S.K. Nicholls's Blog, page 47
June 8, 2014
Sunday Synopsis: First Draft Accomplished
Hi folks! You may have been wondering if I dropped off the edge of the earth as I haven’t been floating around as much as I used to. That’s because I have been very busy writing for the past month and four days. I started this project in November at 2340 words and parked it until May 4th, when I felt a strong need to get back to it.
Today I wrote my final words in the first draft on my first crime novel.
It is sitting at 57, 678. Yay me!
Now the real work begins. I haven’t done my first read through, but I thought I would jot down some notes about what I’m feeling about where we are.
I have few things I am eager to hear from my beta readers about. Mainly having to do with POV, the number of suspects, and running two major interrelated plotlines.
There is murder mystery and there is organized crime, each aspect offering flavors of crime fiction that can be very different. I know some people like solving puzzles, putting the pieces together, and others want high thriller action and suspense. My hope is that I provided both without disappointing one reader or another.
There are a number of people involved. There is a family law firm, and there is a nudist resort where the ancillary characters come from. That’s a lot of players, and I am hoping it isn’t too confusing.
I basically went in alternating POV between my two main characters, the detective, Richard, and his sidekick, Brandi. At about the mid-point, it is primarily Richard’s POV. I do have one chapter dedicated to my villain. There were things you, the reader, needed to know about the villain that neither Brandi nor Richard could tell you. Things only the villain could know. I also wanted to show the wickedness in a way that was indisputable.
Now, I am wondering if that might come across as too jarring, and I am thinking that to balance this, maybe I should give my murder suspects their own POV chapters. I dunno.
At any rate, it is what it is. Honestly, I didn’t set out to write the next great masterpiece. It’s genre fiction and I hoped to be entertaining.
My Alpha Reader is my husband, who reads two or three crime novels a week. He loves it all. I have told him to expect a cross between Charlotte Bronte and Tim Dorsey; Sort of a Charlotte Dorsey or a Tim Bronte. I don’t know if my writing style works with crime fiction, but the project is fun.
If you are not having fun, you need to be doing something else. Life is too short.
Filed under: My Novels, Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: alpha reader, beta readers, concerns, crime fiction, finished, first draft, manuscript, murder mystery, read through, WIP
June 4, 2014
A Different Kind of Book Review: Memoirs of a Dilettante Volume One by Helena Hann-Basquiat
Excellently executed Book Review in a unique storytelling.
Originally posted on 1WriteWay:
Mary picked up the soft cover book from her pillow where it had been resting since Lucy left it there. She opened the book so she could see the front and back cover, the red, black, and white colors making her eyes dance. Red was her favorite color. Black used to be the color of her hair. And it had been long and wavy, much as she imagined Helena’s hair to be. An index card floated down from the book and onto Mary’s lap. It was a note from Lucy: “Just call me Penny dammit!” Mary laughed at the inside joke. Both she and Lucy were regular readers of Helena’s blog and knew the story behind “.”
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Dreaming (spoken word)
A poem to listen to and enjoy by Pamela
Originally posted on Poetry by Pamela:
Dreaming
Dawn awakens me
With a feeling you were there
Had I been dreaming?
No, this just isn’t fair.
I’m sure I felt your arm over me
Your leg wrapped around mine
Hearts beating a symphony
Soft breaths keeping time
Was it really just a dream?
Your scent in the bed
And the warmth of your skin
Says you were here instead
I heard you whisper my name
But now you have escaped
Something’s not quite the same
But the pillow holds your shape.
I don’t want to open my eyes
I’d rather stay asleep
I don’t need the sun to rise
Let me just pretend you’re here to keep
But, alas, the sun does shine
As morning breaks my repose
My lips beg you to be mine
While my dreams fade to ghosts
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June 3, 2014
Serious Writing Flaws in First Draft
I don’t like to tell other people how to write because I am no expert, but I can share my own personal experience with the process.
More than three quarters of the way through this manuscript, I went back and read a few chapters. This is a first rough draft, mind you, but I can see a tremendous amount of work in front of me.
I have a tendency to rush through TELLING you what my characters did or didn’t do. I want to spit the story out in a hurry rather than SHOWING the building of character presence.
