Terri Herman-Poncé's Blog: Terri Herman-Ponce, page 20

My next paranormal suspense, COVET, is coming March 25!

Good news! I signed the contract with Crimson Romance for my second book, COVET, which is slated to release as an ebook on Monday, March 25 through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes and wherever ebooks are sold online. PODs will be available at a future date.

How cool is that?

Want to know what my latest paranormal suspense is all about? Though COVET follows my recent release, IN THIS LIFE, it can be read as a standalone…

_________________________

COVET is the story of threatening secrets, risky espionage, and one man’s discovery that instinct can be more powerful than reason.

All professional soldier David Bellotti has to do is steal a wallet from drug lord, Zev Sahin. A simple operation to snag the key card to Sahin’s compound and hand the card over to the woman who hired him. But when David finds a photo inside the wallet of his lover, Lottie, kissing another man, he discovers his life isn’t what it seems and that the people in it are keeping dangerous information from him.

Ex-lover, Monica, is carrying the largest secret of all. Determined to get David back into her life, her secret will become her strongest weapon against him. But protecting his love for Lottie won’t be easy for David. As images of Lottie’s murder start surfacing, David realizes he’s reliving ancient memories from over ten thousand years ago—from a life that’s linked to Lottie and Monica now, and that will once again end in Lottie’s death if he can’t find a way to stop it.
_________________________

I truly hope this story is as entertaining and engaging for you to read as it was for me to craft. I had a terrific time writing from David’s point of view!

Copyright © 2012 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com

Filed under: Sneak Peeks Tagged: Amazon, B&N, Barnes & Noble, COVET, Crimson Romance, David Bellotti, ebooks, In This LIfe, iTunes, paranormal, suspense, Terri Herman-Ponce, Terri Ponce

Main Cast of Characters

Source: Crimson Romance

DR. TALETTA (LOTTIE) MORGAN

So, you’ve already seen Lottie on my cover, but I had to include her photo here again. For the longest time I had a hard time visualizing Lottie in my head, then Crimson Romance came back with this cover model and I knew I had her.

Born: December 12

5′ 7″

Occupation: Psychologist

Favorite color: Yellow

Favorite band: Lifehouse; Plain White Ts; Colbie Caillat

Favorite food: Anything David cooks

Unique physical attribute: Small dimple on chin; heart-shaped birthmark on left shoulder

Drives: White Jeep Wrangler

Pet peeve: David’s occasional bossiness; if anything can raise her hackles, that’ll do it

In her spare time she likes to: Play volleyball or go to the beach with David and get naked

Most embarrassing moment: “Do I really have to tell you this?” She waits for my nod. “Okay, then, I guess there’s no way around it. My best friend, Lori, and I went to a bachelorette party a while back. I think there were about thirty of us, and around three in the morning we ended up at a mid-town New York nightclub after a long pub crawl. I don’t remember how it happened exactly, but Lori and I ended up dancing on the bar, and everyone was throwing money at us, and we started doing a striptease.” A sly smile emerges and she shakes her head, like maybe telling me this was a bad idea. “It didn’t get too far, mostly because we were pretending, but these guys were whistling and cheering us on because we were just having a good time.” She sighs and shakes her head again, and the grin turns into red-cheeked embarrassment. “A few days later, I got a text from a friend asking me if I’d looked at YouTube lately. As it turned out, someone took a video and posted it online, and it got almost a half million hits.” She straightens and clears her throat. “In case you’re wondering, the video isn’t online anymore. Once David discovered it, he called someone who called someone who threatened somebody else, and the video was pulled.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Source: Unknown

DAVID M. BELLOTTI

I found this picture somewhere, way back when, and immediately knew he was David. The face, the features . . . everything about him was spot-on. And I know what you’re thinking. Total wow, right? Now you know why I’m addicted to him.

Born: June 13

6’2″, 195 lbs.

Occupation: Leads an elite commando team for global military corporation, Professional Recruitment & Operations (PROs)

Favorite color: Whatever Lottie’s wearing

Favorite band: Saving Abel; Nickelback; Staind

Favorite food: Anything Thai

Unique physical attribute: Vivid green eyes; jagged scar that runs up the inside of his left arm

Drives: Ford Expedition in Blue Jeans Metallic

Pet peeve: Lying – hates having it done to him; hates doing it

In his spare time he likes to: Spend the day or night on the beach behind the dunes with Lottie, a blanket and a couple of bottles of wine.

