Tidbits ...and Have a safe and happy Labor Day

cj Sez: Sending all y'all my best wishes for a safe and happy Labor Day holiday.

My publisher, Simon and Schuster, is among the industry giants stepping up to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey…

Help Offered to Libraries, Bookstores, Shelters

As Texas’ coast awaits the second landfall of the Harvey storm system—which at this writing has produced close to 50 inches of rain in some areas—Simon & Schuster’s education and library marketing department has announced help for damaged libraries.

Any Texas public or school library damaged by Hurricane/Tropical Storm Harvey can have 250 “Best of” titles to help restore collections. Librarians who need information on the offer are asked to email education.library@simonandschuster.com

Read more here:  https://publishingperspectives.com/2017/08/simon-schuster-relief-hurricane-harvey/

**

This from a Crimson Romance editor:   “An editing tip: I've noticed this summer, throughout submitted manuscripts and my own reading, a growing tendency to emphasize specific words in a sentence. Save this move for those times when the italics are needed to keep the reader from misunderstandings if they were to read it another way.

“Most of the time, the stressed words only serve to lock the reader into how you would (arbitrarily) read it, taking away the reader's autonomy. It wears folks out mentally to have to perform the book to a rhythm that might not be their own.

“It also makes your characters sound alike, and the poor italics must cover so many other technical jobs (book/magazine/movie titles, self-thoughts, foreign words), it makes your manuscript look intimidatingly busy.”

**

James Lee Burke “tells” his readers what is happening here….or does he?

“The evening sky was streaked with purple, the color of torn plums, and a light rain had started to fall when I came to the end of the blacktop road that cut through twenty miles of thick, almost impenetrable scrub oak and pine and stopped at the front gate of Angola penitentiary.”
― James Lee Burke, The Neon Rain

cj Sez: Every adjective in that sentence works with the verb to carry the action forward. The reader is on the road with the character, sees what the character sees, and ends up where the character does. Burke could have told his readers something to the effect that “It was raining the evening I drove twenty miles through a thick forest and stopped at the end of the blacktop road in front of Angola penitentiary.” Instead, we read a fantastic opening line, and a wonderful example of showing not telling.   

Burke’s poetic descriptions are not purple prose. They grab readers and drag them into his story. There is a beauty in the drama, yet the ominous intensity of the moment is conveyed.

Showing vs telling? Yes there are places in a story where some narrative telling may seem appropriate to move the story along, but perhaps not as many as you might think. Showing does a lot to appeal to a reader’s intellect as well as improve pacing. I suggest you can write your descriptions, tell your readers everything, then re-write in a way that shows them. How to do that, you ask? Read, read, and read some more. Get familiar with how your favorite author handles the task. It just takes practice …writing and re-writing and re-writing and re-writing, and . . .

“There's nothing like rejection to make you do an inventory of yourself.”                              James Lee Burke 

I’ve had a few of those. (Makes for elephant hide skin.)

That’s all the tidbits for this post.’Til next time, you-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. 

Please continue to pray for strength, courage, and comfort for the victims of Hurricane Harvey and all those volunteering to help with rescues.

cj

A brief word from my sponsors:

“Bad Day at Round Rock” short story in The Posse anthology @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD

cjpetterson/author on Facebook    

Simon&Schuster Author Page     Amazon Central Author Page

blog at: www.lyricalpens.com

newsletter sign-up at cjpetterson@gmail.com

The all-important first page

cj Sez:  Some writers’ conferences offer writers opportunities to pitch their stories to agents or editors. Pre-conference submission of a chapter or a few pages for consideration is also popular.

One conference I attended offered participants a chance to have the first page of their manuscripts reviewed by three publishers. (I’m sure other conferences have done something similar.) The idea was to critique one page and then give the writer an idea of how successful the manuscript might be in getting a request to see more. The publishers stopped reading some of the submissions before finishing the page.

The submissions ranged from fiction to non-fiction and adult to YA, but the rejected pages seemed to have similar problems. The judges identified four blatant writing miscues that caused them to stop reading.

** The story’s opening paragraphs failed to establish where the

story was taking place, the time, and the setting.

** The beginning was too slow. Too many details, too much description, too much backstory, or too many characters—and all of that on the first page—caused the judges to lose interest. The opening paragraphs also lacked action or a hook to entice the readers to continue to read.

