Hank Quense's Blog: Hank Quense's Blog, page 10
August 23, 2021
Free Fiction Writing Course
I just launched a new project aimed at fiction writers who want to improve their craft.It’s called Fiction Writing Insights and it’s a free course. There are nine lessons in total during the course and each day you’ll get an email with a link to a new lesson.
{Partial image}
The list of lessons is shown below:
What is a story?Defusing tensionMotivationConflictCharacter arcsSubplotsSettingScenesWorld-buildingUse this link to register for the course: https://www.writersarc.com/fiction-writing-insights
Why not register? It’s free
This brief video explains more about the course
http://hankquense.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/FWI-trailer.m4vThe post Free Fiction Writing Course appeared first on Hank Quense.
August 22, 2021
New! A discounted fiction writing course
The Story Design video course will do just that. And until the end of the month it’s discounted 50%.
Use this link to learn more and to sign up: https://www.udemy.com/course/story-design/
The post New! A discounted fiction writing course appeared first on Hank Quense.
August 18, 2021
Zaftan Troubles Review
An alien mining ship finds a planet loaded with rare earth minerals they would like to mine. The aliens, known as Zaftans, make an arrangement with the planet’s government so they can fill their ship with the mined minerals. Now the inhabitants have to deal with these strange aliens and the reader gets to enjoy their interactions and the fallout. Magic versus technology – who will come out ahead if disagreements arise? Does the government have a plan here?
The descriptions of the various inhabitants are written quite well so that the reader has a definite visual of not only physical attributes of the alien species but their behavior as well. That helps to bring the story to life (although maybe you won’t want it to when you meet some of those characters). There is humor throughout and it’s a great way to stretch your imagination and let the story entertain you. Give it a try!
Emily Pennington
Interested? The ebook is only $.99 and it’s the first book in a seven book series.
The post Zaftan Troubles Review appeared first on Hank Quense.
August 15, 2021
My current project
I’m almost finished with the revisions to my next book, Self-publish a Book in 10 Steps. This is the fourth time I’ve read and revised it. I’m starting to hate the damned thing. That’s a good sign: it means the book is almost ready.
It’ll be available in the Fall.
The post My current project appeared first on Hank Quense.
August 3, 2021
End of the Summer News for Fiction Writers
Details and short descriptions are listed below.
Mind-mapping a Novel. Believe it or not, mind-mapping a novel gives you a lot of control and consistency, especially when writing the first draft.
Regular price $19.99. Price during August: $12.99. Use coupon code HALF-PRICE-MM and this link: https://www.udemy.com/course/mind-mapping-a-novel/?couponCode=HALF-PRICE-MM
(I know it’s not quite half price, but Udemy won’t let me change the coupon code)
Plots + Scenes = Emotional Arc A story needs an emotional arc. It’s what keeps the readers turning the pages, but this is rarely discussed in books on fiction writing.
Regular price $19..99 August price $12.99. Use coupon code SALE-EMOT-ARC with this link https://www.udemy.com/course/plotsscenesemotional-arc/?couponCode=SALE-EMOT-ARC
Story Design. This course covers character building, plot development, setting, scene design and more. Regular price $29.99. This month’s lower price $14.99. Discount coupon code SALE-SD with this link https://www.udemy.com/course/story-design/?couponCode=SALE-SD
Story-telling Techniques. This course covers techniques used to tell the story in a way that will hold the readers’ interest. Regular price $29.99. For August the price is $14.99. The coupon code is SALE-STT and the link https://www.udemy.com/course/story-telling-techniques/?couponCode=SALE-STT
Sign up now and strengthen your fiction writing.
The post End of the Summer News for Fiction Writers appeared first on Hank Quense.
July 29, 2021
Author Interview: Joylene Butler
I read the book and gave it a five stars and a rave review, not because she’s my friend, but because Joylene wrote a great story.
Here’s the interview
Dead Witness has a bit of history. Can you tell us about that?
I published one copy of Dead Witness in 2008 because my friend and critique partner Keith 
Pyeatt thought publishing one copy through Lulu might be enough incentive to keep us plugging along. At that stage we’d both been trying to get published for years.
The day Dead Witness arrived, my husband and I were heading to the big city of Prince George. We stopped at the mailboxes. There is something quite surreal about holding your first novel in your hands for the very first time. Not an easy emotion to replicate. Sort of akin to holding your baby.
While I got my haircut, my husband paraded through the mall and showed my novel to everyone he saw. I was happy not to be there. Despite the costs he urged me to have more printed. His reasoning: We had a lot of family and friends.
I ordered 100 and they were all gone in a week. I wasn’t ordering anymore.
