Wednesday, May 10, 2017

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Writing Vividly #MFRWauthor #Writing

When I finish a rough draft of a story and look over what's been written, I know the story needs to be re-written and beefed up. The rough draft is dull and boring. What I need to do is make the writing vivid.  How?

Using the senses in description, character development and plot involving. Sight. sound, touch, taste and smell are ways to bring vivid elements to the story. But this isn't enough.

Finding specific words also helps. You can say car, but the Mercedes, low slung convertible, hybrid, ordinary sedan, coupe are ways to bring the vehicle into view and may also say something about your character. Try this for other words. Not flowers but bold mums, white roses. All these things bring a vivid touch to your story.

Then there are verbs. Try for active ones, not the common ones. Take walk. He walked across the room. He strode across the room. He sidles across the room. All these can make the story come alive.

Forward movement. Lots of long passages of backstory slow the plot and may pull the reader from the story. Use flashbacks in short instances rather than long and the reader will gain information and not be pulled from the current story. At first this can be hard so when you start a flashback that is longer than perhaps a paragraph or two, make sure the reader will want to know this information, not the author. Sometimes we put in information we as writers need to know but the reader only needs this in brief moments.

Substitute action for adverbs. These are often ly ending words. So find a way to describe happily, sadly and angrily. Show the character reacting and the bit becomes vivid.

Tuesday, May 9, 2017

Tuesday - The Writer's Life - Creating a Back List #MFRWauthor #amwriting #Books


An important part of the writer's life is creating a back list. Every time you write a new book, the previous one or ones become a part of your important back list. Often when a reader likes the new book you've written, they will search for other books you've written.

A great thing to read in a review is "I'll read more books from this author." Hopefully they will and each sale boosts your numbers and your value as a writer.

How do you create a back list? By writing new books. This can be done by writing a sequel to the book you've just published. Another is to write a trilogy of time, place or characters. The third is to develop a series often using the same place and time. Characters from one book in the series can be viewed momentarily in the other books but don't let them take over. Your new characters must be the right ones.

Monday, May 8, 2017

Meandering on Monday with Janet Lane Walters #MFRWauthor #Poem #Writing

Meander 1 - Poem - People

People are like that.
Like waht?
Differemt yet the same.
Problem-filled.
Indifferent
Understanding.
The whole gamut.
They undergo
And forward
And backward
And standing still.
People are like that.

Meander 2 - Watching - My husband of many, many years is slowly disintegrating. While on the surface I seem calm and strong, inside there beats a bleeding heart.

Meander 3 - Writing is still on the revision road. I'm reading and catching problems in older books preparing them for publication. What surprises me is some of them are good and a few are great - in my eyes. I have completed four out of ten and will soon add a fifth. Then I will be half done. My printer dies and replacing the print heads cost more than a new printer. Shame since this one has given me a great mileage. Learning and installing a new one will be interesting but I will persevere.

Sunday, May 7, 2017

Sunday's Book - The Temple of Fyre #MFRWauthor #Fantasy #Magic

Temple of Fyre (Island of Fyre Book 1)



Sold by her family to the priestesses of the Temple of Fyre, Ria soon masters using each of the four fyrestones, white, yellow, orange and scarlet. Her curiosity leads her to the archives and there, she learns things that disturb her. There are no men serving as priests but in the past there were. Men are kept in the harras where the priestesses visit. On the day of her testing she is ordered to perform a task she dislikes and refuses to destroy a town. Many of the priestesses fall into unconsciousness. Melera, the chief priestess, beats and banishes Ria for the carrion crows to consume.

Ari was abandoned as a child and found by two elderly firestone miners. He has pursued this and is the best of the finders. He goes to the temple to sell the stones he has gleaned. On leaving, Ria attempts to steal the fyrestone he has worn since the day he was found. He thinks she is a boy and a thief and he takes her to his room at the inn. On discovering her identity, he refuses to turn her over to the priestesses and they leave town. They are searching for the fabled blue fyrestones. They also learn to use them they must be bonded physically, emotionally and spiritually. Can they learn to master the blue stones and defeat Malera so they can rule the temple with love and understanding?

Saturday, May 6, 2017

Saturday's Blurbs - Featuring Books by Andrea Cooper #MFRWauthor #Paranormal


Renee Maxwell lands her dream job as assistant to archaeologist Damon Cubins in wondrous Turkey. However, she starts seeing strange things after finding a unique crystal. For one, hot Damon now looks like the sexy demi-god and underwear model of her dreams. Her feminist ideals are challenged with each bit of banter and seductive look he gives her, but she's not falling for his charm.

