Blair Bancroft's Blog, page 58
February 11, 2013
FLORIDA PHOTOS - HAVING FUN!
When I downloaded my "recent" photos, I discovered they went all the way back to October 2012 and included views of the nostalgic journey my daughter's family and I made to the town where I lived for 25 years before moving to Orlando. The town—and, yes, the name remains a secret—is the site of all my Golden Beach books. The first set of photos is the model for "Bud's Fish Camp" in Shadowed Paradise. We drove off I-75 straight to "Bud's" for lunch and were horrified to discover it deserted, having lost its vendor. (Though how the State—who now owns it—couldn't find a vendor for a place as crowded as this riverside restaurant always was, is a complete mystery. Sigh. Maybe it just got to be too popular . . . scared vendors away.
The "Calusa" River
Yes, it's just what it looks like . . .
The trees are growing through the roof.
Ten miles due west of "Bud's"—down the exact same road—is the Gulf of Mexico and the resort-style inn we chose for our weekend visit. The beach was directly across the street. After checking in, we drove—starving by this time—to our favorite hot dog place, at the jetties. The jetties are the only direct access from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Gulf for twenty miles in either direction. The jetties are prominently featured in Death by Marriage.
At the jetties
Flying "Sharky" - a family tradition
All this & a pool too - Mommy & 2½ kidlets
A glimpse of "Main Street, Golden Beach"
The Golden Beach books:
Shadowed Paradise, Paradise Burning, Florida Knight, Orange Blossoms & Mayhem, Death by Marriage
Thanks for stopping by.
GraceComing soon: Dictionary for Writers, Part 2 & Legoland photos
Tea, anyone? - the party begins, Sunday, February 10, 2013
The "Calusa" River
Yes, it's just what it looks like . . .
The trees are growing through the roof.Ten miles due west of "Bud's"—down the exact same road—is the Gulf of Mexico and the resort-style inn we chose for our weekend visit. The beach was directly across the street. After checking in, we drove—starving by this time—to our favorite hot dog place, at the jetties. The jetties are the only direct access from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Gulf for twenty miles in either direction. The jetties are prominently featured in Death by Marriage.
At the jetties
Flying "Sharky" - a family tradition
All this & a pool too - Mommy & 2½ kidlets
A glimpse of "Main Street, Golden Beach"The Golden Beach books:
Shadowed Paradise, Paradise Burning, Florida Knight, Orange Blossoms & Mayhem, Death by Marriage
Thanks for stopping by.
GraceComing soon: Dictionary for Writers, Part 2 & Legoland photos
Tea, anyone? - the party begins, Sunday, February 10, 2013
February 4, 2013
DICTIONARY FOR WRITERS
When I started compiling notes for a writer’s dictionary, it seemed a simple project. By the time I’d scribbled over three lined legal pages, I decided this project was going to take more than one blog. Why create a Dictionary for Writers? Well . . . many long years ago, when I was a newbie, I recall writing (snail mail) to a contest "chair," plaintively inquiring, “What’s a hook?” So for all the newbies out there—and maybe some not-so-newbie—, here is Part I of Grace’s Dictionary for Writers.
Manuscript Format. The double-spaced document you’re supposed to be creating - with title and page numbers as headers at the top of each page. (Editors seem to have a definite expectation of finding the page numbers in the upper right corner, so don’t disappoint them.) Be sure to present your manuscript to an agent or editor in MANUSCRIPT FORMAT, not book format! See Grace’s Mosaic Moments - Manuscript Formatting
Book Format. Unless you’re indie-publishing*, you have nothing to do with book format. You do NOT put the first paragraph of each chapter Flush Left. You do NOT use single space or 1.5 spaces between lines. You do not attempt dropped caps, etc. Book formatting is for your publisher, print or e, to create in their preferred style.
*Even if you’re indie-publishing, create your book in double space, which is easier to read, edit, and revise.
Font. The typeface you use to create your book. Courier used to be the font of choice because that’s all typewriters offered. But we’ve been in the home computer era for more than thirty years now, and Courier 10, a 19th c. font, should have been dead and gone long since. Times New Roman, size 12, is the current font of choice. Since even most print publishers, as well as agents, now seem to expect manuscripts to be presented electronically, you are strongly advised to stick to TNR. If you use anything else, the person receiving your manuscript might not have the correct font to reproduce your pet typeface.
Tabs. In the past all tabs were manual; i.e., we had to hit the Tab bar at the beginning of each paragraph. In the last few years, Auto Tabs have become a “must.” They are expected by all publishers, especially e-publishers, and absolutely necessary for authors preparing their own work for indie pub. See Grace’s Mosaic Moments - Tab How-to's
Publishers.
New York (NY) - refers to the big print publishers. Authors receive advances as well as royalties.
E-publishers - refers to publishers who sell online, sometimes offering Print on Demand paperbacks, as well as downloads in a variety of PC & e-reader formats. Authors do not receive an advance but do receive royalties. Note: In general, I have found the editing at my three e-publishers to be more meticulous than the editing I received from New York.
Indie Publishing - refers to a new branch of publishing, where authors publish their own books, usually via Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Smashwords, Sony, or a variety of smaller companies offering “do it yourself” service. The cost to the author is minimal: a cover, ISBN, (usually optional), and professional editing (also optional).
Self-publishing - nowadays, the same as indie pub, but because of negative connotations from the past, the term "indie pub" is generally preferred.
Vanity publishing - a service provided by a number of companies, where the author PAYS to be published in print. This can be expensive and is not recommended unless an author has money to burn, as the results are seldom lucrative unless the author spends all his/her time marketing the book. Vanity publishing can also have negative connotations, while e-publishing independently is rapidly becoming an accepted method of publication.
Marketing. What modern authors do to sell their book, whether print, e, or vanity. (In my case, very little.) In some cases, particularly with authors who have only one or two books to sell, marketing becomes a full-time job. And, yes, it can pay off. It depends on what’s important to you. I’d rather write another book than make a lot of money on the first one by being a full-time salesperson. It’s a personal decision. Do you want to spend your time on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, chatrooms, etcetera? Do you want to make a trailer, buy ads on the big Review sites? Great, maybe you’ll find yourself rich and famous. I’d go nuts. I have to write. I have to create. Which is why I blog, but do little else of a promotional nature. Blogging is writing, being creative. I enjoy it and don’t feel I’m wasting my time. But chacun à son gout. Different strokes for different folks. Whatever the cliché, we each have to do what we feel is right for our babies, our precious creations.
Editors. The person employed by a publishing company to examine your baby and decide if it fits the criteria of their publishing house. If so, that person will make suggestions to improve your book - sometimes very little, sometimes a lot. Sometimes the editor will give you a list of things you need to revise and tell you to re-submit. This is iffy. You may make those revisions, even though you think they are wrong, yet the editor rejects you again. Ouch! And yet . . . if the offer was made by a senior editor in a major NY publishing house, I recommend going for it. It’s very likely worth the effort. If, however, the suggested changes decimate your book and are suggested by an editor of a minor publishing house, have a good, long think before you cave. But at the same time, ask yourself: Is this person right? Would I have a better book if I listened to his/her suggestions? Having had the experience of refusing to compromise with a major New York publisher, I freely admit it was probably the biggest mistake of my writing career. So if an editor, particularly a senior editor, suggests a revision, take a long hard look before you say "No."
Copy editors. Junior on the publishing scale, often right out of college, copy editors look your book over for spelling, grammar, punctuation, continuity, and word usage. That’s all they do. They do not make suggestions to improve your book. In fact, they’ve been known to do things like add a decimal point before 9mm! Never hesitate to argue with a copy editor. Be grateful for their English expertise, but you likely know more about your subject than they do.
Agents. There are literary agents and then there are those who pass themselves off as literary agents. My personal experience in this area has been extremely negative. In the past twenty years, I sold every last one of my books myself, even though I had a succession of three agents. Conversely, a good agent is a wonderful thing to have. Since I’m primarily writing this blog for newbies, let me caution you that not just any agent will do. Agents specialize, just as singers specialize, sports stars specialize. Some agents enjoy selling romance; others wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. Even within the romance genre, some agents want only mainstream romance or romantic suspense, stating emphatically they don’t accept “category” romance. Or paranormal, or maybe Fantasy. My advice: research agents at the library, or buy a book like Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents. Members of the Romance Writers of America can find Agent information on the RWA website.
In addition, try to discover if the agent you’re considering is primarily interested in selling your book, or does he/she fancy themselves a co-author, suggesting all sorts of revisions before agreeing to handle your book? Again, a matter of taste - perhaps you want an agent to make suggestions; perhaps the agent is experienced enough to make those suggestions valid. My personal opinion? Although I want an agent willing to mention anything that jars her/him as a reader, I don’t want my agent acting as an editor.
Frankly, it’s harder to get a good agent than it is to find an editor willing to look at your work. Sigh. Persistence is absolutely necessary.
A Short Vocabulary of Sometimes Obscure Writers' Jargon:
Hook - the last line in a chapter that keeps the reader turning the page. The sentence that “leaves readers hanging.” In the grand tradition of the heroine tied to the railroad tracks, announcement of a surprise pregnancy, a bad guy with a gun trained at our hero's head, etc.
Tag - the “he said, she said” of Dialogue, those few words that tell the reader who is speaking. They may include some description, as well as, “asked, inquired, demanded, exclaimed,” etc.
Blurb - the story summary found on the back cover (or front flap) of every print book or the description next to the cover photo for online books. Writing a good blurb is an art in itself and much harder than it looks. (As anyone who has ever been asked to describe their book to an editor, agent, or even a friend, has already discovered.) All authors should be prepared with a two- or three-sentence blurb they can offer at the drop of a hat!
Head-hopping - jumping from one Point of View to another within the space of a paragraph or two, occasionally even within the same paragraph. This is an absolute no-no!
