Sherry Morris's Blog, page 30

General Hospital: Throwaway Ladies?

Dear General Hospital,

I'm pleased with the influx of three new lovely ladies on staff:  Student Nurse Sabrina, Lab Technician Ellie and Dr. Britt. But they have no family ties, no old roots in Port Charles. I'm especially concerned with the doctor. You seem to have a track record of killing off/sending away your lady doctors after a few weeks. But that's okay with me, because she isn't likable. Wise little Emma and I don't like her one bit. She's bad. I can't stand her actually. And what kind of doctor is she? Emergency Medicine? Pediatrician?

I also have a problem with widower Patrick dating again. He hasn't had a new HIV test. Hello! He was married for how many years to HIV positive Robin? And does he really know for sure that he was only exposed the time that Emma was accidentally conceived? Doctor, doctor! Shame on you. And you're having the characters chatting about reviving the nurses' ball which was for AIDS research. Come on, please have a responsible story line.

Ethan is off camera now, but he had a long run as Luke and Holly's son. That was a fab storyline! Why not have some long lost daughters/nieces/sisters for some of the lonely Port Charles residents? Give the new hospital ladies some roots, please.

Hey...I know! You keep mentioning Lucy Coe. Obviously she'll be reappearing in Port Chuckles soon. So why not have her related to Sabrina, Ellie or Britt?

Thanks!

Warm Regards,
Sherry Silver

Writing Prompt #5: Fever

Your character is suddenly feeling very feverish...

Is he/she ill?

Poisoned?

Drugged?

In a tropical locale?

Hungry for love?

Is it a hot flash?

Writing Prompt #4: Footprints

Your character notices footprints which shouldn't be there...

Are they outside or indoors?

Are they human? Male? Female? Adult? Child? Animal? Monster? Alien?

How does your character react? Does he/she follow them? Cover them up? Run the other way?

Writing Prompt #3: Drowsy

Your character is getting very drowsy...

Is it bedtime? Is it at an inopportune moment?

Has he/she been drugged? Is he/she sleep deprived? Is he/she depressed?

Does your character fall asleep? Does he/she have a strange/beautiful/prophetic dream?

Who wakes your character up?

Writing Prompt #2: Knock Knock

There is a knock at the door...

Is your character startled? Scared? Expecting company? Annoyed?

Who is there?

Does your character answer the door? Does he/she invite the person in? 

Does your character pretend he/she isn't home?

Is the door unlocked or locked?

Does the person knocking let himself/herself in? Does he/she pick the lock? Kick the door in?

Dear General Hospital: You Need Neighbors

Dear General Hospital,

Port Charles needs neighbors.

Bring back Bobbie Spenser's Brownstone.

Well, okay, you don't have to recreate that and bring Bobbie back too, but how about have Todd Manning purchase a hip apartment building. Bring on a hot construction crew. Maybe they could hire some of the existing residents who are underemployed. Like Mac, A.J., Duke, Shawn and Trey.

Make it THE place to live in Port Charles. We desperately need neighbors getting into each others business. The apartment dwellers all seem to live in different parts of the city. Bring together Lulu and Dante, Johnny and Connie, John McBain, Todd, Starr, Michael, Trey, Maxie, Ellie, Spinelli and move Sam out of Jason's old penthouse. This way she'll always have a babysitter handy when she runs out to chase after his memory or a new P.I. case.

And please do something with Mac and Felicia. Is Mac's house paid for? If not, how can he afford it and his lifestyle on that huge paycut he took going from police commissioner to bartender? Mac used to be so hot. Now he's a backburner sap. A sad waste of man. And Felicia has no story. Give her a job. Give her some clothes in a shade other than gray. Throw her into A.J.'s arms/lies/past.

Okay, I'm done wishing and whining. I really do love that you've brought back the old timers. And I'm loving the clips of them when they were young. Except seeing how young they were compared to their middle aged selves makes me realize I'm not young and uber-pretty anymore either! Gasp!

I'm very happy you've given the Quartermaines a front burner story, whoo hoo! I will miss Edward so much.

The Kate/Connie saga was very fun but it's wearing old now. Either keep her Connie or snap Kate back.

Warmest Regards,
Sherry Silver

Dear Reader: The Story Behind Houseguest

HouseguestBy Sherry Silver
eBook: Apple  ARe  Kindle  Kobo  Nook  Smashwords
Dear Reader,I wrote Houseguest at the turn of the century. It was a way to get out the pent up emotions after a real-life visit from someone I had been virtual friends with for years. I entered it in my first contest, the Mid-Atlantic Writers Contest and it won a 3rd Place trophy and $100 for creative nonfiction. It was later published in The Writers Post Journal.
Anyhow, though I am now marketing it as fiction, because nobody was interested in it or found it when I had it labeled as nonfiction, a lot of it really happened. The largest fictitious part is in omission. Wendy (not her real name) had a traveling companion, a very lovely lady whom I'll call Jean. It was because of this wonderful woman, I didn't kick Wendy out. Jean  brought warmth and laughter to our home. She taught us about her culture and was a delight. I wished Jean was my friend, and not Wendy. But it was awkward.
And now that the years have past, I'm older, wiser and slightly nicer, I regret that maybe I should have been more sympathetic and gone into compassion mode to support Wendy. Oh well. Wendy, I do hope you've healed and found happiness again. I hope you have a wonderful, supportive, handsome wealthy man who spoils you. I hope your children have grown to be happy and successful. And I hope your ex-husband is living whatever life you wish for him.  Have any of you ever met a virtual friend in real life? Was he/she exactly the same in person?
Warmest Regards,Sherry Silver

