Jacqui Murray's Blog, page 211
May 10, 2011
Tech Tip for Writers #4: Zoom In and Out
Tech Tips for Soon-to-be Great Writers
Tech Tips for Writers is an (almost) weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I'll cover issues that friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about a question you have. I'll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: I can't read my internet screen. And I can't find the zoom in command.
A: Hold down the Ctrl key and push (next to the backspace key). That zooms in. To zoom out, hold down Ctrl and push the – (the minus sign next to the number zero; also considered a dash). Or hold the Ctrl key and scroll the mouse wheel.
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I'll answer it within the next thirty days.
To sign up for Tech Tips delivered to your email, click here.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: tech tips for writers Tagged: internet, mouse wheel, tech tips, tech tips for writers, zoom
May 9, 2011
Writers Tip #61: Advice From Elmore Leonard
Why writers need a web presence
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
Today's tips come from Elmore Leonard.
Umm, who's Elmore Leonard? You're smart to ask that question. Never take advice from someone you don't know, don't respect or don't want to grow up to be just like. Part of the deal with being authors is we have to trust ourselves, our instincts, our personal passions. Yes, we have to compromise to fit into a more-salable package, but that doesn't include turning our spirit into vanilla pudding.
Therefore, be careful who you listen to when it comes to honing your skill. Elmore Leonard–you can listen to him. The New York Daily News once wrote, "The next best thing to reading Elmore Leonard is re-reading him." He's an American novelist who started in the 1950′s, specialized in crime and thrillers. He wrote over forty books, including blockbusters like Get Shorty and the kernel for 3:10 to Yuma.
Here's his advice on how to be the best writer you can be. I've broken #2 and #3 and broken but fixed #8 and #9:
By ELMORE LEONARD
These are rules I've picked up along the way to help me remain invisible when I'm writing a book, to help me show rather than tell what's taking place in the story. If you have a facility for language and imagery and the sound of your voice pleases you, invisibility is not what you are after, and you can skip the rules. Still, you might look them over.
1. Never open a book with weather.
If it's only to create atmosphere, and not a character's reaction to the weather, you don't want to go on too long. The reader is apt to leaf ahead looking for people. There are exceptions. If you happen to be Barry Lopez, who has more ways to describe ice and snow than an Eskimo, you can do all the weather reporting you want.
2. Avoid prologues.
They can be annoying, especially a prologue following an introduction that comes after a foreword. But these are ordinarily found in nonfiction. A prologue in a novel is backstory, and you can drop it in anywhere you want.
There is a prologue in John Steinbeck's "Sweet Thursday," but it's O.K. because a character in the book makes the point of what my rules are all about. He says: "I like a lot of talk in a book and I don't like to have nobody tell me what the guy that's talking looks like. I want to figure out what he looks like from the way he talks. . . . figure out what the guy's thinking from what he says. I like some description but not too much of that. . . . Sometimes I want a book to break loose with a bunch of hooptedoodle. . . . Spin up some pretty words maybe or sing a little song with language. That's nice. But I wish it was set aside so I don't have to read it. I don't want hooptedoodle to get mixed up with the story."
3. Never use a verb other than "said" to carry dialogue.
The line of dialogue belongs to the character; the verb is the writer sticking his nose in. But said is far less intrusive than grumbled, gasped, cautioned, lied. I once noticed Mary McCarthy ending a line of dialogue with "she asseverated," and had to stop reading to get the dictionary.
4. Never use an adverb to modify the verb "said" . . .
. . . he admonished gravely. To use an adverb this way (or almost any way) is a mortal sin. The writer is now exposing himself in earnest, using a word that distracts and can interrupt the rhythm of the exchange. I have a character in one of my books tell how she used to write historical romances "full of rape and adverbs."
5. Keep your exclamation points under control.
You are allowed no more than two or three per 100,000 words of prose. If you have the knack of playing with exclaimers the way Tom Wolfe does, you can throw them in by the handful.
