Mayra Calvani's Blog, page 9

Talking Craft with Randy Rawls, author of DATING DEATH

Randy Rawls lives in Delray Beach, Florida, slap-dab in the middle of paradise. Not only is the weather perfect, but the writing environment is wonderful. In fact, it's so good you can't cross the street without bumping into an author.

Before retiring in Florida, Randy grew up in North Carolina, then spent a career in the Army. After retirement, he went back to work with the Department of Defense as a civilian, the aspect of his career that led him to South Florida. Somewhere along the way, he fell in love with writing. The writing was a natural progression since he has always been an avid reader.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, DATING DEATH. To begin with, can you gives us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A: Here's a brief summary of the book I prepared for the cover: "The Chief of Police of Coral Lakes, FL has the goods on Roger Adamson, a dirty politician; however, the chief knows Adamson has additional information that could bring down a drug lord and disembowel his organization. Chief Elston asks Beth Bowman, a South Florida PI, to assist by becoming Adamson's consort/bodyguard while Adamson parses out data. Beth agrees, not realizing multiple homicides, a kidnapping, a tight frame for murder, and the loss of the man she loves await her. If not for Beth's homeless friends, all might be lost."

My stories come from the headlines. While I'm sure South Florida does not have a corner on the market of politicians who, shall we say, look the other way, anyone who follows the decisions made by these same politicians might find reason to wonder. So, I decided it was time for Beth to take on a dirty politician. That's where DATING DEATH begins. Once she meets Roger Adamson, the story took on a life of its own.

Q: What do you think makes a good mystery? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: A mystery is (throw out all the frills) a whodunit. With that in mind, the three most important elements are the protagonist(s), the clues, and the red herrings. Everything else is icing on the cake. We must have a competent protagonist(s) who will eventually solve the riddle. We must have clues for our protagonist to find. And, equally as important, we must have red herrings to challenge both our protagonist and the reader.

Think Sherlock Holmes. Yes, we enjoy the relationship between Holmes and Watson, but is it critical to solving the mystery? In my opinion, no. The critical element is Holmes fantastic deductions. But, he must find something to cause him to make those deductions—clues. And, so his life isn't too simple, Arthur Conan Doyle planted red herrings to keep Holmes from solving the case too quickly. Bingo, we have a good mystery.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: I started with Beth and Chief Elston's request that she "babysit" Roger Adamson, the dirty politician. Beth took it from there, narrating the story faster than I could capture it. Many times, I had to ask her to slow down so I could catch up.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A: Beth revealed herself to me as I wrote her stories, similar to learning about a friend in real life. First, she was simply a PI in South Florida, who had run from her ex-husband in Texas because—in her words, "Texas wasn't big enough for both of them." Then she told me about her mother who still resides in Richardson, TX and raised Beth and her brother alone after Beth's father died in a bungled burglary. As we spent more time together, she shared other tidbits of her life—her brother in Wisconsin with the "perfect" marriage, per her mother's words—the stalker from whom she saved her mother—the retired Dallas policeman who had been her mentor, trainer, and protector when she was on the Dallas force—the man of her dreams—her friends in the homeless community, etc. One of the joys of writing Beth's stories was getting to know her in depth. She's a fascinating character.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: Similar to how Beth came about. A basic idea that grew as the story unrolled. In DATING DEATH, I knew there was someone behind the dirty politician. But I didn't know who or how when the book opened. Then I discovered Zachary Zogby, a seemingly honest and successful businessman, known as Mr. ZZ on the criminal side of his empire. Then came his associates and the rest of the villains, large and small, who fill the pages.

I try to make them realistic and enjoyable to read by giving them one or more specific personality trait(s). Everyone we know has something that makes him/her stand out in our memories. That's what I tried to do with the villains.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: This is always the challenge to a writer. How to keep the "saggy" middle from sagging. What to introduce to keep the reader reading. In DATING DEATH, I kept the tension about Beth's future high. She is being sought by the drug lord and, after certain events, by the police. She has no choice but to hide out from both, even as she works to clear her name. Hopefully, the reader will share her desperation and keep flipping pages.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: With all my books, setting is a major character for me. In the Ace Edwards Dallas PI series, each story was set in a small town, and I integrated some history of the town/area into the story. For Tom Jeffries and Beth Bowman, it is South Florida. It would be difficult to write any story set in South Florida without the setting emerging as a major player. In DATING DEATH, everything from the Everglades and canals to I-95 and the Florida Toll Road enter the story, not to mention warehouse areas, well-known local businesses, and amphitheaters. Yes, South Florida is a major player in my stories.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: Not exactly sure what this question is seeking, but the theme of all my books is "good triumphs over evil." With that in mind, I knew that Beth would win in the end. The problem was how to work her through the multiple dangerous situations and have her come out on the top.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: Every author brings three things to the table: style, voice, and vocabulary. The style and the voice are unique. The vocabulary is shared by the world and is an ever-changing thing. Editing can destroy style and voice by imposing the editor's whims. An author has to defend his work and be proactive in protecting his voice and style. Good editors recognize this and are careful. After all, it was that same style, voice, and vocabulary that attracted the editor.

Some would say the author brings a plot to the table. That's true, but there are so few plots in the world that uniqueness cannot be claimed.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: A fertile imagination backed by a willingness to learn and tenaciousness. Without any one of them, failure to is a given. The imagination is obvious. The writer must dream up a plot that will interest the reader. Willingness to learn: Becoming an author is an acquired skill. The writer who is not willing to adjust and learn the "tricks of the trade" will not be successful. And tenaciousness: Nothing comes easy in this business. The writer who tries, then walks away will fail.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: Yes, I can identify with that. Each chapter is a teaching point that must be worked through carefully. Rushing or doing sloppy work is an invitation to failure.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: Oh, yes. As I said above, writing is an acquired skill. No matter the skill level of the presenter, there is always something to be learned. Writers' conferences are especially helpful. One gets to interface with everyone from the beginner to the proven author. Listen and learn, and you will be stronger for it.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: Yes. The secret to writing is reading. Every author should read, read, read. Through osmosis, he will absorb some good traits, while hopefully rejecting the bad. I've heard some writers say they won't read while writing a book. They are dooming themselves to long-term failure.

 

Talking Craft with Ian A. O’Connor, Author of ‘The Wrong Road Home’

Ian A. O’Connor is a retired USAF colonel who has held several senior military leadership positions in the field of national security management.  In his page-turning thriller, The Barbarossa Covenant, released in August 2015, it’s the author’s expertise in neutralizing nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare threats against the United States which provides the backdrop for the story's compelling reality, and electrifying sense of urgency.

He is also the author of The Twilight of The Day. This debut novel garnered high praise in a lengthy review in the Military Times for its realism and chilling story line. It was soon followed with the publication of The Seventh Seal by Winterwolf Publishing Company, a thriller that introduced readers to retired FBI agent Justin Scott. Both books were re-released worldwide in 2015 in Kindle and softcover formats.

Ian co-authored SCRAPPY: A Memoir of a U.S. Fighter Pilot published by McFarland & Company to rave reviews in the military aviation community. He is a member of Mystery Writers of America, and lives in South Florida with his wife, Candice, where he is hard at work writing the next Justin Scott thriller, The Masada Option, due to be released in late 2016.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, The Wrong Road Home. To begin with, can you gives us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A: The Wrong Road Home was inspired by true events.  It’s the story of a friend of mine named Desmond Donahue who practiced medicine as a surgeon—first in Ireland and later in Miami—and did so for over twenty years armed with nothing more than a Chicago School System GED certificate and a several fake diplomas.  I was totally unaware of his dark secret until the exposé was splashed all over the front page of The Miami Herald, Sunday Edition two decades ago.  It was a scandal that gained national notoriety.

