Alexandra Wolfe's Blog, page 36

‘Event’ Horizon

Dear All:

This time, two weeks ago, I was crashed on a hospital gurney having undergone an “event” that gave a great many people a huge scare, never mind me. Many, many test and needle punctures later, I am out, at home, and recovering quietly with Chantal; my rock and angel of light. Thank you, Sweetie.

I owe a huge debt of thanks too, to all the staff and doctors of both Ste-Sacrement and Enfant-Jesus hospitals for their professionalism, kindness, and patience. Each and everyone heroes in my book. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I wish I could name you all!

To my family: you rock my world and I am so lucky to have your love and support, because, despite all your own health issues and problems, you were there for not only me, but Chantal. Thank you!

So dear friends, I may or may not be around on Facebook and the Internet, time will tell. For the moment, I’m on sabbatical and, all being well, will see you all on the flip-side in a month or three.

Please take care of yourselves in the meantime, and normal service will resume soon.

Love N’ Peace,

Alex

The Indefinite Article

Unlike the Definite Article The (specific to something or someone,) A and AN refer to someone or something whose precise identity is not specified. And, although they are among the most common words in the English language, confusion still arises as to which should be used when.

So here’s a reminder.

A is used:

(i) before all consonants: a woman, a tree, a rock.

(ii) before an aspirated h: a horse, a hero, a humorist.

(iii) before the letter u when sounded like ‘you’: a unit, a use, a union.

(iv) before a diphthong eu: a European, a eulogy.

(v) before words beginning with y: a year, a yellow balloon, a youth.

AN is used:

(i) before a vowel sound: an animal, an example, an umbrella.

(ii) before a mute h: an hour, an honest woman, an historian.

See, it’s all as clear as mud… Now, who’s going to be first to ask me, is a diphthong the same as a bikini thong? Hmm…

Split Infinitives

Following on from Grammatical Bad Habits and Hyphen-Nation comes Split Infinitives. And no, before you ask—however much of a sci-fi geek I am—this has nothing to do with Space travel, Star Trek or, in fact, Buzz Lightyear.

A split infinitive occurs when to is separated from the infinitive by an adverb or adverbial phrase. It used to be considered the cardinal sin of good English, but it’s now accepted that there are many instances when a split infinitive is justified. In general, however, it is easy enough to avoid.

(i) She did not want to entirely surrender to his will.

(ii) He was instructed to discreetly talk to the Press.

In both sentences there is no need for the split infinitive, as the adverb (entirely, discreetly) can be placed outside the infinitive like this:

(i) She did not want to surrender entirely to his will.

(ii) He was instructed to talk to the Press discreetly. or,

(iii) He was instructed to talk discreetly to the Press.

The easiest rule to remember about the split infinitive is to avoid it, as long as there is no doubt that the meaning will be ambiguous or awkwardly expressed as a result.

I can hear you all mumbling into your coffee; “Yes, but what is the woman talking about?”

Hyphen-Nation

It’s easy to become confused over the proper use of the humble hyphen. The main purpose of which is to join two (or more) words together, thereby making them a single compound word with its own meaning. As in:

• an ex-President is a former President.

• a co-director works with another director.

The absence of a hyphen can also lead to misunderstanding:

• I must re-cover the sofa (with new material).

• I must recover the sofa (from the person I lent it to).

• After his time in prison, he was a reformed character (no longer a criminal).

• They re-formed the band and played in the garage (started up again).

Prefixes like co- and pre- should have a hyphen when next to a word beginning with the same vowel, as in: co-ordinate, pre-empt.

Hyphens can contribute considerably to clarity, as in:

You must read two hundred odd pages a day which gives the impression you are only to read the odd pages, hence the hyphen in: You must read two hundred-odd pages a day.

There are several word combinations which are hyphenated when they come before a noun, but not when they come after, as in these examples.

He is a well-known author.

This author is well known.

She is a part-time worker.

She works part time.

