Jamie DeBree's Blog, page 52
October 7, 2011
Serial Novel: Falling in Public, Ch. 21
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9|Ch. 10|Ch. 11|Ch. 12|Ch.13|Ch. 14|Ch. 15|
Ch. 16| Ch. 17|Ch. 18| Ch. 19 | Ch. 20
Falling in Public
Chapter 21
When Holly woke, the sun was shining through the windows, and a well-dressed man was sitting in a chair at the side of the bed. Disoriented, she blinked a few times and then awkwardly pushed to a sitting position.
"Who are you?" she said, tightening her grip on the covers. She wasn't sure where the nightshirt she was wearing had come from, but the fact that her underthings were missing was disconcerting.
The man smiled. "I'm the man who's going to make you famous." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on laced fingers. "Play your cards right, and do what you're told - we'll all make a lot of money and your books will sell like hotcakes."
She rubbed a hand down the side of her face, confused. "I was kidnapped. And shot. And now you're telling me you want to make me a star. Do I have any choice in all of this? Because right now, I really just want to go home. And I need to make sure Edd--"
"Eddie Pierce is fine for now," the man said, holding a hand up to silence her. "As to whether you have a choice or not..." he shrugged, leaning back in his chair again. "We all have choices. Some are just more unsavory than others."
Holly's leg was throbbing, the feeling mimicked in her head. "You might as well just tell me," she said, shifting on the bed as she tried to find a less painful position. "Then I can tell you no, and be on my way."
He laughed. "You are a firey one, aren't you? I can see why Sean was so disappointed when you turned him down. He likes a little sass, though personally, I think it gets old after awhile."
The bedroom door opened, and the butler from the night before came in, tray in hand. "I'm sorry, Sir. It's time for her medication." At the other man's nod of assent, he placed the water and another small paper cup with pills in it on the nightstand and left without so much as a backwards glance.
Holly took the cup and fished out the longer pill again, swallowing that with a sip of water. Her captor eyed the leftover pills as she placed them back on the table.
"Take the others too, Ms. Saunders. It's not a request." His firm tone grated on Holly's nerves, and she folded her arms over her chest, raising her eyebrows in challenge.
"I don't think so," she said, shaking her head for emphasis. "Not until you tell me who you are, and what you want. I'm tired of these stupid games."
He regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, then inclined his head slightly. "As you wish. My name is Leland Ellison. And I've been retained by Sean Winston to procure your cooperation in playing the part of his loving girlfriend in public for an indeterminate amount of time, beginning next week."
Holly shook her head. "No. Absolutely not. And when I get out of here, I'm going straight to the police. You can't just kidnap someone and force them to be your...or his, in this case, girlfriend."
Leland grinned. "Of course it's not legal, but it is entirely possible, I assure you. Given the cost of non-compliance, you may want to hear his terms before you rush to a decision you'll undoubtedly regret."Enjoy this installment? Try The Biker's Wench, available now at:
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October 5, 2011
Writing Notes: Influences
This week I'm packing up a lot of stuff (new carpet, with any luck), and that includes the bookshelves in our bedroom. Last night as I was taking books off the shelf and putting them into a plastic tub for temporary storage, I looked down and was amused to see the variety of genres represented at the top of each stack. A werewolf novel by Susan Krinard, a James Rollins adventure, a horror novel by an author who's name I can't remember (or pronounce), and a copy of The Mole People - a documentary about the people who live beneath New York City. Just to the side, a Harlequin Blaze ("Temptation") and waiting to be added was Stephen King's "On Writing" alongside horror novels by Richard Laymon, Dean Koontz and Douglas Clegg. I'd already packed up the Harlequin Blaze and Intrigue stacks, along with Tess Gerritson, Jennifer Cruisie & Michael Crichton. There were even a couple of Richard Paul Evans books in there, and an errant Trixie Belden who somehow migrated from her normal shelf in the office.
