Kat Duncan's Blog, page 13
February 16, 2012
For the Love of Love
[image error]Stop by Terri Giuliano Long's blog to share the love. Vote for a chance at some great prizes!
February 13, 2012
Book Trailer for Perpetual Light
This is an awesome book trailer for a great release that is coming soon!
February 6, 2012
My Cover Artist Interview
Romance, She Wrote interviewed my cover artist. Check out the amazing details here:
http://maggieblackbird.wordpress.com/2012/02/06/interview-with-marthaavril-duncan/#comment-16
February 3, 2012
I DOn't Remember by Nelson V Brasil
Write About Welcomes Debut Author Nelson V Brasil!
I Don't Remember
By Nelson V Brasil
In one night, in one fire, Roger Amarante's life changed forever. He lost everything, and more importantly, everyone he ever loved. But what he doesn't remember can't hurt him, right?His seven-year stint at the Faja Rasa Retirement home has left him confused and empty to say the least. He doesn't know why he's there, who he is, or what has happened. He hates the nurses with a passion, and has not uttered a single word in the whole time he's been there. When he meets an over achieving college student with a bit of a chip on his shoulder, his life once again changes forever.
Michael P onte is searching for the heart he apparently lacks, so that he could achieve his childhood dream of becoming a Fire Fighter. When he crosses path's with a disgruntled, beaten down mess of a man, his heart is tested.Will they have the strength to conquer what they fear is impossible?Some hurdles are harder than others to overcome.I DOn't REMEMBER will elicit a full circle of emotion that will spark hopefulness and hopelessness, and trigger thoughts you didn't even know you had.
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About the Author: [image error]
I was born Nelson Vieira Brasil in San Jose California on August 12th 1984. Being the first generation in my family born in the United States. I am full-blooded Portuguese, my family hails from the small island of São Jorge, Açores. The Açores islands can be found in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, there are nine islands in all, and they are all a part of Portugal.
I grew up in San Jose constantly surrounded by my many uncles and aunts. To this day, most of my uncles, aunts, and cousins are within a 5-minute drive f rom my house. We get together during the week for dinner, and sometimes during the weekend for birthday parties, or to just play some cards. I love my family, and would be lost without them.My parents are at the top of my heroes list. Both come from humble beginnings. Both have menial education, but have flourished to great heights in their lifetime. I would consider my parents to be great successes. They came to this country with little to nothing, and have worked and earned everything they own. They raised two children the right way, instilling values, and morals in them. They taught us the difference from right and wrong, and gave us the trust and confidence to make decisions on our own. They always encourage us to reach for our dreams, and would stop at nothing to support our means to achieving them. If I can become half the success my parents are, I will be happy.
Now that family and all that jazz are out of the way, let me tell you about why I write. I write because it brings me joy. It allows me to openly express my emotions and inspirations. It alleviates my stress, and empowers my confidence. It gives me an outlet to vent frustrations, or to praise successes. It allows me to let it all out, instead of bottling it up inside. I've been writing poetry and short stories since middle school. In high school, I began thinking that I wanted to write fulltime or at least become an English teacher so that I could be around reading and writing all the time. As I began college, I continued to write, and finally, began writing my first novel. The pride I felt from finishing my first novel is inexplicable. Then tragedy struck, my clumsiness caused me to tip over a glass of water onto the keyboard of my laptop. I lost everything on my hard drive. To say I was devastated is an understatement. I felt like I lost an arm or a leg. But with encouragement from family and friends I set out to write the same novel. Î DOn't REMEMBER, is finally in print. Hopefully it is the first of many more to come.
Aside from writing, I enjoy doing many othe r things. Some of which include watching movies, reading, playing and watching sports, going to the lake with friends, gambling, and playing music. There many other things I enjoy doing but I won't bore you with the rest.My goal is to keep writing, even if I don't sell a single book, it doesn't matter to me. All that matters is that I write, and publish my works.My wish is that my writing brings out an emotion from the reader. Any emotion, happiness, sadness, anger, as long as it brings a rise to someone then I feel as though I have accomplished my goal.