Time is of the essence for incubus, Damon Cubins, who must find a one-of-a-kind crystal or turn into a full-fledged demon. He has neither the time nor desire for love, but his new assistant tests his resolve. When he discovers she’s got the crystal he needs to save himself, he must make a decision to either romance it from her or walk away. But can he?



 She has seduced men everywhere…but never fallen in love. Until now.

Succubus Adeline lost her powers. The crystal that all her kind crave has attached itself to her and rendered her powerless. Unless she finds a way to remove it, she’ll transform into a human--a fate worse than death.

Soon the tables are turned on the succubus, and the succubus finds herself the one at the mercy of desire.

Jack is running from vamps and weres. They want his hidden doppelgänger talents to locate a stone that enables weres to transform at will, but he just wants to be left alone. Now he has a bounty hunter after him.

In a race against time, vampires, and weres, Adeline and Jack travel from Boston to Greece to New Orleans to stay ahead of the hunters.

When Jack confronts a dangerous voodoo queen alone, Adeline learns that love is sacrifice. But will they both survive the lesson?

No man can resist a siren’s song…
Cassie must convince a CEO to give her interior decorating company a chance at his offices in order to stay in the black. But even using her half-siren voice, he refuses. What can she do to change his mind?
Daniel Davis has a secret he’s paid hundreds of thousands to keep that way. Now when exotic Cassie marches into his office, he can’t stop thinking about her and makes her an offer. Be his date for a high-profile party and he’ll consider her company for his office redecorating project.
After an accident, Cassie gives Daniel her blood to heal him. Trouble is, if she can’t keep him alive, he’ll become a soulless ghoul.
Worse, someone is out to kill him. Can Cassie keep him alive…both in fighting her nature and from whoever is after him?

Buy Links Claimed:

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Buy Link Lyric:

Amazon/ KU : http://a.co/c64SbkO


Friday, May 5, 2017

Friday's Guest - Featuring Andrea Cooper MFRWauthor #paranormal #fantasy

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

Before I was a writer, I was a kid who loved making up characters and stories. I didn’t read much because the stories I loved and wanted were forbidden in my parent’s home. Of course, that didn’t mean I snuck in a few growing up. I wasn’t allowed to read or watch anything with magic or paranormal. So naturally, I craved those stories.

As an adult, I devoured as many books as I could of fantasy and paranormal, but it wasn’t enough. And I missed the characters I had created as a kid. I decided to try and write a novel, as I’d written poetry for years, and haven’t stopped creating and writing since.

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.

Primarily, I write paranormal romance, fantasy, and historical romance. However, I’ve also written romantic suspense and dabbled in urban fantasy.

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

Yes! I write the genres I love to read. I couldn’t write a story if I didn’t enjoy reading it or the genre.

4. What's your latest release?

Lyric Book 2.5 in my paranormal romance series. It features a half-siren who must use her powers to get her company out of the red. However, her intended target is unaffected by her voice. Somehow, she must convince him to take on her firm.

5. What are you working on now?

Currently, I’m working on an urban fantasy. It’s one of the genres I enjoy reading, but I’ve never written before. I depend on my beta readers to give me their opinions and if they like the story.

6. Where can we find you?

My website is www.andreaRcooper.com

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Thursday's First and Second Scenes - Murder and Mint Tea #MFRWauthor #mystery #Maine Coon Cat

