Terry Odell's Blog, page 77
November 4, 2019
Bouncing Around Cyberspace
Bouncing Around Cyberspace
I’ve been traveling. When your mom’s 93, you have to take the time to visit. But through the magic of cyberspace, I’m still around.
I gave my take on Social Media, notably Facebook, over at Pro Writers Writing yesterday.
Dru’s Book Musings invited Cole Patton of Remaking Morgan to tell her readers what a typical day in his life is like. Although, as a cop, can there be a “typical” day?
I hope you’ll pop over and say hello to Cole. He’d love a little company.
I’ll try to respond to...
October 31, 2019
Sights of Ireland
Sights of Ireland
From Scotland, we flew to Dublin, where we spent the next five days touring Ireland sights.
Our first full day in Ireland was in Dublin, where we visited the Guinness Storehouse, one of the top tourist attractions in Dublin.
After a day of seeing the city, we went to Tulfarris, where we received the welcome we’d come to expect. The rest of our stay in Ireland was at countryside hotels and resorts, which I much preferred to being in the middle of a big city.
Our driver in Ireland, like...
October 29, 2019
Hitting a Wall – Happens Every Time
Hitting a Wall – Happens Every Time
Whenever I’m writing a new book, I find myself hitting a wall right about the 30,000 word mark. The doubts set in.
Well, guess what? My record still holds. I hit the wall with the new Mapleton mystery I’m writing. The book opened with the crime, so it’s been an ongoing investigation for 23 chapters so...
October 27, 2019
Don’t Misuse “ING” Words
Don’t Misuse “ING” Words
A recent read where the author’s over-frequent use of the same sentence construction triggered this post. First, it’s important to vary the construction to keep the reader from getting bored. For this author, the book was overrun with sentences starting with gerund phrases – those “ing” words.
At the very first writer’s conference I attended, an agent said she would reject a query with more than 1 sentence beginning with the “ing” construction. Her explanation—it’s too easy to m...
October 24, 2019
Touring Scotland
More vacation pictures, still touring Scotland.
Our driver had a lot of places that weren’t on our official tour that he thought we’d like, plus one or two that we requested. So, between getting to places with scheduled events, we stopped at Culloden, a set of locks on the Caledonian Canal route, and Fort George. Oh, and we added the Glenmorangie distillery … as long as it was on the way. Our route took us along the “Bonny, bonny banks of Loch Lomond.”
After several days in the Inverness area, we went to Gla...
October 22, 2019
I’m Getting Around
I’m Getting Around
I’m talking about Remaking Morgan over at Just Romantic Suspense today and tomorrow, and I’m giving away a collector’s item copy of the Wild Rose Press edition of Nowhere to Hide.
I’m also over at the Kobo Writing Life blog as one of the contributors to their article on dialogue.
I hope you’ll visit me at either or both places and leave a comment.
Don’t forget – Deadly Places is marked down to 99 cents through Oct. 31st.
The post I’m Getting Around appeared first on Terry Odell.
October 20, 2019
Gaming the System With Book Genres
Gaming the System With Book Genres.
Some years ago, I was at a conference where Lee Child was a guest speaker. Until right before that conference, I hadn’t read any of his books, because they were advertised as thrillers, and I didn’t read thrillers. My understanding, based on what I’d heard about the genre was that a thriller was a suspenseful book with “consequences of global proportions.” Not my thing.
After my first Blackthorne, Inc. book was released, I saw reviews referring to it as a “thriller.” No...
October 17, 2019
A Cruise Down Loch Ness
One of the activities our tour included was a Loch Ness cruise. Our driver suggested that instead of an up-and-back, that we change it to include some time to wander around Urquhart Castle (or the ruins thereof). We agreed that sounded like more fun (especially since it was a gloomy afternoon. I’m sharing pictures again. Can you spot Nessie?
For more pictures, click here.
The post A Cruise Down Loch Ness appeared first on Terry Odell.
October 15, 2019
Openings – Don’t Be Afraid to Start in the Wrong Place
Last time, I talked about knowing where your book should start. I figured I should follow the ‘show, don’t tell’ rule and come clean with the first opening of my first draft of my first book. Here’s the original, unpublished (and I’m sure you’ll be able to tell why) opening to what evolved into Finding Sarah.
And note: even though the original version sucks like a vacuum cleaner (including the dreaded “self-description via mirror”), the information in it was necessary for ME, to get to know S...
October 13, 2019
Beginnings – Where Should Your Book Start?
Where Should Your Book Start?
Book beginnings are critical, whether you’re submitting to an agent for the traditional route, or going it alone with indie publishing. Agents read until they’re not interested. So do readers. But first, a word about a limited time offer.
Deadly Places – Halloween Special
From now until the end of October, Deadly Places, the first Mapleton Mystery Novella is on sale for 99 cents. What happens when the chief is away and Ed Solomon is in charge of the Mapleton Pol...
