Judith Post's Blog, page 108
March 26, 2016
Have you tried to make yourself sound interesting?
I’ve never worked with a book publisher before. I’ve worked with editors of magazines and anthologies, and I’ve gotten feedback from my agent–the wonderful Lauren Abramo, who–by the way–looked at the last pitchmad on twitter. Which means she’s looking for new writers, if you have a spare pitch lying around. But boy, is she picky. In a nice way. All agents and editors are. They know exactly what they’re looking for, so if they turn you down, it just means you’re not writing what they think they can sell. Nothing personal. They might have all the horror or fantasy writers that they can find homes for. Writing’s a business. It’s market driven. It also means if you haven’t tried pitchmad or pitchwars or whatever kind of pitch tweets they’re into on twitter, you should.
Both editors and agents have the same goal in mind–to push your writing to its best and find something that’s saleable. But when I signed with Kensington, I didn’t just get John Scognamiglio as my editor–which was lucky enough. I got a whole team of talented people who are determined to get my name out there. They’re great at promotion. I’m not terrible, but I’m not wonderful either. And sorry to say, promotion makes a big difference if you want readers to find your book.
I realized I’ve been a slacker at promotion when I got a list of questions to answer for Kensington to use on a book blog tour. Every blog needed something unique to submit to its readers. Absolutely fair. A blogger is taking her time and being generous enough to do a sales pitch to her readers for my romance, COOKING UP TROUBLE. Each blogger wants to offer her audience something special, just for them, that they can’t find somewhere else. And I appreciate every single person who signed up to help me get the word out.
My only problem? I quickly discovered that I’m a pretty boring person. I spend a lot of each day in front of my computer, writing. I love to cook, but if I revved up about that, most people would fall asleep. My sisters would. Their idea of food is take-out. I have a few perennial gardens that bring me a lot of pleasure, but that doesn’t mean I keep them neat and tidy. Kyra Jacobs, who was a guest on my blog last week, has well-tended, beautiful flower beds. Me? It comes down to survival of the fittest. A rose bush has to want to live to bloom here. I love to read, but I don’t even read as much as I used to, because I now divide my time between reading and writing. Honestly, it’s hard to make me sound interesting.
While I answered questions for various blogs, it occurred to me that I’m not an expert at much of anything. My cat and chihuahua sound like more fun than I do. But then I remembered the poem About Ben Adhem, by Leigh Hunt–http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173698. Maybe I don’t need to write about what I do or who I am, even though I’m happy to share, but the things that make me passionate are what I love. And I have many loves, and those I can go on and on about. And I did.
Have a wonderful Easter, (if you celebrate it), or holiday (if you don’t), and Happy Writing!
COOKING UP TROUBLE comes out April 12th. The book blogs start soon
March 19, 2016
Shifters–gotta love ’em
This is a gorgeous cover, isn’t it? The protagonist looks so alluring as a golden dragon, I can’t wait to read about what he looks like as a mortal:) My fellow writer/wonderful friend, Kyra Jacobs, has a book–DRAGONS AMONG THEM–coming out April 19, and it’s available to pre-order now. Kyra usually writes romantic suspense or contemporary romances, so playing with dragons is new to her. It’s been fun reading her tweets and blogs about writing fantasy, since she and I have both stretched our writers’ muscles lately, her going from romance to adding fantasy, and me going from fantasy to adding romance:) So I thought I’d ask her about her journey, and she was gracious enough to stop by to answer my questions. Here goes:
Question #1: You started out writing mystery romances, and you set them in our hometown of Fort Wayne, Indiana. I’ve used Fort Wayne as settings for some of my stories, too, but changed its name to protect the innocent (mostly vampires and supernaturals). Applause for using Fort Wayne But the new novels you’re working on are contemporary romances and a dragon shifter series. TWO series, and you work, and you have two boys. How do you do it?
Three words: Sleep is overrated.