6. Never use the words "suddenly" or "all hell broke loose."
This rule doesn't require an explanation. I have noticed that writers who use "suddenly" tend to exercise less control in the application of exclamation points.
7. Use regional dialect, patois, sparingly.
Once you start spelling words in dialogue phonetically and loading the page with apostrophes, you won't be able to stop. Notice the way Annie Proulx captures the flavor of Wyoming voices in her book of short stories "Close Range."
8. Avoid detailed descriptions of characters.
Which Steinbeck covered. In Ernest Hemingway's "Hills Like White Elephants" what do the "American and the girl with him" look like? "She had taken off her hat and put it on the table." That's the only reference to a physical description in the story, and yet we see the couple and know them by their tones of voice, with not one adverb in sight.
9. Don't go into great detail describing places and things.
Unless you're Margaret Atwood and can paint scenes with language or write landscapes in the style of Jim Harrison. But even if you're good at it, you don't want descriptions that bring the action, the flow of the story, to a standstill.
And finally:
10. Try to leave out the part that readers tend to skip.
A rule that came to mind in 1983. Think of what you skip reading a novel: thick paragraphs of prose you can see have too many words in them. What the writer is doing, he's writing, perpetrating hooptedoodle, perhaps taking another shot at the weather, or has gone into the character's head, and the reader either knows what the guy's thinking or doesn't care. I'll bet you don't skip dialogue.
My most important rule is one that sums up the 10.
If it sounds like writing, I rewrite it.
Or, if proper usage gets in the way, it may have to go. I can't allow what we learned in English composition to disrupt the sound and rhythm of the narrative. It's my attempt to remain invisible, not distract the reader from the story with obvious writing. (Joseph Conrad said something about words getting in the way of what you want to say.)
If I write in scenes and always from the point of view of a particular character — the one whose view best brings the scene to life — I'm able to concentrate on the voices of the characters telling you who they are and how they feel about what they see and what's going on, and I'm nowhere in sight.
What Steinbeck did in "Sweet Thursday" was title his chapters as an indication, though obscure, of what they cover. "Whom the Gods Love They Drive Nuts" is one, "Lousy Wednesday" another. The third chapter is titled "Hooptedoodle 1" and the 38th chapter "Hooptedoodle 2" as warnings to the reader, as if Steinbeck is saying: "Here's where you'll see me taking flights of fancy with my writing, and it won't get in the way of the story. Skip them if you want."
"Sweet Thursday" came out in 1954, when I was just beginning to be published, and I've never forgotten that prologue.
Did I read the hooptedoodle chapters? Every word.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: thrillers, writers tips Tagged: elmore leonard, writers tips
May 6, 2011
How to Describe Dogs
I love dogs so every time there's a dog in a story, I take notice. I like to see how authors describe their actions, emotions, everything.
Here are some of my favorites–as usual, these are from real stories so don't copy them. Just use them for inspiration:
Greeting
The dog snorted happily and bounded forward
Tail-wagging Labrador bravado
Feet like saucepans, took a cheerful rush at the American, leapt up and planted his muddy paws
When a dog approaches a strange dog or man in a savage or hostile frame of mind he walks upright and stiffly; his head slightly raised; the tail is held erect, and rigid; the hairs bristle, especially along the neck and back; the pricked ears are directed forwards, and the eyes have a fixed stare
Came in the room, sat quietly until I stopped what I was doing and said hi, then he turned and left.
Exploring
Max heard Susan moving around in the kitchen and hustled out of the bathroom to investigate. You could never be certain someone wouldn't give you a second breakfast.
The dog got worried, crawled up on the bed, raced around chasing a ball, finally chased it out of the room. From her roommates room, she heard her barking, growling at the dog, slapping and playing, tossing the ball and the dog returned. She wondered who thought who was whose pack.
happy woofing sounds of a dog discovering hidden treasures
Abby greeted me with an exuberant lunge and when I went into the hall, I squatted and endured her exuberance until it abated
I heard Spot return to the closed door and snuffle a little, and sigh and lie down against it. She seemed to have figure out that there were times when we had to be alone.