Write About Review:
This novella is a fast read, even if it is a little confusing at times with quick shifts in the points of view. It would have benefitted from a bit of polish to the grammar and spelling before publication. The story's strength is in the emotions carried by the prose and in the bleak characterizations presented by the author. Each character has his own prickly reality and the author does an excellent job of portraying people who are living lives of inner desperation. The main characters are two men and a woman. The two men have big dreams. One is young and untried, but determined. The other is older, scarred and hurting. The woman is a nurse with a vendetta against the older man who is a mental patient she has failed to help. The author sets up an inevitable clash of very strong and intriguing personalities. Whose spirit will be the first to break?
Although I found it hard to believe that neither the nurse nor the volunteer at the nursing home would welcome their patient's first words in seven years, the story moves beyond this milestone without any such reservations and shortly brings the volunteer, patient and nurse even closer together. There are brief glimmers of nobility as well as pure evil behind the nurse's strange words and behaviors. Gradually, with the volunteer's help, the patient begins to recall the memories of his tragedy. His catharsis complete, he is able to develop a loving relationship with the nurse and a fatherly relationship with the volunteer. But there is yet trauma and tragedy awaiting all three of these hapless characters as they attempt to mend the rifts that have torn their lives apart.
The author uses stark analogies that contribute to the overall mood of the shocks, reversals and unponderables of life. The author's style is elegantly simple with tensions and conflicts drawn out to their fullest. Overall, this story was full of profound emotional stresses delivered in fast-paced, unsettling action and drama.
Thanks for joining us with your debut book! Click the tour link below to visit Nelson V Brasil's website and download a free excerpt of I DOn't Remember.
January 27, 2012
Guest Blogger Ryder Islington
Write About welcomes Ryder Islington at this stop on her January blog tour!
The entire tour itinerary can be found here:
Ryder is here to share some ideas about writing violence:
Including Violent Crime in Your Writing
Writing about violent crime is very much like writing about sex. There are those who don't want to know the details, and those who thrive on every touch. Many people love to read sex scenes but are abhorred by violence. I think that is because we are all capable of both, and we don't like to see ourselves as capable of true violence.
But the fact remains that violent crimes are higher in the U.S. than ever before and it's not just the gang bangers and the psychopaths. Child and spousal abuse, kidnapping, rape, molestation, car-jacking, home invasions… these are so common place they usually don't make the front page, or even the front page of the local section, of the newspapers.
So how do we write about violent crime? Know what you're writing. If you lived an ideal life, with no violence and you intend to include violence in your writing, you have some research to do.
You may want to watch a few dozen movies with vivid scenes of violence. Not necessarily slasher films, though they may be helpful if your criminal is a coward—slashers in the movies usually use weapons and sneak up on people, or hide in the dark, waiting. That's a smart move for someone who is small, untrained in any kind of self defense, or handicapped in some way. If you're writing police procedurals, watch cop movies. If you're dealing with a serial killer, watch Criminal Minds, The Silence of the Lambs, etc.
Remember the violence has a root cause. Make sure your bad guy is sufficiently motivated. What would make you act the way you expect him to act? Remember that there are a lot of very sick puppies out there. Is your guy one of them? What is his mental problem? Research that.
You have to decide how detailed you want the violence to be. Are you going to show the bad guy sticking a knife into someone? How does the villain feel when he does that? In my debut novel, Ultimate Justice, A Trey Fontaine Mystery, one of the bad guys is a six year old boy. When he plunges the knife into a man's belly, his response to the blood running over his hand is, "Ooo, warm. Velvety." He has a reason for feeling that way, as do his partners in crime, a twelve year old boy, and a fifteen year old girl. They know about physical abuse, emotional abuse, and one of them knows about sexual abuse. So when they see a pedophile pulling a little girl into the woods, well, they handle the problem. They are well motivated.
You also need to know about the actual, physical mechanics of fighting. But before you decide how you'll learn that, you may want to decide who your characters are, and how they will know, what you are about to research. Then go back to movies and TV to see how it is done visually, because what you want to accomplish is to have your readers see, and feel, the action. This is definitely something you have to 'show, not tell.'
Thank you for a very informative article on this subject and thanks for stopping by Write About on your blog tour.