LOL
Just kidding (sort of). I love my sleep, but I love writing more. Of course, the kids win over all—I love them the most. It’s a juggling act each and every day for sure.
But I carve out what time I can and am learning to jot ideas and scene fragments down as they strike because for me, not all “writing” is actually time spent in front of my laptop. Mental plotting/writing is every bit as important.
Question #2: What is there about dragons and shifters? How did you go in that direction? And I’m glad you did, because I find them sexy
They are rather sexy, aren’t they?
I know this may sound cliché, but DRAGONS AMONG THEM started with a dream I had. There was a confused girl in the woods cornered by a pack of hungry wolves and this magnificent golden dragon swoops in and saves her. And then of course my alarm goes off and I’m like, “NOOOOO!” Usually, dreams like that evaporate as the day goes by. But that scene refused to leave me alone and I started thinking, “What if the dragon wasn’t just a dragon but also a handsome prince?”
Even then, I told myself I wasn’t going to write it. I mean, was I nuts? I write contemporary romance and romantic suspense. What do I know about writing in a fantasy world? But the story refused to leave me alone—REFUSED—and I realized that if I was feeling that passionate about an idea, I’d be a fool to ignore it, especially out of some silly fear over genre-hopping. Interestingly enough, I’ve never completed a first draft so fast in my life. Zayne and Addie’s story could not get on paper fast enough.
And, mmmm Zayne. Can’t wait for you to meet him.
Question #3: Did you find anything trickier than you expected when you wrote in new genres?
You know, the hardest part initially was me getting used to being ALLOWED to break the rules of reality. Duh, right? But as an author who tries to make my contemporary novels very believable, I had to learn how to bend and break rules in an alternate reality while still making the characters and situations believable. It was incredibly freeing, once I got the hang of it.
Question #4: Are you a pantser or a plotter? And do you have a series arc besides the novel arc for each book?
Oh this question—slays me every time! I’m really more of a plantser. (Yep, there’s me bending the rules again lol.) Usually my novels begin with a scene or a fragment of a scene in my mind. Then I start diving into who’s in the scene. What’s their name, their story? What do they want? What’s standing in their way? Often times I’ll follow the Donald Maas story arc that Janice Hardy introduced me to a few years back (here’s the link: http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/08/the-inner-struggle-guides-for-using.html) to help me dig a bit deeper into the who and why of the novel and to keep the characters’ growth on track. As I write the story I also keep an outline going on the side listing each scene, whose POV I’m in (color-coded by character), and highlights from that scene. Helps me get a visual on the balance of POV (I’m a visual learner for sure) and is great if I need to go back and track down something that happened earlier in the novel.
As for the story vs. series arc, not always. With my contemporary romance novels, each book typically has its own set of hero and heroine and their happily-ever-after. For the dragons series, though, Zayne and Addie are the central focus throughout the series as they fight the odds in various situations on their way to the final happily ever after. The books are not cliff hangers, though, just a progression of time and situations. So in the case of the dragon series, yes, I do have individual novel story arcs that feed into the overall series arc.
Question #5: Care to share a blurb and a snippet of your novel with us?
I’d love to!
Blurb:
Two worlds. One unstoppable passion. A fiery secret that could destroy them all.
Prince Zayne Godfrey, heir to Edana’s throne, is betrothed to the lone princess of rival kingdom Forath. While his heart is not in the arranged marriage, he will do his royal duty.
When he finds a beautiful stranger cornered by a pack of wolves, he doesn’t hesitate to shift into his golden dragon form to save her. She thanks him by taking one look at him and fainting dead away.
Photographer Adelaide Miller is in England for a career-making shoot when a bizarre jogging mishap lands her in a dangerous, medieval-like world of royals, wizards and dragon-shifting men. Her first instinct is to find her way back, but the fire-breathing prince intent on protecting her threatens to melt her heart.