I have always been a very eclectic reader. Genre means nothing to me if the story draws me in. I can happily get lost in outer space, other worlds, or 16th century England and everywhere in between. I'll read pretty much anything as long as I'm interested in the premise. There are only two genres that are light on my shelves (light, not non-existent), and those are young adult and fantasy. Young adult because I've always been "older" than my age, even as a child and I just never enjoyed many of those books (Lemony Snicket is a very notable exception, and I have the Harry Potter books, though I stopped reading at book four). My issue with fantasy is one of descriptive writing – epic fantasy bores me like nothing else…I don't really care for long, drawn out world-building, I just want the story and a general idea of where things are happening. I did really enjoy the C.S. Lewis books and shorter fantasy like the Chronicles of Narnia. With those two genres, it really just boils down to stylistic preference, and I have read enough of each to know what I like and what I don't.
It's fascinating to me to think of how much all those different authors taught me without either of us really realizing it. Over the years I've been reading and soaking up all these storytelling techniques and tricks unintentionally, but when I look back on it, I can see (in general) where certain skills came from. There's no better place to learn tension control than between the pages of a good or horror novel. Character arcs are more pronounced in romance novels, and cliffhanger scenes abound in most thriller/suspense stories to keep pages turning. Mystery is the ultimate plotting lesson, as all the clues have to build and add up at the end for it to work. Inspirational novels are fabulous for learning how to explore a character's motivations without long-winded internal monologues, and sci-fi is a nifty lesson in how you can make just about anything plausible for the reader if you think it through far enough (and what happens when it fails too). Literary novels, poetry and speculative fiction teach us to play with language, that there is more than one way to tell a story, and sometimes that way can be beautifully vague and left open for interpretation. And they also teach us that stories don't always need a firm plot – a story really can be just a story about a slice of life, and still be enjoyable, poignant, funny and fulfilling.
I'm currently reading The Donzerly Light, a suspense novel by Ryne Douglas Pearson, and The Big Sky, By and By, a collection of stories about Montana personalities by local journalist Ed Kemmick.
Do you read widely? Are there any genres you don't read, as a rule? If you're a writer, is there one genre that has influenced your writing more than others, or do you draw from a variety of them? What are you reading now?
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October 3, 2011
News & Miscellany 10/3/11
Happy October! Lots to discuss today, so get comfy…
If you've been around in the fall before, you know that my life goes into overdrive right about this time every year. A lot of that is because we throw a big Halloween bash every year at our house, and normally I'm also gearing up to do NaNoWriMo as well. Between those two things, writing and the holidays in Nov/December, I have little to no extra time until January. And being the brilliant geniuses that we are, my husband and I decided to put new carpet in on our main floor this fall. I know – we needed one more challenge, apparently.
So…the party is in 19 days. The carpet gets installed this Thursday & Friday (we hope). And we both work full time outside the house. As you might imagine, I'm floundering a bit, especially with all of the writing/editing/publishing stuff I've got going on when I'm not at the day job (and no, I don't want to give any of that up, thank you very much).
Which leads me (rather long-winded like) to the point where I tell you that the Code Name: Succulent posts are on hold for the foreseeable future. Will they be back later? Possibly, or I may replace them with something else. Who knows? I just know that I have a choice on the weekend to write blog posts or serial scenes, and I'd rather keep the stories moving forward. This weekend I started writing and stopped 1300 words later (which is nearly double what I normally write in one sitting)…but that's why yesterdays' CN:S post didn't happen.
Also, I'm discontinuing the weekly archives. I understand that they're helpful if you missed a post of mine that you might be interested in, but it takes time to gather up all those links and that's time I could be spending on other things. I may bring them back after the fall madness dies down, but for now, no more archives. I suggest a good blog reader program – then you can mark what you want to read for later. I use gReader on my tablet – it isn't perfect, but it works pretty well in conjunction with Google reader on the web.
