Pamela Beason's Blog, page 5

This Land is Your Land, Americans

Pam at Park Butte Lookout, near Mt Baker

September 29 was National Public Lands Day in the U.S. You probably missed it, like millions of other Americans–it’s not promoted as a national holiday to celebrate. But it should be.

We are unique among nations in that our government had the foresight to preserve millions of acres that are owned by the American people.

View South from Park Butte area, North Cascades

Last February, presidential candidate Mitt Romney said that he didn’t know what the purpos...

BACK TO OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK

Valleys in Mist in Olympic Natl Park

My novel BEAR BAIT, the second in my Summer Westin mystery series, will be out October 2, so recently I’ve felt the need to revisit Olympic National Park and the surrounding national forests, which I used as the setting for that story. Olympic National Park, one of the most visited national parks in America, is–as the National Park Service website says–three parks in one. It has incredible mountains that seem to go on forever, vast forests of old growth and...

Two Quick Exercises to Jump Start Your Creativity

Here’s the simple plan: Take any idea and then turn it upside down and shake it inside out.

Try these two exercises and you’ll be off and running with new ideas of how to create conflict in your stories.

Exercise 1:
Write down the the best thing that you’d like to have happen to you. Fix that event in your mind. Now imagine the worst thing that could come from that wonderful experience.

For example, if you thought the best thing would be winning the lottery, then you might imagine that som...

Two Quick Exercises to Jump Start Your Creativity

Here’s the simple plan: Take any idea and then turn it upside down and shake it inside out.

Try these two exercises and you’ll be off and running with new ideas of how to create conflict in your stories.

Exercise 1:

Write down the the best thing that you’d like to have happen to you. Fix that event in your mind. Now imagine the worst thing that could come from that wonderful experience.

For example, if you thought the best thing would be winning the lottery, then you might imagine that someone el...

Weird Places I Have Been

I've been face to face with a hippo. ACK! I think all of us have had the same feeling at one time or another; that instant in which we say "How the heck did I end up here?"

I feel like I may have had more of those moments than most, but that may be only my perception. Or maybe it's due to my penchant for saying in response to almost any odd invitation, "Oh what the heck--why not give it a try?" So here are a few of the stranger situations and locations I have found myself in during the course...

LESSONS I LEARNED IN THE KITCHEN

Sooner or later, everyone who knows me learns that I am not a cook. I am so glad that others actually enjoy cooking, because in my experience, it can be a pretty dangerous undertaking. It's not that I can't cook, it's just that I find the process so boring that I tend to look for shortcuts or I wander off in the middle of it to do something more interesting. I often joke that I should write a cookbook called "When the Smoke Alarm Goes Off, It's Done."

I thought I'd jot down a few of the lesson...

PLOTS AND THEMES

Every novel has a plot, which is the story line (what happens). But most good novels also have a theme, which is the underlying message the writer wants the readers to understand. Most authors include themes naturally in their writing, but it’s important to clarify your themes and be able to discuss them with readers. We often choose our favorite themes based on our life experiences or on a particular interest.

Probably because I’ve worked as as a private investigator, one of my favorite theme...

PLOTS AND THEMES

Every novel has a plot, which is the story line (what happens). But most good novels also have a theme, which is the underlying message the writer wants the readers to understand. Most authors include themes naturally in their writing, but it's important to clarify your themes and be able to discuss them with readers. We often choose our favorite themes based on our life experiences or on a particular interest.
Probably because I've worked as as a private investigator, one of my favorite the...

RIDING, WRITING, & REMEMBRANCE

Bringing the horses in. When I was a teenager, I bought my horse Comanche, and I then spent a lot of the next two years exploring the Oklahoma countryside on horseback with my friend Kristy and her horse. The times I spent outdoors with Comanche are some of my fondest memories of childhood, and riding across the open country again has always been on my list of “Things to Do Before I Die.” That’s part of the reason I’m here at the beautiful Vee Bar Ranch near Laramie, Wyoming this week, at the...

TRADITIONAL PUBLISHING VS INDIE PUBLISHING

I recently did a talk about my experiences as a "hybrid" author, so I decided to include the first part of that talk here. I am traveling down both traditional and indie publishing roads simultaneously. I have a contract for three mysteries with Berkley Prime Crime (Endangered is out now, Bear Bait is coming in October, Undercurrents next year). I also have four self-published books--The Only Witness, Shaken, Call of the Jaguar, and Save Your Money, Your Sanity, and Our Planet. (Click the Bo...