Zayne’s burning passion for Adelaide not only jeopardizes the fragile peace between two kingdoms, it uncovers a ruthless plot to destroy his family. Remaining together may change Adelaide’s very definition of home—and expose one searing secret that could forever shift the balance of power in Zayne’s world.
Book Links:
Goodreads: http://bitly.com/Dat1GR
Samhain: http://bitly.com/Dat1Sam
Amazon: http://bitly.com/Dat1Amazon
iTunes: http://bitly.com/Dat1iTunes
Kobo: http://bitly.com/Dat1Kobo
Excerpt 1:
The wedding.
Zayne shook the thought from his mind. He had come here to forget his impending doom, not wallow in self-pity.
The prince drew an arrow from the quiver on his back, nocked it to his favorite bow, then shifted away from the oak and lined up his shot on the buck. During battle, the action would have taken him but a second—two, perhaps, if he were dodging an attack. Here in the deep woods where any sudden movement would give his location away, it took several minutes. Time well spent, he knew from experience, if it resulted in fresh venison for dinner.
The deer raised its head and stared in the direction of his hunter with unseeing eyes, ears twitching as he chewed. Zayne held his stance, praying his patience would pay off. After a long moment, the great beast turned its rack in the opposite direction. A victorious smile tugged at Zayne’s lips as he squared his shoulders, took a deep breath to steady his aim—
A woman’s scream shattered the forest.
The arrow slipped from his fingers and sailed six feet over the startled buck’s head. In a flash, he drew another, but the opportunity was already lost. The deer zigzagged over brush and bramble, bounding away to seek refuge in the darkest depths of the forest, and Zayne cursed his own arrogance. He’d taken too long, been too sure of himself. And while his stomach rumbled painfully at the thought of foregoing his anticipated evening meal, he knew better than to pursue the beast. Dangers far greater than the dark awaited him in that direction, and no buck was worth the risk.
A second high-pitched scream sounded, closer this time, and commanded his attention. Whoever joined him in the woods today sounded terrified, not hurt. Lord knew he’d been through enough skirmishes to recognize the subtle differences.
Zayne slung his bow onto his back and charged forward, sacrificing stealth for speed to try to reach the woman before one pitch bled into the other. Thick underbrush snagged at his clothes and sliced his skin, but still he surged forward. It would have been easier for him to transform, faster even, but then his whereabouts would be discovered, and he was not yet ready to return and face his father. Or his betrothed.
The wall of vegetation around him thinned as he drew upon a small clearing. Zayne slowed to quiet his footsteps, then stopped altogether as the scene before him came into view. A pack of wolves milled around one side of the clearing, snapping and snarling as they pawed at their muzzles. Across from them stood the clearing’s other inhabitant: a lone peasant woman.
The source of the screams.
Her outer layers of clothing must have been ripped away during her attempted escape, as she stood quaking in scraps of clothing the likes of which Zayne had never seen before. The bizarre black-and-purple fabric failed to do much more than contain her supple bosom, rounded hips, and slim thighs. Her long, golden hair was pinned up and back and, though mussed, offered him a clear view of her delicate shoulders and creamy pale skin. But what struck him the most was her eyes—startling blue, like brilliant sapphire ice.
A ray of sun broke through the clouds and washed over her, giving the girl an angelic appearance. Never had he seen a woman more beautiful. The sight took his very breath away.
A wolf stepped free from the pack, and the air around Zayne began to swirl. He gasped, as helpless to resist the beast within as he was to draw his next breath. Never before had the transformation begun without his prompting, nor surged forward with such haste. An armor of golden scales replaced his skin, his fingers stretched into talons, and human logic gave way to animal instinct. As the growing fire within his chest sought to consume him, Zayne could comprehend but three things:
He must save her.
He must protect her.
He must have her.