Black Moment - the moment, usually fairly near the end of a book, when it looks as if there is no hope of resolution. In romance, this means no chance of the couple getting together. In suspense, it can be the moment when we think the hero, heroine, or both, just aren’t going to survive.
Hard Page End - the Required Page End you must put at the end of every chapter. The one that will not move, no matter what you add or subtract when editing. Do NOT hit “Enter” to get to a new page! To insert a Hard Page End, use Control+Enter or the Insert Menu.
Dangling Participle. We all were supposed to learn about this insidious grammar mistake in high school, but sometimes . . .
The basic rule: an opening action clause must match the subject of the sentence. If it doesn’t, we can get remarkable mix-ups. Examples:
While flying a kite, the tree caught it. (The tree was not flying the kite.)
Running out into the street, the car hit him. (The car did not run out into the street.)
Identify. One of the words I type most often in “Comment” while editing for Best Foot Forward. Characters need to be identified as they are introduced. “Mary” can’t suddenly jump in and start talking - no ID makes her a blank face against a blank background. Not at all the color, humor, or drama you want to convey.
Clarify. Another other word I use often. Please remember that you may be very familiar with your characters, readers are not. You can’t put background in a synopsis and then expect the reader to know what you wrote. Readers never see a synopsis, only that itty bitty blurb. Everything you want the reader to know must be in the body of the manuscript itself.
Introspection. What is going on inside your hero’s and/or heroine’s heads. Their thoughts, emotions—fear, pain, anguish, love, lust, etc. Without introspection a reader has a hard time identifying with, or empathizing with, the main characters. The Point of View (introspection) of a villain or other important characters may also be shown, depending on the book’s genre. (More on that in Part 2 of Dictionary for Writers.)
~ * ~
For Python Challenge updates, see Python Challenge
For Grace's (Blair Bancroft's) free book updates, see Free books
Coming soon:
More word definitions
Definitions of Setting, Characterization, Point of View, etc.
Definitions of the various sub-genres of Romance - Category, Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal, etc. (Or at least I plan to make a stab at it.)
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace
Manuscript Format. The double-spaced document you’re supposed to be creating - with title and page numbers as headers at the top of each page. (Editors seem to have a definite expectation of finding the page numbers in the upper right corner, so don’t disappoint them.) Be sure to present your manuscript to an agent or editor in MANUSCRIPT FORMAT, not book format! See Grace’s Mosaic Moments - Manuscript Formatting
Book Format. Unless you’re indie-publishing*, you have nothing to do with book format. You do NOT put the first paragraph of each chapter Flush Left. You do NOT use single space or 1.5 spaces between lines. You do not attempt dropped caps, etc. Book formatting is for your publisher, print or e, to create in their preferred style.
*Even if you’re indie-publishing, create your book in double space, which is easier to read, edit, and revise.
Font. The typeface you use to create your book. Courier used to be the font of choice because that’s all typewriters offered. But we’ve been in the home computer era for more than thirty years now, and Courier 10, a 19th c. font, should have been dead and gone long since. Times New Roman, size 12, is the current font of choice. Since even most print publishers, as well as agents, now seem to expect manuscripts to be presented electronically, you are strongly advised to stick to TNR. If you use anything else, the person receiving your manuscript might not have the correct font to reproduce your pet typeface.
Tabs. In the past all tabs were manual; i.e., we had to hit the Tab bar at the beginning of each paragraph. In the last few years, Auto Tabs have become a “must.” They are expected by all publishers, especially e-publishers, and absolutely necessary for authors preparing their own work for indie pub. See Grace’s Mosaic Moments - Tab How-to's
Publishers.
New York (NY) - refers to the big print publishers. Authors receive advances as well as royalties.
E-publishers - refers to publishers who sell online, sometimes offering Print on Demand paperbacks, as well as downloads in a variety of PC & e-reader formats. Authors do not receive an advance but do receive royalties. Note: In general, I have found the editing at my three e-publishers to be more meticulous than the editing I received from New York.
Indie Publishing - refers to a new branch of publishing, where authors publish their own books, usually via Amazon Kindle, Barnes & Noble’s Nook, Smashwords, Sony, or a variety of smaller companies offering “do it yourself” service. The cost to the author is minimal: a cover, ISBN, (usually optional), and professional editing (also optional).
Self-publishing - nowadays, the same as indie pub, but because of negative connotations from the past, the term "indie pub" is generally preferred.
Vanity publishing - a service provided by a number of companies, where the author PAYS to be published in print. This can be expensive and is not recommended unless an author has money to burn, as the results are seldom lucrative unless the author spends all his/her time marketing the book. Vanity publishing can also have negative connotations, while e-publishing independently is rapidly becoming an accepted method of publication.
Marketing. What modern authors do to sell their book, whether print, e, or vanity. (In my case, very little.) In some cases, particularly with authors who have only one or two books to sell, marketing becomes a full-time job. And, yes, it can pay off. It depends on what’s important to you. I’d rather write another book than make a lot of money on the first one by being a full-time salesperson. It’s a personal decision. Do you want to spend your time on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, chatrooms, etcetera? Do you want to make a trailer, buy ads on the big Review sites? Great, maybe you’ll find yourself rich and famous. I’d go nuts. I have to write. I have to create. Which is why I blog, but do little else of a promotional nature. Blogging is writing, being creative. I enjoy it and don’t feel I’m wasting my time. But chacun à son gout. Different strokes for different folks. Whatever the cliché, we each have to do what we feel is right for our babies, our precious creations.
Editors. The person employed by a publishing company to examine your baby and decide if it fits the criteria of their publishing house. If so, that person will make suggestions to improve your book - sometimes very little, sometimes a lot. Sometimes the editor will give you a list of things you need to revise and tell you to re-submit. This is iffy. You may make those revisions, even though you think they are wrong, yet the editor rejects you again. Ouch! And yet . . . if the offer was made by a senior editor in a major NY publishing house, I recommend going for it. It’s very likely worth the effort. If, however, the suggested changes decimate your book and are suggested by an editor of a minor publishing house, have a good, long think before you cave. But at the same time, ask yourself: Is this person right? Would I have a better book if I listened to his/her suggestions? Having had the experience of refusing to compromise with a major New York publisher, I freely admit it was probably the biggest mistake of my writing career. So if an editor, particularly a senior editor, suggests a revision, take a long hard look before you say "No."
Copy editors. Junior on the publishing scale, often right out of college, copy editors look your book over for spelling, grammar, punctuation, continuity, and word usage. That’s all they do. They do not make suggestions to improve your book. In fact, they’ve been known to do things like add a decimal point before 9mm! Never hesitate to argue with a copy editor. Be grateful for their English expertise, but you likely know more about your subject than they do.
Agents. There are literary agents and then there are those who pass themselves off as literary agents. My personal experience in this area has been extremely negative. In the past twenty years, I sold every last one of my books myself, even though I had a succession of three agents. Conversely, a good agent is a wonderful thing to have. Since I’m primarily writing this blog for newbies, let me caution you that not just any agent will do. Agents specialize, just as singers specialize, sports stars specialize. Some agents enjoy selling romance; others wouldn’t touch it with a ten-foot pole. Even within the romance genre, some agents want only mainstream romance or romantic suspense, stating emphatically they don’t accept “category” romance. Or paranormal, or maybe Fantasy. My advice: research agents at the library, or buy a book like Jeff Herman’s Guide to Book Publishers, Editors, and Literary Agents. Members of the Romance Writers of America can find Agent information on the RWA website.
In addition, try to discover if the agent you’re considering is primarily interested in selling your book, or does he/she fancy themselves a co-author, suggesting all sorts of revisions before agreeing to handle your book? Again, a matter of taste - perhaps you want an agent to make suggestions; perhaps the agent is experienced enough to make those suggestions valid. My personal opinion? Although I want an agent willing to mention anything that jars her/him as a reader, I don’t want my agent acting as an editor.
Frankly, it’s harder to get a good agent than it is to find an editor willing to look at your work. Sigh. Persistence is absolutely necessary.
A Short Vocabulary of Sometimes Obscure Writers' Jargon:
Hook - the last line in a chapter that keeps the reader turning the page. The sentence that “leaves readers hanging.” In the grand tradition of the heroine tied to the railroad tracks, announcement of a surprise pregnancy, a bad guy with a gun trained at our hero's head, etc.
Tag - the “he said, she said” of Dialogue, those few words that tell the reader who is speaking. They may include some description, as well as, “asked, inquired, demanded, exclaimed,” etc.
Blurb - the story summary found on the back cover (or front flap) of every print book or the description next to the cover photo for online books. Writing a good blurb is an art in itself and much harder than it looks. (As anyone who has ever been asked to describe their book to an editor, agent, or even a friend, has already discovered.) All authors should be prepared with a two- or three-sentence blurb they can offer at the drop of a hat!
Head-hopping - jumping from one Point of View to another within the space of a paragraph or two, occasionally even within the same paragraph. This is an absolute no-no!
Black Moment - the moment, usually fairly near the end of a book, when it looks as if there is no hope of resolution. In romance, this means no chance of the couple getting together. In suspense, it can be the moment when we think the hero, heroine, or both, just aren’t going to survive.
Hard Page End - the Required Page End you must put at the end of every chapter. The one that will not move, no matter what you add or subtract when editing. Do NOT hit “Enter” to get to a new page! To insert a Hard Page End, use Control+Enter or the Insert Menu.
Dangling Participle. We all were supposed to learn about this insidious grammar mistake in high school, but sometimes . . .
The basic rule: an opening action clause must match the subject of the sentence. If it doesn’t, we can get remarkable mix-ups. Examples:
While flying a kite, the tree caught it. (The tree was not flying the kite.)
Running out into the street, the car hit him. (The car did not run out into the street.)