My BFF’s daughter lent her copy of Dead Witness to her boss at one of British Columbia’s largest grocery chains outside Vancouver. Her boss read it then passed it on to the lady in charge of all their book departments. That lady called one day and asked if they could stick Dead Witness on their shelves. I was very grateful but explained that I didn’t have any more. She gave me the name and number of Sandhill Books.
I was so green in those days. During my telephone conversation with Sandhill it became clear that they only distributed published novels. Clearly I was on the brink of insanity because I convinced her to read Dead Witness and if she didn’t like it, I wouldn’t bother her again. Two weeks later, she sent me my first contract.
Through Sandhill I connected to Hignell Books in Manitoba. They’d print 3000 copies for less than $3 a book and sent all but 200 copies to Sandhill, I got the rest. Sandhill distributed Dead Witness to every bookstore in Canada, independent and otherwise. My novel was in Chapters Indigo, Coles bookstore, and all libraries.
Strangely, I was still blacklisted from networking in the United States. I was self-published. That was a dirty word in those days.
One day the CEO at Sandhill Books asked me why I didn’t query Theytus, the oldest aboriginal publisher in North America based in Penticton, BC. I didn’t have an answer so I wrote Theytus a letter and asked if they’d publish my 2nd manuscript, Broken But Not Dead.
Broken But Not Dead was published in 2011 and won the IPPY silver medal in NYC in 2012. A year later, the ebook version of Dead Witness was published in Canada with MuseItUp publishers.
How did you come to write this story?
My big brother, a PI and security consultant, was visiting from the Yukon and connecting daily with his employees via the phone. This was before the internet. One day I watched him talking on the phone and wondered, if I disappeared, would he have the resources to find out what happened to me? That simple what if question was the catalyst for Dead Witness.
There is a lot of inside commentary about the FBI and the Canadian police methods. How did you pick this stuff up?
I spoke to RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) officers, spoke over the phone to the public relations people at the FBI office in Washington State, and interviewed the head Crown Prosecutor for Northern British Columbia. I also talked to my brother, the firearm distributor for the Yukon. As a closet wannabe student, I spent 3 months doing research at our local library. Another reason why I’m grateful for the wide world web.
What’s your next project?
After years and years of editing, I completed the final drafts of my political thriller Kiss of the Assassin and my suspense thriller Shattered, and just recently, have decided I deserve a vacation. I’m not doing anything until September. Then I hope to write my first children’s book.
Thanks for having me on your blog today, Hank. Your continuing support is greatly appreciated.
You can get a copy of Dead Witness at:
As an aside, I read an Advanced Review Copy of Kiss of the Assassin and it’s another great thriller. I have a five-star review ready to go as soon as it’s published.
The post Author Interview: Joylene Butler appeared first on Hank Quense.
July 24, 2021
Construction Underway
You may experience trouble navigating parts of it.
Everything will back to normal shortly
The post Construction Underway appeared first on Hank Quense.
July 16, 2021
A new story!
You can read it at https://www.amazon.com/kindle-vella/product/B098YSJFYT
It’s satric scifi and there are 5 episodes in it. The first episode will be released on 7.15 and another one each day until all five are available. Check it out.
If you enjoy the story, please rate and/or review it. You can also share it with your friends and contacts by clicking on the Facebook or Twitter icons.
I’ll be posting a number of stories on Vella in the future.
The post A new story! appeared first on Hank Quense.
June 25, 2021
Book Marketing Freebies
Writing a book does nothing to prepare an author for the necessary work of marketing that book. One of the difficulties with book marketing is the vast number of tactics that can be used along with the opportunity to spend gobs of money while achieving nothing in return.
The Writers and Authors Resource Center has free resources to help you sort out the marketing situation. Book Marketing Options is a free ebook that lists resources you can deploy while the Sampler: Fundamentals of Book Marketing will give you insights in the text-based course.
You can check them out and download a copy of each at https://www.writersarc.com/book-marketing
The post Book Marketing Freebies appeared first on Hank Quense.
June 21, 2021
Self-publishing Sale
If you’re thinking of self-publishing your book and you’re looking for a way to learn how to do it, you’re in luck.
From now until the end of June, my Course How to Self-publish and Market a Book is on sale. Save 50% during this sale. Use this coupon code to get in on this deal: https://www.writersarc.com/self-publishing-and-marketing-a-book?coupon=SELF-PUBLISHING-SALE
This brief video will explain more about the course
http://hankquense.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/SPMB-Trailer.mp4The post Self-publishing Sale appeared first on Hank Quense.
Hank Quense's Blog
- Hank Quense's profile
- 224 followers
