Robyn Heirtzler's Blog, page 2

The Earth Needs More Rebels

Are you a little bit of a rebel? You're invited to join me for my next interview! I'm going to be the guest on The Earth Needs More Rebels Show April 9 at 1:30 p.m. EST.

Kevin's an awesome radio host and with the Irish accent, quite fun to listen to. 
You'll also get to hear inside information about the second installment of the One United Series, you know, the sequel to inDIVISIBLE ... 
So what are you waiting for? Mark your calendars and set your alert so you can be ready to join in on the fun. 
Thank you, Kris Peterson for the awesome pic! 

So you Want to Write a Novel ...

Everywhere I go, people tell me they want to write a book, or they are writing a book, or they've written a book. Then they ask if I'd like to read and review it. My standard answer, "No."

95% of all indie novels I've read this year have been lacking, and that makes me quite sad, because I love new novels, new authors, creative story-lines ...

Recently, I've come to the conclusion that the biggest problem of new indie authors is enthusiasm .

You're excited to write a book ...so you write it ...you love it ...your mother loves it ...your spouse loves it ...but they're not English majors.They're not editors.They don't know fiction like an agent knows fiction.But you put soooooooooo much time into the story that you can't bury it.You can't call it a "learning" experience.So you self-publish.And the majority of readers cringe.Then they shy away from indie fiction of any kind becausethe genre can no longer be trusted!PLEASE don't publish until you've learned novel writing skillsAND hired a professional editor.You hurt yourself and you hurt the indie market in general.
So where do you start? I've used two sentences based on actual excerpts from recent reading. I break them down one issue at a time to create a more engaging and stimulating sentence. They're not perfect, but they'll keep readers reading.
He was throwing a ball to his friend who waited anxiously with a long, sturdy, wooden bat.1. Eliminate was whenever possible! Correction: He threw a ball to his friend who waited anxiously with a long, sturdy wooden bat.
2. Limit the use of ly adverbs and get creative! Show us the action, please. That's why we read!Correction: He threw a ball to his friend who waited, fingers sweating as they clutched a long, sturdy wooden bat.
3. Get to the point and leave out all the unnecessary descriptive words, especially when they're obvious, like a bat being long.Correction: He threw a ball to his friend who waited, fingers sweating as they clutched the baseball bat.
She looked at his strong profile because it seemed to make her feel safe and secure.1. A POV (point of view character) is obviously the one looking, seeing, feeling and hearing in any particular scene, so please quit saying it. Just show it. Correction: Her eyes flickered to his strong profile because it seemed to make her feel safe and secure.
2. Start describing people, places, etc., instead of stating it. You're a creative writer. Remember to be creative. Also, try to enter environmental details into each scene to make it come to life.Correction: Her eyes flickered to his profile, the setting sun accentuating his Roman nose and prominent jawline. It seemed to make her feel safe and secure.
3. Quit overusing seemed. If a character is feeling a certain way about something, to them it is real. Also, give us hints as to thoughts, or glimpses into the future or past ...Correction: Her eyes flickered to his strong profile, the setting sun accentuating his Roman nose and prominent jawline. Her nerves soothed, and her stomach settled. Together, they would succeed.

Thank you for visiting my blog! As always, check out my newest novel, inDIVISIBLE available for Kindle and Nook.

