Paddy Eger's Blog

Tasman-An Innocent Convict's Struggle for Freedom- the novel

It's been exciting to chat with book friends at events around home, Edmonds, WA. I have two more local events (May10 at Thrid Place Book in Lake Forest Park at 7 PM and University Bookstore in Mill Creek's Towne Center on May 18 at 6 PM). The reception to the book and my game, Prisoner's Fate, has been fun.

It's amazing how unpredictable the ship's captain and the prison officials were when it came to punishing infractions. It went from a verbal reprimands to lashings for talking back, stealing a potato, failing to finish a job, or failing to give proper respect. Luckily times have changed since the 1850s in most places on this earth.

Feel free to contact me about receiving an autographed copy of Tasman. I'm anxious to hear back from you (via a review) about how Ean's story impacted you.

Ballet-Themed Book Giveaway Ended

Thank you to all who entered my giveaway of the third book in my ballet trilogy. Letters to Follow- A Dancer's Adventure which is Lynne's story. It also completes the early career years of the two dancers, Marta and Lynne. I wanted to tie up a few loose ends before we left the young women to carry on their lives without my (and your) looking over their shoulders. I hope all readers will share their reactions to the story here on Goodreads as well as elsewhere.

Book Trailer for for Ballet Trilogy and Interview with Videographer Emily Hill

Book Trailers are one way authors introduce readers to their books. My dear friend, Emily Hill created a lovely book trailer for my ballet-themed books: 84 Ribbons, When the Music Stops - Dance On, and Letters to Follow - A Dancer's Adventure . She took my ideas and massaged them into this lovely tribute to ballet.

View the trailer (click here).

After watching her work, I decided my blog followers might enjoy a peek behind the scenes of how she organized the trailer. Here's her brief interview.

Your book, The Ghost Chaser's Daughter had an amazing book trailer. When and how did you get started making book trailers? Please remind us of the link.

Paddy, first off let me say what a joy it is to have this opportunity to share what I’ve learned over the past, nearly ten years about the book publishing business.

I got into book publishing after discovering what Boyd Morrison and others called “the dark side”. In their wisdom to sell Kindles and fill those Kindles with reading material, Amazon reached out to independent authors with a 70% royalty contract, paid monthly. That proportion of royalty doubled what had been historically paid to signed authors who were used to waiting up to 18 months for their royalty checks to generate.

We were all sharing information openly in our blogs, thrilled with fresh discoveries, working around the clock to grab what Amazon was providing us – direct entry into the global market!

Independent authors were trying to grab the attention of readers by using every digital means possible: book trailers, blog tours, virtual book launches, face-the-camera YouTube interviews. Book trailers became one more way of entertaining readers with “book teasers”; and I was more than eager to learn the skill.

Here's the YouTube link to the book trailer, “The Ghost Chaser’s Daughter” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USVmCRbCuUE&feature=youtu.be.

What do you find to be your biggest challenge making a book trailer?

The biggest challenge to making a book trailer is to know the genre and match the audio and correct music score. Readers intuitively expect the book covers, trailers, and branding for romance novels to have a certain look and feel. The same is true of mystery, horror, and fantasy novels.

After styling, nothing is more important than evoking a mood for your book via correct choice of score. When one thinks back on the Oscar winning and nominated scores and themes one realizes that the swell of the music, the thunderous timpani’s, the melancholy chords all lend to making a book trailer best.

What is most enjoyable about creating trailers?

Ahh. . . matching a visual side sequence to the chords struck in an audio track is brutal drudgery. You want the image of a book cover to PoP! just the downbeat strikes! You want the sweep of the score to match the Ken Burns panorama sweeping across a series of texts or video selection. A mis-matched beat of music to slide progression is as jarring as watching a

Netflix movie and the actor’s lips are not moving in sync to the audio of his words.

Beyond syncing a book trailers video and audio, the length is important. You lose a readers’ interest (in my experience) with 3 minute trailers that reveal every twist and turn of the book’s plot. Shorter is so much better. I try to construct book trailers that “reveal” a book’s cover three times within a 90-second sequence of stills and video stock.

People who live in the Edmonds, WA area know of your arts and events column, Artfully Edmonds, featured weekly in My Edmonds News. What additional writing projects do you see in your near future?

I’m laughing! Additional writing projects? None! While I was working as an independent author I was working 60-70 hours a week. Although I enjoyed a year of being on Amazon’s best seller list during 2012-2013, I lost touch with something that I cherish – the Edmonds community.

