C.J. Petterson's Blog: Book launch scheduled, page 7

Something to think about

cj Sez:  Writers, published/unpublished, didyou know that writers’ organizations are great for learning the craft,marketing tips, and networking?
  Currently, I’ma member of Mobile Writers Guild, Alabama Writers’ Forum, Alabama Writers’ Cooperative,and Sisters in Crime as well as their online subgroup Guppies (as in Great Unpublished).Each of these organizations is important to my growth as an author.
  Since all but two of my memberships are Alabamaspecific, I’ll recommend the international Sisters in Crime and Guppies. Thefeedback from authors around the globeis informative, super supportive, and on the money. Not only do Sistersin Crime and their subgroup Guppies have a large list of specialized groups(for agent searches, querying, critiquing of specific genres, manuscript swaps,et al.), each also offers a variety of online skill-building classes and zoomconferences led by highly acclaimed published authors.
  If you haven’t joined a writers’ organization, localor otherwise, you should think about doing that.
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“There is no greater agony than bearing an untoldstory inside you.” ― Maya Angelou,  I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings

 

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Readers: Suggestions of a couple of books to addto your TBR list.
[image error]  I just watched an exciting video of author friend,Susan Y. Tanner doing some barrel racing and was reminded that she recently launchedbook one of her new Western series, A Dangerous Inheritance (The BellamyLegacy). 
She’s a wonderful writer, and if you’re a fan of Western novels, youwill enjoy this one.
Buy Bellamy Now
Currently free on Kindle Unlimited. 
It reminded me of my historical fiction, shortstory, “Bad Day at Round Rock,” in The Posse anthology, a compilation of eightWestern short stories.
From the “Bad Day at Round Rock” synopsis:
     Talley Munroe, a treasure hunter, discovers SamBass’s cache of gold, is murdered, and the gold stolen again.      Lilly Malmstrom, a teenaged Swedish immigrant indenturedto the town doctor, dreams of the day when she will be free to meet the man ofher dreams.      Acting on a tip, Texas Rangers pursuing their“Bass War” have arrived in the quiet Texas town of Round Rock to capture theoutlaw Sam Bass and his gang and retrieve what’s left of the $60,000 inuncirculated twenty-dollar gold coins stolen from the Union Pacific railroad.
Here’s a 5-star review:  "The Possehas a little bit for everyone who loves the Old West. If you're like me, and aromance reader, you will thoroughly enjoy Lyn Horner and cj Peterson's romantictales of the Old West. Excellent stories, woven in with period details. Ifyou're a lover of Old West "grit" the other stories will grab hold ofyou and not let you go!"
 Buy Now   The Ebook is currently on sale at Amazon for 99cents.
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  Writers, if you have a book launch coming up or need to refresh an older launch andwant to schedule a post on Lyrical Pens, drop me a note.(PG13, please.)§§
  Okay, my job here is done. You-all guys keep onkeeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy and safe you…withlots of time for reading and writing!
cj


  THEDAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA are fast-paced, thriller/suspense stories withsassy banter and a smidgen of sweet romance. (Perfect diversions for thosequick four-day weekend getaways—especially if it’s a stay-cation.)
  The booksare available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got alibrary card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.Little note: TheHaunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER,contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be sold out, I also have asmall stash. 
  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner of The Haunted Book Shop and a RITA Award-winning author inher own right (writing as Angela Quarles), will be happy to ship you any book(s)by any author of your choice.
➜ Follow me on . . .  ➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6  

Anne Lamott and short stories

cj Sez:  I’min the process of running down rabbit holes to do the research for a short storyI want to write for an upcoming anthology submission.