Q: What do you think makes a good historical novel written as an exposé based on true events? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: I found that writing this story was similar in many respects to writing a thriller. First, the writer must have an interesting concept to ‘hook’ the reader. Next, the opening chapter, (or sometimes it’s a prologue) must grab the reader’s attention within the first or second paragraph. That’s not much time, but it’s true. Because it is here where you must compel the reader to want to continue reading in order to find out what happens next. The reader must want to be drawn to the central character, to either feel well-disposed or badly disposed to the person. Think Mother Theresa or Adolf Hitler. Both are interesting people who impacted history.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: Luckily, I knew how my story would end as I began writing The Wrong Road Home. Also, plotting was not an issue because the real Desmond Donahue laid bare his whole life to me, oftentimes at great embarrassment to himself.   But let me stray just a tad from the question asked to say this about writing in my usual genre, which is the thriller category. I have a pretty good idea how my story is going to unfold before I write my first sentence.  That’s because I spend several months—or longer—researching facts regarding locations, cultures, history, skills possessed by my protagonists and antagonists, and also discovering how various things work. I do write an outline, oftentimes it’s lengthy, but I recognize that as I write, the story will morph to a degree, but always for the better.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A: My protagonist in The Wrong Road Home was a personal friend whom I thought I knew. Obviously, I didn’t. I mean, how many people do you know who have been friends with a doctor for years to suddenly discover the man’s a complete fraud? I’ll wager, not many.  The more I finally got to know the real Desmond, the more I came to realize just what nerves of steel he must have had to pull off such a scam in the first place, and then continue to live the lie for another twenty years. It’s the stuff of fiction, but fiction it wasn’t.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A:  Because The Wrong Road Home was such an exciting story in its own right, I decided to write it in a similar vein to producing a thriller.  The reader must be propelled ever onward with interesting twists and unexpected turns in the narrative, and my chapters are not formulaic in either substance or style. By this I mean some chapters are short, others longer. But a constant throughout this work is my liberal use of dialogue. Readers love dialogue. They identify with characters more easily when they hear them speak, rather than being told what is happening. “Show, don’t tell” is a maxim introduced to most writers early in their careers and should be ignored at great peril.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: Much of the mood developed in The Wrong Road Home dealt with setting, which really means time and place. How did Desmond Donahue become such a successful doctor without any discernible medical training? Could such be possible today? The short answer is no.

Because of the Internet and universal access to computers, a Desmond Donahue today would be uncovered in short order.  His school records would be verified in moments, ditto for any medical diplomas, and his memberships in professional societies vetted in an instant. This was not the case in the late nineteen-sixties through the early nineteen-nineties when Desmond Donahue lived his life of lies, not only posing as a surgeon, but actually practicing his craft day after day.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: That’s an interesting question, and I’m not so sure I have the answer.  I see both as being intertwined and the lines blurred. Let’s just say craft and art for a writer should be something seamless. As for editing, I think the author needs to concentrate on getting the story onto paper as his primary objective. Editing should come later. If an author spends too much time editing as he writes, then, yes, I could see how initiative could ebb—and even get lost—if too much emphasis is placed on editing an unfinished story.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: First, a novelist must come up with interesting plots, then he/she must exhibit the discipline to actually sit down and create the story out of thin air, and, last, a writer must never shortchange the reader by becoming a lazy hack. You might get away with producing one bad book, but “fool me once…”

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: I’m going to take exception to that premise because it implies the writer’s life is one of drudgery, and that’s certainly not the case. At least not for me. I can’t ever remember saying in high school or college, “Oh, boy, six hours of homework tonight, and a ton more this weekend!”  Writers write for the sheer pleasure of writing. It’s akin to horses running for the sheer pleasure of running. It is a stimulating endeavor, and one I will never tire of.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: I will lie awake at nights in wonder at just how I was able to create stories without the help of the Internet. There is nothing now beyond the reach of any author regarding, people, places, and things. It is possible to become an expert on the most picayune subjects, and in turn the reader has the ability to discover if you indeed know what you’re talking about.  So I doff my hat to the likes of Dickens, Defoe, Austen, and countless others who actually produced such stellar works that we still delight in reading them today.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: If any of your readers should discover they have a story to tell, then by all means begin the journey. It will take a lot of hard work, tons of trial and error, criticism and rejection, but the key to success is perseverance. If you truly believe in yourself you will achieve your goal, and the satisfaction that come with a job well done.

The Story behind 'Original Cyn' by Sylvia Dickey Smith

The seeds of the story behind Original Cyn turned in the ground and nudged their way toward the sunshine well over twenty years ago now. A few months earlier, I happened to pick up a copy of Carolyn Heilbrun’s Writing a Woman’s Life. It lay on my desk for weeks looking so inconsequential at times I wondered why I’d purchased it. Then one day, I picked it up and started to read—that is until the phrase unambiguous wife caught my eye and latched onto my psyche. The unambiguous wife, I read, is a woman who puts a man at the center of her life, allowing to occur only that which honors his paramount position. Her desires, dreams and wishes are forever secondary.

Heilbrun described me—to a tee. I’d spent almost thirty years perfecting the godly role of a sanitized, unambiguous woman. Not only that, but during those years I also worked at perfecting the godly role of an unambiguous preacher’s wife, a woman with no idea who she was outside that role. So began my journey into myself.

Years later, I began my writing career and in turn, found my voice. With several published books under my proverbial belt I felt compelled to write a book that caused people to think, to question, to look at life from a broader perspective, to live the questions rather than squat inside the answers. I didn’t have to find the story, the story found me. It demanded I tell it without blinking, even when the going got tough.

Original Cyn pushed me harder and deeper than anything I have written to date. A story, I hope, that makes people think, a story full of questions, a story that takes each of us deep within our core where life’s questions reside. Original Cyn pushes boundaries, some of which were mine, years ago.  A book I knew many may refuse to read, judge me, and ostracize me. But write I did. That was the easy part, the story told itself.

However, then came time to publish it—to put it out there. It is a scary thing to write a book that causes others to question their beliefs, their own actions and behaviors. In my heart of hearts, however, I knew the time was right for this story to be told. In fact, writing Original Cyn permitted me to hit a reset button in my life. Something happened to me. It elevated a hunger to listen to my soul-voice and to carry that over into any future writings—to take more risks, not only in my writing, but also in my day-to-day world.

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Title: ORIGINAL CYN

Genre: women’s fiction

Author: Sylvia Dickey Smith

Website: www.sylviadickeysmith.com

Publisher: White Bird Publications

Purchase on Amazon

About Original Cyn:  Protagonist Cynthia Carter’s life appears perfect—but for the fact that she and her husband, The Reverend Wilburn Carter, are controlled by fear.  Cynthia is afraid she’ll displease Wilburn and if not him, his parishioners. But her biggest fear is the emptiness swelling inside her.

In the pulpit, Wilburn is the hero:  God’s right hand, the messenger, the revered Reverend. At home, however, is a different story: he’s cold, controlling, selfish and self-consumed.  Every Sunday, Wilburn stands at the podium and worries which parishioner might stab him in the back.  But his deepest, darkest fear is that people will discover he’s a phony.

As Cynthia drowns in her lack of identity beyond what’s assigned by her preacher-husband, she wonders if she should stay in the relationship.  Could there be more to life than just being the Pastor’s wife?  Before she can decide, events force her to flee.  If she goes far enough fast enough, those back home will have to deal with the chaos they created—deal with it or go to hell in their sanctimonious handbaskets. Until a phone conversation leaves her with even more difficult choices…

A powerful, thoughtful, and thought-provoking story, Original Cyn is extraordinary. Novelist Sylvia Dickey Smith takes readers on an unforgettable journey that spans anguish, heartbreak, hatred, love, fear, humor, peace and joy.  Resplendent with compelling characters and an exceedingly-relatable storyline, Original Cyn is wholly—or perhaps holy—an original tale about moving beyond the black-and-white and living life in full, vibrant color. Sylvia Dickey Smith’s latest novel is a richly-drawn, rewarding read destined to stay with readers long after the final page is turned.  

About the Author  

A fifth generation Texan, Sylvia Dickey Smith was born in Orange, Texas and grew up in a colorful Scots-Irish family living in the midst of a Cajun culture. At 34, Sylvia’s curiosity about the world took on a whole new dimension when she moved to the Caribbean island nation of Trinidad & Tobago. Awed by the differences in customs and cultures, particularly as they related to West Indian women, Sylvia began a journey of study and self-discovery. Back in the U.S. at 40, she started college and didn’t stop until achieving a B.A. in sociology with a concentration in women’s studies and a master’s in counseling. For the next twenty years, Sylvia worked in the field of human services and taught as an adjunct professor at the graduate level. Sylvia Dickey Smith lives in Texas.

Connect with the Author 

 http://www.sylviadickeysmith.com/rosie-the-riveter-unapologetic/

https://www.facebook.com/SylviaDickeySmithAuthor/

Talking Craft with Author Julie Ann James

Julie Ann James lives in Sarasota, Florida. Her passion for words came at an early age and has inspired her to literally plant seeds all over the globe. She is the founder of the Peppertree Press book publishing company and The Pepper Tree Literary Magazine, an avid public speaker, a published children’s author and novelist.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Irish Jewel. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A: Irish Jewel is about a young executive woman who meets the love of her life on a business trip.  Amy Reid, about to turn 29 falls in love with her soul mate, Michael Cambridge. He is handsome, charming and extremely wealthy and well known by all that live in the heart of the antiquated and historical Dublin, Ireland.  He sits in the power chair as the CEO of a jewelry store chain called Irish Jewel passed down from his father and his father before him.  She says yes to his proposal and then they plan a destination wedding in Dublin.

