Nancy J. Cohen's Blog: Nancy's Notes from Florida, page 119

Tips for Writers

Welcome to our guest blogger, Geraldine Evans! Geraldine is a multi-published author who writes the popular Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series. She also writes the Casey & Catt mystery series and has published various historical and romance novels, plus nonfiction articles. See Geraldine's earlier blog below on Metaphors.          

Geraldine is a Londoner but now lives in Norfolk, England where she moved, with her husband George, in 2000. Deadly Reunion is her eighteenth novel and number fourteen in her humorous Rafferty & Llewellyn series. She is currently working on her next mystery in this series.

Ten Tips for Writers

By Geraldine Evans, author of the Rafferty & Llewellyn and the Casey & Catt crime series.

1. Don't write what you believe to be the most popular trend – unless it's one you're passionate about. Chasing trends – fading or otherwise – is usually a mistake. As a writer, you should be doing your own thing, writing about things you feel strongly about: whether that subject be the destructiveness of war or that love conquers all. Write about your own obsessions. And strive for originality whilst you're at it.

2. Don't think that it's an editor's job to correct your spelling, your grammar or your facts. Yes, they will do this, but they'll regard you as lazy and not willing to go that extra mile if you leave these for the editor to correct. Bestsellers can get away with being sloppy, but for the rest of us, it's a big no, no. Because, when the bad days come – and they're never very far away in the publishing industry! – they'll be less willing to push for your retention.

3. As a sub-clause to 2, don't treat your editor or the other staff as your personal servants. Always be polite and appreciative of anything they do for you, especially when it's above the call of duty. Mention them in your acknowledgements or dedication.

4. While you're still struggling to get an acceptance, abide by the rules. Always check a publisher's personal preferences when it comes to submissions (reference books – Writers' Market (US) and Writers' Handbook or Writers' and Artists' Yearbook (UK): if they say they only want three chapters and a synopsis, do not send them the entire typescript, for instance. Make sure you get the editor's name right by ringing up before you type your submission letter and asking if the name you have is correct. It's irritating when someone hasn't troubled to get your name right, so why start off on the wrong foot with Ms Ed?

5. It's a good, if expensive, idea, to have your work professionally criticized/edited before you submit (Writers' Market (US) Writers' Handbook or Writer's and Artists' Yearbook (UK). That way you'd be greatly improving your chances. Astonishingly, even nowadays with the world awash with computers, people are still slapdash in their presentation. And they still submit after the first draft. Don't follow their example.

6. If you have an agent and she really 'does the business' for you, it's a gesture much appreciated if you acknowledge this, not only in your published work, but also by sending a timely gift. I remember my literary agent was astonished when I sent her a large and expensive bouquet of flowers. I've been one of her favorite clients ever since (or so she tells me).

7. Do your best to network in the publishing industry with other professionals. There's so much to learn, so make your learning curve as sweeping as possible. Attend some of the industries' festivals and conferences. Subscribe to writers' magazines so you keep abreast of what's happening and who's looking for what, etc. Don't be a shrinking violet or your just blossoming writing career might be over before it's properly begun. Once you're published, you'll need to market like crazy. You'll want your own website and blog. You'll want a newsletter, you'll want to set up blog tours. You'll need to send postcards out to bookstores and libraries and create (or pay someone else to create them for you) other marketing materials like bookmarks and flyers to give away at the talks and signings you've also done your best to organize. You'll want to sign up with various online writers' networks like Yahoo Group MurderMustAdvertise, for instance, which are full of helpful hints and tips for the newbie and the not-so-newbie.

8. Don't get stuck in a rut with your writing. Okay, you might be a mid-lister, but that's no reason not to carry on trying to be something more in your ever-shrinking spare time. Having a shot at the occasional one-off in the same or even a different genre is one way of keeping on striving. Another is to venture into publishing new or backlist novels as ebooks. It's free to put books up on Kindle and Amazon's DTP platform (now called KDP (K for Kindle), makes it reasonably simple even if you're not techie-minded (or so they tell me. But I'm a technological thickie!) and used the services of Kimberly Hitchens (hitch@Q.com) to get my books ready for epublishing. She even found me a reasonably-priced artist to design my jackets.

9. Sign up for other writers' blogs. It's truly amazing what you can learn from more experienced, like-minded people. Link with them on your website and offer to host their guest blogs. We're all in this together and we need to help one another.