I know a writer’s style can break the rules, and I am certain mine will. But there are some places you really can’t skimp and write effectively.
For example:
Which tells you most about these characters?
A) Brandi was dressing herself and applying fresh make-up as they spoke. A brunette wig would do for her plans for the day. Not too much make-up. Wearing a skin-tight, short tube skirt and a low slung sweater top, she set aside the heels in favor of her sneakers.
B) Brandi tugged on her hair at the mirror as they spoke. The braided black wig that she chose emphasized her African-American features, while her light coffee colored make-up delicately smoothed her Caucasian skin. A tight white tube skirt clung to an ample derrière and a low slung sweater top showed off both her heavy implanted breasts and small waist. She set aside her familiar stilettos in favor of more comfortable gym shoes to walk the streets today.
A) He had thick, dark hair and tough, tanned skin.
B) The Florida sun had not lightened his thick, dark hair, but had toasted and leathered his skin.
They don’t even seem like the same people to me. I have this vision in my mind of who these characters are, but conveying that to you properly is a challenge.
And emotions:
A) She held her nose. “You stink. You could use a shower. They have that right over here,” she said, pointing toward the pool area.
B) She turned her head, wrinkled her nose, and waved her hand in front of her face. “You smell like a chitlin boil dumped three days at the landfill! There’s soap and shampoo in the shower stalls outside by the pool.”
A) After fourteen flights of stairs he was exhausted and panting. He tried to hide behind a potted plant at the end of the hall.
B) After fourteen flights of stairs he was panting. He could barely walk the six feet to the end of the hall to hide behind a potted plant. His legs ached. His knees shook. Trying to stand up straight to conceal himself behind the foliage made the leaves tremble.
See what I mean? I’ve got a lot of work to do. It’s fun work. But we’re a long way from finished with this. This could take months.
I know the right way to write. It’s just faster and easier to write the wrong way. But that’s what makes the first draft like sliding down the slide, riding the merry-go-round, swinging high through the tree limbs, wriggling your toes in the sandbox. It’s a literary playground.
I LOVE FIRST DRAFTS!
I was originally editing as I moved along and the writing process was dragging. I was getting frustrated. I feared I was going to give it up before I got the story out there. Lose it from my mind. I gave up the method instead.
Ask me how I feel about writing when it comes time to edit.
Filed under: Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: character building, emotions, first draft, flaws, literary playground, not tell, rules, rushing, show, writing process
June 2, 2014
Cover Reveal: Bound
Originally posted on disregard the prologue:
Friends. Darlings. Beloved peoples and kinda-creepy lurkers.
Today is the day.
You’ve all been so supportive and patient. I’m not going to make this all wordy. Here you go. Please feel free to share.
(Cover art by Ravven)
Welcome to Darmid, where magic is a sin, fairy tales are contraband, and the people live in fear of the Sorcerers on the other side of the mountains.
Rowan Greenwood has everything she’s supposed to want from life—a good family, a bright future, and a proposal from a handsome and wealthy magic hunter. She knows she should be content with what she has. If only she could banish the idea that there’s more to life than marriage and children, or let go of the fascination with magic she’s been forced to suppress since childhood.
When Rowan unknowingly saves the life of one of her people’s most feared enemies, that simple act…
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June 1, 2014
New Book Published – Inside the Smoke
A poet that I have been following since day one on WordPress has a new book out! His eighth!
Originally posted on Poesy plus Polemics:
I am pleased and excited to announce that my publisher, Stonewood Press LLC, has just released my eighth full-length collection of original poetry.
“Inside the Smoke: A Centurial Collection of Poems”
From the back cover:
A timeless collection of one hundred original poems that touch upon a variety of subjects. Emotions, experiences, memories and dreams are all treated with the author’s patently thoughtful and provocative style.
His customary use of the free verse form is especially enjoyable for its rare poetic clarity as well as for his masterful use of language. Lenzi has a special talent for metaphor that makes for memorable turns of phrase.
Inside the Smoke merits a place in every personal library of contemporary American poetry.
This volume is now available on Amazon in both paperback and kindle versions. Similarly available are my 7 earlier books,
• City of Pawns
• Range of Motion
• Two-Cornered Rooms
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May 31, 2014
THE HOPETELLER IS NOW AVAILABLE!
