Claudette Melanson's Blog

My review of Sherri Wingler's Crimson Moon

Crimson Moon by Sherri A. Wingler

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Wow! What a phenomenal read!
Sherri truly has a gift for storytelling.
Synopsis:
Crimson Moon is a saucy read about two supernaturally-enhanced humans. Grey is a much different take on a werewolf. His wolf resides inside in the background of the man's mind, but he will emerge when he needs to--or if he thinks Grey isn't making the best choices. Claws and fangs also show themselves when danger threatens. When he runs into seventeen-year-old runaway, Harlow, he is in danger of losing his heart. Harlow, or 'Red' as Grey likes to call her, is haunted by her own gift turned curse. Life has become very hard for the young woman ever since her skin 'turned on.' Not only can she knock other people on their arses; she will also take a piece of whom they are into her own mind for a limited amount of time, hearing their voice and becoming privy to some of their secrets.
Both are hard-core loners, Red's own mother kicking her out of her home when she learned about her abilities and Grey leading the lonely life of killer for hire.When Grey takes pity on Red and attempts to buy her a meal in a diner, he gets more than he bargains for. Insulted, the young girl gives back the money for the meal but ends up accepting a ride with the surly werewolf, who decides to see her safely to her grandmother's doorstep. But as they make their way to Alaska, the friendship developing between the two may become a bond neither of them can live without
Review:
There were two things I loved the most about this novel: the snippy dialogue between the characters (and internally between both of them and the wolf) and the pacing and development of the relationship between the pair. Grey's dialogue with the wolf had me laughing out loud on several occasions, as well as the banter between Red and both Grey and the wolf's voice inside her mind. Some examples:
Wolf: "Our cubs are going to be idiots if they take after you."
Grey: "Shut up, flea bag. For once, you were useful."

Harlow to Grey: "Go pee a circle around some other girl."

Grey to Harlow: "I'll track you. Bring you back."...
Harlow to Grey: "Try it and I'll zap your sorry ass into next week."

The language was quite poetic in places, elevating the writing to a level beyond the norm. Some examples:
"Glass makes an almost cheerful sound when it breaks, like the shattering brings it joy."
"The screams went on and on for the longest time. I lost my battle to stay awake and fell asleep to them like a nightmarish lullaby."
"He tasted of cinnamon and coffee and dark promises."

The characters and plot were developed as well as the very natural flowing dialogue. I felt like I knew both Harlow and Grey very well, and the supporting characters were miles away from two-dimensional. Although there was plenty of sexual tension between the two main characters, it didn't slip into the realm of unnecessary, overblown sexual detail, nor did the characters just jump into bed together (besides to sleep) at the first convenient moment. A REAL relationship developed, one that is multi-dimensional and based on far more than base lust. The spicier parts of the book were executed perfectly with finesse and class and no nasty details (my own personal preference as a reader).
The action scenes were also well-written with plenty of detail and enough emotional impact to pull the reader into the scene and make me feel pain and anger along with the leading characters as I read them. There is a hint of mystery, especially toward the end, that left me guessing and eager to read the next book in the series. Like the best books and TV shows, the ending is left open, leaving me wanting to know more about the characters and how things would play out for them.
If you're a fan of snarky banter, well-developed supernatural creatures and sexual tension that leaves enough to the imagination, you will love this series. I can't wait to read book 2!
**An ARC of this book was provided to me, so I won't address any errors found (although they were few and far between) as the book was set for further editing.




View all my reviews

Rising Tide is Perma Free!

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Cupcakes, Werewolves and a Sense of Belonging: All About the Indies Signing, Arlington, VA 2017

And here I sit at the edge of tears. The very first All About the Indies Signing has come to its end, and I’m feeling its loss like a sword to the gut. What’s that saying? “Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.” I’m sorry, but I’m just not feeling that right now. I looked forward to you for too long. I had too much fun tonight. Experienced too much comradery. I have a right to my melancholy. So, stow your smiles for another day.