  It seems altogether fitting that my short memory span requiresthat I will most assuredly be referring to the following notes for guidanceand reassurance that I’m on the right track. 
  I really do use these notes everytime I start a short story. Yes, I’ve posted about this before, but perhaps you’renew to the process or need a reminder as I do. I hope the notes will help you as well.
  The first thing I do is put a copy of AnneLamott’s ABCDE structure of a short story within eyesight:
Anne Lamott

Action —Start with something happening to draw the reader into thestory. 
Background—Provide context forreaders to understand how the characters came to the current situation
Conflict—The characters must wantsomething they don’t have and work to achieve it (sometimes against each other)
Development—The 70-80 percent of thestory describing the characters’ struggles to get what they want. Each time itappears they have the goal within reach, give them something more difficult toovercome until they reach the climax  (cj Sez: That’s the part where youget them up a tree and throw rocks at them.)
Ending—What happens after they reachtheir goal. In a romance, the hero and heroine realize their“happily-ever-after”. In a mystery or thriller, all the loose ends are tied up.In a literary story, the ending may be rather ambiguous.

***  I merge Ms. Lamott’s guidelines with a ton ofwriting tidbits I’ve cobbled together over the years from how-to workshops, conferences, and essays. The following is a summary of what I’ve learned.
  Short stories are about ONE thing, so start asclose to the central action as possible, and I find that to be close to theend.
  Try to let the setting help reveal the characterand advance the plot. This is where a deep point of view can reveal internalcharacter through reactions to setting.
  In a short story, every line should/must servemore than one purpose.
  Every character needs to want something, even ifit’s only to be left alone so s/he can take a nap. That's also conflict.
  Make the reader care about your main character.Snappy dialogue, beautiful settings, or surprising plot twists won’t keep yourreaders turning the pages if your main character is boring or unlikable. Readersneed someone to root for.
  That being said, all great characters haveflaws—something readers recognize or sympathize with. The antagonist’s flawmight be a sweet, soft spot that’s out of character for the villainy (supportsan infirm mother in a nursing home). 
  You don’t have space in a short story forparagraph-long character descriptions. This is where less is more, necessarily.One significant detail can pique the imagination, inviting the reader into thestory, and a complete character is formed in the reader’s mind. This is thecharacter that can lead the reader to an unexpected twist ending, perhaps bestexemplified by the master of twisted endings, William Sydney Porter (O. Henry).

A story witha moral appended is like the bill of a mosquito. It bores you, and then injectsa stinging drop to irritate your conscience.                                                            ~  by O. Henry

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A Big Dog story on the news front . . .
  I dug this tidbit of news out of one of rabbitholes I dove into: The Dog Days of summer are winding down. Depending on yourperspective, this is good news or bad news. Good news for people workingoutside or whose air conditioning is on the fritz. Bad news for school studentswhose summer vacation is rapidly coming to an end.
  The dog days of summer are those sultry days we“enjoy” every year—the hellaciously hot part of the season in the NorthernHemisphere that occurs when the sun has moved far enough past Sirius that thestar rises and becomes visible before the sun rises in the morning. Ergo, Siriusbecomes our morning star. 
  Sirius is nicknamed the Dog Star because it's the brightest star in the constellation Canis Major (which means "greater dog" in Latin). 
  Hellenistic astrology connected this heliacal rising withheat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck.  Surelythere’s a story in there somewhere.
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Actually,there is kind of a story. Or at least one that refers to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's (DARPA) eye dialect name for one of itssecret projects: a project touched on in my novel, THE DAWGSTAR.
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Writers, if you have a book launch coming up andwant to schedule a post on Lyrical Pens for your blog tour, drop me a note.(PG13, please.)
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That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keepon keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy andsafe you…with lots of time for reading and writing!

cj

  THEDAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA are fast-paced, thriller/suspense stories withsassy banter and a smidgen of sweet romance. (Perfect diversions for thosequick four-day weekend getaways—especially if it’s a stay-cation.)
  The booksare available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got alibrary card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.
Little note: TheHaunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER,contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us 
  Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in her own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) by any author of your choice. If she happens to be sold out of my books (don't I wish), I happen to have asmall stash. Just drop me a note.
➜ Follow me on . . .  ➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

Inviting the reader into the story

cj Sez: Janet Fox’s excellent July 18 post on JaneFriedman’s blog site is a keeper for me. The author and book coach touches on howusing elision in dialogue, internal monologue, sensory details, and rhetoricaldevices benefits the reader.

