Beth D. Carter's Blog, page 27

Writer's Block Exercise - Week 18

Got Writer’s Block?

Yeah, it happens to the best of us.  Life gets in the way and your brain is taken in another direction and before you know it, it’s been days or weeks since you last looked at that book you’re trying to write.  You’ve forgotten little details.  What eye color did you give your hero?  What town was your heroine born in?  Perhaps you need to jumpstart your creative mojo, and that's what this series is designed for. Not to explain writer's block, but to help you move in a different direction.


This could be a fun experiment and one that might be a game changer on not only what you write but HOW you write. It actually might even be fun taking a romantic comedy, adding an axe murder, but keep the under-lining humor. Maybe even write a hybrid genre…mixing this and that to make completely different genre.

Remember the book Warm Bodies? It was a romantic comedy featuring a zombie who falls in love with a human. The movie was fun too. It was a refreshing take on the horror genre. Or the movie “Hansel and Greta”, which took a fairy tale and made the brother and sister into badass witch hunters.

If you are trying to fit your story into a mold, and it’s just not working, don’t be afraid to break out of the confines you think you have to write in.  Remember, there is no one way to write.



#18 Switch Genres
Consider how your story might play out if it were in a completely different genre.


>Pick a wildly different genre, and talk through your hero’s plot if it were set in that world.

 
> Choose another time frame (e.g., Middle Ages, the 1970s) and reimagine your story taking place then. What would change? What would stay the same?


> Insert a hero from a different genre. Put a pirate in your romantic comedy. Bring a rowdy bachelor to your historical drama.


What would this be like as a western? Or a thriller? Or a comedy?

What would your hero do differently? What would the reader expect in this kind of story? Switching genres can help you brainstorm many possible plot turns, and alternate choices your hero could make.


Remember that characters often don’t know what genre they’re in. Characters in a horror movie may thing they’re in a comedy , and act that way until the chainsaws come out.




Happy Writing!
 


***John August designed these cards to help writers fix plot holes, spice up stock characters and
rethink your themes.  They, of course, do not guarantee you’ll get published or that you’ll become the next J.K. Rowling, and of course they are only a tool to help you think outside the box. I make no monetary gain with them nor do I expect anything in return.  I do not own the contents in these cards. If you're interested in them, here's the amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Writer-Emergency-Pack/dp/B00R6ZLIOY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1502046610&sr=8-2&keywords=john+august 

The Evernighties Author Blog Challenge Week 18

Work up character/setting profiles?
I'm not quite sure what this challenge is supposed to mean. Am I supposed to talk about my latest and greatest? I have a brand new short story titled "Invincible" that was just released with Evernight. It's the first book in a three book series I've planned titled World of Danger. There's an interesting back story to this I'll share....

...So, years ago I wrote this intro to a story about a woman named Mae who is working as a secretary, sees her boss, and falls instantly in lust with him. It was a cute intro but I had no idea where the story was heading. What was the plot? What was the drama? The story languished. Every once in awhile I'd open the document back up and try to figure it out. Did the boss run a paranormal investigations unit? Did he have a bunch of cyborgs running around? Nothing seemed to fit, so once more, the story folded up.

And then came along a character in my Forgotten rebels MC series named Lee Masterson, and the more I wrote him the more he demanded to have his own happy ever after. Then my mind snapped back to the story I had never been able to write and it all suddenly clicked.

Lee works for an ex-black ops group that's run by a man named JD Harlan. There is one more partner, named Mason Lake. Each character will get their own story, and I'll finally get to rest a story that I started years ago.

So Lee is "Invincible", Harlan is "Untraceable" and Lake is...actually, I have no story for Lake yet! WTH??? Geeze, I never take the easy road when I start these stories.

***"Invincible" is available HERE





The hole in Lidah’s heart never fully closed when Lee died, and when he suddenly resurrects from the grave, she’s overwhelmed with emotion and memories.  Twenty-two years of emptiness lie between them, and she’s unprepared for the love that comes surging back to life.