It doesn’t take long before her dreams of becoming Mrs. Michael Cambridge take a turn for the worst and the deep dark family secrets that were once buried in the Ireland dirt come to the surface for all to see.  The intrigue, the mystery and the danger Amy will find herself in will captivate the readers and leave them with an unforgettable ending right down to the last word.

I had an opportunity to travel to Dublin Ireland and even though I was writing another novel at the time, I was truly inspired by this beautiful country and the idea simple popped in my head. The antiquated cemeteries, the architecture and the overall history in Ireland were breathtaking.  I ended up putting away the novel I was working on and writing the premise to Irish Jewel while on the plane.  It is interesting as I typically come up with the title first and then the idea and that seems to work for me best.

Q: What do you think makes a good mystery thriller.  Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: I would have to say making certain you have interesting characters and always give them a back story to keep your reader interested.  Make certain there are not too many characters as the reader is reading for enjoyment. If they have too many characters to keep track of you might just lose them and they could put your book down for good.  Make certain you leave the reader with a cliff hanger so they will want to turn the page.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A:  I know there are many writers that will plot out the entire book and outline each character and each scene down to the finest detail.  For me, I write as I go along and sometimes surprise myself on the “who done it” in the end because I really have no idea what is going to happen. It could take a very twisted unexpected turn for the greater good and that is the fun aspect of writing fiction.

 

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A:  I envisioned my character to be a certain way in the beginning process of my book, however the more I developed him the more I liked him.  Did I want him to be charming and mysterious or did I want the reader and the characters that surrounded him to question his integrity and his motives throughout the book. Was he an all around good guy and the prince charming that Amy Reid was about to marry or did his past hold the secrets to who he really was as a person.   I am confident that the reader will like him no matter what.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: My antagonist was an extremely fun character to create and I so enjoyed seeing him develop and turn into the psychopath that he so deserves to be. It is truly a love hate relationship and I love to hate him.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: I wanted to keep my reader on the edge of their seat. Okay, I realize that is a cliché thing to say, however it was my goal as a fiction writer. I wanted to surprise them with every twisted turn of the page and I think I succeeded in doing so. I absolutely love describing the scenes that surrounded my characters but also wanted to give my reader the ability to use their imagination as well. It was important to me to not give too much away.    This is the beauty of writing fiction and reading fiction you can be anyone and let your imagination take you anywhere.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: Since I had the opportunity to visit Ireland, it was easy for me to be there in the middle of the antiquated cemetery and describe the tomb stones and the creepy grounds they were sitting on.  It was easy for me to describe the food in Ireland since I ate the food.  The experience itself was my research and helped so much in the end result.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: As I said before, I did not know the themes of my novel. It was a surprise to me how my writing took a turn and that is a thrill for me the writer and it is my hope for the reader.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: I often give advice about editing as I learned the hard way from my own experience after writing Irish Jewel. I had it copy edited in the beginning, however once reading it back decided to take it a step further and have my book content edited.  It was the best thing I have done in my writing career and I would suggest it for all writers. I don’t think editing can destroy your book unless the editor takes liberties and removes the voice of the writer.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A:

Tenacity and a good plot that will keep the reader interested.

The will to take criticism and use it for the greater good and learn from it.

To use characters that are relatable.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: If an author thinks writing feels like homework (work being the key word) then they are not having fun being a writer. A writer should write because they have a love for writing and creating, not because they have to.  Unless its actual homework.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: I think the best classroom you can be in is learning from other writers. Finding a writers group, a book club or an association is going to help any writer along the road.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A:  Always read your manuscript outloud and if someone is willing to listen, then read it outloud to them. If you stumble over your words, then your readers will stumble as well.

Title:  IRISH JEWEL

Genre: Suspense

Author:  Julie Ann James

Website:  www.peppertreepublishing.com

Publisher: www.peppertreepublishing.com

Find out more on Amazon

About the Book:

When Irish Jewel opens, bride-to-be Amy Reid is living out a fairy tale.  She’s engaged to be married to the love of her life, Michael Cambridge, an Irishman. Michael, a member of one of Dublin’s most  prominent families and heir to the Cambridge precious gem business, is everything a girl could dream of—and more.   He’s handsome, loving, charming, smart, successful, and, as icing on the wedding cake, Amy and Michael will be married in an elaborate ceremony in Dublin. This lavish, spare-no-expense event will be an exquisite dream-come-true-affair—a beautiful beginning to their lives together.

But this dream-come-true quickly turns into a nightmare:  what begins as a vague threat quick escalates into something much more sinister. On the eve of what should be the happiest day of her life, Amy is quickly swept up in an insidious web of danger, kidnapping, and murder.

When long buried truths emerge and dark secrets come to light, this fairy tale will be irretrievably fractured.  Nothing is as it seems—and the only way to win this deadly game is to get out alive. But the odds are stacked against Michael and Amy.  Will they even live to see “till death us do part”? Expect the unexpected in this twisted tale...

 

 

Talking Craft with Children’s Author Dawn Brotherton

 



Dawn Brotherton is an Air Force colonel, a wife, a mother of two, a Girl Scout leader, and the author of five books. Trish’s Team is her first youth fiction story. Dawn started out writing a mystery that was based on true events that happened during her days as a young lieutenant in the Air Force, The Obsession. She embellished the story, adding murders to beef up the plot. After that, her writers encouraged her to write a sequel in the Jackie Austin Mysteries, Wind the Clock. She is currently working on the third and final for Jackie. Dawn is excited to turn to youth fiction with the Lady Tigers’ Series. With two teenage daughters at home, she relates well with the characters that come to life through the active dialogue. She is also looking forward to military retirement later this year so she can dedicate more time to writing.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Trish’s Team. To begin with, can you gives us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?

A:  Trish’s Team is the first in a ten-part series that demonstrates that being part of a team is more than what happens on the softball field. These 11-12 year olds have life lessons to learn, and they will go through them together. In this book, Trish really wants to play travel fastpitch softball. Although her parents aren’t against the idea of softball, they feel her priority should be on orchestra. When the timing of practices conflict, Trish lies to her parents about where she is spending her time. When her parents find out, there are consequences to pay.

I love softball and reading—my two favorite things growing up. I started playing when I was nine and now my daughters play. It was an important part of my life, and I hope this series gets other girls interested in playing too. At the very least, I think the stories are fun to read.

Q: What do you think makes a good youth fiction story? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: Enough action to capture their attention; lessons appropriate for their age level; something their parents would want them to read.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: I know the themes I want for each of the ten books I’m planning for this series. They grow as I write though. The conversations sometimes take me in directions I wasn’t expecting. Sounds strange since I’m doing the writing, but when you get into a character, you answer in a way that sounds natural. Then who knows where it will lead!

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A:  Trish is a character that kids can relate to. She has her good moments and her faults. I think it’s important to show that kids can make mistakes and recover from them.

I didn’t do character sketches when I started writing the Lady Tigers’ Series, but then I quickly learned the error of my ways. Now I have a cheat sheet that outlines every character I’ve ever mention and what I’ve written about them. This is especially important in a series about a team. There are many characters that will repeat in different books and you have to make sure not to describe them differently. It’s amazing the details kids pick up on. If they have a favorite character and you change their hair color, the reader will notice!