“To elide is to omit, or to leave out. And we needto know as much about 'leaving things out' of our stories as we do about thethings we love to add.
  Why elision? Because the emotional connection that’smade between the writer and reader is strengthened by what the reader bringsto the story—their experiences, dreams, hopes, and longings. When we let thereader fill in our intentionally left blanks, we invite them inside ourimaginary worlds.”

  All I can say is “Yes!” to elision and deep pointof view. Okay, readers, writers: What do you think? Click on the link... Gray Space: Making Room for the Reader§§
On the news front . . . Two supermoonscoming soon to a sky near you.
  What is a supermoon you ask? Supermoons are fullmoons that are brighter, bigger, and closer to the earth than the typical fullmoons.
  The first August supermoon rises on Tuesday, Aug 1.It’s called the “sturgeon moon,” because (according to the Old Farmers Almanac)the giant sturgeon fish found in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain “were mostreadily caught during this part of summer.”
  August’s second supermoon, called a “blue moon”because it’s the second full moon in the same month, will be even closer to theearth than the sturgeon moon—222,043 miles away vs. 222,159 miles. Whew! That’sgonna be a close one.§§
  Speaking of blue moons, the Mobile Writers Guildanthology  HALLOWEEN PIECES includes my paranormal story, “Once in a Blue Moon” —about what can happen toa woman traveling alone when a blue moon falls “on Samhain, or Halloween, as you Englishcall it.” The anthology is chock full of good reading in a variety of genresand is available now on Amazon (Kindle is currently $1.99).  
Buy now at:      http://bitly.ws/PxPF
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  Writers, if you have a book launch coming up andwant to schedule a post on Lyrical Pens for your blog tour, drop me a note.(PG13, please.)§§
  That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keepon keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy andsafe summer…with lots of time for reading and writing.
cj
  THEDAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA are fast-paced, action/adventure stories withsassy banter and a smidgen of sweet romance. (Perfect diversions for thosequick four-day weekend getaways—especially if it’s a stay-cation.)
  The booksare available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got alibrary card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.
  Little note: TheHaunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER,contact:https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  
  If she happens to be sold out, I also have asmall stash. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author inher own right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s)by any author of your choice.
➜ Follow me on . . .  ➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

From the archives

 cj Sez: Did you know it doesn’t have to cost a dimeto encourage an author?   What follows are a few tips about how to show yoursupport for writers, at a little or no cost, whether you’re a writer or areader.
If you’re a writer and have your own blog, inviteguest bloggers. Lyrical Pens does do that, though we haven’t been graced with aguest for a few weeks. (Read the invitations in the Lyrical Pens banner aboveand again below.) 
   When you have a guest scheduled on your blog, send out“Coming Attractions” promotions on other social media sites, like Facebook,Twitter, et al. Be sure to give your guest blogger space to say something abouttheir books.
  Be willing to give theauthor’s work a fair review. Be kind but be honest.
  If you know an author whojust wants to just sit and talk, grab a chair and listen. Writing is a lonelyoccupation, and most other people don't understand.
  Encourage each other. Writingis not a competition; everyone can be successful.

  And here’s a little marketingtip: If you’re a yet-to-be-published writer and don’t have a business card, getone. Hand it out to agents, workshop instructors, fellow writers, wherever youhave an opportunity to network. Get your name out there as early as possible (Facebookand blogs, too) so they can watch for your new release. Some variation of theone that follows is my suggestion:
Name  Jane Doe, AuthorWriterof XXX (literary fiction,historical fiction, non-fiction, YA, romance, whatever)eMailaddresswebsiteaddress Now, if you’re a reader (and since writersare also readers, I guess this applies to everyone), here’s some easy tips foryou . . . “Like”and comment on authors' posts on their Facebook pages. Facebook's algorithmsonly show posts that FB thinks other members would like to see. That means themore likes and comments a post gets, the more people will see it. Go tobook signings, even if you can’t afford to buy the book at that time. Yourattendance is ever so encouraging. I’ve been to book signings where the authorand I were the only two people there. On the other hand, I was one of theauthors at a local indie book store and because fans and friends showed up, theafternoon sped by and was fun—even though I didn’t sell a book.
  If you’ve got some good ideas on how best toencourage authors to keep writing, let me know. I’ll pass along the informationand credit you as the source.§§
News from the Killer Nashville conference: Anannouncement of the finalists for their 2023 Silver Falchion Awards.

