Top of mind musings

cj Sez: Authors’ showcase events are notorious for resulting in few book sales for the authors who participate. The main reason I like to attend these functions is to get my name out to new readers. On November 8-11, the Junior League of Mobile* sponsored a Christmas shopping market, also known as The Christmas Jubilee, held this year at the Mobile Convention Center.

In my time slot, I shared their Author’s Corner with Angela Quarles, whose novel Must Love Chainmail won the 2016 Rita Award. I really did have a good time eating chocolate kisses, and I happily sold a copy of the Christmas through a Child’s Eyes anthology to a new fan (I hope).

*The Junior League of Mobile is an “organization of women committed to promoting volunteerism, developing the potential of women, and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers.” Was the Jubilee a success? Resoundingly so according to their Facebook page: “From start to finish . . . with over 400 volunteers, more than 110 merchants, and nearly 12,000 shoppers, together we raised over $200,000 for children in our community.”

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My personal childhood memory (Dancing with Daddy) in the Christmas through a Child’s Eyes anthology and my novels were all published by an imprint of F+W Media in 2008, 2013, and 2015. I’m not sure how that happened. I didn’t submit to F+W media. Those books were submitted either to Adams Media or to Crimson Romance. It seems I have a “voice” (i.e., write in a style) that caught the eye of the editors of both publishers. Finding your voice, your personal style, I think, is one of the keys to good writing. I found mine in San Francisco.

My first interest in creative writing was in screenwriting. In 2001, I flew from Detroit to San Francisco to take a three-day seminar called Story from internationally renowned Robert McKee.

The experience was invaluable because I learned to visualize my story. I saw that I needed to create characters that are archetypes not stereotypes and write action/dialogue scenes that show their stories. I’m a work in progress because I still learn something new every day. How characters react and what they don’t say can speak volumes to readers who enjoy trying to solve the crime or mystery as the story progresses.

I’ve talked with writers who visualize some movie star or other playing a character in their books. Is that something you do?  I can’t do that. I don’t see a specific person, I visualize the whole characterization—I’ll leave it to Stephen Spielberg or Francis Ford Coppola (ha ha) to find the best mega-star suited for the role.

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Most us, and I am very much included in that generalization, have an idea on a theme. A lot of us also know how we want the story to end, so that’s all set. It’s the middle that really gets us. It wants to sag. Like an old married couple, sometimes the excitement fades away. Unless we work at it.  

Shoring up a saggy middle always requires a lot of editing.

To help me out in this process, I read the dialogue aloud as I go along. Does it sound natural? Are the sentences too complete and so full of blah-blah information that they slow the pace of the story?  This can happen anywhere, but it very often happens in the middle part of a story when I’m trying to reach the word count I want/need. Sometimes, I have to change a character’s name, a story thread, a sentence structure, or, as was true for Deadly Star, the whole genre (which went from an action/adventure love story to a romantic suspense). I also might add another challenge or two (read that as “conflict”) for the protagonist in order to bring back the thrill.

What do you do to shore up the saggy middle of your story? And if you don’t ever suffer a saggy middle, don’t tell me. I’d feel so inept.

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I’m throwing in the towel on NaNoWriMo. I haven’t come anywhere close to achieving the 50K word target, but it was worth the effort because I started a great story idea. Hope you were more successful.

Okay, you-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

I believe that Christmas is best enjoyed through the eyes of a child, and the anthology, Christmas through a Child’s Eyes, is a collection of 70 true memories that capture the wonder of the season. The book is free today on Kindle Unlimited, and I have a personal stash of a few print copies available for sale at $8. If you drop me a note in the next week or so, I’ll be able to get a book to you before Christmas.

PS:  Pray for peace; pray that our leaders.

PPS: Simon & Schuster acquired the Crimson Romance imprint in November 2016.

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“Bad Day at Round Rock” in The Posse Western anthology of 8 short stories @99 cents

Choosing Carter  -- Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   /  iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star --  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo

California Kisses—10 book publisher’s bundle @ 99 cents (includes Deadly Star)

The Great Outdoors  8 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)

Bodies in Motion — 10 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)

Note: On the bundles, the “look inside” invitation gives you a taste of only the first book.

Helpful grammar hints

cj Sez: Because I'm "trying" to do NaNoWriMo, today's post is a repeat of a popular one done in 2015. The English language is littered with obscure quirks and twists, and writers seem to find a way to encounter every one of them. A few of my favorites follow.

The Christmas Grinch notwithstanding, here are proper usages for Stink, Stank, Stunk . . .

… Stink is the present or future form.

… Stank is the past form, use it when you refer to some time that has already happened, such as last night, yesterday, or last week.

… Stunk is the participle form, it means you must use have, has, or had with it).

… What is that stink I smell?

… Frying that fish will stink up the whole house.

… She sure stank up the kitchen last night with that burned milk!

