The Fallen Man Release

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by Bethany Maines

The Fallen Man Release!

Next week sees the release of the fourth book in the Deveraux Legacy series – The Fallen Man. I suspect that each author picks their projects based on something in the story that they want to explore. For me this series started out as an exploration of why the broody, possessive, and sometimes abusive, “alpha” males are still getting plenty of romance novels written about them. The first, and most obvious answer is that they’re fictional. Like Vegas, the things that happen between the covers of a book, stay in the book. I suspect that a lot of people who enjoy those characters in fiction, would not appreciate those behaviors in real life.

How Did We Get Here?

I read one romantic comedy where the hero broke into her apartment with three other guys and relocated all her things to his house. Not surprisingly, for fiction, she didn’t call the cops. In real life, that’s a quick trip to the nearest police station. Also, did he manage to get her rice cooker? She had roommates—how did he know what furniture was hers? And did he rummage through her drawers and see any… toys? Inquiring minds want to know. Then there are the “dark romances” where the heroines somehow manage to get kidnapped, forced into marriage, or held hostage and still fall in love with their captors. I mean, Stockholm Syndrome is real, but… ladies! Come on!

I also wonder how similar these romances are to the crime thrillers, where women inevitably end up raped and murdered while the broody hero solves the crime. In both genres, it seems like perhaps the reader gets to control the abuse and trauma that is quite frightening in real life.

I’m Fun! I Swear!

All of which makes my series sound like a real downer when, in fact, it is an action-packed family saga. But my characters did grow from this space of pondering fictional traumas. In each book of the series, one of the Deveraux cousins struggles with their family’s past legacy of trauma and attempts to make peace with it. And, oh, dodge some killers, solve a mystery, and, of course, find love. Hopefully, none of my readers are out there thinking… “Call the cops! He’s a nutter!”

What do you think? Are the alpha-hole “heroes” still fun to read? Or have we reached a different standard of heroism?

 

👉 Pre-Order from all retailers: https://books2read.com/FallenMan

THE FALLEN MAN: When orphan and convicted felon Jackson Zane realized that he was part of the wealthy Deveraux family, he thought he’d found his proverbial happily ever after. And for the last seven years, Jackson has dedicated himself to fixing and protecting his new family, all while ruling out love for himself. Until now.

A banner shows the four Deveraux Legacy novels, and the prequel novella over the New York city skyline.

***

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

Mint Chocolate Wordplay

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by Shari Randall/Meri Allen

Do you Wordle? Do crossword puzzles? Enjoy Words with Friends?

I love word games, so when I was asked to make an anagram from the words in the title of my latest Ice Cream Shop mystery, MINT CHOCOLATE MURDER, I jumped at the chance. It was a fun to do – but challenging. So many O’s! But it was an enjoyable exercise and it made me think about my book in new ways.

M – Mysterious supermodel with a royal secret

I — Ice cream social to die for

N  — New England village of your Hallmark dreams

T — Teashops and treachery

 

C — Crafty clues and red herrings

H — Haunted Scottish castle

O — Obsessions turned deadly

C — Cat who needs therapy

O – One hot veterinarian

L — Locked room mystery

A – Art world gossip

T – Tantalizing twists

E – Enemies and frenemies

 

M — Malicious suspects

U – Unrequited love

R — Race against the clock

D — Danger in the dungeon

E – Extra sprinkles!

R — Riley Rhodes, my main character, an ice cream shop manager and former CIA librarian with plenty of secrets of her own

 

Readers, I hope you’ll find something here that intrigues. Writers, give it a try with one of your titles!

Do you enjoy word games? What’s your favorite?

Meri Allen is the pen name of Shari Randall, who loves playing Scrabble. She lives in New England, where she’s looking forward to the fall foliage.

 

 

Research

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by Bethany Maines

Recently, I was working on a bit of research for a novel and was forced to reach up into my library of reference books… OK, let’s just pause and admit that’s how old I am.  I have reference books.  When I wrote my first novel, Bulletproof Mascara, my heroine was a linguist, a subject about which I knew very little, and one of my plot points actually hinged on her being familiar with a Latin phrase.  So as I result I ended up purchasing a book on Latin and several on linguistics.  But shortly after that book was published (all the way back 2011) the world changed.

