Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing ABCs - Plot or Characters #MFRWauthor #amwriting

Which comes first, plot or characters is much discussed by authors. There are some who find characters looking for a story and by using these chracters wants and needs a story evolves. Other writers have a whole plot down and are looking for characters. At least that's what they say. My truth is that plot and characters go hand in hand. Sometimes a character will take a turn that throws the story off balance and sometimes a plot wants to force the characters into actions they don't want to perform.

I've read some books that acually bore me. They show the characters in many scenes, incidents where they perform actions but these stories have no goal. There's no roadmap showing where they are going and what they want to achieve. They become chracter studies but not books.

Then there are stories that are all plot and the characters mean nothing to the road to the end. The characters could by anyone and often change their natures as the writer needs them to become.

So as you sit to write your story remember to keep your characters consistent and to have a roadmap they will follow to reach the end. This will make a satisfying story.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Finding Your Voice #MFRWauthor #writing

While reading Anne Lamott's Bird By Bird, I came upon an essay on Voice, the writer's voice. Just as each of us has a distinct speaking voice, we also have a writing voice. This is through choices of words, nouns verbs, helping words. Working to find your unique voice happens over the years. At first you may semi-imitate another writer or your voice is buried under the demands of learning the mechanicsof writing. Mechanics can be taught. Voice is developed.

I once read three historical novels for acontest and I really shook my head. All the books sounded the same though a different author and a different time period was covered by the books. Wondering why this had happened I looked at several things. First, the publisher was the same and second so was the editor. What did this tell me?

Each house has what is sort of deemed house style. This editor did a marvelous job of removing the unique aturor's voice and making it the house voice. Certain adjectives and adverbs were found in the books. Certain verbs and nouns were used.

So what can a writer do if someone tries to ruin their voice by editing it from the story? Either accept or go through the edits and accept only those that enhance their voice and reject those that are editorial in flavor. Hard to do but having a reader say after reading a few pages, "I know this author. I like this author."

Each writer has a voice, a unique voice.

Meandering On Monday with Janet Lane Walters #MFRWauthor #poetry #amwriting

Meander 1 - Poem - Good Friday

These may be out of season but they were written in 1975 oh so many years ago. This is a poem cycle.

Good Friday

Burn the palms of yesteryear.
Bring them to the altar,
Ashes of another life,
And another being.
Secrets carried in the heart,
Little sins and big.
Pile them high upon the dish,
Scapegoat them away.
Build the pyre. Build it high.
Light the fire. Touch the flame.
Watch them burn and purify,
Secrets from the soul.
Hidden things you never knew
Lurked to startle you.
Given as a gift
To burn and cleanse the soul.
Wear them black upon your brow.
Show the world you know
What you were just yesterday
And hope to be no more.
Ashes of remembrance.
Ashes of your life.
Burn the palms of yesterday
And come to see yourself.

Meander 2 - Retreat.- Last weekend I met with a dozen members of Hudson Valley Romance Writers at a spa to write and discuss many things. Two of the people didn't stay over night but 10 of us did. We had lots of laughs and lots of talk about writing. We also had a new drink. Tangerine Rum and for some Diet Coke and for others regular. Call it the Steph. Friday out to dinner at an Italian restaurant where the food was good but they charged for refills. Spent Saturday morning with a small business meeting. Had some interesting bits about our contest. Early Bird special and then a price hike. We'll see how it works. Then we sat and wrote. Everyone with their computers and me with my paper and pen. Managed to put down 2000 words. I write fast. Snacks provided by the spa and then lunch. Afternoon, a bit more writing and then some of us read for critique. I managed what I had set out to do and that was good. Evening dinner at the spa but I've written about that before. Then sitting around drinking and telling jokes. Was a lot of laughs. Over all the retreat was a success and hopefully this will become larger as the years move forward.

Meander 3 Writing - Have almost finished typing in the stuff for Book 5 of At First Sight. Book 4 is up for pre-order. Must promote that soon. Am continuing my project. Learning about horses and stables and trying to make the romance prominent and not bogging the story doen with research.

Sunday's Book - Bast's Warrior - Janet Lane Walters #MFRWauthor #paranormalromance #reincarnation

Tira flees a threat to her life and encounters two elderly women who offer her the chance to be sent to an alternate ancient Egypt with no thought of return. She has had a fascination with Egypt and can even read hieroglyphics. Once there she will be given a task. Failure could mean death. Dare she take the chance and can she find the lost symbols of the rule before an enemy finds them?

Kashe, son of the nomarch of Mero is in rebellion. His father desires him to join the priesthood of Aken Re, a foreign god. He feels he belongs to Horu, god of warriors and justice. He decides to leave home, meets Tira and joins her in the search for the symbols of the rule. Will his aid bring good fortune and will their growing love keep them from making a fatal mistake?