P.S.
Some of the eBook stores have this story erroneously labeled as "erotica". It is most definitely not. Houseguest a simple tale of friendship. Nothing sexy at all.
Story Summary:Do you have an e-pal across the world that you've "known" for years? Ever wonder what it would be like if you met one day, face-to-face? From someone who's been there, I implore of you, don't! Wendy and I had great fun over the years, bantering on a Bee Gees fan emailing loop. She was such a fun girl. When she said she was coming to visit for three weeks, my family met the REAL Wendy.
Excerpt:Well, Wendy was the very first person that I ever felt a connection with on the Internet. I'd been chatting with her on a Bee Gees fans’ e-mailing list for two and a half years. We were so much alike. She was such a fun girl to banter with. I was really excited that she was coming to visit me, all the way from Australia.
I envisioned deep music discussions, music video marathons and lots of silly laughing. I thought we could walk my kids to school, with Maurice (our yellow Labrador Retriever pup) and then just wander around town, jive talkin’ about the night fever because we know how to do it. I looked forward to taking Wendy to the bookstore on rainy days, where we'd sip tea and read. And I wanted to show her off to my girlfriends. Little did I realize that nobody gets too much heaven no more and I couldn’t see that the joke was on me.
Houseguest:eBook: Apple  ARe Kindle  Kobo  Nook  Smashwords

Writing Prompt #1: Smoke

Your character smells smoke...

What kind of smoke? Is there a fire? Is someone smoking? Is the food burning? Is the house on fire? Did a horse kick over a lantern? Is it arson? 

Recipe: Muffin Topping

 By Sherry Silver
Four ordinary ingredients will transform any store bought muffin mix from adequate to decadent.
For 12 muffins, prepare store bought muffin mix as directed and pour into paper lined muffin tins or spray the pan with a non-stick oil.

In a small bowl, combine the following:
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Chopped Nuts
2 Tablespoons Diced Butter
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

Sprinkle over the top of each muffin and bake as directed.

The butter will drizzle itself throughout the muffin, all the way to the bottom. You'll have a decadent treat that was quick and easy to prepare.

Enjoy!

Dear Writer: Free Reads Generate Bad Reviews

So, you're a writer. You've been published. By New York. By Podunk Small Press. By You. You or your publisher have decided to get your name out there by offering your book for FREE. Hooray! It's one of the best promotional tools an unknown author can use.

Be aware that people who normally wouldn't buy a book in your genre will download it because, hey, it's FREE. So you are going into this thing at a disadvantage. You'll really have to blow their minds for them to about face and embrace your book. And chances are, you probably won't. Some may have never read a book in your genre and just won't 'get it' at all.

When you see the number of free downloads racing into the hundreds and thousands, give yourself a reality check. Many people download anything free and won't ever get around to reading them all. Some avid readers will eventually get to your book, but it may be months down the road. But that's good. You'll have a spike in your backlist and new release sales for a long time.

If you have at least one other book published, include an excerpt of it in the back matter of the free book. If you only have one book published, there isn't much point in giving it away. The logic behind a free offer is to introduce new readers to your voice. Some will like it and buy your backlist and new releases.

But there are readers who will hate it. And they'll leave one star reviews. Yes, they sting. Yes they sometimes don't seem to be talking about the book you wrote at all. Yes, they can be mean. Yes they can give away the plot. Yes they can be honest, and a reader has every right to hate your book. And that means you've touched a hot spot inside the reader. You've reached them on an emotional level. You've done your job.

Don't have a knee-jerk reaction and pull your book. If the reviews state formatting issues, correct them and reupload. If they state plot holes, that really aren't filled, get your shovel and fix them. Other than that, you can't please everyone and if you try, you'll come up with a generic story that nobody enjoys. Especially you. Write the book of your heart.

I had a free run of my Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Best Paranormal Romance Award winner for The Immaculate Deception. I received four 1 star reviews, one 4 star review and 66 Likes at Amazon. Go figure.

Nook readers left five 1 star reviews and four 5 star reviews.

US Apple readers didn't write reviews but I received twenty-five ratings averaging 3 stars.
Canadian Apple readers left six ratings averaging 4 stars.
British Apple readers left seven ratings averaging 3 stars.
Australian Apple readers left seventeen ratings averaging 3 stars plus one 1 star review which I enjoyed:
"Too far out of the box"

Bad reviews bring down your ratings. But that doesn't mean nobody will buy your book.  When my book went back to paid, I enjoyed a honeymoon of sales again for about a month. I'm supposing it's because the free run garnered a bunch of 'also boughts' which gave my book visibility on other pages. I did get a spike in my sales of other books, especially the one excerpted in the back of the freebee. Some readers bought my whole backlist.

Do you use reviews and ratings to decide which books you'll buy?

Warmest Regards,
Sherry Silver