As for NaNo…I've been trying for the last two weeks to figure out some way to fit it in this year, but with my writing/publishing schedule as it is now, I just can't do it without sacrificing some serious productivity. More on this closer to October, but I'll definitely be sitting this year out. But I will be cheering the participants on with gusto!
In other news, if you're reading my erotica short stories, I'll have a new one to release by Weds, and the new serial started yesterday. And my first anthology, In a Dark Place will be released on October 14th, including flash fiction by five authors and myself based on an image prompt. There's a new prompt up at Rattles now – go check it out, I'd love to see more subs this month! It's a great way to hone your writing…
Finally, I'll be starting the newsletter lists back up – one for my personal "Variety News", and one for Brazen Snake Books. They'll go out around the 5th of each month, so if you're interested in keeping up with me via email, sign up using the links above (ignore the "weekly" tag...I need to update that button/page).
Now a few questions for you, dear reader, if you don't mind indulging me:
Is it helpful knowing the weekly blog schedule? Or just extraneous information?Is it interesting/helpful for you to see my goals and plans for the week laid out? Or again, just extraneous information?
Is there something you would like to see on this blog that you're not seeing? Some area of interest you'd like me to expand on? Or is it working for you just as it is?
This is long enough already, so I'm going to skip the schedules and goals this week. If the consensus is that it's good/interesting/motivational to have them, I'll bring them back next week. If not, well, we'll reevaluate what's here and change things up a bit. I don't really pay much attention to blog stats, so I have no idea how many people *really* read these posts, but if you wouldn't mind coming out of lurkdom just for today, I'd appreciate it. I know people are busy and don't often have time to leave comments (me either, obviously), so I'm happy to accommodate those to who just read and pass by as well. Which is my way of saying, your opinion counts, whether you comment regularly or not.
And I think that's (finally) it! Here's to a smooth week for us all!
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September 30, 2011
Serial Novel: Falling in Public, Ch. 20
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9|Ch. 10|Ch. 11|Ch. 12|Ch.13|Ch. 14|Ch. 15|
Ch. 16| Ch. 17|Ch. 18| Ch. 19
Falling in Public
Chapter 20
Eddie woke up to someone pounding on the inside his head. Or was that the door? He pushed himself up off the floor, groaning at pain and decided it was both. Disoriented, he stumbled to open the door and leaned against the jamb as he tried to focus his vision. A bulb went off in his face, making the distortion worse and he held a hand up to shade his eyes.
"What do you want?" he asked, the words slurring from his thick-feeling tongue. There was something nagging at him, something he was supposed to be doing. Blinking several times, he squinted at the badge on the woman's chest. Big black P-R-E-S-S letters spelled out just how much trouble he was in for opening the damn door, and he stifled the urge to slam it in her face.
"Eddie Pierce - sources told us we would find you here. Is Holly Saunders in there with you? Is that why no one's been able to find her since the show this afternoon?" She raised her eyebrows and held a recording device of some sort in front of his face.
Holly. Just her name was enough to bring everything rushing back into focus. Shaking his head, he forced his shoulders back and fixed his eyes on a spot over the woman's shoulder. Unfortunately, that happened to be where the cameraman was, and another bright flash went off in his face.
"She's not here," he said, careful to speak slowly and enunciate as normally as he could. "I'm not sure how you got in, since I'm pretty sure press isn't allowed back here, but I'm calling security, so you might want to leave." One step back, and he closed and locked the door, somehow restraining himself from slamming the heavy metal. Turning to lean against it, he slowly surveyed the room even though he instinctively knew that Holly must be gone, or she would have been beside him when she woke up. Maybe she went to get help. He grasped at the thought as he reached for the phone, hoping against hope that security would know where she was. The alternative was too painful to think about.
He pressed zero and asked for security, waiting for what seemed like hours before a man came on the line.
"This is Eddie Pierce, in Holly Saunders' dressing room. Did she--"
"How did you get in Mr. Pierce? We have explicit orders that you're not allowed back there." the man on the other end asked.