Most embarrassing moment: David gives me one of those disarming grins that fires up his green eyes. “Went out with the guys one night, when Lottie was going to a bachelorette party. Things got rowdy quickly. I don’t remember much, but I remember my best friend, Nat, complaining that he needed a vacation and demanding to go to Bali. So we drove him to the post office, don’t ask me why, and left him there so he could take his trip. Then someone drove me home — only when I got home I couldn’t get my key in the door. I kept trying, but the damned thing wouldn’t budge. Somehow I got inside and all I kept thinking was, I need a bed. Or something. Somewhere between the front door and my bedroom, I stripped and passed out.” David glances away, but the hint of the devil still lurks in his eyes. Then he looks back at me. “Woke up the next day on a pool table with a black lab next to me. Wasn’t my house. It was the Senator’s. And he was not happy to see me there.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

GALEN BRISCOE Born: February 15

5’11″, 175 lbs

Occupation: Sniper for global military corporation, Professional Recruitment & Operations (PROs)

Favorite color: Brown, because it’s earthy

Favorite band: Clairy Brown & The Bangin’ Rackettes

Favorite food: A loaded cheeseburger

Unique physical attribute: His voice; it soothes you like silk and satin

Drives: Silver Audi convertible

Pet peeve: “For the people who love to text and check email while you’re in a movie theater, please stop that.”

In his spare time he likes to: Hike in the woods and connect with nature where life is untainted, simple and pure.

Most embarrassing moment: “I’d prefer not to share those stories with you.” I try to convince him to change his mind, but he won’t do it. He offers me a carrot instead. “I do, however, have a story that I feel a little guilty about that I know you’ll appreciate. I went out with Bellotti and Nat one night, and some other guys from PROs. Everyone was partying pretty heavy but I stopped early because I’d drawn the short straw to be one of the DDs. Around four in the morning it was obvious that Bellotti wasn’t getting home on his own, and it probably would have served him right that I left him where we were but I couldn’t do it. So I loaded him up in my car and started driving, and then I started thinking about all the grief he’d given me over Lottie since I met him.” He stops, knowing he’s already said too much, but Galen’s feelings for Lottie are no secret. He tamps down on the emotion, puts on his best game face and continues. “I don’t know what got into me, but I decided not to bring him home and so I took him to Carla’s instead. Her father is a Senator and I knew how he’d react to finding Bellotti there, but Bellotti deserved a comeuppance. The funny thing was, Bellotti never realized it wasn’t his house and he kept trying his key over and over to get inside. I knew the key code from when Carla and I used to hook up, and before I could stop him, Bellotti took off, stripped and laid down on the pool table. The last thing I heard was something that sounded like ‘Need a new bed. This one’s too hard.’” I ask Galen if David ever found out that he was behind the escapade. “No. He got sidetracked with some video of Lottie on YouTube right after that night and forgot about it.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

NAT HUTCHINS

Born: March 29

5’11″, 225 lbs.

Occupation: Tech wizard for global military corporation, Professional Recruitment & Operations (PROs)

Favorite color: Red

Favorite band: Led Zeppelin; AC/DC

Favorite food: “Steak, so rare it’s still mooing, man.”

Unique physical attribute: Built like a professional wrestler and a teddy bear at heart

Drives: Tricked out Cherry Red Mustang

Pet peeve: “Keep your paws off my car!”

In his spare time he likes to: Watch Finding Nemo with his wife, Lori, and their three sons

Most embarrassing moment: Nat laughs out loud. “Oh man, you had to be there.” He sits upright, like he can’t wait to tell this story. “Went out with the guys to blow off steam. I mean, we were totally fired up. Had the DDs, you know, and hired cabs to get guys home, but holy crap. It was freaking wild. This was one of those nights you talk about for years and never tell your kids.” He pauses. “If you can remember it. Anyway, we were yakking it up about vacations, coz David and Lottie vacation everywhere, and I got annoyed because I wanted to go away, too. I mean, I love my kids, but I’m busting for some one on one with my wife somewhere far away. Then some brat in the group, might have been David, was saying how much he loved Bali and I started chomping for Bali, too. The next thing I know, I’m waking up with a crowd of people looking down at me coz I was lying on the sidewalk next to the post office. The freaking post office! With postage plastered. All. Over. My. Ass.”