… I'm sorry, but the baby's diaper really stank on the way home yesterday!

… The house hasn't stunk this badly since the day we found that rat behind the dryer.

… If you hadn't stunk up the bathroom, I wouldn't have opened the window and let your orchids freeze in the snow.

Then there’s this tricky usage/spelling: Pick up, Pick-up, Pickup

… Will you pick up my dry cleaning?

… “Have we met” is such a stale pick-up line.

… My pickup truck is red.

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(Following are excerpts of a blog by a fellow Sisters-in-Crime member:)

IN DEFENSE OF THE MALIGNED “WAS”

By Lois Winston

Editors like action verbs. “Was,” along with its brothers and sisters (is, am, are, been, were) is passive and a surefire way to a rejection letter.

Wrong!

Passive voice is when an action is acted upon the subject, rather than the subject acting.

The car was driven by Anna is a passive sentence. Anna drove the car is an active sentence. However, Anna was happy to drive the car is not a passive sentence. Anna is expressing emotion. She is acting, rather than being acted upon. Of course, there are more interesting ways to write the sentence to show Anna’s emotions, but that’s a separate discussion.

One of the easiest ways to tell whether your sentence is active or passive is to analyze the position of the subject, verb, and direct object.

In active voice, the subject (the one performing the action) will come before the verb (the action), and the verb will come before the direct object (that which is being acted upon.)

There are instances, though, when passive voice is necessary to the unfolding of a story or better suited to the realism of the dialogue. When we speak, we don’t first think whether our sentences are active or passive before uttering them. We just speak them.

Manipulate a sentence to avoid passive voice in conversation, and you often transform snappy dialogue into stilted dialogue.

For example: Billy ran into the house and cried, “Mom! Come quick. Snoopy was hit by a car!” This passage accurately illustrates the way a child might respond to a car hitting his dog. Snoopy was hit by a car is a passive sentence because Snoopy is being acted upon by the car, but the child mentions Snoopy first because the dog’s welfare is uppermost in his mind. Also, by placing the last sentence in passive voice, the author is actually ratcheting up the tension. We don’t know until the very end exactly what hit Snoopy. A stray baseball? A nasty neighbor? A falling tree limb? Although “A car hit Snoopy” is active voice, using it actually lessens the impact of the sentence.

Still squeamish about the use of “was”? After you have finished your manuscript, do a search of the word. Check each sentence to see if you can rewrite it to avoid using “was.” If you can, and it doesn’t detract from the pace, dialogue, or meaning of the passage, do so. If not, leave it. Some “was” were meant to be.

Except . . . the subjunctive:

The what, you ask? Subjunctive case or mood is one of the most misunderstood rules in the English language -- and virtually unknown to most contest judges who will circle a “were” and write in a “was” because the subject is singular.

The subjunctive applies to cases of “wishfulness” or “what if” situations. In these cases, “was” becomes “were,” as in, I wish I were taller. “Were” is also used when a sentence or clause uses “if,” “as if,” or “as though,” but only in instances where the statement is contrary to fact.

Examples include: If I were taller, I could see the stage better, Her twelve year old son acts as if he were in kindergarten, or The maid behaved as though she were queen. Because I cannot grow taller, the twelve-year-old is not in kindergarten, and the maid is not a queen, all the statements are contrary to fact, and “was” becomes “were” even though the subjects are all singular.

Keep in mind, though, that the key statement here is “contrary to fact.” “If” statements that are not contrary to fact retain the singular form of the verb. “If I was at Starbucks that day, I don’t remember” is a correct sentence because the statement is not contrary to fact whether or not I can recall the event.

cj Sez: I keep a list of the quirks and twists that I run across, like the stink, stank, stunk,  and Lois’s blog above. Do you keep a list, or do you run to Google? 

Okay, you-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. In the meantime, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

cj

PS:  Thank you for your prayers for my sister. The stroke slowed her down but didn’t cripple her. She is recuperating at home and moving forward with the necessary changes in her life.

PPS:  Pray for peace in this crazy world.

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Amazon Central Author Page

Simon&Schuster Author Page

“Bad Day at Round Rock” in The Posse Western anthology of 8 short stories @99 cents

Choosing Carter  -- Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   /  iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star --  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo

California Kisses—10 book publisher’s bundle @ 99 cents (includes Deadly Star)

The Great Outdoors  8 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)

Bodies in Motion — 10 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)

Note: On the bundles, the “look inside” invitation gives you a taste of only the first book.

Mid NaNoWriMo

cj Sez: Since I’ve committed to writing as many words as possible for the NaNoWriMo challenge, today’s post will again be brief. 

Click on over to Facebook and log in to view the perfect symbolism for a successful NaNoWriMo...

https://www.facebook.com/PolarP/videos/679955085540937/

Wishing all the strivers SUCCESS!