Ryder is a graduate of the University of California and former officer for a large sheriff's department, RYDER ISLINGTON is now retired and doing what she loves: reading, writing, and gardening. She lives in Louisiana with her family, including a very large English Chocolate Lab, a very small Chinese pug, and a houseful of demanding cats. She can be contacted at RyderIslington@yahoo.com or visit her blog at http://ryderislington.wordpress.com
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Ultimate Justice, A Trey Fontaine Mystery is receiving rave reviews from readers. http://www.ll-publications.com/ultimatejustice.html
The small town of Raven Bayou, Louisiana explodes as old money meets racial tension, and tortured children turn the table on abusive men. FBI Special Agent Trey Fontaine returns home to find the town turned upside down with mutilated bodies. Working with local homicide detectives, Trey is determined to get to the truth. A believer in empirical evidence, Trey ignores his instincts until he stares into the face of the impossible, and has to choose between what he wants to believe and the ugly truth.
January 22, 2012
Kat's Week-long Blog Tour
Join me fo
r a week-long blog tour this week highlighting my romantic suspense ebook Synapse!
Monday, January 23: Good Family Reads
Tuesday, January 24: Book Bags and Cat Naps
Wednesday, January 25: BK Walker Books Etc.
Thursday, January 26: Rachel Brimble Romance
Friday, January 27: Carrie Ann Ryan's Blog
I'm giving away a gift of basket of Irish goodies for one random commenter during the tour and in addition, I'm giving a $10 Amazon gift card to the blog host with the most comments! Note: please leave comments at the tour stops rather than here at Write About. Thanks! :)
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Synapse
Stalked by a killer bent on stealing her laboratory notebook, scientist Molly Augur is desperate to figure out who she can and cannot trust. With the help of co-researcher Bill Banely, she uses DNA technology she invented to prove she can release hidden ancestral memories. In the brain synapses of her mind she finds one person who may know the truth - her long dead ancestor, Mailsi, whose life memories have been recorded in the depths of Molly's genes.
Ancient passions and betrayals come alive and collide with the present when Molly discovers philanthropist Dr. Philman, with a secret billion dollar need for the technology only she possesses could be the one after her notebook. And Bill, whose wandering heart she has finally won, is working for Philman. In the face of limitless money, what is the value of Bill's love? Or the value of her life? The answers lie deep within the synapses of her mind.
Excerpt
Molly threw her briefcase and purse onto the passenger seat and slipped in. With a quick wave goodbye, she started the engine and drove away. Bill stood motionless in the gloom, hands in his pockets, his image growing smaller in the rear view mirror.
Suddenly, his image was blocked by a shadow behind her. A leather glove gripped her mouth and jerked her head back against the headrest.
"Do as I say and you won't be hurt," growled the deep male voice. "Just keep driving."
Her futile screams didn't make it past the muffling glove.
"Turn right," the voice ordered.
With her head pinned to the headrest, Molly struggled to turn the car. Then she pulled the wheel hard, hoping to dislodge the attacker. He slid, but his grip didn't lessen, pulling her head painfully with him.
"Don't play games!" he barked.
Cold metal against her neck made her shudder. He was going to kill her. Her heart pounded. She lifted her head back to free her nose. Drawing in a deep breath she let it out in another muffled scream.
The glove pulled tighter, blocking all breath.
Molly's car wobbled right then left on the narrow side street. She turned her head and managed to get a scream past the glove. Mouth open she bit down hard when the glove tightened against her face. She caught a piece of the man's palm through the leather.
He yowled a curse and knocked her on the head with his fist. The side of her head thumped against the door's window. The steering wheel followed her motion. The car swerved, crossing the street. She slammed her foot to hit the brake, but hit the gas instead. The car lurched forward, going airborne over something. A loud crunch of groaning metal, and the air bags exploded throughout the car, knocking the man down in the back seat.
Water from a fire hydrant geysered around the car. Molly pushed open the door and jumped out, instantly getting blasted with a frigid, blinding spray. She slipped on the slick grass and went to her knees. As she rose to her feet to run, the man's arm ratcheted around her neck. In one hand he held her briefcase, his other hand held a gun against her neck.