Eddie frowned, rubbing his forehead. "It doesn't matter. I'm here, and Holly's gone, and I was hoping you know where she is. There was this flower delivery guy--"
"Sir, stay there. We're on our way."
The line went dead, and Eddie hung up the phone with a sigh. He walked to the couch and sat down to let his head clear, but only for a moment. He had to find Holly. If she wasn't with security..."
He went to the door and turned the knob, only to remember the press contingent outside. Cursing under his breath, he looked through the peephole, but the reporter was still there, her back to him as she spoke to the camera. He'd have to wait for security to clear them out or he'd be stuck here for hours.
Knowing there wasn't any way to get out of this himself, he went back to the couch and took out his cell. Finding the number, he hesitated a minute, then pressed send.
"Vince, we have a problem. Or several." Enjoy this installment? Try Desert Heat, available now at:
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New Release - An Elemental Wind by Carol R. Ward
Anyways, without further ado, I give you.. .An Elemental Wind by Carol R. Ward.
Cover art by Heidi Sutherlin of My Creative Pursuits (of course)
Nakeisha Windsinger has been chosen to
represent her planet to the Pan-Galactic Council of Worlds. She and
her mentor, the Ilezie E.Z., must travel in secret to avoid their
enemies, but when her mentor is killed, she loses control of her
element, the wind, as she takes vengeance on those responsible.
In doing so, she crosses paths with the
crew of the Burning Comet, a ship with a secret mission of its own. A
reluctant guest, Nakeisha struggles to control her element, a task
made more difficult as she fights her growing attraction to the
ship's navigator, Chaney.
As their enemies close in, Nakeisha and
Chaney spin a fragile web of trust between them, finding that fate
has a way of interfering when you least expect it and love can
destroy - or rebuild - worlds.
The ebook is available now for an introductory price of .99 cents in the BSB store, on Amazon, and from Smashwords. Or you can get a copy for free when you pre-order the trade paperback for $9.99 in the BSB store (it will automatically be added to your cart when you add the paperback). You can also pre-order a print copy through Barnes & Noble (discounted to $8.99!). Release date for the paperback is October 14th.
About the Author
Residing in Cobourg, Ontario, Carol has
always had a love of writing. She grew up reading old copies of Edgar
Rice Burroughs and Robert E. Howard so it's no wonder her first
love is fantasy and science fiction.
She always believed she was meant to be
a writer of short stories, however her stories tended to be rather
long. They also tended to have a romantic thread running through
them. Finally caving in to the inevitable, she embraced her genre of
began writing novels of fantasy/science fiction adventure with a dash
of romance thrown into the mix. She has never regretted it.
Today she writes a variety of prose:
non-fiction, flash fiction, short stories, and novels – in a
variety of genres: humour, horror, contemporary, romance, science
fiction, and fantasy. Having recently discovered a love of poetry
forms, she explores a new form of poetry every week.
Connect with Carol at her blog
On Facebook
On Twitter
Congratulations, my friend. This is only the beginning.
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September 28, 2011
Writing Notes: Character vs. Plot vs. Genre
I've been thinking a lot lately about how character and plot have a somewhat different focus depending on the genre of a story. Yes, that's a very subjective statement, but I've been watching a lot of TV lately too (fall season, you know), and from my perspective, it holds true no matter the medium – books, movies, TV series…the genre really seems to play a big part in whether the characters or the plot is in focus most often. But I also wonder if that's not just my own filters talking, and everyone sees something different in focus.
With the lighter crime dramas (romantic suspense?) on TV (Castle, The Mentalist, Bones), the characters and plot seem more balanced to me, which is probably why it doesn't bother me quite as much as other people when the two main characters have a long "push-pull" sort of romantic attraction that isn't ever really fulfilled. While I think they could absolutely get the characters together and still make the show work (ala The Closer), I also sort of like the constant relationship tension that serves as a backdrop for the actual story being told that night (normally some sort of murder). There's a line though that anyone who reads/writes any kind of romance at all can tell you about – a point in every relationship that once the characters cross it, it's no longer plausible to keep them apart indefinitely (unless they go separate ways for good). Which is the problem with a lot of these shows – they don't see the line coming, cross it, and then aren't brave enough to take the necessary next steps.