It’s all as clear as mud, I hear you say. Ah, don’t you just love the English language.

Grammatical Bad Habits

Following on from yesterday’s post; another day, another primer for you. What follows are just a handful of the most common mistakes we all do when writing.

all ready/already; all right/alright; all together/altogether

We were all ready by the afternoon.

I had already written to my accountant.

Do you feel all right now?

(Note: You should only ever use the American slang term alright in dialogue.)

We were all together for my mother’s party.

They kept three cats altogether in the house.

get

Get is one of the most overused verbs in the English language. Try to remember not to use have got for have or possess.

AVOID: She’s got three cats.

INSTEAD: She has three cats.

AVOID: Will you get the prize?

INSTEAD: Will you win the prize?

however

Try not to start a sentence with however. Its best position is second in the sentence, after whatever it qualifies i.e., I must, however, tell you… If placed further along in the sentence it loses its force and simply clouds its function.

AVOID: However, I must tell you that you are breaking the law.

AVOID: I must tell you that you are, however, breaking the law.

BETTER: I must, however, tell you that you are breaking the law.

its/it’s

Remember, the possessive pronouns its, hers, ours, theirs and yours never have an apostrophe. While the contraction of it is always has an apostrophe.

WRONG: The cat licked it’s paws.

RIGHT: The cat licked its paws.

WRONG: Its a problem for her to walk down the stairs.

RIGHT: It’s a problem for her to walk down the stairs.

lay, lie, laid, lain

The verbs to lay and to lie are always getting mixed up. To lay (to put down, to arrange) is a transitive verb donating an action performed by a person or thing; to lie (as in, to recline, to be situated) is intransitive, describing the action of a person or thing.

WRONG: Just lay down there. (Or) Lie her on the couch.

RIGHT: Just lie down there. (Or) Lay her on the couch.

Note also their past participles. To lay is laid; to lie is lain.

WRONG: He had lain his heart at her feet. (Or) He had laid on the sand all day.

RIGHT: He had laid his heart at her feet. (Or) He had lain on the sand all day.

Further confusion also arises out of the past tenses. To lay is laid; and to lie is lay.

WRONG: He lay(ed) his heart at her feet. (Or) He laid on the sand all day.

RIGHT: He laid his heart at her feet. (Or) He lay on the sand all day.

Additional points to remember are, to lie (to tell an untruth) is transitive and has lied as both past participle and past tense. And that to lay (to produce eggs or to wager) is intransitive and has laid as both past participle and past tense.

And lastly, don’t forget the other favourite mistake we all make: their and there. That place over there should not be confused with their car wouldn’t start.

You are encouraged to steal this, print this, and above all, refer to it every waking moment you write!

Homophones {a primer}

These are all words that sound identical but are spelt differently, and have different meanings. For example, hair and hare sound the same but their meanings are totally different. After all, you wouldn’t want to have hares growing out of your head, now would you?

Spelling is one of the biggest causes for confusion in the written language, whatever the language. So, just to bore you silly and as I have absolutely nothing better to write about today, here are just some of the most common homophones. 

accessary / accessory

add / ad

air / heir

aisle / isle

all / awl

aloud / allowed

ascent / assent

beach / beech

board / bored

canon / cannon

cereal / serial

chord / cord

coarse / course

draft / draught

flew / flu

flow / floe

gage / gauge

gilt / guilt

great / grate

hair / hare

hall / haul

hoard / horde

hole / whole

its / it’s

leak / leek

lessen / lesson

maize / maze

mews / muse

moor / more

night / knight

pail / pale

pair / pare

pause / paws

peer / pier

plain / plane

practice / practise

principal / principle

rain / reign / rein

raise / raze / rays

right / rite / write

role / roll

sail / sale

sauce / source

sea / see

sight / site

son / sun

stair / stare

stake / steak

stationary / stationery

swat / swot

tail / tale

their / there

to / too/ two

tor / tore

vain / vane / vein

waist / waste

waive / wave

weather / whether

wean / ween

wholly / holy

who’s / whose

wood / would

yoke / yolk

yaw / your / you’re / yore

This is by no means a complete list, but it’s all I can remember off the top of my head. And no, before you ask, I do not wear a dictionary for a toupee!