Chapter 1

The pale winter sun shone through the kitchen window. I cleaned the last of the mess from my adventure. The caper hadn’t gone as planned. How many do? In my many years of life, most of my plans had taken an unexpected turn.
“Merup.” Robespierre, my Maine Coon cat, announced a visitor on the way. He’s almost as good as a doorbell. The firm rap on the door told me this wasn’t one of my female friends. “Come in.”
Pete Duggan strode across the room and thrust a bouquet of bright carnations into my hands. A red hue, almost as vivid as his hair, stained his face. “Mrs. Miller, got to hand it to you. I’ve come to eat crow.”
To hide a smile I buried my face in the flowers and inhaled the spicy fragrance. “How about chocolate chip cookies and mint tea instead?”
“Sounds great.” He straddled one of the chairs at the table and picked up the local newspaper. “Local Woman Thwarts Robbers.” His grin made him look like the ten-year-old who had moved into the corner house on my block. He cleared his throat. “The guys at the station ribbed me about this. Did you forget the plan?”
How, when the idea to catch the real thieves had been mine? A series of burglaries had plagued the neighborhood for months and had troubled me. Especially when the police had decided two teenage neighbor boys were the culprits. I knew the pair and had disagreed strongly enough to set myself up as a victim. Then I informed Pete.
“Did you forget?” he repeated. “When I crept up the stairs and saw you grappling with one of the men, I nearly had a heart attack.”
Heat singed my cheeks. “How was I to know my date would poop out early?”
After filling two mugs with mint tea I opened a tin of freshly baked cookies. How could I admit to a nagging doubt, or tell him I had wanted to be part of the action? In July I had turned sixty-five and in September retired from the nursing staff at Tappan Zee Memorial Hospital. Six months of placid existence had made me edgy. Lunch with friends, coffee with the neighbors and weekly bridge games with old cronies bored me. These events held none of the challenge of meeting crises at the hospital.
Pete scowled. “You could have gone to the Prescott's house.”
“They’re away.” I sipped the tea and savored the cool mint flavor.
“The Randal’s’ then.” He pulled the other mug across the table. “The guys insist the two of us make one perfect cop. Want to hire on?”
“I’ve no desire for a third career.” Until my husband’s death twenty-five years ago I had been the organist and choir director at St. Stephens Episcopal Church. Needing a way to support myself and my son, I enrolled in the nursing program at the community college. “Besides, I’m too old.”
“Old, never. You look the same as when we moved here.”
“It’s the dye.” His puzzled look tickled me. Dyeing my hair makes me look younger. “I came into the world with red hair and I intend to leave the same way.”
Laughter rumbled deep in his chest. “A worthy ambition you nearly fulfilled last night.” He touched my hand. “Thanks again. You kept me from making a mistake that could have ruined those boys.”
I lifted my mug and inhaled the aromatic steam. The evidence against the pair had been circumstantial and strong. They had done odd jobs at all the houses that had been burglarized. “I’ve known them since they were infants. Nothing I’ve ever seen in their actions to make me believe they were guilty.”
Pete made a face. “I’ve known them just as long. Didn’t stop me from suspecting them. How could you be sure?”
“Forty years of living in the same house has attuned me to the rhythms of the neighborhood.”
“Twenty years hasn’t helped me.”
“There’s living and living.” Some people are so concerned with the melody they never hear the underlying harmonics. As a musician I’ve learned to listen. As a nurse I know how to evaluate symptoms that are sometimes similar but are caused by different diseases. Those traits are a vital part of my nature.
I set the mug on the table. “Don’t blame yourself. You weren’t the only one to suspect the boys. No harm was done.”
He finished the cookie he held and rose. “No harm. Maybe some good. I’ll try looking beneath the surface.”
“That’s a great idea.”
He grinned. “I’m out of here. Work tonight.” He zipped his green down jacket. “How about acting as my silent partner?”
I laughed. “Go away with your nonsense.”
Just them the cat door opened. Robespierre made a grand entrance. Flakes of snow dotted his brown and black fur. His gait suggested a mission. He halted in front of Pete and banged the young policeman’s leg with his head.
Pete crouched and scratched the cat’s head. “Not my fault, old man. She jumped in on her own.”
Robespierre’s rumbling purr suggested he understood and accepted Pete’s explanation.
“He’s been out of sorts since the thieves visited.”
“Me, too.” Pete hugged me. “Never again. Promise. We need you around. Think about being a silent partner. There are times when I need someone to listen.”
“If listening is all you need, I’ll be here. No more active involvement in crime for me.”
“See you.” He clattered down the stairs.
Until I heard the front door close I remained at the top of the steps. Silent partner, no way. I rubbed the tender spot on my head where I’d been bashed. I had enough experience with crime to last the rest of my life.