I remember well the shift in my social status. In middle school, the friends I always considered best started to move into other social circles. A few of them joined the ranks of the popular, a realm into which my entry was forbidden. I also remember well the mean-spirited taunts following my clumsily-executed cheerleader tryout when I, foolishly, tried to follow a couple of my friends down the new path they’d chosen. But I really should’ve known better. Hard lesson learned, I sought out other quiet like-minded friends to keep company with during my high school years. The highlight of those years being my senior year—the year I ended up with the school’s notoriously hardest-assed English teacher—when I was told I’d picked the hardest book on the list to write my senior research paper, Alice in Wonderland. Despite the fear rumbling in my innards at my teacher’s revelation, I bit the bullet and did my best, nearly toppling over in shock when I saw the A scrawled across the top. But the moment serves to reiterate my point—the moment was a solitary victory. I was seriously lacking in the cheering squad capacity.



Today was different. Those of you who know me best know the challenges I face. I try my best to make career out of author, refusing any impediment in my path. I made this trip to Arlington alone and that alone raised a few eyebrows, but I did it, and the effort made me feel like a whole person…like nothing else. I feel like a warrior. I am capable.



But this trip did so much more. I met so many talented and like-minded authors. When one has experienced the pleasure of sharing a room with them, the realization is driven home…we are a family. One like no other. To sit in a room with others who share the burden and honor of creating entire worlds from no more than the air around them with a shot or five of caffeine is a rare pleasure. It is a bond that transcends geography, race, age or genre in which we write. To me, we share an affinity like no other. The conference was wonderful. The after party, phenomenal. You can see what I’m talking about in my Facebook live video on my timeline.



I may be nearing fifty, but when I walk into a crowded room, I still feel like that shy seventh grader seeking acceptance from her peers. I peeked into the Holiday Inn conference room, heart pounding, trepidation in my heart. My tensed muscles relaxed as I was warmly waved in by several people seated around the tables inside. Tamara, whom I was lucky enough to be seated beside during the day, welcomed me with a place by her side. As we all sat around and chatted, I realized more and more how alike we all were. We all share equally in this struggle to make our voices heard. These were my people. I reveled in the sense of belonging.



As the crowd thinned, those of us left played the most unique game. Each of us drew an identity: werewolf, seer or villager. While we all tried to figure out whom among us might be murderous werewolves, each of us laughed and joked…and I felt a sense of belonging I haven’t felt in a very long time. They all just felt so much like me. I was completely welcomed. Totally accepted.

And there were gluten free cupcakes. There are so many places I go where I can’t eat…and Sade remembered I couldn’t have gluten. I literally haven’t eaten a cupcake in years…at least two. And tonight I had a cupcake. And spent a too-very-brief day with people just like me. People who accepted me for the human I am and didn’t look at me or treat me like I was too weird to talk to. I did have someone tell me I resembled a witch from some TV show…that I took as a compliment. ;)



Thank you, Sade, and your staff for a professionally executed, warmly extended event for Indie Authors. I experienced a completely enjoyable, incredibly memorable time!

Escaping the Depths of Tell: Showing VS Telling for More Effective Writing

“Show me; don’t tell me,” my English professor quipped as she handed back my latest creative work, a flourish of bright red ink gracing the top of the page with a  grade I found much less than desirable.

Learning to differentiate between showing and telling in my writing was a hard lesson to grasp during my early years as a writer. Luckily, I kept reading my weight in books over and over again as I practiced my craft. If Stephen King doesn’t provide a fine example of this technique over and over again, I don’t know who does. And I was lucky enough to find myself inside the classrooms of diligent and knowledgeable instructors, who were quite adept at teaching me the ins-and-outs of crafting a darned fine story. As an author today, I try my hardest to hold those lessons close, always endeavoring to hone and perfect my craft—and I will never stop trying to improve. As an editor, I strive to share anything I learn with my fellow authors. I’ve found that many struggle with the subject of this blog post and so hoped it might be useful to write up a post providing a couple of examples put into practice.

Showing in scenes of past action
I’ve read many scenes in which the author attempts to sum up actions occurring in the past, instead of flashing back to that point in time, giving the reader the opportunity to look through a magic window and watch the scene play out. It all comes down to adding adequate detail and expanding on one’s writing expertise so that the event is easily pictured in the reader’s mind. I’ll show you an example. The first scene will employ telling vs the second, which shows.