I style my romantic suspense loosely on the same principles as those lighter crime dramas. You'll notice my characters normally come to some sort of understanding in the middle of all the action (though they still have issues until the end of the book) – and that's because I want my character story more balanced with the plot, rather than the romance overshadowing the suspense. And when I reach that "line" I mentioned above. I go ahead and take my characters across to explore the other side, rather than dancing around the issue.
In the heavier crime dramas (Criminal Minds, which is one of my favorite shows), I don't mind a bit of character back story and drama, but I'm really there for the plot. Too much character drama just irritates me in shows like that – quirks are fine, but I don't want that overreaching relationship focus that I like in the lighter shows. To me, this is more like an action/adventure flick – The Bourne movies and such, or a really good thriller novel. For these types of stories, I want the character stuff to be background – the plot is what I'm really into, and the tension created by someone or something *really really bad* being chased down by the good (or marginally good) guys. I try to style my thriller writing in the same way – the focus is more on the plot, and while I still need to get to know my characters and hopefully present them as real people with something to make us care about them, they are part of something much bigger, this huge problem or mystery that must be solved at great personal risk. The characters serve as sort of a delivery system for basic human emotions – fear and anxiety being right up at the top.
I haven't even tried to write a straight romance story in a long time…but the obvious focus of a romance when I'm reading *must* be the characters. That's what romance is, after all…a meeting of two hearts and all that entails. I have trouble writing those because while I like reading them, I get bored with writing character-focused stories. Interestingly, I don't watch many romantic movies that don't have something else going for them in the plot (suspense, or comedy of errors, etc). I get pretty bored with any TV show or movie that focuses solely on character relationships. It's just not my thing.
I guess basically what I'm saying is, I think genre has a lot to do with the focus of a story…and I think that's one of the most basic things that defines genre. If we start digging deeper into our thriller characters and exploring their relationships, the story could turn into a romantic suspense. Conversely, if my characters in the rom. suspense novels stopped exploring their attractions and feelings so much, those stories could easily turn into thrillers. And a romance where the characters stepped back to share more of the spotlight with the plot would become something in the realm of "women's fiction" or basic "literature"…it's all very interesting, I think…
Enjoy
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Heat | The
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September 26, 2011
Weekly News, Archive & Goals 9/26/11
Wow. It's a little after 1am as I'm
writing this, and my brain is pretty much shot. It's been a crazy
weekend...first nearly a full day of shopping on Saturday as we
sought (and found – yay!) the perfect new entertainment center.
Yes, we're finally getting a flat panel TV next month, because we
finally had the money to upgrade the entertainment furniture to
accommodate one (well, and TV's have come down to a more reasonable
price too). We also stopped at our local candy store and bought a
bunch of stuff for our impending Halloween party as well as a few
gifts. It was a busy day.
Then Sunday I spent the majority of the
day finishing the formatting and uploads of Carol R. Ward's new
romantic fantasy, An Elemental Wind (which you should all read
– it's awesome). It's available in the BSB store now for just
.99 cents (introductory price), and will be available in other online
stores as they put it up throughout the week. The paperback will be
available in mid-October. And if you like that book, you'll need to
catch up with the serial novel on her blog – another in the Ardraci
Elementals series. The official launch is Friday, and I think we'll
do something special on the Snake Bites blog to celebrate...
But wait, there's more! Between
uploading and laundry and making dog food for the week, I also
managed to finish the thriller novella I've been working on since
January. Angel Eyes is done, and I can't say for certain, but I
think I'm happy with how it turned out. We'll see what the editor
says, and I should have that out in November.
Did I mention I finished another
erotica short last week as well?
So yeah. Lots going on around here.