Sylvester forged ahead again, keeping the leash taut.
Angry
flopped onto the floor in full doggy snit
Characteristics
Dogs after voiding their excrement often make with all four feet a few scratches backwards, even on a bare stone pavement, Wolves and jackals behave in the same manner, yet, as I am assured by the keepers, neither wolves, jackals, nor foxes, when they have the means of doing so, ever cover up their excrement, any more than do dogs. All these animals, however, bury superfluous food.
Dogs and jackals take much pleasure in rolling and rubbing their necks and backs on carrion. The odor seems delightful to them. wolves don't roll in the odor
Nothing but bone and bark
Miscellaneous
It's take your dog to work day
the one which first sees the other, lowers its bead, crouches a little, or even lies down; takes the proper attitude for concealing himself
trotting gravely with high steps, head much raised, moderately erected ears, and tail carried aloft but not stiffly.
Dog crawling up the back of the chair
Paying Attention
With pricked ears, he watched for a moment and then yawned
Roaming the backyard, engaged in dog intrigue
Defending
Dog's eyes wide, ears flat, a vibrating growl deep in his chest
As he prepares to spring with a savage growl, canine teeth are uncovered, and the ears pressed close backwards on the head
dogs when intently watching and slowly approaching prey, keep one of their fore-legs doubled up for a long time, ready for the next cautious step. they behave in exactly the same manner whenever their attention is aroused. I have seen a dog at the foot of a high wall, listening attentively to a sound on the opposite side, with one leg doubled up;
dogs wandered off to rest their noses in their paws
roughed them up the way Labs expect to be treated
Playing
Ran to the couch and got a pillow and shook it violently until it was dead, and came back to show us.
she lay down with a headache. The dog got worried, crawled up on the bed, raced around chasing a ball, finally chased it out of the room. From her roommates room, she heard her barking, growling at the dog, slapping and playing, tossing the ball and the dog returned. She wondered who thought who was whose pack.
Dogs scratch themselves with one of their hind-feet; and when their backs are rubbed, they rapidly scratch the air or the ground in a useless and ludicrous manner. by licking the air as if it were a hand.
young dogs in play growling and biting each other's faces and legs
One of them ran around for a while with a pine cone in its mouth
Took a silk cushion from the chair and carried it around wagging her tail.
Exulting in whatever it is that dogs exult in
a real dog's dog
doggy yo-yo
Dogess
Sleeping
Shifted in his sleep and licked his muzzle with one slow sweep of his tongue
I think she'd bark and snuffle and paw at us
Casey stood up, turned around three times, and settled back down with a large sigh. Clearly it was enough chitchat for the night.
Stoney was draped diagonally across her feet
the dog slept with one eye open all night because he didn't trust her to feed him in the morning
An aging cocker spaniel came around the corner and gave me a token bark before she sat with her tongue out, waiting for me to pat her.
Sandy loped around my apartment, alert for something to chew
April picked up her squeaky toy and shook it and looked at me, and made a decision, and jumped up on the couch with her squeaky toy and lay down with it underneath her.
The dog curled into a wet lump and lay shivering on the ground
Dog was doing impression of a corpse
He stretched, shook himself and circled several times before dropping to the ground
paws up, aerial
The dog was sprawled across her lap, his sides rising and falling, his nose mashed against the ground in a most uncomfortable-looking manner. Dogs were funny. They could sleep in peculiar positions.
She shifted on to her back with her feet up and her head lolling over the edge of the couch
Eating
Dan got off the bed and went purposefully to the kitchen where I could hear her lapping water from the dish.
He gave a dog biscuit to Dog. She ate the biscuit and resumed her scone watch.