Charles Yallowitz, creator of the Legends of Windemere series, has a new novella out: The Hopeteller
Originally posted on Legends of Windemere:
The Hopeteller (Cover by Tracy Carrig)
NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON KINDLE FOR $1.25!
Book Blurb:
Humanity has been driven into the wilderness by the ‘Invaders’. They have been forced to live as colonies in the wilderness where survival is a daily struggle. Hope becomes harder and harder to hold onto as the years pass.
Then one day, a young man tells a story to an injured friend and the Hopeteller is born. Unsure of the power of his words, he finds himself moving the colony with his fairy tales. He will see his people through death and fear as they continue to fight for survival.
Enjoy this novella that is half post-apocalyptic journal and half fairy tales.
Perfect for a quick & entertaining read!
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May 29, 2014
The Buzzing Bumblebee
There is a buzz going around the internet about content in writing. There are things some people are either offended by, or are so emotionally moved by that it becomes unhealthy for them to experience reading about it. Some psychologists actually encourage people to face their fears and pains, processing through them. But some people may not be ready to do that. Some writing stings.
Writers write for a variety of reason: to entertain, to educate, to share opinions, to share news.
In memoirs, most often people write to provide inspiration. Sometimes they write to share a story that does not necessarily directly offer hope, but indirectly shares how that person processed through a difficult life situation…it may not be a pretty story, but the hope is that you will see the writer’s triumph over a bad situation. The growth experience, and in the end, the hope.
Luanne shared a review of such a story: “I find it so hard to write a review of this book that I can’t help but wonder how Kathryn Harrison wrote it. It was a New York Times bestseller when it was originally published in 1997 and has been read by many. The Kiss is a very disturbing story. It’s about incest. And betrayal. And mental illness. And a “man of God” who was anything but. But mainly it’s Kathryn’s story* and how she negotiated growing up and learning how to be a woman.” But read the full review.
Incest is not a pretty topic. It’s not entertaining. I don’t know if this book is promoted with “trigger warnings” or not, but it is an example of what exactly disturbs me about this current BUZZ.
When you read the book description, I am certain that you will have some idea on what this memoir is about.
And then there is fiction.
Fiction is most often designed to be entertaining. But different people are entertained by different forms of fiction.
Some people prefer light reading. Others want to delve deeply into recesses of the mind and soul.
There is a current trend to avoid certain subjects that a number of people find offensive in fiction. I am not talking about murder, blood, guts, and gore. We tend to accept those things. Not only in crime fiction, but in mysteries, fantasy, vampire novels and horror.
But as Ginny Wiehard mystery writer tells us here: http://fictionwriting.about.com/od/genrefiction/tp/mysteryrules.htm
Certain subjects are considered absolute taboos, even in crime fiction. Mysteries should be about murder. Detectives should not be dealing less serious crimes. Or those crimes that are emotionally sensitive.
Rape, child molestation/incest, animal cruelty are subjects that even the most horrific writers are cautioned to avoid. These things are not “entertaining”. And in her point of view, these things can, in no way, be entertaining. They are not only politically incorrect, but they are emotionally incorrect. So now, we have to concern ourselves with emotional correctedness.
Crime is supposed to be bad. It is what sends people to jail. It is what makes law enforcers have to kill over. It is not supposed to be pretty.
Kirsten Lamb recently did a post about how we have begun to expect writers to show sensitivity.
Educators being expected to coddle the feelings of students so that nobody feels unimportant, left out, or harmed in any emotional way. University students objecting to being expected to read material that they might find offensive.
What?! University students should not have to learn about the atrocities of man/women in our society?
Another author blogger, C.S. McClellan, shares his opinions on trigger warnings and content here:
http://writingcycle.wordpress.com/2014/05/26/a-little-more-about-trigger-warnings/
Red Clay and Roses is a roman à clef. It is a fictionalized true story, like a biography of everyday ordinary people
who lived during a time period of political upheaval in this country. Bad things happened. Progress was made. But it is not a pretty story. I did not set out to entertain when I wrote it. It does have a satisfying ending, but the subject matter could be painful to some. Someone is raped. Should it have been published? There is more than one abortion. It also deals with adoption. Should it have a trigger warning?