“The judges have finally agreed! Here are the 2023Killer Nashville Silver Falchion Awards Finalists for Best Book of 2022. Thisyear's winners will be announced at our Killer Nashville Awards Dinner onSaturday, August 19th at the Killer Nashville Awards Ceremony in Nashville,Tennessee.”

  Find out if an author you love to read is listedhere:  https://www.killernashville.com/2023-silver-falchion-winners
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  Invitation: Writers, if you have a book launch coming up andwant to schedule a post on Lyrical Pens for your blog tour, drop me a note.(PG13, please.)§§
On the Personal News Front: The MobileWriters Guild is on summer hiatus (no formal meetings) and a few of our membersmet at the Bluegill restaurant yesterday for our July Drink & Scrawl. Goodtime, good food, good camaraderie. And we were all extremely happy to be seatedinside the restaurant when a heavy-duty, lightning-filled, fierce-winds stormsuddenly roared across Mobile Bay. 
  An hour later, it was still storming on myway home. About 20 mph was top speed in some places because wind-blown rain wasstrafing the roads in thick sheets, the windshield wipers were having a hardtime keeping up, and vehicles were having trouble staying in their water-coveredlanes. Took me an hour to go less than 20 miles. That was a white-knuckleadventure, and I’m happy to report that my friends made it home slowly and safely.§§
  That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keepon keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy andsafe summer…with lots of time for reading!
cj

  THEDAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA are quick reads, chock full of adventure with sassybanter and a smidgen of sweet romance. (Perfect diversions for those quick four-dayweekend getaways—especially if it’s a stay-cation.)
  The booksare available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got alibrary card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.
Little note: TheHaunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER,contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be sold out, I also have a smallstash. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in herown right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) byany author of your choice.
➜ Follow me on . . .  ➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson ➜Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

All about apostrophes

cj Sez: How to properly use an apostrophe in some pluralshas always plagued me, especially when input from critique readers challenges what I've written.

    I usually get on the Internet and do a search toprove to myself that I’m right (almost always), so I decided I should go to THEsource for writers, The Chicago Manual of Style. I recorded the properusage in a handy-dandy Word document that I keep on my computer and thought I'dshare my findings with you.

 

https://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo25956703.html
  A Google search for how to use apostrophes results in a long list of sources. The following excerpts are examples of questions asked by wordsmiths and theanswers provided by a CMOS correspondent:

 

Plural Names
Q.  My boyfriend and I are having a battle royal over the use ofapostrophes in plural names. In his PhD dissertation he repeatedly refers to afamily by the name of Wallace. When he refers to them in the plural, he insiststhat the correct form is “the Wallace’s,” which seems entirely incorrect to me.I hold that it should be “the Wallaces,” just like “the McDonalds” or “theMcPartlands” or “the DeVitos.” He is backing up his position with the example“the G.I.s,” which he insists should be pluralized as “the G.I.’s.” Pleasehelp. This is ruining our dinner conversation!

A. Usually in such arguments, the woman isright. Yours is no exception. The plural of names of persons and othercapitalized nouns is usually formed with the additionof s or es. An apostrophe is never used to form the pluralof family names. Write “the Wallaces,” “the Joneses,” the “Jordans,” etc. Seeparagraph 7.8 of the sixteenth edition of CMOS for the full statementof the applicable rule. As for G.I., Chicago style is GI (no periods), theplural of which we write as GIs. See 10.4 and 7.14.