Telling-
When I was a little girl, Timmy bullied me horribly. He pulled pranks on me even his own friends found to be harsh and unnecessary. He tortured me with words as well as deeds, cutting me to the bone with his taunts. I couldn’t get him to stop, no matter how much I cried or pleaded. One day he did something horrible, and I found myself forced to stand up to him. I defended myself against his cruelty by fighting back, which actually brought the bullying to an end.

Showing-
  During second grade, I attended school with a little boy, Timmy, who’d become my worst nightmare. He’d stood nearly one and a half times my size and doubled me in girth as well. His beady little green eyes had always found me the moment I’d stepped onto the playground at recess every day. With the shock of greasy black hair falling over one of his evil orbs, one might’ve wondered how his aim was so accurate when he landed punches against my jaw and square in the middle of my solar plexus. The hard-earned love of my teachers had become a handicap when Timmy had used it as a weapon against me. He’d taken great joy in dubbing me, “Lil Ass Kisser,” replacing my name with the term every time he’d caught sight of me. This had lead him to come up with taunts like, “Hey, Lil Ass Kisser, what’s that on your nose?” after which I’d found my appendage being shoved into the sticky mud. He’d forbidden me from washing the dirt away before we’d all returned to the classroom, causing my teachers to roll their eyes in exasperation and disbelief as they’d banished me to the boys’ washroom to make myself presentable…again. My mother had advised me to tell him how hurtful his actions were, but when I’d told Timmy his words and actions, “…really hurt my feelings,” he and his cronies had broken into fevered laughter before he’d told me, “I’ll show you what real hurt is, you slug.” That had been the day he’d dislocated my shoulder as he’d shoved my face into the earth. My tears hadn’t moved him to mercy in the least, as he’d left me wailing on the ground, so racked with pain I couldn’t move until the teacher had found me under the jungle gym outside, my face streaked by muddy tears and snot.
One day, I’d caught a caterpillar who’d been making his way along the rough bark of the massive oak tree at the edge of the playground. As he’d innocently inched along my finger, Timmy had snuck up behind me, slapping his hand down over mine and smashing my new friend into goo in the process. When I saw the green splatter of wasted innocent life dripping from my hand, something in me had snapped. I’d whirled in fury, crashing into Timmy so hard, he’d fallen instantly to the dirt. My eyes red with rage, I’d straddled him, beating his face with my tiny but effective fists until it had been transformed into a mess of bright blood sullied by caterpillar guts. Every time Timmy had focused those dull eyes on me in the future…he’d run in the opposite direction.

Which retelling would you whether read? Adding a few dry facts about a flashback is no match for providing vivid details which take the readers to the place where they can picture the events unfold inside their imagination.

Showing with dialogue
As a reader, and an editor, there’s nothing worse than when I see something like this when reading a text I’m deeply engrossed in:

Telling-
We told each other stories about all the Christmases we’d enjoyed the most. I told him about all my favorite presents and he described his most treasured to me. We told each other which carols we’d sung and about our most beloved foods at Christmas dinner. He described to me his most beloved memory of Christmas: the tree with all its ornaments passed down through the years, coupled with the enchanting colors of the strung lights, the same treasured memory as my own.

While endearing…this can be much improved upon.

Showing-
“What was your favorite Christmas?” I asked him, staring up into the light that was his eyes.
“The year I was six,” he answered, his eyes growing misty at the memory. “I’d asked Santa for a train set. One that would run upon its tracks when I pushed a button.”
“And you got one that year?”
“Yes,” he answered. “All I had to do was pop in a new set of batteries to see it race over the track whenever I desired.” He paused before gazing down at me with curiosity in his eyes. “How about you? What present did you love the most? What brought you the most excitement of any Christmas morning you can remember?”
“I was four.”
“Can you really remember back so far?” he asked, laughing.
“I can,” I assured him. “That was the year I found my first drum kit under the tree. I really can still remember the way my parents stuffed foam earplugs into their ears, still smiling to make me believe they loved the noise I made.”
“Now, those are good parents,” he told me, after his laugher had died away.
“Oh, they were,” I assented. “We used to sing “Jingle Bells,” the three of us, when they tucked me in on Christmas Eve.”
“It was always “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” in my family,” he said, a saddened smile playing across his face.
I wanted to erase the parts that weren’t happy in that expression of his. “Did you eat turkey and mincemeat pies?” I asked him.
“My family always ate ham. But my mother made the best pecan pies. Did yours?”
“The best sugar cookies,” I told him. I could feel the differences creeping in to separate us further. “I did love our tree,” I said, failing to see how anyone could refuse to cherish their own Christmas tree.
“That was always my favorite part of the holiday,” he revealed. “I used to lie beneath it and let the twinkle of all the colors carry me into sleep.”
“We have that in common,” I whispered. “I always did the same.”