FYE…Here’s the opening paragraph of my NaNoWriMo story:

The young man sitting opposite her did not appear unfriendly, though not a word had passed between them during the previous eight hours. Handsome, she thought, but soft. Definitely not a Westerner. Despite the semitransparent mix of brown dust and coal soot coating the train window, his dark hair, parted in the middle and curling against the collar of his suit coat, shone with a red highlight glint in the late afternoon sun. streaming in train’s window. His eyes were as blue as the clear Texas skies. She’d been sitting silently, facing him, since leaving the depot in Indian Territory at seven that morning. She took notice of his shy glances and the occasional, deep dimple that dented his one smooth-shaven cheek when he seemed to reflect on some pleasant thought. Silent long enough, she decided to be a little forward and venture the start of a conversation. ///

As you can see by the red, crossed-through places, I can’t stop editing, so I have little hope of reaching 50,000 words. How-some-ever, I will have a good start on a new historical western romance.

From my publisher, Crimson Romance, a new release coming November 27^th, the perfect holiday gift for a romance reader near you: 

CHRISTMAS KISSES: 4 HOLIDAY ROMANCES by USA Today bestselling authors Alicia Hunter Pace and T.F. Walsh, with Dana Volney and Casey Dawes.

Grab your eggnog and curl up by the fireplace with these magical holiday romances sure to warm your heart and your spirits!

Okay, you-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

Warning, warning! Santa’s arrival on Christmas eve is only six weeks away. Here are some wonderful (and cheap) suggestions for holiday gifts for your favorite romance readers. Helpful hint: The bundles are so cheap, you can buy them for white elephant gifts also and look like a big spender.

“Bad Day at Round Rock” in The Posse Western anthology of 8 short stories @99 cents

Choosing Carter  -- Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   /  iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star --  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo

California Kisses—10 book publisher’s bundle @ 99 cents (includes Deadly Star)

The Great Outdoors  8 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)

Bodies in Motion — 10 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)

Note: On the bundles, the “look inside” invitation gives you a taste of only the first book.

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Amazon Central Author Page

Simon&Schuster Author Page

Remembrances of Elmore Leonard

cj Sez: When NYT best-selling author Elmore Leonard first suffered a stroke in August 2013, writer and poet Fenton Ludtke, a dear friend of mine and one of Mr. Leonard’s former work-a-day colleagues, shared some of his personal memories of his former colleague. 

Following is an excerpt of Fenton's note:

“When I left the AP (Associated Press) in 1963 and joined Campbell Ewald, Elmore Leonard also was a anew copywriter. He wrote copy on the Chevrolet account. He was quiet, and almost shy. We talked and drank (a few) at home parties, where he came out of his shell a bit. We named him “Dutch” after Dutch Leonard, then a major league baseball pitcher with a tipsy knuckle ball, as I recall.

Back then, Elmore would rise around 6 a.m. and write for an hour. He disciplined himself. His venue, westerns. Then he’d shower and dress and make it to the agency in the GM building on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit. After a while he was doing so well, his westerns were selling in paperbacks, and later one as a movie, “3:10 to Yuma,” that he left the agency to go on his own. 

After his stroke, Elmore still continues to work on his latest book. (cj Sez: It was Raylan, his 46th novel.)

George Will, the columnist, has called Elmore “America’s greatest mystery writer.” It isn’t a mystery to me. It’s a matter of discipline.” 

cj Sez:  Discipline . . . a necessary ingredient for any NaNoWriMo participant, so I’d better get back to it!

VETERANS' DAY is Saturday...

Veterans Day (November 11) was originally called “Armistice Day,” and the date was chosen to commemorate the signing of the armistice with Germany that ended the hostilities of World War I. It was also once called “Poppy Day,” a name inspired by John McCrae’s poem, Flanders Fields. “In Flanders fields the poppies blow. Between the crosses, row on row…”

Not all states observe the official holiday, although all Federal offices will be closed for the holiday on Friday, November 10.

We have the freedom to do and say stupid stuff because of our Armed Forces veterans. Since some of us seem to need a special day to remember to say “thank you,” this is a reminder that you can do that on Saturday…Veterans Day is November 11.

That’s it for today. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

P.S. Please say a prayer or my sister who suffered a stroke last week.

Qrtly newsletter sign-up:  cjpetterson@gmail.com

cjpetterson/author on Facebook    

Amazon Central Author Page

Simon&Schuster Author Page

Qrtly newsletter sign-up:  cjpetterson@gmail.com

 “Bad Day at Round Rock” in The Posse Western anthology of 8 short stories @99 cents

Choosing Carter  -- Kindle  /  Nook  /  Kobo   /  iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star --  Kindle  / Nook  / Kobo

California Kisses—10 book publisher’s bundle @ 99 cents (includes Deadly Star)

The Great Outdoors  8 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)

Bodies in Motion — 10 book publisher’s bundle @99 cents (includes Choosing Carter)

Note: On the bundles, the “look inside” invitation gives you a taste of only the first book