Learning the dark side of obsession tempered my compulsion to conquer every new horizon, and of saying “Yes!” to every offered project.

I am currently a part of a wonderful, engaging, loyal-to-the-community-it-serves news organization – My Edmonds News and the “My Neighborhood News Network”. Last year my column received over 68,000 views, for which I am grateful. It doesn’t get any better than that!

Paddy's Note:

My thanks to Emily Hill for her technical skills as well as her continued friendship and support. Whether you live in Edmonds or not, I hope you will follow her online arts and entertainment column to learn more about the variety of arts and entertainment you can expect whenever you visit the Edmonds area.

 
Letters to Follow: A Dancer's Adventure

On Writing

Each day a writer sits down to think and write is a new chance to create something unexpected. True, when I am in the midst of a story, I often work on that story, but each day is still a fresh start. My basic ideas are swirling around in my head and I have on map or wbe of where I plan to go, but I blaze a new trail when the words begin to "show up".

When you think about the variety of genres, the hundreds of thousands of books produced each year, it's hard to imagine how each of us takes those 26 letters and spins so many different stories. For myself, I am amazed that one small story in my head grew into a ballet trilogy. The dozens of characters feel alive to me as they step forward, interact with other characters, and move my story forward.

Book three, Letters to Follow - A Dancer's Adventure, has gone to editing. That means the words and characters have left me behind. It's a happy and sad event rolled into one. And, as I mentioned in one of my writing blogs, the characters are now free to live their lives without my interference.

Checklist for Critiiquing a Novel

Author's spend a lot of time building novels that engage readers. The following list gives you a view into what they want to accomplish. Think about using some of these when you write reviews.

Conflict
• Does your story begin with some sort of conflict—either internal or external?
• Does the beginning set up the bigger “conflict” of the entire novel, the issue that drives your protagonist toward his/her end goal?
• Is your protagonist conflicted or is embroiled in some external conflict?
• Are there too many conflicts going on in the book? Too few?
• Is there an overarching conflict present in the story that is key to the premise and grows to a climax and resolution?
• Does your protagonist face one conflict or obstacle after another (each worse than the previous) that force him/her to have to make a tough decision(s)?
• Does the conflict serve the interest of the story or is it just thrown in the book for excitement?

Plot
• Does the overall plot come across clearly in the novel?
• Is the plot goal for the book laid out from the start and does it resolve at the end of the book satisfactorily?
• Are there subplots in the book that work with the main plot? Are they also resolved?
• Are the setting, locale, time of year, date, etc., clearly and consistently developed?
• Is it easy to follow the passage of time from scene to scene?
• Are the scenes strung together in a cohesive fashion and drive the plot?
• Are there scenes in the book that do not serve the plot and don’t seem to have a point?
• Is the plot interesting and engaging? Are the themes and issues touched on in the plot universal elements that readers will relate to?

Pacing
• How does the pacing of the story feel? Does the book drag in spots due to excessive narration or from uninteresting scenes?
• Is the writing over-wordy or vague, slowing down the pace of the scenes?
• Are sentences too long and/or repetitive?
• Are the scenes moving at a good clip to keep interest or do they need trimming?
• In faster action scenes, does the pace speed up with shorter sentences and paragraphs?

Tension
• Is tension created at the outset of the book?
• Is the protagonist compelling enough to heighten tension by the reader caring about him/her?
• Are scenes adeptly left hanging in order to create tension?
• Are elements/clues/details needed to propel the story presented in a way as to invoke tension (make the reader keep reading)?

Setting and Locales
• Does the author portray a believable, interesting setting that draws the reader in?
• Does the setting seem to fit the mood and serve the plot?
• Are there too many or not enough (or too repetitive) locations in the book?
• Are any locations boring or not good choices for the scene?
• Does the author spend too much time describing the setting? Not enough?
• Is the setting portrayed through the eyes of the characters or presented in flat narrative?

Point of View (POV)
• Is the overall POV of the book consistent?
• Is there only one POV character in each scene and is their “voice” distinct from all other POVs?
• Are there any scenes told in a POV that would be better in another POV? (if multiple POVs in the book)
• Does the author do a good job getting into the head of the character(s) or do they tend to tell rather than show what he/she is thinking or feeling?

“Voice”
• Does the writing style seem fresh, original?
• Does the overall tone and style of the writing work well for the story?
• Does the author’s voice come across unoriginal or derivative?
• Does the writing have too many clichés or sound like the author is trying to impress his/her audience with complex words or sentences?