10. Finally, enjoy what you do. Don't always be yearning for bestsellerdom. I've read many bestsellers that I didn't enjoy at all and I've read novels by writers I'd never heard of, which I enjoyed hugely. Remind yourself periodically that that's what it's about. Satisfying the reader, giving them enjoyment, is what it's all for. And let's face it, bestselling writers have, as far as any of us know, satisfied only one reader – the editor who took them on – the rest, as any of you who have read disappointing, hyped books will know, is often smoke and mirrors. But if you make it to the top, help those below you. The publishing world is so fickle that next year it might be you at the bottom of the pile. Make sure, in your rise to the top, that you don't step on people, particularly those with long memories and a mafia-like desire for revenge.

Geraldine's Blog Tour: http://bit.ly/e1jseQ **Prize Drawing from all blog commenters!

Geraldine's website: http://www.geraldineevans.com

Geraldine's blog: http://www.geraldineevanscom.blogspot.com

Deadly Reunion

Detective Inspector Joe Rafferty is barely back from his honeymoon before he has two unpleasant surprises. Not only has he another murder investigation – a poisoning at a school reunion, he also has four new lodgers, courtesy of his Ma, Kitty Rafferty. Ma is organising her own reunion and since getting on the internet, the list of Rafferty and Kelly family attendees has grown, like Topsy. In his murder investigation, Rafferty has to go back in time to learn of all the likely motives of the victim's fellow reunees. But it is only when he is reconciled to his unwanted lodgers, that Rafferty finds the answers to his most important questions.

To Purchase Deadly Reunion:

Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/4qjgay4

Amazon.co.uk: http://tinyurl.com/4jm3tob

Peg Herring on Metaphors

PEG HERRING ON METAPHORS

First, a thank you to Nancy for hosting a day of Peg's Blog Crawl. Yesterday's post was at http://thestilettogang.blogspot.com

Metaphors and Other Figurative Language

A metaphor is a beautiful thing.

Well, it can be.            

It also can be inappropriate or stretched to the point of breaking into really ugly pieces. In the quest for beautiful language, authors sometime twist their own words too far. Even Shakespeare has been taken to task for mixing metaphors, as he does in Hamlet's soliloquy, "To take arms against a sea of troubles…" Fighting water? Pretty tough.

Think song lyrics. There are some beautiful metaphors and similes there, Bruce Springsteen's line "like a freight train runnin' through the middle of my head" ("I'm on Fire")evokes a strong image, and Cheryl Crow's "Every Day Is a Winging Road" sustains the metaphor throughout.

On the other hand, some songs' attempt at figures of speech are downright hilarious. Dave Barry's Book of Bad Songs cites some good examples, like George Michael's "guilty feet have got no rhythm" or Neil Diamond's "And no one heard at all, not even the chair". A line in "All Shook Up" demonstrates that some metaphors should be taken only to a surface level. "Her lips are like a volcano that's hot" is okay if one doesn't think too deeply about spewing volcanoes. Lines in love songs sometimes sound all right if the affection is returned but otherwise sound stalker-ish: "Never gonna let you go" repeats and repeats in love songs. Worse yet, the Beatles' line, "I'd rather see you dead Little Girl/Than see you with another man." Hyperbole, maybe, but harsh!

Like songwriters, novel writers should match their figurative language to their genre and the situation. It won't do for a protagonist to notice the "globe of light that shimmers above" as the serial killer chases her through the alleys. Personality enters into it, especially in first-person narratives. It's hard to think of Kinsey Millhone waxing enthusiastic about a countryside vista, or Jack Reacher comparing a woman's eyes to precious jewels. The authors who created these characters have a firm grasp of figurative language, to be sure. They know when it works and when it doesn't. And that's the key to excellent writing…to use a tired but useful metaphor.

The Poser: Name three books/series with modern-day "out west" law officers as protagonists.

The Prizes-Weekly prizes (your choice of THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY in e- or print format) drawn from the names of those who comment on the blogs as we go. Comment once/day, but the first commenter each day gets entered twice in Saturday's drawing!

The Pathway: The next entry, "Names Into Words" and the answers/comments to the Poser will be up on tomorrow at http://travelswithkaye.blogspot.com

The Pitch: THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY, First in The  Dead Detective Mysteries, paranormal mystery. Tori Van Camp wakes in a stateroom on a cruise ship with no memory of booking a cruise, but she does have a vivid recollection of being shot in the chest. Determined to find out what happened and why, Tori enlists the help of an odd detective named Seamus. Together they embark on an investigation like nothing she's ever experienced. Death is all around her, and unless they act quickly, two people she cares about are prime candidates for murder. Read more about this book and the author at http://pegherring.com or buy the book at http://www.ll-publications.com/deaddetectiveagency.html

The Perpetrator: Peg Herring writes historical and contemporary mysteries. She loves everything about publishing, even editing (most days). Peg's historical series, The Simon and Elizabeth Mysteries, debuted in 2010 to wonderful reviews. The second in the series will be available in November from Five Star.