Filed under: Sneak Peeks Tagged: character interviews, David Bellotti, In This LIfe, Lottie Morgan, sneak peek, Terri Herman, Terri Herman-Ponce, Terri Ponce

Today was a day for the memory books

After sixteen years, a million+ words, the gods know how many completed books, unfinished books, revisions, tears, headaches, bottles of wine and moments of triumph, In This Life, which will be published by Crimson Romance on October 8, made it to Goodreads and I got my very first review. Ever. From someone who isn’t family or friend.

How freaking amazing is that?

For me, this is about as real as it gets. This is what tells me that maybe I’ve done something right, that maybe I’ve created something entertaining. That maybe it’s time to realize this isn’t inside my head anymore but something that’s actually become real.

Oh, I’m still keeping my sense of reason nearby. I know better than to let this get the better of me.

But damn, it feels good. For the first time since I’ve started writing, I feel I’ve accomplished something. Something more than just getting a book published. For the first time in a long time, I’ve done something I’ve never, ever done before.

And tomorrow, when reality sets in again, I’ll be looking ahead to what’s next for me. Finishing and pitching the second book in my Past Life Series. Writing book three. And enjoying each moment, as small or as large as it might be, with enthusiasm and happiness and open arms.

Because, after all, that’s what life should be about, right?

Good night, folks. I’m going to bed with a smile on my face tonight.

Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: In This LIfe, Past Life series, Terri Herman-Ponce, unfinished books, writing

Sneak Peeks

Pssst! I have a little something to share with you.

The first chapter of In This Life!

The book, a paranormal romantic suspense that’s been getting great advance reviews, will be released on Monday, October 8.

Chapter One

When you’ve known someone your entire life, there isn’t a lot they can say or do that can surprise you anymore. So when David entered the bedroom, tea and toast in hand and a determined look on his face, I knew the words that would come out of his mouth before he even said them.

“No, Lottie. You’re not going into work today.” And he watched me with an expression that said he knew what I intended to say, too.

“I’m feeling better.”

“Really?” He sat down on the king–sized bed and placed the food tray in front of me. “Eat this. All of this. Then we’ll talk.”

I smelled hot green tea and fresh toast and, for one brief moment, my stomach reminded me that it was empty before rolling over with nausea again.

He sent me a long look. “I figured as much.”

I shifted in bed and tried again. “I have a meeting with my boss today, David, plus a new client who’s expecting me. I’ve also got four appointments that I can’t walk away from.”

“You have the flu and can get your clients sick.”

Now he stared me down, aiming for intimidation despite the bare feet, blue jeans, and faded T–shirt. And I saw why the men that David commanded feared and respected him. Powerful stature aside, his green eyes had a way of cutting right through you until you felt compelled to obey his every word.

However, I wasn’t one of his men.

I nibbled the toast to prove a point more to me than to David, and my stomach pitched again. David said nothing, probably because he knew better, and I pushed out of bed and headed for the master bathroom. Halfway there, my legs turned rubbery and I knew I’d lost the battle.

Another therapist would have had a field day with my stubbornness.

I leaned against the counter and dropped my head. I felt beaten and fatigued, and uneasiness I’d been experiencing since getting sick prickled at me once again. I couldn’t pinpoint the emotion except to call it restlessness, living in a fog that would eventually lift and reveal something with life–altering clarity that I hadn’t discovered before. It was an irrational sensation and one I attributed to the flu.

“I’m on leave for the next two weeks,” David called out. “Take advantage of that and stay one more day. You know you need the rest and I can take care of you over the weekend until you go back on Monday.”

His taking care of me wasn’t the issue. The love of my life was an ace in the kitchen and a neat freak with an affectionate bedside manner. I simply wanted to get back on my own two feet, and under my own terms and steam. I grabbed a brush from a drawer and worked it through my hair. As I bent over to get the underside, dizziness followed and I held on to the counter until the room settled down. I drew in a breath, straightened and tried one last time with determined optimism. My hands moved up and down, up and down and then once again.

