Dee Garretson's Blog, page 14

Conquering the Savage Query

The query animal is not a wild beast, though most writers will assure you it seems to be when first faced with writing one. If you are one of those wrestling with these wily creatures, here's a checklist and a few tips to help. Checklist:

1. Who is the main character? This seems obvious, but it will focus you on not worrying about all the secondary characters. Almost all of them don't need to be in the query, especially not by name. Sure , they are going to help or hinder the main character...

A Book Cover!!

I have a book cover to share, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out. This is very close to my original image I have had in my mind ever since I began to think about a cover.

I'm afraid I don't have any insights into how the cover design people begin to approach this, but the cover artist did try to match some aspects of the characters' appearance even though their images are mostly in silhouette. I know it's hard to tell from this small picture, but the main character, Luke, is in...

Camp David has morphed: New Title

I'm thrilled to let it be known that it looks like I will be busy writing a second book over the next several months. Because the new book will be an adventure as well, the title of Escape from Camp David has been changed to DANGER'S EDGE: Wildfire at Camp David, so that DANGER'S EDGE can be used in the new book title as well. I'll update as I write the second, because it will be a fun book to work on and research.

Reasoning with a cat

Okay, the title is a joke. I've tried, but it doesn't work, and the latest result of faulty cat reasoning had me running around the neighborhood early Sunday morning, shoeless, in my pajamas (black, not revealing and kind of ninja-like) chasing a cat who was intent on vanquishing an enemy. We have a one-sided war going on at our house, between our two mostly indoor cats and the neighbor cat. It's one-sided because the neighbor cat doesn't realize he's the enemy. He strolls over about every...

Shiny Book Jacket Copy

I've learned many things in the past few months about publishing. One of the things I didn't know was that writers usually don't write the back cover copy or the inside jacket flap copy for their books. I've discovered a good reason for this-having another person write it leads to some great ideas. I'm so pleased with how this turned out:

Jacket Flap Copy:
The presidential retreat, Camp David, is one of the safest places in the United States. So why can't the President's son, Luke, and his...

BIG Books – High concept?

Literary agent Kristin Nelson has sparked a debate among writers this week over her blog lament on the desire by publishers for 'big' books. With the economy still on an uphill climb, it's understandable publishers are being more cautious, but what does that mean for us as writers? What is a 'big' book? Is this the same thing as high concept? I like definitions, but it's hard to find ones that agree on these terms. As far as I can tell, 'high concept' started in the film industry to mean a...

White House Photos

Sadly, I missed the tour of the Library of Congress on my recent trip to D.C., but did get to do the White House Garden tour. I've done so much research on the White House, presidents, and presidential children in the last year that this was a dream come true. In fact, even though I'm not normally an outgoing person, I asked three different strangers to take my photo in different spots on the tour so I could have a record I had been there. None of them are posted here, because I look...

Show, Don't Tell

"Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." ~Anton Chekhov

Chekhov's elegant phrasing is a good way to begin to understand the writer's adage of 'Show, Don't Tell'. Several writer friends agreed to spend some time pondering this with me, and to all post on this topic on the same day. At the end of my post are links to their musings. We're all writing and reading in different genres, so I'm excited to read the examples they've used.

First of all, what...

Guest Blogging – Pirates vs. Ninjas vs. Batman

Holy Blogging!

Here's the link where you can read the questions and answers, plus more about Chelsea's...

The Peryton Wins!

My kids chose the peryton as the winner of the contest, though there was much debate about it versus the dragon and the abatwa. Congratulations, Arissa!