Lee will do anything to protect Lidah, yet he can’t walk away for a second time. Danger brought them back together, but can they keep each other safe when it stalks them again?   

Writer's Block Exercise Week 17

Got Writer’s Block?

Yeah, it happens to the best of us.  Life gets in the way and your brain is taken in another direction and before you know it, it’s been days or weeks since you last looked at that book you’re trying to write.  You’ve forgotten little details.  What eye color did you give your hero?  What town was your heroine born in?  Perhaps you need to jumpstart your creative mojo, and that's what this series is designed for. Not to explain writer's block, but to help you move in a different direction.


When someone asks me how to string along the plot to make a story, or how do I keep my focus on writing a book, I always tell them that it’s like building a house. First you need to frame it before you go back in and add the plumbing and walls. The most import aspect of writing a book is to get the first draft down. Just write, even if it’s generic ideas rattling around in your head, just put them down. Then go back and begin the process of adding to it. 

Details are important, but sometimes they came to you later, as you go back and edit. Many times I’ve even used my own experiences to spice up the mundane day-to-day routine of my characters. Don’t be afraid to put some of your own life down on the page.

What this exercise does is asks you to look at one of those moments you may not like, or where you're stuck, and change how you look at it. Maybe put yourself in your character's shoes. How would you act? Or what would you say? 


#17 Magnify
Up close, everything looks different. Zoom in to focus on a moment, a detail or an emotion.


>What is your hero feeling right now? What are some tiny actions that might reveal it?


> Extend the moment. What if a given event took a day rather than a minute? What if it took a year?


> Imagine your hero is incredibly nearsighted. How would your story change if she could only see things an inch from her nose?


When you look closely at a moment or idea, you discover truths and textures that might otherwise go unnoticed. (Chickens are basically velociraptors. Velcro is nothing but desperate, grabbing hands.)


Your hero may be holding the metaphorical magnifying glass – or perhaps he’s the one being examined, each little action perceived differently than intended. Either way, lenses distort what we see.



A powerful lens can even focus light so intensely it burns.



Happy Writing!






***John August designed these cards to help writers fix plot holes, spice up stock characters and rethink your themes.  They, of course, do not guarantee you’ll get published or that you’ll become the next J.K. Rowling, and of course they are only a tool to help you think outside the box. I make no monetary gain with them nor do I expect anything in return.  I do not own the contents in these cards. If you're interested in them, here's the amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Writer-Emergency-Pack/dp/B00R6ZLIOY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1502046610&sr=8-2&keywords=john+august 

New Release from Lilliana Rose...Pagan Pleasures Book 1!

Hello Lilliana!  Thank you so much for visiting Written Butterfly with me today!  It’s such a pleasure to chat with you.  So tell me…

Q) Is your book part of a series?  If so, can you tell us about it?

Beltane Bliss is the first book of a paranormal romance series (Pagan Pleasures) which is centered around five pagan holidays in the calendar year; Beltane, Summer Solstice, Mabon, Samhain and Yule. In Beltane Bliss, Edi is setting up her own shop, Crystal Sands, while escaping from a toxic relationship. Her skills with the Magiks are in healing, and while she is trying to heal herself, she begins to fall in love with Volt. But is Volt just another guy to rescue? And can Volt accept the life she lives? For both characters there are some personal values and beliefs that they need to look at to help them work out if they are compatible, and able to have a future together.

Q) How did you select the names of your characters?

I like the name Edith, especially shortened as Edi, and to me it was a little more traditional sounding which I thought would suit a white witch in training who is going out on her own. Voltaire, or Volt is the hero, and I found it when searching for modern pagan names. I love the sound of Voltaire, and even more so when shortened to Volt. In real life, I don’t like my name shortened, and I don’t usually do this with my characters, but these names had the right feel, or energy for the characters. It suited them and the story in their shortened form, so I went along with this inspiration.