Two hands became three, then four. I felt a gentle tugging at my head and the weight of something heavy settle on top of it. The hands stroked and pampered, moving from my hair to my face and neck. A noise followed, the sound of a lid removed from a bottle, and a rich, spiced scent spread over the room and over me. I inhaled, long and deep, wanting more. Much, much more.

“Does it meet with your pleasure?” someone asked.

I could not answer. The aroma was too intoxicating and reminded me of him. Of us.

The person spoke my name and repeated the question, and still I could not answer. My name was uttered once more.

“Lottie?”

Hands settled on my shoulders and shook.

“Lottie?”

The aroma started fading away.

“Lottie, can you hear me?” The scent evaporated and I shook my head to clear the remnants of its evocative memories. David stood just behind, a firm grip on arms. “Are you okay?”

“I’ll be fine. I just need a moment.” I saw his worried expression in the mirror and its intensity surprised me. “What’s wrong?”

“Enough of this already.” David steered me from the bathroom back to our bed, tucked me in and made sure I felt comfortable. He stood near me for some time and asked, “What happened in there?”

“A little nausea and another dizzy spell.” I rubbed my forehead, trying to put a name to what I felt. “Maybe I still have a fever, too.”

David touched my forehead, shook his head and sat down beside me. He was studying me now, probing, and trying to see something he didn’t see before.

“You were immobile for almost five minutes,” he said, tucking my hair behind an ear.

“I think you’re exaggerating.”

“Five minutes.”

The restlessness I’d been feeling surged through me again, stronger this time, and I didn’t like the way it felt. Something seemed off, and I wasn’t sure if it was with David or with me. Remnants of last night’s sleep started trickling in, and then a connection clicked into place.

“I had a dream last night and I started remembering it in the bathroom.” I closed my eyes, trying to remember more. “I was in a room with a servant who was waiting on me. She was preparing me to meet someone. A boyfriend.” No, that wasn’t quite right. “A lover.”

I felt a tingling uneasiness as I said the word.

“A lover?” David asked.

I opened my eyes, saw David’s grin and recognized the bait for what it was.

I grinned back. “The lover wasn’t you.”

His grin widened and then faded away. “That still doesn’t explain your behavior in the bathroom. You looked like a statue.”

“I’m tired, David,” I said, sliding down under the covers. “The human mind is capable of doing unusual things when a person is under stress, like when they’re sick, and the gods only know I’ve been feeling a lot of that these past few days. Forget about it. It’s not a worry.”

David paused. “Is that your professional assessment?”

“Yes.”

It looked like David wanted to say more but he got up and walked to the windows that overlooked the backyard instead. I wasn’t sure what was going through his mind but I knew him well enough to know not to pry. It always backfired whenever I did. So I let him have his moment, toyed with the toast, and then passed on it in favor of some tea. My cell phone rang as soon as I put the mug on the nightstand, and I answered it on the second ring.

“Tough night’s sleep, Lottie?” The voice on the other end was male and one I didn’t recognize. “You shouldn’t tell your boyfriend about your other lovers. Especially those you dream about.”

“Who is this?” I asked.

“I’m disappointed you don’t recognize me.” He laughed, the sound crawling over my skin like a snake over sand. “I’m the man you dreamed about last night.”

Read the entire book on October 8, available at Amazon.com, B&N.com and other ebook distributors. Print on demand will be available at a future date.

Copyright © 2012 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com


Filed under: Sneak Peeks Tagged: first chapter, In This LIfe, paranormal, romantic suspense, Terri Herman-Ponce, Terri Ponce

To Err Is Human. To Really Eff Up Requires A Writer.

I’ve been known to bungle things from time to time.

And the one thing I’ve noticed, when I make a mistake, is that I can be pretty hard on myself. It’s an expectation thing, I realize, and it also has a lot to do with perfection. You know, wanting to do your best — but without booboos.

That’s hard to do. In fact, it’s damned near impossible.

There’s this little voice inside all of our heads that constantly compares ourselves to others. Something buried down, very deep, that most of us don’t listen to. And that little voice can be our worst enemy. It tells us that our house isn’t as nice as the neighbor’s. That we don’t earn enough money as the guy sitting next to us in the office. That we should have done things differently, even though you can’t because whatever it is that you did is done, past tense.

Or that the book you’re writing isn’t as good as some other author’s book that’s selling boatloads of copies.

