Category: Authors

Writer’s Wednesday: Award-winning Author C.C. Harrison Shares Secrets On Researching

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Today we welcome mystery author, C.C. Harrison. I first met C.C. a few years ago when we worked together on her novel, Running From Strangers, a 2009 National Reader’s Choice finalist. She is a kind woman and a wonderful friend. Please help me in welcoming her to The Editing Essentials as our guestblogger today!

C. C. Harrison lives in Anthem, Arizona.  When she’s not reading, writing, or working out at the gym, she can be found in the mountains of Colorado or in some far-flung corner of the Southwest.

All authors are advised to write what they know.  But how many of us know very much about anything outside of our ordinary lives?   How many of us know anything interesting enough to carry a book through 90-100,000 words?  Well, I’ve discovered the novelist’s secret—RESEARCH!  So I say change that advice to write what you can research.

The benefits of research are many.

–   Lends authenticity, realism and flavor to your story

–   Adds little known details that can enhance your story

–   May discover entirely new plot elements that deepen and solidify your story, or important details and facts that affect the trajectory of your entire book

How much you research depends on how much you already know about your topic, and how complex your plot is.  In most cases, your research will happen in stages during the development of your story.

Begin when your story idea hits.  Build your foundation with general information.  Gather contacts, professionals who can help you later with details.  At this stage, information will come to you in surprising ways.  Once you have the idea for your book, information and research sources will fall into your lap.  Your mind will automatically pick up information, you’ll notice newspaper and magazine articles, TV news items will jump out at you, you’ll meet just the person who has the information you need.

During the outline stage, you’ll have a good idea what you will need to research in more detail later on.  Make a list.  During the actual writing, you’ll want to seek answers to questions and fill in details as your scenes unfold.

IMPORTANT SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Internet – For a writer, this is the most valuable tool next to the computer itself.

Libraries – Local, big city, university.  Many are online and available at no charge.  Small town and regional libraries are excellent places to find locally written books, and newspaper clippings with information of local interest.

Used Book Stores – Out of print or small press books, and other treasures can be found here.

Museum Book Stores –  Also full of treasures.

Historical Societies – Especially in small towns.  Great source for books, photos, diaries, journals, logs, and valuable first person historical accounts.  Visit, call, or email through their website.

Footnotes and bibliographies – Check the list of sources at the back of the book you are using for research.

Network With Clubs and Professional Organizations –Join or attend conferences, seminars, meetings.  Excellent opportunities to gather information and meet experts in a particular field. Get on their email list.  I belong to several email groups – private investigators, law enforcement, self-defense, hand to hand combat and survival instructors to name just a few.

Telephone – Call professionals/experts and ask questions.  Most law enforcement departments and big companies have media relations or public affairs departments.  Just ask when you call, and have your questions ready.  Most will be flattered to be used as a source.  Always ask for an email address for follow up questions.  That way you will have your answer in writing and not make a mistake or misuse the information.

Law Enforcement – Check Amazon.com for law enforcement books.  Also, Paladin Press website.  You’ll find books on military and police science, i.e., firearms and weapons, self-defense, SEAL sniper training, KGB Training Manual, and so on.

Also, go on a Ride Along with local law enforcement; take a Citizen’s Police Academy course (I learned that one million dollars of used bills will fit into a pillowcase.) Develop law enforcement contacts such as sheriff’s deputies, detectives, etc.  They are usually quite happy to speak with novelists.

Time Line Books and Websites – Outlines sequence of historical events, often with photos.

Children’s Books – Check the children’s section in bookstores and libraries.  Some very good basic information on all kinds of topics.

Government Websites – FBI, CIA, Secret Service, Marshal Services, Witness Protection Program, National Security, Homeland Security website, and Department of Defense, etc.

Idiot’s Guides and For Dummies books – On just about every topic imaginable.

Honor the privacy of your sources.  If someone gives you his or her private email address or home phone, do not give it out to anyone else without their permission.  Give them credit.  Ask if you can thank and acknowledge them by name in your article or in the front matter of your book.  Above all, show gratitude.  Send a thank you note (email is okay), and if their contribution was major, send them a copy of the published piece.

IMPORTANT TOPICS TO RESEARCH

Geographic/Regional – Visitor and Convention Bureaus, travel sites, travel books (Fodor’s, for example) tourist guides and brochures, etc.

Occupations – Vocational Biographies, and other career reference books carried by most libraries and high school/college placement offices.  Mostly online now.

Clothing – Period fashions, uniforms (military, medical, job specific.)  Find in books and museums.

Food – Regional, traditional, Victorian, Medieval, etc.

Language/slang/occupational or scientific terminology – Make sure your character speaks using appropriate language.  Your cop should speak like a cop, your lawyer like a lawyer, your quilter should know specific language of people who make quilts.

Guns/Weapons/Explosives – Gun manufacturer websites, NRA, police and law enforcement blogs, police equipment websites, etc.  (I once had to know how much a police officer’s duty belt weighed.) Attend gun shows and ask questions.

Geology – Describe landforms, seascapes for sense of place.  Use the right words.  I have geology reference books.

Weather – Storms, describe skies, sunsets, sunrises.  I have weather and sky books.

Don’t get too attached to your research, or go off on tangents. It’s easy to do if you are a history or research fanatic.  And don’t get distracted.  Stay focused on information that pertains specifically to your novel.

You might be tempted to put all your research into your story, but don’t.  Only use the information for flavor unless you are writing a “historical” novel which will require you to be totally accurate.  Unless you are writing for historical correctness, don’t sacrifice your story for the research.  For most writers, story wins out over research every time.  Keep your research records especially if you are going to write other novels set in the same period or location.

Readers like books with a realistic sense of place, but how do you realistically set a book in a place, especially a well-known location, without actually going there?  Here are some tips:

Have Your Story Character Be New to the Area – Set it up so that your main character has recently moved to the city/town, so he or she won’t know much about it.

Read Books Set in the City – You can Google search for lists of books set in a certain locale.

Watch Movies Set in the City – Use Google/Bing searches for this, too.  Internet Movie Data Base (IMBD) is a good search site.

Contact Tourist and Convention Bureaus – Call or email with questions, ask them to send you brochures, pamphlets, travel kits, whatever they have.

Local Police and Fire Departments – Call or email the Public Affairs Officer or Department with specific questions.

Get Maps – MapQuest, AAA, or buy from a retail map store.