Possessives and Attributives
Q.   When indicating possession of a word that ends in s, isit correct to repeat the s after using an apostrophe? For example,which is correct: “Dickens’ novel” or “Dickens’s novel”?

A. Either is correct,though we prefer the latter. Please consult 7.15–18 for a full discussion ofthe rules for forming the possessive of proper nouns. For a discussion of thealternative practice of simply adding an apostrophe to form the possessive ofproper nouns ending in s, see paragraph 7.21.
Q.  I have suddenly become an editor and am having trouble on a dailybasis with the numeric use of decades. First, is “the 90s” or “the ’90s”correct? We often see the apostrophe omitted these days. Next, if a sentencecontains the phrase, “Perhaps the 70s best director . . .” (meaning,the best director of that decade), “70s” is both plural and possessive. Shouldit be “70’s”? “70s’”? Other than reconstructing the sentence, what’s an editorto do?
A. Strictly speaking, ’90s, with the apostrophe, iscorrect.
The’70s’ finest director was Martin Scorsese, particularly for his workon Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Taxi Driver.
Notethe apostrophes, both of them. You are always free to write “seventies’finest.” Or, “The finest director of the ’70s was assuredly Francis FordCoppola, for his work on the first two Godfather filmsand Apocalypse Now.”
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  cj Sez: By the by, the Seventeenth Edition of TheChicago Manual of Style is still available, and according to the Amazon.comblurb: “for more than one hundred years The Chicago Manual of Style hasremained the definitive guide for anyone who works with words.” Notice it said "anyone." The resource is not just for authors. 

 

Hope you found a nugget in this post that you canuse, and FYI, The Associated PressStylebook used by journalists differs somewhat.
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Writers, if you have a book launch coming up andwant to schedule a post on Lyrical Pens for your blog tour, drop me a note. (PG13,please.)
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     On the Personal News Front, I can claim a writing victory:I submitted a chapter from my re-activated and now re-themed WIP to a contest. Morethan any dollar award, what I really want is the professional critique that allentries are to receive. I need (am desperate for) someone other than a familymember to give me feedback on this piece. Even so, bonus points for the family member who thoughtthe MC was boring, and I will owe him a steak dinner should the entry garnersome positive comments and direction. I finally like this version betterthan any of the previous iterations, and I hope someone else likes it too. Ofcourse, the changes make even more work: Now I have to re-edit the re-edit Ijust finished of my “Untitled” manuscript because I’ve changed the plot . . .again.
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   That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keepon keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy andsafe summer…with lots of time for rest, relaxation, and reading!

cj

   My booksare available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got alibrary card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.Little note: The HauntedBook Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be out, I also have a smallstash. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in herown right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) byany author of your choice.
➜ Follow me on . . .  ➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

From the archives . . .

cj Sez: June22, 2009    That was the date I clicked“publish” on my first Lyrical Pens post. Fourteen-years ago. Wow.

As if
  You can click on the date to read my amateureffort, not that I now consider myself a pro by any stretch of the imagination.My first (and only) encouraging commenter for that post was Joyce Scarbrough ( https://www.facebook.com/joycescarbroughbooks/) … Thank you, Joyce.
  Lyrical Pens was created as a marketing tool forthree, unpublished, writing/critique-group buddies (Mahala Church, TracyHurley, and me) who wanted to “get our names out there.” Mahala and Tracy hadjust co-founded the Mobile Writers’ Guild, and I had joined them as a chartermember and Secretary…or maybe that was Treasurer (faulty memory). Go-getterTracy worked through the technical part of building the perfect website. Sadly,Tracy died in 2010—way too young—andMahala and I carried on. Today, where once there were three bloggers, there isnow one. Mahala retired from the site in 2016.
  After fourteen years, I think I have enough bloggingexperience to offer two observations for new bloggers:

  First one comes with a caveat: “To thine own selfbe true.” 
  That is to say, identify your goal for the blog and write your postswith that in mind.
  Do you want to share tidbits of personal data as away to grow your relationship with fans and readers? Do you want to shareprofessional writing info to appeal to fellow authors? Maybe it’s a combinationof both, which is where Lyrical Pens sits, although it does lean more towardthe professional writing information.