The Big Bang Symphony

DETAILS

Title: THE BIG BANG SYMPHONY

Author: Lucy Jane Bledsoe

Publisher: Terrace Books, May 2010

ISBN: 978-0299235000

Genre: Lesbian Fiction

BACK COVER BLURB

Antarctica is a vortex that draws you back, season after season. The place is so raw and pure, all seal hide and crystalline iceberg. The fishbowl communities at McMurdo Station, South Pole Station, and in the remote field camps intensify relationships, jack all emotion up to a 10. The trick is to get what you need and then get out fast.

WHAT I THOUGHT

The Big Bang Symphony, set in Antarctica, is as much about place as it is about the people that populate this desolate, wind-swept, unforgiving and frozen continent. A continent that is, in equal measure, one of the most beautiful, haunting places on the planet. One we all know to still be virgin and untouched…it is in this vast wilderness of blues, whites and shades of grey that Bledsoe throws together an unlikely bunch of characters each with their own reasons to be at the last stop on the ends of the earth.

Each of Bledsoe’s characters is wrought with fine detail, and all to human in their hopes, dreams and yes, failings. The author gives them not only purpose and direction she then skillfully undermines them, setting them at odds not only with the people they rely on for survival, but with the elements and Antarctica herself. Pulling them, and thereby, us, in all directions: emotionally, mentally and physically.

To set the scene for what’s to come, Bledsoe opens her novel in the best way possible, one that catches your attention instantly. With a bone-chilling disaster. One that leaves you wondering about how anyone would want to go to the South Pole to begin with, let alone stay there for months on end, in the harshest conditions known to man (and woman) and think they can do it all: get in, get out, survive intact, and make it away with some shred of sanity, let alone believe they will be left unchanged by the whole experience.

And so it is with The Big Bang Symphony, we, the reader, are not left unscathed as we follow the three main characters: Rosie, a thirty-something cook who is returning for her third season on the ice, Alice, a brilliant scientist with a straight-forward naivety that brings her her own set of problems, and then, Mikala, a talented musician who has not only lost her muse, but lost touch with her music and is left bereft.

The three women are made and changed by their experiences on the ice, over-coming a great deal in order to not only find themselves, but also find a sense of home, and just what that means to each of them.

The cast of secondary characters is just as intriguing, and, for the most part, fully-fleshed out. My only quibble, and it’s small (other than for a couple of physical errors in the typesetting) is the fact I would have loved to have read so much more about their thoughts and motivations. I would have liked a little more depth to these three woman. Yes, we get an insight to their histories, and brief glimpses into what it is that might be motivating them, but I never really felt it was enough to explain some of the characters choices or decision. Just my own personal niggle. And yes, I know, the point is that the Antarctic acts like a lens, the conditions so harsh that it changes you in ways you might not expect, but still. This one had a little less passion and emotion than I had hoped for, given the place.

That said, Bledsoe’s evocative proses really gives you an absolute immersion into place and setting, which I cannot fault. You are transported and feel chilled to the bone by the end.

All in all, a worthwhile read.

Self-Publishing Online

First of all, ask yourself will your readers prefer print, or digital? If you are not sure who your audience is, or would like to be (think age group and demographics where applicable) then by all means, test the waters, and go digital first.

Think through a marketing plan and what social sites to target and how. Remember to tie-in all your social accounts to one another with your Author website, and try use the same name throughout for cohesive branding. 

Create a Facebook Page for your novel.
Create an exclusive Twitter account (or use your own personal account.)
Think about a promo video [YouTube/Vimeo].
Create a gmail account to handle contact traffic.
Think of using Instagram to share images and covers.