Identify. One of the words I type most often in “Comment” while editing for Best Foot Forward. Characters need to be identified as they are introduced. “Mary” can’t suddenly jump in and start talking - no ID makes her a blank face against a blank background. Not at all the color, humor, or drama you want to convey.
Clarify. Another other word I use often. Please remember that you may be very familiar with your characters, readers are not. You can’t put background in a synopsis and then expect the reader to know what you wrote. Readers never see a synopsis, only that itty bitty blurb. Everything you want the reader to know must be in the body of the manuscript itself.
Introspection. What is going on inside your hero’s and/or heroine’s heads. Their thoughts, emotions—fear, pain, anguish, love, lust, etc. Without introspection a reader has a hard time identifying with, or empathizing with, the main characters. The Point of View (introspection) of a villain or other important characters may also be shown, depending on the book’s genre. (More on that in Part 2 of Dictionary for Writers.)
~ * ~
For Python Challenge updates, see Python Challenge
For Grace's (Blair Bancroft's) free book updates, see Free books
Coming soon:
More word definitions
Definitions of Setting, Characterization, Point of View, etc.
Definitions of the various sub-genres of Romance - Category, Contemporary, Historical, Paranormal, etc. (Or at least I plan to make a stab at it.)
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace
January 28, 2013
FLORIDA REVEALED
With visitors from "up north" in town, we're doing the tourist routes this week, illustrating the truth of the following post, which was found on Facebook & shared by my daughter. Believe me, about the only points I'd quibble with are the rain being over in five minutes and wearing flip-flops to church.
Referring to the map below:
On a visit to Legoland on Sunday, eight members of our extended family journeyed into the yellow area south of I-4, driving through miles of citrus groves along the way. (Legoland is well out in the boonies on the site of the former Cypress Gardens.) Orlando, naturally, is smack in the middle of the pink zone!
About the following - all I can say is, some people are really clever. A big thank-you to whoever created this Florida gem! (You'll find a dictionary for non-Floridians at the end of the post.)
~ * ~
You know you're a Floridian if....
Socks are only for bowling.
You never use an umbrella because the rain will be over in five minutes.
A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.
Your winter coat is made of denim.
You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.
You're younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65.
Anything under 70 degrees is chilly.
You've driven through Yeehaw Junction.
You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.
You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for.
You dread love bug season.
You are on a first name basis with the hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew, Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Wilma, Irene, Cheryl, Rita, Mary, Alison
You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave.
You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.
'Down South' means Key West.
Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before.
You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.
You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.
A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.
You know the four seasons really are: hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer.
You've hosted a hurricane party.
You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee , Withlacoochee , Thonotosassa and Micanopy.
You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.
You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn't swim.
You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years.
You recognize Miami-Dade as 'Northern Cuba.'
You not only forward this but you understand it.
~ * ~
Translation for non-Floridians:
Rednecks - native Floridians of the gun-totin', fishin', huntin', tobacco-chewin' workin' class
Fire ants - nasty, aggressive little red ants whose bites bring up blisters. Enough bites & you're dead.
Cateogry 3 - refers to hurricane strength
Love bugs - bugs that swarm Florida in May and September, always in pairs (presumably mating). They cover windshields, corrode car paint, and gum up radiators.
Snowbirds - Non-Floridians who own a second home (or rent) in Florida. They flock south for one to six months any time from October to April.
Visiting Miami is the equivalent of visiting a Spanish-speaking foreign country.
~ * ~
NOTE: The snake count in the Python Challenge is being updated once or twice a week on "Florida Tidbits." (See Archives.) To read more details on "the challenge": Python Challenge Website
Coming soon (hopefully): photos from Legoland & the Brevard Zoo
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace
Referring to the map below:
On a visit to Legoland on Sunday, eight members of our extended family journeyed into the yellow area south of I-4, driving through miles of citrus groves along the way. (Legoland is well out in the boonies on the site of the former Cypress Gardens.) Orlando, naturally, is smack in the middle of the pink zone!
About the following - all I can say is, some people are really clever. A big thank-you to whoever created this Florida gem! (You'll find a dictionary for non-Floridians at the end of the post.)
~ * ~
You know you're a Floridian if....Socks are only for bowling.
You never use an umbrella because the rain will be over in five minutes.
A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.
Your winter coat is made of denim.
You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.
You're younger than thirty but some of your friends are over 65.
Anything under 70 degrees is chilly.
You've driven through Yeehaw Junction.
You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.
You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for.
You dread love bug season.
You are on a first name basis with the hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew, Charley, Frances, Ivan, Jeanne, Wilma, Irene, Cheryl, Rita, Mary, Alison
You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave.
You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.
'Down South' means Key West.
Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before.
You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.
You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls.
A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.
You know the four seasons really are: hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer.
You've hosted a hurricane party.
You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee , Withlacoochee , Thonotosassa and Micanopy.
You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.
You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn't swim.
You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years.
You recognize Miami-Dade as 'Northern Cuba.'
You not only forward this but you understand it.
~ * ~
Translation for non-Floridians:
Rednecks - native Floridians of the gun-totin', fishin', huntin', tobacco-chewin' workin' class
Fire ants - nasty, aggressive little red ants whose bites bring up blisters. Enough bites & you're dead.
Cateogry 3 - refers to hurricane strength
Love bugs - bugs that swarm Florida in May and September, always in pairs (presumably mating). They cover windshields, corrode car paint, and gum up radiators.
Snowbirds - Non-Floridians who own a second home (or rent) in Florida. They flock south for one to six months any time from October to April.
Visiting Miami is the equivalent of visiting a Spanish-speaking foreign country.
~ * ~
NOTE: The snake count in the Python Challenge is being updated once or twice a week on "Florida Tidbits." (See Archives.) To read more details on "the challenge": Python Challenge Website
Coming soon (hopefully): photos from Legoland & the Brevard Zoo
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace
January 21, 2013
Branding - Bah, humbug!
When I started writing about twenty years ago, "branding" was something done to cattle with a hot iron. I wasn't all that comfortable when the word began to be applied to authors. Branding? You've got to be kidding. Its new meaning, in case you haven't heard: an author is "branded" as a person who writes one kind of book. The purpose? A reader, when buying a particular author's book can be confident of getting the same kind of book over and over again. This is supposed to be a good thing, mind you. Well, I could give you a few thousand words on why that raised my hackles, but, suffice it to say, I'm a person who doesn't want to do anything twice. I sew, knit, crochet - I don't want to use any pattern more than once. The very thought of making a quilt, with the same pattern repeated over and over again, fairly freezes my blood. And as for sentencing myself to writing the same kind of book for the rest of my life . . . [Expletives deleted]
And yet, in spite of my lips curling every time I see or hear the word "branding" . . . I ended up "branded." And without the slightest bit of effort on my part. (I'm told most authors work very hard to be branded, for the same reason editors and publishers love branding. It sells books. Ah, well . . .)
About a year ago, when I discovered the hard way that I'd been branded, I could only groan and wonder what I could do to coax readers minds away from thinking of me as a "Regency" author and realize they just might like the other things I write, like Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Alternative History/Steampunk. So . . .
Just after Christmas 2012, I took down five books that have been selling only fitfully, leaving them only on Amazon, so I could take advantage of KDP Select's rental program and its free-day promotions. I am starting the Free Promotions this week with Airborne - The Hanover Restoration, admittedly easing branding-conscious readers into my "other" books with a story that reads a lot like a Regency, except the date is 1840, there are a number of odd machines, and a young Princess Victoria has been displaced from the throne by the Duke of Wellington.
The other books listed below will also be having "free days" in the near future.
Miss Araminta Galsworthy travels to the home of her new guardian, only to be plunged into marriage, arson, assassination attempts, murder, and treason - all centered around her husband's invention, the first navigable airship. Minta acquires new friends, new enemies, a new husband, and becomes an important part of a revolution: the restoration of the British monarchy. Will she manage, or will her head be piked on the Tower?
Airborne will have its "free" day on Amazon Kindle on Tuesday, January 22, 2013.Link to Airborne
A Florida Highway Patrol officer investigates his brother's injury in a Medieval Fair tournament and discovers an astounding sub-culture in today's Florida - the Medieval re-enactment group, the Lords & Ladies of Chivalry*. He also finds a Lady Knight, fighting her way out of years of abuse. Michael Turco and Kate Knight both have a great deal to learn before they can solve a crime and lay each other's ghosts and preconceptions. [A Golden Beach book]
*based on the internationally known re-enactment group, The Society for Creative Anachronisms
Link to Florida Knight
Death by accident, old age, and strangulation. An elderly senior about to marry a con artist. A rash of burglaries. Only an artistic imagination could conjure these disasters into connected events. But costume designer Gwyn Halliday manages it, as she flees trauma in the big city only to discover that bad things can also happen in a sleepy Florida retirement community. [A Golden Beach/DreamWear book]
Link to Death by Marriage
Want to get married in a hot air balloon? Have the bride step out of a Fabergé egg? Just call Fantascapes, the Halliday family business. Trouble in paradise? Call Laine Halliday, who travels the world smoothing out bumps encountered by high-end clients. But when Fantascapes is used as a front by the Russian mob, in action ranging from Florida to Peru to France, Laine steps into a whole new world of Serve and Protect.
[A Golden Beach/Fantascapes book]
Link to Orange Blossoms & Mayhem
FBI Special Agent Valentina Frost and a mysterious Russian arms dealer become strangely matched partners in a search for two nuclear bombs missing from the old Soviet arsenal. As they criss-cross the world in an attempt to prevent a terrorist attack more deadly than 9/11, they form a strong bond. But can it outlast the mission? Will they live that long? [Settings vary from New York, Connecticut, Colorado, New Jersey, & Florida, to Siberia and Iran.]
Link to Limbo Man
As always, thanks for stopping by. Please scroll on down for Updates to last week's Florida Tidbits, which include the latest statistics on the Python Challenge, an incredible video of one man doing acrobatics with three huge kites, and a scary tale about sharks.