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: There’s no true villain in Trish’s Team. Her parents aren’t as loving and attentive as they could be, but I wouldn’t call them antagonist. Trish is really battling with herself and a decision she has to make. At this age, I think kids’ struggles are often internal as they grow to become better people, stretching their boundaries along the way.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: For this age level, too much detail is not helpful. Kids want action and to feel involve. I prefer to keep things moving with dialogue.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: Most the action takes place at the softball field. With my girls playing softball year ‘round, I see the fields in my sleep! For me, the hard part was not taking things for granted. I try to describe a field to a person that doesn’t know anything about softball or baseball. It’s a challenge to take a step back and try to see it through someone else’ eyes.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: I definitely knew the theme. I have them set for the other nine as well, although I’m not sure what order I’ll write them in. The series is always about the Lady Tigers which is a fastpitch softball organization. That means my players can range from 8 to 18. I have a lot of leeway to work with. The first few books will have players from Trish’s Team (ages 10-12) taking turns as the main character. They all have different lessons to learn, but they will all benefit from those lessons.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: Not if you have the right editor. I’ve been struggling with this problem through many of my books. I picked one that knew how to edit but didn’t know how to play softball. I thought that was a good thing because if I could make her understand, it should work for anyone. Not exactly. She tried to correct softball rules or lingo that only annoyed me. It did make me go back and look at those sections again though to make sure they were clear. As my final test, I had a classroom of middle schoolers proof read it for me and give me feedback. That was helpful and I will keep up that initiative.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: Success is really a very subjective thing. It’s different for every person. For some it’s money, but when it comes to writing, I would venture a guess that for most it’s not. Three things to become successful, no matter your definition, are hard work (who isn’t going to say that!); a thick skin (not everything you write will please everyone); and the willingness to fail, dust yourself off, and try again.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: Absolutely! I feel guilty sometimes when I’m not writing. I have so much I want to write that I feel I should be doing it constantly. Well, if anyone else has that notion, dump it now. You need to recharge your batteries by watching TV, going to the movies, reading a good book—or three. You need down time. Give yourself some time off once in a while.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: There are so many blogs, newsletters, and websites that you may never get to your own writing if you try to keep up. Frankly, they overwhelm me. When my youngest daughter was nine, she gave me a book called “The Writer’s Little Helper” by James V Smith, Jr. It has great exercises to help improve your writing, and it gives you things to think about.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: You have to do it because you enjoy it, not because you have to. I would think the pressure of having to write to make a living would be tough. I like being ABLE to write, and the money is an added bonus.

YA Mystery Author Gin Price Talks About Her Cover for 'On Edge'

  Gin Price has
been writing stories since the sixth grade, preferring fantasy to reality, much
to the dismay of teachers throughout school. Often finding herself cheering for
the underdog, she enjoys writing hard, edgy pieces where characters have to
fight their way through tough times and find inner strength they never knew
they had in order to succeed. Fascinated by the different paths friendships can
take, Gin enjoys delving in to the young adult genre, where relationships can
change dramatically from one day to the next. Using knowledge learned from her
childhood environment, her writing is often steeped in street life, whether
good or bad. 

Hoping to show support for art that is often misunderstood, Gin
published her debut novel, On Edge, focusing on graffiti and parkour, two
expressions dear to her heart. Currently, she is a resident in the Metro
Detroit area, living with her loving biologist man, David, her two children,
Shyla and Hayes, many reptiles and a troublesome cat named Wallace.

Interview:

Tell us about
your book! What is it about and what inspired you to write it?

On Edge is a
Young Adult Mystery playing on a Shakespearean theme (R&J) using a graffiti
crew vs. a parkour crew. (I encourage anyone who doesn’t know what parkour is,
to YouTube it. You won’t be disappointed.) LL finds herself being targeted by a
serial-killing graffiti artist, and her brother decides to blame an artist who
shows interest in his sister. Threatening to start a gang war over it, LL’s
brother forces her to hide her blossoming affection for the enemy while
struggling to figure out who the true culprit is. Unfortunately, the person who
is guilty might be the same person she’s trying to clear.  

Tell us about
your publishing process. What was it like? Did you go indie or the traditional
way?

This book is
traditional. Obviously it is a lot longer road than SP, filled with rock
throwing punks in the median. Everyone is telling you everything about your
book and you’re not as free to do as you wish—which honestly is better
sometimes. LOL However, there is a validation in traditional that self-publishing
has a harder time giving you. You really have to learn to be patient with
traditional publishing. It is very seductive to have the instant gratification
of self-pubbing.

How did you
choose the title for your book? Did it come to you right away, before you
started writing the story, or did it come later?

The original
title was the first thing I had. It has since changed.

Tell us about
the cover design process. Did you have a basic idea of what your book cover
would be like?

I told the
artist that I wanted a brick wall with graffiti on it, preferably with the face
of a girl on it, with a freerunner silhouette jumping onto the wall. I don’t
think he could’ve done any better without being in my brain. It’s awesome.

Who is your
cover designer and how did you find him/her?

Rich Siegle. He
designs for the Poisoned Pencil Press.

How was your
experience working with the designer?

All I had to do
was type up what I wanted. I had the easy part of the job.

What has been
the readers’ response to your cover?

Everyone has
loved it!

What tips would
you give to authors who are looking for a cover designer?

Look at the
books they’ve done already. Know what you want and know how to explain it in
detail. If there is a style you hate, be honest about it. After a cover is
done, it is too late to start saying what you don’t like.

Anything else
you’d like to say about your book? 

Though On Edge is a mystery that is all
about parkour and graffiti, one of the lesser known themes, or the moral of the
story, is that when merging schools together to try and save some money for the
city, you have to ask yourself if the merge will cost human life. There’s no
amount of money you can save that will justify the death of even one student.

Talking Craft with Women's Fiction Author Marie Bacigalupo

When Marie Bacigalupo was nine, she read Louisa May Alcott’s Eight Cousins and was instantly hooked on fiction. She grew up to teach high school English before focusing exclusively on fiction writing, studying under Gordon Lish at The Center for Fiction, taking classes at the Writers Studio, and attending a number of university-sponsored craft workshops.

Marie won First Prize among 7000 entries in the Writer’s Digest 13th Annual Short-Short Story Competition with her entry, “Excavation.” Her other works have appeared in The Brooklyn Rail, Vol. 1 Brooklyn, Journal of Microliterature, The Examined Life Journal, Romance Magazine, and elsewhere. Ninth-Month Midnight is her debut novella.

The author is a native New Yorker who lives and writes in Brooklyn. Visit her at www.mariebacigalupo.com.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Ninth-Month Midnight. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A: After struggling for years to conceive, Dolores Walsh, a New York City schoolteacher married to her college sweetheart, loses her beloved daughter to cancer. A year later she remains consumed by grief, rejecting the consolations of her lapsed Roman Catholic faith.

The loss transforms Dolores, a once willowy brunette, into a zombie-like chain smoker who stays unwashed and unnourished until her husband, Joe, bathes and feeds her.  With another pregnancy highly improbable, Dolores wants the seemingly impossible: she wants her baby back. And she resents her husband for having put off starting a family.

Enter Salvador Esperanza, a charismatic psychic who helps the bereaved communicate with their dead. Dolores cannot resist this new hope or the man who offers it. But in order to attend Sal’s séances, she must do battle with her jealous husband’s hard-core rationalism. When Sal decides to move on, only a miracle can save Dolores from the numbing despair that threatens her sanity.

The initial idea for Ninth-Month Midnight arose out of the questions, What if the souls of the dead linger among us for a while? Would we be able to communicate with them on some level? When Hamlet says, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy,” I say, You betcha! I combined this idea with the story of a troubled woman who develops a desperate attachment to a male psychic.

Q: What do you think makes good women’s fiction? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: In the process of writing, my mind is filled with thoughts about the best way to create compelling characters and immersive plots. The “women’s” part of the genre distinction simply means that in most of my fiction, though not in all (you’ll find male protagonists in my short stories), the main characters are women. I’m interested in their strengths and vulnerabilities as well as the preconceptions of our society regarding their presumed limitations.

Like any other writer, I hope to continue perfecting my craft, and to do that I fill my mind with the strategies of great authors. In other words, I read; therefore, I learn. To answer your question, what makes good women’s fiction is the same as what makes any kind of fiction good: an engaging story laced with conflict, a well paced plot, and realistic characters.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: For me writing is a long process of trial and error. The first draft of Ninth-Month Midnight was a straightforward chronological narrative that began with the discovery of cancer in the protagonist’s child and chronicled its devastating effects over a year.

Many drafts later, I decided Ninth-Month Midnight would be the story of the mother’s arc from suicidal depression to acceptance with a twist of fate. I needed a hook to get the plot rolling, so I used the protagonist’s explosive refusal to leave the gravesite of her four-year-old daughter.

Sometimes while writing, I get caught up in words and sounds, and then language takes precedence over the other fictional elements, a tendency I need to curb. My ultimate goal was to structure the book to keep the reader entertained.

For help, I turned to a library of craft books that I’ve accumulated, including a number of books on plotting that I refer to again and again. For example, from Larry Brooks (Story Engineering) I learned to introduce change—a new situation, a new development, new information—at specific and critical junctures, and to use these plot points to develop the character arc. Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey is another useful text for shaping a story.

To keep all the pieces together, I used Scrivener, a word processing program that makes it easy to organize notes and chapters. Scrivener integrates into a single project all aspects of the writing process from research to final draft.

Often I struggled with the “Are you kidding?” inner voice, as in,  “Are you kidding, taking yourself seriously?”  The antidote to this particular poison involves ignoring the voice and plodding on.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A: I suspect the seed of Dolores Walsh, my protagonist, was planted by a reading of McEwan’s The Child in Time and McShane’s Séance on a Wet Afternoon. The mother in McEwan’s novel is benumbed by the kidnapping of her child and unable to access emotion. In McShane’s work, the protagonist wants to convince people of her ESP and kidnaps a child whom she pretends to help the police locate through her séances.