Characters
• Is the protagonist clearly presented and the major character in the plot?
• Is the protagonist sympathetic from the start?
• Are the characters rich and developed or flat and stereotypic?
• Do the characters behave and speak consistent with their backgrounds and upbringing?
• Does each character have depth—a past, a need, a fear, a dream—and are these brought out clearly in the story?
• Do the secondary characters enhance and enrich the protagonist’s story?
• Is there too much or not enough description of the characters? Is the description shown from the eyes of other characters and not just “told” by the author to the reader?
• Are there too many characters or too much time spent on secondary characters that detracts from the main plot of the story and the focus on the protagonist?
• Does the protagonist have a clear character arc that shows growth/change/decision/resolution to the end of the book?

Dialogue
• Does each characters’ speech and style of talking fit their personality?
• Is there too much or not enough dialogue?
• Is the dialogue stiff? Uninteresting? Too wordy?
• Are there places where dialogue is unnecessary filler and accomplishes little to reveal character or advance the plot (or reveal back story)?
• Does the dialogue sound natural?
• Are there places where the author uses dialogue to fill the reader in to important information info dump)?

Overall Impressions
• Does the book work? Does it hold together overall? Does the premise make sense and is it engaging?
• Is this a book with enough universal themes or topic that would draw in readers?
• Is the idea/premise of the book original enough to draw interest?
• Does the book feel too long or too short? Are there scenes that seem to be missing and what are they?
• Does the book have a theme or point that is well delivered or does it seems to be missing any point at all?
• Is the theme worked into the book and brought out in the title and opening and closing chapters?
• Are all the plot points satisfactorily resolved at the end of the book?
• Does the reader get a sense of completion and resolution at the end of the book or is the ending vague, confusing, or dissatisfying?
• Is it clear what audience the author is writing to or are there problems (for example, a book written for young adults that might be too technical or sophisticated for their age group, or too much sex or violence that may be inappropriate)

Sneak Peek into Book 3

Writing a trilogy has proven to be a huge undertaking! Lots of facts to keep straight, characters to follow and develop, story strands to tie up and text to trim. Here's one excerpt from Letters to Follow: A Dancer's Adventure .

Marta has joined Uncle Leo for two days in New York City before they board the ship to France.

Read a sneak peek into Book 3...click here

National Handwriting Day

Saturday, January 23 is National Handwriting Day!

It's proven that writing longhand uses a different part of the brain than keyboarding.

I think it's a more creative section of the brain. When I write longhand, my thoughts and words flow differently. The problem is arthritis. My hands ache after a few minutes of holding a writing tool.

Ponder: I wonder if I used my Dragon speaking program if I'd use a third part of the brain? What do you think?

Writer Dates for January

Here are a few dates to consider as you write in January:

Jan. 13 Poetry Day...Put a poem in your pocket
Jan. 15 Wikipedia 15th Anniversary ... look up something!
Jan. 16 Appreciate a Dragon Day ... breathe fire today.
Jan. 19 Popcorn Day ...Enjoy a snack break
Jan. 20 Penquin Awareness Day ... dive into your work
Jan. 21 Squirrel Appreciation Day ... squirrel away an idea
Jan. 23 National Handwriting Day ... write in long hand
Jab. 24 National Compliment Day ... write a book review
Jan. 25 Opposite Day ... write a reversal in a story
Jan. 29 National puzzle Day ... solve a story problem
Jan. 30 National Croissant Day ... enjoy a friend break
Jan. 31 Inspire Your Heart with Art Day ... go play today

Holidays Gifts for Your Favorite Book Lover

Click the image below to learn more about great gifts for the book lover in your life.

The Pleasure of Your Company

One of the pleasures of writing a book is meeting with potential readers and friends to discuss what I've written. Whether it's a group of students interested in discussing the writing process, a bookstore event or an evening with friends to discuss the story, I enjoy myself.

Asking and answering questions, listening to reader concerns about a character's future or about how and why a character appeared excites me.Sometimes it's a hot seat, other times it's a chance to learn how a character resonates with readers. Both are fun to experience.

The most common questions are:
-Is this story about you?
-Have you used any real people as models for characters?
-Do you experience writer's block?

Answer: No

Other questions have varied answers:
-Which character do you like the best?
-How long did it take to write the novel?
-How did you know about..unusual topic..?
-How do you get the word out about your book?

Answers vary depending on the novel.

What questions/answers interest you?
Thanks to my having the chance to meet with readers and friends, I am able to spread the word. I hope those same people will share their interest in my books with others, write reviews and stay tuned for the next installment.