  S

econd: A blog is a great (and cheap) way to marketyour works and build an author brand. And if/when you're published, link your posts to your author Facebookpage, Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads, BookBub, et al. Be sure to embed buy links and booktrailers. 
  Did you notice I wrote “author Facebook page?” Ihave two FB pages, one for personal notes and one for author stuff. The coverpage is different for each site. Your personal social media followers aren’tthere for sales pitches. They want to share conversations with the personbehind the writerly persona. Keep the advertising low-key on your personal, andpossibly private, site. A new book notice or a sale reminder is fine, but heavyslugs of “Buy My Book” advertising in every post just might drive away some ofyour new Friends. Some of your old friends, too.

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  My life-time motto/goal is to “learn something new everyday,” and the learning continues. Today’s new something is the word “hypertufa.”I knew what it was, but I didn’t know the correct word for it. How cool is that!
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  That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keepon keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy andsafe summer…with lots of time for reading!

cj

   My booksare available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got alibrary card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.
  Little note: TheHaunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER,contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be out, I also have a smallstash. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in herown right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) byany author of your choice.
➜ Follow me on . . .  ➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

I was a secret agent

cj Sez:  Ispent the last few weeks pretending to be a secret literary agent, tasked with critiquing an author’s submission into a slush pile. The goal of a critique isto be truthful and objective yet encouraging. It’s a painfully difficult job.The angst my comments have most likely caused that writerly soul makes mefeel bad. It also put me in mind of how I react when my work is critiqued.

  Critiques are a must for serious writers. Despiteour best intentions, we can’t judge/proofread/edit our own words, at least notthoroughly or objectively. We’re way too close to our manuscripts. We read pastthings because we “thought” them, because obviously the reader will know whatwe mean, even if the words actually aren’t on the page or are wrong. Objective critiquepartners find missing words, poorly constructed sentences, punctuation errors,missing story threads, plot holes, and all those other etceteras that thesubjective writer misses.
  A big plus of critique groups is that members  generally have different strengths and areas of expertise. One might be a whizat line editing. Another might offer insights into story structure. Stillanother may be great at recognizing plot holes. Or character flaws. Or thedreaded middle-of-the-book sag.
  There is yet another type of critiquer who can beincredibly helpful. That’s the one who isn’t so technical but points out thethings that elicit their visceral reactions. What they laughed at, what theygot scared of for the character, where they cried, got lost, what they did ordidn’t “get” or where they were tempted to skim over paragraphs or pages. That kindof emotional information is invaluable. These are the comments that point thewriter to where s/he’s succeeding or where s/he’s failing to communicate thedesired story. These comments can represent the similar reaction of thewriter’s intended audience—thereader who will pick up the book off the library shelf or (and I can only hope)the reader who will buy the book.
  This is a piece of advice I use often. Caveat: I believe writers should consider all thecomments as if they were values on a bell curve. The comments that are similar(and bunch up like a hump in the middle) need another look. The outlierson either end of the curve (the one or two strange or subjective comments) canprobably be disregarded, after due consideration, of course.
  The bell curve works for me, even the negativecomments—thoughthey sometimes get my goat before I discard them. I've learned that writershave to keep an open mind and be thick-skinned in order to keep writing.
  What kind of critiquer am I? I want to be fair andhonest and make sure I intersperse negatives with positives. I’d love to hear how you dealwith the personalities and critiques you’ve encountered.
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God Bless the U.S.A. on its 247th birthday.
  Wishing you and yours a happy and safe July 4 Independence Day celebration. 
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  That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keepon keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy andsafe summer…with lots of time for reading!
cj

  My booksare available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Got alibrary card? You can read the ebooks free from Hoopla.