Look at the City’s Internet Site – This will give you information on places of interest, restaurants, theaters, schools and universities, and give you some idea what it’s like to live there.  Also, search for blogs about living in that city or locale.

Ask Friends or Family Members – Call anyone you know who lives there.

Online Webcams – Cities often have live webcams active on intersections, or other places of note in the city.

GOOGLE EARTH – You will be amazed how down to earth you can get in a city using Google Earth.

Good luck, and have fun!

 

Thank you, C.C., for joining us today. If you have questions or comments for her, she’ll be with us all day. We hope you enjoyed this post and will share it with other writer friends who will find it helpful. Thank you!🙂

Writer’s Wednesday Guestblogger Author, Nancy Gotter Gates

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Today our guest is author, Nancy Gotter Gates. I first met Nancy a few years ago when I edited her novel Sand Castles. I was touched by Nancy’s characters, and their real-life struggles. I was thrilled when we were able to work together on her next novel, Life Studies! Welcome, Nancy, to The Editing Essentials.

Nancy Gotter Gates is the author of seven mysteries and three women’s fiction novels. Sand Castles, Life Studies and The State of Grace are stand alone novels featuring women in their fifties and sixties. Her mysteries include the Emma Daniels series set in Sarasota Florida, the Tommi Poag series set in Greensboro North Carolina and her newest, The Glendon Hills Retirement Center series, set in “Guilford City” North Carolina. She has also published numerous articles, poems and thirty short stories. Nancy lives in High Point North Carolina with her cat Callie. Visit her website at: http://www.nancygottergates.com/

Many mystery writers look for unusual backgrounds and quirky occupations for their protagonists to set themselves apart from others in the crowded field of cozy mysteries. I understand completely. If you’re not writing police procedurals or thrillers filled with spies, government types, or special agents, it’s hard to make one’s protagonist stand out from the crowd. However, I take a different tack. I prefer to write about everyday women, working in an ordinary job or retired, who happen to stumble upon a dead body and feel compelled to track down the killer. I feel the reader can identify with her because they have everything in common. She is not an expert in ancient languages or a famous chef or a biker. She is the woman next door, or in your book club. All of my protagonists are women of baby boomer age, some retired, some not. All are middle-class average housewives or office workers who stumble onto crimes that shock and appall them and are driven to find the perpetrator. Even though they have little knowledge of police procedure or access to crime labs and specialists, they manage to find the guilty party through passion, hard work, and determination.

I frequently tend to draw from my own experiences in my stories. For example in my Emma Daniels mystery series, she and her husband Paul move to Sarasota when he takes early retirement. My husband had to take disability retirement at a young age and we purchased a winter home in Sarasota. However, Emma loses her husband to a heart attack within months and is left on her own. In the first book, A Stroke of Misfortune, a neighbor helps her deal with her grief and they become fast friends. When this woman is killed and her husband is accused of her murder, Emma, who never imagined herself in such a role, is resolved to exonerate him and find the real perpetrator.  I believe that readers will find Emma’s traits of loyalty, courage and determination admirable. And in subsequent books these same qualities come into play when she deals with scams on the elderly, and men who take advantage of lonely widows. I can only hope that if I found myself in similar situations I might find in myself the qualities I’ve given to Emma.

Tommi Poag lives in Greensboro, North Carolina which was my home for forty years. She also works in an insurance office as I did for a time. Tommi is a divorcee whose ex, a lawyer, dumped her for a younger woman in his office forcing her to go to work when she is too proud to accept alimony. My work experience was helpful when I decided to have an insurance policy play a large role in casting suspicion upon Tommi’s friend, Nina who is accused of killing her husband in When Push Comes to Death.

In my second Tommi Poag book, Death on Disaster Day, my role as the Public Relations Director of a Girl Scout Council led me to set the scene for the murder at a Scout camp where the girls are being judged on their first aid skills. Tommi has volunteered to be a “victim” and when her friend is shot to death at the perimeter of the camp, she is driven to find the killer. I was nervous about how the Girl Scouts would feel about having a murder on Scout camp grounds even though it was fictional so I had the local Executive Director read the manuscript before it was published. She loved it and even used the book as a fund raiser.

In the third Tommi Poag book I used our local reenactment of a Revolutionary War battle as the background. This annual event is a thrilling spectacle of uniformed soldiers advancing on each other with swords, muskets and cannons. I chose to have one of the sutlers, or merchants, who pitch tents on the periphery of the battlefield, be the victim.

Since I now live in a retirement center, I thought it would be fun to have my newest protagonist live in a fictional one set in “Guilford City” North Carolina. And so I began the Glendon Hills Retirement Center series featuring Viola Weatherspoon and her best friend Tyrone Landowski. Vi was an Executive Director of a Girl Scout Council in New England and Ty worked for the State Department. Neither has ever been married and their relationship is more like brother and sister, substituting for the siblings they never had.

The characters in my women’s fiction are also ordinary women dealing with the problems that beset their lives. In Sand Castles, Ginny has always been a stay-at-home wife and mother and when her husband decides to move to Florida upon his early retirement, she is loath to leave friends and family behind. But Leland has his way and after their move Ginny feels displaced and depressed. It takes a series of life-altering events for Ginny to find her way to happiness again. I feel that little attention is paid to the psychological and emotional effects of retirement and wanted to address them.

Life Studies features Liz Raynor who decides to pursue her lifelong interest in art when her husband dies at age fifty-five. Eventually she falls in love with her art teacher and together they encounter many roadblocks to their happiness which they overcome. I too lost my husband in his fifties and my art helped to heal me.

In The State of Grace, Grace Cousins, who works for a financial advisor, has never married. When her father dies, she moves in with her mother who suffers from dementia. She rents out her empty townhouse to a hydrologist, in town on a two-year contract, and eventually falls in love with him though many obstacles lie in the way.

I prefer to write about mature women with their rich histories who’ve dealt with all the ups and downs life has thrown at them. To me, they are the most interesting characters of all.

Thank you, Nancy, for joining us today, and sharing your experiences with us! Please feel free to make comments, or ask Nancy questions while she is here with us today. Thank you! 🙂

 

First Annual Dreams Short Story Anthology Contest

Written Dreams

We are so excited to announce, in celebration of our one year anniversary, Lara and I will be holding our first annual short story contest! Stories that are selected from the entries submitted will be published in the Written Dreams annual anthology to be released in February 2013.