Articles on linguistics and Latin are now readily available (and reliably accurate) online.  Heck, everything is available online.  And nothing has driven that point home more firmly than the book I’m currently working on—a paranormal romance with heavy Indiana Jones/The Mummy vibes. Once more I’m looking up Latin phrases and trying to remember everything I knew about about German menhir.  It used to be that I’d be trotting over to my friends and family and asking to see their Germany photo albums.  Now I just hit YouTube and there is Marburg Castle and I can see the color of the stone and check out the artwork without having to leave my computer.

There is nothing like actually visiting place to provide accurate detail, but it can’t be denied that life has gotten easier in the research department.  Which is why I was amused at my own grumpiness at having to actually rise from my seat, walk all the way over to the bookcase and pull down the book on Latin.  Oh, the horror!  The absolute drain of life force from having to flip pages.  How dare the internet fail me?!

Don’t be distressed.  I have recovered.  I managed to make up some absolute nonsense to counterbalance the actual facts I included regarding Egyptian canopic jars and German history and was thus soothed.  But remind me not to write anything close to historical fiction. I would probably have a historically accurate fit of the vapors if I had to have an entire book full of research.

You can check out my paranormal romances from the same world here: bethanymaines.com/supernaturals/

Or my upcoming magic free Romantic Suspense here: bethanymaines.com/the-deveraux-legacy/

The Fallen Man – Book 4 of the Deveraux Legacy Series – releases October 18 – PREORDER: https://books2read.com/FallenMan

The Deveraux Family: wealthy, glamorous, powerful… and in a lot of trouble. Senator Eleanor Deveraux lost her children in a plane crash, but she has a second chance to get her family right with her four grandchildren – Evan, Jackson, Aiden and Dominique. But second chances are hard to seize when politics, mercenaries, and the dark legacy of the Deveraux family keep getting in the way.

***

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San Juan Islands Mysteries, Shark Santoyo Crime Series, and numerous short stories. When she’s not traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working on her next novel. You can also catch up with her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

 

So You Want to Write a Book – Part 5: Bumps in the Road

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by Sparkle Abbey

hands on laptop keyboard

“A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.”

~ Thomas Mann

Welcome back to another chapter of So You Want to Write a Book!

This month we’re going to review where we’ve been and then discuss potential problems with getting those pages written and arriving at the finish line.

A quick recap. We started with an idea notebook and began the work around determining what kind of book you wanted to write and exploring that chosen genre. Next, we moved on to some creative brainstorming and last month we covered strategies for how you will approach the actual writing. Remember plotters, pantsers, and plansters? We hope the steps so far have helped to put you on the path to a finished book.

So, now you’re moving forward getting words on the page, right? But sometimes the writing goes great and other times it feels like you’re slogging through a swamp. Don’t get discouraged. It happens.

The reasons why writers get stuck may vary, but here on some things we’ve found helpful when you are struggling.

  1. Go back to the beginning. Pull out that notebook and remember why you wanted to tell this story. What’s the core story your book will tell? Have you lost that main idea along the way?
  2. Spend some time with your characters. You need to be clear on your main character (in fiction) and main idea (in non-fiction) and make sure you have not wandered too far away from the goal. If you’re a pantser perhaps you didn’t have the character goal completely defined when you started out. Or if you’re a plotter, maybe you’re moving forward to that goal too quickly. Or too slowly.
  3. Check your conflict. Remember most stories are about a journey. There’s something your main character wants and a reason they want it (Goal, Motivation) and also a number of reasons they can’t have it right away (Conflict). Have you provided realistic conflict/barriers? You need resistance.
  4. Examine what you have so far. Often if you’ve been writing and are struggling with moving forward, the problem is with the structure. Write out a quick sentence or two about the scenes you’ve already written. This different look allows you to see the flow of your story. You are better able to tell if you’ve thrown in unnecessary scenes that don’t move the story forward, skipped an essential scene that has created a gap in the momentum, or just plain took a wrong turn.
  5. Step away from the keyboard. If you can, walk away from the story for a day or two. Write something else, read something new, go somewhere. Fold the laundry or take a shower—don’t laugh, it works for some of us. It may be that your creative brain just needs a break and the refresh of not thinking about your story for a couple of days will allow you to come back to it with fresh perspective.

Hopefully, the words flow and you rarely get stuck as you work on your project, but if you find yourself not moving forward try one or more of the above ideas to put you back on the path.