** The writer didn’t establish a clear point of view. She/he headhopped or mixed first or third person with omniscient points of view. Remember, we’re talking only the first page here.

** Mechanical errors earned rejection. Yep, writing has mechanics, and it is vital that you know them. So, what are mechanical errors? They are the typos, punctuation errors (a lot of them involving the commas and quotation marks of dialogue), and unclear syntax that can destroy a good story.   

What the agent or publisher sees in the first few paragraphs of a manuscript is what they expect to see throughout each chapter and scene. I plan to use the list to analyze a short story I’ve just started, to make sure I stay on target.

If you re-read the first paragraphs of your manuscript, would you see any of these miscues?

Lyrical Pens would love to hear how you construct a first page. Do you re-write yours? I usually re-write mine many times as I work through a manuscript.

Another novel by my publisher... California Bound is Old West action and a love story, co-authored by Frank Kelso and John O’Melveny Woods.  Available on Amazon

http://amzn.to/2vZtIxL

Please keep all those in the path of Hurricane Harvey in your prayers as they deal with the devastation caused by this storm.

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

cj

Find more about my publications at: 

“Bad Day at Round Rock” short story in The Posse anthology @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD

cjpetterson/author on Facebook    

Simon&Schuster Author Page     Amazon Central Author Page

newsletter sign-up at cjpetterson@gmail.com

Writing is a constant learning process

cj Sez:  You know how, after filling a three-ring binder with rejections (as one writer I know did), we writers worry if our writing will ever be “good enough” to get published?

Feelings of inadequacy can often overwhelm any confidence in our ability and send us running for a big spoon and the nearest half-gallon of chocolate ice cream for comfort. (Oh, okay, that’s my solution.)

But think about this: Bona fide professional writers do not, cannot rest on their laurels. That’s a cliché, but truly, professionals continually work to improve and perfect their skills. Pro golfers take lessons; powerhouse baseball hitters work with coaches and trainers as do Olympic athletes of every stripe.

Every time Donald Maass, author of WRITING THE BREAKOUT NOVEL, leads a workshop on writing, I’d venture to guess he shares some knowledge he’s learned since his last workshop. I know he keeps producing how-to books that incorporate new slants on writing. He’s a professional who keeps on analyzing the craft and learning fresh ways to produce a well-written novel that appeals to the whims of an ever-changing audience.

The lesson is clear.

Achieving some modicum of brand-name recognition in a vocation bursting at the seams with authors is more than a little difficult. The way serious authors can achieve a favored niche among readers is to practice their craft…read in their chosen genre(s), study and analyze the work of best-selling authors, read how-to books, attend workshops, and network. 

And those tasks never cease.

I know I can learn something new most every day, some nugget that I can incorporate into a work-in-progress (as I did today) or add to my growing list of helpful hints. I wish you the same success.

I think I’ll be watching the total eclipse on television August 21, because rain is forecast for my area. If you’re in a sunny zone and are going outside to watch, please be sure to protect your eyes.

Okay, you-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same . . . and please check out the great book bargains listed below.

cj

NOW ON AMAZON:  Really amazing, super-duper deals for your escape into romance reading.  A Crimson Romance bundle of novels about athletes and the sports they love, Bodies in Motion, includes my novel, Choosing Carter.  10 wonderful reads for 99 cents on Amazon  Plus More Than Friends and California Kisses romance bundles are still available also at 99-cents.

My “Bad Day at Round Rock” short story is in The Posse anthology @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD  (8 short Western stories, still at 99 cents)

Keeping your story organized

cj Sez: I’m not a plotter when it comes to writing stories. That is to say, I don't outline, but neither am I a real pantser. I think of myself as somewhere in between…a pathfinder.

If you’re not familiar with the term, this is what I mean:

   

I write the first line and first paragraph and first page (subject to continual emending), and I know how I want the story to end. Not exactly how I want it to end because I’m also a linear writer. I write each scene and chapter in its time so ideas for the exact last scene won’t start to develop until about two or three chapters from the end. Once the opening is decided, I start putting obstacles in the way of the protagonist and figuring out how to overcome them; i.e., I find the path characters will take on their quest. After a few chapters, I know more about the direction the story is headed, so I type up a possible outline, knowing full well that it’s going to change.