"Stupid move, Dr. Augur."
Synapse is now a pocketbook-soothing 99 cents!
Buy Links:
Smashwords
Amazon
Barnes and Noble
All Romance Ebooks
My tour arrangements were made by the wonderful folks at Goddess Fish Promotions: 
http://www.goddessfish.com
December 26, 2011
Guest Blogger Amy Corwin
Write About welcomes Amy Corwin as she kicks off her January blog tour!
Amy Corwin is a charter member of the Romance Writers of America and recently joined Mystery Writers of America. She has been writing for the last ten years. She writes romance, historical and cozy mysteries. To be truthful, most of her books include a bit of murder and mayhem since she discovered that killing off at least one character is a highly effective way to make the remaining ones toe the plot line. Amy's books include the three Regency romantic mysteries, I BID ONE AMERICAN, THE BRICKLAYER'S HELPER, and THE NECKLACE; Regency mysteries, THE VITAL PRINCIPLE, and A ROSE BEFORE DYING; and her first cozy mystery, WHACKED!, will come in in 2012 from Five Star. Join her and discover that every good romance has a touch of mystery.
KD: Welcome, Amy. Romance with a touch of mystery sounds like wonderful combination. Two of your books involve the Second Sons Inquiry Agency. Is this type of agency based in historical fact? Tell us a little bit about the agency and how it operates in the stories.
AC: The Second Sons Inquiry Agency is entirely fictional, but it's based upon a lack of such things, rather than the existence of them. While the Bow Street Runners had already been established, it only operated within the environs of London, leaving a bit of a lack outside the city. Certainly, there were local constables, but the regularization of a police force as we know it today, along with forensics, developed later in the 19th century when Peel initiated a series of reforms around 1833. Nonetheless, there were "thief-takers" or private inquiry agents that could be employed by anyone interested in doing so. So I extrapolated from that, and from the Bow Street Runners.
It seemed logical for a number of reasons. Knighton Gaunt, the founder of Second Sons, was himself a second son and one accused of murdering his father. He developed an understandable drive to discover the truth from this experience and once he cleared his name, he found that he was not interested in the standard careers generally pursued by the younger brothers of the social elite: the military or the church. So Gaunt became my first sleuth and naturally, his agency grew to include others who found themselves unwilling for whatever reason to pursue more acceptable careers.
The fact that this type of career was, at that time, was not considered socially acceptable work for a gentleman as also intriguing to me, because it means anyone engaged in it must be willing to give up his or her social position. An inquiry agent (or thief-taker) was on par with a tradesman, not a gentleman, and he had to work among the criminal classes. Acquaintances and friends might even shun one who decided to become an inquiry agent, so it was a difficult decision to be sure. This inevitably leads to personal issues as well as the professional issues of successfully identifying a criminal without benefit of all the forensics we rely on today. My final reason for creating a fictional agency was the fear that if I simply wrote about an amateur detective, I might eventually come to feel about him the way Sir Conan Doyle felt about Sherlock. After all, he attempted to kill off Sherlock at least once. With an agency, I can explore other characters and situations.
KD: I've often wondered what second and subsequent sons did with themselves in those days. I think you gave them a wonderful occupation in your stories. Your regency novels present several specialized topics such as roses and spiritualism. How much research do you do and do you stress about getting the details correct?
AC: I do an enormous amount of research and I make every attempt to get the details right as far as I am able. I've researched and grown old garden roses for a number of years and at one time, had nearly 150 varieties in my garden. I became fascinated with them because I found I could not grow Hybrid Teas and desperately wanted to grow roses. When I found old garden roses, I was amazed. No spraying and very little maintenance and yet they grow like crazy. In our area, the Teas and Chinas do particularly well, and interestingly enough, they contributed to the development of the fussier Hybrid Tea which I can't grow.
The spiritualism was insisted upon by the character, Prudence Barnard. It wasn't as popular in the Regency as it was in the later Victorian period, but its roots were already developing. Unfortunately, spiritualists were largely con men and women, who found the general public's need for a more spiritual outlook to offset the increasingly industrial/mechanical developments as society moved from an agrarian culture to an industrialized one.
