Kate Padilla's Blog, page 8

STORY A VS. STORY B IN GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Don't judge me. I own 1,000 books. I graduated with a double English major (one emphasizing in Literature) and only how have I Charles Dickens' Great Expectations for the first time. However, this is the primary purpose of The Book Roulette -- to read books that otherwise might just sit on my shelf. 

But as I'm reading, I know that I'm going to be writing about the book, and I start thinking about how i'm going to write about Great Expectations that hasn't already been mentioned. This is one o...

THE STORY MAP: THE HOOK MOMENT

Hook Moment: Threading from the Theme Stated, this section is the "thesis" of the story -- what question does the reader want an answer to? What itch needs to be scratched? I sat down to write this post and -- like with all posts -- I tried to put myself in the mind of someone who reads my blog. What questions would they have? What would they like to read and how might they respond to what i'm writing? As I sat down to write this post, then, the first question that popped in my m...

NEW RELEASES: APRIL 15-21

APRIL 15 DURABLE GOODS (COLE AND CALLAHAN), BY PATRICIA HALE
Fiction: Thriller. Intrigue Publishing. 215 pp.

Detective John Stark approaches the PI team of Griff Cole and Britt Callahan with a postcard he's sure is from his estranged daughter, Kira. She's been listed as a runaway for three years by Portland, Maine police but John isn't convinced that her continued absence is by choice. As Stark's long-time friends, Cole and Callahan agree to look into the postcard marked only with the letters...

INDIE FEATURE: STILLWATERS

STILLWATERS (THE FOUR LIVES OF J.S. FREEMAN, 1), BY YVONNE ANDERSON
Fiction: Sci-Fi. Self-published: February 2018. 256 pp.
Buy the book on Amazon
Check out Yvonne Anderson's website THE STORY How did she rise from the shrouds of obscurity to become one of the world's most influential figures? The enigmatic author J.S. Freeman breaks her long silence and tells the whole tale. In Stillwaters, the first of her three-part story, she brings us into the steamy, untamed land of her feral...

WELL ... WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Theme Stated: At this point, your secondary character poses a question or statement to your main character. This question is the theme of the story.

So now we've gotten through some of the most obvious exposition, and we knew we'd have to eventually get to -- you know -- the story. This is where 'Theme Stated' comes in. 1. The Theme Stated is the most direct statement of intention in Story A. Part of the reason I called this process The Story Map is segments like 'Theme State...

NEW RELEASES: APRIL 8-14

APRIL 10 BEFORE I LET YOU IN, BY JENNY BLACKHURST
Fiction. Atria. 352 pp.

The next gripping psychological thriller by the author of How I Lost You, Jenny Blackhurst's #1 international bestseller, about a psychiatrist and patient relationship that turns not only toxic ... but deadly.

HIS TO CLAIM, BY SHELLY BELL
Fiction: Romance. Forever. 384 pp.

Shelly Bell delivers more shocks and thrills in the second book in her Forbidden Lovers sexy suspense series, for readers of Maya Banks. 

LONG WE...

'YOU'VE GOT MALE' AND THE IMPORTANCE OF RESOLUTION

YOU'VE GOT MALE (OPUS, 1), BY ELIZABETH BEVARLY
Fiction: Romance. HQN: 2005. 384 pp.

Sometimes, all you need in life is a glass of red wine and a good romance novel.

I had read You've Got Male in the past, probably sometime in college, and I remember really enjoying it for what it was. It's fast-paced; it's entertaining; it's sexy. All good things in the romance genre. And yet, when I reread this novel as part of the Book Roulette, I couldn't help but be let down by this book. As promising as i...

THE STORY MAP: OPENING SCENE

Opening scene: This is the opening scene or sequence of the story. The protagonist must be introduced within 1-3 scenes. If the Opening Image is a flashback or flash forward, or a prologue scene to offer depth to your overall story, the Opening Scene is the first scene in Story A. This is where we really start to introduce our readers to the main characters of the story line.

I'm going to do a post later on regarding my experience with Part 1 of the Story Map, but I wanted to take a moment an...

NEW RELEASES: APRIL 1-7

APRIL 3 THE BELOVEDS, BY MAUREEN LINDLEY
Fiction. Gallery. 336 pp.

An exploration of domestic derangement, as sinister as Daphne Du Maurier's classic Rebecca, that plumbs the depths of sibling rivalry with wit and menace.

BLUE ROSE, BY CAROL MUSKE-DUKES
Poetry. Penguin Books. 80 pp.

A new collection from a poet whose "richness of the language is made to carry the maximum bearable amount of emotion." (Jorie Graham).

DAWN OF THE REAPER, BY PAUL F. MCGOWAN
Fiction: YA Fantasy. Fire & Ice YA. 263 pp...

INDIE FEATURE: TERMINAL CORE

TERMINAL CORE, BY LYNN STEIGLEDER
Fiction: Science Fiction. Soul Fire Press. 358 pp.
BUY THE BOOK ON AMAZON THE STORY Aon, a solid core planet made from the priceless and most dense element in the galaxy, Caladium, is under silent attack. Plans are made by off-worlders to dissolve the unbreakable core using crude oil obtained from 19th century Earth. Once the oil is refined, the byproduct, gasoline, will soften the Caladium, allowing it to be collected. It is soon discovered...