Q) Do you write in a linear fashion or do you jump from scene to scene and then go back and “fill in the blanks”?

Generally, I write in a linear fashion, or at least I know the start, and I follow the characters lead in how the story unfolds – I’m more of a pantser. However, when I’m finding a scene hard to write, and it might be because I have more inspiration in the following scene, then I jump ahead. I really do follow the creative flow when I write, because that’s when I write my best. When I do go back to ‘fill in the blanks’ I find it much easier this way as I have a particular end point to write to.

Q) Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?

Pagan Pleasures is a series, so keep an eye out for the characters in book one, some, maybe all, will be making an appearance in the upcoming books (five in total). The characters are linked between the books, and I’m trying to build this world with each new book written.

Q) What are your upcoming projects?

Well, to get this series out into the world. I’m then going to focus on writing rural romance novellas for Christmas, just to mix it up for myself (I like the variety of writing in different genres, though the common theme here is romance!). One of these novellas, A Dusty Christmas, is continuing the romance between Dusty and Blaise in Chasing Dust Clouds. I’m looking forward to re-connecting with these characters.


Blurb:Edi Court is training to be a modern-day white witch, her unique ability is healing. Emotionally wounded from her ex, Anto, she has run away from the covenant with a need to heal herself. Following her psychic ability, she finds herself south, along the coast from Melbourne Australia, where she decides to set up her own healing shop, Crystal Sands.

Voltaire is a down to earth guy, a plumber by trade, he believes only what he sees in the physical world. The loss of his mom and sister to breast cancer and his ex, who stole his money and left him with a debt to work off, has caused him to close his heart.

Can Edi stop herself from rescuing another man and landing in deep water? Or with the Beltane energies thick in the air, can this be the start of a new relationship between two wounded souls?

Volt must become a believer in the Magiks and allow his heart to heal. And Edi must learn to trust herself again.

Will a non-believer and a believer find love over Beltane?



Buy links for Beltane Bliss - currently only on Amazon. Currently on pre-order, And will be KU.
mybook.to/beltanebliss

Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/44286579-beltane-bliss?ac=1&from_search=true

Bookbub:

https://www.bookbub.com/books/beltane-bliss-pagan-pleasures-book-1-by-lilliana-rose


Author Bio:Lilliana is an Amazon Bestselling author, who writes romance in the subgenres of contemporary, paranormal, steampunk, and rural. She enjoys helping characters overcome problems, or issues, and the misunderstandings that often plague relationships, to help them fall in love. Whether it city heels being replaced with country work boots, or some magic beyond this world, or cogs and gears and corsets, each story shows how love can prevail.

Check out more of her work at www.lillianarose.comand as an Amazon Author and her blog on inspirational creativity and wellness, Café Pondering www.cafepondering.com 

Keep up to date with Lilliana on social media

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Goodreads, Instagram

Evernighties Blog Challenge - Week 17

Favorite Romance Genre to Read or Write
I think reading and writing romance genres can vary, because I know my own limitations on the type of writer I am. For example, I love Sam Crescent. But I could never write her type of books because she's able to spin world building like I've never seen. Doesn't matter if it's mafia, MC romance, or shifter romance, it just seems her words and worlds are effortless.

Me, on the other hand, have to find so many difficult layers to my characters that it takes me a while to get them out. Out of all I write, I enjoy time travel the best. I've written three, although only two are currently published (When Lightening Strikes, Recover Me). They're taken from the perspective of what happens to us in a coma, it sends the hero or heroine into an alternate life. The question begs to differ was it all real or a coma-induced hallucination?

My favorite time travel, Dreamland, is currently off the market. I'd like to back out there, but Evernight has already accepted enough repubs from me in a while. Lol! I have to create some new content before I consider subbing it again.

As a reader I go through different tastes of what I want to read. Sometimes it's long historicals like Lisa Kleypas. Sometimes it's quick contemporary reads. Right now I'm on alien barbarians by Ruby Dixon.

Wednesday's Writers Block Exercise - week 16

Got Writer’s Block?