* * *

During the night, Saturday’s few snowflakes became a blizzard and prevented an early morning walk. Though I could have returned to bed, habits formed during my years of being at the hospital before seven AM were hard to break. I sat on the window seat in the living room and stared through the glass at a white world.
When I converted the small Victorian house into two apartments, the second floor with its view had been my choice. In the autumn after the leaves fall, the Hudson River is visible. River watching has always relaxed me. This morning the heavy snowfall kept visibility to inches. No cars moved along the street and no people strolled on the sidewalks.
I poured a second mug of tea and scratched Robespierre’s head. Moments later he yawned and stretched, arching his back with a suppleness that brought a sigh of envy. He leaped from the window seat and stalked to the kitchen. The doorbell rang and I went to answer. The young boys from across the street stood at the top of the steps. They stomped snow from their boots.
“Boy, Mrs. Miller, there’s two feet of snow and it’s still falling.” Larry Randal grinned.
“But there’ll be school tomorrow,” Jamal said. “Bummer.”
“Thought you liked school.”
He shrugged. “It’s okay but I need a vacation.”
“You just had mid-winter break.”
“I know.”
I chuckled. Blonde hair stuck around the edge of Larry’s cap. His cheeks glowed apple red. The cold had burnished his foster brother’s coffee-colored skin. The boys jostled in the doorway each trying to be first inside.
“If there’s no paper, why are you here?”
Larry held up an orange plastic bag. “We brought the part that came yesterday.”
“We have to shovel your walk.” Jamal grinned. “And invite you to dinner this evening.”
“I’ll let your mother know.” A glance inside the bag showed the New York Times magazine was there. Part of my Sunday routine remained. “Want some cookies to take home?”
Identical grins spread across their faces. “You bet,” they chorused.
“If you come, could you bake a chocolate cake?” Jamal asked.
“Brownies,” Larry said.
“I’ll see.”
“All right.” Two hands pumped in the air. “You always say that when you mean yes.”
I took a plastic bag of cookies from the freezer and filled a middle-size tin. “Share them with Becca and the twins.”
“Yes.” They dashed downstairs and banged the door on the way out.
After pulling the magazine from the bag and opening it to the puzzle, I snapped on the radio. Instead of classical music, a lengthy list of cancellations poured from the speaker. Looked like no one was going anywhere. I tackled the puzzle until the phone rang.
“Mom, guess I won’t pick you up for church.”
“Not unless you bought a snow mobile.”
“Even then I wouldn’t chance the trip.”
Andrew is thirty-nine, a psychiatrist and cautious. He’s never made a decision without weighing the possibilities at least three times.
“I’ll be fine. The boys have shoveled the walk and Sarah invited me to dinner.”
“Mom’s second family.”
Was there a trace of envy in his voice? Though he and Bob Randal had been friends since infancy they had drifted apart. Sadly their chosen lifestyles made the difference seem almost permanent and I had no solution.
“Andrew.” A note of chiding crept into my voice.
“Tell Bob hello.”
“You could do that yourself.”
“And risk Sarah snagging me to speak to one of the groups she champions. I’ve no desire to talk about the trauma of potty training to the development of a child’s personality.”
His dislike of Sarah puzzled me. Perhaps the cause was Sarah’s open and liberal nature. Andrew is exactly the opposite.
“Where were you yesterday afternoon?” His voice held a demanding tone.
“Shopping.”
“All afternoon and most of the evening. I stopped calling at ten. You need an answering machine.”
“I had dinner with Lars. He left for New Mexico last evening. Was it important?”
“Since your recent encounter with those criminals I worry. As you well know, you could develop problems from the blow to your head. How could Pete allow you to be involved?”
“He didn’t. Barging in was my choice.”
“I’d feel better if there were tenants in the apartment.”
“I’ll call the real estate agent Monday.” My patience with his over-protectiveness thinned. Lately he’s been acting as though I’m hovering inches from senility. “Let me talk to Andrea.”
While I assembled the ingredients for the chocolate cake my granddaughter chattered about her week. She had earned a role in the school play and had been chosen for a solo in the spring dance recital. Andrea had inherited my love of music. Instead of an instrument for expression she uses movement. After saying goodbye four times I hung up and called Sarah to accept the dinner invitation.
By four o’clock the heavy snowfall had stopped. I stood by the bedroom window and watched the wind blow snow from one drift and drop it on another. After pulling on a pair of russet wool slacks and an ivory blouse with a matching cardigan, I reached for my boots.
I tucked the slacks into the knee-high boots and put a pair of shoes in a bag. The boots are sturdy and warm but the thought of clomping around in them for hours held little appeal. In the kitchen I checked my jacket pocket for house keys, shook some food into Robespierre’s dish and picked up the cake container.
Downstairs I paused in the doorway to allow my vision to adjust to the blinding whiteness. The branches of a pair of dogwoods on the corner of the yard next to the driveway bowed beneath the weight of the snow. Rose bushes along the walk resembled small igloos. Since only a skim of snow covered the walk the boys must have recently shoveled the walk. Each of my exhalations sent a cloud of condensed vapor into the air.
The snowplows had left a cleared trail along my side of the street. Someone had cut an opening in the high bank of snow at the curb. In the distance I heard the scraping noise of the plow signaling a return.
While grasping the shoe bag in one hand and the cake container in the other, I strode across the cleared area. Moments later I plunged into virgin territory. The snow reached the top of my boots. With care I calculated the distance to the curb. I stepped up. On the downswing my foot hit something buried beneath the snow.
I lost my balance. The shoe bag flew toward the sidewalk. The cake container flew into the air. I hit the ground and learned how little cushioning snow provided. “Not my hip.” My cry echoed above the scraping snowplow sound. I’d seen too many older women deteriorate after a hip fracture and wanted no part of that fate.
My leg folded under me. A sharp pain resulted. The cake container opened. Chunks of chocolate cake showered on and around me. Snow seeped beneath my jacket collar and brought shivers.
“Help!  Help!” My voice sounded faint. Did snow absorb sound? The scraping noise increased in volume. Visions of being scooped by the blade, loaded in a truck and dumped in the Hudson River evoked a scream. I pushed my elbows against the ground and tried to sit. The exquisite jolt of pain brought tears to my eyes. My screams rose to ear-shattering heights.
“Jamal, it’s Mrs. Miller.” Larry knelt beside me. “Get Mom and Dad.”
“Bummer.” Jamal made a face. “The cake is ruined.”
His expression and the realization that I’d been rescued brought a rush of tears. “So am I. Tell them my leg is broken.”
The arrival of Bob and Sarah brought a reaction a toddler must feel when parents rescued him from an unpleasant situation. They made a chair with their hands and carried me to the house.
“I’ll call the police,” Bob said. “They’ll know which roads are cleared and if I should drive you.”
“My hair. I can’t go to the hospital looking like a refuge from a food fight.”
“I’ll wash it,” Sarah said. “In the kitchen. We’ll pull the table to the sink.”
“I do not believe this.” Bob’s hair flopped onto his forehead. His body moved in concert.
The jerky movement sent knives of pain through my leg. I bit my lip. “Believe. It’s called vanity.”
“Shock,” he said. “Shouldn’t we make a splint?”
“The boot acts like one. No one not trained in trauma care was about to touch my leg.
Jamal, Becca, Larry and the two-year-old twins danced around raising the noise level to cacophony. Jamal’s cries of “Bummer. She gets all the cake,” lodged in my thoughts.
Forty-five minutes later, escorted by the police I arrived at the hospital. Before removing the boot, one of my former colleagues gave me an injection. While drifting between pain and nirvana I wondered if my beautician made house calls.


Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Wednesday's Writer's Tip - Arrangements #MFRWauthor #Writing

 How do you arrange your story? This is something to consider and to do this you must take the characters under consideration. What makes an incident important to the character and to the reader?

Your story has to have an order so it will make sense but how do you determine the order of the story. Do you write chronologically? This can be effective except you might include scenes that have no real impact on the story. You must pick and choose the incidents that are important. A lot of backstory can bore the reader. Leaving out some important incident can also do the same.

Do you arrange your material looking at the causes and what effect they have on the characters? This can make the characters seem real. But who do you choose to be the person experience the cause and the effect. Choosing one character over the others can show the story one way. Choosing another character in the spotlight and you can have a different story.

Still, you must have some kind of order in which you tell the story. You must use the order to show the characters in action and reaction.

As you put your story in order, you must use description. Also you must look at vividness and brevity. Which one for this scene or that scene? That is your choice.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Tuesday - The Writer's Life - Promotion #MFRWauthor #Promotion

No matter what kind of publisher puts your book before the public, promotion done by you is a must. There are many avenues you can explore. Some are free and some are costly.

There are advertisements in magazines like RT that readers like to browse and see what new books are available. There is often a review of your story to accompany the book.

There are places like BookBub where you can promote a book that generally you have put on sale. This kind of promo can be costly but many people feel the promo bit is well worth the money spent.

There are blog tours, often run by a company who sends you to other blogs where you can promote your book and also garner reviews.

There are reviewers, both pain and unpaid who can help give your book the spotlight for a time.

You can offer a prize, often a gift card or a copy of your book.

You can find people who will give you space on their blog. These are often free.

There are lists to join where you are permitted to talk about your books.

You can create a news letter to spotlight your book.

Sounds like there's a lot to do. That is very true but unless you get the word out about your book, few people will read what you've written.

For me I take a day and do what promotion I find. I also have a blog and feature one of my books every week and send word to the many lists I have on Facebook, Twitter and other social sites. Though you may hate to put yourself out there, you must grin and begin to find people who want to read your books.

Monday, May 1, 2017

Meandering On Monday with Janet Lane Walters #MFRWauthor #Poetry #writing

Meander 1  - Poem

Everyone is going
And I'm left
Behind.
Before
I can resume
My way, I must
Believe
You are gone.

Meander 2 - Disappointment - For the past two weeks those who were to be guests at my blog never appeared with their material. Though I emailed to remind them they didn't send me a thing. I wonder why. Die they forget? Are they careless and pay no attention to emails? I will never know.

Writing - The doing of CAFs and re-formatting stories continues. I sure hope when I sit down to write new stories all that's hidden inside me will flow with ease.