Ten Random Writing Facts

Ten Random Writing Facts   “In Search of Lost Time” was the longest novel ever written at 4,211 pages and a word count of 1.2 million. From the time a person begins writing as a hobby, it takes them an average of eight years to become traditionally published.Agented authors send an average of 65 queries before gaining representation. Total time for a novel to reach the shelves after the initial idea: about two years.Random House recently paid out what could be the highest advance of all time, $3.5 million for the essay collection “Not That Kind of Girl” by Lena Dunham.“A Tale of Two Cities” by Charles Dickens is considered to be the highest selling book of all time with 200 million copies since its publication in 1859.John Locke, author of nine novels, was the first author to sell more than 1 million Kindle books on Amazon, the eighth to join the Kindle Million Club.Author Hugh Howey says he makes six-figures each month from Amazon book sales.The highest grossing movie based on a book (adjusted for inflation) was “Gone With the Wind” with a gross of: $400 million, inflation adjusted to $6.52 billion.According to a report in The Guardian, most self-published authors average $10,000 per year with unlimited earning potential.Yeah, eleven, but here goes the shameless self-promotion :) Readers who experience inDIVISIBLE are more attractive, charismatic and fulfilled in their life as a whole ... oh yeah! Okay, number eleven is my own little fantasy, but what's life without dreams?

First Page Critique - Contemporary Thriller

                My coffee was cold, undrinkable. I must have been nursing it longer than I thought. Five more minutes and I'd give up on her. She'd said eight o'clock and my phone told me it was almost nine. My neck was starting to get sore from constantly panning between the bookstore cafe's two doors. The first paragraph is passive. Try using more of an active voice and eliminating the "was" from your opening. Also, try reading your writing aloud to see how well it flows. I had to read the "bookstore cafe's two doors" twice to make sure I'd gotten it right.              She looked like she had sounded - harried and afraid. What does harried and afraid look like? Show instead ... perhaps - her eyes darted through the cafe, fingers twitching atop her purse as if trying to decide whether or not to join me. In other words, imply fear, don't tell it. Another part of my brain guiltily (use adverbs sparingly) noticed that she still looked beautiful more telling - eliminate the telling and skip straight to showing. Her style hadn’t changed much. Her clothes and makeup were go active, perhaps - her black eyeliner blended flawlessly into charcoal eyes-shadow, nearly a perfect match for her form-fitting cocktail dress (or whatever she's wearing) - create visuals black and shades of black. Her skin pale as marble. A Goth Goddess.              She hesitated in the doorway,; her eyes taking took in the cafe and everyone in it. I got the impression she was deciding if she should come inside, or bolt back into the night before the door could close behind her ah, here's the visual missing in the beginning - you can start with this paragraph instead, only make sure your readers know they're in a bookstore cafe if you do. Our eyes locked, and my chest tightened. She crossed the room and sat down across from me.  I realized I had stopped breathing this is a great opportunity to use one of the senses, as in chest burned from not breathing, etc. the second she entered.              Her body trembled as she spoke. "Thank you for meeting me. I didn’t know who else to call. I was afraid you wouldn’t come after all this time." She had never been fragile.              I put my hand over hers. My lips twisted, and my reassuring smile came out more self-depreciating can he see himself?. "Of course I came, Samaire. I’ve been waiting for almost three years."              And it was true. I'd convinced myself that we were too different, we'd had no chemistry, but that was a lie. At least on my part. My body had been cackling with electricity since she had often "she had" slows the reading - would he think that or would he just say or think "she'd"appeared.               Both of her hands were in mine again, make it visual, her hands trembled in mine, for example. My comment had hurt her… she knew that she had wounded me I was a little confused here - she wounded him just now, in the past, when? Details aren't needed if it gives away the story but a little more info could clarify why he's wounded and regretted it. I could hear the gears turning inside her head cliche – trying to decide if she had made a horrible mistake in calling me, in coming here. It was painfully familiar. I cleared my throat - to break the silence and stop the noisy gears. "That wasn’t fair. I’m sorry. You sounded like you needed help, not me reopening old wounds."              "I think..." her voice trembled. She started over, and her words tripped over each other in a rush. "I think that I'm in danger, I’m not sure who I can trust, and I don’t know who else to call or anywhere I could go. Then I remembered that you said you would always be there for me. I feel horrible about calling you after all this time. I just didn’t know anyone else to turn to…" her voice trailed off and she glanced over her shoulder at the door.              Something was wrong. I pulled one of my hands back to pull out my iPhone. I glanced at my recent calls and saw the problem. Her call showed up as 'Samaire', not a phone number. Why was her number in a phone I’d bought years after I last talked to her? I was so lost in my thoughts that it startled me when she clutched at the hand she still held.              "It’s too late," tears formed in her eyes, "I’m sorry. I always loved you." She pressed something into my hand as she stood. It was a ring into my hand as she stood - a diamond engagement ring, no paragraph break here -              Hher attention was fixed on a dark man storming towards us. break here instead His pace increased as he neared us. I hadn’t completely stood, when he threw her to the ground.You're creating some good intrigue and promises of a good action-packed story. I like that you have a major event taking place on page one. That's important to hook the reader. Just make sure the rest of your beginning is active, as I expect your story continues to increase in energy and action. Remember to think about all five senses and use them when possible, it creates a real world for the reader, one they can delve into without realizing they've left their own home. Thank you, Kat, for submitting your first page for critique! 
For information about FREE first page critiques, click here.

