S.K. Nicholls's Blog, page 43
July 18, 2014
It’s FREE!
Originally posted on Poetry by Pamela:
I finally got it right. Dreams of Love is free today and tomorrow only. Here is a great chance to read my first poetry collection.
Dreams of Love: A Poetry Collection
Enjoy the poems. Read them aloud. Review the book. Share the news with your friends.
My latest collection is Love: Lost and Found
Filed under: Uncategorized
July 17, 2014
Progress Update: Naked Alliances, First Round
I am so far behind with television recorded on my DVR that I have to fast forward through Christmas commercials. Seriously, tried to watch an episode of NCIS with my husband last night and I am like, “Who are all these new people?”
That shows how writing dedicated I am. It has been my focus since the beginning of May. I started this wip in November, put it aside to work on another project, and picked this back up in May. Working every day, sometimes sixteen to eighteen hours non-stop, I had the fish bone skeleton fleshed out on June 8th.
That’s what I am calling the first draft. I finally let the rocket scientist, my alpha reader and crime novel aficionado, read it. I was sorely disappointed when he scored me a two out of five. First I did the proofreading edits required, and then I set about fixing a few things and breathing some more life into this animal.
He didn’t like the opening. So I rewrote it. I shared it with my writers’ group and they loved it. Doing so did raise a question in my mind though. Having two predominate plots, with both of them introduced in the first chapter leads the reader to believe they may be more connected than they are. There is character connection, but they aren’t connected by many plot elements. A few, but I’m not sure if they are enough to satisfy the reader in the end.
He’s not bothered by the POV switching for Richard and Brandi, the private investigator and his sidekick, but third 
person limited narration is not what he is most familiar with. He’s likes third person omniscient best. I’m not changing that because it isn’t really possible without a complete rewrite, and there are so many times that Richard and Brandi are not together it is necessary. When they are together, I try to stick with one POV or the other to avoid head-hopping…but it does sort of result in third person omniscient. I’m not really seeing that as problematic on the revisions.
I felt I already had too many characters, but the RS felt I needed more. Richard is supposed to be somewhat of a loner, and likes to work alone. The RS said not having many friends, neighbors or associates made him less personable, hard to sidle up with. So I did what I could to work a few more into the story. I really like the result.
The RS also said that Richard needed more of a personal life. I didn’t want volumes of backstory on Richard…and his situation is really keeping him too busy for much of a social life, but I did what I could to round him out a bit better. Maybe that needs more work. I don’t want to severely change his persona though. And I don’t want a lot of ancillary side tracking not related to plot. But I think I have managed to pull a rabbit out of the hat on this one.
I am also in the process of adding another action chapter into a spot that lulled. It is the first time that Richard and Brandi are working actively together and I think I can do this in a way that will make both of their unique personalities shine.
With what I have pumped into this second draft, the additional chapters and revisions, adding characters and giving my MC a bit more of a life, I have drastically altered several scenes.
The RS loved the last few chapters and the ending elements, so I’m not tampering with that.
I will have 30 chapters, and have already reached 64,616 words without the chapter I am in the process of 
adding. After this, I have a few more chapters to tweak and fine tune and it will be ready for another pass by the rocket scientist. He’s good at proofreading and I want it up to par when I send it to beta readers. Hopefully, I’ll be ready to do that next week.
I am looking to having two read and see what else I need to adjust, and then I’ll try with two more.
I know it is about progress, not perfection, but I would like for this to be the best it can be.
Then, I can start on Book Two…it is already scratching and clawing its way through my brain and itching to come out.
Filed under: My Novels, Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: alpha readers, anticipation, beta readers, changes, crime fiction, edits, first round, Naked Alliances, revisions, rewrites
July 15, 2014
An Untold Story of Early Retirement
I have mentioned retiring early, and many are under the assumption that I was fortunate, and in many ways I am. However, I want to share with you the rest of that story. I retired from nursing a few years ago in 2011. The stress at the time was unbelievable. I am an empathetic and sensitive nurse. I was working in pediatric extended care. The last four of the eight years I was there were terrible. There were nurses, caregivers, behaving like criminals.