Crime Writer Geraldine Evans

Geraldine Evans is a multi-published author who writes the popular Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series. She also writes the Casey & Catt mystery series and has published historical and romance novels, plus articles on a variety of nonfiction topics.         

Geraldine is a Londoner but now lives in Norfolk, England where she moved, with her husband George, in 2000. Deadly Reunion is her eighteenth novel and number fourteen in her humorous Rafferty & Llewellyn series. She is currently working on her next mystery in this series.

How I set about creating my first, Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series.

How on earth do you set about creating an original crime series? All I can tell you is how I went about it.

This bit will mean more to the Brits amongst you, though I know a lot of Americans also enjoy British cop and comedy shows. Anyway, having a love of both, I decided to meld the cop and the comedy. I suppose you could describe my Rafferty & Llewellyn crime series as Inspector Frost meets Del Boy Trotter and Family. So if you're looking for the intellectual, Sherlock Holmes, type of crime novel – steer well clear.

The Rafferty family's leisure pursuits are far from Sherlock Holmes's, far from Adam Dalgliesh and his poetry writing or Morse and his Wagner. They're into back-of-a-lorry bargains and other diversions of questionable legality. And Rafferty's Ma, Kitty Rafferty, often leads the field in such pursuits, using emotional blackmail to make Rafferty feel guilty when he upbraids her. Having far more than her fair share of Blarney Stone baloney, she always wins these little arguments.

I think you can see where I'm going with this. I used a cop who, although male, wasn't a million miles away from me and a family who, although not my family (!) were certainly reminiscent of some of the families on the south London Council estate where I grew up. Ma Rafferty has a bit of my own mother in her as well as a casserole of all the other Dublin ladies I used to know when I was a kid when we used to spend the summer holidays in Ireland with my maternal grandmother.

Alongside the main story runs a humorous sub-plot, in which Rafferty is ensnared in the first of the series' many family-induced problems. Deadly Reunion, my fourteenth Rafferty novel (UK 24 February, US 1 June 2011), like the previous thirteen, has Rafferty embroiled in more family trouble than a Victorian lady of the night sans the morning after pill.    

To return to similarities, I thought if Rafferty shared class and education with me, he might as well have other elements of similarity. Why not? Other writers do. Would a non-classical music lover have created Colin Dexter's Morse? Would someone who knows little and cares less about poetry have created the poetry-writing Adam Dalgliesh of P D James? Well, possibly, I suppose. But it's far more sensible to make use of elements from your own life. I wanted a lead character I could empathise with, one who was as near me as I could get. Believe me, it helps!

My background is Irish-Catholic working-class. So is Rafferty's. I was educated (sic), in a bog-standard Catholic school. So was Rafferty. All these similarity help to give the writer a 'feel' for a character and their lives, something I regarded as essential when I hoped to carry him through a series of novels. There are a lot of working-class police officers out there, just like Rafferty, who have risen up the ranks, perhaps leaving behind them the less savoury habits of youth and family. But just because our police character has found it necessary to change doesn't mean that his family would be so obliging as to do likewise. He would have parents, siblings, nephews, nieces and so on, all with their own ideas of what constitutes right and wrong, and all beyond the lead character's influence or control. Imagine such a family. They'd be only too likely to embarrass your lead character. He could even have his career put at risk by them.

Okay, we've got our lead character, but what about his past? Maybe elements of your own past would help flesh him out? When it came to my character, I decided that if Rafferty was going to be working-class like me, he might as well have other elements of 'me'. It not only makes life easier, it also helps me relate to him and to the past which has helped to shape him. Rafferty lost his father when he was around twelve. In a way I had 'lost' my father, too, although he hadn't died, but was a rather distant figure.

So – his past. In order to have a 'past' he's got to have memories. And the best memories, from the point of view of believability, are one's own memories. For instance, in Down Among the Dead Men, the second novel in the Rafferty series, I had Rafferty reveal – just as I remember doing – that as a schoolchild, he and his classmates would attend Friday afternoon Benediction at the local Catholic Church and sing Latin hymns without –as they had never been taught any Latin – having a clue what they were singing about. Not much, perhaps, in the broad sweep of a novel, but I believe that it's little touches like that which help to bring a character to life.

Once I had Rafferty down on paper, I gave a lot of thought to his side-kick. Now opposites always provide conflict. A genuine conflict, stemming from character, background and upbringing.