Chalk that one up to writer insecurity and a much-hated Internal Editor.

See, I’m one of those writers who writes and rewrites, then writes and rewrites again, sharpening each scene as I go along until I’m satisfied that what I’ve written is ‘good enough’. Of course, ‘good enough’ is a subjective thing and it can drive you crazy. But I’m not a pantster (writing whatever comes to my head and finishing the book, then going back and revising) and I’m not a plotter (outlining each scene and chapter and then writing the story based on the outline). My brain just isn’t wired that way.

So what happens? Sometimes (okay, many times) I get caught up in the little details of a scene to the point of compulsion. And then I have trouble letting go and moving on. I find what I think are mistakes, fix them, revise more, go back and reread, and then find more mistakes, and revise again. I did this a lot with In This Life, which is due out on October 8 from Crimson Romance. It’s a story that took, hmm, about 6 or 7 years to complete. Yes. Six or seven years. It went through many revisions, rewrites and an agent before I found my current publisher, as well as a lot of mistakes. I’d written before In This Life, and I wrote a lot after, but that book turned out to be my learning curve. The story that tested me and tried me, made me scream and made me cry, and that taught me a very important lesson: deciding when I, as a writer, have to say enough is enough.

I’m proud of the story. It went through a lot of blood, sweat and tears that 99% of readers will never know about, but it also went through a lot of mistakes, too. I think those mistakes were important for me to make. I learned a lot about my characters, David and Lottie. I learned a lot about how to tell Story. And I learned how to differentiate between the important mistakes and the mistakes I could let go of.

That’s pretty much what any of us can do in life, right?

Copyright © 2012 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com

Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: Crimson Romance, editing, In This LIfe, little voice, Terri Herman-Ponce, writing

10 Reasons Why I Love Twitter (in 140 characters or less)

I’m hooked on Twitter, and here’s why:

It fits my microwave mentality mindset. All my tweets are written in less than 15 seconds.
Tweets can trend f-a-s-t. A great way to build momentum!
No long-winded messages. From anyone.
#hashtags
Can anyone say TweetDeck?
It forces me to say more with less. Talk about impact.
Great for driving website traffic and calls to action.
You find out about news (or drive it) as soon as it happens.
You can schedule tweets and anything you want to say or share without fuss.
The birdie logo. He’s damned cute.

So what about you? Love Twitter? Hate it? Still living under a rock and have no idea what Twitter is??

Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: Fun Facts, Tweet, Twitter

Enjoying the now

I don’t know about you, but I’m loving and hating social media at the same time.

Using Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn and all their other supporting tools has become something of a necessary evil. Want to chat with friends and family? Send a message on Facebook. Want to drop a quick note about what you’re doing today? Tweet on Twitter. Looking for a job or want to reacquaint with previous colleagues and employers? Connect on LinkedIn. Want to market your book (like I’m trying to do?) and you’ve got to balance using all three, sometimes at the same time!

It seems these days you can’t do just about anything without doing it through social media. And I think this might be a problem.

I was out running this morning, using the time to clear my head and refresh my body, and did what I always do. I listened to the chirping birds and smelled the fresh, dewy morning grass. My feet pounded on the blacktop, sounding out their own rhythm, and everything around me fell into a state of  bliss. The sensuous breeze. The warm, vibrant sun. The refreshing cold water I drank the harder I pushed myself. And as I got further into my run, something occurred to me. If I had my nose buried in my cell phone and was tweeting about my activities rather than actually enjoying the moment (not that I’d have done that while running but I’m trying to make a point here), I’d have missed out on the bright red male cardinal sitting on top of a white fence. I wouldn’t have seen the two small bunnies peering out from behind a lilac bush – which smelled like a most exotic perfume, by the way – or the black kitty cat with white booties sleeping in the shadows of a neighbor’s driveway.

One of the basic tenets of meditation is something called living in the present, or living in the moment. I meditate, though not regularly, and it’s a wonderful state of mind. It’s the art of living life moment to moment and as it comes to you, without worry or expectation or planning. It’s being in the present moment and it’s a very powerful, very inspiring feeling.