However, back to Pru. Her father dragged her around with him as he pursued an interest in ghosts and the spirit world. He wanted to prove the existed. Unfortunately, their research pretty much proved the opposite for Pru was almost always able to show some more earthly reason for the disturbances. When he died, it left her destitute and for an educated woman in her position, that meant becoming a governess or companion. Pru soon realized, however, that others saw her experience with her father as an ability to see into the spirit world, rather than disprove it. Women in her social class were happy to have her as a guest, particularly if they thought she could give them the thrill of speaking with the dearly departed.
So rather than face the grim life of working as a companion or governess, she became what is essentially a professional guest. While no one would have claimed to be a professional guest, it is actually not unheard of. Many penniless gentlemen lived precisely in the same way, by moving from house to house as a guest, fed and housed in return for being amusing and "rounding out the numbers" at the dinner table. A few years later, when spiritualism really took off, spiritualists picked up where these penniless gentlemen left off, traveling from house to house and offering the amusement of spirit sessions. You'll note I try to avoid the use of the word séance, since that did not come into use until a few years after the close of the Regency period.
KD: 150 varieties of roses? Wow, that's true dedication! Writing mysteries involves intricate plotting of details. Are you a detail-oriented person? How do you keep track of the details as you draft?
AC: Yes. My day job is as a computer specialist and I have an extensive background in programming. I've met a lot of other writers who were also programmers. I always work out an outline and worry over every little detail. I have software called Personal Brain I use to keep track of everything. Because I reuse characters like Pru and Knighton, I don't want to have to recreate info on them or copy it over from book to book. The Brain lets me create things once and then link them visually to anything else. So I can continually link characters, settings, anything from threads about one book to the tread of another. Spreadsheets also help as continuity checks. Over time, my methods morph and change, but no matter what method I use for a particular book, I always employ something.
KD: You are lucky to have great software skills to assist you with your writing. Would you say your mystery stories are dark and serious or more lighthearted and comic? What do you expect readers to enjoy most when they read one of your mysteries?
AC: No matter how dark they get, there is always one bright, humorous thread, comic relief, if you will. In The Vital Principle, some terrible things are revealed during the investigation. Nonetheless, I have one character who is rather endearingly funny to lighten the book. If I don't have any humor at all, I find I lose interest in writing. Some of my books are much more broadly comical, particularly those involving the Archer family, but even in the funny ones, there are dark threads. After all, if someone has been driven to commit murder, there is something that caused it, some blackness. But amidst the darkness, there must always be light, and I try to end every book on a light note. A happy ending, and hope, are very important to me, and I hope to my readers.
KD: Who are some of your favorite mystery authors/stories, and why do you admire them?
AC: I love Charles Todds' mysteries, set just after WWI. They are a fascinating glimpse into a bygone era. The characters are so tortured and so real that you can't help but feel for them. I also enjoy Charlotte MacLeod's mysteries, all of them, as they are such lighthearted fun. The Convivial Codfish is an absolute riot. Elizabeth Peters, Agatha Christie, and so many other great mystery writers. I love both the light stories and the dark, although I shy away from the ones that are too grim.
KD: Tell us a little about your background. What was it like growing up? Were you a good student in school?
AC: I was a very boring little girl, I'm afraid. I always followed the rules because I thought it was silly not to. I was a moderately good student, particularly in the sciences. At one point, I thought I might become a biologist, but I eventually settled for marrying one, instead. The truth is, I was one of those students who enjoyed school. I've always liked learning, and I still do.
KD: Talk a little bit about your particular brand of creativity. What do you think your writing has that other authors don't have?
AC: Fun and yet serious. No matter what horrible events lead to a murder, there is always hope that the bad guy will be caught. Justice will be served. And people will find happiness. If there's one message I want to relay it's that there is always hope.
KD: Tell us about your writing process. Do you write every day? Do you have a favorite place to write?
AC: I try to write most days, but because of the stress of my day job, I do give myself a day off on weekends to recharge the batteries. The thing is, the more you write, the more you want to write and the more ideas you get. So you sort of have to write.