The ideas must have been swirling around in my creative unconscious. Without a vivid memory of specifics, I suspect what lingered was the sense of the powerful emotions generated by the loss of a child. After I conceived my character—a mother who is driven to extremity by the death of her four-year-old and seeks her out in the afterlife—I re-read the novels and set to work focusing on the impact of the loss on Dolores.

Let’s see if I can recall my process: I jotted down notes to myself. I did a character interview, parts of which I integrated into Dolores’s sessions with her psychiatrist. I thought about my protagonist a lot, imagining a Natalie Wood look-alike and keeping a photo of Natalie Wood in my word processing program to keep the character’s image vivid in my mind. I made her a chain smoker, I think because I once used cigarettes to cope with stress, and stress was threatening Dolores’s hold on reality. When I needed ideas, I looked at how other authors handled works with similar themes. And so it went.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: In Nine-Month-Midnight, McShane’s psychic re-emerged as Salvador Esperanza. I used Sal to reveal the character of the protagonist, advance plot through an extra-marital love interest, and beset Dolores with internal and external conflict. Dolores is drawn to the psychic both spiritually and physically, much to the dismay of her husband.

I shaped the character of Esperanza to produce ambivalence in the reader, who must determine if he’s mostly antagonist creating conflict or villain creating havoc. In either case, like real people, he’s not entirely good or bad. I further individualized the character by giving Esperanza arresting bi-colored eyes to reflect the ambiguity of his character and a machismo softened by tenderness toward the grief-stricken men and women who attend his séances.

His backstory, I think, is also realistic. The son of Hispanic farmworkers, he starts a small landscaping business tending to the million-dollar estates on Long Island and has an affair with the owner’s daughter that leads to his ruin.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: One way I kept the narrative exciting (I hope!) was to inject suspense by maintaining the mystery of Salvador Esperanza, as expressed in my tag line: Is he a selfless savior or a self-seeking seducer? Powerful scenes also generate excitement. For example, when the protagonist’s husband confronts her in the psychic’s apartment, emotional fireworks explode. In addition, I withhold information, like details regarding Dolores’s past, till key moments when it will have the most impact, and I end the novella with a surprise I won’t give away.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: The attention to setting was primarily focused on the séances, which I charged with sensory description and with the reactions of participants to multiple stimuli. Some writers, I find, depend on visual and aural images, neglecting smell, taste, and texture; yet all the senses are important to capturing the essence of a place, time or event.

In the case of the séances, I paid attention to the spectral nature of the conjured dead, the foul odors of fiendish spirits, the contrasting voices of the psychic and the spirits he conjured, the aura of candlelight, the rushing wind of released spirits, the brush of a passing soul. Participants were at different times ecstatic, horrified, saddened, credulous, and skeptical.

Dream settings and reveries are suffused with Dolores’s memories of her child, with the soft touch and sweet scent of baby flesh, the horror of blackened eyes, and the cries of pain.

Q: Did you know the theme of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme recurrent in your other work?

A: It does seem I’m drawn to end-of-life issues; they appear in my short stories as well. With regard to Ninth-Month Midnight, I discovered the theme early in the process of writing the first draft.

The novella’s epigraph is a passage from Whitman’s Leaves of Grass, which gives voice to the idea that life reasserts itself in constant replenishment, like the tides of the primordial ocean.

Without giving away the ending, I’ll say that in Ninth-Month Midnight this theme is expressed in the unbreakable bond between mother and child, and the existential pain that results when death intervenes to test that bond.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: That first question is a toughie, perhaps better suited to a philosopher. I can only speculate that after craft has done the best job possible to express the writer’s vision, the writer evokes some magic to raise the work into a rarefied sphere called art, inexplicable but recognizable to all.

Everyone can learn a craft; fewer can create art.

As for your second question, in my opinion, editing can destroy the initial creative thrust only if the author lacks the objectivity to distinguish what is valid in the editor’s suggestions from what is not. Valid criticism speaks to the aims of the book the author has written, not to those of the book the critic wants her to write. In general, I think editing and revision sharpen the writer’s vision and produce a better work.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: Persistence, willingness to keep learning one’s craft, openness to valid criticism. If I may add a fourth: love of reading.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: I would agree in the sense that practice—another word for homework—is as vital for a writer to master her craft as it is for a student to master a subject. Every author must be proficient in the 2 R’s: Reading and ‘Riting.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: I took creative writing classes at NYU, The New School, the Writers Studio, and later The Center for Fiction under Gordon Lish. I participated in the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival, the One Story Summer Workshop for Writers, and the Narrative Magazine Workshop under Tom Jenks.

I attend conferences and festivities whenever I can. To keep abreast of developments, I visit numerous writing sites at various times. The Creative Penn, Storyfix, Plot Whisperer, and Grammar Girl come to mind. Point of information: Writer’s Digest has an annual issue listing the 101 Best Websites for Writers.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: I’ll share some advice that helped me: Allow yourself to write garbage; just get the words on paper.  Once purged, you can sift through the waste to find that kernel of value to expand on. And keep in mind you don’t need an M.F.A. to write. Alternate routes for learning craft abound: Take noncredit courses; attend conferences; enroll in workshops; join writers’ groups; read, read, read. If you have the will, the way is clear.

 

 

 

 

 

Talking Craft with Tj O’Connor, Author of ‘Dying to Tell’

Tj O’Connor is the 2015 Gold Medal Winner of the Independent Publishers Book Awards (IPPY) for mysteries and the author of Dying To Know, Dying For The Past, and Dying To Tell. Tj is an international security consultant specializing in anti-terrorism, investigations, and threat analysis—life experiences that drive his novels. With his former life as a government agent and years as a consultant, he has lived and worked around the world in places like Greece, Turkey, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and throughout the Americas—among others. He was raised in New York's Hudson Valley and lives with his wife and furry canine companions in Virginia where they raised five children. Dying to Know is also a 2015 Bronze Medal winner for the 2015 Reader’s Favorite Book Review Awards, a Finalist for both the 2015 Silver Falchion Award and the Foreword Review’s 2014 INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Dying to Tell. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?   

A: Dying to Tell is the third book in the Gumshoe Ghost series. Wait—I know—I’m not fond of that series name either, but my publisher, Midnight Ink, is. The series follows Oliver “Tuck” Tucker as he solves traditional murder with historical roots, all with a paranormal twist. You see, Tuck is different kind of detective. He’s dead. Yes, a dead detective, and he can work with the living and commune with dead spirits who are seeking their own overdue justice. After being killed in the opening to Dying to Know, Book I in the series, Tuck learns that being back amongst the living and not truly one of them has its perks. Like being able to pop back and forth in history between the present day murder and the historical one. Oh, and he gets help from a dead relative now and then, too. Big plusses. In Dying to Tell, Tuck is investigating the murder of a reclusive banker, William Mendelson, who has been hiding his own past form World War II Cairo, Egypt. Mendelson got crossways with Operation Salaam—a real-life Nazi spy operation— and it’s taken decades to catch up to him. Each of my stories has three elements: a traditional murder mystery, a historical subplot, and in the end, the two collide with Tuck’s own family past. Tuck never knew his family—he was raised in foster care—and he’s finding out about his family one secret at a time.  Among the best secrets is that his family tree is littered with prohibition gangsters, World War II OSS Operatives, cold war spies, and others. I was compelled to write the entire series based on my own experiences and adventures. I’m a former government anti-terrorism agent and now a security consultant. I’ve lived and worked around the world in places most only read about in books. Characters and plot lines come from my past. I started the stories based on a nightmare that plagued me for 20 years following my work in the first Gulf War—I dreamt I was killed during an operation and came back to find my killers and get justice.  My daughter, Jean, heard me tell about the nightmare one day and she begged me to write it as a murder mystery—complete with the paranormal twists. I did, and landed my agent and first book contract as a result.