We’d love to hear from you on what other techniques you’ve found to get you (or keep you) moving forward. And as always, if you have any questions, please let us know.

Next month, we’ll discuss what’s next After the First Draft. Until then, happy writing!

sparkle and abbey

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.)

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website

How to Keep a Longstanding Cozy Mystery Series Fresh

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By Lois Winston

Have you ever fallen in love with a series only to discover that the author stopped writing it? Some writers get tired of writing about the same characters and move on to writing other books. Others fall victim to the fickleness of the publishing industry. Authors are dropped if their sales don’t continue to increase or increase enough, others because the editor who championed the series changes jobs or is laid off. Lines folds. Publishing houses merge or goes bankrupt. The reasons are myriad.

Those of us who have walked away from traditional publishing to “go indie” no longer have to worry about holding our breaths, waiting to hear if our current contract will be extended or a new one offered. We’re free to keep alive the characters we love for as long as we want to write about them. The challenge that confronts us is how to keep a longstanding series from getting stale.

Guilty as Framed, my eleventh Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, will release in less than two weeks on September 6th. Keeping a series fresh after that many books (plus three novellas), is a challenge. After all, there are only so many ways the victim can die, especially in a cozy mystery where you need to keep the gruesome stuff off the page. There are also just so many ways an amateur sleuth can insert herself into a crime without readers becoming incapable of suspending disbelief.

To keep my series fresh, I decided early on that I’d periodically introduce new characters into Anastasia’s world. I began in Revenge of the Crafty Corpse, Book 3, where I introduced Ira Pollack, Anastasia’s deceased husband’s previously unknown half-brother, and his brood of spoiled kids. Also, in that book readers first meet Lawrence Tuttnauer, Anastasia’s future stepfather. In the following book, Decoupage Can Be Deadly, I introduced ex-Special Forces, IT expert, and bodyguard Tino Martinelli. All three men have had recurring roles in subsequent books.

In Drop Dead Ornaments, Book 7, I gave Anastasia’s son Alex a girlfriend. She and her father also play pivotal roles in Handmade Ho-Ho Homicide and A Sew Deadly Cruise, books 8 and 9.

Not every character makes an appearance in every book, though. Sometimes only a passing reference is made to them, sometimes not even that. Other times they once again become major secondary characters in the story. It depends on the book. But these additional characters I’ve created throughout the series enable me to come up with interesting character arcs and fresh plots.

I also didn’t want my series to succumb to Cabot Cove Syndrome, something the writers of Murder She Wrotebegan to become aware of as the popular series continued. Given the size of the town and the rate of murders, eventually Jessica Fletcher would wind up the only citizen left in the tiny hamlet. So the writers wisely decided to send Jessica off on various adventures. Of course, the dead bodies kept piling up no matter where Jessica went, but at least the murders were no longer all occurring in Cabot Cove.

I’ve done the same with Anastasia. Some of the books in the series center around her workplace, others around her home. In Death by Killer Mop Doll, Book 2, the setting is a television studio in New York City. A Sew Deadly Cruise is a “locked room” mystery with the murders taking place when Anastasia and her family are on vacation. Stitch, Bake, Die! is another “locked room” mystery, taking place at a conference center during a storm.

In Guilty as Framed, the story once again centers around Anastasia’s home, but in this book, the plot involves an actual unsolved crime that took place in Boston in 1990. Not only do I need to keep my stories fresh for my readers, I need to challenge myself with each new book. As much as I enjoy spending time with my characters, I need a creative challenge to keep from falling into the same old/same old abyss.

Guilty as Framed was quite the challenge! Not only does the plot center around a thirty-two-year-old cold case, but the crime occurred more than 250 miles from where Anastasia lives, and most of the persons of interest and suspects have long since died, from either natural or unnatural causes.

Mysteries provide a challenge to the reader to figure out whodunit before the end of the book. Guilty as Framed proved a huge challenge to me as the writer. I hope readers find it as satisfying to read as I did to write.

Guilty as Framed

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 11

When an elderly man shows up at the home of reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack, she’s drawn into the unsolved mystery of the greatest art heist in history.

Boston mob boss Cormac Murphy has recently been released from prison. He doesn’t believe Anastasia’s assertion that the man he’s looking for doesn’t live at her address and attempts to muscle his way into her home. His efforts are thwarted by Anastasia’s fiancé Zack Barnes.