So Sergeant Dafyd Llewellyn was born. The intellectual, university-educated, only child of a Welsh Methodist minister, who thought the law should apply to everyone – even the mothers of Detective Inspectors. Llewellyn is a side-kick pre-ordained from birth to look with a jaundiced eye on Rafferty's outlook on life, his theories and conduct of cases, and his less than law-abiding family. The words Duty and Responsibility feature strongly in Llewellyn's life, though his character is leavened with a sense of humour so dry that Rafferty isn't sure it exists at all. Given what I said earlier about finding characters as much like oneself as possible, I thank God every day that I spend all my time in Rafferty's head!

Once I had the basics of Rafferty, his family and his sidekick sorted out, I had to place Rafferty in his environment. And after all I've said about his background, I felt there was only one place I could use as a setting for such a character. Essex. Non-Brits won't understand the resonance. But perhaps you will after reading a couple of 'Essex' jokes. Like these.

Q What's the difference between Essex and Mars?

A There might be intelligent life on Mars.

Q What is an Essex Girl's idea of a really classy meal?

A A wooden chip fork with her takeaway. (Any Americans out there

will know chips as French fries, or just fries).

Get the picture? People from Essex are regarded as always able to put their hands on 'dodgy' (ie stolen) gear. They're also regarded as not being too bright.

Anyway, after describing Rafferty's background and his family and their little hobbies, I felt that Essex was the only place I could use as a setting for such a character. But unlike the stereotyped depictions of the working-classes in 'Essex' jokes and many of the older British crime novels, as chip-eating, adenoidal and terminally stupid, I wanted to show that there is intelligent life, not only in Essex, but among the working-classes themselves. Okay, Rafferty's not exactly deeply intellectual or highbrow, but intelligence, like most things, comes in different guises. His background has given him a street-wisdom of a kind that's often far more valuable in police work than the more academic intelligence.

There was another reason why I chose to locate my Rafferty and Llewellyn novels in Essex. And that was that Essex has lots of interesting historical connections. Many of the towns and villages in Essex are associated with the early settlers in America. And, because of its port links, the entire area has always been close to the religious dissent stemming from Europe. A bit of a dissenter himself, having been force-fed Catholicism from the cradle, it's no wonder he feels so at home in an area with such strong dissenting traditions.

So, one decision about a character helps you make other decisions, not only about the lead character himself, but also about the other characters who will populate your series and about where in the world they're going to play out their roles.

Anyway, all this furious thinking produce Dead Before Morning, a crime novel which features a prostitute bludgeoned beyond recognition, a suave, social-climbing doctor and an idle hospital porter who had a few 'nice little earners' of his own. In this first novel, Rafferty has just been promoted to the rank of inspector in the CID. His beat is Elmhurst, a fictitious town based on Colchester, the old Roman town where that original 'Essex Girl', Queen Boadicea, used to hang out and harry the centurions.

Whatever the critics made of it, I must have done something right, because on only its second outing, that first Rafferty & Llewellyn crime novel was taken from Macmillan's slush pile and published. It was also published in hardback and paperback in the US.

So far, I've had seventeen novels published, fifteen of them crime, two of which form the first two novels in my Casey & Catt crime series, with the eighteenth, Deadly Reunion, another Rafferty book, coming out this year.

I wrote the kind of book I wanted to read, but rarely found, the kind of mystery where, along with a murder investigation, the writer makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me wait, even. But most of all, makes me care about the characters. Admittedly, that's just my preference. You might prefer your crime novels to concentrate firmly on stimulating the brain rather than the funny bone. But I didn't see any reason not to try to do both.

This approach provided the bonus that I had far more fun with Rafferty than I imagine the more high-minded writers have with their characters. And writing's meant to be fun. Isn't it? It's meant to be enjoyable. If it isn't, why do it? After loads of dead-end jobs in my youth I was determined that I would end up doing something I liked.

There's no reason why, just like me, you shouldn't 'Do your own thing' and attract a publisher who goes, 'Mmm, this is different.'

So, go and have fun. And give me another crime series that provides the occasional chuckle. If you do, you're guaranteed one fan.

Geraldine's Blog Tour: http://bit.ly/e1jseQ  **Prize Drawing from all blog commenters!

Geraldine's website: http://www.geraldineevans.com

Geraldine's blog: http://www.geraldineevanscom.blogspot.com

Deadly Reunion

Detective Inspector Joe Rafferty is barely back from his honeymoon before he has two unpleasant surprises. Not only has he another murder investigation – a poisoning at a school reunion, he also has four new lodgers, courtesy of his Ma, Kitty Rafferty. Ma is organising her own reunion and since getting on the internet, the list of Rafferty and Kelly family attendees has grown, like Topsy. In his murder investigation, Rafferty has to go back in time to learn of all the likely motives of the victim's fellow reunees. But it is only when he is reconciled to his unwanted lodgers, that Rafferty finds the answers to his most important questions.