The dogs finished eating and settled in on the sofa, overlapping each other in ways that no human would find comfortable.
shifting his attention from Mary Lou to me. Food can come from any direction
Ben was an efficient and focused eater. By 4:13 her dish was empty and she topped it off with a long lap at her water dish.
Explored where the kids had been sitting in case they had left edible refuse
Swam one more circle and gave up and came back into shore and began rummaging in the waterweeds again
Begging
Pacey coiled in and around our feet, ever hopeful
Ned hopped up onto the picnic table and stared at my sandwich from very close range. I broke off a piece and gave it to her. It disappeared at once, and she resumed the stare.
wag its tale and watch with hopeful eyes
Vick rested her chin on my knee and rolled her eyes up to look at me. I gave her the remainder of my sandwich.
dog watched him, ears up, head slightly cocked.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: descriptors, writers resources Tagged: animals, characteristics, descriptors, dogs
May 4, 2011
Do You Make These Writing Blunders?
[image error]Source: Online Schooling
Filed under: grammar and spelling, writers resources, writing Tagged: grammar, writing
May 3, 2011
Finally–Another Post Up on Write Anything.
Two months and I finally have another post on my writing group blog, Write Anything. I offered to review a book for them and that became my April post, in place of a world-class discussion I'd put together on the business end of marketing. Judging by the hits, I think the readers would have preferred the latter to the former. If I'm being truthful, I was fine either way. That's what being in a group is all about. Good for the goose and the gander and all that.
Because you know where I live, you can still read the unpublished post (about how I run my online business) on Scribd. There, it had a massive readership of almost a thousand, one of my most-read uploads. It turned more virtual heads than a chiropractor (though not even close in volume to my tech curriculum books. In that area, I have in excess of 100,000 cumulative with several books/booklets close to 10,000 reads). Maybe I'm a better business writer than book reviewer (Don't tell Amazon though, now that they've engaged me as a Vine Voice).
If you do stop by Write Anything for a visit, say hi. It's been a lonely weekend. I called my mom to let her know I was OK and she wasn't home.
OK. Back to writing.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: blogs, writers resources, writing Tagged: blog, business, marketing, writing
May 2, 2011
Writers Tip #59: Work in Clay, Not Marble
Great tips for soon-to-be great writers
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
Today's tip comes from Jacques Barzun, an American historian of ideas and culture, author/editor of more than forty books touching on a broad range of subjects including science and medicine:
Convince yourself that you are working in clay not marble, on paper not eternal bronze. Let that first sentence be as stupid as it wishes. No one will rush out and print it as it stands.
I now have permission to make mistakes–spelling/grammar errors, malapropisms I didn't intend as humor, run-on sentences and truncated ideas. I don't care. I'm like Pacman with a pen. After I've thrown my words onto paper in an effort to be authentic, unique and honest, I can cut, edit, revise or improve to my heart's content.
What editing can't fix is that stilted sound that comes of conscripting a scene, forcing it into a framework it was never intended to fit. All I can do then is throw it out and start over.
This time, I'll get every emotion, passion, sensory overload down before I start fixing things.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: editing, writers tips, writing Tagged: drafts, editing, writing
April 27, 2011
How I Doubled My Business (Again) In a Year
How I made money with online marketing
It's been a year since I published an update on the business end of my writing. You may wonder if I'm still making it or have I
settled into a predictable check each month. Read on:
I started blogging a couple of years ago to connect with others who also might be getting those mixed reviews we writers get–some
bad, some brutal, when the best endorsement is your mom who says, "Well, it doesn't suck this time (Thanks, Nanette for this)."
My desire to chat with kindred souls led to a myriad of social networks–Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Scribd , etc, which led to new colleagues, new ideas and places to go without leaving my office.