Writing is an exploration. You start from nothing and learn as you go.            E. L. Doctorow

All the upcoming unknown conflicts and resolutions notwithstanding, the biggest challenge for me is keeping track of everything. What color eyes did I give that character? How tall is s/he? Did s/he have a limp in chapter two? The name started with a “B,” didn’t it? What’s her problem? What does s/he want more than anything else in the world…and that very important question must also be answered for the antagonist. In the romance genre, the protagonist’s goal has to be happily ever after or at least some promise of HEA.

I understand that Scrivener has solutions for all that, but I don’t own Scrivener. A friend of mine uses 3x5 cards. Another tapes pieces of paper on the wall and uses different colors for characters, plot lines, and threads that need to be resolved. So, how do I keep my manuscript organized? I input those things into a Word document or an Excel spreadsheet. I use Word to do the character sketches and Excel to track the timelines of the scenes and chapters.

After I write the opening, I open Word to create a bio for the protagonist. Physical description, where born, when born, where s/he grew up (affects how they talk/think), likes/dislikes, and flaws (all protagonists have to have flaws so readers can relate to them). I do the same thing for every character I introduce into the manuscript, including any animals. In a perfect world, I update the bios as I go along because a new character’s

description or name often affects a previous one. These bios are vital for me to create true scenes and realistic dialogue. I want to know my characters so well that I immediately know how they will react in a given situation, what they will say and how it’s said, and what they will not do.

When I create the antagonist, I also give him/her some type of sympathetic or positive characteristic that shows up on a page somewhere. Maybe the murderer picks up stray dogs and cats and takes them to a no-kill animal shelter which he helps support financially. Yeah, that’s a bit sappy, but you see what I mean. In Deadly Star, one antagonist is a psychopath who’s intelligent, sexy-looking in a dangerous way, and loves his work. He also admires the hero and considers him a worthy opponent.

I use an Excel spreadsheet to track the timelines and to make sure all the threads are continued/resolved and characters show up when they should.

Across the top, I put the chapter numbers and under them the number of scenes. Down the sides, I put the character names and then a brief line or word about the plot/thread lines that I color-code in a bold block font to make sure I write resolutions. To make it easy for mysteries, I use green when a clue shows up in a scene and a red for red herrings. I also spell these out in a separate Word document…what, which chapter/scene, when resolved or explained.

I also note the day and time of each scene on the spreadsheet. These are usually nondescript and imaginary times. In my current work-in-progress, I’ve mentioned Mardi Gras, so I have to be sure that the thread continues in some fashion and nothing in any scene contradicts that season…and it is a “season” in Mobile, not a day. Using a real date means you’re locked in to real history.

If I forget to update at the end of a writing session. it is almost a certainty that a few days later I will discover I absolutely need that updated information. That’s when I spend way too much time playing catch-up.

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

How do you keep track of your characters, scenes, and plot lines? If you’ve got an easier way, I would LOVE to hear about it. (Thanks.)

cj

And a word from my sponsors . . .  NOW ON AMAZON:  Really amazing, super-duper deals for your summer romance reading.  A Crimson Romance bundle of 10 novels about athletes and the sports they love, Bodies in Motion,Choosing Carter.  10 wonderful reads for 99 cents on Amazon  Plus More Than Friends and California Kisses romance bundles are still available also at 99-cents.

includes my novel,

My “Bad Day at Round Rock” short story is in The Posse anthology @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD  (8 short Western stories, still at 99 cents)

cjpetterson/author on Facebook    

Simon&Schuster Author Page     Amazon Central Author Page

blog at: www.lyricalpens.com

newsletter sign-up at cjpetterson@gmail.com

Applause for Killer Nashville awards nominees

cj Sez: The dog days of summer were historically the period following the heliacal (sunrise) of the star Dog Star, Sirius. Greek and Roman astrology connected Sirius to heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck.

According to the Farmer’s Almanac, “the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11” are the traditional timing of the Dog Days. As if tradition has anything to do with the weather. 

Suck it up, Buttercups. There’s more hellacious heat and humidity to come.

In the more important news for writers, Killer Nashville (www.KillerNashville.com ) announced the finalists for its 2017 Claymore Award and the Silver Falchion. The winners will be announced at the Killer Nashville Awards Dinner at its International Writers’ Conference on August 26, 2017, in Nashville, TN. 

Do you see anyone you know on these lists?