Yeah, it happens to the best of us.  Life gets in the way and your brain is taken in another direction and before you know it, it’s been days or weeks since you last looked at that book you’re trying to write.  You’ve forgotten little details.  What eye color did you give your hero?  What town was your heroine born in?  Perhaps you need to jumpstart your creative mojo, and that's what this series is designed for. Not to explain writer's block, but to help you move in a different direction.


 Movies give an excellent example of giving the audience time anxiety. Heroes in thrillers are always  behind schedule. Like Indiana Jones in almost every scene he's in. He's always running against a clock, bringing a lot of drama to the viewers. So how can you translate that into the narrative?

Perhaps it's not your characters running against a clock, but yourself. Some authors work better when there's a deadline. Like being back in high school or college, and a term paper due the next day even though you've had a month to prepare. I'm not much of procrastinator, but I do give myself mental deadlines. For example, I'm currently writing  in a collaboration with another author, and her book is done, waiting on mine. Even though she hasn't said anything, I know our books won't make us any money until mine is done. I have a mental deadline of the end of April, and I'm determined to make it.

If giving yourself that much of a deadline doesn't help, what about a smaller one? Is a chapter a week just right?


#Start the Clock
Deadlines force characters to make choices. How can it be now or never?



>From each major character's perspective, establish a deadline or ultimatum. Phrase it like this: if the hero doesn't do _____ by _____ then the consequescence is ______.



> Heroes won't always beat the clock. Work through what might happen if they fail.




Time is the essence of urgency. Consider basketball: Anyone can make ten free-throws in an hour. Ten baskets in a minute - that's difficult. And you can always want to make things difficult for your hero.

A ticking clock is rarely an actual clock. Instead, it's often phrased as "before" - before the bride says "I do" or before the Nazis cross the bridge.

Heroes usually know they're on the clock, but sometimes it's more suspenseful when they don't. If the ausdience knows there is a ticking bomb under the restaurant table, every moment waiting for the check is terrifying.





Happy Writing!


***John August designed these cards to help writers fix plot holes, spice up stock characters and
rethink your themes.  They, of course, do not guarantee you’ll get published or that you’ll become the next J.K. Rowling, and of course they are only a tool to help you think outside the box. I make no monetary gain with them nor do I expect anything in return.  I do not own the contents in these cards. If you're interested in them, here's the amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Writer-Emergency-Pack/dp/B00R6ZLIOY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1502046610&sr=8-2&keywords=john+august 

Blast from the Past...Spotlighting Beth D. Carter's "Between You & I"

A broken engagement left Madeline Shawl feeling like a shattered woman.  When she meets Hunter Caligari, he seems to be the perfect man for some friends-with-benefits action.  But when the easy affair turns into something more, it threatens her comfortable grief.

The passion of the younger man nearly infects her until Hunter tries to articulate it with the three words she refuses to hear. When she pushes him away, wounding his heart, she finds her own broken all over again.

Still, Madeline struggles to leave the past and accept that when Hunter said, "I love you," he wasn't just speaking for himself.


Q & A 
      1.   Did you plot this book out or write wherever an idea took you?

I used to live behind a park that had an inline skating arena and when I would walk my dog I’d like to watch the guys play. This led to thinking about using this sport for a character. Madeline had been bouncing around in my head because I’d just had my second surgery for endometriosis, and this time I had a hysterectomy. It’s a horrible disease and I wanted to try to use my experiences as the basis of a story. It didn’t take long to marry these two ideas and thus was the premise of Between You & I.

2.            2.  What was your hardest scene to write in this book?

Madeline’s motivation for breaking up with Hunter. As a reader, I’m not a fan of characters who make decisions for the other characters without talking to them. I don’t think this really happens in real life so I hate when it’s a plot device. BUT in this case, I honestly thought Madeline would do that exact thing I dislike so much. She’s a little too strong for her own good, and taken to that extreme, I can understand why she wouldn’t tell Hunter about her inability to have children because she wouldn’t want his pity. Or worse, him staying with her to provehe doesn’t pity her, in a type of misguided sense of chivalry.