Copyright © 2012 by Sabrena R. Koren

We’re looking for romantic fantasy short stories where at least one character fulfills a life-long dream within the context of the story. Examples of possible dreams could be: finally getting their dream job, buying their dream house, going on the vacation of their dreams, etc. Stories can be about humans, elves, pixies, vampires, and everything in between.

 

RULES:

Submit your 2,000-8,000 original short story in a word document attachment to us at contest@writtendreams.com by December 15, 2012.  We’d like to see a variety, so use your imagination and be creative!

Who can enter? Anyone. This is an Open Contest.

No reprint stories please. We’d like an all-original anthology.

One submission per person please. First time authors welcome.

Stories should be a PG-13 rating in sexual content, language, and violence.

Payment will be $0.06 a word with a pro-rata share of 50% of the royalties. Writers who have their story selected to be in the anthology will also receive one contributor copy. Non-exclusive rights.

If you have any questions regarding this contest, please email us at contest@writtendreams.com.  Thank you!

 

Writer’s Wednesday An Interview with Helen Osterman About Her Character, Emma Winberry

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I first met Helen a few years ago when I edited her novel,  The Stranger in the Opera House and we became fast friends. We’ve been working together ever since. To date, I’ve edited three of Emma’s stories, and Emma Winberry is one of my favorite characters. 🙂

Helen Macie Osterman

Helen Osterman lives in a suburb of Chicago. She has five children and nine grandchildren. She received a Bachelor of Nursing degree from Mercy Hospital-St. Xavier College. During her training, she spent three months at Chicago State Mental Hospital for her psychiatric rotation. Years later, she earned a Master’s Degree from Northern Illinois University. Throughout her forty-five year nursing career, she wrote articles for both nursing and medical journals. She is the author of the Emma Winberry Mystery series. The Accidental Sleuth, 2007 and The Stranger in the Opera House, 2009, The Elusive Relation, 2011, Emma Winberry and the Evil Eye, Sept. 2012. Helen is a member of The American Association of University Women, The Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime and The Authors Guild. Visit her website at: helenosterman.com

WD: What made you interested in writing?

HO: As a child I loved to read and make up imaginary characters in my head. I used to tell myself stories. I was an avid reader. My best friend was the library. One time, I got a group of neighborhood children together and we wrote a short play. We put it on in someone’s basement for our parents. I don’t remember the story line, but it was a huge success.

WD: Do you write every day?

HO: I try to write every day or two, depending on my schedule. I’m a morning person and the words flow better at 6 AM with a cup of coffee. I write my first draft long hand. I cannot create on a machine. The second draft goes into the computer using four fingers. I never learned to type. I print it out, let it sit for a few weeks, then revise and revise and…revise.

WD: What other books have you written?

HO: Besides the cozy mysteries, I wrote a paranormal/historical: Notes in a Mirror, in 2009. It is about two student nurses doing their three month psychiatric rotation in a state mental hospital in 1950. I was a student at that time, so it is based on some of my experiences. There were no tranquilizers in 1950, so the treatments were archaic and dangerous. I wove a ghost into the story to widen the appeal. I’m sure there were many entities roaming around that place.

Song of the Rails, a Love Story, was published in 2010. It is partly autobiographical and a very personal story about an abused wife who, with the help of friends, finds the strength to reinvent herself. If I can help one woman who reads this book to leave an abusive relationship, I will have accomplished my goal. It is the only book I’ve written in the first person.

WD: How old were you when you started writing Emma’s series?

HO: Let’s just say, if I decided to write about a senior citizen, I had to be in her age group. A thirty year old can’t possibly understand the problems that face someone in her sixties.

WD: How did you come up with Emma Winberry?

HO: That’s an interesting question. Emma took up residence in my head long before I wrote about her. I knew what she looked like: thin and shaped like Olive Oyl; knew she had a ‘sixth sense’ and talked with her Guardian Angel. I felt that made her unique. The problem was, I didn’t know where she belonged. I tried different settings, but nothing worked. Until I put her in the opera.

WD: Are you in Emma’s head, or is Emma in your head when you write her stories?

HO: A little bit of both. Emma always seems to be with me. Sometimes I ask myself, “What would Emma do in this situation?” It’s very difficult for me to separate myself from a character I’ve known for so long.

WD: What did you do to research Emma’s Guardian Angel?

HO: I grew up with Guardian Angels. In grade school the nuns told us we had a special angel protecting us at all times. So the concept came naturally.

WD: How do you research your novels set in other places outside the United States, such as in The Elusive Relation and Emma Winberry and The Evil Eye?

I have always loved research in general. I enjoy the challenges of learning something new.  For The Elusive Relation, I spent three weeks in London. I have an advantage in that my youngest daughter lives there. Each day I visited one of the places that I portrayed in the book. I strove for accuracy. If I made an error describing St. Paul’s Cathedral, one of my readers would be sure to catch it.

I spent two days in the village of Roydon where most of the action takes place. Again, my daughter’s friends, the Paxtons, actually own the house on the cover of the book. It was originally built in 1534.

I had fun calling Scotland Yard and the Essex Police and Fire Departments. When I identified myself as an American author, they graciously gave me all the information I needed.

For Emma Winberry and The Evil Eye, I read a number of books about Sicily and the distinctive dialect. I grew up in an Italian family, but my mother was from Naples. Each area of Italy has its own pronunciation and spelling. It goes back to the time when Italy was divided into city states, each with its own language. The Internet is filled with information about The Evil Eye, The Malocchio. My grandmother attributed it to every misfortune.

The next book takes Emma and Nate on a sailboat in the Caribbean. Again, I have a son who lives on a 49 foot sailboat. He and his wife  are accomplished sailors and cruise the Caribbean. I’ve been on the boat twice for the experience and research.

WD: What is the best fan letter you’ve received?

HO: I was interviewed on Skype by a sixth grade class doing a writing project. One of the girls sent me a letter telling me how much fun it was and she liked the fact that I took my characters to different places.

WD: What are the challenges you face when looking for a publisher for a senior citizen character book series?

HO: Some publishers see the baby boomer generation looking toward older protagonists. One agent was excited about the senior protagonist, another, ambivalent. It all comes down to sales. Many readers in my age group are pleased with an older character. Remember, Miss Marple is still around.

WD: If you could see Emma wear any outfit in your closet, what would it be?