See the difference again? Showing is always better than telling. Any writer can state facts… Can you make the details come alive with a flair that makes the reader forget their surroundings? Practice your own art of showing and work to perfect your skills as a writer.

Reader Rally Cry! 4 Things You Can Do to Help the Authors You Love

Many of us love to read. I know I do! But what keeps that writer glued to their keyboard, oftentimes missing out on social outings or even getting to see the outside of the house—this is my life at most times—so that they keep producing the stories we most enjoy reading? Money? That isn’t what does it for me. Between my giveaways and the few trips I take to events, I make about six times less than I earn from my books. I believe most of us do it simply because we love the craft. I can’t imagine going for a terribly long span without creating my fictional worlds for my readers. I took a year off to try and build my editing business, but with the loss of my greatest passion, I found myself depressed and feeling much like a failure. That isn’t to say I don’t love helping my fellow authors to put their works out into the world; I’m just saying I was throwing myself waaaay out of balance. I’ve taken the last five months of my life and written in every spare moment available to me so that I could publish Riptide, the third book in my Maura DeLuca YA vampire trilogy. It did so much for my mental well-being, and I love writing for myself…but I still need the help of my readers, much in the same way I need to breathe or eat!
So, what can you do to help ensure your favorite authors keep writing? Here are just a few things:






















1. Buy Their Books!

An article on The Guardian’s website states that the median income for any author is $5,000. Wow. How is anyone supposed to survive on that? I know mine is much less than that number, hence my need to keep my day job. You can help by supporting the author and buying their book. Don’t download from pirating websites…you’re taking food out of an author’s mouth, essentially. It’s really no different than walking into a bookstore and putting a book under your coat before walking out without paying for it. Think $4.99 or even $5.99 is too much for an Ebook? Consider that five months I put into Riptide, and the span was nine months for Undertow. What would you expect to be paid for working eight to ten hours four days out of seven for five months? Additionally, many would gladly hand over $5 to Starbucks—sometimes even daily—for a latte that takes three minutes to make. (I know I have!) That Ebook, which costs roughly the same, will provide you with enjoyment multiplied by several more of the minutes you spent downing that coffee! And the author put so much more time and money for things like a cover and editing into creating the book.






























2. Leave a Review

For God’s sake, leave a review! Okay, I’ll stop being so heavy-handed, but a review is the best way to thank an author. It doesn’t have to be long-winded, either. A couple of sentences about what you enjoyed about the book, or even what you didn’t enjoy, will definitely suffice. I never realized myself how important reviews were to an author, but now that I do, I try to leave a review for every book I read. Most authors know about the magic number. In an article on The Huffington Post, point number three discusses the importance of fifty reviews on Amazon. Once a book hits fifty reviews, Amazon takes notice and will start making the book more visible on their site. Believe me when I say they are our lifeblood!
And just a note about book blogger reviews. Book bloggers, please, please, please stop excluding Indie Authors from your reviews, if you are one of the bloggers who do so. You are missing out on an avalanche of great books when you employ this rule. If you want the book to have a certain number of reviews on Amazon, so be it. But to refuse Indies entirely is blatantly unfair.
















3. Buy Print Books on Createspace instead of Amazon

Createspace is basically Amazon. They provide the print copies of Indie Authors’ books to both the authors and to Amazon for distribution. If you buy the book on Amazon, the author makes about half the royalties they would had you bought the book from the Createspace store. Either way, you’re getting the same book at the same price, but you’re helping the author make more money. Click here: https://www.createspace.com/pub/simpl... to visit the store where you can search for the title or author you’re looking for. See the snapshot below. That is a comparison of what I make in royalties on Createspace vs. Amazon:





























