Cate Masters's Blog, page 84

Robert McKee's 10 Story Commandments

Robert McKee's Story seminar's on my writer's bucket list.
But until I can get to New York to attend in person, I subscribe to his newsletter. Here's what was in the latest:

Robert McKee's 10 Commandments of STORY: I.     Thou shalt respect thine audience. II.    Thou shalt research. III.   Thou shalt dramatize thine exposition. IV.   Thou shalt layer a subtext under every text. V.    Thou shalt create complex characters rather than merely complicated story.
VI.   Thou shalt use neither false mystery nor cheap surprise.
VII.  Thou shalt not use deus ex machina to get thine ending.
VIII. Thou shalt not make life easy for thine protagonist.
IX.   Thou shalt take thine story into the depth and breadth of human experience. X.    Thou shalt not sleep with anyone who has more problems than thou. Hm, the last one really had me wondering. If I ever get to the seminar, I'll ask Mr. McKee about it!

Meanwhile, here's a lesson by Robert McKee on dialogue.

Alice Walker on the joys of work you love

I absolutely love what Alice Walker has to say in this video. Go ahead, watch it - it's only about two minutes, but those two minutes will leave you feeling uplifted and satisfied. And ready to write!

All aboard the crazy train!

I didn't think it possible, but life got crazier. Waaaay crazier. And it necessitates my time online growing even shorter than before.

I hate to skim through loop emails, but now even skimming's going to be rare, though I really miss keeping in touch with all the wonderful authors on the loops. And please accept my apologies in advance for not visiting blogs as often as I used to. I'll do my best to keep up, but until the end of the year, it's going to be really tough.

Which brings me to the final boarding stop for the crazy train: should I attempt NaNoWriMo? If I'm going to get any writing done at all, I need to carve out chunks of time dedicated to that, and only that (and if need be, wield that carving knife against intruders! Just kidding... I think!)

Last year, I couldn't participate in NaNoWriMo because hubby and I belatedly and deservedly celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary (three years late, to be exact!) by going on a ten-day cruise. As much as I loved it, I really missed writing. And I missed the challenge of NaNoWriMo.

This year, as crazy as life has been, I may just sign up again. It will be with the foreknowledge that I won't make it to 50k, but my philosophy is: nothing ventured, nothing gained. I'll end up with more done than I would have if I don't sign up, so signing up will force me to be more structured with my time. Theoretically, at least. :)

How do you handle time constraints? Share your tricks!

SSS: Death swoons for Azrael

Woot for Six Sentence Sunday! Thanks for checking out my snippets, and especially for your comments.
Here's another peek at Death Is A Bitch. Death can't get enough of Azrael:
Standing at his full height, Azrael's wings unfolded with a glorious whoosh. His feathers glimmered white as newfallen snow in the moonlight.
Magnificent. Death found herself breathless with admiration, and wishing those wings would wrap around her. Last time, she'd found feathers for eons afterward, stuck in her gown, in her hair. She hadn't minded one bit.
Don't forget to check out the rest of the Six Sentence Sunday authors - they're amazing! Have a great week.

New cover for A Hard Day's Knight!

Decadent came through with another amazing cover for my second 1NS story, A Hard Day's Knight. Isn't it cool? 


I haven't started edits yet, so this blurb isn't official, but here's the general premise:



Some days, it's best to lay low. Lance Knight finds out the hard way – when he encounters his longtime foe, witch Morgan le Fay, at Medieval Merriment. Her curse kept him wandering the world for centuries. When he also meets Gwyn McCartney there through a 1NS date, he's struck by her resemblance to his true love, Guinevere.  It gives him hope for the first time in centuries. First, he must face Morgan to break the curse, and he has only one hope: his sword, forged in the fires with Excalibur and imbued with magical powers by Merlin.
Gwyn McCartney's had it with dating. Her friend's setup through 1NS with Lance Knight irritates her, especially when Lance acts bored at Medieval Merriment – her employer and greatest fantasy. When a wench threatens Lance – a witch, he says – her fantasy world seems all too real. After Lance kisses her, she knows she has to battle Morgan le Fay. Can she free him, or will she lose him forever to the witch's curse?

Bad reviews

So many authors have touched on this recently, I'm not sure why. But I've noticed readers will often take the time to leave a negative review, but if they like a book, won't often post a good review. I tend more toward the opposite - I always take the time to leave a good review, but if the book was less than satisfying, I won't say so. I know how hard authors work on their stories – developing story lines, creating in-depth characters, getting all those details right – sometimes it just doesn't all mesh together the way it should.


But in general, most authors are best not to react to bad reviews. In fact, some bloggers who posted tough reviews and in turn received a hammering in bad comments have considered not posting bad reviews, according to Book Blogs. 

Likewise, your poor reaction to a less than favorable review may go viral, drawing more attention to it. Take it from Jacqueline Howett, whose rant landed in no less than Forbes magazine.

If that doesn't convince you, scan through this Amazon thread, where readers react to authors' manipulation of reviews. The vehemence is scary. Scarier is that these readers don't realize how often the reverse can be true. And I disagree that authors give away a free copy so the reviewer will give an automatic good review. It's difficult to find any reviewers these days because they're simply overwhelmed. Authors are simply looking for honest feedback.

