E.B. Roshan's Blog: This, That and the Other, page 12

Eats, Shoots and Leaves

My favorite punctuation mark is a period. Not a huge fan of exclamation marks, but I suppose they have their place. Question marks are at least fun to make. As for commas…well…let’s just say, after 30+ years of writing, I still occasionally misplace one. Or miss one. And I’m not alone, apparently. Case in point HERE.

(BTW, if you haven’t read the delightful book on punctuation by the title of this blog post, please do)

Tur Kej

Book Five of the Shards of Sevia series takes us out of Dor, into the montains of Sevia—a very different culture and environment. This made it one of the most fun books to write, but also took extra thought—the Tur people of the Tur Kej and Tur Fen mountains are the minority culture. Though Sevia is just as much their country, the Tur are still in many ways the “foreigners” of the series.

It turned out to be challenging to write Preen and Kiva in such a way that they didn’t alienate readers, while staying true to their traditional culture. The fact that they’re related (distant cousins) had some early readers scratching their heads, and others found the concept of Kiva paying for a bride strange and backward. In this book, I hope I’ve managed to humanize the “other” and make them as appealing and relatable as the characters of the more familiar Sevian culture.

Beta Readers

This week, I’m sharing my semi-final draft with a handful of early readers–beta readers–who will help me to fill in the holes, iron out the wrinkles, and determine how best to prepare Preen and Kiva’s story to face the world.

If all goes according to plan, I’ll be receiving their thoughts and feedback by the end of August, which should allow me to have the book ready for release by the end of September–assuming the story isn’t a total fail. Just because I think my story is good doesn’t mean anybody else will. Waiting for the beta readers’ feedback is always a time of uncertainty. I’m pretty sure I’ve written good stories in the past, but will this one hit the mark? Which leads to the question–what makes for a good story, anyway?

Coming Soon…

Good news! After a lengthy delay, the fifth book in the Shards of Sevia series will release at the end of the summer. Stay tuned for a first-chapter preview, a look at the cover, and a chance to win a free e-copy.

The Five Elements of Story/Scene Structure

From a post I shared with my online writing group:

If you stop thinking about the elements of scene/story structure as mechanical “steps” or “stages” your scene has to go through, and look at the scene as a natural, fluid (but logical) progression of actions and reactions, you may well find you’re using the “story elements” without even thinking about it.

Pretty much every interaction you’ll experience today follows this pattern, more or less. For example:

Baby poops (inciting incident)

Mom decides a diaper change is in order (turning point)

Mess is far worse than expected—Mom calls for help (crisis)

Dad comes to the rescue with a towel and fresh clothing (climax)

Baby is cleaned, and settled happily for a feed (resolution)

That’s kind of a silly example, but the point is, those story elements aren’t a structure you must artificially force your story to conform to—they are simply one way of expressing the natural flow most stories will take.

You could also write them like this:

Yikes! (inciting incident)
Ok, here’s what we’ll do…(turning point)
Oh, no, that’s not working…(crisis)
D****T!!! (Climax)
Here, this will do. Phew. (resolution)

Hope you found this helpful!

The Perfect Opening

While the prize for “Best Opening Paragraph Ever” is, obviously, a matter of opinion, it’s always interesting to dig a little deeper and see what makes those really excellent opening paragraphs “tick.” HERE’S an interesting example of one such analysis.

The Survivors

In an era where new terminology is minted every minute, it’s fascinating to see how some words cling to life. Check out THIS article for a look at some common phrases and the antique words they’ve helped to preserve.

Book Spotlight: Three Prayers for Timothy by Vance Kessler

Three Prayers for Timothy was a great read—unexpected, funny, tense and thought-provoking. The blend of Christian fiction, romance, and time travel was new to me, but I enjoyed the combination far more than I would have a story focused on any one of those elements separately.

While Timothy’s hard-headedness, and sometimes complete cluelessness, had me wanting to smack him on more than one occasion, the author’s ability to create a character who’s relatable despite his flaws took the story to another level, and kept me turning (clicking) pages through each of Timothy’s alternative existences as he moved toward happiness…or a miserable end.

After all the mistakes and misunderstandings, will Timothy discover what he truly needs to live a happy life? You’ll have to read and find out—no spoilers here. Check it out on AMAZON.

I received a free copy of Three Prayers for Timothy for a fair and honest review.

Book Spotlight: The Seed Bearer’s Bride by Jean Hoefling

I’m not a fan of fantasy by any means…or of much Christian fiction either, to be honest, but this particular book’s premise intrigued me, and I wasn’t disappointed. I thoroughly enjoyed The Seed Bearer’s Bride—a story with both beauty and terror, deep sadness and steadfast hope. (And on second thoughts, I believe describing this book as historical, or Biblical fiction, rather than fantasy, might hit closer to the mark, though it’s pretty good at defying rigid categorization.)

Baraqua (despite the spelling, I’m pretty sure it would simply be pronounced Baraka) was one of the most interesting and relatable heroines I’ve had the good fortune to meet in quite some time—her struggles had me very worried for her half the time, her courage made me proud the other half.

The rich and intriguing post-Fall culture the author created, seamlessly blending sparse Biblical facts with a fertile imagination, was fascinating too—an adventure and a character in itself. However, the detailed descriptions of smells, clothing, and food didn’t slow the pace of the story at all, they simply added a subtle richness—as all good descriptive writing should.

And the good news is, The Seed Bearer’s Bride isn’t a standalone, as I had initially thought. It’s the second in an ongoing series! So check out Jean Hoefling’s website HERE for more information about other books and upcoming releases.

I received a free copy of The Seed Bearer’s Bride for a fair and honest review.

What Makes a Great Book Cover?

While I know it’s not for every author, I enjoy designing my own book covers. (Having a background in art certainly helps.)

Even if you never create one of your own, you probably know a good cover when you see it. Check out THIS ARTICLE for a list of some of the most famous book covers of all.