A week later, a stolen SUV containing a dead body appears in Anastasia’s driveway. Anastasia believes Murphy is sending her a message. It’s only the first in a series of alarming incidents, including a mugging, a break-in, another murder, and the discovery of a cache of jewelry and an etching from the largest museum burglary in history.

But will Anastasia solve the mystery behind these shocking events before she falls victim to a couple of desperate thugs who will stop at nothing to get what they want?

Buy Links

Amazon

Kobo

Apple Books

Nook

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website www.loiswinston.com where you can also sign up for her newsletter and follow her on various social media sites.

Brain Storming – When It Rains It Pours…Hopefully

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By Sparkle Abbey

Welcome back to part three of So You Want to Write a Book!

If you’ve decided there’s a book in you, thanks for joining us on this wild journey! Over the last couple of months, we’ve asked you to dig deep, think about what you really want to write about, and assigned homework.

First, we asked you to define the type of book you want to write. Last month we asked you to read extensively in your genre. How did you do? Do you feel well-read?

We also asked you to keep a notebook and jot down all your ideas. If you don’t have the notebook handy, go ahead and grab it. We’ll wait.

You’re back? Great! Let’s get started.

Step three is where we want you to take every idea and thought you have for your book and put those in your notebook.

 

This would be a fun scene, a snippet of dialogue, a unique character, an odd trait or habit that you find interesting, etc. We’re not suggesting you outline, at least not yet. We are suggesting you fill that notebook with ideas. Remember, at this stage, there is no such thing as a bad idea.

If you need help, get together with some friends over coffee or wine and brainstorm. If you still need help getting started, here are some questions you can ask yourself.

For a fiction book:

  • Setting – Where will your story take place?
    • Time period – past, present, future
    • City, small town, urban, suburban
  • What season is it?
  • Who are your characters?
    • Main characters, secondary, protagonist, antagonist, villain, hero, heroin
    • What do they look like?
    • Where do they live?
    • What are their beliefs?
    • What’s important to them?
  • Whose point of view is the story told?
    • First-person, third-person, omniscient
    • Which character should the story be told from?
  • What is your main story idea?
  • What’s the subplot idea?
  • What problem will your main character face?
  • How will that problem intensify?
  • How will they overcome their problem?

Is that a lot to think about? It is! Maybe you can answer all of these or maybe just part of them. That’s okay. Right now, we just want you to jot down everything you can think of.

If you’re writing a non-fiction book here are some prompts for you:

  • What do you want to achieve with your book?
  • Who is this book for?
    • Hobbyist
    • History buffs
    • Self-help seekers
    • A general audience
    • A very niche group
  • Do your research
    • Online or the library
    • Interview people
  • How will you say it?
    • Is it a narrative – you’re telling a story
      • Autobiography
      • Memoir
      • Biography
    • Expository – you’re showing the story by explaining your topic
      • Self-help
      • How-to
      • Cookbook

Are the ideas flowing? Is there a story starting to unfold? We encourage you to write everything down, even if it sounds like a crazy idea. You’ll be surprised what you’ll use later as you’re hammering out your story and need that perfect twist.

We’ll check back in with you next month with the next step. Until then, if you have questions, feel free to ask us.

 

Sparkle Abbey’s latest story (written in first person) is a short but fun one. If you’ve not yet
checked out PROJECT DOGWAY, this is a great time to do that. 

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.)

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website

Getting Stronger

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By Barbara J. Eikmeier

I lift weights. Twice a week my husband and I go to the gym.
The nutritionist at the army health clinic told me about the weight training
room. She said as we age it is important to do weight bearing exercises to keep
our bones strong and joints limber. “Just go twice a week. Go in the middle of
the day – there’s no one there at that time.”

Another year passed before I went. The catalyst was my
annual cholesterol check. I begged for 6 months of diet and lifestyle changes
before going on medication. Thus, the gym – and less wine and more veggies.

But there is another reason I started lifting weights. I had
become weak. When I travel to give quilt presentations, I bring multiple suitcases stuffed with quilts, pushing the airlines 50-pound weight limit with
those big bags. The check-in agent, eyeing my bags, would say, “put that up
here” motioning with their chin to the scale. I’d laugh and say, “It’s not over
50 pounds because I can’t lift 50 pounds.” Each spring, when my travel season
began it was true, I couldn’t lift 50 pounds, but as the trips added up, I
could feel myself getting stronger. Yes, that may have been me holding up the line
while pulling items from an overweight suitcase and stuffing them in my carry-on. Just by handling
those heavy bags I became stronger. Strong enough to lift more than 50 pounds
by the end of the season.