Little note: TheHaunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER,contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be out, I also have a smallstash. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in herown right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) byany author of your choice.
➜ Follow me on . . .  ➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

Once More With Feeling

cj Sez:  I decidedI should once again reorganize and clean-up the backup files for my blog the otherday, and it turned into a time-consuming exercise, like sorting through storageboxes in the attic. That meant I “had” to re-read every post todetermine if it should be archived longer or deleted. 


  I re-discovered the following 2016post about our dynamic English language that I think is worthwhile repeating onemore time.

  …. A friend sent me this quote from journalist SolSanders: 

“Perhaps the glory of the English language is that it so expressive.Its remarkable heterogeneous origins have given it an almost limitlessvocabulary. And American English, particularly, has used that tool with anenormous flexibility to make it the international means of communication. Oneis able with a minimum of linguistic dexterity to capture every meaning, oralmost every nuance.”

  Mr.Sanders’s comments were part of an introduction to his essay on what today’sjournalism and media do with the English language. The gist of his blog was thatjournalism and media people overcomplicate their sentences with words thatmuddy their meanings—changing nouns into verbs and, perhaps, calling a shovel a“hand-held, earth-moving tool.” (True. I’ve seen these kinds of descriptions in engineeringtechnical specifications papers also.)
  Yes, as awriter, I use nouns as verbs. Yes, I deliberately obfuscate and happily add thedisclaimer that it’s for the sake of telling the story. I am drawn to thesyntax, symbolism, and syncopation of a well-crafted sentence that is the hallmarkof successful poets and mystery/thriller/suspense novelists. It’s using that“minimum of linguistic dexterity to capture every meaning, or almost everynuance” that appeals to me, and, I think, to readers of those genres. 
  Readerswant to try to decipher the code, find the clues, and solve the crime. As a genre writer, I likeconfusing the issue. That said, I do have a few personal dislikes of changingnouns into verbs. One is the word “impactful”—a noun turned into a verb turnedinto an adjective by adding “ful” on the end. What the Sam Hill does that mean?   The truth is that English is a living language.It’s constantly evolving as we create new words and new definitions tocompliment new technology. Therein lies a conundrum:  The generations cease to understand eachother at an almost exponential pace.
  Coda:  IMHO, (that's 'text speak') the gloriously expressive Englishlanguage is what makes the craft of writing so fascinating.
  I’m stillworking on my craft. How are you doing with yours?
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  I absolutely love that Calvin cartoon. 

  That's it for this week's post. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I'll try to do the same. 
  Raising prayers for a happy andsafe summer…with lots of time for reading!
cjGreat vacation reads!  My booksare available on Amazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore.
Little note: TheHaunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER,contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  (If she happens to be out, drop me a note--I also have a smallstash.) Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in herown right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) byany author of your choice.
➜ Follow me on . . . ➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

Celebrating Father's Day and Juneteenth

 cj Sez: First, I want to wish a Happy Father’s Dayto all fathers, step-fathers, grandfathers, adoptive fathers, andfather-figures. I hope this day is the start of a healthy and happy year. 

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Juneteenth

   "Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks theday when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 totake control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. Thetroops’ arrival came a full two-and-a-half years after thesigning of the EmancipationProclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States andis considered the longest-running African American holiday. 
  On June 17, 2021,it officiallybecame a federal holiday. Juneteenth 2023 occurs on Monday, June 19. Earlycelebrations date to 1866, at first involving church-centered communitygatherings in Texas."   (Source: https://www.history.com/news/what-is-juneteenth)
   "Given this systematic erasure, thestory of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to reach the U.S., occupies aprofoundly unique place in the history of the transatlantic slave trade.

  There were roughly 110 African children,teenagers, and young adults on board the Clotilda when it arrived inAlabama in 1860, just one year before the Civil War. Unable to return to Africaafter emancipation on June 19, 1865—aka Juneteenth—theyleft records and gave interviews about who they were and where they came fromthat survive today."  (Source:https://www.history.com/news/slaves-clotilda-ship-built-africatown) 

   Cudjoe Kazoola Lewis, born Oluale Kossola, andalso known as Cudjo Lewis, was the third to last adult survivor of the Atlanticslave trade between Africa and the United States. He was one of the captives broughtto the United States on board the last slave ship Clotilda in 1860. 