Previously published as The Warrior of Bast

"This engaging voyage into an ancient Egypt that includes power-hungry priests and hazardous treasure hunts entertains from page one. Familial intrigue heightens the tension, as does a kidnapping or two. The cast of characters is dynamic and complements the well-conceived plot." ~ 4 Stars, Susan Mobley, Romantic Times Magazine

 Entrancing Story!, March 26, 2015

By 

KittyKitty

This review is from: Bast's Warrior (An Alternate Egypt Book 1) (Kindle Edition)

I loved the book. The story was fascinating and well written. My only problem with the book was the editing - or, rather, the lack of it It was as if it had never been proofread, or perhaps only by a computer. There were many punctuation errors and several places where a word was used that caused the sentence to be nearly meaningless. Perhaps this is nitpicking, but it seriously interfered with a very interesting and well thought-out story. This said, I really liked the book and intend to read the others in the series. I just hope someone read through them before printing! 

Saturday's Blurbs feature Books by Claire Gem #MFRWauthor #Paranormal #Contemporary

PHANTOM TRACES: A history professor in a tweed jacket, a cheeky Goth chick, and a pipe-smoking, book-hurling ghost. Put them all together in an antiquated library and, well…

Professor Jack Wood’s silver-streaked hair definitely ages him, and he can thank Killer Dawn for that. He won’t be falling into the love trap again anytime real soon. But this new librarian has him curious, with her head-to-toe black Goth garb, piercings, and a defiant attitude to match. Definitely not his type of girl, but still…

Abigail Stryker’s got her work cut out for her. The last two librarians didn’t last a month before airborne books chased them off. But Abby’s determined to make her new life a go–and to stay as far away from older men as possible. Once was enough. Might be tough to do when the library’s best patron is none other than dreamy-eyed Jack Wood. And it seems the eccentric ghost may have taken a shine to her as well.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Phantom-Traces-Claire-Gem-ebook/dp/B00TR7ICIE/ref=cm_cr_pr_pdt_img_top?ie=UTF8

Available in eBook, Paperback, and Audiobook

Book Trailer: http://bit.ly/1T9KwUN

:

HEARTS UNLOCHED

Erato Publishing

A psychic interior designer reluctantly agrees to renovate a sexy investor’s abandoned hotel on a lake rumored to have once been the mob’s body dumping ground.

Interior designer Kate Bardach loves her single girl’s lifestyle—living in Manhattan and spending weekends at her lake house. She’s passionate about her career, reinventing old buildings. But there are some projects she can’t take on because of the spirits trapped there. Kate is psychic—she sees dead people.

Marco Lareci is one of Wall Street’s most successful investment brokers who’s achieved all of his life’s goals—except for finding his soulmate.  His latest project, an abandoned resort on Loch Sheldrake, needs a savvy designer to transform the crumbling complex into a boutique hotel. When Marco meets Kate, he can’t believe his luck. She’s the perfect match for his business and his heart.

Marco’s body excites Kate even more than does his renovation project. But the haunting there, a bonafide poltergeist, affects her on an intensely personal level. Kate’s aunt disappeared from the place fifty years ago.

Will the spirit doom Kate and Marco’s love, or drive them closer together?

Video Clip

Book Trailer

Amazon Link

Friday - What She Was Before featuring Claire Gem #MFRWauthor

1. What were you in your life before you became a writer? Did this influence your writing?

Ha! Which era? I've been a hairdresser, a bridal gown designer, and owned a small craft business. I've lived in states, been an accomplished equestrienne, and even raised show Persian cats for awhile. I'm a wife of 38 years, a mother of three (including a set of twin boys!), and grandmother of a 3 year old. Right now I work in scientific research - all of these experiences provide ample fodder for the stories I craft, and I do draw on them often.

2 Are you genre specific or general? Why? I don't mean genres like romance, mystery, fantasy etc. There are many subgenres of the above.

I call my genre New Gothic because it doesn't fit neatly into any one particular subgenre. My stories are contemporary romances, but there is always a mystery, and always a haunting. Contemporary romance with a Paranormal twist.

3. Did your reading choices have anything to do with your choice of a genre or genres?

Yes - I absolutely love authors like Susanna Kearsley, Simone St James, and the late, great Barbara Michaels, who write a similar flavor of mystery/ghost stories to my own. When I ran out of great ghost stories to read, especially those with a contemporary romance in the mix, I decided it was time to write my own.

4. What's your latest release?

HEARTS UNLOCHED, due out today, is the second of my New Gothic romances. The tagline: A psychic interior designer reluctantly agrees to renovate a sexy investor's crumbling hotel on Loch Sheldrake, a lake rumored to have once been the mob's body dumping ground.