(I know this post is getting a little long, but Kyra sent me 2 excerpts to choose from, and I liked the second one so much, I thought I’d add it, too, if you’d like another sneak peek at her book):
Excerpt 2:
Zayne watched with amusement as Addie’s crystalline gaze flashed to the odd slippers dangling from his fingers, then slowly shifted to his face. Even here, in the shadows, the sight of her took his breath away. Emeline insisted the girl was nothing more than a peasant sent into the woods as bait to lure him into a Forathian snare. But no peasant he had ever encountered possessed skin so perfect or golden hair so smooth and long. She rose to stand before him, her pale skin angelic in the moonlight, and the scent of wildflowers and honey nipped at his senses. His gaze trailed uninhibited over her trim yet supple body, dressed once again in nothing but her unusual yet gloriously minimal undergarments.
An angel in devil’s clothing.
“What are you doing with my shoes?” Her voice was low and unsteady.
Shoes? What an odd word. He held up her slippers and fought to keep a smirk from his face. “These? Why, holding them, my lady, nothing more. I feared for your safety and so removed them from your path.”
“Uh-huh.” The blonde vixen’s eyes narrowed. “You knew I was awake?”
“Aye. You blushed when I touched your cheek. I knew it would be but a matter of time before you magically awoke.”
“And yet you let Emeline leave,” she said. “Why?”
“Perhaps I wanted to have you all to myself for a moment.”
Her eyes widened a fraction. Addie took a step back, sucked in a sharp breath and quickly took another. “I see.”
She shifted her gaze from his and swept it across the room toward its lone window, feigning interest in the chamber’s furnishings. She was bold, this one. Perhaps that was why he felt inexplicably drawn to her. The feeling was both new and infuriating at the same time.
“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” he said. “Even if you survived the fall, there are things lurking in the neighboring woods far more dangerous than I.”
Her gaze shifted back to him. “Look, I don’t know who you are or how I got here, but if you’ll give me my shoes, I’ll be out of your hair in no time.”
“But you are not in my hair.” He took a step forward and wished very much that she was. “Nor am I quite ready to let you go.”
Addie held her hands out as though he were a charging horse she was trying to slow.
“Look, buddy. I appreciate you and Emeline taking care of me this afternoon and all, but it’s been a long day and all I really want is to get back to my hotel and forget this day ever happened. So just give me my shoes already, will ya?”
“Leaving tonight is out of the question.”
She stared at him, appearing dumbfounded. “Why’s that?”
“Because, you are being held for questioning on order of the royal family.”
“The royal family? But why? What have I done?”
Her perfect brows knit together. Zayne struggled not to reach out and try smoothing them back into place. Because if he touched her face again, a kiss was sure to follow. And with a kiss…
No, not yet. Questions had to be asked to ensure she truly was no spy. While he had little doubt of her innocence, Emeline would hound him no end if he couldn’t prove that was truly the case. Zayne set the slippers beside the fire, then began pacing the room, walking in slow circles around his guest.
“You endangered the life of their heir apparent today.”
Addie spun to face him. “But Emeline was the only person I saw this afternoon.”
He quirked a brow at her. “The only one?”
“Yes, I swear! I was out for a run, and then this car swerved toward me because its idiot driver was probably paying more attention to their cell than the road. So I dove out of the way, but then I tumbled down this really steep hill, and the next thing I know, I’m being chased by the biggest wolves I’ve ever seen and then—” She looked away, her cheeks darkening.
Car? Cell? He longed to learn more about these things, more about her, but she’d grown quiet, unwilling to share her memories further.
“And then?” he asked, his voice soft.
She shook her head, blinking to hold back moisture now sparkling in the firelight.
“You…you wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”
Zayne sensed the fair maiden’s distress. Though her story to this point made little sense, the embarrassment in her tone was quite real. He reached a gentle hand to tip her feathersoft chin in his direction. “Tell me.”
She shook her head again, stubborn even now. But why? What did she have to hide?
“I know you saw another today.” He flashed her the same fiery look he’d set upon the wolves several hours before. In the daylight, the effect would have been diminished by the sun’s warm rays. But in the current darkness of this guest room, the glow of his eyes would be impossible to miss. “Because I was there.”