Caught in the crossfire, I spent my time at work dodging bullets and watching the kids under my supervision like a hawk. There was an out and out gang war between the Haitians, African-Americans, Puerto Ricans and Jamaicans who staffed the facility (not a prejudice, but a fact). It was a large facility with over 400 on staff and I was the only white woman on night shift. The women were vicious as they tried to get each other fired and their friends hired. They were cutthroat at each other, and placing young lives in jeopardy.
Seriously, I spent my time outside of work giving depositions to lawyers, writing letters to corporate, filling out police reports, and doing everything I could to protect children from the very people who were supposed to be providing them with a warm, nurturing, loving, compassionate environment. It was horribly sad. I’m not talking about neglectful care, I am talking about deliberate abuse that left children with injuries and put them into hospitals. Some even died. It was THAT bad.
I don’t talk much about my nursing career on my blog. I have shared a few stories, but the taste my final years left in my mouth was so bitter it is not something I can easily look back on. There were a half dozen law suits, and several of the women involved dealt with dire consequences. A few were arrested. I was threatened by one. I went on medical leave and ultimately resigned, which forced the resignation of others.
There was some justice this year when the facility was shut down midst allegations of abuse and neglect and I was more than glad I was no longer a part of it. There was a big write up in the paper. It was splashed all over the six o’clock news. The children were placed into medical foster homes. Now that some of these cases are settled I feel I can freely talk about it. The consolation is that the kids get much better care in the small private medical foster homes than they ever could in a large state funded institution.
Having processed this all through two different administrations, I felt deeply inadequate and powerless when I was in the thick of it and it took a couple of years to mellow out about it. I was angry. I was mad about what was happening to the children and families involved. I was mad about what was happening to my innocent co-workers (the ones not involved dealt with professional and emotional consequences, also). I was disturbed that a thirty year career in health care had boiled down to such a catastrophe. The feeling of failure was enormous.
Yesterday I shared this with another blogger/author friend. You may wonder why I am sharing this with you now. I think it is the reason that you don’t see cute little anecdotes about me and my patients. There were many before all of this went down. Looking back beyond those few final years, I can laugh. I can recall the joys and triumphs of my patients and coworkers, but it has been a long while. There is a new category on my blog called “Nurses Notes”. I am hoping the stories added under this category will be more entertaining than this one.
My apologies that this is such a downer.
Just something I needed to share.
All proceeds from sales of Red Clay and Roses are matched and go to the Russell Home for atypical children.
Filed under: Nurses Notes Tagged: abuse, criminal behavior in the workplace, neglect, nursing, nursing career, patients, retirement, stress, work
July 13, 2014
Gatorland and Crime Fiction Author, Tim Dorsey
If you have been to Orlando, but never stopped in a Gatorland, you are missing a real treat. Away from the Disney chaos you’ll find an attraction of a different sort. Started in 1949, by Owen Godwin, and owned by his family to this day, it was once more like a gator farm, but quickly became a tourist “must see”.
The infamous entryway still greets guests with a great roar. It’s located pretty far south on Orange Blossom Trail (OBT), the red light district, almost in Kissimmee, so you are away from the riff-raff that parades the Trail. I mention it in my crime novel.
I have not been since the fire that destroyed the gift shop in 2006. The shop has been rebuilt as a two-story building. There you will find expensive gator heads for sale. (Found in any souvenir shop for six dollars less.) You’ll also find more gators located in one place than you’ll ever see anywhere in the wild. They have other animals as well, turtles/tortoises, snakes, lizards, birds and more. They pride themselves on their albino collection, including a white alligator.
The Breeding Marsh area of the park was used in the filming of the 1984 movie Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. They have a new zip line feature where you can ride 1200 feet along a cable suspended over the gators and crocodiles.
One of my favorite crime fiction writers, regional author Tim Dorsey, has a new book out, “Tiger Shrimp Tango”. If you are into crime fiction you’ll love this guy. To get the full story on Serge Storm and Coleman, two zany whackos who are bad guys but have antics that always catch other bad guys, you’ll want to start with earlier books.