KD: What is your time-frame for writing a full-length novel? Do you work on one story at a time or do you have several projects going at once?
AC: I'm the world's slowest writer. It takes me a long time to flesh out an idea, even before I write it down. Then about a week to develop an outline. After that, it takes about 4-6 months to write the first draft. I let it rest and work on something else, then it takes another 4-6 months for edits. Another couple of months to send through editors, and so on. Books coming out this year were written a minimum of two years ago.
KD: Where can readers purchase your books?
AC: Almost anywhere ebooks are sold, including Barnes and Noble/Nook, Amazon/Kindle, Smashwords, and directly from the publisher in the case of The Wild Rose Press books or Five Star/Gale.
KD: Thanks for joining us today, Amy. Amy will be giving away a $25 Amazon GC to one randomly drawn commenter during the tour, so please leave Amy a comment. You can also find Amy on the web:
Website: http://www.amycorwin.com
Twitter: http://twitter.com/amycorwin
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/AmyCorwinAuthor
Blog: http://amycorwin.blogspot.com
Stop by Amy's other tours this month!
January 17: Carrie Ann Ryan's Blog
January 24: We Fancy Books
January 31: Realmantic Moments
Amy's tour arrangements by Goddess Fish Promotions: http://www.goddessfish.com
December 19, 2011
Historical Trilogy Complete
The third and final book in the Cumbria Trilogy will be released in time for Christmas! More details coming soon....
December 12, 2011
Free for the Holidays
Free for the Holidays!
Smashwords only...click on cover art to download...
Ransom's Bond is a quirky, romantic suspense novella that turns the romantic suspense genre on it's head. Look for it soon!
Arliss MacDonald is the newest con-man to arrive in the Edinburgh financial district. The inheritance he plans to steal from Marinel Bethune is locked in a land war between two powerful family corporations, the Campbells and the MacLeans. Before Mari will let Arliss steal her fortune, or her heart, she has a few old scores to settle. And Arliss is the perfect man for the job.
Excerpt:
The rhythmic click of high heels echoed in the prison cell corridor. The steel door whined open and she stepped in. Long legs, slender waist. Crisp wool suit.
So this was Marinel Bethune. Not bad for a prosecutor from the Crown Office. Long and slow, she eyed him over. He stood up to better enjoy her stare and went tangent on the misty, moss-colored eyes.
Brian, you didn't say your cousin was a luscious dux.
"He won't give his name?" she asked the guard in a tone of tedious duty.
"Not a word, ma'am."
"Brian wasn't this good looking, but I haven't seen him in years." She stared him in the eyes until his jaw tensed, making her gaze fall to his mouth.
Focus Arliss, you're here for a reason.
"Take off your shirt," she ordered.
"And if I don't?"
"Your loss." She turned to leave.
He started with the buttons.
Stepping closer, she slid the loose shirt from his shoulders and pressed her hand against him. He didn't resist. She turned his torso into the light. Her gaze darted down the contours of muscle.
"Brian had a scar," she mused out loud, "right here." She ran an electric finger across his chest. His shoulders tensed.
"How would you know?" he asked.
"I put it there."
She thumbed a bullet scar on the front of his shoulder, the one from Kandahar, the one he'd been decorated for, then re-examined his eyes. Her head tilted and a sweep of black hair breezed over her shoulder, shimmering like the plumage of a rare bird. The faint scent of cinnamon made him want to just close his eyes and breathe her in.
"You are not Brian MacCrae," she concluded.
"I wish I were, if he's a bloke you would want…for anything. Spring me and I'll buy you a plonk to celebrate."
"Oh, you're an Aussie," she commented. "That's why we couldn't trace you."
Her warm hand lay still against his skin, but her slim wrist pressed at him with stubborn determination. Instinct made him reach to hold her sleeve. She withdrew her hand, and her moist palm slid over his, giving his heart the jolt he'd been guarding against.
"You know him," she stated, stepping away. "You were driving his car when you were stopped."
"Card winnings, at an inn near Dumbarton."
Her jaw clenched tight. Finally a crack on the stony expression. Brian must mean a lot to her and she was worried. The poor drunken bloke said he was the only family she had left.