HO: My tee shirt that read: The Emma Winberry Mystery Series. An angel on top and one below.

WD: What is Emma’s favorite meal?

HO: Emma loves to cook, anything and everything. Most of all, she enjoys making her famous muffins. A lunch for Emma would consist of a cup of tea, a muffin and a banana.

WD: What age exactly is Emma?

HO: Emma starts out being sixty-ish. I don’t tell her exact age because, I’m not sure. She’s healthy and keeps herself in good shape by doing yoga and walking. But, she does take a few too many chances.

One thing I have to remember is to age her grandchildren. Even though Emma can remain the same approximate age, children change rapidly from year to year.

WD: What’s in Emma’s future?

HO: I’m working on the last book in the series now. I’ve heard that after the sixth book, a series tends to deteriorate. So, book number six will be the last. Unless I have an Epiphany.

WD: What advice would you give to writers writing about a senior citizen character?

HO: If you want to write about a senior, it’s best if you are one yourself. Otherwise, get involved with active senior groups. There are plenty of them around.

WD: Thank you, Helen, for penning such wonderful stories and taking the time to be with us today. Emma has certainly brightened many of my days with her wit and talents. Feel free to leave a comment or question for Helen. Thank you!

 

Writer’s Wednesday Guestblogger Capri Smith On Writing Emotion

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I met Capri Smith recently when Written Dreams made a donation to the Brenda Novak On-line Auction for Diabetes. I’ve asked her to blog today for two reasons.

1) That no matter what the odds are against you, there’s always a way to write if you’re determined to be published. Persistence is an important quality to have as a writer.

2) Writing from the heart shows through to your readers. If there’s no emotion, a story can be flat and uninspiring. If the writing gets deep into the emotion of the characters, the reader feels those emotions along with the character–living, breathing, feeling every moment. As an editor, my personal favorites are tear-jerker moments. If a writer can make me cry, she’s done her job right. 🙂

Capri Smith is a writer and secular homeschooling mother of four. Her youngest daughter, Keke, was diagnosed with Type One Diabetes in August, 2006. Since then, Capri has been a pioneer in the use of diabetic alert dogs. Their service dog, Teddy Bear, has kept Keke seizure free for over three years. A book that includes his story is due out in the near future. When Capri is not focusing on her kids, she can usually be found holed up in her bedroom typing out her thrillers. On her door hangs a sign – “Interruptions Tolerated for:  Fires, Profuse Bleeding, or Blood Sugar Issues Only.” Teddy Bear is the only one who complies. Visit Capri’s blog at http://www.caprismith.com/

I was acting in a movie, one of the star parts. In the scene that we were performing, I was the mom racing on crutches no less—behind a gurney that held a little blond girl. The nurses clutched the side-rails and bolted down the corridor in front of me.  A petite, pony-tailed nurse straddled the little girl, bagging her, and swaying as she rode along on the wild teacup ride towards the ICU. The floors we moved along were slick and the crutches that I was supposed to balance on slipped out from under me crashing me to the floor. I rolled and tried to get up, but this wasn’t really a movie, and up was very far away.

A month earlier, my daughter, Keke, was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. T1 is very different from the diabetes of Paula Dean and Halle Berry. T1 is an around-the clock, never-give-up, no-holds-barred fight. And in that moment, the fight was life or death, and the doctors had prepared me for death to win. Keke was comatose.

I am a homeschooling mom and a thriller writer. I spend my days checking blood glucose numbers, teaching algebra, and writing scenes—like the one above that I lived through not so long ago. It’s not often that I actually write about diabetes. I take refuge in my writing and writing about the monster that stalks us gives me no respite from the constancy of the disease.

I do use my experiences in my fiction, though—panic, terror, impuissance, strain, exhaustion… I know these emotions so well. I can easily write how it feels to think you can lean on your highly intelligent spouse only to watch his brain abandon him, as he calls 911 and forgets his daughter’s name and age. Or to think that as a parent you are the strong one – but then your nine-year-old uses his hands to force fear-frozen legs into motion, sliding forward to save the day as the paramedics’ sirens wail closer.

It’s all fodder for my books—though I’d give almost anything to just be able to make it all up.

Writing and being the mom to a disabled child are roles that often stand in opposition. For me the biggest issue is the sleepless nights. It’s like being the mom to an infant who never grows big enough to sleep until morning. I check Keke’s blood frequently through the night. To miss a low could mean we’d lose her. We have a diabetes alert dog, Teddy Bear, who shares my vigilance. And often it’s his clickity-clacking in the halls that pulls me from my dreams.

Exhaustion makes me fall asleep in front of my computer. The imprint of my key board is impressed on my cheek as I type this. Sometimes I just can’t keep my eyes open. Other times, fatigue creates brain-fog that muffles already ambiguous words and awkward reasoning. But it doesn’t stop me from writing. Because I love writing. And because it’s mine.

I guess the other side of the coin is that sometimes I am excited–tapping out the perfect plot twist, my characters yelling at each other as they go fisticuffs in a fabulous brawl. Jazzed by the vivid scene, I am deep in my own world, then yanked back to reality when Teddy Bear comes to alert, or my daughter yells, “Mom, I need help.” It feels like someone is throwing a pail of water on the fire of my imagination. But I can use those feelings, too. I’ll just remember how the annoyance tightens my jaw and heats my blood, and then how quickly my body chills when I see the low number show up on her blood meter. How it actually feels to run hot then cold. As I type these words, I’m thinking that I actually have the perfect place to insert those feelings—a scene that I’ve been frustrated with…

My goal each day—whether writing from a place of inspiration or a place of sleep deprived, muddled confusion—is to write for six hours. Sometimes this comes at three in the morning, when Keke’s having a bad night. Sometimes I get to sit down at nine a.m. and type straight through lunch. I’ve learned to take everything day to day. And that’s okay, because what’s a day without writing?

Thank you, Capri, for sharing such intimate details of your life and showing us how precious every moment can be. You are an inspiration to moms/writers everywhere! We wish you all the best in the hopes of finding a cure!

