Amanda Shofner's Blog, page 7

First Line Friday — Courting the Flames

This week’s First Line Friday comes from averyunedited Courting the Flames. While I’ve given you the first line of the heroine, Miranda, I haven’t introduced you to the hero, Kieran.

Perhaps he introduces himself better.

Kieran Blane knew a thing or two about mischievous devils, and the woman he was leading onto the floor was precisely that. Her smile promised trouble, although he suspected she possessed no clue how easily he could read her.

The next couple months would be interesting, to sa...

How to Follow Up a 62k Month — Goal Tracking

In July, I wrote 62,000 words. In my previous goal tracking post, I said:

I’m also reminding myself that going at a breakneck speed without pausingonly leads to burnout. I don’t expect to put up the same kind of numbers in August — it’ll be about finding balance.

Well. Past Amanda knew what she was talking about, and while I didn’t necessarily find balance, I did allow myself to go slower. Much slower, actually, once I reached the end of the first draft of my first book in the Raulf Legacy s...

First Line Friday — Hidden Illusions

This week’s First Line Friday comes from Hidden Illusions, book 2 in The Hunted series. We can always count on Janey to lead us astray. Here’s the synopsis.

She’s driven by one purpose.

Janey Jones may have escaped the Hunters, but the scars they inflicted still mark her, inside and out. One goal keeps her moving forward: kill Captain Reed, the man who tortured her, destroyed her Gift, and murdered her mother. She’ll do anything to succeed.

He’s seen what blind ambition can do.

Will Brown pr...

First Line Friday — Elusive Memories

Let’s start where it all began, hmm? This week’s First Line Friday is from Elusive Memories, the first book in The Hunted. Here’s the synopsis:

One false move — or trusting the wrong person — can turn the Gifted into the hunted.

Captured by the Northern Alliance Betterment Society, a group more dedicated to murder than betterment, memory-bringer Sam Benson’s in trouble. She doesn’t know where she is or, more importantly, who she is. With her memories gone, she must piece together the details...

Why “Never Use Adverbs” Is Bad Writing Advice

Let’s debunk this bad boy. Beyond the fact that “never” is an adverb, which is a fun little irony for you.

What IS an adverb?

An adverb is more than a word that modifies a verb — but it’s a good start. Adverbs areversatile little words that can modify anything except nouns. (Because if a word modifies a noun, it’s an adjective.)

Adverbs answer questions such as “How?” (manner of action) or“When?” (time and frequency) or “Where?” (place). Never and not are both adverbs, for example, but so ar...

First Line Friday — A Veiled Truth (The Hunted #2.5)

I’m cheating a little bit with this one and providing you with the first few paragraphs of A Veiled Truth. Because why stop at one line?

There was something in the way her twin brother Will and his no-longer-enemy Jane stood next to each other, without touching, that piqued Edie’s curiosity. They didn’t look at or brush up against each other. Edie cocked her head. And yet, they seemed highly aware of the other.

It brought to mind all kinds of questions. Were they still sharing energy, even...

On the Comparison Trap

Listen, writers, we need to talk.

As lonely as writing can be, sometimes it can be even lonelier when you see your writing buddies or role models slapping down more words and publishing more successful books than you are.

It’s easy to forget we’re unique. That we have circumstances or skills or brains different from everyone else. That our writing process and outputshouldbe different from everyone’s.

And yet.

We often find ourselves believing that if we don’t write or edit or outline like som...

First Line Friday — Courting the Flames (Raulf Legacy #1)

Ready for something a little different than normal? GOOD! So am I.

First Line Friday is all about sharing the first line(s) of your WIP. Today I thought I’d share with you the first line of Courting the Flames, which is book 1 in the Raulf Legacy series.

Want to know more? Here’s the synopsis:

For her, family is everything.

As the daughter of a duke, Lady Miranda Raulf leads a comfortable life with a tight-knit family. But appearances can be deceiving. When her fire element spins out of con...

July Word Count Totals + Camp NaNoWriMo — Goal Tracking

Do you keep track of your writing progress?

Camp NaNoWriMo — any NaNoWriMo, really — gives us more encouragement than other months to track our writing progress. I participated in the July Camp NaNo session with a goal of 50k, which I hit on July 21st.

How I achieved my goals this month

Despite scheduling my writing time in 30 minute blocks, I use a spreadsheet (you can get your own from Jamie Raintree) to track my word count for the month. As you can see below, it gives me a good overview o...

The Case for Reviewing Books as an Author

Like many authors before me, my publishing journey began as a reader. Although my mother claims she once had to force me to read, I (thankfully) have none of those horrifying memories.

In 2011, I took my love of books to the next level by starting a book blog, On a Book Bender, where I continue posting reviews today. My reviews have changed and grown with me, but they’ve becomemoreimportant as I learn how to write fiction.

Even if you never publish your reviews anywhere,learning to be critic...