Palmer.” Elmore asked him if he could use the name. The man told him he could. It became a character in Elmore’s “Get Shorty.”

In addition to being a good listener, you need to retain the information. I always carry a small notebook with me. of course you could dictate the information into your phone. But hey, I’m an analog guy in a digital world.

Click the book covers to learn more about my Yale Larsson PI series.

Jayson’s Holy Guacamole

My half-brother Jayson (also known as Watson when we’re on a case) is a great cook. He has a guacamole recipe he calls Holy Guacamole. He whips it up from scratch in no time.

IngredientsA couple of ripe avacadosA jar of Wickles Sandwich Spread (available at most grocery stores)Scallions (optional)Tortilla ChipsPreparation

Remove the flesh and stones from the avocados. Add them to a blender, or if you’re real strong, you can mash them with a spoon. When the avocados are buttery smooth, add the Wickles. Add them a teaspoon at a time, blend and taste. Wickles Sandwich Spread is spicy. A little goes a long way. Add chopped scallions to the mixture if desired. Wickles has onions, so the scallions are optional.

Serve with a bowl of chips and your favorite beverage. Jayson serves mine with Warsteiner.