To Purchase Deadly Reunion:

Amazon.com: http://tinyurl.com/4qjgay4

Amazon.co.uk: http://tinyurl.com/4jm3tob

Silver Serenade Review/Two Lips

Silver Serenade by Nancy J. Cohen

 
 
 

Written by Merrylee, Two Lips Reviews   

Tuesday, 25 January 2011

http://bit.ly/hZtUBq

Title: Silver Serenade
Author: Nancy J. Cohen
Publisher: The Wild Rose Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Futuristic, Action-Adventure, Paranormal, Cowpunk
Publication date: July 16, 2010
ISBN: 1-60154-782-X (print)
Pages: 390
Series: N/A
Reviewer: Merrylee

Heat Level:

M/F – sensual sex, emphatic voyeurism, outdoor sex, some violence

 
 

Rating:

Silver Malloy was no longer the frightened 12-year-old hidden away while terrorist Tyrone Bluth and his Mauraders murdered her parents and everyone else in their agronomy settlement. But it wasn't until Bluth dealt her a second blow thirteen years later, destroying her research into a new fuel that would benefit Earth, that she'd set out to kill the dastardly felon herself. Training as an assassin for Earth Centrum's Security Integrated Network (S.I.N.), her first mission – to put a bullet into Bluth's black heart – has run into a formidable obstacle, one Jace Vernon, former Kurashki parsator, combat pilot…and convicted murderer.

In reality, Jace has been set up. He hasn't murdered anyone, least of all his parents. The commission of that act – along with the kidnapping of his sister Shanna, whom he suspects has been sold into slavery – rests squarely on the shoulders of Tyrone Bluth and whoever his allies are in his own government. Jace needs Bluth alive to clear his name so he can reclaim his inheritance, including his rightful place as a member of the Parsate, Kurash's ruling body, and find his sister. He can't allow Silver to follow through with her assignment before Bluth can clear his name. Moreover, his enemy's enemy must become his ally if either one of them are to see justice done, but to accomplish his goals, Jace must break through Silver's formidable defenses to energize her closed down emotions. What he doesn't expect are his own emotions coming into play.

When Silver's purpose falters under Jace's seductive persuasion, will she be able to carry out her mission as assigned? Or will her newly aroused emotions lead her in a different direction, one that could mean selling out her family and everything she's worked for, not to mention one that could very well get them both killed?

Nancy J. Cohen began publishing mass market sci-fi romance as Nancy Cane back in the early 90′s, but of late, she's diverted her sizable talents to "paranormal romance novels and mysteries with a touch of humor." Now, with Silver Serenade, she's returned in a big way to her sci-fi beginnings, and the genre of sci-fi romance is much better for it.

Silver Serenade is an exciting, action-packed space adventure with more attention-grabbing twists and turns than a West Virginia highway. I loved it! Ms. Cohen's detailed world-building is colorful and imaginative, with just a smidgeon of cowpunk action as originated in the TV show Firefly. She also adds a helping of paranormal intrigue with a sidetrip to the enchanting, yet almost frighteningly unnatural, Selia Dar. Even her underlying political intrigue, which normally bores me to death, was fascinating.

Although she has her hidden vulnerabilities, Silver can hold her own with anybody, including Jace. She's smart, courageous and capable. She also proves to be adaptable and sympathetic. Although somewhat of a politician, Jace has enough of the swashbuckler in him to entice any damsel with working hormones. And that includes Silver. Once they get together, the action really takes off, both in and out of bed. Their relationship is complex, emotional, and heart-warming. And then there are some truly memorable supporting characters, particularly Elusion empaths Mixy and Kira. I really enjoyed their competitive bantering over how to best serve their atrani bondmates.

The only issues keeping me from giving Silver Serenade a Recommended Read are a couple abrupt jumps in time between scenes in the last several chapters. As this is a fairly long book, it gave me the impression that Ms. Cohen was trying to cut down on its length, but frankly, it took a bit away from my enjoyment of the book. Otherwise, I wholeheartedly recommend Silver Serenade. Plus, I'm happy to see that some building blocks for several sequels have been written into the book. I think Ms. Cohen probably has additional books planned for Silver's cousins – Dash, Remy, and Evelina. And I have to have a story for Cur, a "tall, rangy" Dorian warrior with speckled skin. His tears at Selia Dar tugged at my heartstrings, not to mention my curiosity.

Alas, whomever Ms. Cohen writes about next and wherever she wants to take me, it's safe to say that I will go happily and enjoy every minute of it.

Researching the Futuristic Romance

Check out my guest blog over at Tina Whittle's site, http://tinawhittle.blogspot.com/ on Researching Your Futuristic Romance. Add a comment and leave your tips!