4. Help Authors Spread the Word and Engage

You may have seen authors posting about their books on Facebook and Twitter. You can help them out by engaging with them on social media too. Facebook will make posts more visible according to the likes, comments and shares a particular post gets. So, take that second as you’re scrolling down to like their picture, or even better, share it on your wall. Believe me, we appreciate it. Retweet their tweets on Twitter. Share posts on LinkedIn and plus one them on Google Plus. Like their Facebook pages and follow them on Twitter. Sign up for their newsletters so that you can help support them when they put out a new release or need a contest vote. So many of my readers have done this and I appreciate it so much!! Follow their Amazon Author Page. You can do this by clicking on their name at the top of any book’s page on Amazon. There is a rumor that Amazon offers you more visibility once you hit a certain number of follows, but I’m unsure as to whether that is true. And do you know about Goodreads? It is a site made for authors and readers. And one last mention—Facebook events. Make sure you attend the authors’ launches, cover reveals and parties. It’s all online, so can come in your jammies. They always give away awesome prizes, and I can promise you, the games are so much fun!



















Thank you for reading and for supporting your favorite authors!



















Website Resources:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/201...

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brooke-...

Very Pinteresting! Using a Pinterest Visual Board To Support Your Writing & Readers

Ever get writer’s block? I used to, but don’t have as much trouble with it now as I did in the past. This is due much in part to my use of a visual board on Pinterest, which can be found here: http://bit.ly/1pTacsv . There, I can pin photos of all my characters, locales, homes and even the clothing worn in one space where they are all laid out for me to see. Much of my writing time used to be spent at working to picture every detail of the scene I was describing. Even worse, when writing about said subject at a later time and, perhaps, being far removed from the memory I’d conjured up earlier, I worry about failing to recall every original detail. With a visual board, I have a fixed image from which I can draw my particulars. For me, it makes for more consistent writing and less time putting the book’s world together behind my eyes. This is what my board looks like, and from this example, you can see I put everything on there from characters to cars, so I have access to specifics I may not have even considered including:

























Housing – One of the most challenging descriptions for me to write has been the ones of dwellings and all the many pieces inside. In The Maura DeLuca trilogy, in books two and three, there arose a need to accurately capture the details of far more opulent housing. When one writes about covens made up of several members who all live together, who are all talented and have money to spare, given each one’s extraordinariness and the sheer amount of time they’ve spent living, it would follow that their houses would be larger and more luxurious than the usual. Since I’ve never experienced such luxury firsthand, real estate web sites come in very handy, because they not only post pictures of the grounds outside, but, many times, the extravagantly furnished rooms within. When I find ‘the’ house, it doesn’t matter if every room is pictured; the whole world inside that house begins to come together and adding on additional rooms within the confines of my imagination becomes much easier. This is an example of some of my locale pins for the dwellings in my trilogy:






















Characters – Sometimes, I have had a character in mind without seeing the complete depiction of what they look like. For instance, with my character Aoife, an Ireland-born vampire from the sixteenth century, I knew I wanted her to be a redhead, but was having trouble filling in her other physical features. I did a Google image search for “female red hair” and perused the pictures generated by the search. I knew her when I saw her, and the picture made it much easier for me to describe her features to my reader. Pinning pictures to represent your characters on your Pinterest board can be a great resource for your readers, assisting them with the materialization of your character inside their heads. Just as with movie casting for adaptations made from books, your reader may not love your visual, but at least you’ll be presenting the most accurate depiction possible from ideas inside the author’s head. These are some of the characters found on my board:




















Extras – There are lots of little extras your board can assist you with for your writing. I’ve used mine to help me describe food, jewelry and even Christmas ornaments. Sometimes you’ll search for one item and end up seeing another visual you didn’t even know you wanted to include in your story. I’ve also had my board help me choose giveaway prizes. When I found the exact picture of Maura’s vampire-bat ornament for her tree, I thought about how cool it would be as a reader to win a prize which is an exact replica of an item included in the book. Since I found that picture on eBay, I was able to provide Maura’s ornament as one of my holiday prizes. Here’s a shot of my board containing some of those little extras:

























I hope this has given you some ideas so that you can create a visual board to help with your own writing. So, sign up for an account if you don’t already have one and get to pinning! Create a stunning visual to complement your words, aid the flow of your writing and assist your readers in bringing your characters and every other element of your fictional world to life.

Give a Hoot! Hootsuite—It’s Not Just for Posting!