Giggle at 10 Seconds ... :)

Sometimes it's the little things that make us laugh, like this incredibly short, incredibly cute video of a girl and a bear. Simple, yes, but heartwarming. 
Watch it. 
Giggle.
Share.
Have a beautiful and happy Tuesday!

Thanks for the Great Blog Tour!

I'm so grateful for all the awesome bloggers who've had me on their blogs these last two weeks, and for all the great reviews and interviews!

One of my favorites is this awesome video review ... go ahead, watch it and leave a comment for the reviewer. I think she's fabulous :) but maybe I'm slightly biased.

If you missed any of the blog posts, be sure and check the original schedule and read everything you missed.

Thanks again!

Fun with Google Translate

[image error] Looking for a smile? My kids love playing on Google Translate, creating phrases to use on the telephone or writing poems or song lyrics in other languages that ultimately make no sense, etc.

So when we saw this, we had to try it and yes, it made us all laugh.

Go ahead, have a smile on Google! 

Go to Google Translate and type "pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk pv zk bschk pv zk pv bschk zk bschk pv bschk bschk pv kkkkkkkkkk bschk" in. Translate to German or try any number of other languages and enjoy! German works best but the others made us laugh too.

Feeding Minds Through Fiction

I'm happy to announce a guest blogger today, Pam Funke, feeding minds with her Four Horsemen Series:
One day while I was standing in the local Wal-Mart looking at the books on the shelves there, it occurred to me that there just was not enough Christian Fiction books out on the market. I was disappointed with the books that were available for the public to read, especially those on the market for our youth. 
The books that lined the shelves are not feeding their minds or souls with positive things. Now mind you there are some very good non-Christian novels out there that instill a positive message. But unfortunately there are many out there that are not. There has to be something in a good book that not only feeds the mind with positive values and teaches the reader how to improve their life and give them some hope. If not, then what's the point? A good book should have a lesson in it that someone can learn something valuable from it and not just an escape away from their problems in the real world ~ because when the story is over the real world is still there and so are their problems. They should be able to come out of that story with something positive that they can use to help them in the real world. From that very moment I decided that I would try to fill that very void and hence The Four Horsemen series was born.
Operation Dark Angel, which is the first book in the series, began my journey into authorhood. When I first sat down to write this novel, I honestly wasn’t sure what it was going to entail. I sat there for a few moments wondering how to begin the story. I put my pen down and sat there for a moment pondering what to do. As I sat there with my eyes closed it suddenly came to me. I started to see the events of my novel unfold before me in my mind. It was as though I were watching a movie on the television set. It seemed kind of odd to be writing in this manner, but I wrote down everything that I saw and heard in my mind. 
Although I was able to picture my story, I still had to do some research into various things. For example, I had to find out about different cultures and religions so that I could incorporate them into my story properly. I also had to read extensive news articles from around the world to figure out which ones I could use to enhance the storyline. 
A year later I had a completed manuscript and sat down to read it from cover to cover. It turned out to be a really good story worthy of being read by others. I must admit that I was nervous about sending it out to various publishers, but I figured what harm could it do? They would either love it or hate it. I sent it off to ten different publishers and forgot about it for a while. Imagine my surprise when all ten publishers sent me acceptance letters and contracts. That was a wonderful feeling, I could hardly believe it. After choosing a publisher, my very first book was published three months later.
Well it is now a year later and I am happy to say that my second book in the series, The World at War, will be published later this month.
As a new author, my advice to all of you out there who have the desire to write or are newly published authors as well, write to your heart’s content. Don’t give up your dream and even if one door or more is closed in your face be patient for there will be one door that will remain open for you. Write for not only your enjoyment but for the enjoyment of others. Stay encouraged and happy writing.