 

Writer’s Wednesday Guestblogger Terry Odell with Tips on Point of View

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Today we welcome romantic suspense author, Terry Odell. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of editing several of Terry’s novels, including Where Danger Hides, which won the the 2012 Romantic Suspense Holt Medallion Award. To learn more about Terry’s novels, visit her website at: http://terryodell.com

http://terryodell.com/blog1/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/portrait3_200x300.jpg Terry Odell was born in Los Angeles, moved to Florida, and now makes her home in Colorado. An avid reader she always wanted to “fix” stories so the characters did what she wanted. Once she began writing, she found this wasn’t always possible, as evidenced when the mystery she intended to write rapidly became a romance. Although her genre is labeled “romantic suspense”, Terry prefers to think of her books as “Mysteries With Relationships.” Her titles include her Blackthorne, Inc. series, her Pine Hills Police Series, as well as other stand alone titles. Look for her newest release, NOWHERE TO HIDE, a spinoff of her Pine Hills Police series.

 

Point of view (POV) is the vantage point from which we show a section of the story to the reader—and it’s one of the hardest things to deal with when we write.

Usually, we only tell the story through the eyes of one character—or at least one character at a time. When we switch back and forth, the reader is jerked from one person’s head to the other, and it’s hard to develop empathy for either character.

Using POV

If we’ve chosen to use our heroine’s POV, then the reader will see what the heroine sees, hear what the heroine hears, and know most of what the heroine’s thinking.

The reader won’t know what anyone else is thinking, or what’s happening behind the heroine’s back, or what’s said after she leaves the room. If the heroine doesn’t see it, hear it, smell it or taste it, then it can’t happen for the reader—not in that scene, at least.

So how do you show the other character’s state of mind (like the hero)? We’ll know his state of mind by what he says, what he does, how he acts, and what the heroine thinks about it.

Let’s try an example. Sally’s the heroine, and she has just confronted Joe, the hero, about a lie she thinks he’s told her. Sally’s the POV character.

  • Include Sally’s words. (“Why did you lie to me, Joe?”)
  • Include her feelings as she works herself up to express herself. (Should she say it? Her head feels like it’s going to burst. Maybe it would be better to stay silent because he’ll only lie to her again.)
  • Describe what she sees. (Joe’s jaw sets. The corner of his mouth twitches. He looks away instead of straight at her. His knuckles go white.)
  • Include what she thinks. (He’s looking away rather than at me, so that must mean he’s admitting he was lying, or he’d look me in the eye.)

In Sally’s POV, we never include what Joe’s thinking—we don’t know if he’s feeling guilty for lying, or upset because he has been unjustly accused—and we don’t need to know. Knowing what everybody’s thinking will throw all the suspense right out the window. We know what Sally thinks, but we don’t know whether she’s right. And that makes readers want to keep turning the pages!

Types of POV

The most commonly used in fiction are first person (where the character tells the story as if talking to the reader) and third person (where a narrator describes what’s going on, sort of like a radio announcer doing the play-by-play of a basketball game).

Most romance novels use third person (Jane walked down the street), though chick lit often uses first person (I walked down the street).

In general, in a romance you’ll alternate between the hero’s POV or the heroine’s throughout the book. In longer books, you may go into the head of a significant secondary character who’s the pivot point of the story. But if a character only shows up in one scene, then it’s unlikely we get to hear her private thoughts. We’ll only hear what she actually says, or see her actions. The rule of thumb is that the POV character is the most important character in the scene.

Mystery novels often use first person, and the story is told from the POV of the detective. This is closest to reality, because the reader doesn’t get to know what’s happening until the detective does. However, third person also works well in mystery, especially when the author uses a deep POV.

Finally there’s a POV which tells everybody’s thoughts and actions. It’s called omniscient POV. Trouble is, the reader knows too much about what’s going on inside everybody’s head, and at the same time the reader doesn’t have a personal connection with any one of the characters. That’s why most entertainment fiction is written from one POV (or one at a time, with only a few total) and often with a very distinctive voice that draws the reader into the story and invites him/her to be the character’s friend.

Multiple POVs

As much as we try to stay in one character’s POV, sharing only their thoughts and feelings and impressions is difficult.

If you have your heroine thinking and then say, “She didn’t hear the hero coming up behind her,” if she didn’t hear it, then we’re suddenly outside her POV.

We do have to know what’s going on in all of our characters’ minds all the time, in order to select what they’re going to say, what they’re going to do, how they’re going to react. So it’s simple to let something the hero is thinking sneak into a scene where the author should only be giving the heroine’s thoughts.

Think about what your POV character can see and hear. If he can’t see it or doesn’t hear it, then you’ve shifted POVs. You can test for this by reading your scene aloud in the first person. If your scene is supposed to be the heroine’s POV and you’re reading, “I said… I moved…” and then suddenly you get to “he thought”—that’s a POV shift.

Of course, it is possible to have many POVs represented in one book. But it must be done judiciously and on purpose. The authors who do it well generally switch only a time or two during a scene (not with every speech) and only at places where it’s critically important to see what’s going on in the other character’s mind. If you’re writing suspense, it’s almost mandatory to show multiple POVs, because by definition, suspense means the reader is a step ahead of the action. Most suspense novels show the villain’s POV, so the reader knows what’s coming, and has to hope the protagonist will figure it out in time.

To switch POVs, you can always start a new scene. Starting too many new scenes, however, can make your story choppy and jerky. If you’re skilled, you learn how to lead your reader from one character’s head to another without scene or chapter breaks. But again, you have to be careful to do this seamlessly, and only when a POV change moves the story forward.

Are there rules? No. If your reader can follow your POV shifts, then you’ve done your job. But if you’re just starting out, it’s better to limit your POV characters and make your changes at logical breaks.

Nowhere to Hide     Deadly Secrets

Thank you, Terry, for joining us today. If you have questions or comments for Terry about her novels, or about point of view, please feel free to post them. Thank you!

 

 

Writer’s Wednesday Guest Blogger Author Jim C. Hines

Written Dreams 6 Comments

We’re excited to have humorous fantasy author, Jim C. Hines, here with us today!

 

Photo © Denise Leigh

 

Jim C. Hines: Author. Husband and father. Alternate universe cover model. Hugo-nominated blogger. We tracked down this balding 38-year-old man and asked us to share the real Jim Hines, to tell us what made the creator of Libriomancer tick. He responded, “Dude, what are you doing in my bathroom?” So we snooped around his house for something interesting to write about. We found a prominently displayed shelf of his own books, with titles like Goblin Quest and The Stepsister Scheme, which leads us to conclude that he is a very egotistical man. He also has an extensive collection of Peanuts books, a LEGO TARDIS and customized Doctor Who minifig, and needs to vacuum his basement. It was here that Hines revealed his true self, shouting at us to get the frak out of his house and repeatedly hitting us with a plastic lightsaber while his cats pounced on our shoelaces. To learn more, visit Jim’s website at http://www.jimchines.com

 

 

WD: How has your family inspired your writing?