Awareness dawned upon Addie’s face as her eyes widened. “No,” she breathed. “No, it…it can’t be.”
Zayne lifted his shirt to reveal the blood-soaked bandages wrapped tight around his midsection. “I assure you, it can and it is.”
Thanks for stopping by, Kyra! It’s always fun to pester you:)
March 14, 2016
Story Speaks…I Listen
I always write about plotting–because that’s MY process. I can’t share what I don’t know. But my writer friend, Kathy Palm, writes a whole different way, and her words are magical. She wrote a wonderful blog about HER process, so I thought I’d share. There’s no wrong or right way to write. We have to find what works for us. Here’s another option. Besides, Kathy’s blog is fun!
I learned long ago to trust the story.
My head was always filled with ideas, characters, endings, all the strange and wonderful words of getting from point A to point B. But I never forced the story to stay on the path I first envisioned.
Which is why I stopped outlining. Because I was always wrong.
I accept this.
As I set off to write a new manuscript months and months ago, I reminded myself of this. I wrote quite a few books when I first began telling the stories in my head, then I seriously considered becoming published and, for years, I revised, revised, revised. So setting on my journey to write new words was scary.
And it took a lot of persistence to get it done.
Well, it’s not done… but I’m getting there. Putting butt in chair and opening the word doc is so much easier. Pressing…
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March 12, 2016
A Funny Thing Happened . . .
A funny thing happened on my way to Mill Pond’s book 4. I introduced Tyne Newsome in my third romance. He’s Paula’s assistant chef. He’s tall, scruffy, and sexy. He has to beat women away, but the man has tunnel vision. All he thinks about is opening a restaurant of his own and cooking. And he came to life in book 3 and jumped off the pages. So, when I started book 4, how could I not let him shine?
I wrote the first three Mill Pond romances from the female protagonist’s POV. But when I sat down to write FIT TO BE THAI’d (the working title for book 4), Tyne didn’t want to be pushed in the background. He has attitude and opinions, and he meant to share them. The thing is, he’s such a strong character, I worried he’d overshadow Daphne, so I needed to give her a voice, too. So, for the first time in a romance, I’m writing the male and female POV. And I think it’s making this book stronger.
Will I write both POVs in my next romance? I don’t know. It’s according to how loud the characters yap at me.
The other surprise in book 4? I ended up with more plot points than any author needs. Forty of them, and they’re detailed. And I only had a few, small references to Daphne’s friend, Miriam, in any of them. But then Miriam walked into Tyne’s kitchen in chapter seven, and that woman had just as much swagger and attitude as Tyne did. I listened to them go back and forth and loved how they interacted. So guess who gets a bigger role than I expected? Miriam is a high school English teacher who doesn’t mince words.
Now don’t get me wrong. When I have an outline and a character surprises me, that’s allowed. It’s even encouraged. But the characters know what their boundaries are, and they have to stay in them. Miriam doesn’t change any turning points, but she sure enjoys it when she can steal a scene:)
A good writer friend of mine, Kyra Jacobs, experienced the same type of thing when she was working on her Checkerberry Inn romance series and her paranormal romance/dragon series. On her blog, she wrote, “…it marked a wonderful new beginning for my writing as I stepped away from writing in first person, single point of view (female main character only) to multiple points of view.”
You can find her blog @: https://indianawonderer.wordpress.com...
Whatever you’re working on now, I hope you’re having as much fun as I am. I’m trying to twist Kyra Jacobs’s arm to get her to do a guest spot for you here. After all, she writes about dragons, who are shifters. And I write about Prosper, who’s a shifter. Okay, he’s a bear, not a dragon, but there’s something about shifters, don’t you think? Those big, strong men who have an animal caged inside them? And Kyra writes romances…and I write romances. We have so much in common, except probably the way we write. If she’s sane, she’s never done forty plot points for any of her novels. No one should. But, hey! Every book’s different. I never thought I’d do it either.