Then came Covid-19 and my work became a series of Zoom
presentations. And I grew weak.

When my travels resumed, I lifted my bag onto the scale that
first trip and it was heavy! I was visualizing what I could move to my carry-on
bag just as the scale settled on 43 pounds. Only 43 pounds? I quickly moved shoes and jeans from my carry-on to the checked bag. That’s
because I have another problem once I board the plane – getting my carry-on in
the overhead bin. My rule is, if I can’t lift it myself, I must check it. But
I’m 5’3” and it’s not a matter of strength as much as a matter of height. (At
least that’s what I always tell the nice tall man in the aisle seat who jumps
up to help me!)

The army gym is not a flashy place. It’s old, and kind of
run down. I wish someone would sweep the floor. It’s often only the two of us there.
It’s quiet, almost meditative. But when soldiers come in the atmosphere
changes. They are young, and strong, and physically fit. They sweat and grunt
and the weights come clanging down as they finish their routines. There’s a
demand for the best machines and a polite toe taping or pacing when they must wait. Among
the most popular machines is the leg press – it’s for the quads and glutes. I
like it. And the sit up machine. I like it too. And there is the Graviton
machine. It’s meant to condition your arms to do pull ups. I can’t do a pull
up. I’m not sure this machine can even help me get there. But I do it. Every
time.

There is a less popular machine called the Overhead Press. My
husband skips it. He explained, “I don’t think there is much benefit in that
machine.” I said, “I hate this machine.” He asked, “Then why do you do it?” I said,
“Watch my arms.” I lifted the weights over my head. He watched. I lowered the
weights and said, “It’s the muscles used to put my carry-on in the overhead
bin.”

The gym, even on the slowest days, is a good place to shop
for character traits. There’s another older couple who come in wearing street clothes,
and each do a few machines, talking the entire time. Their workout takes 10
minutes. Should that even count as a workout? Who am I to judge?

And there is a young woman who
runs on the treadmill in the cardio room before lifting weights. Her dark hair is
pulled back in a bouncy ponytail. I like following her on the weight circuit
because she is my height, so our settings are the same.  I don’t know anything about her but in my
writer’s mind she is an Army lawyer. She runs fast and lifts fast and is very focused.  

And there is a group of firefighters from the post fire station. They move from machine to machine keeping their hand radios within reach. Their big red firetruck is just outside the gym parked along the curb, ready to go at a moment’s notice. One of them wears a bandanna around his head, Karate Kid style. Another harasses his buddy to speed it up on the Biceps machine. His buddy’s response is to go slower.

And my favorite, the retired marine whose
shaved head glistens with sweat when he works out. He looks intimidating – all
muscle and sinew. He only does three machines but with many reps and huge
stacks of weights. One day I asked him, “Do you alternate upper body and lower
body workouts?” He smiled. Maybe you’ve heard the term ‘resting bitch face’?
This guy has resting ‘fierce face’. He looks scary. But when the marine smiles
his face will melt your heart a little. He shows his bright white teeth, his
double dimples dimple and the deep creases in his forehead relax. And over that
one question we became friends. He took me to the free weight room down the
hall and taught me how to use a standing machine for an intense abs’ workout.
He said, “You are a little short, but you are doing it perfectly.” He told me
it’s easy to talk yourself into skipping the gym, like 90% of the people he
knows. With that gorgeous grin he added, “Now if only I had a refrigerator that
automatically locked at 6 pm, I’d be in good shape!”

I lift weights. I’m getting stronger and my character file
is growing. What’s your favorite place to shop for characters?

Barbara J. Eikmeier is a quilter, writer, student of quilt
history, and lover of small-town America. Raised on a dairy farm in California,
she enjoys placing her characters in rural communities.