Author Events

Join multi-published author Nancy J. Cohen for a discussion and signing of her latest books.

February 5, Saturday, 1:00pm – 3:00pm, Discussion & Signing with Florida Romance Writers, NW Regional Branch Library, 3151 North University Drive, Coral Springs, FL 33065. 954-341-3900. Win prizes and enjoy refreshments with nine published authors.

February 12, Saturday, 1:00pm – 3:00pm, Panel and Signing with Florida Romance Writers, Glades Road Branch Library, 20701 95th Avenue South, Boca Raton, FL, 561-482-4554. Win prizes and enjoy refreshments with eighteen published romance authors. http://bit.ly/gLHghr

February 26, Saturday, 10:00am – 2:00pm, "Blending Mystery and Romance", SpacecoasT Authors of Romance, The Pizza Gallery in the Avenues of Viera, 2250 Town Center Avenue, Melbourne, FL 32940. http://www.authorsofromance.com/

March 5, Saturday, 2:30pm – 3:20pm, "Keeping It Real", SleuthFest, Hilton Deerfield Beach, 100 Fairway Drive, Deerfield Beach, Florida 33441 http://www.mwaflorida.org/sleuthfest.htm

March 12, Saturday, 11:00am, Friends of Helen B. Hoffman Library Book & Author Luncheon, Jacaranda Country Club, 9200 West Broward Blvd, Plantation, FL 33324. Mystery Authors Nancy J. Cohen and Deborah Sharp will discuss and sign their books. Cost is $35 for luncheon and talk. For Reservations and more info, contact Judi Holland at judi.holland@yahoo.com or 954-370-5178. http://www.plantation.org/Library/index.html

March 16, Wednesday, 6:30 pm – 8:00pm, "Writing the Whodunit", Bienes Museum Conference Room, Main Library, 100 S. Andrews Ave, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33301, 954-357-7444. Free and open to the public. Sponsored by The Writers' Network of South Florida.  RSVP to Tina Koenig, writersnetworksofla@gmail.com

April 9-10, Naples Press Club 9th Annual Writers' Conference, FGCU Renaissance Academy,

1010 5th Ave S # 100, Naples, FL 34102. Register now: http://authorsandbooksfestival.org/

April 9, Saturday, 11:30 am – 1:50 pm, Celebrity Luncheon with Nancy J. Cohen   

April 10, Sunday, 9:30 am – 10:20 am, "Writing Fiction for Fun and Profit"       http://authorsandbooksfestival.org/

Tina Whittle on Short Stories

TINA WHITTLE is a mystery writer living and working in Southeast Georgia. The Dangerous Edge of Things, her first novel, debuts February 2011 from Poisoned Pen Press. Set in contemporary Atlanta, The Dangerous Edge of Things is the first book in a series featuring gun-shop owner Tai Randolph and corporate security agent Trey Seaver.                         

Tina's short fiction has appeared in The Savannah Literary Journal, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and Gulf Stream, which selected her story "Lost Causes and Other Reasons to Live" as the 2004 winner of their Mystery Fiction contest. She's also a columnist and feature writer for The 11th Hour, a local alternative newspaper, and a professional tarot reader. When not writing or reading, Tina enjoys golf, sushi, mini-pilgrimages, and spending time with her family (one husband, one daughter, one neurotic Maltese and three chickens).

My daughter once told me an old schoolyard joke — what's the best way to eat an elephant? The answer, of course, is one bite at a time. It's pretty good joke, at least by elementary school standards, and it's pretty good advice for a novelist.

But when I decided to start taking myself seriously as a writer, I had a hard time taking that first bite. I knew that I wanted to write a novel, but I couldn't figure out a way to tackle the huge task looming in front of me, like an elephant.                             

Luckily, I had the sense to sign up for a crime fiction writing class that focused on the short story form. One of our first assignments was to create a first-person protagonist for a hand-boiled short story. I conjured up a Southern spitfire female detective and wrote her into a noir-themed short story entitled "Lost Causes and Other Reasons to Live." It went on to win Gulf Stream magazine's 2004 Mystery Short Fiction contest. And the character I created in that classroom exercise went on to become Tai Randolph, the protagonist of The Dangerous Edge of Things, which debuted last week (!!!) .

Short stories are an excellent way to hone your craft, and as a marketing tool, they get your name in front of the mystery reading public. While there are several excellent paying markets for short stories — Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine and Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine being two of the top ones — savvy authors are making their short fiction available for free on their websites and as electronic giveaways. It's an excellent strategy — this way readers can get a taste for your work, and if they like what they read, explore other works you have to offer.