Online e-publishing retailers include:

Amazon KDP: for ebook distribution to Amazon (no upfront cost)
Draft2Digital: for ebook distribution to everyone else (no upfront cost)
CreateSpace: for print distribution via Amazon (no upfront cost)
IngramSpark: for ebook and print distribution to non-Amazon outlets ($25 − $49)
Lulu: for print and ebook creation & distribution (no upfront cost)
Smashwords: for ebook distribution to everyone (no upfront cost)

Most of these companies require that you do the manual labour beforehand; you must ensure that your files are properly edited, set and ready for uploading.

Other full-service providers, some require fees upfront, include:

BookBaby
Blurb

Most, if not all these companies, offer automated tools to conveniently convert, upload, list and distribute your work. With most, if not all, you can upload new versions at any time, change a cover and or the price, and sell through multiple services at the same time.

Be aware that if you do not pay an upfront fee, expect to pay a percentage based upon sales.

Getting that all import review:

For self-published works there are only a handful of places online to have your work professionally reviewed, Kirkus Indie (costs around $400-500) and BookLife previously PW Select, which now offers a range of services. Then, of course, there is the indie review websites who are willing to do a review in exchange for a print or ebook copy.

Marketing:

Utilizing social media is one way, as is regular blog posts, giveaways and contests. Another is paying a PR company to get your book listed … and then there’s BOOK BLURB.

While Book Blurb cannot guarantee readers or sales, they are another way to draw attention to your up-coming or newly released book, for free. Beside a free posting on their website—which can include links to a giveaway or contest—they will tweet and share your novel’s release with their followers on Facebook.

You have nothing to lose and everything to gain, so why not give Book Blurb a try!

Setting a Story

How does setting influence story?

I’m often asked this one, and often reply, minimally, moderately, and also, as if it were another character in the story. In other words, stetting can be something that is simply there, in the background, familiar and therefore, needs little to no explanation. But also, on occasion, like one of my stories, A BEAUTIFUL MYSTERY, ostensibly a who-done-it, the story is set on Mars.

Therefore, there is no getting away from it. Setting is key, and plays a large and important part in how the story is not only told, but how the characters will behave and or react.

How do you deal with setting, and do you mix it up on occasion or play it safe?

Miss McGhee

DETAILS

Title: MISS MCGHEE

Author: Bett Norris

Publisher: Bywater Books, 2007

ISBN: 978-1-932859-33-1

Genre: Lesbian Fiction | Historical

BACKCOVER BLURB

World War II is over, and like millions of others, Mary McGhee is looking for a future. A new start, a new job, a new place. But in the small Alabama town she’s chosen, she soon finds it’s not so easy to leave the past behind. There’s the old problem of being an unwelcome woman in a man’s world when Mary takes on the challenge of returning a neglected lumber empire to profitability. Then there’s Lila Dubose, the boss’s wife, who stirs up desires Mary can’t escape, fears she can’t control, and reminders that she is surrounded by threats.

WHAT I THOUGHT

Poignant, powerful, and, above all, heartfelt, Miss McGhee is an exceptionally written piece of prose, and debut novel by author, Bett Norris. A talented new-comer who has given us an in-depth cast of believable characters struggling with their lives and loves in the era of segregation and the emergent Civil Rights movement, all set in small-town America during the 50s.

However, it is the character of Mary McGhee who will be, for me at least, one of those eternally memorable characters that you just cannot shake. From the get-go this wonderfully written, all too human, flawed woman, got under my skin determined to tell her story, and that of the lives of the people who surrounded her. Waging a quiet, and sometimes not so quiet, war against discrimination: her own, and that of the Negro community. Battling on a number of levels in a fight against perceptions, and the crushing social mores of the day.

Miss McGhee hits all the right notes, with a well balanced cast of characters taking us on a thought-provoking journey, that isn’t just historical, isn’t just about setting, or Lila and Mary’s unfolding romance set against a backdrop of hardship and hatred, but so much more. I cannot praise this book enough; it really is one of those “must-read” books everyone can enjoy.