Terry Odell's Blog, page 91
October 18, 2018
Halloween Special – Deadly Places
Halloween Special
Enjoy this Halloween Special. A limited time offer – Deadly Places, A Mapleton Mystery Novella, can be yours for 99 cents through October 31st. Happy Halloween!
Life is a balancing act. When you’re a cop, the choices can be deadly.
Ed Solomon, long-time police officer in the small town of Mapleton, Colorado, has been ribbed for thinking there’s a ring of assassins out killing deadbeat dads.
However, he’s convinced these killers exist and they’re doing their dir...
October 16, 2018
Quality Control – Whose Responsibility Is It?
Quality Control – Whose Responsibility Is It?
No one wants to put out an inferior product, and this holds true for book publishers. If you’re an indie author, you’re also a publisher, and as such, you’re the Quality Control Manager.
Typos happen. Spell check is not a reliable editorial tool, because it only flags words that are misspelled, not the wrong word in context. Things like it’s and its, or their, they’re and there, etc., I usually chalk up to typos. But it makes me cringe to see any...
October 14, 2018
SELF-e and Biblioboard Get Ebooks in Libraries
SELF-e and Biblioboard
Last Saturday, I was part of Indie Author Day at the Pikes Peak Regional Library, and what interested me was the presentation on the SELF-e program for authors and readers. The program is powered by Library Journal, and is a way for authors and small presses to get e-books in front of library patrons. Library Journal has a respected reputation, so my interest was piqued.
I have most of my books available in Overdrive, which is the library platform I was aware of. With O...
October 10, 2018
Can You Ignore Convention?
Can You Ignore Convention?
My book club’s monthly choices are often books I’d never have read on my own. Sometimes I am pleasantly surprised. Other times not so much. I’m sharing an example from an author who apparently thought he could ignore convention with his punctuation choices. The post is over at Booklover’s Bench this week. Please drop by and let me know what you think about it.
Next: Because it’s a good cause, I’m extending my royalty share for sales of Deadly Assumptions through Oct...
October 7, 2018
Colorado Gold Conference Recap 9 – Wrap Up
RMFW Colorado Gold Conference Recap 9
I’m wrapping up my recaps of the Colorado Gold Conference with some overall takeaways.
Find all my recaps: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8
From Jim Azevedo of Smashwords:
The #1 Secret to marketing: Write a great book. Then, write another one. Repeat.
Most book sales come from word of mouth, not ads.
And, perhaps his biggest takeaway:
Obscurity is a bigger risk than Piracy.
From James Scott Bell
On Revisions:
Hein...
October 3, 2018
Balancing Romance and Suspense in a Romantic Suspense
Balancing Romance and Suspense in a Romantic Suspense
I’m going to be teaching a class about writing romantic suspense, stressing how to balance the romance and the suspense. The class will run through Savvy Authors, from Oct 22nd – November 18th. It’s on line, so you can read the lessons as you have time—in your pajamas if you want! Hope to see you there.
The lectures will include the following topics:
Definition of Romantic Suspense Choosing your...September 30, 2018
Colorado Gold Conference Recap 8 – Prettying Up The Prose
RMFW Colorado Gold Conference Recap 8 – Prettying Up The Prose
Another workshop I attended was “Making Prose Pretty” presented by Developmental Editor Tiffany Yates Martin
She covered things to look for during a final editing phase. My bullet points from her presentation are below. Any errors are mine, either because of misunderstanding the presenter or poor note-taking.
Compelling writing is lean but elegant
Ways to trim the fat.
* Get rid of useless verbiage – extraneous descriptions that...
September 26, 2018
Colorado Gold Conference Recap 7 – Pacing
RMFW Colorado Gold Conference Recap 7 – Pacing.
I’m continuing with Colorado Gold Conference workshop recaps. Any errors are mine, either through misinterpretation or sloppy note-taking. Today’s recap is more bullet points than detailed elaboration.
This workshop was presented by Angie Hodapp of the Nelson Literary Agency, and author Warren Hammond
Pacing is a challenging aspect of writing. Readers don’t understand it, but if it’s too slow, readers will say “couldn’t get into it.” If it’s to...
September 23, 2018
Colorado Gold Conference Recap 6 – James Scott Bell Part 5
RMFW Colorado Gold Conference Recap 6 – James Scott Bell Part 5
I’m continuing with James Scott Bell’s workshop on Writing a Novel They Can’t Put Down, which was an all-day intensive workshop at the Colorado Gold Conference. If you missed part 1 of my notes, you can find it here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Part 4 is here. Any errors are mine, either through misinterpretation or sloppy note-taking. Today’s recap is more bullet points than detailed elaboration.
The final topic Bell cover...
September 19, 2018
Colorado Gold Conference Recap 5 – James Scott Bell Part 4
RMFW Colorado Gold Conference Recap 5 – James Scott Bell Part 4
I’m continuing with James Scott Bell’s workshop on Writing a Novel They Can’t Put Down, which was an all-day intensive workshop at the Colorado Gold Conference. If you missed part 1 of my notes, you can find it here. Part 2 is here. Part 3 is here. Any errors are mine, either through misinterpretation or sloppy note-taking.
Bell moved on to talk about scenes. Things that scenes should contain include:
Clue Discovery Cris...