Top 20 finalists for the 2017 Killer Nashville Claymore Award:  

The 2017 Silver Falchion Award finalists:

CONGRATULATIONS to all on being nominated…and a special fins-crossed-hoping-for-a-win shout-out to my fellow Sisters in Crime/Guppy members I see on the list. WooHoo!

*** 

NEWS NOTE: A request for submissions from Hallmark  . . . and here are the guidelines taken from the website:

“If your book seems like a Hallmark movie or TV series, it might be right for us! We’re looking for male/female romance novels and cozy mystery novels of around 70,000-85,000 words in length. We love romances and mysteries that also celebrate friendship, family, and/or community ties. All stories must have happy endings.” (cj emphasis applied)

http://www.hallmarkchannel.com/hallmark-publishing/write-for-us 

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

cj

Please stand by for a word from my sponsors:

NOW ON AMAZON:  A really amazing, super-duper deal for your summer romance reading.  A Crimson Romance bundle of 10 novels about athletes and the sports they love, Bodies in Motion, includes my novel, Choosing Carter.  10 wonderful reads for 99 cents on Amazon  Other ebook bundles still available on Amazon:  More Than Friends and California Kisses 

My “Bad Day at Round Rock” short story is in The Posse anthology @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD  (8 short stories, still at 99 cents)

cjpetterson/author on Facebook    

Simon&Schuster Author Page     Amazon Central Author Page

blog at: www.lyricalpens.com

newsletter sign-up at cjpetterson@gmail.com

On-line trolls

cj Sez: A fellow writer was grieving and questioning what to do about a one-star review on Amazon that complained about something that wasn’t even in her novel. Obviously, the reviewer hadn’t read the book.

One- and two-star reviews can be devastating, both for future sales and on the author. Wherever there’s an opportunity to post a review, there will be trolls with low ratings—whether they’re warranted or not. I’ve seen reviews by people who purchased an item on Amazon then rated the product one star because they thought delivery took too long. Had nothing to do with the quality of the product.

So where am I going with all that? It’s to reinforce why comments and reviews need to be put in perspective. I go back to the bell curve example (the one I usually use for critiques). Don’t let the bottom naysayers persuade you that your work isn’t good. Hiding within the electronic wafers of the Internet are nameless, faceless, and wretched on-line trolls. (Whew! I feel better now.)

We can’t realistically expect all reviews to be five-stars (okay, we do, anyway). I admit to having desperate pangs when someone dings a story. Yes, it skews the “average,” but then I re-read the good reviews that I do have (some posted, some not) and calm down a bit. I remind myself that I cannot please every reader out there. Duh. That’s the reason there are a gazillion different stories in multiple genres for the gazillion different readers.

If you receive a poor review from an on-line troll, I suggest you consider the source, and please do not respond to the reviewer. That might dig a deeper, darker hole than you want to dive into. For a review like that mentioned in my first paragraph, perhaps a conversation with Amazon (if that’s where it is made) might get the unfair/unjustified review removed. Might. If you're like me, you'll tend to console yourself with a mood enlightening treat.

Banana cake ala mode (quasi healthy?)

Speaking of reviews . . . have you taken the time to give an on-line review for the latest book you read? You might be able to refute some troll.

I’m nearly finished reading my first YA “eco mystery” and have loved it. I sat in on the author’s workshop at the recent Alabama Writer’s Conclave and decided I wanted to see how Claire Datnow incorporated her research into a mystery that would appeal to kids. I don’t usually read YA, but I’ve found this one very well written. When I reach the end of “Operation Terrapin Rescue,” I’m going to find a place to review it.

Personal observation truism: People watching is next to Godliness and cleanliness for writers. It's the reason I can't go to a library or a park or a coffee shop to write. All I do is people watch.

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

cj

NOW ON AMAZON:  A really amazing, super-duper deal for your summer romance reading.  A Crimson Romance bundle of 10 novels about athletes and the sports they love, Bodies in Motion, includes my novel, Choosing Carter.  10 wonderful reads for 99 cents on Amazon  Other ebook bundles still available on Amazon:  More Than Friends and California Kisses 

“Bad Day at Round Rock” short story in The Posse anthology @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD

cjpetterson/author on Facebook    

Simon&Schuster Author Page     Amazon Central Author Page

blog at: www.lyricalpens.com

newsletter sign-up at cjpetterson@gmail.com

Blogger Recognition and how Lyrical Pens came to be

cj Sez:  I’ve been tagged for a Blogger Recognition Award--a kind of blogging award chain letter, and here are the rules:

1- Thank the blogger who nominated you and provide a link to their blog.

