Pamela Beason's Blog, page 7

Four Tips for Writing Action Scenes

_I write mysteries and romances, but don't think Agatha Christie and tea parties when you read that. I'm a pretty active gal, so most of my books contain a fair amount of action scenes, and I get more compliments on those pages than on any others, so I must be doing something right. Since I have learned so much from other generous authors on the web, I thought I'd pass along these four basic tips.

To write gripping action scenes that will keep the reader glued to the pages:

1. Write in...

The Importance of Flexibility

Artists Point in North Cascades, Aug 2011 _I went to an avalanche awareness class last night, and while there was a lot of talk about hearing "whumps" and witnessing running cracks and generally being aware of avalanche conditions, there was also a big discussion about the human factor that causes most avalanche deaths.

The human factor boils down to basically three errors we commonly make: 1) believing that we are more skilled than we actually are, 2) not paying attention to the obvious...

WHY I LOVE THE NEW YEAR HOLIDAY

Icy Falls in the Cascades _Of all the holidays we Americans typically celebrate, I love New Year's the most. I know it's arbitrary, but it's nice to have a date when I can reset my expectations. Somehow, at midnight on December 31, I can celebrate the victories for the past year, let go of disappointments, and grab onto renewed hopes for the new year. It feels as though all things are possible again.

In the north where I live, the fact that we have passed the shortest day of the year and c...

Just Do It!

Imagine this under a full moon and stars! _A few days ago, a friend invited me to go out snowshoeing in the moonlight. Although that sounded inviting, it meant having to cut out early when I was in the midst of  different contract jobs, as well as having to gather my winter gear, don all that heavy clothing, and trek about 30 miles up into the mountains with my companions. So I seriously thought about just staying home and having a glass of wine and not making the effort; that would...

I Always Wanted To ... and So I Did

_I grew up addicted to Jacques Cousteau books and TV shows about marine exploration, and I always wanted to scuba dive (and date men with French accents, but you can't have everything). Unfortunately, I grew up mostly in Kansas and Oklahoma, which are not known for their exciting scuba opportunities, unless you love to count carp in muddy water or want to add to your collection of vintage beer cans.
After I moved to the Pacific Northwest and was finally earning adult wages, I decided to...

Four Things that Drive This Editor Crazy

I often work as an editor as well as a writer. While there are many errors that I see over and over again that make my eyes cross, I thought I'd  highlight the most common ones here, because a) they make a writer look unprofessional and b) they are easy to fix, so you'd do well to check for these before you send a manuscript to an agent or editor or slap your ebook (or even your blog post) up online.
Learn the difference between plurals and possessives. I see apostrophes used so often in...

How Being a Private Investigator Affects My Writing

Here are a few of the most important things I've learned from being a PI.

There's More Than One Side to Any Story - As a matter of fact, there are as many "sides" as there are people involved. Take a bar brawl between two participants, for example. Each combatant will have his or her own story, but everyone in the bar will have one, too. And the cops arriving on the scene might have a completely different idea about what is going on, because they've been told by the dispatcher, who was told...

Got insecurities? Use them in your stories!

There's nothing more boring than reading about characters who have no flaws. Why? Because they don't seem human, of course. Even if your character is a werewolf or from another planet, as readers we want to feel that we have something in common. And if there's one thing we humans have in abundance, it's insecurities.

So stop trying to cover up yours and use them in your writing instead. Heck, all that angst should be useful for something, shouldn't it? Think about the situations in which you f...

Wild Times with Wildlife

ENDANGERED - On shelves December 6, 2011

I have two Advanced Reading Copies of my new mystery, ENDANGERED, to give away to two visitors who post the most entertaining answer to my question.

The book takes place in the backcountry of a Utah park, the plot involves cougars, and I'm an outdoorsy gal, so I wanted to use an outdoorsy question. Here it is:

What's the wildest, craziest, or scariest event involving a wild animal that has ever happened to you ?

Cape Buffalo look sorta like this and...

Write Like You Know

Manta Ray

I once started to read a book by a mystery author that I wanted to like, but she started off with a scuba scene in which a diver was attacked by a predatory manta ray that tried to rip the tank from her back. I put the book down, and I haven't read anything by that author since. All scuba divers know that manta rays may be impressive giants, but they are gentle filter feeders that eat plankton, shrimp, and very small fish. There are a lot of scuba divers in the world. As an author...