Grace
A list of all Blair's available books
And yet, in spite of my lips curling every time I see or hear the word "branding" . . . I ended up "branded." And without the slightest bit of effort on my part. (I'm told most authors work very hard to be branded, for the same reason editors and publishers love branding. It sells books. Ah, well . . .)
About a year ago, when I discovered the hard way that I'd been branded, I could only groan and wonder what I could do to coax readers minds away from thinking of me as a "Regency" author and realize they just might like the other things I write, like Romantic Suspense, Mystery, Alternative History/Steampunk. So . . .
Just after Christmas 2012, I took down five books that have been selling only fitfully, leaving them only on Amazon, so I could take advantage of KDP Select's rental program and its free-day promotions. I am starting the Free Promotions this week with Airborne - The Hanover Restoration, admittedly easing branding-conscious readers into my "other" books with a story that reads a lot like a Regency, except the date is 1840, there are a number of odd machines, and a young Princess Victoria has been displaced from the throne by the Duke of Wellington.
The other books listed below will also be having "free days" in the near future.
Miss Araminta Galsworthy travels to the home of her new guardian, only to be plunged into marriage, arson, assassination attempts, murder, and treason - all centered around her husband's invention, the first navigable airship. Minta acquires new friends, new enemies, a new husband, and becomes an important part of a revolution: the restoration of the British monarchy. Will she manage, or will her head be piked on the Tower?
Airborne will have its "free" day on Amazon Kindle on Tuesday, January 22, 2013.Link to Airborne
A Florida Highway Patrol officer investigates his brother's injury in a Medieval Fair tournament and discovers an astounding sub-culture in today's Florida - the Medieval re-enactment group, the Lords & Ladies of Chivalry*. He also finds a Lady Knight, fighting her way out of years of abuse. Michael Turco and Kate Knight both have a great deal to learn before they can solve a crime and lay each other's ghosts and preconceptions. [A Golden Beach book]
*based on the internationally known re-enactment group, The Society for Creative Anachronisms
Link to Florida Knight
Death by accident, old age, and strangulation. An elderly senior about to marry a con artist. A rash of burglaries. Only an artistic imagination could conjure these disasters into connected events. But costume designer Gwyn Halliday manages it, as she flees trauma in the big city only to discover that bad things can also happen in a sleepy Florida retirement community. [A Golden Beach/DreamWear book]
Link to Death by Marriage
Want to get married in a hot air balloon? Have the bride step out of a Fabergé egg? Just call Fantascapes, the Halliday family business. Trouble in paradise? Call Laine Halliday, who travels the world smoothing out bumps encountered by high-end clients. But when Fantascapes is used as a front by the Russian mob, in action ranging from Florida to Peru to France, Laine steps into a whole new world of Serve and Protect.
[A Golden Beach/Fantascapes book]
Link to Orange Blossoms & Mayhem
FBI Special Agent Valentina Frost and a mysterious Russian arms dealer become strangely matched partners in a search for two nuclear bombs missing from the old Soviet arsenal. As they criss-cross the world in an attempt to prevent a terrorist attack more deadly than 9/11, they form a strong bond. But can it outlast the mission? Will they live that long? [Settings vary from New York, Connecticut, Colorado, New Jersey, & Florida, to Siberia and Iran.]
Link to Limbo Man
As always, thanks for stopping by. Please scroll on down for Updates to last week's Florida Tidbits, which include the latest statistics on the Python Challenge, an incredible video of one man doing acrobatics with three huge kites, and a scary tale about sharks.
Grace
A list of all Blair's available books
January 14, 2013
FLORIDA TIDBITS
A change from the promised topic, but the January 7, 2013, issue of The Orlando Sentinel provided me with enough material for a complete blog in one thin edition. Florida is truly unique, a long, skinny peninsula which seems to be trying to detach itself from the rest of the country. And frequently acts that way.
* * *
Many people come to Florida as retirees. I came here thirty years ago while my children were still in school. So I've had plenty of time to learn that Florida can be a very strange place. Overbuilt coastlines with hundreds of miles of wilderness in between. Beaches, theme parks, car racing, horse racing, more golf courses than anyone can count. Cracker shacks, mansions, acres of cattle ranches. Orange groves, watermelons, tomatoes, strawberries, to name but a few of our crops. Enough guns to arm every last one of us right down to the babies . . .
But no more rants for a while. Here are excerpts from The Orlando Sentinal, January 7, 2013:
"Hunt will put a squeeze on Everglades pythons
Nearly 400* people have signed up to enter the Everglades and do battle with Burmese pythons, the giant constrictors that have emerged as the latest and weirdest threat to South Florida's wildlife. The 2013 Python Challenge, which begins Saturday, has attracted participants and media interest from across the United States for a month-long event that will feature prizes of $1000 for catching the longest snakes, and $1500 for catching the most.
Participants do not need hunting licenses unless they're younger than 18. The only required training can be done online. Given those slender requirements, some have questioned the wisdom of encouraging amateurs with firearms, particularly nonhunters, to take on pythons in the wild."
*On the day the hunt started, the actual number of hunters was close to 800!
The article continues with comments about the dangers to be found in the Everglades, including rattlesnakes and cottonmouths (not to mention other eager hunters), and shows a picture of a python that had been found and killed after it ate an entire deer and was too sluggish to move.
Tried to find color original - but b&w from newspaper will have to do.
For those unfamiliar with the rationale behind this hunt - over the years python owners, when they discovered their "pet" has grown to a dangerous size, abandoned them in the Everglades. The snakes thrived and multiplied to the point where they are endangering the ecological balance by eating every native species in sight. The Python Challenge is merely an attempt to modify a problem with no real solution in sight. Website for Python Challenge
Summarized from The Orlando Sentinel, Sunday, Jan.13, 2012:
On the day the hunt began, arms varied. One landscaper carried only a six-shooter and a 28-inch machete. But another man and his friend from Naples brought a .380-caliber pistol, a .40-caliber pistol, a 12-gauge pump shotgun, a .22-caliber rifle, a 20-inch machete, a hunting knife, fish grabbers, a fish spear, & bicycles "to cover as much ground" as possible.
On the first day of the hunt (Saturday) - not a single python. From TV video Sunday night, however, it looked liked the hunt was picking up. (Updates in later blogs.)
"Wintering vultures have appetite for cars, trucks
During the past few years, staff members at Everglades National Park have experimented with ways to scare off flocks of vandals that lurk in parking lots every winter, sporadically defacing cars, trucks and boat trailers. They've tried yelling at them, squirting them with water, even dangling dead ones upside down in trees.
But nothing has curbed the curious appetite that migrating vultures have developed for windshield wipers, sunroof seals and other rubber and vinyl vehicle parts. So this winter, the park . . . [is providing] at the most trouble-prone sites loaner "anti-vulture kits" consisting of blue plastic tarps and bungee cords."
The article goes on to say that no one understands why the vultures have taken to this pastime, for they are eating very little of what they rip off the vehicles.
But, of course, the above headlines are out of South Florida, probably produced with glee by local news writers here in Central Florida. As if to prove our superiority, the same edition of the paper also heralded:
"Orlando expects to remain No. 1 in travel destination
Orlando's primary tourism rival in the U.S. - New York City - said last week it attracted a record 52 million visitors in 2012, falling short of Orlando's expected tally for last year."
The article goes on to say that the Orlando visitor count is expected to be 56.4 million, although the official number won't come out until later in the year. The two cities have been "tourist" rivals for years, with Orlando coming out on top for several years now. Hm-mm, so I'm not exaggerating when I tell people, "Orlando is the resort capital of the world." At least I don't think we have any international rivals, as yet.
A few years ago, when a fellow author was coming to Orlando for a Romance Writers convention, she asked if taxis would be available at the airport at midnight. I told her, quite truthfully, that the only problem getting a taxi at OIA in the wee hours of the morning would be the length of the line.
Added: Jan. 15, 2013, 12:20 p.m.
Knowing I am a kite-lover, both my son and daughter sent me this YouTube video, which my son believes was shot on Treasure Island, near Tampa, right here in Florida. A lovely way to show that at times Florida can truly shine.
Astonishing Kite Acrobatics
~ * ~
That's all, folks. Just a few more tidbits from one of the strangest places on earth. No wonder people want to visit here. Anyone for joining the great Python hunt?
Thanks for stopping by. I expect we'll get to "Branding - bah, humbug" one of these days.
Grace
Click here for Grace's books as Blair Bancroft
Grace Note: This blog almost didn't make it. The all-powerful gods at AT&T decided to fiddle with my area's Broadband, leaving me with no Internet for a full 48 hours. When that blinking red light turned green this morning, I practically kissed my modem. I suppose there's no hope we get a rebate on our bills??
* * *
Many people come to Florida as retirees. I came here thirty years ago while my children were still in school. So I've had plenty of time to learn that Florida can be a very strange place. Overbuilt coastlines with hundreds of miles of wilderness in between. Beaches, theme parks, car racing, horse racing, more golf courses than anyone can count. Cracker shacks, mansions, acres of cattle ranches. Orange groves, watermelons, tomatoes, strawberries, to name but a few of our crops. Enough guns to arm every last one of us right down to the babies . . .
But no more rants for a while. Here are excerpts from The Orlando Sentinal, January 7, 2013:
"Hunt will put a squeeze on Everglades pythons
Nearly 400* people have signed up to enter the Everglades and do battle with Burmese pythons, the giant constrictors that have emerged as the latest and weirdest threat to South Florida's wildlife. The 2013 Python Challenge, which begins Saturday, has attracted participants and media interest from across the United States for a month-long event that will feature prizes of $1000 for catching the longest snakes, and $1500 for catching the most.