2- Write a post to show your award.

3- Give a brief story of how your blog started.

4- Give two pieces of advice to new bloggers.

5- Select other bloggers you want to give this award to.

6- Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them & provide the link to the post you created.

And here are my responses: 

1-  Thanks Candace Marley Connor, a wonderful SCBWI author, mother, and fellow Mobile Writers’ Guild member, for nominating me to participate in this blogging event. It’s a bit like practicing flash fiction, and that’s a great writing exercise.  (By the way, Miz Connor’s post for this event is downright wonderful. Just click on her name to read it.)

2-  I am now writing a post to show my lovely award. 

YIPPEE ! Quite lovely, don’t you agree?

3-  Here’s the brief story of how the Lyrical Pens blog got started:

Lyrical Pens began on June 22, 2009, when I clicked “publish” on my first post. You can click on the date to read it. Joyce Scarbrough was my first (and only) commenter…Thanks, Joyce, although it seems to have started a one-of trend (sigh). The blog was intended as a marketing tool for three writing/critique-group buddies (Mahala Church, Tracy Hurley, and me) who wanted to “get our names out there.” Mahala and Tracy had just co-founded the Mobile Writers’ Guild, and I had joined them as a charter member and Secretary…or maybe that was Treasurer (faulty memory). Go-getter Tracy worked through the technical part of building the website, and it hasn’t changed all that much since it began. Sadly, Tracy Hurley died in December 2010, and Mahala and I carried on. Today, where once there were three, there is now one. Mahala retired from the site in 2016.

4-  Two pieces of advice to new bloggers: First piece of advice comes with a caveat: “To thine own self be true.” That is to say, identify your goal for the blog and write your posts with that in mind. Do you want to share tidbits of personal data to grow your relationship with fans and readers? Do you want to share professional writing stuff for fellow authors? Maybe it’s a combination of both, which is where Lyrical Pens sits, although it does lean more toward the professional writing information.

Second piece of advice: A blog is a great way to build an author brand if you link your posts to your author Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram, et al. Be sure to embed buy links and book trailers.  Did you notice I wrote “author Facebook page?” I have two FB pages, one for personal and one for author stuff. Your personal social media followers aren’t there to be sold to; they want to share conversations. Keep the advertising low-key on those sites. A new book notice or reminder is fine, but heavy slugs of “Buy My Book” advertising in every post might drive away some of your new Friends.

5-  I'm nominating one author, Sojourner McConnell (the nom de plume of Vicki Goodwin Turner), for this award. Sojourner is a relatively new blogger and has a brand new book release with great reviews, “Who’s That in the Cat Pajamas.”   

 

6- I dropped Sojourner a note to alert her about the award.

Okay, that’s my post for today, and I’m sticking to it. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same.

cj

And now a word from my sponsors:

 

NOW ON AMAZON A really amazing super-duper deal for your summer entertainment: Bodies in Motion. A Crimson Romance bundle about athletes and the sports they love includes Choosing Carter (rafting and off-roading)  As of this morning...10 Novels for 99 cents    (Buy Link: http://amzn.to/2turfbP )     Other ebook bundles still available on Amazon:  More Than Friends and California Kisses 

summer reading . . . Arriving tomorrow, July 10:  ,

 “Bad Day at Round Rock” short story in The Posse anthology @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD

cjpetterson/author on Facebook    

Simon&Schuster Author Page     Amazon Central Author Page

blog at: www.lyricalpens.com

newsletter sign-up at cjpetterson@gmail.com 

POSSE TRAILER for "Bad Day" short story:   https://youtu.be/I3jvofqqJwU             

Critique groups

cj Sez:  One of my writing partners once had to leave a long-time relationship with a critique group because one member took a personal dislike to her and made the meetings miserable.

Not a nice thing, and certainly one no writer should have to experience. The fact is, finding a compatible critique group is almost as hard as finding a spouse (okay, maybe not THAT hard).

I know my manuscripts aren't going to please everyone, but what I hope to get out of each meeting are objective comments. I also know that may not happen 100 percent of the time, and that means I analyze critiques of my work on a bell curve.