Short stories are usually less than 10,000 words, with flash fiction and micro fiction — sometimes called short shorts — somewhere between 300 and 1,000 words. Because of their brevity, short stories keep you on your A-game — there's no room for sloppiness or literary indulgence. If you've only written longer works and want to try your hand at short fiction, don't fret ; a lot of what works in novel writing works in short story writing. Plot, character and setting intersect with each other just as crucially, providing the warp and woof and texture of your story, only they're on a smaller, tighter scale, with a more delicately calibrated balance.

Like all writing, short story writing improves most in the doing. However, there are a few key techniques that can get you off to a good start no matter your level of experience.

1. First, find the spine. I once interviewed novelist William Diehl, author of Sharky's Machine and Primal Fear, about the craft of writing. I asked him how he avoided losing himself in his story's myriad details and he replied, "You have to ask yourself what your story is really about. Once you have that fixed, everything must contribute. Everything must be attached. Everything must be connected. Nothing is so dear that you can't get rid of it." On the more limited canvas of a short story, your thematic "spine" becomes much more important since it's the crucial framework that supports all the other elements.

TIP: Elevator pitches work for stories too. Sum up your story's idea in one sentence. If you find that you can't, you probably need to explore what lies at the heart of the story, peeling back the layers until you find a tight, coherent central theme.

2. Three's a party; four (or more) is a crowd. Too many characters don't add to the suspense; they just confuse your reader and leave you with too many threads to tie up at the end. And even with only three characters, you don't want to clutter up the narrative landscape with a lot of backstory. Let your characters' actions and words show who they are NOW. Pieces of the past should be used like seasoning — lightly and expertly.

TIP: Use your theme as a test. If a bit of characterization doesn't relate to your theme, it's not helping support your story.

3. Make each detail do double — or even triple — duty. Not only will this add texture and density to your writing, it is an especially useful technique for the mystery writer since it's a great way of disguising clues. Like a close-up magician, a writer can dangle a bit of tantalizing misdirection for the reader, all the while slipping a real clue under the table.

TIP: Try tucking a clue into a piece of description or camouflaging it as a bit of characterization. Or put out a nice shiny red herring for your reader to notice, all the while ignoring the real clue right next to it.

Writing short stories is as challenging and rewarding as writing longer pieces. They're also a way to get your writing in front of the reading public. So the next time a great idea hits you, don't just file it away in the "Ideas for Future Novels" folder. See if it can be the spark for a short story. Your craft — and your career — will thank you.

Website: http://www.tinawhittle.com

Indiebound: http://www.indiebound.org/

The Dangerous Edge of Things — Amazon
http://tinyurl.com/4ffu2lp
The Dangerous Edge of Things — Poisoned Pen
http://tinyurl.com/6yln3bf

Silver Serenade Review

The Romance Reviews Top Pick 5 Stars

Silver Serenade: Review by Bridget

Get ready for an epic adventure, as vast as the universe in which it is set! With a touching, love story, a great blend of humor, action and passion and a great cast of characters, this is a book that won't let you go until the very last page

S.I.N. Agent Silver Malloy has devoted her life to avenging the death of her family by assassinating Tyrone Bluth, the powerful villain responsible. Her plans are foiled, however, by the sudden appearance of Jace Vernon, handsome Ace pilot, former soldier—and a man wanted for the murder of his parents and the unexplained disappearance of his sister. Ever conscious of her duty, Silver arrests Jace, determined to bring him to justice as soon as she succeeds in killing her enemy. However, Jace has been searching for Bluth, too, as he is the only man who can clear Jace's name. With an interstellar war brewing and the threat of galactic gangs around every turn, Silver and Jace realize that the only way they can find Bluth is to work together–even though succeeding will mean betraying the one person either has ever truly cared for.

I really liked the fact that Silver and Jace were a team. Both came into the story with a very detailed history and definite sets of strengths and weaknesses. Silver is an expert agent, with a lifetime of survival skills honed after the death of her family. However, in order to protect herself, she refuses to let herself admit how deeply she has learned to care for Jace.

Jace is fierce, strong and brave, but has a nasty temper and fears that he may be capable of the violence of which he is accused. However, Silver is the answer to all of his dreams and he finds himself willing to do almost anything in order to win her love. Despite lifetimes spent alone, both characters realize they have to trust each other in order to succeed in their quests. Though the physical attraction between them is immediate, watching this aspect of their relationship develop was really touching.

The universe through which they travel is fantastically detailed. From the enormous cast of characters to the complexities of interstellar politics and diplomacy, I was amazed by the amount of thought and creativity that went into the book. My favorite element was Mixy, Jace's servant who shares an empathetic connection to him after Jace saved his life. It is through Mixy (and his robes that change color based on Jace's emotions) that Silver is able to see through Jace's façade and eventually to form a connection with him, as well. While Mixy's presence in each character's mind takes some time to get used to, I found I really missed him by the end of the book.