5. What are you working on now?

My next projects are to write a prequel to PHANTOM TRACES, my first New Gothic. Tagline: Take a sexy history professor, a geeky Goth chick, and a pipe-smoking, book hurling ghost. Put them together in an antiquated library and...well...

The prequel will take the reader back to six months before PHANTOM TRACES' heroine, Abigail Stryker, took over the library after the ghost chased out the first three replacements of the long-time retiree.

My next New Gothic will be SPIRITS OF THE HEART, set on the grounds of an abandoned mental asylum.

6. Where can we find you?

www.clairegem.com

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/8284235.Claire_Gem

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/clairegem.author/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Twitter: https://twitter.com/gemwriter

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/gemwriter/

Thursday's Opening Scene - Seducing the Innkeeper #MFRWauthor

Seducing The Innkeeper

Chapter One

Christa Sommers counted the receipts for the restaurant and the bar of Green Mountain Inn. She rubbed her forehead and stared at the totals. As she matched the copies of the bills with the cash and credit card slips she clenched her teeth. Someone had slipped with a heavy hand into the cash and she knew the identity of the culprit or culprits. A hundred dollars short. Last week the shortage had been nearly four hundred.

She reached for the stack of just paid bills. For the fourth month she had to use money from the room rentals to cover the bar and restaurant expenses. Her stomach roiled. The time had come to inform the thieves and ignore the guilt trip they would attempt to use again. This time she wouldn’t cave. She might even call the police. But they were family and she had very few relatives.

“Mom, when are we leaving?”

Christa smiled at her son. “Give me ten minutes.” She tousled Davy’s blonde hair and felt a pang of regret. He looked so much like the father he didn’t know.

Do not walk that road. She had no time for regrets. She wrote the last check and sealed the envelope. After putting the money and credit card slips in a deposit bag she reached for her jacket.

Before she and Davy reached the office door her half-sisters barged into the room. She looked at her son.  He didn’t need to hear another quarrel with the pair. “Davy, wait for me outside.”

He glared at the two young women. “Okay.”

Christa cleared her throat. “Just what is your problem today?” She waited for one of them to speak.

“You have to look at this brochure.” Peggy waved a paper. “This is absolutely what Stel and I need to survive boredom. The guests who stay here are old.”

“We need to have some fun,” Stella added. “Meet young and very eligible guys.”

“No cruise.” Christa noted the prices. “This is out of the question.” Though the guests who come to view the fall foliage were older they were little problem. “I’m no longer paying for your fun and games.”

“Why not?” Stella fisted her hands on her hips. “You owe us. Remember where you were when Mom and Dad died. We were left alone and ended in that place for six weeks.”

Christa swallowed. She wouldn’t bite this time “I said so. You need to find jobs.”

“We have them here,” Peggy said.

Stella sneered. “Right. Steering old people to tables and running the cash drawer. Getting paid pennies. All we need is a few thou.”

Christa shook her head. “Not possible. We need to discuss the money that’s missing from the restaurant and bar registers. There are discrepancies.”

Peggy stepped closer. “If people didn’t use credit cards we could have all we want.”

Stella nodded. “She’s right. We just need a vacation. A singles’ cruise is perfect. We might find the right men.”

Christa remembered the bills from the vacation the pair had taken in June to celebrate Peggy’s college graduation. And the problems presented by the two men who had followed them to the inn hoping to share the bounty. At twenty-two and twenty-three her half sisters were selfish and self-centered. When would they stop blaming her for an accident that hadn’t been her fault? She had been out of touch when they’d needed her. The single time had happened years ago. The time had come for them to be responsible for their own lives.

Peggy planted her hands on the desk. “Why do we always have to fight for our share of the inn’s profits?”

Christa drew a deep breath. “You have no share.”

“So you say.” Stella glared. “On Monday we’re calling a lawyer.”

“Go ahead. Do that instead of taking the path you need to find jobs.” There she’d said what she’d avoided since Peggy had graduated in June.

“What are you talking about?” Stella’s voice rose to a strident pitch. “We own more of this dump than you. Mom said no matter what happened to Dad we were set for life.”

“She lied.” Christa knew her father had told his second wife lies about the ownership of the inn. Until his death he’d been her guardian with no more than a life tenancy. After his death she’d learned her mother had left the inn to her. “You also need to know the inn is for sale.”

“You can’t do that,” Peggy said.

“We won’t sign,” Stella added.

“Your signatures aren’t needed. Now hear this.” Before she could tell them her next part of the offer the pair stomped away.

Christa slumped in a chair. Their anger and the thefts weren’t her fault except she had allowed the pilfering to continue all summer. She had meant to tell them the moment Peggy had graduated from college. As usual she had tabled the confrontation. No longer. They had to learn their free-loading days had ended.

“Mom, when are we going?”