The comments that fall at either end of the bell curve (Junk on the left end — Raving Marvelous on the right end) carry less weight and can be generally discarded, after I digest them, of course. Sometimes I find a nugget in there that says maybe I should tweak a line or two or three. The critiques I really look at, however, are those that cluster in the middle. This is where the comments seem to focus on the same thing. Sometimes they're positive (ooh, love those comments). More often they point to something that needs a good edit.

I've also found that the level of experience of the author/critiquer/reader is important to how I analyze the critique. Someone, doesn’t have to be an author, who reads a lot in my genre may make exactly the comments I need to hear . . . because s/he could be rendering the opinion of an on-the-library-shelf browser. That browser is the person I want to reach and entertain. I've been fortunate to have found two critiquers of that caliber. They were very helpful.

I’ve also encountered writers who try to squash everything into her/his voice and rules. A bit pedantic, perhaps, but could be helpful in the long run.

Yep, the bell curve works for me, even though negative critiques can sometimes get my goat before I discard them. I've learned that writers have to keep an open mind and be thick-skinned in order to keep writing.

In other news: 

Smashwords conducted a survey which they described as "We're looking to identify potential data driven insights that can help authors and publisher make their books more accessible, more desirable and more enjoyable to readers." You can read more about their results and analyses here:   **  

   http://blog.smashwords.com/2017/06/smashwords-survey-2017.html

(**This caveat from James Jackson, immediate past president of the Guppies, the Sisters in Crime online organization:   “Because Smashworks best sellers and total volume are so skewed to Romance (especially relative to overall book sales by category), applying much of these results to Mystery/Suspense /Thriller is to make the assumption that our readers react the same way Romance readers do. I'm highly skeptical that those who primarily read Romance make the same kinds of purchasing decisions as those who primarily read Mystery/Suspense/Thriller.”)

I've spent the past three days at the Alabama Writers’ Conclave in Hoover, AL (Sunday a.m. headed home as you read this piece). Great learning weekend. Not a lot of money for a lot of info and networking opportunities. I recommend you try it sometime.

Note:  The Alabama Writers' Conclave was organized in 1923 and has been in continuing existence since. To find out more, check out their website: http://www.alabamawritersconclave.org/  

Okay, you-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. In the meanwhile, here's a wish for wonderful successes with your work, and I’d love to hear how you deal with the personalities you’ve encountered in your critique groups. You are in one, aren't you?

cj

God Bless the U.S.A. on its 241st birthday July 4. 

Wishing you and your family a safe and happy celebration.

COMING ATTRACTIONS . . . Arriving July 10:  A new Crimson Romance bundle about athletes and the sports they love, Bodies in Motion, includes Choosing Carter (rafting and off-roading) Watch for it on Amazon.

Ebook bundles still available on Amazon:  More Than Friends and California Kisses 

 “Bad Day at Round Rock” short story in The Posse anthology @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD

cjpetterson/author on Facebook    

Simon&Schuster Author Page     Amazon Central Author Page

blog at: www.lyricalpens.com

newsletter sign-up at cjpetterson@gmail.com

My path to publication

cj Sez: I’m happy to again be able to talk with you about my path to publication in the hope that maybe you’ll find a nugget in here that encourages you to continue on your own path.

I didn’t start writing seriously until I moved to Mobile, AL, in 2002. Since then, I’ve written some personal essays and short stories that have been published in several different anthologies, the latest being "Bad Day at Round Rock" in THE POSSE anthology. When Crimson Romance published my first novel, DEADLY STAR, in 2013, my sister said, “You wrote a whole book? All by yourself?” Yep, that was the summation of my perceived writing skills.

My first interest was in screenwriting. In 2000 or 2001, I think it was, I flew from Detroit to San Francisco to take a three-day seminar from Robert McKee who conducts screenwriting seminars in different cities around the United States and has published a book called STORY. His personalization to me in the book was “Write the truth” which is part of his motto and which I study hard to do.

The experience was invaluable because I began to visualize my stories in terms of the characters’ action-dialogue-and scenes that show the story. How characters react and what they don’t say can speak volumes. I see my scenes as if I’m watching them happen, as in a movie. I do know authors who visualize a particular movie star playing the heroine/hero in their books. Is that something you do? I don’t see a specific person. After I sell the movie rights (HA HA), I’ll leave it to Stephen Spielberg or Francis Ford Coppola to find the best mega-star for the role. To be honest, though, I think Pierce Brosnan would be perfect as the hero in DEADLY STAR.