Participants do not need hunting licenses unless they're younger than 18. The only required training can be done online. Given those slender requirements, some have questioned the wisdom of encouraging amateurs with firearms, particularly nonhunters, to take on pythons in the wild."
*On the day the hunt started, the actual number of hunters was close to 800!
The article continues with comments about the dangers to be found in the Everglades, including rattlesnakes and cottonmouths (not to mention other eager hunters), and shows a picture of a python that had been found and killed after it ate an entire deer and was too sluggish to move.
Tried to find color original - but b&w from newspaper will have to do.For those unfamiliar with the rationale behind this hunt - over the years python owners, when they discovered their "pet" has grown to a dangerous size, abandoned them in the Everglades. The snakes thrived and multiplied to the point where they are endangering the ecological balance by eating every native species in sight. The Python Challenge is merely an attempt to modify a problem with no real solution in sight. Website for Python Challenge
Summarized from The Orlando Sentinel, Sunday, Jan.13, 2012:
On the day the hunt began, arms varied. One landscaper carried only a six-shooter and a 28-inch machete. But another man and his friend from Naples brought a .380-caliber pistol, a .40-caliber pistol, a 12-gauge pump shotgun, a .22-caliber rifle, a 20-inch machete, a hunting knife, fish grabbers, a fish spear, & bicycles "to cover as much ground" as possible.
On the first day of the hunt (Saturday) - not a single python. From TV video Sunday night, however, it looked liked the hunt was picking up. (Updates in later blogs.)
"Wintering vultures have appetite for cars, trucks
During the past few years, staff members at Everglades National Park have experimented with ways to scare off flocks of vandals that lurk in parking lots every winter, sporadically defacing cars, trucks and boat trailers. They've tried yelling at them, squirting them with water, even dangling dead ones upside down in trees.
But nothing has curbed the curious appetite that migrating vultures have developed for windshield wipers, sunroof seals and other rubber and vinyl vehicle parts. So this winter, the park . . . [is providing] at the most trouble-prone sites loaner "anti-vulture kits" consisting of blue plastic tarps and bungee cords."
The article goes on to say that no one understands why the vultures have taken to this pastime, for they are eating very little of what they rip off the vehicles.
But, of course, the above headlines are out of South Florida, probably produced with glee by local news writers here in Central Florida. As if to prove our superiority, the same edition of the paper also heralded:
"Orlando expects to remain No. 1 in travel destination
Orlando's primary tourism rival in the U.S. - New York City - said last week it attracted a record 52 million visitors in 2012, falling short of Orlando's expected tally for last year."
The article goes on to say that the Orlando visitor count is expected to be 56.4 million, although the official number won't come out until later in the year. The two cities have been "tourist" rivals for years, with Orlando coming out on top for several years now. Hm-mm, so I'm not exaggerating when I tell people, "Orlando is the resort capital of the world." At least I don't think we have any international rivals, as yet.
A few years ago, when a fellow author was coming to Orlando for a Romance Writers convention, she asked if taxis would be available at the airport at midnight. I told her, quite truthfully, that the only problem getting a taxi at OIA in the wee hours of the morning would be the length of the line.
Added: Jan. 15, 2013, 12:20 p.m.
Knowing I am a kite-lover, both my son and daughter sent me this YouTube video, which my son believes was shot on Treasure Island, near Tampa, right here in Florida. A lovely way to show that at times Florida can truly shine.
Astonishing Kite Acrobatics
~ * ~
That's all, folks. Just a few more tidbits from one of the strangest places on earth. No wonder people want to visit here. Anyone for joining the great Python hunt?
Thanks for stopping by. I expect we'll get to "Branding - bah, humbug" one of these days.
Grace
Click here for Grace's books as Blair Bancroft
Grace Note: This blog almost didn't make it. The all-powerful gods at AT&T decided to fiddle with my area's Broadband, leaving me with no Internet for a full 48 hours. When that blinking red light turned green this morning, I practically kissed my modem. I suppose there's no hope we get a rebate on our bills??
January 7, 2013
IDIOCY UPSETS ME
Idiocy upsets me. Yes, it's with us every day - an Argentine tango done by the Three Kings in a holiday pageant at a local megachurch comes to mind - but this year far greater rampant idiocy haunted the holiday season. I imagine you've already guessed I'm talking about the so-called Fiscal Cliff and talk of armed guards in every school. Something, by the way, that is happening in every elementary school right here in Orange County, Florida, this very morning, Monday, January 7, 2013. IF the Sheriff can find enough deputies.
Not that I blame the Orange County Commissioners for ordering police into the schools - my three beautiful grandchildren are in elementary school here. But, dear God, what have we come to? Will our schools soon resemble the ones in Northern Ireland - surrounded by three stories of chainlink, topped with barbed wire? I remember how appalled I was when I saw those schools and realized that human beings had fallen so low they could harm children in the name of religion.
Yet look what's happened since. And not just in the name of religion. With no excuse except insanity. And, really, who can guard against that? Do we forget civil rights, rounding up potential shooters, shutting them away? With perhaps one in a thousand likely to go beserk, and nine hundred and ninety-nine deprived of a relatively normal life?
But armed guards? Armed TEACHERS?
Have we truly become a war zone? 'Cuz that's what it sounds like. We can't blame the Middle East. We can't blame Al-Quaeda. We can't blame the Russians (except possibly for the invention of the AK-47). We've done this to ourselves. With serious assistance from the NRA, whose members seem to live in a bubble completely unrelated to reality. (Compare the number of unarmed Europe's shooting dead to our own.)
The truth is, we're a nation born in violence, and there are those among us who still believe carrying a gun is synonymous with freedom. The more guns the merrier. And, I admit, with so many guns already out there, stricter regulation is not going to keep either a criminal or a kook from getting his/her hands on one. But assault weapons? Assault weapons are for just one thing. Killing people and killing them as rapidly as possible. There is no excuse for an assault weapon in the hands of anyone but the military or the police.
As for the "Fiscal Cliff" . . .
We elect men and women to Congress, expecting them to act for us. If our candidate didn't win, we pray the majority was right, and the people we sent to Washington are honest, intelligent, forthright, tuned to the people back home. Not to giant corporations, not to lobbyists, not swayed by their percs and privileges. Not so dazzled by power they forget about the people who put them where they are. Not become rabid dogs more willing to tear each other apart than find common ground.
Oh, sorry, I forgot. They do recall their special cronies back home, the ones who get those "earmarked" projects, the pork barrel rolling in for a privileged few, not only stuck into every bill presented to Congress, but even inserted in that last-minute "do or die" Fiscal Cliff bill.
And although I understand John Boehner's reluctance to vote on spending $9.7 billion for Hurricane Sandy relief on the same night he's twisting Republican arms to increase taxes on the wealthy, the House should have dealt with Sandy relief much sooner. Was it politics that decreed the Sandy vote was a good way to kick off the new Congress, making everyone, including the newbies, feel they were starting off the year right? Too bad our Congressmen and women weren't forced to spend a week or so in houses bereft of electricity, water, sewer, shored up with plywood and tarps, and smelling of mold. Or crowded in with relatives or camping out in a single hotel/motel room, all waiting for the insurance to come through - the insurance Congress voted on Friday a mere "lick and a promise" of what is actually needed.
I give the Senate credit, however. It passed the Fiscal Cliff bill almost unanimously. But the House? They had to take it to the wire, just so they could say to the people who seem to want to see the government come tumbling down, "Look, look, we fought the good fight." And then there were the die-hards who never gave in, compromise simply not part of their vocabulary, most of them from the South, I'm ashamed to say. I wanted to scream: "Hey, guys & gals in the House - did you notice who won the election? The People have spoken and it's time to give a little." [Oddly enough, the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday, January 6, had a front-page headline which read: State GOP vows to soften its image. And goes ahead to quote Adam Putnam, the agricultural commissioner, saying, "It's not just that we lost, but that nobody saw it coming." Ah, if the national GOP would only acknowledge the truth of that remark.]
What is the point of allegedly having a Democracy if its citizens - local, state, or national - refuse to compromise? This leads to nothing but "stand-off" and "no progress" - something Americans have become all too familiar with these last few years. It's time for all of us to tell our elected officials, "We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it any more. Get off your duffs and accomplish something."
Question: How can so many intelligent people arrive in Washington, starry-eyed and eager to change the status quo, yet find themselves reduced to idiocy by the intransigence of the Powers That Be? By their political parties? By the major corporations who are sure the government is intended only for them? By lobbyists who never met a Senator or Congressman they couldn't dazzle with money and special treatment? By . . .? You name it, they're all there in Washington, looking out for Number One, while the rest of us shrug and say, "That's politics." "I voted, what else can I do?"
There's enough shame to go around, but right now I place it squarely in Washington, where the outgoing Congress has brought government to a standstill. Any hope for those shiny new faces sworn in on January 3? Prayers, anyone? One ray of hope—I saw an interview with the new female members of Congress, who suggested women had learned the art of compromise long ago, and were more inclined to talk things over than butt heads like a couple of billygoats, neither budging an inch.
Keep your fingers crossed. I am. We have only one way to go from here. (At least I hope we've just experienced rock bottom. Anyone want to bet?)
~ * ~
Next blog: "Branding - bah, humbug!" [A topic which may change - who knows what will happen between now and then?]
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace
Grace's books as Blair Bancroft
Not that I blame the Orange County Commissioners for ordering police into the schools - my three beautiful grandchildren are in elementary school here. But, dear God, what have we come to? Will our schools soon resemble the ones in Northern Ireland - surrounded by three stories of chainlink, topped with barbed wire? I remember how appalled I was when I saw those schools and realized that human beings had fallen so low they could harm children in the name of religion.
Yet look what's happened since. And not just in the name of religion. With no excuse except insanity. And, really, who can guard against that? Do we forget civil rights, rounding up potential shooters, shutting them away? With perhaps one in a thousand likely to go beserk, and nine hundred and ninety-nine deprived of a relatively normal life?