Q: What do you think makes a good cozy mystery? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: Well, a cozy traditionally is based on Agatha Christie, of course. And I’m told that cozies have basic elements: an amateur detective, no sex and less violence, and often the crimes are in small towns or settings. For me, though, my mysteries have humor and real characters. There are no super-detectives or untouchable villains or good guys either. People are people—normal with strengths and weaknesses. But what makes mine—and the ones I enjoy the most— is the “different spin” put on them. Many cozies surround non-traditional sleuths like bakers, cooks, gardeners, etc. Not mine. My hero is a cop. His unusual twist is that he’s dead. How much more of a character flaw could you have? Also, I think a good cozy has to find a voice that is still a mystery and still exciting, while evading series sex, violence, and politics. My stories all verge on those areas and put a few toes over the line here and there. That makes them slightly different cozies. And I think writers all find their own version of getting a toe over the line here and there in order to find a different voice. It’s the unique voice and characters that will make your book.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: I generally have a one-two page outline of the main points, characters, and goals. I sketch out the opening scene on a story board, put a character list with descriptions together, and then outline what my historical subplot will be. Then I sit, and start writing. I often outline 100 pages at a time. Alas, after I get through the opening chapter, Tuck takes over and runs the show. My outline is toast and I end up writing first, outlining after the fact, and pressing on. My characters steal the story quick and before I know it, they’ve got their own plot and subplot working and I just do what they tell me.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A: Tuck is a combination of me, who I wish I was, and some fun movie and television personalities. Sort of a Frankenstein sleuth. I made him an orphan who grew up in foster care so I didn’t have to deal with family issues after his murder. He has a lovely and brilliant wife, Professor Angela Tucker, with whom he struggles to keep a marriage of sorts. The interesting thing about Tuck is that his own family lore is the basis for each book. His ancestors were some wild and crazy people—gangsters, spies, professionals, and generally adventurers that all got into serious trouble along the way. All these troubles bring the historical subplot into each of my books. Tuck, using his paranormal skills as a dead detective, is able to connect the dots between the historical murder and the modern day one because he can move between the timelines and commune with the dead—all of whom are seeking justice on some overdue accounts. Because Tuck can work with the living, he can get justice for the dead.

When I develop characters (Tuck and the main crew are already done), I generally sketch them out, list physical descriptions, and then list quirks, strengths, weaknesses, background, etc. I also use a whiteboard and storyboards to keep track of plots and twists and how each character is involved. When you’re moving between two story lines, one being historical as long ago as 75 years, you have to be careful not to screw up the time line. I map these things out very carefully in advance.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: Villains and antagonists are the easy ones. I steal from my experiences as a government agent and consultant. But, you also have to be careful to create someone who is not so obviously a bad guy and that they have a good reason for doing what they do. A good reason to them, of course. So a character just doesn’t wake up and go kill someone. Unless they’re just nuts. And you don’t really make a story very interesting if your plot conclusion is simply, “You see, Watson, John killed Michael simply because he’s insane. There was no jealousy, no missing money, no blackmail or deep transgression. John is just cuckoo.” I don’t think you’ll find many fans that way. And you have to have some twists and turns and false endings. You can’t just charge through the investigation and nab the killer. You have to finesse it, coax it out of your reader to follow along. There should be an “Ah ha!” moment that they say, “Oh crap, didn’t see that coming!” while still being plausible and interesting.  As for realism, villains must be able to stay secreted for as long as possible. They have to be plausible and part of the story. I hate movies or books that when I get to the last three chapters, the killer is someone introduced on that page, with a motive that the detectives or characters suddenly give narrative to. I like to drop hints, clues—subtly—and I like nearly every one of the main characters to be a suspect. The villains are almost never loons or outwardly dastardly people. They’ve become murderers for circumstances and events that they lost control over. They did not set out to be bad guys, it just happened. Most of the time, that is. Sometimes, I have to have a villain with a secret life that is only revealed with hints and clues and circumstantial tidbits. Too much and they’re too obvious. Too little and the reader is robbed of the opportunity to solve it themselves. It’s not easy work, but somebody has to do it!

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: Excitement is in the eye of the beholder of course. For me, I try to keep my chapters short and each one end with either an important event or an “Oh crap” moment. Some chapters just have to lay out evidence and dialog and keep the reader informed and the story moving. Not every chapter can have a body or a crisis. But, you can certainly have every chapter SUPPORT those bodies and crises, and if they don’t, you probably don’t need the chapter much. Other ways of keep excitement moving is through handing out clues and character development in small doses. Keep important questions about them back and don’t do memory-dump (I learned that early on). When you have a chapter that can’t have a body, action, or some crisis, use it to drop more important information on a character or lead up to something significant and just stop. Leave the reading saying, “What the heck? How’s this going to work out?” And they’ll turn the page. If the chapter ends and they don’t need to turn the page, the book might need work.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: I research details and try to zero in on just the highlights of those details. I do not write a lot of description or setting out. I tend to give a snapshot of the scene and places—just the important ones to get the mood and visual across—and let the characters bring in the rest. For instance, my current series is set in historic Winchester, Virginia. So it’s easy to find interesting things to comment about, but difficult to narrow them down to just a few things without spending paragraphs outlining the town, the setting, the house, the room, etc. I use dialog for much of that. For instance, I can have a character explain important items in a room in dialog or tell a brief story about the house or town that supports the plot and still gives some feel and visual to the setting and scenes. Word count is important, and I could spend way too much setting scenes and such, but that cuts into the dialog and action and narrative that is not related to scenes and setting. Therefore, you have to find ways, like through dialog, to create the right setting. It’s perhaps the most difficult part of writing—it is to me. Think about some of the great authors like PD James and for thrillers, Tom Clancy. They spend pages and pages setting the scenes before anyone spoke or the narrator explained things. They are masters! But I can’t get away with that and many others can’t either. So, I got for the jugular, quick, detailed, just the highlights, and let the characters spell out the rest.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: Yes, my themes are to some degree, systemic. Each novel has the traditional Agatha Christie style murder that begins the story. Then, a historical subplot—historically accurate based on the storyline though I take liberties with details—and then it culminates toward the end and wraps around Tuck’s family’s misadventures. Those are the basic themes. Each book addresses some historical episode of Tuck’s long-lost family and their involvement with crooks, thieves, spies, gangsters etc. And in each one, a modern murder has occurred because of someone or something that has been connected to that past event.

Now, for my other mysteries and the thriller I’m working on, those are entirely different. History still plays a role—I love history—but the storylines are very different. I won’t go into those details here as the genres are very different.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: Wow, very deep here. I’m not sure. My editing improves the story. I tend to prepare the general outline, sit down, and write. I outline after the chapters to keep track of the story and clues and such. Then, I edit to make sure it works. Often, I delete several chapters, put new ones in, change characters, etc. Often, I get to the end and go, “Ooh, wait, if bad guy did this, and came from here, I could end it like this.” Those revelations usually come at 3 am. And I have to get up and email myself notes on what I want to change. No, my first draft is to get the basic story out. Then the second and often third drafts are to refine it, improve it, and make it work for me. My creativity really comes in the editing where I look for ways to twist and turn. And my characters tend to drive themselves, too. They will often say and do things in a draft that surprise me—and hey, I wrote it!

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: We’re all different. I won’t and can’t speak for others, but I can say I feel a little successful only from the notes from fans and from a few folks who seek me out at signings and speaking engagements. For me, it’s the uniqueness of my characters and that they are not “super characters.” They’re flawed, they have real emotions, and they are fallible. Readers said they cried when Tuck’s Lab, Hercule, forced Tuck to play ball with him in front of Angel (Tuck’s widow)—it made her understand that Tuck was back and with them. So real feeling characters is one. Second, I’d say a fun plot. Cozy mysteries are supposed to be fun and interesting. Tuck is definitely a fun-loving guy. My thrillers are totally different, but the main characters are still fun and full of life. There are no moaning, grumbling, curmudgeons as lead characters. And last, I think success comes from just loving what you do and showing people you love it. I travel every other weekend ten months a year—on my dime—to do signings and talks and attend events to be on panels and such. I love talking books with people who love to read. Being in love with your craft exudes somethings to others—interest, commitment, something—that makes you successful if even only to yourself. And after all, you have to believe in yourself before anyone else will, right?

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: No. Absolutely not. We all poke fun at this world. I do. But I truly love what I do and while I work a real job 50 -60 hours a week, I cannot wait to get back to my story and my characters. I have a computer full of plot ideas and character sketches and notes. I don’t lack for ideas, I lack time. If I could afford to write full time, I would today. Every day. But mama and the Labs won’t live in a box in my kid’s basement, so I have to do real work. Writing, that’s not work to me, it’s life itself. Corny, I know, but I’ve felt that way my entire life.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: Absolutely. Resources are a keystroke away on your computer. There are writing workshops in every town, at every college, and sponsored by every genre. For cozy mystery writers, there are two big ones—Malice Domestic, in Bethesda Maryland every year, and Bouchercon that travels the country every year. They’re the best. But get involved in writing workshops and informal community groups. They are out there and plentiful. For the beginner, I highly recommend Donald Maass’ book, Writing the Breakout Novel. But frankly, the best resources are just reading what you want to write. Just read. And WRITE! I learn more and more with each book I write and by going through the edits, and meetings, and traveling. I meet other authors and they are a wonderful lot—they share their skills and ideas and experiences. I have met very few who don’t. Get out and meet them. Listen. Ask questions. If you have a question, one of us has found an answer—or know where to send you to find it.