Which explains why I missed yesterday's blog post – but it will
keep until next week.
This Week on The Variety Pages
Monday: Weekly News, Goals, &
Archives 9/26/11
Wednesday:
Writing Notes – Character vs. Plot vs. Genre.
Friday:
Ch. 20 of Falling in Public
Sunday:
Code Name: Succulent – The Beauty of Pets
Elsewhere
Tuesday: Chapter 20 of The
Minister's Maid at Fantasy
Ranch Novels
Tuesday: New
design at NailArt
Tuesday
Tuesday: Tea post
at Tea onTap
Thursday:
Record Keeping at Beyond
the Words
Saturday: The
Mail Center at Routinely
Yours
If you missed a post last week and want
to catch up, here's the link list. Note that this includes *all* of
my posts, including for my pen name genres and non-writing blogs, so
click at your own risk.
Posts for September 18 – September
25
Fiction
Chapter 19 of The Minister's Maid (Romantic
Suspense, FantasyRanchNovels.com)
Chapter 19 of Falling in Public
(Romantic Suspense, The Variety Pages)
Chapter 18 of The PileDriver (TrinityMarlow.com – Erotica, Adults only, NSFW)
Chapter19 (final) of The Pile Driver (TrinityMarlow.com – Erotica, Adults
only, NSFW)
Chapter 59 (final) of Angel Eyes (AlexWesthaven.com -
Thriller)
Writing/Reading/Publishing
Writing Notes: Details, Details (The
Variety Pages)
Marketing Is...What it is (Beyond the
Words
Personal/Hobbies
Planning to Fail (Routinely Yours)
Goal Reports
I actually did pretty well with most of
my writing and business goals last week. Finishing two serials was
awesome, getting Carol's book out was/is awesome, and I feel pretty
good about the progress I made. Personal stuff got shoved aside
rather handily, unfortunately, so I need to catch up in that respect
this week. I'll be waiting to start new serials for a week or so,
in order to give myself some time to work on revisions for TWC. I'd
really like to get those done sooner rather than later...
Goals for the Week
Writing
Two serial chapters
Send completed stories to the
editor
Revise TWC (finish, if possible)
Finish my flash story for Rattles
Business
Submit books for review
Catch books up (really...*must* do
this).
Finish customizing new store
Post new author services packages
Personal
Workout four nights
Clean out and either donate or
move aquariums.
Catch up laundry
Move a bunch of stuff
downstairs/to garage to prepare for carpet installation
And I think that's it for me this
week. Now it's 1:35am, and I am headed for bed. Here's to a
fabulous week...
Enjoy
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Heat | The
Biker's Wench
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September 23, 2011
Serial Novel: Falling in Public, Ch. 19
Ch.1|Ch. 2|Ch. 3|Ch. 4|Ch. 5|Ch. 6|Ch. 7|Ch. 8|Ch. 9|Ch. 10|Ch. 11|Ch. 12|Ch.13|Ch. 14|Ch. 15|
Ch. 16| Ch. 17|Ch. 18
Falling in Public
Chapter 19
The heavy door opened and a tall, skinny man with an angular face looked them both over before stepping back and motioning for them to enter. The doorman grabbed Holly around the waist and pulled her along, though she hardly noticed due to the overwhelming dizziness and nausea that got worse by the second. Once inside, she made out just enough detail to get the impression of weath and fine things before a fuzzy veil settled over her eyes and she felt herself slip to the floor. Above her, voices carried on in hushed tones as she quickly faded into unconsciousness.
The next time she woke, it was dark. The hard mattress underneath her wasn't her own, and neither was the ridiculous excuse for a pillow. She moved restlessly, sending a streak of fire up her leg and pain so acute she could barely breathe. She gasped, going over the day's events in her mind.
Eddie. Moisture gathered in her eyes as she remembered leaving him sprawled on the floor, her kidnapper assuring her he'd be okay in a couple of hours. But was he? She wiped a tear away, wishing she knew. Hoping someone had come along and found him.