And I think, for all our wonderful technology today, we’ve lost that gift. I work in NYC and I constantly see people walking the station platforms and streets, even sitting in parks and on trains, glued to their smart phones. They’re texting or reading or reaching out to others in some form — and they’re missing everything in the now! I find that frightening and sad. And you know what? I’m guilty of doing that, too, sometimes.

I’m going to be published for the first time in my life, with my first book coming out on October 8th. And there’s a lot of work that comes with publication. Marketing, editing, revising, writing more books. It’s what I want, it’s a long-term career I’m pursuing, and yet I recognize that I’m going to need to find a balance so that, no matter how busy I am, I still focus on the now. For example, yesterday I was busy getting my social media marketing in order for pre-release, release and post-release. And the more research I did, the deeper I got myself into Twitter and Facebook. It was like I was sucked into a social media vortex with no way out. Well, there was a way out but I didn’t choose it. Instead, I went to a party after I did all this book marketing work and, while I was there, I kept checking in with my social media outlets for certain updates. Was it necessary? No. Could it have waited until the next day? Yes. And you know what happened? I missed the now at the party. Not all of it, but some of it, because I let myself become distracted.

So there’s a lesson in all of this, at least for me. Social media, as wonderful as it is, shouldn’t take over our lives. And I, for one, have decided not to let it take over mine. Even now, as I sit by my slider typing this blog, I’ve taken a few breaks to appreciate the fluttering leaves on the trees in my backyard and the scurrying chipmunks that run past. I opened the door to inhale sweet summer air and then, only when I appreciated another moment, did I go back to the table and do more work.

deep breath

release

relax

enjoy the now

And here is where I sign off to enjoy the rest of the day.

How about you? What are you going to do to enjoy the day? The now? The present?

Copyright © 2012 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com

Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: Facebook, LinkedIn, meditation, social media, Terri Herman-Ponce, Twitter

The unexplainable?

Have you ever sat and watched tv and felt a cool brush of air against you? Or thought you saw someone pass by, out of the corner of your eye, only to look up and discover no one was there? Or had a dream about someone you hadn’t seen in years, and then that person contacted you the next day?

Or met someone for the first time and felt as if you’d known that person forever?

I know, these are kind of eerie, maybe even creepy, things to think about, but they’re common occurrences. Maybe even more common than we care to admit.

Let’s face it. Most of us better handle what’s in front of us. The things we can touch or taste or smell or sense in some way. It’s easier on our small little brains to comprehend what can be explained. The earth rotates around the sun. Gravity makes stuff fall to the ground. Rain helps plants grow. These are tangible and proven facts that we base much of our life on and probably take for granted.

But the unexplainable? The things that we think might exist but aren’t sure about because we can’t sense them? Not so easy.

It’s been said that there are ten, possibly eleven, dimensions around our earth. Yet we accept that we live in a 3+1 dimensional place (length, width and depth +time) because we can prove it. It’s there, right in front of us. We live it every day. Does that mean the other 7 or 8 dimensions don’t exist? No, not necessarily. It’s just that we can’t easily prove them. Not yet, anyway.

In a way, these things are what give me inspiration to write about past lives. There are many thoughts on the subject — from the outright “past lives don’t exist” to “yes, they are real and I can prove I’ve lived a few” — and they all provide great food for thought for my writing. I mean, seriously. Can you imagine discovering that you had a past life and that there are certain people around you who you’ve known before, and that keep coming back with you until you learn the lessons you need to learn before moving on?

Amazing stuff, if you ask me. Especially when you throw in the romantic notion of a soul mate. You meet someone and have an instant connection. This person gets you and understands you without even having to try. Your relationship, as new as it is, slots into place like a lock and key. It feels like you’ve known this person forever.

And maybe you have.

Because you belong with that person. Forever.

Through all the ups and downs of time, sharing relationships with other men or women, arguments, separations, love and heat and passion, whatever it is, you keep coming back life after life because you belong with that one person. And continue to do so until you get it right.

Hmm.

What an interesting unexplainable, don’t you think?

Copyright © 2012 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com

Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: inspiration, past lives, soul mate, Terri Herman-Ponce, the unexplainable, writing

Surprise!

The other day, I got a phone call and the displayed phone number was one I didn’t recognize. My son was on the other end of the line — with a big surprise.

Turned out he went into the pool with his iPhone and within the space of two seconds realized what he’d done. It was enough to kill the phone, and we spent that evening buying him a replacement and restoring his backup.