But armed guards? Armed TEACHERS?
Have we truly become a war zone? 'Cuz that's what it sounds like. We can't blame the Middle East. We can't blame Al-Quaeda. We can't blame the Russians (except possibly for the invention of the AK-47). We've done this to ourselves. With serious assistance from the NRA, whose members seem to live in a bubble completely unrelated to reality. (Compare the number of unarmed Europe's shooting dead to our own.)
The truth is, we're a nation born in violence, and there are those among us who still believe carrying a gun is synonymous with freedom. The more guns the merrier. And, I admit, with so many guns already out there, stricter regulation is not going to keep either a criminal or a kook from getting his/her hands on one. But assault weapons? Assault weapons are for just one thing. Killing people and killing them as rapidly as possible. There is no excuse for an assault weapon in the hands of anyone but the military or the police.
As for the "Fiscal Cliff" . . .
We elect men and women to Congress, expecting them to act for us. If our candidate didn't win, we pray the majority was right, and the people we sent to Washington are honest, intelligent, forthright, tuned to the people back home. Not to giant corporations, not to lobbyists, not swayed by their percs and privileges. Not so dazzled by power they forget about the people who put them where they are. Not become rabid dogs more willing to tear each other apart than find common ground.
Oh, sorry, I forgot. They do recall their special cronies back home, the ones who get those "earmarked" projects, the pork barrel rolling in for a privileged few, not only stuck into every bill presented to Congress, but even inserted in that last-minute "do or die" Fiscal Cliff bill.
And although I understand John Boehner's reluctance to vote on spending $9.7 billion for Hurricane Sandy relief on the same night he's twisting Republican arms to increase taxes on the wealthy, the House should have dealt with Sandy relief much sooner. Was it politics that decreed the Sandy vote was a good way to kick off the new Congress, making everyone, including the newbies, feel they were starting off the year right? Too bad our Congressmen and women weren't forced to spend a week or so in houses bereft of electricity, water, sewer, shored up with plywood and tarps, and smelling of mold. Or crowded in with relatives or camping out in a single hotel/motel room, all waiting for the insurance to come through - the insurance Congress voted on Friday a mere "lick and a promise" of what is actually needed.
I give the Senate credit, however. It passed the Fiscal Cliff bill almost unanimously. But the House? They had to take it to the wire, just so they could say to the people who seem to want to see the government come tumbling down, "Look, look, we fought the good fight." And then there were the die-hards who never gave in, compromise simply not part of their vocabulary, most of them from the South, I'm ashamed to say. I wanted to scream: "Hey, guys & gals in the House - did you notice who won the election? The People have spoken and it's time to give a little." [Oddly enough, the Orlando Sentinel on Sunday, January 6, had a front-page headline which read: State GOP vows to soften its image. And goes ahead to quote Adam Putnam, the agricultural commissioner, saying, "It's not just that we lost, but that nobody saw it coming." Ah, if the national GOP would only acknowledge the truth of that remark.]
What is the point of allegedly having a Democracy if its citizens - local, state, or national - refuse to compromise? This leads to nothing but "stand-off" and "no progress" - something Americans have become all too familiar with these last few years. It's time for all of us to tell our elected officials, "We're mad as hell, and we're not going to take it any more. Get off your duffs and accomplish something."
Question: How can so many intelligent people arrive in Washington, starry-eyed and eager to change the status quo, yet find themselves reduced to idiocy by the intransigence of the Powers That Be? By their political parties? By the major corporations who are sure the government is intended only for them? By lobbyists who never met a Senator or Congressman they couldn't dazzle with money and special treatment? By . . .? You name it, they're all there in Washington, looking out for Number One, while the rest of us shrug and say, "That's politics." "I voted, what else can I do?"
There's enough shame to go around, but right now I place it squarely in Washington, where the outgoing Congress has brought government to a standstill. Any hope for those shiny new faces sworn in on January 3? Prayers, anyone? One ray of hope—I saw an interview with the new female members of Congress, who suggested women had learned the art of compromise long ago, and were more inclined to talk things over than butt heads like a couple of billygoats, neither budging an inch.
Keep your fingers crossed. I am. We have only one way to go from here. (At least I hope we've just experienced rock bottom. Anyone want to bet?)
~ * ~
Next blog: "Branding - bah, humbug!" [A topic which may change - who knows what will happen between now and then?]
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace
Grace's books as Blair Bancroft
December 31, 2012
BLOG UPDATES
To close out 2012 and maybe tweak your thoughts for 2013, I'm posting an updated index to my blog posts on Writing and adding a new author to my list of "What Grace Reads." But first . . .
The "grandgirls" - Hailey, Cassidy, Riley, Christmas 2012
Look, Mom, it's snowing!
Road Trip - Gatlinburg, Tennessee, December 26, 2012 - a LONG drive to see snow!
UPDATED INDEX
to Grace's Writing & Editing Blogs
2011:
The Writing 101 series
1. Formatting a Manuscript - May 9, 2011
2. Nuts & Bolts, Part 1(grammar, punctuation) - May 16, 2011
3. Tab conversion (from manual to auto) - June 5, 2011
4. Nuts & Bolts, Part 2 - June 16, 2011
5. I Ran Spell Check, I'm Done, Right? (self-editing) - July 5, 2011
6. The Final Steps (self-editing) - July 14, 2011
2012:
EDIT THE BLASTED BOOK series
1. Intro to Self-editing - April 1, 2012
2. Should you hire help? - April 28, 2012
3. Manuscript Format for the 21st Century - May 6, 2012
4. Writing No-No's - May 28, 2012
5. Point of View - June 18, 2012
6. Anatomy of an Edit, Part 1 - August 5, 2012
7. Anatomy of an Edit, Part 2 - August 19, 2012
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR CHARACTERS series
Part 1 - What you need to discover about your characters - October 15, 2012
Part 2 - More questions about your characters - October 29, 2012
Part 3 - The Rest of the story - November 5, 2012
Miscellaneous:
1. Guideposts for Critiquing - January 28, 2011
2. Writing Mistakes, Near Misses & Just Plain Strange - March 4, 2011
3. Shortcuts for Writers (ASCII codes) - March 18, 2011
4. Rules for Romance - September 18, 2011
5. More Rules for Romance - October 16, 2011
6. How Not to Write a Book - December 20, 2012
UPDATE TO "WHAT GRACE READS" Original post - September 9, 2012
Aaron Pogue. Evidently, Mr. Pogue thought he was writing Young Adult - hence the third book in his Dragonprince trilogy, The Dragonprince's Heir, with a fourteen-year-old hero of the next generation. However, from the notes at the end of the e-version of this book, I believe he's finally realized he reached a much wider audience and plans to fill in the "gap" years between Books 2 & 3. The triology is highly sensitive, imaginative, and heart-wrenching, delving into nearly everything from warcraft and magic to insanity and politics.
Grace's Archives.
The Archive menu to the right of the screen should allow you to find the articles you want. I'd very much appreciate hearing which topics you found most helpful. Questions and suggestions for future posts are also welcome.
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace (who writes as Blair Bancroft)
For Blair's website, click here.
The "grandgirls" - Hailey, Cassidy, Riley, Christmas 2012
Look, Mom, it's snowing!
Road Trip - Gatlinburg, Tennessee, December 26, 2012 - a LONG drive to see snow!UPDATED INDEX
to Grace's Writing & Editing Blogs
2011:
The Writing 101 series
1. Formatting a Manuscript - May 9, 2011
2. Nuts & Bolts, Part 1(grammar, punctuation) - May 16, 2011
3. Tab conversion (from manual to auto) - June 5, 2011
4. Nuts & Bolts, Part 2 - June 16, 2011
5. I Ran Spell Check, I'm Done, Right? (self-editing) - July 5, 2011
6. The Final Steps (self-editing) - July 14, 2011
2012:
EDIT THE BLASTED BOOK series
1. Intro to Self-editing - April 1, 2012
2. Should you hire help? - April 28, 2012
3. Manuscript Format for the 21st Century - May 6, 2012
4. Writing No-No's - May 28, 2012
5. Point of View - June 18, 2012
6. Anatomy of an Edit, Part 1 - August 5, 2012
7. Anatomy of an Edit, Part 2 - August 19, 2012
HOW TO DEVELOP YOUR CHARACTERS series
Part 1 - What you need to discover about your characters - October 15, 2012
Part 2 - More questions about your characters - October 29, 2012
Part 3 - The Rest of the story - November 5, 2012
Miscellaneous:
1. Guideposts for Critiquing - January 28, 2011
2. Writing Mistakes, Near Misses & Just Plain Strange - March 4, 2011
3. Shortcuts for Writers (ASCII codes) - March 18, 2011
4. Rules for Romance - September 18, 2011
5. More Rules for Romance - October 16, 2011
6. How Not to Write a Book - December 20, 2012
UPDATE TO "WHAT GRACE READS" Original post - September 9, 2012
Aaron Pogue. Evidently, Mr. Pogue thought he was writing Young Adult - hence the third book in his Dragonprince trilogy, The Dragonprince's Heir, with a fourteen-year-old hero of the next generation. However, from the notes at the end of the e-version of this book, I believe he's finally realized he reached a much wider audience and plans to fill in the "gap" years between Books 2 & 3. The triology is highly sensitive, imaginative, and heart-wrenching, delving into nearly everything from warcraft and magic to insanity and politics.
Grace's Archives.
The Archive menu to the right of the screen should allow you to find the articles you want. I'd very much appreciate hearing which topics you found most helpful. Questions and suggestions for future posts are also welcome.
Thanks for stopping by.
Grace (who writes as Blair Bancroft)
For Blair's website, click here.
December 17, 2012
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
For a Holiday Greeting this year I'm presenting a photo essay on a "Europe by Train" journey I did a few years ago. Glimpses of London, Paris, Zermatt, San Moritiz, and Venice. The photos are all scanned from non-digital photos taken with my now deceased Nikon.