A door at the foot of the bed opened, allowing a wash of dim orange light to spill onto the floor from the hall. The tall man - a butler, she presumed - who had let them in earlier came to the side of her bed, a glass of water in one hand and a small paper cup in the other.
"It's time for your medication, Miss," he said, holding the paper cup out to her. "Antibiotics and a pain pill for your leg."
She took the little cup and peered inside. "There are three pills here. What's the third one?" The butler turned on the lamp at her side for more light.
"Just something to help you sleep," he said, his voice soft and monotonous. She considered the pills as he put the glass in her other hand.
"I'll skip that one," she said, holding the pills up for him to take. "Just show me the antibiotic and pain killer. That's plenty."
He shook his head, refusing to take them back. "Sorry, miss. I have orders for you to take them all."
She frowned. "Orders from who? Why am I here? I need to talk to the person in charge. I'm sure there's been a mistake..."
"I'll leave the water on your nightstand. When you're in enough pain, I'm sure you'll change your mind." He walked out with a brisk step and pulled the door shut behind him.
Holly waited until he was gone, then dumped the pills onto the table and started looking carefully at each of them for any distinguising marks. The long one was probably the antibiotic, so she swallowed that with a little water. The other two were nearly indistinguisable - both small, round and white.
Her leg hurt, but she really needed her wits about her so she opted to wait on the other two pills. So much had already happened that she wanted to be alert for whatever came next. Looking around the room, she spied a bookshelf, and an open door she really hoped led to a bathroom. Perfect.
Throwing back the covers, she swung her legs slowly off the edge of the bed, wincing at the movement. Putting her good foot down first, she managed to stand up, and she held onto the heavy antique-look furniture as she slowly dragged her bad leg to the door. Relieving herself, she went to the bookshelves, feeling a fine layer of sweat develop over her skin as she hobbled. Her leg ached, but she almost forgot about that as she realized that all the books were the same, right to left, up and down. Shivering, she made her way back to the bed and lay there panting from the effort as she tried to wrap her mind around what the books might mean for her. She closed her eyes, but all she could see was that ominous book cover repeated over and over and over in her mind.
How to Commit the Perfect Murder.
Enjoy this installment? Try The Biker's Wench, available now at:
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | All Romance eBooks
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September 21, 2011
Writing Notes: Details, Details.
Last night I was working on my flash fiction story for the October "Rattles" anthology (still plenty of time if you want to submit!), and I realized something interesting. When I'm writing super-short fiction, I pay more attention to small details that set the mood for the scene. In the story I'm working on now, it's the sound of water dripping that provides the backdrop for the whole scene, and I can portray that with a single word repeated (um, "drip", if you missed that). As I was working on the story, I realized that I use similar techniques often in short fiction as a way to conserve words.
When you only have a thousand words to tell a complete story, every word bears so much weight that there's not a lot of room for dialogue or even actions that give us a lot of information about the setting. They have to be worked in carefully, and often I make different word choices than I might in a novel, where I'm far more focused on the characters and plot than the setting. I tend to slip into a more literary style of writing for super-short fiction, and I normally do it without really even thinking much about it (with the notable exception of last night).
Naturally, that made me wonder what would happen if I did that with a longer piece – I write in scenes, so theoretically it should work to treat each scene like a flash story as far as the level of detail goes. But I'm not sure that would really work for the genres I write in, honestly. It certainly works for some scenes – I've employed the same style to the first chapter of my thriller serial, and here and there to various scenes in my books, but I think the style is really too intense to use with an entire story. Or rather, a story in the genres I normally write, anyways.
But that could be personal taste too. I don't like wading through a lot of detail when I'm reading a romance or rom. suspense novel, or even a longer thriller. It's too much work…I prefer reading books that clip along fairly fast and focus on the story itself. My brain is really good at filling in details on its own.
I do think my flash style would work very, very well for a short (novelette) thriller though…and as soon as I finish the story I'm serializing, I think I'm going to give it a try.