The Parts of a Book

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By Bethany Maines

 

Recently, we’ve added Harry Potter to our daughter’s bedtime
story reading.  Once we’ve completed a
book, we watch the movie version.  But then,
of course, she wanted a wand and an owl. There’s not much I can do about the
owl, but a kindly auntie did provide a wand for Christmas and a potions “class”
with dry ice and tea that turns blue.  (Butterfly Pea Blossom
Tea if you’re interested, but be forewarned, don’t google the Latin name if
you’re at all prone to laughing at dirty jokes.)  But now, she wants the fancy potions bottles.  So after some quick youtubing around and going
Dr. Frankenstein on a recycling bin test subject, I’m prepared to have an
afternoon of magic potion bottle making.

None of which has anything to do with writing, except that
plotting out how to turn something random into magic is pretty a good
definition of what it a writer does.
There was even the “oh shit” part where I was pretty sure I screwed it
up and it was going to be a disaster.  I
believe that every book I’ve ever written has featured that part. 

In fact, there are many parts to writing a book that don’t
get discussed in English classes.  For
instance, the “Oh Shit” part is sometimes followed by the Drinking part. Which
is often then followed by either the Dawn of Inspiration or the Damned Recycling
Bin of I Hate You.  And my next
paranormal romance featured the three week long Hiatus of Indecision.  My personal favorite part is the Shining Hope
of a New Project.  Sadly, it’s frequently
followed by the Hopeless Disillusionment phase.  But if you’re lucky you can make it through
the Weary Slog to the End part and end up with a book full of characters that
you love and a feeling of accomplishment that the story got told. 

If you’re interested in seeing how the Hiatus of Indecision
resulted in a story about vampires that don’t glitter and a shifter wolf who
got a little more than he bargained for on his way to rob a bank, you can check
it out below.

 


MAVERICK: Maverick
Lacasse, shifter wolf, bank robber and rebel didn’t mean to take Deya Jasper
with him on his way out of Littleton Texas, but fate had other plans. But as
the two flee for California, vampires dog their every step, and both Deya and
Maverick find themselves questioning if the unexpected bond they feel can
withstand the dangers they face.

PREORDER NOW

Maverick takes place in the Supernatural world of the
3 Colors Trilogy, but is a stand-alone novel.

**

Bethany Maines is the award-winning author of the Carrie Mae Mysteries, San
Juan Islands Mysteries, The Deveraux
Legacy Series, and numerous novellas and short stories. When she’s not
traveling to exotic lands, or kicking some serious butt with her black belt in
karate, she can be found chasing her daughter or glued to the computer working
on her next novel. You can also catch up with
her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and BookBub.

 

So You Want to Write a Book

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By Sparkle Abbey

Part 2: Old School Research

Welcome back to So You Want to Write a Book!


There’s a book in everyone, right? If you’ve decided that there’s a book in you and you’re ready to embark on that journey, we’re excited for you!

Last month we talked about where to start when writing a
book for the first time. We asked you a lot of questions, such as:

  • Are you passionate about a particular
    storyline?
  • What type of book are you interested in writing?
  • What idea is constantly on your mind?

You may remember there was also an assignment. We hope you
took our suggestion to write down ALL your ideas. If so, pull out that notebook
where you jotted down them down, and let’s talk about what you wrote. (If you
didn’t take that step, there’s still time. Just take that step today.)

By now you should have decided what you’re passionate about
and what type of book you’re going to write. You should know if you’re writing
fiction or non-fiction. A thriller or a memoir. Romance or a self-help book.  

Okay, are you ready for step two? Step two is what we call Old
School Research. And we’re the first to admit, that not everyone agrees on this.
We believe to write well in any genre or subject, you need to be well-read in
that area. What is currently being written? What type of plot resonates with you?
What characters speak to you? How do the best-selling stories unfold? What can
you LEARN from books you love as well as books you put down after a few pages?



Back when we first started writing we read over 100 books in
our genre. While we aren’t telling you to read 100 books before you start
writing, we are telling you to read extensively in the genre or subject in
which you’re going to write. There are some who disagree with this approach for
various reasons. They may worry about copying another author’s work. Probably
not. After 100 books, one thing you’ll notice is there’s really no new plot. And
how you write your story is all about what you uniquely bring to the table.
However, by reading deeply in your selected subject, you’ll have a better
understanding of how to make your book stand out from the crowd. You’ll also
begin to understand the importance of reader expectations. (More on that down
the road!)

Well, what do you think? Are you onboard to read, read,
read for the next few weeks while you’re thinking about your book? As you read,
keep your notebook handy. Take notes on what you learn, how you’ll be
different, what works, and what doesn’t.