Where else to begin but the London Eye?
Parliament & Big Ben from the London Eye
London classic - the Changing of the Guard
Traitor's Gate at the Tower of London - taken from a boat
Outside Covent Garden Market on a quiet Sunday morning
My personal London favorite - the Regency canal
Regency Mansion above the Regency Canal Just picture living in the heart of London and having your very own narrowboat anchored just across the street. The Regency Canal has access to most of Britain's vast network of canals. The mansion above is one of many along the Regency Park portion of the canal (not far from the London zoo).Next stop: through the Chunnel to Paris. Sorry, nothing from the Chunnel trip - it doesn't exactly photograph well.
Paris from the second level of the Eiffel Tower
Notre Dame from a boat on the Seine
Notre Dame at sunsetAnd back on the train for our next stop: Zermatt, Switzerland, a town where the only cars allowed are taxis that transport tourists up the mountain from the train station. If you ever go to Switzerland, make Zermatt a "must."
The Matterhorn as seen from my hotel balcony
Cable car from Zermatt up the mountain
Village above Zermatt - taken from cable car
Skiing in MayBelieve me, it was really cold on top of that mountain! None of us had jackets for that kind of weather.
And then it was off to San Moritz via the Glacier Express - great trip except for the wait staff who ignored single females, taking orders only from MEN!
View, mile after mile, from the Glacier Express. In MAY
The chariots that took us up another picturesque mountain outside San MoritzInterestingly, most of the shops in San Moritz were closed, due to "Off Season." Even the restaurant on top of the mountain the horses climbed. (Our tour guide ordered a special picnic basket for us.) I'm told we were lucky - the carriage ride is frequently cancelled due to bad weather.
I had hoped to take the train all the way to fabled Venice, but we were off-loaded onto a bus for the last 50-100 miles.
Bridge of SighsAlthough this was taken from a pedestrian bridge, we later traveled by gondola directly under it and through some of the narrow "back door" canals.
St. Marks Cathedral We went to a blown-glass shop in St. Mark's Square, admired the Doge's palace, and I indulged in what I believe was a c. $40 hot fudge sundae! (If I figured the translation to dollars correctly.) But who could visit and not sit at one of those outdoor tables and not eat something?
Workboat removing garbage from our hotel early in the morningI really like to know how things work and was pleased to have the opportunity to take photos of the supply & trash boats servicing our hotel.
Now back to Zermatt and a couple of professional photos to end our mini tour of Europe.
A meadow near Zermatt
We all had our pictures taken with Bella, the Zermatt photographer's dog~ * ~
Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Best Wishes to peopleof every religion and country for a happy, healthy, hopeful 2013.
Thanks for stopping by. Mosaic Moments is going to take a Christmas break. "See you" in 2013.
Grace
www.blairbancroft.com
December 10, 2012
HOW NOT TO WRITE A BOOK
No, this is not about setting a daily writing schedule, writing X-many words each day, or doing your research. Nor will I tell you to:
play background music, don’t play background music;
do your edits onscreen, do your edits on hardcopy;
write the whole book before you edit, edit after every chapter;
write linear, write random scenes then tie it all together;
spelling & punctuation count, don’t worry the small stuff - that’s what
copy editors are for.
This post is the tale of how a highly experienced author and editor got caught in the meat-grinder of inserting a vague long-time idea, called “Jack’s Book” into an already finished novel with an entirely different hero. With nearly catastrophic results. I’m reeling, and I’m only on the revision of Chapter 7. My advice: don’t try it!
Background: My first book destined for publication was The Sometime Bride, which sparked the idea for Tarleton’s Wife, which won RWA’s Golden Heart contest. Tarleton's Wife ended up being published first (1999), at the request of a newly founded e-book company, Starlight Writer Publications. Even my elderly mother, the author of c. 50 children’s books, had recognized the potential of e-pub and handed me an article about it when it was in its infancy. So I was receptive to the offer from Starlight and became an early advocate of e-books. I went on to write a mass market paperback love story for Kensington, followed by a number of Regency paperbacks for Signet. But when Kensington closed Precious Gems and Signet closed their Regency line (and refused to look at Historical Romances by their “trad” authors), I found myself pounding my head against the wall, although I still kept writing. And then came indie publishing. Yay, hurray! Fortunately, I scrambled around and got my rights back before NY publishers decided to be difficult about it!
So, finally, earlier this year, I uploaded O’Rourke’s Heiress, the third book in my Regency Historical series, containing characters from both The Sometime Bride and Tarleton’s Wife. But for fifteen or twenty years I’d had a folder marked “Jack’s book.” Poor Jack who never got the girl. Nor the book he so richly deserved. I toyed with a number of ideas for him, but none seemed quite right. Until - hallelujah! - I recalled a book I’d written shortly after moving to Orlando, which remained in the cyber drawer because no one should ever write a book while moving or within six months after moving. Particularly after leaving a house in which you’ve spent twenty-five years and which contains not only all the possessions of someone who writes, sews, knits, crochets, and reads excessively, but also all the accumulations of an equally pack-rat elder son and a deceased spouse, plus all the “extras” of three grown children (including a huge carton of all my daughter’s stuffed animals, which she had absolutely refused to give up).
But somehow I suddenly realized that not-so-great tale, written under extreme stress, contained a heroine worthy of Jack. Why hadn’t I realized it at the time? (See above paragraph.) So when I finished Lady of the Lock, I turned to Shadows Rising. (Yes, I agree, the title wasn’t so hot either.) Before cracking a page, I put some thought into the necessary major changes: I had to delete the heroine’s brother, a half-Abenaki who was so dynamic he refused to stay in Quebec and crossed the Atlantic to become a much too important character. And I had to switch the classic hero, a cavalry colonel and younger son of an earl, to a man who worked for a living. (Oh horrors!) To Jack, a man who was nearly hanged in Tarleton’s Wife and became a confidant of the young heroine in O’Rourke’s Heiress. To Jack who has loved two women and lost them both to best friends. (He did have one similarity to the original hero—Jack is the son of an earl, but on the wrong side of the blanket)
I also had to eliminate a number of the “shadows” from Shadows Rising. (And I’d spent a lot of time developing physical descriptions and individual personalities for each one of them. Sigh.) But good romance demands an emphasis on the Hero and Heroine. Too many charming young cavalrymen can be almost as distracting as a striking Big Brother. Out! All but two had to go.
To make matters even worse, I decided the beginning of the new book should overlap the ending of O'Rourke's Heiress, making it necessary to write new scenes with coordinated timelines.
And then . . . near the end of Chapter 7, I ran into a sub-plot that was a bit doubtful the first time around and blatantly wrong for Jack. Oops! So I had to sit down and make a list of crimes heinous enough to force the villain, a high-ranking nobleman, to go into exile. Hm-m, I just may choose four out of five things on the list. Nothing like overkill to get rid of the Bad Guy. Only all these new threads have to be woven into fabric which already exists. Double, maybe triple, Oops.
Oh joy, I still have c. twenty chapters to go . . .
Advice: Do not attempt this method of writing a book!
Alas, I liked Alain, the brother. He was a great character. Too great. He overshadowed my original hero. He might even have overshadowed Jack, although that’s debatable. But what do you have left after you’ve eliminated all that clever dialogue between the heroine and her now deleted brother? Pages and pages of narrative, that’s what. Ugh! And then there’s the matter of eliminating every reference to “Alain,” “her brother,” even “they” and “them,” which now had to be “she” and “her.”
As for Jack the bastard. . . he, as leader of a private army known as Harding’s Hellions, has to take over the hero position from a man who was a legitimate “gentleman,” a heroic cavalry colonel who fought against Napoleon. Again, poor Jack. But since he no longer lacks for money, the switch ought to work, I thought. Except I had to eliminate every “colonel,” switch every reference to his “officers” to men who served with Jack's brother Avery (a character in both Tarleton’s Wife and O’Rourke’s Heiress). And I had to make sure every word of "salvaged" dialogue was something that would come out of Jack's mouth, not the colonel's.
Chapter 7 was such a mix of usable bits and pieces, interspersed with long passages that had to be deleted, that I went through the hardcopy armed with yellow and pink highlighters and a red pen, as well as scribbling side notes in pencil. Will it make sense when I’m finished with it? I can only hope so. Astonishingly, when I read through Chapters 1-5 a few days ago, the story actually seemed flow with some normalcy. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Repeat: I strongly advise against ever trying this method of writing a book!
Then again, it really sharpens the wits.
Tentative title for the finished result: Rogue's Destiny - if poor Jack doesn't implode somewhere during the transition from gentleman colonel to bastard rogue.
~ * ~
Thanks for stopping by. Next blog will likely be "Holiday Greetings."
Grace
play background music, don’t play background music;
do your edits onscreen, do your edits on hardcopy;
write the whole book before you edit, edit after every chapter;
write linear, write random scenes then tie it all together;
spelling & punctuation count, don’t worry the small stuff - that’s what
copy editors are for.
This post is the tale of how a highly experienced author and editor got caught in the meat-grinder of inserting a vague long-time idea, called “Jack’s Book” into an already finished novel with an entirely different hero. With nearly catastrophic results. I’m reeling, and I’m only on the revision of Chapter 7. My advice: don’t try it!
Background: My first book destined for publication was The Sometime Bride, which sparked the idea for Tarleton’s Wife, which won RWA’s Golden Heart contest. Tarleton's Wife ended up being published first (1999), at the request of a newly founded e-book company, Starlight Writer Publications. Even my elderly mother, the author of c. 50 children’s books, had recognized the potential of e-pub and handed me an article about it when it was in its infancy. So I was receptive to the offer from Starlight and became an early advocate of e-books. I went on to write a mass market paperback love story for Kensington, followed by a number of Regency paperbacks for Signet. But when Kensington closed Precious Gems and Signet closed their Regency line (and refused to look at Historical Romances by their “trad” authors), I found myself pounding my head against the wall, although I still kept writing. And then came indie publishing. Yay, hurray! Fortunately, I scrambled around and got my rights back before NY publishers decided to be difficult about it!