Have you noticed that you use more or less details in shorter fiction verses longer fiction? Does your style change to accommodate the length? As a reader, do you prefer/expect certain styles of writing for certain genres?
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September 19, 2011
Weekly News, Archive & Goals 9/19/11
As you're reading this (I wrote it
Sun. night), I'm back at the day job, probably trying to wade
through a million emails and put out the small fires burning because
I was on "vacation" (see yesterday's post) last week. Obviously
I don't have a lottery win or runaway book sales to report...
In any case, back to normal around here
this week. I'm sorry to see my afternoon writing sessions go, but
happy that my normal routines will be back, because I really just
can't seem to function at all without them. Gift or curse, take
your pick.
Have you heard? Brazen Snake Books is
publishing An Elemental Wind by Carol R. Ward on Sept. 30th!
I'm so excited about this, and I know Carol is too. Click on the
title, go check out the blurb! It's a romantic fantasy/space opera
story that is just fabulous...
This Week on The Variety Pages
Monday: Weekly News, Goals, &
Archives 9/19/11
Wednesday:
Writing Notes – Details, details.
Friday:
Ch. 19 of Falling in Public
Sunday:
Code Name: Succulent – The Beauty of Pets
Elsewhere
Tuesday: Chapter 19 of The
Minister's Maid at Fantasy
Ranch Novels
Tuesday: New
design at NailArt
Tuesday
Tuesday: Tea post
at Tea onTap
Thursday:
Marketing Is...What It Is at Beyond
the Words
Saturday:
Planning to Fail at Routinely
Yours
If you missed a post last week and want
to catch up, here's the link list. Note that this includes *all* of
my posts, including for my pen name genres and non-writing blogs, so
click at your own risk.
Posts for September 5 – September
11
Fiction
Chapter 18 of The Minister's Maid (Romantic
Suspense, FantasyRanchNovels.com)
Chapter 18 of Falling inPublic (Romantic Suspense, The Variety Pages)
Chapter 17 of ThePile Driver (TrinityMarlow.com – Erotica, Adults only,
NSFW)
Chapter 18 of The Pile Driver (TrinityMarlow.com –
Erotica, Adults only, NSFW)
Chapter 58 of Angel Eyes
(AlexWesthaven.com - Thriller)
Writing/Reading/Publishing
Writing Notes: Relationship Development
(The Variety Pages)
Revisiting the Business Plan (Beyond the
Words)
Coming Soon Announcement for AnElemental Wind (Snake Bites)
Personal/Hobbies
(The Variety
Pages)
Cracklin' Gemma (Nail Art Tuesday)
The Workhorse:Checklists (Routinely Yours)
Goal Reports
There was so much going on around the
house last week that I was doing well just to get my serial chapters
done. So all the other writing plans I had went straight out the
window, dang it. I did get about a quarter of what was on the list
done for my business goals, and made a serious dent in the personal
goals list too. Needless to say, I'll be pushing TWC's release
back to late November/early December, which is where it originally
was, so I guess I can't really complain. Fall is just way too busy
of a season, I tell you what.
Oh, and I fixed my treadmill myself,
too. Feelin' pretty good about that...
Goals for the Week
Writing
5 serial chapters (think one will
be done this week – yay!)
Write flash story for anthology
(have you submitted yours yet?)
Spend one night this week working
on TWC revisions
Business
Finish converting the next BSB
title
Marketing plan for said title
Submit to review sites
Dare I put down catch up record
keeping?
Do some research on foreign
authors w/US publishers
Personal
Finish cleaning out large
aquariums, donate to the local zoo
One load of laundry per day to
catch up.
Workout four nights
Move more stuff downstairs to prep
for carpet installation
Finalize Halloween party guest
list
And that's probably more than enough
to keep me busy this week. Anything fun, or just plain annoying on
your plate today?
Enjoy
this post? Support your author: Tempest
| Desert
Heat | The
Biker's Wench
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