Being an indie author is work. Hard work. It takes more time, effort and dedication than I would have ever imagined before I got started. But I love it. Not more than my little furbaby bunnies, but I love it a lot.

Forget the mere hours spent writing…and add to that the massive effort required to keep up with social media. For me, that is equally important too. Social media is where my readers ‘live,’ and if you are one of them, you know just how very significant you are to me and my writing.
















I try harder than you might imagine to see every post, respond to the avalanche of messages and emails—and fail miserably most of the time.
















So, let me tell you just how much I love discovering a tool which allows me to interact faster and with greater visibility. One of my greatest challenges has always been responding to mentions on Twitter. The “Notifications” page falls down on the job when it comes to notifying the user about both retweets and mentions. Believe me; I understand. There is a lot going on with that website, especially when it has to keep up with more than sixty-six thousand followers! I realize there is only so much it can show me. But the scattered and limited format with its mishmash of retweets, follows and mentions—which it cuts off at a certain number for retweets—does not help me keep up with the massive flow of my Twitter communication. There were always several mentions, some with important personal messages, I missed.
Surprisingly, it was a tool heralded for its ease of social media posting which aided me in more effective Twitter communication with my followers—Hootsuite. I’ve used Hootsuite since nearly the beginning of my indie author career. I love the features allowing for the scheduling of future posts, and for sending said posts out to more than one social media site. One day, though, I happened to take a closer look around and discovered a couple of other tools which offered me the ability to pin down communiqué control over my growing-by-leaps-and-bounds Twitter account. Check this out:

Mentions-


See that graphic? That is what I see in the My First Tab section found above the streams on the Hootsuite dashboard. Essentially, Hootsuite sucked my Twitter account into its brain, transforming it into a one-stop shop. All of my mentions are collected here in one convenient spot. I can easily scroll down through the stream and thank people, retweet posts or reply to any questions or comments. I do this using the little menu at the top of each mention, which I have pointed out in the graphic with an arrow. If I do this once every twenty-four hours—and I do try—I can easily respond to my very important Twitter mentions for each day. As you can see, one of my big-hearted followers has tweeted about a school contest I have going. It is very important to me to thank her and follow her if I didn’t already. Another of my author friends has created a graphic to tweet which mentions my book. He definitely deserves gratitude, and, once I find a spare moment, I will make a special tweet to feature his book and return the favor.

Retweets-


One thing that always bugged me about Twitter was that it only showed you a certain number of the people who’d retweeted one of your tweets. I wanted to see them all so I could add my supporters to my retweet lists. Hootsuite allows you to see them all and in one convenient place. If you click on the number of retweets in the window, which I’ve drawn the arrow to, you can click on the account from the window pop-up and ensure you have your retweeters on your list or retweet them from their page immediately. I try very hard to keep up with this, so if you retweeted me and I didn’t do so in kind, please let me know. If you do it in a mention, I’ll be sure to see it! ;)
So, as you see, apps can be a strong source of aid to keep you connected to the readers or clients you hold so dear. And, as shown here, sometimes they offer help in areas for which you didn’t even realize they were designed.

Mix Your Cocktails…Not Your Metaphors

As a freelance editor, and avid reader, I wanted to write a series of articles to help writers hone their craft more effectively. This will be one such post.

At university, one writing mistake I made a few times before learning my lesson—doled out by brilliant red ink—was the mixing of metaphors. I’m not saying there’s never a time when it might be effective to do this, but for the most part, mixed metaphors come across as two unlike ideas which clunk against each other clumsily instead of flowing together into one smooth, cohesive picture inside the reader’s mind.

A metaphor can be a great tool for bringing an image to life inside the mind of your reader. Basically, a metaphor is a comparison of two unlike things to more vividly drive home the point an author is trying to make. It should be said a metaphor differs from a simile in that, while making a similar comparison, a simile will contain the word ‘like,’ while a metaphor will not. An example of a metaphor would be:

My life had become a rollercoaster of peril, my illness rust which ate away at the tracks, causing every day to derail and crash from great height into the depths of utter misery.

Now, if I mixed that metaphor, say by trying to combine the imagery of the rollercoaster with the ocean, the line would become less effective and create a picture that would appear illogical in the reader’s mind:

My life had become a rollercoaster of peril, my illness a wave which drug me down into depths void of light and sea life.