Q:  Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: Write. Write. Edit. Write. But, above all, don’t stop writing. Don’t let bad query responses, no responses, or simple rejection stop you. Keep writing. I wrote my first book right out of high school and it was horrible. I continue to write. I published my first book at age 53. While I didn’t try to get published until I was 45, I continued writing all those years learning my craft and just getting it on paper. The hardest thing for anyone who wants to write to do is type “The End.” Once you get there, the rest comes with time and perseverance. Don’t stop.

Talking Craft with Literary Author Rocco Lo Bosco

A writer for over three decades, Rocco Lo Bosco has published poetry, short stories and two novels. His first novel, Buddha Wept (Greycore Press, 2003), about a spiritually gifted matriarch’s experience of the Cambodian genocide, received good reviews (e.g., Publishers Weekly) and much praise from readers, many of whom called it “life changing.”  His current novel, Ninety Nine, is published by LettersAt3amPress. Lo Bosco also has a nonfiction book in press with Routledge (2016), co-authored with Dr. Danielle Knafo, a practicing psychoanalyst, entitled Love Machines: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on the Age of Techno-perversion. He is currently working on his third novel, Midnight at the Red Flamingo. Additionally, he has edited papers in the fields of psychoanalysis and the philosophy of science and has also worked as a ghost writer.

Connect with Rocco on the Web:

www.roclobsoco.com / www.twitter.com/roclobosco / www.facebook.com/roclobosco

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, Ninety Nine. To begin with, can you give us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?  

A: Thank you. My book is about a poor and mixed––mine, yours and ours–– Italian-American family fighting desperately to survive in Brooklyn in the early 1960s. The story centers on the two (step) brothers living in a family threatened by psychological fragmentation from within, dangerous levels of poverty and two vicious loan sharks who will have no trouble killing the father if he doesn’t find a way to pay their boss. Meanwhile the two boys run with a small gang, The Decatur Street Angels, led by one of the brother’s cousins, a dark-minded genius who invents wild and daring exploits for the group that become progressively more dangerous during the summer of 1963. One of the brothers is involved in his first (and secret) love affair with an older woman while the other is losing his mind over the abandonment of his mother. The event streams of the book culminate at the novel’s end in a stunning and unexpected climax.

Michael Ventura, novelist, essayist and cultural critic said, “In Lo Bosco’s Ninety Nine you experience the vitality, brutality, faith, doom and grace of people whose only choice is to figure out how to take it. They endure situations from which there is no escape, surrounded by beliefs and attitudes from which there is no escape, and their nobility is that, in the midst of such a Brooklyn, they nevertheless know and value beauty and are exalted by wonder.” I think this properly captures the spirit of my book, and what I secretly intended in writing it.

The novel creatively draws on my early years growing up in Brooklyn, but its inspiration emerged from two very specific things: a dream and a book.  When I was five years old I had a dream that has stayed with me my entire life, a dream that in essence predicted the character and quest of my life.  The dream appears in the book, and it will become clear to the reader why that very dream inspired the novel.  The second inspirational element came from finding a book I was never supposed to see. When I was fourteen I found it in the bottom of a box that held my father’s war memorabilia—a large, government-issued volume about the Second World War. It contained far more pictures than text. I returned to this forbidden book repeatedly and viewed images that literally altered the trajectory of my life and shaped my particular interests in human endeavor. I knew I could not remain silent. Though I did not yet know that I would write, I knew that I would not want to pass through this life quietly, hunkered down in some existential bunker until the danger passed.  At fourteen I already knew the danger never passes. That forbidden book appears in Ninety Nine, but it was also part of the inspiration for Buddha Wept.

Q: What do you think makes a good novel? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

Well, it is not truly possible to narrow a good novel down to a formula of some kind. If it was possible to do so, a novel would not be . . . well, novel. In that there are certain areas of overlap that good novels share, I can say with some certainty that a good novel has interesting and complex characters facing interesting and difficult situations, and the whole of what they do and what happens makes for a damned good story. Additionally, the characters and their story may imbue the reader’s experiential perspective with renewed radiance and a degree of insight. It does no matter how bright or dark the novel is; a good novel deeply affects the reader in some way.

Now on the other side of the question, because language and human imagination suggest infinite capacity, any attempt to reduce the novel to some theory will ultimately fail. Literary theory is necessarily incomplete because human experience is infinite, as is the human imagination and the capacity of language. There can be great novels that do not meet conventional criteria. Finnegan’s Wake, for example, is considered by many to be a literary masterpiece. Also future technological developments will create new possibilities for stories. I’m thinking here of Charlie Booker’s television series, Black Mirror. I believe that the stories/scripts of these shows, which freely mix science and science fiction, have great literary merit. They’re like a 21st century version of the Rod Serling’s The Twilight Zone.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover the plot as you worked on the book?

I first saw and wrote scenes. Characters and situations based on memory and imagination began popping into my head.  A scene would begin as a kind “of picture poem” –– a snapshot of characters and situations that conveyed an intense emotion or insight. These “picture poems” seemed to constellate around the recollected dream (mentioned above), which provided the gravitas that drew them together.  As I collected more scenes, they began to suggest a linkage and a trajectory. As I sequenced and connected the individual scenes, the story began to form. At this point characters were bouncing around in my mind, telling me what they wanted to do within the story that was forming. I felt I was always a little behind while writing the book, kind of catching up to the story (and its characters) that was telling itself through me.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

Dante is a complicated character. He attempts to manage the chaos and violence of his life by using his intellect. He takes refuge in the laws of nature, trying somehow to reconcile them with his wild family life and his crazy life in the streets of Brooklyn. He wishes he could be brave and fearless like his stepbrother, but he thinks too much. What he doesn’t realize is how much he feels and how what he feels gives him a power of which he is not yet aware.

Dante emerged from the dance between my memory and imagination. It’s not like I developed him. It’s more like he was hidden within me, and I had to find him–– as were the other characters as well. Once I found them, they had a lot to say.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

There’s no one villain in my story. Everyone is a villain in some way, and some may be heroes as well. Memory provided the realism, imagination the radiance, and intellect the insight.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

Okay, keeping in mind that the experience of writing for me is more like a possession than something I plan out carefully from the beginning:

I kept foremost in my mind the art of showing as opposed to the craft of telling. I wanted to create a portal into another world—in this case the world of a family fighting to survive in Brooklyn during the early 1960s. I wanted the reader to experience this world through every sense. I kept my verbs sharp and my descriptions brief but packed with appeal to the five senses.  I read everything I wrote aloud to hear it and see if it transported me, if it felt real and strong, if it made music. I paid close attention to how I paced the story, making sure I always had the reader wondering what would happen next, utilizing scene cuts to gas the story and imbuing scenes with plenty of action and cliffhangers. I wrote the story so the suspense and tension keep building throughout until it all culminated in a denouement with multiple outcomes.

I paid attention to how I stacked long and short sentences. I kept my chapters short. I peppered the narrative with insights and unexpected brief assertions that quickened the pulse. I worked with great care around the dialogue. The dialogue is what brings the characters to life. They have to speak somewhere in between the way people really talk and how they would talk if they always said the brightest, sharpest, wittiest, or most interesting things. They have to speak so that the reader wants them to say even more than they do. They have to say unexpected things at times. Not because it’s cool for them to do that, but because they themselves carry a depth they are not consciously aware of. That depth in which so much is hidden is where they come from and where their story comes from as well.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

I went back to Brooklyn. I took lots of pictures. I walked the streets that I’d known so many years ago. I stopped in a bakery and got a lemon ice. I went home, got drunk and climbed into a hot bath and looked at the pictures until the water got cold. By then, I knew I had the setting.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start, or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

I think certain themes occur throughout my work, my thought and my life: the tragic nature of human existence, the unending desire to be loved and to love, love’s relationship to death, the limits of human knowledge and the search for certainty, the irrepressible urge for transcendence that wars with human limitation, and the incredible beauty to be found in all of this. I never concern myself with a theme when writing fiction. The “theme” will emerge from the story. I am foremost and obsessively concerned with writing a damned good story.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

I don’t think there is a clear divide between the two or even a truly satisfying definition for either. Both make their presence known in different ways. With the important caveat that they cannot be separated or even cleanly defined, I think we admire craft but are amazed by art. Craft is the technique, art the vision, though one cannot exist without the other. Craft is learned through study, discipline and endless repetition. Art comes onto the scene with defiant wings mounted on the body of craft. Art is the result an upsurge of one’s being that must manifest as a concrete demonstration. Its form is always tied to its culture, but its motive transcends culture.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

The three things that come to mind are: (1) the ability to write a distinctively good story with interesting characters that affects the reader in a meaningful way; (2) the ability to rework the story until it sings; (3) a relentless devotion to both.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

Who am I to argue with Lawrence Kasdan, whom I have followed since his debut as the writer and director of Body Heat, a neo-noir which I found perfectly diabolical. What a plot and what characters, especially Matty! (“You aren’t too bright. I like that in a man.”) Yet, I would concede to his statement only with the caveat that homework is also defined as something given to oneself rather than only by a teacher. And what is that homework? Read, read, read and write, write, write.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

I’ve relied almost wholly on books because I’m a cranky and stubborn loner. I shall name only a few that proved critical in my development as a writer and novelist.