http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/
https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsurbanfantasy/
twitter: @judypost
March 11, 2016
One more…
I put up one more short story (not part of the novel, but BEFORE it), on my webpage today. Babet helps Vittorio, her friendly vampire. I have a soft spot for Vittorio, so it was fun to feature him a little more. Hope you enjoy it.
http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/
March 5, 2016
The Thing About Urban Fantasy
Okay, I did it! I promised to post one chapter a week for a short urban fantasy novel until it was finished. And I made it. I posted the last chapter on Friday. Once it was up, I spent the rest of the day, putting all of the images and chapters together into one book, and I’d written over 48,000 words. Not bad.
River City Rumble is the last story, so far, in a series of novellas that I’ve been writing for a long time. When I’m wading deep in middle muddles of other books, I turn to Babet and Prosper to re-energize me, to pull me out of the muck. And they always come through. That’s why I decided they deserved a novel of their own instead of a week or two of my attention in short spurts. They’d earned their own novel.
The thing is, urban fantasy writers–at least, the ones I read–tend to use a big cast of characters, and those characters grow in number with each book they write. Now, don’t get me wrong. I loved writing about all of the people I’d introduced in previous novellas, but it’s hard to keep track of them all in one book. Before, in shorter works, I picked and chose who I wanted to highlight. In this book, I decided to go bigger and better. I wanted someone or something that threatened everyone in River City, so that they’d all have to work together to defeat him/it. The trick was to try to bring each person in and then not forget him when the next person joined the team.
Hatchet and Colleen had to be part of the struggle. Hatchet is Prosper’s partner on River City’s supernatural detective force, and Colleen’s his vampire/wife. If Hatchet’s walking into danger, she’d be beside him. Babet’s mom and Hennie had to help, too, because they’re all part of River City’s coven. And since the villain/antagonist who instigates all of the trouble is a vampire who controls a huge seethe, every vampire in River City will band together to battle him. And those characters are just for starters. By the end of the book, the voodoo community and the shape shifters all joined in, too. But you know what they say–the more, the merrier. So we all just teamed together and did our thing.
The second decision I made while posting my weekly chapters was to include an image with each one of them. I’ve done that with some of the short stories I post on my webpage (all available in its left column, if you’re interested). But I don’t do it on any regular basis. This time, I had to come up with an image every single week. And to my surprise, I found ones that fit my idea of what suited each scene. One of my readers–and I so appreciate this–complimented me on them. That meant so much to me, coming from her. My biggest challenge, though, came when I started to write the last chapter.
Urban fantasies–at least, my favorites–are a string of small battles that lead to a big, final battle, usually to the death. That meant I had to wrap up every small subplot before I stepped onto the battlefield. I’d created an antagonist–and I’m proud of this–whom many people loathed. She wasn’t the main villain, but more than a few readers said they hoped she got what she deserved before the book ended. I hope I satisfied them. Then, I was clear to send almost every supernatural in River City out to meet Zanor. This couldn’t be just any battle, though. The good guys couldn’t win too easily. They had to face near death to overcome their enemies. And everyone had to have a part. That’s when things got tricky. And that’s when I had to bring in more evil reinforcements so that Zanor’s forces gave as good as they got.
My protagonists survived, and so did I. But I really sweated that chapter. Fingers crossed that it satisfies. Now, it’s time for me to move on and concentrate on my fourth Mill Pond romance. A complete change of style. And that’s a good thing for me. I’m a Libra. It helps keep me balanced. Hope you find balance in your writing this week! Hit those keys.
My webpage: http://www.judithpostswritingmusings....
My author’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsu...
Twitter: @judypost
And FYI: If you’re a fan of epic fantasy, my friend, M. L. Rigdon’s PROPHECY DENIED is FREE thru March 7: http://www.amazon.com/PROPHECY-DENIED...
March 3, 2016
The last chapter’s up!