That’s when I got to thinking that it’s the little situations like these that lots of people overlook but that I capitalize on for writing. See, life’s surprises are a lot like book surprises. And readers expect them. End of chapter hooks. Cliffhangers. Tension. All the good stuff that keeps them turning the pages. Readers may not be able to express when something like that’s missing from a story the way a reader or book critiquer or editor would, but they’ll be able to show their dissatisfaction by not finishing the book or not buying any others that an author’s written.

That sucks.

So how does a writer deliver what a reader wants?

Years ago, I spent a lot of time in a closed writers’ group run by Jennifer Crusie, and the one thing she kept beating into our heads was that every page must have conflict or tension. It needs a protagonist with a goal and an antagonist with an opposing goal. That doesn’t mean the characters have to fight or brawl, but it does mean that what each character wants should come into direct conflict with the other’s.

Think about it.

Two people meet. Instant attraction. They spend time together. It sounds nice, but that’s not what makes readers turn the pages.

Now think of those two same people and add in some tension. They work together, maybe even the same department, and there’s a company rule stating that people in the same department can’t date. The man and the woman both want to continue the relationship but neither one wants to leave their job because they’re both up for a promotion. Then they realize they’re both up for the same promotion.

See? Tension.

Robert Crais is a master at this. Ever read his book, Taken? It starts with what I think has got to be the most masterful prologue in writing. Not only does the novel have break-neck writing, it grabs you from the very first page — and keeps going right through to the very end. Harlan Coben is great at this, too. You’ll even see this in blockbuster movies as well. Iron Man had tons of conflict — will he survive? Will the bad guys get him? Will Obadiah get his way and squash Tony and take over the business?

The thing is, writing like this doesn’t come easily or naturally. So what I’ve learned to do (and this was a tidbit given to me by a fellow writer in another writer’s group I belong to) is to compare my manuscript against a well-known author’s. For example, I might open my story to page 100 and then open the author’s book to page 100 and do a comparison. Nine times out of ten, that well-known author has conflict or tension on the page. Any page. And, if mine doesn’t, I know that I have to do some editing, maybe even a lot of it.

So what movies or books do you love? Do you have a favorite and, if so, why? I’d love to know and I’m willing to bet that it’s because much of it has to do with conflict.

Copyright © 2012 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com

Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: conflict, Harlan Coben, Iron Man, Jennifer Crusie, Robert Crais, surprise, tension, Terri Herman-Ponce

Going the distance

Distance.

It’s a simple word with two very different, very significant meanings.

It could mean space between two objects or people. Physical or emotional.

It could also mean length of time. Short or long.

In today’s world, we’re caught in this frenzied pace where even microwaves aren’t fast enough. So it’s easy to forget that so much of what we do takes time. And that’s where distance comes in. The important stuff in our lives is usually accomplished through a marathon, not a sprint.

You buy a house and move in, but don’t really think about all the months and months of work that went into building it and making it into a livable place. You eat a wonderful meal at a restaurant and don’t recognize the hours of preparation behind its perfection. You read a book and don’t realize the sweat that went into your enjoyment.

Not that a reader should. Because that’s the goal with writing. A writer toils over words and scenes, sweats over loose threads, agonizes over characterization and the things that make the story entertaining for a reader. And the ironic part is, you hear about so many books that are read in a day or a night or even hours because they were just that good.

But that book took far more time than many could even begin to imagine. And that’s the marathon. A writer thinks up a story they think (hope!) is entertaining, writes it and publishes it. And then that writer goes on to write another. And another. And in that time, readers and fans are won over. This is a good thing because this is what helps build the author’s career and makes fans feel like they’ve found something wonderful.

So if there’s a point to this post it’s this:

The next time you pick up a book — suspense, romance, mystery, science fiction, whatever — read it, and tell your friends about it, tell the author, too! Leave a book review on Amazon or B&N or Goodreads. Tweet them their kudos. Like them on Facebook.

Because it’s the fans’ support that keeps the writing marathon going. It is, after all, what writers live for.

Copyright © 2012 · All Rights Reserved · TerriPonce.com

Filed under: Stories Behind The Stories Tagged: Amazon, B&N, Facebook, Goodreads, marathon, romance, suspense, Tweet, writing