A little background on me: I write non-fiction tech books (which have been published) and fiction thrillers (which haven't). For more, visit my new website, JacquiMurray.net. My business is steady, but boring, so I started a blog called Ask a Tech Teacher and invited readers to pose questions about technology (my day job for the last twelve years is teaching K-8 technology). Interspersed with tips, I shared lesson plans and stories of my experience teaching technology to the layperson. The blog led to ezines and online newspaper columns and guest posts which led to books reviews and a gig as an Amazon Vine Voice. I learned about branding myself, not being afraid to use my real name and making sure everything I write is the best I can do (which is contradictory to my original impression of 'blogging' as 'journaling').
Sometime after my online life began, visitors to my outlets increased and more people bought my books. After just a year of what was now my "marketing" effort (online marketing tends to be a soft sell), I saw a 100% improvement. This was despite my refusal to spend any money on spreading the good word. That's right. Everything I've done is free. Today, about eighteen months later, I'm still doubling last year's sales—which means 4x my pre-online marketing sales. In fact, about forty of my top fifty referrers are sites I've cultivated over time.
Let me repeat that: 80% of my referrers are sites I have cultivated.
Here's how I did it:
I post 3-5 times a week on topics I find of interest to myself and relevant to the writers I'm in contact with
I stay in touch with people I've met on social networks, blogs, and comments left on my online articles.
I developed a presence on LinkedIn by completing the profile (have you done this?), joining groups and participating in the conversations.
I developed a presence on Facebook–though only for my books. I'm not about to post family pictures and events. I'm one of those really private people so that doesn't fit my lifestyle.
I created a Twitter account and follow like-minded professionals.
I created an Amazon account to sell my print books. I've tried Kindle, but my books are heavy on tables and pictures and don't do well in that format.
I created a store on Teachers Pay Teachers where I sell both print and digital books. This is a nice site focused on the teaching profession. You might want to consider it if that's your area.
I created a store on Scribd to sell digital books. Due to nothing I can figure out, sales here have plateaued.
I harassed my publisher, Structured Learning, to make my presence on his website prettier. I think it worked. What do you think?
I created a BarnesandNoble.com account for print books. That is pretty much a waste of time. It takes too much work to manage and they can't seem to keep my book up on their website. Sometimes, the only way you can find it is by ISBN. Who would ever know the ISBN? I've sold a dozen books there so far. Not worth the effort. (Update: My book now shows up, but with the wrong cover. Argh.)
I tried many other sources—Freado, DocStoc, Author Central, FiledBy—with zero results. I didn't even get referrals from them. I also started accounts on Google eBooks and Amazon's Digital Platform. I get occasional checks from them, but it barely amounts to lunch money.
How much time does it take? A lot. In fact, I spent most of last summer getting things started, and most weekends keeping it going. I love writing so I do it twelve hours a day when I'm out of school. I work on my WIP and take breaks by marketing. That's OK because I don't have a life, although my husband and children might disagree.
Let me know if you do anything that works that I can try. I'd like to double my sales again!
Photo credit: Make Money Online
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and author of two technology training books for middle school. She wrote Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office, WordDreams , or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: authors, blogs, business, marketing Tagged: marketing, online, online marketing, social networks, writing
April 26, 2011
Tech Tip for Writers #3: Typing Over Text and How to Stop It
Tech Tips for Soon-to-be Great Writers
Tech Tips for Writers is a weekly post on overcoming Tech Dread. I'll cover issues friends, both real-time and virtual, have shared. Feel free to post a comment about yours. I'll cover it in a future Tip.
Q: Every time I type in Word, it covers up everything that comes after. What do I do?
A: Push the insert key (to the right of Backspace and Enter).
I hear they're doing away with it on upcoming keyboards. They might as well. No one knows what it does anyway, and when writers errantly push it, they don't know how to stop its annoying typeover.
Questions you want answered? Leave a comment here and I'll answer it within the next thirty days.
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: tech tips for writers, writers tips, writing Tagged: tech tips, writers tech tips
April 25, 2011
Writers Tips #58: Torture Your Protagonist
Great tips for soon-to-be great writers
When you read your story, does it sound off, maybe you can't quite put your finger on it, but you know you've done something wrong? Sometimes–maybe even lots of times–there are simple fixes. These writer's tips will come at you once a week, giving you plenty of time to go through your story and make the adjustments.