The crime novel that I am writing now deals with subject matter that could be painful to some. It has a villain, and although you don’t see a lot of her directly, you see the terrible things she does. I’m not talking graphic images, but allusions to terrible crimes. It’s a reality in our society. I want her to be bad, really bad, and horrible, worthy of death by dynamite! It’s crime. I don’t want her to get a slap on the wrist by the legal system. I want her to die. I want you to want her to die.
Do you think it should come with a trigger warning to spare potential crime novel readers the likely agony they just might feel if they are exposed to a distasteful subject?
How do you feel about trigger warnings? Is it censorship? Are there subjects so taboo that no genre should touch them?
If Lolita, written in 1955 and still listed at #785 on Amazon’s Top Sellers list,had been written today, would it have been published? The story of a girl repeatedly raped. A child. Would Vladimir Nabokov not written it because it is taboo?
So what are your thoughts?
(My apologies about the formatting…never could get it to behave!)
Filed under: Writing Process/WIPs Tagged: abortion, buzz, child molestation, correctedness, crime fiction, distasteful, emotional, entertainment, fiction, incest, memoirs, murder, painful, rape, taboo subjects, trigger warnings, writing
Went to Bed Happy Because I Screwed Up
Sometimes I go to bed happy just because I screwed. This time I screwed up.
It’s not the meds or the bipolar. Allow me to explain.
I am a little more than annoyed with myself. I screwed up a Memorial Day promo. I had a promo scheduled for Memorial Day weekend for Red Clay and Roses priced at 99 cents through ENT.
It would have been a great promo with everybody having a three and four day weekend. Lots of book shopping and reading time. But I screwed it up. I didn’t change the price. I still had it at $3.99.
This is what they wrote me back when I asked why there was nothing happening with the book. “Nothing is happening because we didn’t post your book on Saturday. It was at the regular price, and as of today, still is at the regular price.”
So they didn’t list me. My fault. My bad.
I wrote them two letters of apology and asked them to reschedule. Never heard a word. Changed the price 
to 99 cents and still never heard a word.
Waited. Nothing.
Then books started moving of their own accord. With no promo. About half as many as I moved through my last promo over two days. It broke ten thousand in one day.
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,324 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store) and went back onto three category listings.
I haven’t advertised this anywhere. Not my blog. Not Facebook. Nowhere.
Just so you know. I have changed it to 99 cents. HAPPY Belated MEMORIAL DAY!
I may just leave it at 99 cents. I haven’t decided yet. It’s a debut novel.
I have to PAY for promos. I’m sure it’s gotten exposure. But is it necessary every time you do a sale?
Should I ever reset to $3.99? What do you think? I only sold 4 books in May at $3.99. I sold 104 at 99 cents in one day!
If I do reset to $3.99 again, I am also thinking seriously about leaving it on Amazon and pulling it from other platforms through smashwords as it primarily sales though Amazon and I can’t list it in Countdowns not being Select.
Filed under: Marketing Tagged: 99 cent versus $3.99, Bargain, no promo, Red Clay and Roses, Sale, screw up
May 28, 2014
It’s here! Release day!!
Three new books by Mishka Jenkins! We, who have followed her progress, are all very proud of her! Take a look!!! Three romance features: Historical, paranormal, and fantasy romance.
Originally posted on A Writer's Life For Me.:
This is it… This is really it!
My books are out there, they have been released into the world.
And I think I’m about ready to explode with excitement and nervousness all at the same time :D Months and months of work and there they are… out for sale!!
Before doing all the release links and things, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone of the blogging and writing community.
When I started this journey, I wanted to connect with others who are going through the same process. And I did, but I also found so many great people who are supportive and genuine in their want to help others succeed in this tough world of books and writing! Every time I’ve asked for help or advice, you guys have been there!
Thank you!
The Queen’s Jester
Fantasy romance.
Amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/The-Queens-Jester-Mishka-Jenkins-ebook/dp/B00KLBISGG/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_tnr_1
Amazon.co.uk: http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Queens-Jester-Mishka-Jenkins-ebook/dp/B00KLBISGG/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_t_1_6TCG
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/442154
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22352807-the-queen-s-jester
Blurb:
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