JCH: I’m a strong believer in writing what you’re passionate about, and I’ve found that being a parent and husband has affected my stories a lot over the years. Sometimes it’s more blatant than others — there’s a goblin short story I wrote about a baby goblin and his nursemaid which was inspired by my own adventures in diaper-changing. Other times it’s the way I write about relationships.

WD: What method do you prefer writing in: long hand, typewriter, or computer?

JCH: I type much faster than I write by hand, and given the number of mistakes I make, the computer is the best fit for me.

WD: What was your journey like from writing the first pages of your first novel to getting that first book accepted?

JCH: Long. Bumpy. Kind of like driving from New York to Australia. With a faulty GPS. You get to see some amazing things, but it’s not a quick or easy road.

WD: What character is most like your own personality?

JCH: I’m probably somewhere in between Jig the goblin and Isaac the libriomancer.

WD: What was the hardest part of which novel to research?

JCH: Possibly all of the sailing information I had to learn when I was writing The Mermaid’s Madness. I have very little nautical knowledge, so spent a lot of time reading historical texts, browsing through photographs, and tracking down “Sailing for Dummies” type books. Sadly, I still messed up at least one detail. (I’m not going to tell you what it is, though!)

WD: If you could go anywhere for research, where would it be?

JCH: I think I’d start with outer space. If anyone wants to fund me on a weeklong moon vacation, I hereby promise to write them a cool story based on what I learn up there!

WD: What other books have you written?

JCH: The Goblin Series (Humorous Fantasy)

Goblin Quest

Goblin Hero

Goblin War

 

The Princess Series (Fairy Tale Princesses Team Up and Kick Various Butts)

The Stepsister Scheme

The Mermaid’s Madness

Red Hood’s Revenge

The Snow Queen’s Shadow

 

Magic ex Libris (Magic-wielding Librarian from Michigan’s Upper Peninsula)

Libriomancer

 

WD: What awards have you won as an author?

JCH: I won first place in the Writers of the Future contest back in 1998 with a story called “Blade of the Bunny.” Not the kind of story I would have pegged as award-winning fiction, but I was delighted to be proven wrong!

WD: How often do you write when you are working on a work in progress?

JCH: I write every day during my lunch break at work (one hour), and I squeeze in night and weekend writing time when family and real life allow. When deadlines approach, I tend to make more time on those nights and weekends, but it can be hard sometimes trying to balance it all without neglecting my wife and kids or letting the house fall into disrepair and collapse around me.

WD: What are some of your methods you use when writing a novel to keep you on track?

JCH: I’m an outliner, though my outlines are generally broken in one way or another, so the book tends to veer off as I write it. More and more these days, I give my characters snippets of dialogue in my early drafts where they critique the story and yell at me if it’s getting boring or stupid. It lets me keep track of what I need to fix, and helps me to maintain some humor about the whole messy process.

WD: What are your experiences with using a Writer’s Critique Group?

JCH: I was in a writing group for a few years about a decade ago, and it was very helpful. Reading their stuff inspired me to push harder and aim higher with my own stories, and they helped me to recognize and improve a lot of my strengths and weaknesses as a writer. Every writer is different, but for me, this group was very helpful at that stage of my learning.

WD: What advice would you give to new aspiring authors on writing and revising?

JCH: Do both. A lot.

WD: What types of things do you do to relax from writing? Any hobbies?

JCH: What is this word, “relax”?

I’ve been doing karate for about five years now, which helps both for the exercise and because the physical workout helps me to let go of whatever mental and emotional stress has been following me around. I used to do gaming (Dungeons and Dragons, mostly), but then our DM went and had a baby, so that hasn’t happened lately.

WD: I’d like to talk about a more serious subject for a moment. Can you share with us a little about your thoughts on sex crimes, and what training you have received personally in order to help people that have been raped?

JCH: My thoughts … without writing a novel’s worth here, I think sexual violence is far too common, and that as a society, we generally do an unforgivably poor job of supporting victims and holding perpetrators accountable. I would love to see more education at all levels, and more work on bystander intervention instead of essentially writing it off as a “womens’ problem” and just telling girls, “Well, don’t get yourself raped!”

I was a volunteer crisis counselor during college, and was one of the coordinators for our sexual assault counseling program there. I also worked as the Male Outreach Coordinator at the domestic violence shelter on campus, which included both outreach/education and working one-on-one with students who had been referred for various disciplinary reasons.

I’ve written a lot about rape and sexual violence, and most of what I’ve written is available at http://www.jimchines.com/rape/

WD: Thank you, Jim, for joining us today! It’s been a pleasure having you here. Feel free to post questions or comments for Jim. Thank you.

 

Writer’s Wednesday Guest Blogger Lily Silver on Indie Publishing

Written Dreams 7 Comments

We’re happy to welcome Lily Silver to The Editing Essentials today!

Lily has been swimming opposite the mainstream currents for most of her life. She has been practicing the art of writing since 1992, when as a homeschooling mother of two, she desperately needed something to do that didn’t involve the kids. Once her children were grown she returned to college as a non-traditional student at 42 years of age, and spent the next several years trying to pick ‘just one’ major. As a journalism student, she achieved an award for excellence in journalism, and went on to become the editor of the college newspaper, a staff writer and staff photographer.

Lily never did find that one perfect major as she explored art, writing, theatre, photography. She graduated with a B.A. in History and a B.A. in Humanistic Studies with an emphasis in Ancient and Medieval Research, a minor in Art History as well as a minor in 2 Dimensional Art. She’d still be in college if they’d pay her to keep learning and acquiring degrees. True to form, Lily has chosen to go against the flow again by choosing Independent publishing over traditional. She published two full length Historical Romance novels on Amazon in the spring of 2012.

 

Dark Hero by Lily Silver

Dark Hero is a Gothic Romance with paranormal overtones. It is Book One in the Reluctant Heroes Series. Some Enchanted Waltz is a Time Travel Romance depicting the events of the United Irishmen’s failed rebellion of 1798. Bright Scoundrel, Book Two in the Reluctant Heroes Series, will be released in October 2012.