Dorsey’s writing is tight as he takes the characters down OBT and come upon the gator mouth at the entryway. Of course, they’re high on mescaline, so it’s a pretty weird scene. It’s a side-splitting hilarious book. If this sounds like your thing, check him out.
Tiger Shrimp Tango: A Novel (Serge Storms)
Mad Water Published!
Nicholas C. Rossis has the third in a series out there now! Check it out! Game of Thrones meets Dune in this series.
Originally posted on Nicholas C. Rossis:
What is Mad Water, you ask? Well, if you’re a first-time visitor here, I’ll have you know that Mad Water is the third book of my epic fantasy series, Pearseus.
If, on the other hand, you’re a regular visitor, you’ll be excused for screaming, “WE KNOW!” at the screen. BUT – before you do scream at the poor machine, did you know what the book is about? Well, as the helpful blurb says:
In the third book of the best-selling Pearseus series, the incessant scheming of the various players and their nebulous puppet-masters has brought about major change. Cyrus is now the new ruler of the Capital, struggling to fight Jonia’s revolt along with his own demons. Gella strives to keep abreast of Teo’s devious plans in order to end the war with Jonia. David returns to the First in an effort to overcome his loss of the Voice. Lehmor’s…
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July 11, 2014
Part II: Stereotypes in Writing or Reading: Love Them or Not?
A long while back I made a fun post about stereotypes and received some good feedback, some positive and some negative. I wrote that post long before I had the idea for this new series. Many new readers have come along since that time and I was wondering how you feel about stereotypes.
There are those who are deeply offended by stereotypes. I am a most liberal-minded person, supporting both a diverse population and multifaceted lifestyles. I am seriously opposed to discrimination. Yet, there is a part of me that recognizes stereotypes exist for a reason. They are how we categorize typical characteristics. Now, those of us who like to think we are all unique don’t always appreciate that practice.
I hear author experts give guidance to aspiring writers to avoid stereotypes so as not to be cliché. Our characters should be profoundly unique and original to demonstrate our clever creativeness. But I think stereotypes are useful in creating a mental image of a person without going into elaborate detail. Sure, give your stereotyped image his/her own voice, behaviors that are specific to that individual, but it is a cardinal sin to pluck a stereotype out of a comedian’s routine and develop a novel character?
My crime series is filled with stereotypes, deliberately. It is not a comedy caper series, but the stereotypes do provide for some comic relief in an otherwise serious story. There is a transsexual biracial woman, a sweet, smart, petite Asian girl, a loner P.I., biker dudes, a nurse, a gay neighbor, a dragon lady, a sugar daddy and his trophy wife, a redneck, a philandering politician, a flaming fag, a few cougars, a couple of Jamaican Rastafarian-type dudes, a few gamblers…I could go on with this. I’m not speaking of racial profiling in society or condemning/degrading any group. These are fictional characters.
I am sorry if my words have caused offense. My point is; with these few words I have already created images in your mind of this cast of characters without revealing too very much about them. Sure, my characters are unique in that they have been carefully created to play their roles in the story. They have their own voice and their own individual identities. I was not looking for an easy way out, but they fit the story set in a very diverse community well. And there are also characters in the story that I have created specifically to defy the stereotypical images people have.
For an example of how these images sale books, the rocket scientist specifically looks for regional authors who write about bumbling criminals. The wacko, goofy redeeming villain grabs his attention in a book blurb all of the time.
That being said, how do you feel about stereotypes?
Would you be able to enjoy a book that has them?
Would you deliberately avoid reading a book if you knew it was laced with them?
It is for marketing reasons that I ask your opinions.
Reminder, Red Clay and Roses remains on sale for 99 cents for the digital copy on Amazon through Saturday, July 12th. All proceeds are matched and go to the Russell Home for atypical children.
Filed under: Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: cliche, crime fiction, images, mental image, stereotype, writing techniques
July 10, 2014
Book review: My GRL by John Howell
I am a serious boat person and love crime fiction so this book had me intrigued from the start. John J. Cannon is an average Joe, an attorney, trying to escape the stress of the Courtroom and office, when he heads to the Texas coast and buys a yacht from a broker who is not entirely on the up and up with him. She ends up dead. Poor John, absorbed with minutia and afflicted with OCD, gets sucked into the middle of a criminal catastrophe. There is one dilemma after another placed in front of him.