3.            3.   Since the publication, what would you say has improved in your writing?

I think my passive writing has improved. I’m very aware of using the word “was”. At least, I think I am

4. Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?


Very much! The first cover I got for this book had this half naked guy on it with some type of pastel coloring and I really didn’t like it. The cover didn’t fit the book. This story is actually Madeline’s story, not Hunter’s, and I couldn’t see putting a rock-n-rock jock on the cover when it’s more of a love story. So I asked to change it and I’m thrilled with what I got.



EXCERPT  


A broken engagement left Madeline Shawl feeling like a shattered woman.  When she meets Hunter Caligari, he seems to be the perfect man for some friends-with-benefits action.  But when the easy affair turns into something more, it threatens her comfortable grief.

The passion of the younger man nearly infects her until Hunter tries to articulate it with the three words she refuses to hear. When she pushes him away, wounding his heart, she finds her own broken all over again.

Still, Madeline struggles to leave the past and accept that when Hunter said, "I love you," he wasn't just speaking for himself.





Q & A 



1.       Did you plot this book out or write wherever an idea took you?
I used to live behind a park that had an inline skating arena and when I would walk my dog I’d like to watch the guys play. This led to thinking about using this sport for a character. Madeline had been bouncing around in my head because I’d just had my second surgery for endometriosis, and this time I had a hysterectomy. It’s a horrible disease and I wanted to try to use my experiences as the basis of a story. It didn’t take long to marry these two ideas and thus was the premise of Between You & I.

2.       What was your hardest scene to write in this book?
Madeline’s motivation for breaking up with Hunter. As a reader, I’m not a fan of characters who make decisions for the other characters without talking to them. I don’t think this really happens in real life so I hate when it’s a plot device. BUT in this case, I honestly thought Madeline would do that exact thing I dislike so much. She’s a little too strong for her own good, and taken to that extreme, I can understand why she wouldn’t tell Hunter about her inability to have children because she wouldn’t want his pity. Or worse, him staying with her to provehe doesn’t pity her, in a type of misguided sense of chivalry.

3.       Since the publication, what would you say has improved in your writing?
I think my passive writing has improved. I’m very aware of using the word “was”. At least, I think I am.

4.       Do you believe a book cover plays an important role in the selling process?
Very much! The first cover I got for this book had this half naked guy on it with some type of pastel coloring and I really didn’t like it. The cover didn’t fit the book. This story is actually Madeline’s story, not Hunter’s, and I couldn’t see putting a rock-n-rock jock on the cover when it’s more of a love story. So I asked to change it and I’m thrilled with what I got.



EXCERPT 
              
               All too soon she pulled in front of the gate that sealed off his apartment complex, slipping into an empty slot designated for future residents.  She put the car in park and turned off the engine before shifting to look at him.  The overhead parking lights illuminated his face through the front window, highlighting his chiseled good looks and her heart thumped in excitement.

                “I had a great time,” Hunter murmured.

                The chemistry between them heated up the small confines of the car.  Madeline wet her suddenly dry lips with her tongue.

                “Me…” She had to clear her throat from the huskiness coming through.  “Me too.”

                He smiled and their gazes met.  Locked.  She had this sense of free falling, just plunging head first into an unknown, yet magical, abyss.  He brought his hand up to cup her cheek, and she leaned into it.  Still, the looked at one another, and she swore he was reading her soul.  Or she was reading his.  His eyelids narrowed a bit and his attention shifted her mouth.  All sorts of delicious heat spread through her body she knew he was going to kiss her.  God!  She wanted to kiss him back to much it was like an ache deep in her gut. 

                Then his head descended and her eyes fluttered shut just as the first touch of his mouth on hers brushed her lips.  So gentle, like the dewy wisp of butterfly wings, almost so gentle she wondered if he had kissed her at all.