For most us, and I’m very much included in that generalization, we have a wonderful idea on a theme. (Let me say right here that I don’t plot. I’m a pantser or more accurately, a pathfinder. I know how I want the story to end, but getting there is the exciting part for me.) It’s the middle that really gets us. It wants to sag. Like an old married couple, sometimes the excitement fades away after a while—unless, like that old married couple, we work at it.  

Working at it may mean changing some things around. When I make changes in the middle, it almost always mean rewriting the first chapter more than a few times. What helps me out is to read the dialogue aloud. Does it sound natural? Are the sentences so complete and full of blah-blah information that they slow the pace of the story? I’m currently reading a contest submission that reads like a daily journal. I appreciate that the author is introducing the reader to the main character. However, there are no teasers that entice me to keep turning the pages until the middle of page three. 

Sluggish pacing can happen in any part of a novel, but it very often happens in the middle of a story. When the dreaded saggy middle shows up, I may need to reinvent someone, maybe add another challenge (read that conflict) or two for the protagonist to bring back the thrill.  Structured pacing also suffers when I’m trying to get the word count up. As a former journalist and an admirer of Robert B. Parker’s writing style, I write very tight. My first drafts average about 62,000 words. However, extra words that slow the pacing and detract from the story seem to fly onto the pages when I’m racing to type “The End.”

Once I get the concept down and slog through the research, writing any story is all about editing and changes. Sometimes, I see a need to change a character’s name, a story thread, a sentence structure, or, as was true for DEADLY STAR, the whole genre.

DEADLY STAR didn’t start off as a romance. Over the course of writing and editing the manuscript, which took about four years (do I write slow or what?), one of my critique partners thought the story might be marketed as an action/adventure. Another said it was a woman-in-peril story, a third said political thriller. Someone even floated the idea that it was sci-fi.

Then, because there was a love scene in the story—let me add a disclaimer here, it isn’t a bodice-tearing romp—I recklessly entered excerpts of the manuscript into two romance contests. The judges in each thought the concept and story were good, except it needed a happily ever after ending. One judge said she was tempted to throw it against the wall because it didn’t meet the HEA criterion. I decided the story might work as a romantic suspense novel if I made a change, or three, within the manuscript and, of course, changed the ending.

Revisions done, Crimson Romance offered me a contract about three weeks after I submitted my e-query and synopsis, and DEADLY STAR was published eleven months later. I’d stumbled…been pushed, really…into the correct genre.

The message is this: Don’t be afraid or unwilling to make changes in your manuscript but do so with a caveat. Before you make wholesale changes, be sure you’ve looked at the manuscript as objectively as possible. Put the piece aside, for several days at least, much longer if possible.

You can ask any of my critique partners, and they’ll tell you I’m making changes to my WIP as the pages leave my computer and are headed for theirs. I’ve been known to send an immediate follow-up note screaming in all capital letters: DON’T PRINT WHAT I JUST SENT YOU. HERE’S THE LATEST AND GREATEST.

After working with CEOs and vice presidents and directors who loved to thumbprint every piece of paper that crossed their desks, I do understand that my words, no matter how beautiful I think they are, are not carved in stone. And, if I can’t use them in one story, I can save them for another.

When I do need to consider a wholesale change to my manuscript, I try to keep in mind that, as one of my critique partners always said, I am the captain of my story. Change can be a good thing, but to change or not to change is up to me.

That’s all for now. You-all guys keep on keeping on, and I’ll try to do the same. And to all my writer friends, I hope all your characters are happy in your head . . . we're all doing pretty well in mine. Comments? Questions? There's a spot open and waiting for those at the bottom of the post.

cj

And now a word from my sponsors:

COMING ATTRACTIONS . . . Arriving July 10:  A new Crimson Romance bundle about athletes and the sports they love, Bodies in Motion, includes Choosing Carter (rafting and off-roading)     Watch for it on Amazon.

Ebook bundles still available on Amazon:  More Than Friends and California Kisses 

 “Bad Day at Round Rock” short story in The Posse anthology @ http://amzn.to/2lQRvcD

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