This is only the second book I have read that is written in present tense, so it took some adjustment. It is also written in first person, which I felt allowed me to get really close to the protagonist. He’s an endearing fellow who tries to make all that’s going wrong right, trying to save both his boat and innocent people from a group of terrorists. There is subtle humor tucked into every chapter. The story takes us through some crazy situations that John never expected he would have to face and is ill equipped to handle alone.
Enter Ned, the Chief of Police, and Jason, who incidentally becomes a sailing companion. Teased by action throughout the book, the intensity at the climax had me biting my nails. Howell does an excellent job creating characters and scenarios we can care about. You can’t help but become invested in the outcomes. The suspense is also as thrilling as one would expect. I would be remiss not to mention both the line and copy editing could have been tighter before publication. That issue aside, it is a most enjoyable debut crime novel. I look forward to future works by this author.
I give this book 4 out of 5 stars!
BOOK REVIEW: “Red Clay and Roses” by S. K. Nicholls
A wonderful review of Red Clay and Roses from Susan Marie Molloy! Give a read :)
Originally posted on Susan Marie Molloy:
Summer is in full swing and what better way to relax after a sizzling day than with a book about the Deep South and family secrets and surprising discoveries. This is third in my series of book reviews; I hope that my recommendations inspire you to read these books. . . . .
“Red Clay and Roses” by S. K. Nicholls is an honest look into the joys and ruthless realities of life in the Deep South during the 1950s and 1960s. The novel predominantly delves straightforward into lust, rape, murder, criminal abortion, lies, adoption, denial, and love, and particularly how race and gender relations intermingled within those ruthless realities of life.
The author presents this story as roman à clef; that is, as a novel based on a real life overlapped with fiction. She skillfully wrote to give the reader an interesting, eyes-wide-open view into the foul side of…
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July 9, 2014
How dining in Bedlam taught me to write dialogue
This is a very good guide to writing dialogue! I appreciate it as both a reader and a writer.
Originally posted on Life In The Realm of Fantasy:
The family I grew up in is a loud, all-talk-at-once kind of a family, with a lot of talkative members. Family gatherings are absolute bedlam–large, loud, full of life and great food, and long on opinions and ideas. We are comprised of musicians, artists, and authors, along with engineers and software developers.
Above all, we are avid gamers of all kinds, from old-school Super Mario, to Grid Autosport, to Final Fantasy X/X-2, to Halo, to Assassin’s Creed, to Dark Souls 2, to Minecraft–and we love to talk, loudly and all at once, about everything we love. Somehow, we all manage to have our say and allow the others have theirs, but it’s like living in a blender at times.
We, and our friends, are loud and passionate and most people love it, but every now and then a visitor can’t handle the hullabaloo. Sometimes, less outgoing girlfriends or boyfriends don’t get it, and the general…
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Promo Update
This is a quick update to how our promotional with ENT went over the past couple of days.
As you can see, we did fairly well bringing Red Clay and Roses from #300K (something) to #2,210.
#2,210 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
#3 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Historical Fiction > African American
#5 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction > African American
#19 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Literary Fiction > Sagas
It never lasts too long before it starts climbing, because without the immediate exposure we start climbing pretty fast. Right now we are at #5,180.
What does this mean for The Russell Home?
Since January 1st, with one major promo in February which got us up to #1600 and the sales that have occurred between January and now, we have matched sales to come up with a check for $554.23 which will be mailed to them on Thursday, July 17th, along with a letter per their request. In the future they will receive a quarterly check, but this brings us up to date for 2014. These are sales minus what Amazon and Ereader News Today take as percent.
Thank you all for your support!
The price will remain 99 cents through Saturday and goes back to $3.99 on Sunday, July 13th.
Remember…reviews are always welcome!
Filed under: Marketing Tagged: Ereader News Today, promo, ranking, sales for 2014, The Russell Home, update