                She opened her eyes and saw gasped at the desire pooling in his blue eyes.  This time when he kissed her, he held nothing back, possessing her lips while electric currents shot through her body.  He slid his tongue over hers, tangling, dancing, sending delicious sensations vibrating over all her nerve endings.  His kiss was hot and smooth, tasting of everything dark and velvety.  She’d never a kiss quite like it before.

                And she wanted more.





WHERE TO BUY
https://www.evernightpublishing.com/between-you-and-i-by-beth-d-carter

https://www.amazon.com/Between-You-Beth-D-Carter-ebook/dp/B01K7TO3TM/ref=sr_1_32?keywords=beth+d.+carter&qid=1555717102&s=gateway&sr=8-32

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/658351

NEW RELEASE from LM Spangler!

Sheriff Savannah “Savvy” Douglas fell in love with a bad boy who walked out of her life. Ten years did little to dull the feelings she had for him. But a year ago he stopped calling and texting, leaving her with nothing but questions.


He was the high school bad boy… and the boy she fell in love with.


Dr. Brody Collins was about to return to the town he grew up in… and the town where the love of his life still resided. He’d broken all communications with her for a year when his past caught up with him. But he was ready to rectify the situation.


Will Savvy forgive him and give them the chance they’d lost out on ten years ago?

Excerpt:



Excerpt:
A small smile crossed his face though it never reached his eyes. “I can explain.”
“Explain what, Brody?” The question came out harsh, even to my own ears, but I plowed on. “A year. Not a text, phone call, letter, or f*ck you. Nothing. You ditch me and expect me to be happy to see you.”
“Savvy,” he began, stepping toward me.
I shoved him back until he fell onto the same rocker he had been sitting in when I arrived. “Don’t you dare “Savvy” me. The name is Sheriff Douglas.”
He held up his hands. “I know you’re upset.”
The anger that had been simmering became a full-on boil. “F*ck you, Brody. What? Did you find yourself a woman and couldn’t bring yourself to tell me? Did you go on a year-long bender after graduation?” I turned my back on him—perhaps the hardest thing I’d ever done. My heart lurched and tears burned my eyes. I wouldn’t cry in front of him. I wouldn’t!
“You are so damn pigheaded, Savannah. But I can understand why you’re upset. I’ll come back later when you’ve had a chance to clear your head. Then maybe you’ll listen to me.”
With that, he sidestepped me and made his way to his SUV. He opened the door and paused. “I do love you.”
With a Herculean effort, I managed to hold the tears in until he was out of sight. Those tears burned a hot path down my cheeks, as I did exactly what I didn’t want to do.
Cry a river over him.
I stood on the porch, facing the lake. The sun shimmered over its surface, but was a blur to me. The shimmer became diamonds dancing atop the water as the torrent of tears slowed and finally burned out.
Leaving me raw…
And empty.
Buy Links:
Amazon: https://amzn.to/2VaFuBw Amazon UK: https://amzn.to/2ILldfj Amazon CA: https://amzn.to/2ZglBZ3 Amazon AU: https://amzn.to/2ZiU5Km Evernight Publishing: http://bit.ly/2v9NQKX Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2IqYGVJ Kobo: http://bit.ly/2Uqauc8
About LM:
      She live close to the Maryland border in South Central Pennsylvania. Her husband is wonderfully supportive of her in all aspects of her life. She has a son who is currently serving our country in the U.S. Navy. Her daughter is still in school. She’s blessed to have the three of them in her life.

     From a young age, she remember burying her nose in a book. A love that her mother and father passed onto her brother and herself. From her passion for reading sprang her love of writing. Her mind is so often full of story ideas from the wildly paranormal to contemporary. She has notebooks lying about with story outlines and character descriptions. A song or TV show can spark an idea which circles her mind until she puts the idea on paper.

     When she’s not writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, burying her nose in a book, and watching a vast variety of television shows from crime dramas to 1970’s game to car restoration shows. She even dabbles in crafting. Her favorite craft would be jewelry making. Nothing like creating wearable art.