“Now.” She grabbed the stack of envelopes and the deposit bag and followed her son to the Jeep. A grin turned her lips upward. She had finally grown a spine. The trick was finding a way to keep the bones firmly in place.

* * *

Wednesday's Writer's Tip _ Writing ABC's - Ideas #MFRWauthor #Writing

I've decdied to start a seriesof posts based on when I've read books and part of books for critiqueand in contests. I'll start from the beginning and give a little bit of a hint of how I do this and the things I've read about each of the stories I've read, the ones where the author has interested me and the ones who have failed to do this. I won't mention names or give bits of stories but this will be the ideas behind the successes and failures.

The first thing is ideas. I've read many stories where the idea that sent the writer to write a story. They read, see or hear something that sets them to explore. What I've found her while reading these stories is some of the ideas are very trite and don't have a twist on what the writer is staying. They're just like a million other stories I've read. Sometimes the writing is brilliant but I still yawn and think of ten other stories where the same idea is used.

Then there are the stories and I've seen the old idea for a story given a new twist. The twist is what makes the story different and brings the reader in me to sit up and notice. Sometimes the writing is brilliant and I'm swept away. Even when the writing is clumsy and difficult the idea shines through and once the writer learns the building blocks of writing fiction they go on to improve each time they write a story.

There are writers who use the same basic idea time and time again writing enough books to make a series. Their readers continue to give readers what they want to hear.

The world is filled with ideas and it's up to the writer to spin a story that is just a bit different from the stories using the same idea people have written before. So take your idea and examine it with care and spin the story as best as you ca. As you continue to write you'll hopefully learn the building blocks to making a story sing and you're on the way to becoming a story teller.

Tuesday's Inspiration - Inspired by Bird by Bird - Publication #MFRWauthor #inspiration

I chuckled when I read the first sentence of Anne Lamott's essay. "Publication is not going to change your life or solve your problems." How right she is though it sort of changes your life. Suddenly you add a new hat to the ones you're wearing. Idea finder, writer, typist, submitter. Promoter comes to mind and promoting is something you must do. If not the only people who will buy your book will be the few friends and relatives who make the purchase to support you. Then you have to find ways to stir the interest of other people. There's social networking, there are book signings and other fun and not so fun things. Getting your name out there and showing others that your book is an interesting event. Take this slow and easy and learn as you go. There are ads you can buy and they may work or not work. You can hope people will review your books and say glowing words. All this is part of promotion.

So take courage and send yourself into the fray and hope selling your book gives you confidence - probably won't since you don't want to be a one book wonder. Selling that book won't change your appearance and it probably won't make you rich, though that does sometimes happen but usually not with the first book. So ease into tis world and accept the role of promoter. You may find this takes too much time but it's what you have to do.

Meandering On Monday with Janet Lane Walters #MFRWauthor #poetry #amwriting

Meander 1 - Poem - Soap Bubbles

Soap Bubbles

Those days were childhood, sunshine times and we
Found no misting phantoms just our breaths
Gently blowing bubbles of the mind. Freely
Letting love fly, no thoughts of making choices,
Soapbubbles floating innocentlysurround
Our heads. Children in our buoancy, Wave
The wand abd watch the beads dancing around.
Turning irridescent ranbows, We gave
Each other laughter bubbling from our souls.
In irised fantasies painted on the breeze
Sometimes two bubbles met, joined to make a whole.
We stretched and reached to learn.
Vanished bubbles. Tear damp skin. Drying slowly
In the sun. Childhood's hiddeb deep in memory.

Meander 2 - Writing Retreat. Ten spent Friday night talking and laughing over dinner at an Italian restaurant. Dinner was excellent. We returned to settle in and prepare for the next day of writing. Saturday 10 plua 2 arrived in the meeting room. Were they buns or croussants? I will enver know. Breakfast was good but the fruit salad held too much melon. Coffee was strong. Took six packets of sugar to tame the taste. Had a meeting and then took time for a meeting. Made a change to the contest for the entries. 10 dollars if you enter early, 15 if late. Sounds like a plan and we'll try it. Then we wrote from about 10 until 12 with a break for lunch and then wrote again until about 2:15. Then critique. Seems I managed what I had intended to try.  Around 5 we sought others. Headed to the bar. Decided to eat there. Not nice person wouldn't set a table for 10 people. Don't know why. So we ate where the place would be a dance floor. Anthony, bar tender extroidenary took our orders. Tried tangerine rum in diet Coke first. Too bitter much better when used in regular Coke. Then went to rum and Coke straight. Manager comped one of the drinks. Stayed until they were getting ready to set up our space as the dance floor. Went to our room and I read.

Meander 2 - Writing - Managed to hit 2000 words yesterday. May be less today but that's all right. I will move forward with this project. and then it will be on to other things.