"If it's yours, why is the car title still in his name?"
"I guess we never caught up with all the paper work."
"Was he – okay?"
He couldn't maintain a swagger against the pleading look in her eyes. "Yeah. He looked fine. A bit overtired, but not strung out or anything."
"Can you get a message to him?"
"Sorry. Wrong guy. All I have is his car."
"Look," she said, tempering her gaze. "The car hasn't been reported as stolen. Give us your name. We give you a written warning for running the red light, and you walk free."
He didn't budge.
"What are you hiding?" Her oblique question was more to herself than to him.
"What are you hiding?" he returned.
With a huff she turned to leave the cell, but a new guy blocked the way. A big hulk of a man with a laughing, ruddy face, flitting, nervous eyes and a head bristling with dirty blond hair.
"Fancy meeting you here, Mari," the man boomed. "I thought you might show up."
"You're out of luck, Corley. He isn't Brian."
The big man's smile collapsed.
"Nice try. Your buddy Taggart won't be pleased to discover you blew it again." She patted the dejected man on his shoulder. "I'd buy you a glass to drown your sorrows, but you'll need to stay sober long enough to come up with a credible set of lies." She stepped past him, and into the corridor. Corley's face reddened. He slammed the iron door back against its hinges and stormed after Mari.
From inside the cell he watched her go. "Quite the lady."
"That she is," the guard replied, stepping out and swinging the cell door shut. "She's as cuddly as a coil of barbed wire."
December 7, 2011
Questions That Move the Story Along
Using questions within the prose of your story can give your readers insights into your characters' direct thoughts. If your character is faced with some tough choices, this can be a way to help your reader wade through the options and feel the seriousness of them as the character tries to decide what's happening and what he should do.
But too much of a good thing can be bad. A common mistake I see in manuscripts is the author having a character launch a barrage of internal questions. Instead of connecting the reader more deeply to the character's private thoughts, this often has the opposite effect and puts psychological distance between the character and the reader. If you're having a conversation with a friend and they start spouting question after question without stopping, you're probably going to be turned off. After all, you can't solve all those questions for your friend and you understand that this is just your friend's way of venting. This is not a reaction you should desire for your readers.
Suppose you have a character, Janice, who has just lost an opportunity for a promotion to her friend Sue. Janice's internal reaction might be:
"Yes, thanks for letting me know. I'll work on that," said Janice, leaving her boss's office. She scooted past the secretary without making eye contact, then headed right for the ladies room, skirting around the back hall to avoid walking past Sue's department. Damn! All that hard work and overtime on the special project and the position goes to Sue? Who knew Sue was even in the running? Why hadn't Sue said anything to her? Janice stepped into the ladies room, slammed the door, and locked it. She was ashamed of herself for jabbering on for weeks about her hopes of getting the position. How could Sue do this to her? Could this get any more embarrassing? What was she going to do now? Would this ruin their friendship? What would she say when she had to go back into her cubicle and tell everyone how it went?
First, I think you can see that these are a lot of questions to throw at the reader all at once. For that reason alone, it would be best to find an alternative way of presenting Janice's thoughts. Second, the reader doesn't know the answer to any of the questions. So, the only purpose for having so many questions is to try to connect the reader to Janice's shock and her dilemma about what to do. Does the series of questions do that effectively? I don't think so. Janice's actions of skirting around the back hall to avoid Sue indicate her embarrassment, and her slamming and locking the door indicate her anger and sense of isolation. The questions don't really enhance or add to this picture. One easy solution is to turn some of the questions into statements. You can do this without losing any details in the process. Let's try that first.
"Yes, thanks for letting me know. I'll work on that," said Janice, leaving her boss's office. She scooted past the secretary without making eye contact, then headed right for the ladies room, skirting around the back hall to avoid walking past Sue's department. Damn! All that hard work and overtime on the special project and the position goes to Sue. Janice didn't even know Sue was in the running. Why hadn't Sue said anything to her? Janice stepped into the ladies room, slammed the door, and locked it. She was ashamed of herself for jabbering on for weeks about her hopes of getting the position. How could Sue do this to her? This couldn't get any more embarrassing. What was she going to do now? Would this ruin their friendship? What would she say when she had to go back into her cubicle and tell everyone how it went?