Social Media Links:
Facebook- https://www.facebook.com/lmspangler

Twitter: https://twitter.com/authlmspangler

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/authorlmspangler/

Evernighties Blog Challenge - Week 16

Family, Friends and Pets I've Written into my Books
I've actually written more people I hate or have pissed me off into my books than family or friends. It's a very cathartic things, to take someone who has ticked you off, and kill them off in a spectacularly wonderful gruesome way. I know, too many adjectives, but I've used this cheap therapy method often. I think the most notorious is the name Daniel, who used to be an old boss. He was such an awful man that I used his name as the bad guy in about four books. My friend, Lark, told me to stop using it because she knew who the bad guy was immediately.

I've also used some of my family and friends in my stories, we well. My friend Lark showed up in various incantations in my early novels. The "best friend" was always a variant of her name. My mother showed up in my second book, "An Innocent Heart". My ex's were the names of my heroes in the Forgotten Rebels MC series. And recently, I used my soon-to-be husband as the inspiration for the hero in "The Last DiLuca" (featured in the Evernight anthology "Lawless").

I don't think I've written any pets in. I could be wrong but I don't have pets so I don't tend to put them in my books.

I have to believe that many authors do the same thing. I believe it's a natural reaction to the environment around us. People who piss us off become fodder in the next book. Can you think of any other profession that allows us to kill off our bosses and not get arrested?

Wednesday's Writers Block Exercise - Week 15

Got Writer’s Block?

Yeah, it happens to the best of us.  Life gets in the way and your brain is taken in another direction and before you know it, it’s been days or weeks since you last looked at that book you’re trying to write.  You’ve forgotten little details.  What eye color did you give your hero?  What town was your heroine born in?  Perhaps you need to jumpstart your creative mojo, and that's what this series is designed for. Not to explain writer's block, but to help you move in a different direction.


During the television reign of Sons of Anarchy, a rash of motorcycle romances sprung up in many different variations. Everything from hard core assholes, to softer bike riders. I've actually written three different MC romances clubs myself, and I tend to make my heroes bad guys with a heart of gold. My favorite MC books of mine: Med of Hell MC (Mad Delights, Madness Ends).

I've read other romance books that have featured a secret society, of sorts. Amanda Quick had her Arcane Society books, Cassandra Clare had her Shadowhunters. I remember a movie long ago, Young Sherlock Holmes, where Sherlock stumbles onto a secret society that led him to meet his arch nemesis, Moriarity.

Creating a secret society can introduce suspense, intrigue, danger and drama. If you think your story is too bland, this might be a good "outside-the-box" solution.


#15 Secret Society
Your Hero has stumbled upon a dark conspiracy - or perhaps he's been part of it all along


>Who runs the group? Is your hero vying for leadership, or is he a threat in some other
way?

>How do group members identify each other? List some gestures, clothing or other signals they might use. If your hero tried to fake it, what could go wrong?


> List rituals or practices that are special to the group.

> Is the group trying to expand or remain exclusive? What might they do to protect their secrets?


Secret societies aren't just for thrillers. From Alcoholics Anonymous to Girl Scouts, every group has goals, rituals and inside knowledge.

Is your hero trying to get in - or get out?

Whether it's an ancient fraternity, a midnight bowling league, or the house down the street, with the strange noises, secret societies provide your hero a chance to enger a hidden world or escape a nightmare.





Happy Writing!


***John August designed these cards to help writers fix plot holes, spice up stock characters and
rethink your themes.  They, of course, do not guarantee you’ll get published or that you’ll become the next J.K. Rowling, and of course they are only a tool to help you think outside the box. I make no monetary gain with them nor do I expect anything in return.  I do not own the contents in these cards. If you're interested in them, here's the amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Writer-Emergency-Pack/dp/B00R6ZLIOY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1502046610&sr=8-2&keywords=john+august