Imagine a reader pausing to picture a rollercoaster rising from the ocean and scratching his head. This is an example of a mix which simply doesn’t work.

If you want to employ metaphor, it’s best to stick with cohesive imagery, whether it be a rodeo, a circus, the desert, a starry sky, the moon, etc. for the entire section or paragraph. Some writers carry a metaphor throughout an entire book. If you plan to embark on such an arduous task, just remember to keep it consistent or it may ruin the effect.

This isn’t to say there aren’t instances where a mixed metaphor wouldn’t work. For instance, I really love this one posted by Pig in a Jacket on http://dailymixedmetaphor.blogspot.ca/ : Don't judge a book until you've walked a mile in its dust jacket. Clever mixes of metaphors can work too, just watch doing it in such a way as described above. I’ll give you another example of something that doesn’t work, using the ocean and a dragon:

My temper rose like a tsunami with the force of the entire ocean behind it, fiery and hot like dragon’s breath, I unleashed it without mercy on the first person to cross my path.

That simply creates a confusing image inside one’s head. Try to do this when writing: play the entirety of your metaphor out inside your head like a movie (simile!). Does the picture make sense? If it seems silly to you, most likely it will to your reader too ;).

Keeping the Dead at Bay: The History & Mythology behind the Jack O’ Lantern

The jack o’ lantern has been one of the most beloved traditions in North America, found casting its sinister glow across nearly every porch on the night of my favorite holiday, Halloween. Their glowing orange faces greeted me at every house in our neighborhood when I approached each door, hoping to score a premium treat—which back in my day meant one of the popular chocolate bars. I remember once I even had a special Halloween flashlight with a jack o’ lantern head on the top. We carved one every year, trying to decide if we should go the scary face or happy face route—nowadays there are so many other highly artistic options. They lit our way (we went trick-or-treating at night, as it should be, lol), the eerie orange glow of their faces guiding us in fine, spooky fashion to the next bowl of treats…
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But where did this tradition start? It turns out there is both fact and fiction tied up in the history behind the ritual of pumpkin carving taking place every October 31st.

According to Wikipedia, the name jack o’ lantern is tied closely to the phenomenon of the will o’ the wisp—a mysterious light seen floating over marshes and bogs, said to lure unfortunate travelers away from the safe path. The etymology of the two terms is very similar, and both refer to proper names and enigmatic forms of light. So we have Will of the wisp—a bundle of sticks set afire to light one’s way—and Jack of the lantern, a term stemming from folklore.

The story of Jack of the lantern originated, according to Wikipedia, in 19th century Ireland. History.com details the story of Stingy Jack, who was said to have tricked the devil, not once, but twice. Using a silver cross to keep the fiend trapped—once in his pocket as a silver coin and again at the base of a tree—he secured a promise the devil would lay no claim to his soul for the next ten years. Jack was a thief, and when he died a short time after making this deal, God refused him entrance into Heaven. The devil couldn’t keep him in Hell either, and refused to ever take him into his fold, sending him back into the night to roam aimlessly forever. When Jack expressed his worry over not being able to see in the dark, the devil tossed him an ever-burning ember from the hellfire around him, which Jack placed into a carved-out turnip to light his way.

Turnips and pumpkins were first employed to make jack o’ lanterns during the 1800s in Ireland. The practice was picked up in the Scottish Highlands and there exist written records of Punkie Night in Somerset, England during the same century, as well. The jack o’ lanterns could serve a multitude of purposes.  Firstly, they were carried to ward off the unsavory character of Stingy Jack. Some carved faces in the hopes of warding off the spirits of the dead, said to wander freely on Halloween night. Others put them on display as representations of evil spirits or human souls suffering in purgatory, meant to frighten passersby. Today, jack o’ lanterns serve primarily as decoration and a part of the fun activity on October weekends when families venture out into their local pumpkin patch to pick the perfect one to adorn their front porches.

Jack o’ lanterns have even broken some world records. Here are a couple of fun facts about jack ‘o lanterns who went above and beyond the Halloween call of duty. The official world record for the most jack o’ lanterns carved and lit in one place at one time was claimed on October 19, 2013 in Keene, New Hampshire. The number on display was 30,581. They have since broken this record eight times. The largest jack o’ lantern was carved by Scott Cully in Northern Cambria, Pennsylvania in 2005. The massive pumpkin used weighed 1,469 pounds!