Unfortunately, sometimes it only takes a "tag" to put your work in a negative light. A recent email from a publisher said that someone had tagged a book as "incest" though it had nothing to do with the subject matter. Amazon failed to respond to their pleas to remove the tag, so the publisher ultimately removed the author's book from Amazon and republished it. Will that stop a vengeful person from leaving another nasty tag? It remains to be seen. In this day of instant everything, it can unfortunately be a useless endeavor to fight what amounts to online flaming.

Hopefully, readers are savvy enough to ignore it. For authors, it might be a little more difficult.
Rachel Caine took the time to note each one and thank the reviewer for being honest. I applaud her bravery for acknowledging the book wasn't quite written to her normal standards.

Not everyone will love my books. I understand that. Sometimes I've received negative reviews that made no sense to me (one woman said she disliked reading short stories, then basically tore down one of my short stories because it was, in fact, a short story. Then why review it? *shrugs*)


But there are times, as Rachel Caine noted, that bad reviews with valid, specific points can provide valuable insights for authors. Savvy authors (such as Rachel Caine) sit up and take note of such, and make a point to address those areas in future works.


But others, such as Alain de Botton, let loose with frightening vehemence. Here's part of his response to a negative review: I will hate you till the day I die and wish you nothing but ill will in every career move you make. I will be watching with interest and schadenfreude.


Wow. If I were the reviewer, I'd be changing my phone number, if not my address. That's beyond unprofessional. It's insane, and tantamount to professional suicide.


Even one of my favorite authors, Alice Hoffman, ranted on Twitter about a bad review (is 27 tweets too much? These days, it hardly seems like much!) and then deleted her account. But once it's out there, it's out there. Active or not. One of the scary aspects of social media.


So take Nathan Bransford's sageadvice. 


And remember, you're in good company. All authors, regardless of genre, receive a poor review now and then. Just ask Norman Mailer, who held a longtime grudge against New York Timesreviewer Michiko Kakutani.



The best advice I can give is to simply keep moving forward, and doing your best. It takes too much energy to waste on being upset about a bad review, energy better put toward a new project.

As a reader, how often do reviews influence your buying? For me, not often. I rely more on the blurb, and a writing sample. Beyond that, do you really care what someone else says about it?

Book video for Romancing the Hero

I'm so excited that Romancing the Hero will release this month! I just finished the book video:



Eternal gratitude to Fred Bair, who granted permission for me to use his wonderful song Symphony! Love ya, Fred!

It's October!

It's my favorite time of year. I love this season, when the leaves change to bright colors, the air's sweet with the last fling of flowers, and the nights are so crisp and clear, the stars are brilliant.

One of the reasons I love this time of year is Halloween. I love everything about it, from the spooky tales to longtime legends to trick or treat. It's magical, and a perfect lead-in to the next magical season: Christmas.

This month's going to be a little crazy. I've signed up for so many events, I hope I can remember them all! And like most good Halloween events, there'll be treats. :)
From Oct. 22-24, you can find me at Ramsey's Reviews Halloween Bash. Always a fun event! It's going on all month, so be sure to check it out and enter the great giveaways!

From Oct. 24 - 31, I'm part of the Spooktacular Giveaway Hop hosted by I Am A Reader, Not A Writer (who also organized the Banned Books hop). When I signed up last week, more than 300 blogs had put in their names, so just think of all the great prizes they'll have!

Mark your calendar for the week before Halloween, when Romance Junkies Readers Yahoo group will be giving away tons of goodies, including a copy of my dark paranormal romance, The Magic of Lavender. :) You need to be a member of the group, so if you're not already, sign up now!

On Oct. 28, I'm part of the LASR Haunting HalloweenBlog Fest, along with lots of other authors.

From Oct. 28 - 31, I'm part of The Romance Room Spookapalooza, which sounds like tons of fun. 

Oh, and I can't forget - Romancing the Hero releases on October 26! I can't wait! :)

Death's counterpart in the underworld

Yay, it's Six Sentence Sunday again! I love reading the fantastic snippets, and hope you enjoy mine as well. Thanks so much for visiting, and especially for your comments!

Here's another peek at Death Is A Bitch, my dark paranormal with humorous elements, now out on submission (which can also be a bitch, lol). Though Death has no allegiance with either Heaven or Hades, sometimes her counterpart from the Underworld can prove a little unpredictable. And hot, huh? Here Death muses about how Damien projected an angelic appearance:


Fortunately, Death knew better. Sure, the daemon looked like a GQ model now, but piss him off and see what he morphed into. A fanged gargoyle. A two-story python, coiled to strike. A walking mass of rotted, stinking flesh. Whereas she didn't go in for special effects, Damien loved them.
Thanks again for popping by! Check out the amazing snippets by other SSS authors. Have a great week!

Banned Books Week giveaway!

Thanks to everyone who participated in Banned Books Week! 
I've tossed all your names into a bowl, and my daughter drew out CrystalGB. Congrats, Crystal! I've emailed you. Happy reading!