Today's tip comes from Janet Fitch. She suggests you…
Torture Your Protagonist
The writer is both a sadist and a masochist. We create people we love, and then we torture them. The more we love them, and the more cleverly we torture them along the lines of their greatest vulnerability and fear, the better the story. Sometimes we try to protect them from getting booboos that are too big. Don't. This is your protagonist, not your kid.
I wouldn't use the word 'torture', but a protagonist must be thrown into untenable situations. They must lead a life filled with chaos, confusion, and crises or readers will get bored. We don't want to spend a couple of weeks with our mundane next-door-neighbor who goes to work, spends an hour every evening at the gym, reads the paper on his iPad and goes to bed. We are drawn to drama–water cooler chat and gossip. Who's life is falling apart? Who's boyfriend dumped them? Who's in trouble?
A novel's protagonist must be multi-dimensional. We must care about their drama (which might not be the case with the object of gossip). We must root for their ability to solve it. We must wince when it gets worse–as it must to keep the story's engine churning forward.
But, we must see the protagonist as having the ability to solve each problem they are faced with. Readers don't want the underdog to lose. We like the white knight on the speeding horse who charges to the rescue. It's even more satisfying if its the mental ability of the protagonist to solve the crisis despite his own personal flaws and foibles.
So, yes, Janet's right, but torture is only one of many devices available to you the author to make your story gripping.
What's your favorite plot device?
Jacqui Murray is the editor of a technology curriculum for K-fifth grade and creator of two technology training books for middle school. She is the author of Building a Midshipman , the story of her daughter's journey from high school to United States Naval Academy midshipman. She is webmaster for five blogs, an Amazon Vine Voice book reviewer, a columnist for Examiner.com , and a weekly contributor to Write Anything and Technology in Education . Currently, she's working on a techno-thriller that should be ready this summer. Contact Jacqui at her writing office or her tech lab, Ask a Tech Teacher.
Filed under: characters, plot, writers resources, writers tips Tagged: characters, plot, plot devices, writing
April 21, 2011
Book Review: Love You More
by Lisa Gardner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Note: This was written as part of my Amazon Vine Voice agreement
Love You More (Bantam, March 2011) is Lisa Gardner's latest in a long list of riveting thrillers. It's the story of a State Trooper with a storied background who is accused of killing her husband and the daughter she loves more than her own life. It's told through the eyes of both DD Warren, the detective investigating the case and Tessa Leoni, the accused mother. Gardner allows us pretty much unlimited access to DD's mind, but only Tessa's current thoughts as we the reader sift through the meanderings of a frantic mother worried about her child and beaten savagely by her husband before she kills him in self-defense.
Or so we believe. From the beginning, the story follows unexpected twists and turns that will leave you reading chapter after chapter, swearing this is your last because you have to go to bed, but just one more and then I can stop. You know what I mean–that's why those of us who love the genre only read them when we have enough time to consume the entire book.
Did I mention the lead detective is pregnant for the first time and hasn't yet told her boyfriend? Do you think she has mixed emotions about a woman her age killing her only child? Then there's the tidbit that the abused mother has killed before. And how about the husband who has a gambling problem–a big one. He's been beaten up by enforcers and still can't stay away from his vice. How do all of these pieces play into the double murder?
My only objection to Gardner's writing is she repeats a dramatic occurrence too many times, as though to make sure we get it or wring out a few more drops of frenzy from the trauma. Rather than up the emotional ante, it slows the story's pace, giving me that moment when I feel I can put the book down and take a break. That's not something a thriller writer wants to grant his/her readers.
Despite that, my recommendations is read this. Set aside a weekend, maybe a couple of long plane flights. Devour it. You won't be sorry.
Filed under: book reviews, thrillers Tagged: book reviews, gardner, thrillers