This is it. The book’s finished. I posted chapter 23. You can find its tab at the end of the left column on my webpage. I hope you enjoyed the entire story. I love comments, if you have time. I’m planning on leaving the entire thing on my page for two or three weeks before I remove it to make into a short novel for Amazon. Thanks for reading! And I hope the images of the three bad witches don’t give you nightmares:) If you liked Babet and Prosper, I have several of their novella bundles available on Amazon, too.
http://www.judithpostswritingmusings.com/
March 2, 2016
EMPTY ALTARS is Free, March 2-6
I love Greek and Norse myths, so decided to bump them together in a book. Diana, goddess of the hunt, the moon, and witchcraft is none too happy when her runes whip her out of her Manhattan penthouse to send her to a Norse meadow that hasn’t changed since the Viking days. Tyr and Donar are even less happy to find her there, but Freya insists they need Diana’s help to win against Heid, a dark witch who refuses to stay dead.
February 26, 2016
3 down, more to go?
My three book contract is up with Kensington. I delivered my last book, and I’m waiting for my editor to read it and send feedback. I’ve been lucky so far. No rewrites. That might not hold with this book. It has a different rhythm, a different flow. My protagonist is a female chef with two kids, and I wanted to capture how those two things drove Paula’s life, how she had so little time for anything else–like romance. But romance finds her anyway. The thing is, I’ve grown attached to Mill Pond, the people who live there, and I wondered what to do next.
Luckily, my editor wrote that he hopes I have more stories in mind for the series. I do, but first, my agent has to negotiate a new contract. I have no idea how much time that will take, but I had to send a proposal for her to submit, and that managed to be a lot of work. My wonderful, wonderful editor is easy-going about what I send in, just as long as he can get an idea about what the next book will be like. I’m the one who fusses about plot points. I know there are pantsers, who start a story and let their characters lead the charge. I can’t start a book until I know all of the pulse points along the way. And yes, it’s come down to pulse points for me. I’ve gotten more driven about my outlines, not less.
I used to start a book, just knowing the set-up, two turning points, and the end. If I aimed for those, I knew I was on the right track. Not anymore. I’ve reached the point where I want an idea for each chapter in the book. For Fit To Be Thai’d (my working title–Tyne’s Paula’s assistant chef, who specializes in international cuisine), I have FORTY lengthy plot points. Why? Because the longer I work with my characters, the better I know them, and I’d rather do that during plot points than while I’m pounding out pages. More, for this book, I wanted to focus on tone. I want the book to have a “light” feel. I want Tyne to jump off the pages. Anyway, it took me longer than usual to plot out this book. I was beginning to think I’d NEVER get it done. But I’m glad I did all of the grunt work ahead of time, because now, I can’t wait to write it. And the proposal’s sent. And now I have to wait until I hear back from my agent and editor–the life of a writer.
And talking about writing, I’m doing my blog early this week, because I’m playing hooky over the weekend. My daughter’s coming home on Saturday, and we’re taking her son and his significant other to a small Vietnamese restaurant for supper. Then on Sunday, Holly and I are spending the day cooking for the Oscar Party we share with a few movie buff friends of ours. I haven’t seen any movies lately, but they know them all, so I’m just focusing on providing the food. We go all out–salmon in puff pastry, spiced beef on pita triangles, and creamy crab and bacon endive boats, along with boiled shrimp. Dawn and Holly are chocoholics, so I’m making a flourless, chocolate cake, too. (Now you know why food creeps into most of my stories. I love it! Love to eat, love to cook). Anyway, I’ll be missing in action this weekend, but hope you have a wonderful time and happy writing!
My webpage: http://www.judithpostswritingmusings....
My author’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/JudithPostsu...
twitter: @judypost
February 25, 2016
Chapter 22’s up
I put up chapter 22. I’m tying up subplots before the last chapter–which I’ll put up next Friday. Urban fantasies end with big battles for the final showdown and small wrap-ups. I have my work cut out for me:) Zanor’s a villain who won’t be easy to defeat.
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