If you’d like, share in the comments what you’ve decided to
write and what you’ve learned from reading extensively in your subject, and how
you’ll use that to write a book that stands out from the crowd. And as always,
if you have questions, feel free to ask us.

Next month we’ll talk about knowing where you’re headed.
Sound intriguing? 


Sparkle Abbey’s latest story (written in first person) is a short but fun one. If you’ve not yet
checked out PROJECT DOGWAY, this is a great time to do that. 

Sparkle Abbey is actually two people, Mary Lee Ashford and Anita Carter, who write the national best-selling Pampered Pets cozy mystery series. They are friends as well as neighbors so they often get together and plot ways to commit murder. (But don’t tell the other neighbors.) 

They love to hear from readers and can be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, their favorite social media sites. Also, if you want to make sure you get updates, sign up for their newsletter via the SparkleAbbey.com website


My Tweaking Obsession

/in , , /by

By Lois Winston


No, that title does not have a typo. I’m neither obsessed with Twitter nor with twerking. However, I am a compulsive tweaker.

 

Every author has her own process for writing a novel. The two most talked about are whether you’re a pantser or a plotter. Pantsers write by the seat of their pants. They sit down at their computers and start typing. Maybe they have an idea for the beginning of a novel or a main character. They may know how they want to start a book and how it will end. But they fly by the seat of their pants between “Once upon a time” and “The End.”

 

Plotters painstakingly outline their books. Some write copious synopses. Others use an outlining method that spells out what will happen in each chapter or even in each scene in the book.

 

When it comes to the actual writing of the book, some authors write numerous drafts before they’re satisfied with the end result. Sometimes the finished product bears little resemblance to the first draft, especially if you’re a pantser but rarely if you’re a plotter. 

 

I have a friend who’s a New York Times bestselling author. Between the typos, grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors, not to mention the run-on sentences that would make even William Faulkner cringe, if you read her first drafts, you’d think she never made it past third grade. She doesn’t worry about any of it. Her process is to get her thoughts down on paper, to keep typing, unfiltered words flying onto the page without fear of sabotage by her inner editor.

 

With each subsequent draft, she concentrates on refining a different aspect of her work. The final version she turns into her editor, more often than not, lands her on that coveted NYT list.

 

Then there’s me…uhm, I. (You’ll understand that grammatical correction momentarily.) I’m an obsessive tweaker. I will spend half an hour staring at a blinking cursor, searching for the exact word or phrase. I’m incapable of moving on to the next sentence, let alone the next scene, until I’m happy with the results. But if that weren’t enough, I constantly go back and reread what I’ve written previously and continue to tweak. In other words, I edit as I write. I can’t help it. 

 

Then my critique partner reads what I’ve written, offers some suggestions, and I go back and tweak some more. The end result being that by the time I type The End, I’ve really only written one draft, one thoroughly edited first draft, but a first draft, nonetheless. Of course, the book will then go through beta reads and proofreading that will result in additional tweaking because there’s always a missed typo or some other finetuning that’s needed. Essentially, though, from the first word on the page to the last, I’ve written only one complete draft. That’s my process—and my compulsion. I wouldn’t know any other way.


What’s yours?

 

Stitch, Bake, Die!

An Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery, Book 10

 

With massive debt, a communist mother-in-law, a Shakespeare-quoting parrot, and a photojournalist boyfriend who may or may not be a spy, crafts editor Anastasia Pollack already juggles too much in her life. So she’s not thrilled when her magazine volunteers her to present workshops and judge a needlework contest at the inaugural conference of the NJ chapter of the Stitch and Bake Society, a national organization of retired professional women. At least her best friend and cooking editor Cloris McWerther has also been roped into similar duties for the culinary side of the 3-day event taking place on the grounds of the exclusive Beckwith Chateau Country Club.

 

The sweet little old ladies Anastasia is expecting to find are definitely old, and some of them are little, but all are anything but sweet. She’s stepped into a vipers’ den that starts with bribery and ends with murder. When an ice storm forces Anastasia and Cloris to spend the night at the Chateau, Anastasia discovers evidence of insurance scams, medical fraud, an opioid ring, long-buried family secrets, and a bevy of suspects. Can she piece together the various clues before she becomes the killer’s next target?

 

Crafting tips included.

 

~*~

USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction under her own name and her Emma Carlyle pen name. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry.

 

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