Does your family carve a jack o’ lantern for Halloween? What kind of faces or other likenesses do you prefer to etch into yours? Scary face or grinning pumpkin? Do you make a trip to the pumpkin patch or grab one from your local grocer; maybe you grow your own? Tell me about YOUR jack o’ lanterns in the comments below.

Step out from Behind the Book!: The Importance of InD’Scribe and Face-to-Face

As most of you know, on September 17th I made the journey from Ontario to Palm Springs, California to attend the InD’Scribe author and reader conference. This was my first conference ever, and I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all the authors in attendance. What was especially nice was getting to meet my author friend, for whom I edit, JC Brennan. She is such a nice person—and so is her hubby—and was too much fun to hang out with. I didn’t quite know what to expect from my weekend away, but must say I feel a strong book-conference addiction has taken root deep inside of me. I already plan to attend Sinfully Yours in Manchester, New Hamsphire (along with Janet again) in July, 2016 and will be travelling to Atlanta for Novel Experience in April.

I’m a very shy person by nature, until I get to know someone, and have a near phobia of large crowds. But knowing how wonderful it is to network with my author buddies on social media and harboring a fierce desire to meet my readers in person, I did as I always do and stretched past that fear. I also struggle with an extreme fear of flying, but have vowed a personal oath that these fears would never stop me. So I braved the unnatural human heights of 35,000 feet and faced those crowded rooms with as much courage as I could muster.

And met some of the most wonderful people I’ve ever had the joy to encounter.

Going to an event like this is invaluable, and if you’re an author, I highly recommend you go whenever possible. Everyone there was so nice, so it was easy for me to get over my fear—once the signing room was open. At the opening night party, Janet and I could be observed spooning the far wall. Our table neighbors, Susan Griscom, author of paranormal and contemporary romance, and D'Elen McClain, author of paranormal romance, kept us in stitches. Both were so personable and friendly that I found myself coming out of my shell in no time. All of the authors at the conference were the same way. They were happy to let me broadcast them on Periscope and talk to us about their books and strategies which have worked for them. Unfortunately, there just usually isn’t time for that kind of chit chat on Facebook or LinkedIn…and not enough characters for it on Twitter!

You just can’t get the same level of interaction that comes from face-to-face. Janet and I had no idea how to set up our table. With some glances around and suggestions from other authors, Janet’s hubby, Scott, returned with decorative items in no time—and Janet sweet-talked someone working there out of a sparkly, black tablecloth. Authors shared marketing ideas with one another at lunch—I personally revealed some of my best Twitter strategies. As we walked around, the others readily offered up swag ideas and told us where they had scored some of the cutest items like dragon jewelry and—my favorite—the bitty cowboy hats the bunnies love to wear (NOT!).

We collected business cards from everyone, and when I returned home, I added everyone on Facebook and Twitter. I love having those connections. Other authors are so generous in their willingness to share posts and offer advice…or comfort in moments of need. I also had another twenty-five authors join our Christmas Giveaway, which will be starting November 1st, making this our biggest and best group giveaway yet! And also offering even more prize options for our readers, whom we desperately want to keep happy!

But seeing all these wonderful people in person further ingrained them in my mind. When they put up a post, I think of their smiles, the sound of their voices, their generous and helpful natures, and that sticks with you in a way that online simply cannot deliver. Unplugging—and I’m on my laptop nearly nonstop, networking, at home—and seeing these authors in the flesh made me feel more like a writer. I was hanging out with people just like me! Joining the ranks of those who live part of our days in other worlds. They shared my struggles and all those eccentricities only writers have. At InD’Scribe ,I felt I could completely be myself, which is something I don’t usually experience in my normal day-to-day. It’s good for writers to be with other writers. It’s sometimes good to step out from behind the book (or laptop)!

Check out my InD’Scribe page at http://bit.ly/1RkIgsw to see tons of pictures from the conference, featuring many, very-talented authors, shots from the RONE awards and a few of my personal vacation pictures—including one newly released shot of my terror-filled ride on the X2 coaster at Magic Mountain. It was simply too hilarious not to purchase!