This story read in many ways like a well-done serial, with our two intrepid travelers journeying from one exotic destination to the next in pursuit of their goals, encountering all kinds of different characters and adventures along the way. Because of this, it was a bit of a slower read than I was expecting, but it didn't detract from the enjoyment of it. In fact, I enjoyed the scope of the book. It was a treat to have a book I could savor for a while and forget the three feet of snow piling up outside!

Just a note–I have a terrible habit of sneaking peaks at the end of books, which I've been trying to quit. For that reason, it wasn't until nearly the end of the story that I realized there was a substantial glossary at the back of the book, which explained not only the slang used by the characters and various technical terms but also gave a short-hand guide to the meanings of the colors in Mixy's robes that symbolize emotions. It is extraordinarily helpful, and shows just how much imagination and effort went into the creation of this world.

To Purchase Silver Serenade: http://bit.ly/cKrjWj

Carnival Destiny

We had a balcony cabin on deck six, a good location midway between the dining establishments. Up three floors to deck nine and we were at the pool deck and buffet. A huge movie screen hangs over the pool and there always seems to be a din out here but maybe not quite as loud as the outdoor theater on Princess. You'll find a grill or two with burgers, hot dogs, and fried chicken plus French fries, a pizzeria (not thin crust but a variety of toppings is tempting), and a soft ice cream dispenser.

The buffet opens at 7:00 am most days, 6:30 for an early port call. If you get here earlier, sometimes you can get coffee from the urns or pastries. No coffee makers in the cabins. People eat breakfast late here; you can still see guests wolfing down eggs around 11. Then all the food places shut down until lunch at 12:00. Often we would be hungry by 11:30 and have nowhere to go, not even the grills. Ditto for dinner. Everything shuts down and reopens at 6:00pm. And there is no 24 hour café open anywhere. Downstairs is a coffee bar, but you have to pay and it just has desserts. I missed the more liberal hours and food availability on the other cruise lines. The food, however, was very good. We ate in the dining room each evening and enjoyed getting waited on. Portions were small but tasty, just as they should be.

Throughout the ship, the bars always seemed packed. The casino filled up quickly too. In contrast to Princess, where everyone with gray hair goes to bed by 10pm (including me), this place livens up in the later hours. It can be noisy. You can stroll around the atrium shops or duck in the library if you want some quiet, but it isn't a big ship.

The beds were very comfortable, and the shower is larger than on most cruise lines although the curtain comes up short. The shower was forceful enough and you get bar soap as well as liquid soap plus other toiletries. Storage space is adequate although the hangars are weird. Aisles in the hallways seem to be larger than on Princess or RCCL. You also get a couch and small table in the room with adds extra space. No refrigerator. This was a short cruise but there didn't seem to be a whole lot to do. Some activities that died down to nearly nothing on the day we were in Cozumel, and no show that night either. No classes, no wine tasting, no culinary demo. There's a paucity of things to do. I don't know if this applies to the short cruises or the entire cruise line but I found myself wishing for some special interest sessions that might offer something different. Princess even had a book club on our last cruise with them. If you're young and looking for fun, this is the cruise line for you. If you want more amenities, more things to do and places to go, and a quieter more elegant crowd, choose a different ship.

FRW Cruise Days 4-5

FRW 2011 CRUISE CONFERENCE

CARNIVAL DESTINY

Photos: http://bit.ly/eJHnmq

DAY 4: At Sea

Sunday, January 23, 2011

I missed the early morning talk on a history of contraception but I tuned in to Linda Conrad's workshop on Write an Emotion Packed Ending. Then I gave my own Mystery Writing 101 workshop where I taught How to Write a Whodunit. More workshops filled the afternoon until we sadly reached the finale, a keynote speech by NY Times bestseller Heather Graham. Heather mentioned the New Orleans writers conference that she sponsors every Labor Day weekend then she went on to share anecdotes about her career.

The Captain's cocktail party loosened us up and had us dancing in the aisles of the Criterion Lounge. Then we were off to get ready for dinner. Dinner: Grilled salmon, Baked Alaska for dessert.

DAY 5: Port of Miami

As we got stuck in traffic coming out of the port, we noticed a lot of police cars. We neared the big arena along the waterfront and saw a whole congregation of officers in dress uniform, some on horses, and men in dark suits. Funeral, I figured. I learned later that two young officers had been shot and killed in the line of duty. Very sad. We passed another motor cavalcade as we veered onto I-95. Traffic was tied up in both directions. And thus ended the cruise conference. Everyone had a fabulous time, met their goals, and got educated in a relaxed setting.