This still leaves quite a few open-ended questions that neither Janice nor the reader has the answers to.
Why hadn't Sue said anything to Janice?
How could Sue do this to her?
What was Janice going to do now?
Would this ruin their friendship?
What would she say to her coworkers?
Five questions, no answers. This could end up being very frustrating for the reader. The author is asking the reader to hold onto the sense of each of these questions and wait while Janice finishes fuming in the bathroom, then maintain enough interest in Janice to follow her back to her cubicle to see what she does. The author is also counting on the reader feeling connected enough with Janice to let Janice rant out questions and not be turned off by that. To pull this off in a novel, some pretty strong character driven writing would be needed. Another solution is to simply reduce the number of questions. I'd recommend no more than two or three in a scene.
Open ended questions work when the author wants to take the reader through the character's dilemma. The key is once the question is presented, the character should not leave the answer as open-ended as the question. The character should move through some possible answers, rejecting each one until finally settling on some decision and taking action toward a new goal. Be sure that an open-ended question has a definitive answer by the end of the book. An unanswerable question will leave readers feeling unsatisfied.
Open-ended questions should be used in small doses that focus the reader's attention on a dilemma. They should not be presented in broad groups that encompass huge, ponderous quandaries that could take a number of scenes to resolve. This would seem to be the problem with our paragraph, above. We've asked the reader to focus on too many things at once: why Sue hadn't said anything about her interest in the position, what Janice is going to do now in a broader sense, whether their friendship will be ruined and what is Janice going to do immediately upon returning to her desk. Narrowing the focus to one or two areas will help keep the reader from being overwhelmed with the direction of the story.
"Yes, thanks for letting me know. I'll work on that," said Janice, leaving her boss's office. She scooted past the secretary without making eye contact, then headed right for the ladies room, skirting around the back hall to avoid walking past Sue's department. Damn! All that hard work and overtime on the special project and the position goes to Sue. Janice didn't even know Sue was in the running. Why hadn't Sue said anything to her? Janice stepped into the ladies room, slammed the door and locked it. She was ashamed of herself for jabbering on for weeks about the position. How could Sue do this to her? This couldn't get any more embarrassing. What was she going to do now? Would this ruin their friendship? What would she say when she had to go back into her cubicle and tell everyone how it went?
Why hadn't Sue said anything to her? - open-ended and significant; the answer should impact the story
How could Sue do this to her? - open-ended; more an expression of emotion than anything
What was she going to do now? - open-ended, requiring a decision from the character
Would this ruin their friendship? - open-ended and significant; the answer should impact the story
What would she say when she had to go back into her cubicle and tell everyone how it went? - open-ended and could be answered immediately as the scene continues; a good small hook
Overall these questions, taken together, are probably more open-ended than the situation can sustain. My recommendation would be to put emphasis on one open-ended question and have Janice be more decisive with another.
"Yes, thanks for letting me know. I'll work on that," said Janice, leaving her boss's office. She scooted past the secretary without making eye contact, then headed right for the ladies room, skirting around the back hall to avoid walking past Sue's department. Damn! All that hard work and overtime on the special project and the position goes to Sue. Janice didn't even know Sue was in the running. Why hadn't Sue said anything to her? Janice stepped into the ladies room, slammed the door, and locked it. She was ashamed of herself for jabbering on for weeks about her hopes of getting the position. Her friendship with Sue would be toast after this. What would she say when she had to go back into her cubicle and tell everyone how it went?
Why hadn't Sue said anything to her? - kept; the remainder of the scene should develop a way for Janice to find out the answer to this question.
How could Sue do this to her? - deleted; the emotion is clear enough
What was she going to do now? - deleted; too broad a question to be useful right now
Would this ruin their friendship? - changed into a statement to emphasize Janice's attitude
What would she say when she had to go back into her cubicle and tell everyone how it went? - kept; this should be the next immediate focus for the scene and should lead into finding the answer for the "Why hadn't Sue said anything to her?" question.
I hope you've enjoyed this rather long example of how to use and focus questions to move your story along.