Visit Lily’s website and blogs at: lilysilver.webs.com  strictlygothic.webs.com romancinghistorylove.blogspot.com/  strictlygothic.blogspot.com/                  incurableromanticandlovingit.blogspot.com/

 

Independent publishing has divided the publishing world. There are authors who love it and those who reel back in horror, regarding it as <gasp>  vanity publishing.  In the past, self publishing was considered a poor substitute for the traditional publishing routine. Independently published authors had to spend oodles of money hiring a printing press to print large orders of books the author then had to try to sell on his own. And, there was a stigma connected to the practice as the author was considered ‘not good enough’ to have found a real publisher to accept his work.

With the advent of e-readers and e-book retailers, writers can now upload their books directly to online platforms and readers can purchase them within hours. This phenomenon is similar to what happened in Paris with the Impressionist Art Movement. You had a traditional gallery system; art curators decided what would be shown to the public and what wouldn’t. Unknown artists like Van Gogh kept trying to gain admittance to these exclusive salon exhibitions. The curators refused to allow the Impressionists to exhibit paintings, so these imaginative men held their own art show and invited the public to attend. It was a success, and brought new styles of art to the forefront for art lovers to purchase. Art dealers of the time thought Van Gogh’s painting was crap. Today, everyone knows who Van Gogh is. Thankfully, he and other artists were persistent about presenting their work to the public when it was refused entry into the traditional salons.

A similar revolution has taken place in the publishing world today; writers can upload books to digital stores and readers can decide what they want to read instead of corporate publishing houses.

Why choose to self-publish?

First, let me point out that the term self-published  is not favored among us because of past stigma attached to it. We prefer to be referred to as independent or Indie Author  to describe writers who have uploaded their works to digital platforms.

I have been writing seriously for twenty years. I submitted manuscripts to traditional publishing houses in the late 1990’s. I received very polite rejection letters. My last attempt at traditional publishing was in 1999. After that, I returned to college for several years. I still held the dream of one day sending a finished manuscript to a traditional publisher. At the beginning of this year I attended a talk featuring two authors with experience in independent publishing. They were having astonishing success selling their work on digital platforms. After hearing their experiences with both traditional and independent publishing, I decided to give independent publishing a shot.  The results have been amazing. With over 6,000 downloads at Amazon in two months as an unknown author, I have found an audience for my work. Another plus is making 70% of the royalties instead of the typical 8%-10% with a traditional house. The best part is receiving letters from readers who say they enjoyed my books and asking about sequels.

Is working on the cover art difficult?

Not really. I did need to spend time searching online stock photo databases. My son is a graphic artist, so all I needed to do was purchase stock images and send them to him for my first book. He did the rest. For my second book, I purchased a pre-made cover from Romance Novel Covers. I was pleased with the results of both covers. If someone is proficient in Adobe Photoshop, they could easily create their own cover.  If not, the good news is that there are tons of great graphic artists who can create digital cover art for a reasonable fee.

What have you learned from other writers about their experiences with Indie publishing?

Patience. You need a lot of patience. It’s like building a snowman. You start with a small snowball in your hand and keep rolling it in the snow until you have a life-sized snowman. It is the same with finding an audience for your work. It takes time. An added benefit of Indie publishing is your book can remain for sale indefinitely, allowing readers to discover it. With a traditional publishing, if your books don’t sell well within a few months, they are pulled from the shelves and returned by stores. Also, it is important to have someone proof your manuscript. This is where critique partners or freelance editing services like Written Dreams come in. You want to present the best book possible, so you need other people to help you remove the warts before you hit that ‘publish’ button.

Which outlets (Amazon, GoodReads, etc.) do you feel work well with authors? Which platforms are the easiest for new writers to use?

Amazon is easiest. It’s also the top digital platform at present. Smashwords is good, but their formatting requirements are a little more technical. If you download the formatting guide and follow it, you’ll be fine. Smashwords will convert and distribute your books to all the e-reader platforms (Apple, Sony, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, etc) for you, so that is the place to go if you want to have your work distributed on all platforms. All the outlets accept indie authors but a few, like Apple, only allow distribution to them through an aggregator like Smashwords. Others, like Amazon, B &N and Kobo allow authors to upload directly to them.

Goodreads is helpful to authors. I held a giveaway of Dark Hero in June. 786 readers requested the 4 print copies offered. As a result, many readers put the book on their ‘to read’ list and will hopefully purchase it. Through August 25th, I have a similar giveaway in progress at Goodreads for print copies of Some Enchanted Waltz.

 

Some Enchanted Waltz by Lily Silver

Indie publishing isn’t for everyone. It requires courage and determination. You wear a lot of hats; writer, editor, art director, and marketing. Yet, it is a rare opportunity for authors brave enough to take up the challenge. I’m glad I did. The rewards are well worth the effort.

 

 

 

Thank you, Lily, for taking the time to be with us today, and for the excellent advice on Indie publishing.

Writer’s Wednesday Guest Blogger Lorrie Kruse, Author of A Life Worth Living

Written Dreams 11 Comments
Today on Writer’s Wednesday, we welcome Wisconsin author, Lorrie Kruse. Thank you, Lorrie, for being our Guest Blogger today! Lorrie Kruse is the author of A Life Worth Living, just released from Storyteller Publishing on July 3, 2012. To learn more about her novel visit: http://storytellerpublishing.com/
Lorrie Kruse
I’m just your average-sort of girl. I have a family (hubby Brian, 17-year-old son Tyler), and a full-time job. I have to buy my own groceries (gasp!) and I don’t have a maid (one look at my house will confirm that). I love bears of all sorts and all (non-breathing variety) are welcome in my home, which happens to be a log house in the country. I’d like to think that the general consensus among people who know me is that I’m a nice person, but I’ll admit I’m not perfect and I wouldn’t want to be, either. It’s an imperfect world we live in and I like knowing I’m part of it.

 

WD: What is your profession (outside of writing)?

LK: I am a legal secretary. I really like my job, although I wish I didn’t have to work. There’s nothing I’d love more than to be able to just stay home and write and make jewelry, but I fear I’d become one of those recluses who never leave their house.

WD: Do you have any hobbies?

