Pat Bertram's Blog, page 315

A Spark of Heavenly Fire Outtakes

A Spark of Heavenly Fire takes place during the month of December. Originally, the story began on the first with the climax at Christmas, but during one of the rewrites, I got rid of most of the first chapter. So, oddly, the story now begins on December 2.  I could have have changed December 2 to December 1, but that seemingly innocuous change would have rippled throughout the book, and I didn't want to make inadvertant mistakes. I make plenty of vertant ones! It may not have mattered so...

Writing About "Ahem"

Someone just sent me an email suggesting I look at a BBC article on writing about "ahem." (His words.) Okay, it was my brother, so he's forgiven for being a bit too discreet. The suggestion probably has to do with a remark I made once about writing erotica, and he and my sister-in-law dared me to do it. I told them I would. But after I finish my WIP, and after I finish my graphic novel, and after . . .

Oddly enough, I really am considering it — by now you know I like a challenge. The thing...

Frivolous Post Month

Writers have NaNoWriMo, bloggers have NaBloWriMo (National Blog Writing Month), which is also known as frivolous post month. Since I was going to post most of the month anyway because of my blog tour, I signed up for NaBloWriMo, though I haven't had time to participate in the forums. Getting the articles posted every day was enough of a challenge! Today is the second to last day of the month, and I almost reneged. I've got nothing to say (though that hasn't stopped me before!) Anyway, that's...

I'm Not Waiving Any Moral Rights I Have in My Blog!

A couple of weeks ago I got an email from a marketing company doing a social media campaign for a major corporation. Apparently they wanted to get bloggers to do a contest for them, and the winner would receive . . . nope, better not go there. If I told you what the prize would have been, it would be tantamount to telling you who the corporation is, and I'd probably get sued.  For my part in the production, I would have received the same prize, but since I have no use for it, it wasn't much...

Questions About Writing Stories

I received an email the other day from someone who wanted to interview me for a class project. I think he's for real, but some of the requests I have been getting recently are questionable, so I thought I'd post my responses here to stake my claim. Feel free to respond to any of the questions. If the interviewer does, in fact, read my blog as he said he did, I'm sure he'll be glad of the additional input.

What, in your opinion, are the essential qualities of a good story?

The most essential...

Sharing a Thanksgiving Day Card With You

I received this card from Joylene Nowell Butler, author of Dead Witness, and decided to share it with all of you. Click on the card to see the whole story. Don't you wish your dinner was as easy to prepare? Thank you, Joylene!

Tagged: Dead Witness, giving thanks, Joylene Nowell Butler, Thanksgiving Day card

Grateful to be an Author

It seems a bit paltry to have a single holiday to give thanks when I have so much for which to be grateful. I am grateful for my online friends and for my fans. (Odd to think I actually have fans!) I am grateful for the readers of my blog, who never fail to offer support and suggestions. I am especially grateful for my publisher, who understands my books better than I do. But I am most grateful for being the author of my novels rather than being a character in them.

It's an author's...

Three Chances to Win a Copy of DAUGHTER AM I

You have three chances to win a copy of Daughter Am I. 

1. Eric Beetner, author of One Too Many Blows to the head is sponsoring an ebook contest for the new releases from Second Wind Publishing. To win a Daughter Am I ebook, all you have to do it go to the Second Wind blog and answer the question: "have you ever learned something shocking about your past? Maybe not murder but what rocked your world once you found out?" I know you have learned something that rocked your world — for example...

Snow White and the Seven Old Fogies

Snow White and the Seven Old Fogies.

Well, sort of.

Mary Stuart, the twenty-five-year-old hero of Daughter Am I, learns that her grandparents have recently been murdered and that she is their sole heir. This comes as rather a shock because her father always claimed they had died before she was born.

Wanting to find out who her grandparents were, why her father had disowned them and why someone wanted them dead, Mary sets out on a journey armed only with her grandfather's address book. She...

Treasure Hunt!

Daughter Am I is a quest novel — a hunt for truth, a hunt for self, a hunt for gold — so what better way to celebrate the end of my Daughter Am I blog tour than with a treasure hunt! Unlike Mary, you don't have to travel halfway across the country in the company of seven old rogues (well, six old rogues and one flirtatious old woman). All you to do is hunt for their names. I will even give you a clue. I mentioned the names a couple of times during my blog tour, so all you have to do is find...