So, finally, earlier this year, I uploaded O’Rourke’s Heiress, the third book in my Regency Historical series, containing characters from both The Sometime Bride and Tarleton’s Wife. But for fifteen or twenty years I’d had a folder marked “Jack’s book.” Poor Jack who never got the girl. Nor the book he so richly deserved. I toyed with a number of ideas for him, but none seemed quite right. Until - hallelujah! - I recalled a book I’d written shortly after moving to Orlando, which remained in the cyber drawer because no one should ever write a book while moving or within six months after moving. Particularly after leaving a house in which you’ve spent twenty-five years and which contains not only all the possessions of someone who writes, sews, knits, crochets, and reads excessively, but also all the accumulations of an equally pack-rat elder son and a deceased spouse, plus all the “extras” of three grown children (including a huge carton of all my daughter’s stuffed animals, which she had absolutely refused to give up).
But somehow I suddenly realized that not-so-great tale, written under extreme stress, contained a heroine worthy of Jack. Why hadn’t I realized it at the time? (See above paragraph.) So when I finished Lady of the Lock, I turned to Shadows Rising. (Yes, I agree, the title wasn’t so hot either.) Before cracking a page, I put some thought into the necessary major changes: I had to delete the heroine’s brother, a half-Abenaki who was so dynamic he refused to stay in Quebec and crossed the Atlantic to become a much too important character. And I had to switch the classic hero, a cavalry colonel and younger son of an earl, to a man who worked for a living. (Oh horrors!) To Jack, a man who was nearly hanged in Tarleton’s Wife and became a confidant of the young heroine in O’Rourke’s Heiress. To Jack who has loved two women and lost them both to best friends. (He did have one similarity to the original hero—Jack is the son of an earl, but on the wrong side of the blanket)
I also had to eliminate a number of the “shadows” from Shadows Rising. (And I’d spent a lot of time developing physical descriptions and individual personalities for each one of them. Sigh.) But good romance demands an emphasis on the Hero and Heroine. Too many charming young cavalrymen can be almost as distracting as a striking Big Brother. Out! All but two had to go.
To make matters even worse, I decided the beginning of the new book should overlap the ending of O'Rourke's Heiress, making it necessary to write new scenes with coordinated timelines.
And then . . . near the end of Chapter 7, I ran into a sub-plot that was a bit doubtful the first time around and blatantly wrong for Jack. Oops! So I had to sit down and make a list of crimes heinous enough to force the villain, a high-ranking nobleman, to go into exile. Hm-m, I just may choose four out of five things on the list. Nothing like overkill to get rid of the Bad Guy. Only all these new threads have to be woven into fabric which already exists. Double, maybe triple, Oops.
Oh joy, I still have c. twenty chapters to go . . .
Advice: Do not attempt this method of writing a book!
Alas, I liked Alain, the brother. He was a great character. Too great. He overshadowed my original hero. He might even have overshadowed Jack, although that’s debatable. But what do you have left after you’ve eliminated all that clever dialogue between the heroine and her now deleted brother? Pages and pages of narrative, that’s what. Ugh! And then there’s the matter of eliminating every reference to “Alain,” “her brother,” even “they” and “them,” which now had to be “she” and “her.”
As for Jack the bastard. . . he, as leader of a private army known as Harding’s Hellions, has to take over the hero position from a man who was a legitimate “gentleman,” a heroic cavalry colonel who fought against Napoleon. Again, poor Jack. But since he no longer lacks for money, the switch ought to work, I thought. Except I had to eliminate every “colonel,” switch every reference to his “officers” to men who served with Jack's brother Avery (a character in both Tarleton’s Wife and O’Rourke’s Heiress). And I had to make sure every word of "salvaged" dialogue was something that would come out of Jack's mouth, not the colonel's.
Chapter 7 was such a mix of usable bits and pieces, interspersed with long passages that had to be deleted, that I went through the hardcopy armed with yellow and pink highlighters and a red pen, as well as scribbling side notes in pencil. Will it make sense when I’m finished with it? I can only hope so. Astonishingly, when I read through Chapters 1-5 a few days ago, the story actually seemed flow with some normalcy. So I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Repeat: I strongly advise against ever trying this method of writing a book!
Then again, it really sharpens the wits.
Tentative title for the finished result: Rogue's Destiny - if poor Jack doesn't implode somewhere during the transition from gentleman colonel to bastard rogue.
~ * ~
Thanks for stopping by. Next blog will likely be "Holiday Greetings."
Grace
December 3, 2012
BEST FOOT FORWARD
I have made some major changes to the services offered by Best Foot Forward. In addition to "General Edits," which should be enough for most authors, I am offering "Author Development"—comprehensive analysis, revision suggestions, plus copy edits*—aimed at new authors. I have also added an Intro Page to the BFF brochure, which, hopefully, will be self-explanatory (see below).
*For an explanation of the difference between edits and copy edits, please see my blog Archives: EDIT THE BLASTED BOOK, April 1, 2012.
INTRODUCTION to BEST FOOT FORWARD
In the world of New York publishing, editing and copy edits are done by two entirely different people of very different skill levels and at different times in the manuscript’s life. But in the world of independent publishing or authors who want to polish manuscripts before submitting them to agents or publishers, a different kind of editing is necessary - primarily for financial reasons. Authors need someone who can edit, copy edit, and suggest major revisions all in one reading.
Is it easy to find someone who can combine the creativity of an editor with the meticulous grammar, spelling, and fact-checking (librarian skills) of a copy editor? No, it isn’t, but there’s no doubt this combination of skills is very much needed in today’s publishing world.
I founded Best Foot Forward for exactly that reason. I am a multi-published author, and I also have those “nitty gritty” skills demanded of a copy editor. Am I perfect? Absolutely not - I don’t know anyone who is, but I am an outstanding editor and I make a genuine effort to be consistent with all those stray capitals, commas, dashes, and ellipses. And I absolutely will not let you use a full sentence as a dialogue tag!
In the months I’ve been editing as Best Foot Forward, I have discovered I cannot offer copy edits separate from editing. The editor in me simply won’t allow it. I end up making all sorts of editing notes anyway and working for less than minimum wage. After all, what’s the point in returning to you a manuscript with all the punctuation in the right place if your story just isn’t working? I simply will not return a story to you unless I’ve covered all the bases needed to make it better.
Therefore, Best Foot Forward now offers only two kinds of service:
Author Development - for unpublished authors who want to make a serious effort to improve their skills. These services include extensive Track Changes comments, copy edits, and a separate comprehensive critique. The editing suggestions are more detailed than in “General Editing.” The critique covers: Opening Paragraphs; Characterization - Hero, Heroine & Secondary; Conflict; Narration; Dialogue; Setting; Plot; Style - including Show vs. Tell, Less is More, Personalize/Identify, Point of View; Presentation - format, grammar, spelling & punctuation; Overall Impression
General Editing (with copy edits) - suitable for more experienced authors who know their books need “another pair of eyes.” This service includes Track Changes comments and a separate Mini Critique.
~ * ~
To request a BFF brochure (pdf), click here.
Thanks for stopping by. Next blog - finally - "How Not to Write a Book"
Grace
Click here for the Blair Bancroft website
*For an explanation of the difference between edits and copy edits, please see my blog Archives: EDIT THE BLASTED BOOK, April 1, 2012.
INTRODUCTION to BEST FOOT FORWARD
In the world of New York publishing, editing and copy edits are done by two entirely different people of very different skill levels and at different times in the manuscript’s life. But in the world of independent publishing or authors who want to polish manuscripts before submitting them to agents or publishers, a different kind of editing is necessary - primarily for financial reasons. Authors need someone who can edit, copy edit, and suggest major revisions all in one reading.
Is it easy to find someone who can combine the creativity of an editor with the meticulous grammar, spelling, and fact-checking (librarian skills) of a copy editor? No, it isn’t, but there’s no doubt this combination of skills is very much needed in today’s publishing world.
I founded Best Foot Forward for exactly that reason. I am a multi-published author, and I also have those “nitty gritty” skills demanded of a copy editor. Am I perfect? Absolutely not - I don’t know anyone who is, but I am an outstanding editor and I make a genuine effort to be consistent with all those stray capitals, commas, dashes, and ellipses. And I absolutely will not let you use a full sentence as a dialogue tag!
In the months I’ve been editing as Best Foot Forward, I have discovered I cannot offer copy edits separate from editing. The editor in me simply won’t allow it. I end up making all sorts of editing notes anyway and working for less than minimum wage. After all, what’s the point in returning to you a manuscript with all the punctuation in the right place if your story just isn’t working? I simply will not return a story to you unless I’ve covered all the bases needed to make it better.
Therefore, Best Foot Forward now offers only two kinds of service:
Author Development - for unpublished authors who want to make a serious effort to improve their skills. These services include extensive Track Changes comments, copy edits, and a separate comprehensive critique. The editing suggestions are more detailed than in “General Editing.” The critique covers: Opening Paragraphs; Characterization - Hero, Heroine & Secondary; Conflict; Narration; Dialogue; Setting; Plot; Style - including Show vs. Tell, Less is More, Personalize/Identify, Point of View; Presentation - format, grammar, spelling & punctuation; Overall Impression
General Editing (with copy edits) - suitable for more experienced authors who know their books need “another pair of eyes.” This service includes Track Changes comments and a separate Mini Critique.
~ * ~
To request a BFF brochure (pdf), click here.
Thanks for stopping by. Next blog - finally - "How Not to Write a Book"
Grace
Click here for the Blair Bancroft website