Back Cover Copy:
The second book in the exciting Four Horsemen Series. Join General Alexander Ludlow as he continues on his mission to save the world. At least that is what he thinks that Operation Dark Angel is all about. He is however starting to suspect that this mission is not all that it's cracked up to be. The world is in complete chaos as major nations wage war on each other and the world is on the brink of World War III.

The Group is secretly continuing Operation Dark Angel with much success. Unknown to the rest of the world they are the ones who are behind the strange and devastating attacks on Israel and around the world. What is it that they are really after when they are supposed to be bringing peace to an out of control world?
 
Italian President Nicolaitanes Balac is steadily gaining political power and recognition. The entire world is watching this one man and wondering if he will be the one to save them from the chaotic spiral that the world is headed towards. Is he really who he appears to be or is he something much more sinister? Can he save the world? Do we even want him to? Is this who mankind should rely on for help or will this be the worst mistake that mankind has ever made?

Social Links:
Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5751293.Pam_FunkeBlog: http://thefourhorsemenseries.blogspot.com/Website: http://www.amazon.com/Pam-Funke/e/B00949V7KK/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Four-Horsemen-Series-Fan-Club/246913845377700Twitter:  https://twitter.com/4HorsemenSeries

The Blog Tour Continues ... and NEW Cover!! Wahoo!

The Remaining Tour Stops:
Now unveiling the NEW inDIVISIBLE book cover! Wahoo! So what do you all think? I've also included the rest of my blog tour details with a special thanks to everyone who's hosting me! You're all absolutely awesome! 
Feb. 2 - BOOK REVIEW
LDS Forever Friends Book Nook with Teri Rodeman

Feb. 4 - AUTHOR INTERVIEW
My Keys on Writing ... with Mikey Brooks

Feb. 5 - AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Paper Breaths of David James

Feb. 6 - GUEST POST - The YA Market isn't Just for Children Anymore
Write Through the Noise with Wendy Knight

Feb. 7 - AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Jenuine Cupcakes with Jen Fisher

Feb. 8 - GUEST POST
No Thought 2 Small with Konstanz Silverbow

Feb. 8 - BOOK REVIEW
To Read or Not To Read?
Path of a Wordbender with Amanda

Feb. 9 - BOOK REVIEW
Writing Blind with Traci McDonald

And finally one last blog to finish it all off:
Feb. 27 - GUEST POST
The Alliterative Allomorph


Previous Posts:

Jan. 25 - AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Book Addict 24-7 with Dayla F.M.

Jan. 28 - GUEST POST - Ten Random Writing Facts
Tristi Pinkston, LDS Author

Jan. 29 - GUEST POST - Top 5 Ways to Procrastinate Writing
Word Paintings Unlimited with Sherry Gammon

Jan. 29 - GUEST POST - Books that Influenced a Love of Reading
Lindzee Armstrong

Jan. 30 - GUEST POST - Author Spotlight & Path to Publishing
Writing Blind with Traci McDonald

Jan. 31 - AUTHOR INTERVIEW
James Duckett

Feb. 1 - GUEST POST - Pathway to Publication
Amy Jarecki Writes

The Proposal

Looking for a smile? An awesome and tender marriage proposal!

Wishing you two the very best!