Early inspiration was Beat Poetry along with other beat writing (e.g., Kerouac’s On The Road).
Writing The Natural Way, by Gabriele Lusser Rico.
Using Both Sides of Your Brain, by Tony Buzan. Get the latest edition.
1984, by George Orwell.
Lolita, by Vladmir Nabokov.
A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess.
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, by Oscar Hijuelos.
Labyrinths, by Jorge Luis Borges.

A recent set of novels, among the best I’ve read, and that I strongly feel every aspiring writer should not only read—but deeply and repeatedly study—are the four Neapolitan Novels written by the brilliant Elena Ferrante and translated from the Italian by Ann Goldstein. These books are treasures of story, insight and writing genius.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

Learn to tolerate the terror evoked by the blank page, and learn to love enduring bouts of solitude.

 

 

 

 

Talking Craft with Romance Novelist Anna del Mar

Anna del Mar writes hot, smart romances that soothe the soul, challenge the mind, and satisfy the heart. Her stories focus on strong heroines struggling to find their place in the world and the brave, sexy, kickass, military heroes who defy the limits of their broken bodies to protect the women they love. She is the author of The Asset (Carina Press), the first novel of her Wounded Warrior series and three other novels scheduled for release during 2016.

A Georgetown University graduate, Anna enjoys traveling, hiking, skiing, and the sea. Writing is her addiction, her drug of choice, and what she wants to do all the time. The extraordinary men and women she met during her years as a Navy wife inspire the fabulous heroes and heroines at the center of her stories. When she stays put—which doesn’t happen very often—she lives in Florida with her indulgent husband and two very opinionated cats.

Q: Congratulations on the release of your latest book, The Asset. To begin with, can you gives us a brief summary of what the story is about and what compelled you to write it?

A: Sure! The Asset is a contemporary romance about a woman, fleeing from her sinister past, who must defy her fears and risk her life to care for a wounded warrior, a SEAL, running away from his uncertain future. Together they learn that fear can give way to courage and love is a healing journey. The Asset is the first novel of my Wounded Warrior series, a collection of novels that feature strong, self-reliant heroines trying to find their place in the world and the brave, sexy military heroes who will lay down their lives to protect the women they love.

I was inspired to write both the novel and the series by the amazing people I met while my husband was in the Navy and we lived as part of the military community. I wish that everybody in the world got to meet these brave souls. More specifically, my heroes and heroines are inspired by the wounded warriors coming back from the wars abroad and the incredible resilience they show every day.

Q: What do you think makes a good romance? Could you narrow it down to the three most important elements? Is it even possible to narrow it down?

A: A romance is a novel that aims to discover the mysteries of the human heart, the forces that bring us together, the prejudices that pull us apart. I don’t know that you can ever narrow down the elements that define a good romance, but I think most romance writers would agree that strong, vivid, authentic and evolving characters make a difference, as does a well-constructed plot and a rich, interesting setting. The relationship is always at the center of the story and our ability to connect to those characters is key. But the ultimate measure of a good romance has always been and will continue to be the story’s ability to touch the reader’s heart.

Q: How did you go about plotting your story? Or did you discover it as you worked on the book?

A: I usually have a broad idea of what the plot will entail and how it will flow. I might even have a loose outline that I use as an overall guide to check my progress. But the best plot twists are those that surprise not only the reader, but the writer as well. I love it when that happens! So I’m always open to see where the story and the characters will lead me. I’m always thrilled to be surprised.

Q: Tell us something interesting about your protagonist and how you developed him or her. Did you do any character interviews or sketches prior to the actual writing?

A: Some of these characters have been living in my mind for quite some time. Take Lia, for example, The Asset’s heroine. She’s fleeing from a drug lord who has terrorized her existence. Her early life mirrors some of my experiences growing up in Latin America and the perils of a world riddled with conflict and violence.

Likewise, Ash, The Asset’s hero, is a Colorado native, born and bred. I’ve spend a lot of time in the Rocky Mountains and I think that my vision of that part of the country shapes Ash as a person and as a hero. I don’t usually do character interviews of sketches prior to writing, but sometimes I keep a list to clarify the traits that feel strong to my writer’s heart.

Q: In the same light, how did you create your antagonist or villain? What steps did you take to make him or her realistic?

A: As I mentioned above, I grew up in Latin America. The villain in this story is someone who by definition is familiar to the reader, someone who by virtue of his power and money is a ranking member of the global society, despite being ruthless, violent and cruel.

In The Asset, Ramon Ruiz Rojas—Red—is the ambitious, brutal head of the Rojas cartel, the most powerful drug lord in the States. I won’t give up any spoilers, but suffice it to say that he’s after Lia with a vengeance. After stalking her for years, he’s now on her heels and, this time around, he intends to snare her for good.

Q: How did you keep your narrative exciting throughout the novel? Could you offer some practical, specific tips?

A: Pace is very important to keep the story rolling, focusing on the key aspects of the mysteries at the heart of the novel. The flow of information is another vital element that helps keep up the suspense, when a character knows what and why. It’s also important to eliminate any aspects of the narrative that don’t contribute to advancing the story. If it’s not necessary, chop it off and move on to keep the narrative exciting.

Q: Setting is also quite important and in many cases it becomes like a character itself. What tools of the trade did you use in your writing to bring the setting to life?

A: I’m huge on experiential research and observation. As a writer, I like to put myself in situations that are similar to those that my characters are experiencing. Research goes a long way to add resources to the writer’s toolkit and helps build authentic stories with realistic details. But there’s nothing like being there to create rich settings.

Q: Did you know the theme(s) of your novel from the start or is this something you discovered after completing the first draft? Is this theme(s) recurrent in your other work?

A: I knew the theme and yes, the theme is recurrent in the Wounded Warrior Series. The series is not really about physical injuries. It’s about the wounds we all carry deep inside, the pain we all experience as human beings, the courage that it takes to face and overcome the challenges life throws at us. Above all, the series is about hope, love’s extraordinary healing power and the joy that comes from the journey.

Q: Where does craft end and art begin? Do you think editing can destroy the initial creative thrust of an author?

A: In my view, writing is an art, but technical proficiency helps the artist convey her gifts. Editing is an art too. Sure, an editor has to be technically proficient to do her job, but without a feel for the story, the editing process can become a misadventure. Romance requires an editor able to connect with the story at a gut level, who can feel through the narrative, understand the characters and evaluate their authenticity. Moreover, you want someone who brings practical applications to the editing process. If you’re writing romance and you’re interested in publishing your work, you need to have an editor who knows the genre, the romance community, and the romance publishing industry.

Q: What three things, in your opinion, make a successful novelist?

A: A passion for writing, a personal and professional commitment to storytelling, and perseverance to see the journey through.

Q: A famous writer once wrote that being an author is like having to do homework for the rest of your life. What do you think about that?

A: I guess it would depend if you like doing homework or not!  I wouldn’t want to devote my life to doing something I hate. On the contrary. Life is too short to for that. To me writing feels as if I’d won the lottery. I get to sit down every day of my life and write my stories? And I get paid for that? I’m the luckiest girl on earth.

Q: Are there any resources, books, workshops or sites about craft that you’ve found helpful during your writing career?

A: The best investment I’ve ever made in my career was working with my private editor. A good editor teaches, encourages and guides in addition to everything else. She or he provides personalized learning opportunities that save you time and effort as an author. A good editor can be the difference between publishing or not.

One other resource that I think it’s important, and it’s free for the most part. Your writer friends are a great source of support, knowledge, information and perspective. Find them and stick with them. You’ll be happy for the company along the way.

Q: Is there anything else you’d like to share with my readers about the craft of writing?

A: I’ve been saying this a lot lately: Writing is an act of love.