LK: I just can’t sit still for long, so I’ve got lots of things I like to do to keep myself busy. I love making jewelry and have turned it into a little side business. Nothing spectacular, mind you. I can’t quit my day job, but I earn enough to keep my little hobby going. I also like crocheting. I have gotten into making socks, but don’t be watching for the Lorrie Kruse sock brand at your local store anytime soon. It takes way too much time to get a pair of socks done, but it’s something I can easily do while watching TV or traveling.

WD: What person or event made you interested in writing?

LK: A lifetime ago (and, truly, it was almost a lifetime ago as my son was only a few years old and he’s now 17), I was reading a John Sandford book, one of his Prey series, and I came up with a story idea. I thought about contacting him to let him have my idea, but I just never got around to doing so. You know how that goes. The story idea stuck inside my head, though, and I thought that I’d read enough books. Why shouldn’t I write one? I mean, as long as I had the idea, right? So I sat down and wrote a story. Not the one that had come to mind and, admittedly, not a very good one. But it was enough to get things rolling for me.

WD: What method do you prefer writing in: long hand, typewriter, or computer?

LK: No doubt about it – Computer. I can type almost as fast as I can think but I can’t handwrite that fast. If I try to handwrite anything, I lose a whole lot of thoughts as I fumble around. There’s nothing worse than losing a great idea!

WD: What other books have you written?

Written? Or, written well? :0) I wrote several books before I knew what I was doing. It was so much easier writing back then, before I had to pay attention to things like grammar rules and plot. Nothing like “plot” to slow down the writing process. :0) Since none of those books are anything I’d want anyone reading, I guess then I have to say that at this moment, A Life Worth Living is all there is. However, I am working on a romantic suspense that’s about half-way done. Unfortunately, Keep Your Friends Closer has been temporarily shelved because I thought that maybe I could get a collection of short stories completed more quickly. Not sure what I was thinking there, but, oh well.

WD: What was your journey like from writing the first pages to getting the book accepted on A Life Worth Living?

LK: Oh, my. That’s quite a question. Whew. Well, there was a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Seriously, when I started writing A Life Worth Living, I was not a very good writer. I have learned so much since those first words and the finish product reflects that. When I first wrote A Life Worth Living (which was “The Accident” back then), I just wrote whatever sounded logical to me as far as Matt’s medical condition. Matt was also a very angry jerk and Crystal was beyond self-absorbed. I discovered I couldn’t just make up stuff. How odd. It’s a fictional story from my mind, yet I couldn’t make stuff up? I interviewed several trauma nurses, physical therapists, and a few paralyzed people. I soaked up whatever knowledge I could find on spinal cord injury. And then I poured a whole lot of that knowledge into Matt’s world as well as a whole new appreciation for my health into my own life. I don’t know how many times I’ve gone through a slush-covered parking lot thinking about how lucky I am to not have to be wheeling a wheelchair.

A Life Worth Living has gone through quite a journey on its way to publication. It’s been entered into numerous contests and has finaled in many. It’s landed upon many agents’ desks (and was unfortunately rejected by all). But the happy ending is that I submitted it to Storyteller Publishing, who loved it, and it’s finally published! Yay! See me doing a happy dance.

WD: Who is your favorite character in A Life Worth Living?

LK: Hmm. Can I say Kaylee, Matt’s 2-year-old niece? I love the way she calls Matt ‘Unka Matyou’. I really think Kaylee adds a lot to the story even though she’s not a main character. She brings out the softer side of Matt.

WD: What was the hardest part of A Life Worth Living to research?

LK: Having to live within the confines of reality. I really wanted Matt to go through the book struggling with his desire for a full recovery and then get his wish at the end of the story. However, I discovered that if he were going to recover, that recovery would happen early on and, sigh, that just didn’t work for the plot.

WD: What authors are your favorites to read?

Well, John Sandford, since his stories were what inspired me to write. I love Harlan Coben’s characters and his writing. He’s just got a great style. And, speaking of great style, Janet Evanovich. Wow. If I could be half the writer she is, I’d be…well, half the writer she is, which would still be a darn great writer. Another writer who I think is someone to keep an eye on is Jane Porter. I don’t recall how I came across her books or even which book of hers was the first I read, but I really enjoy her writing. However, the writer I have most enjoyed in recent past is Jeff Lindsay with his Dexter series. There aren’t many authors I’ve come across where I’ve felt the need to devour their works, but from the first Dexter book I read, I was hooked and I read every book of Jeff Lindsay’s back to back. It was a sad moment when I read the last word of the last book because it was the last word of the last book. I’m eager for Mr. Lindsay to get those typing fingers moving and get another book out there!

WD: If you could be any character in anyone’s book, who would you be?

My first thought was which character of Jane Porter’s went to Hawaii? I very much would love to be lying on a sunny beach in Hawaii (with a ton of sun screen). But, seriously, when you get right down to it, I don’t think there’s any character I’d want to be. While they all have happily-ever-afters, they all have their challenges along the way. There’s things I’d love to change in my own life, but, all in all, I like my life and I am very happy with the person I am.

WD: What advice would you give to new aspiring authors?

LK: Run! As fast as you can, run! Truthfully, if you have a writer living inside you, you’ll discover you can’t escape it. If you can, then you shouldn’t be writing because it is not an easy task. So, you’ve got this writer inside you that you can’t escape and you need to know how to handle that writer. Learn everything you can about writing so you do it right and hopefully don’t have to write the same story multiple times until you get it right. Join a critique group, but the challenge there is finding a group you blend well with. It really needs to be a person or group of people you feel comfortable with and whose opinion you respect. The two most important things though are to develop a thick skin (you will be rejected multiple times – it’s just a sad fact – and you’re going to hear criticism upon criticism about your writing and your story because you just can’t please everyone) and to be very persistent (chances are, you won’t get lucky enough to get a publishing contract on your first try, or your second, or even your thirtieth). Oh, and enjoy yourself. Life’s too short to be doing things you don’t enjoy.

WD: What are your experiences with using a Writer’s Critique Group?

LK: For as frustrating as it can be, I highly recommend anyone who writes being a member of a critique group. We all want to hand a chapter to our group and receive nothing but positive responses, but, seriously, that’s not the way to improve your writing or the story. A Life Worth Living has turned into the great story that it is thanks to my writers’ group. They pushed me in directions I never would have gone on my own.

WD: If you have questions for Lorrie, she’ll be visiting all day.

Thank you again, Lorrie, for joining us today! We wish you the best of success with A Life Worth Living and your writing career!