§§   That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keepon keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy andsafe summer…with lots of time for reading!
cj

My books are available onAmazon or through your favorite eTailer and bookstore. Little note: The Haunted Book Shop has a few signedcopies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact: https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be out, I also have a smallstash. Just drop me a note.
   P.S. For my local readers, the Mobile PublicLibrary will soon have THE DAWGSTAR and DEATH ON THE YAMPA ready for check-out. 
➜ Follow me on . . .  ➜ Amazon:    AmazonCentral Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6

 

Right brain or left brain?

cj Sez: I’m a visual person (is that a right brainor a left brain thing?), and that shows up like screenplay scenes in mywriting. Scenes and dialogue are the least complicated for me to write.

Scenes
  I enjoy working to create details that permit myreaders to visualize where the characters are and what they are seeing. I do tryto keep my details sparse and incorporated into the flow of the scene’s action.I.E., I don’t tell the reader the office is small and crowded. I’ll let thecharacter do that by having her desk chair bump against the wall when shestands up or spins around to retrieve a document from her printer that’ssitting atop the three-drawer file cabinet near her left elbow. 
  By the by, my scenes also incorporate at least one of the five senses—sight, smell, sound, taste, touch—as well as journalism’s five “Ws” who, what, when, where, and why. I also add the “H”: how. 
Dialogue
  Writing dialogue is another favorite. I especiallylike it when I can create almost an entire scene with dialogue and need to useonly one “said” tag because I’m able to create a movement/beat for the speaker.  This works especially well for me when thereare only two characters, and with a little bit of finessing, can also work withthree. How do I make it real? I read it out loud.
  Dealing with personal introspection/emotions/internaldialogue is more difficult for me since I “see” the action in my stories,something akin to watching a movie in my head. Narrative doesn’t exist inmovies unless there’s a voice-over, so I tend to use very little of it.
  I’vebeen told and I do understand I need more narrative in my novel, so I have towork on expanding my use of internal dialogue.
 Okay, I’ve confessed. Now it’s your turn. What isyour writing strength or weakness?
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  That's Biscuit over there peeking out from under my monitor, making sure I'm still working.
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Book Review
  I spent most of last week reading best-selling author SusanYawn Tanner’s Storm Out of Texas —book 3 of her Bellamys of Texas series. I have totell you, I really connected to the characters, the emotion Susan brings to thestory, and the continuous action.
  When the pain of losing his wife still “threatenedto bring him to his knees” even a year after her death, Ford Bellamy knows he can’tspend another winter in a place that holds so many precious memories. He pullsup stakes and takes a stage coach Westward through Indian and road banditterritory in search of a new life for himself and McKenna, the infant daughterhis wife never got to hold.

  Along the dangerous journey, passengers with theirown life stories get on and off the coach, some to stay where they are, some todie. Ford is attracted to the beautiful and betrothed young woman who volunteersto care for McKenna when he must face and mete out death. What he doesn’t know isthat the same may be waiting for her and for him at the end of the journey.
  BuyStorm Out of Texas Now
P.S. It’s free on kindle Unlimited… 

§§
  That’s it for this week’s post. You-all guys keepon keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. Raising prayers for a happy andsafe summer…with lots of time for reading!
cj
Little note: TheHaunted Book Shop has a few signed copies of my books in stock. TO ORDER, contact:https://www.thehauntedbookshopmobile.com/contact-us  If she happens to be out, I also have a smallstash. Angela Trigg, the awesome owner and a RITA Award-winning author in herown right (writing as Angela Quarles) will be happy to ship you any book(s) by any author of your choice.
➜ Follow me on . . .  ➜ Amazon:    Amazon Central Author Page➜ Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/CjPettersonAuthor➜ BookBub:   https://www.bookbub.com/authors/cj-petterson➜ Goodreads: https://bit.ly/3fcN3h6