Hi everyone.
I love and prefer to write in first person. My heroines are usually strong, determined women. I love getting into their heads with internalization and dialogue. Unfortunately, that can leave the hero and other characters a little light. So, to learn more about them, I'm forced to use dialogue, facial expressions, and their actions to give them interest.
A character's words say one thing, but his or her actions often say the opposite. For instance, the hero swears he's not afraid of marriage, yet changes the subject every time the word is mentioned. Or maybe he doesn't make eye contact with the heroine and fidgets with inanimate objects. Silverware or a wine glass is always a good choice during a dinner scene.
A secondary character may come off as cold and uncaring in dialogue, but then the heroine sees her helping distribute food to the homeless. Not the actions of a cold, uncaring person, but it gives the reader a new insight without going into that person's POV.
I have a recently finished story done in first person in which the hero states in no uncertain terms he's not the marrying kind. He doesn't want the emotional baggage. His dialogue and actions reinforce his statements. The heroine deludes herself into thinking she can change his mind. Do they get together? Not in this story, but they do in a sequel I'm planning. Actually, this one was fun to write. While never in the hero's POV, we learn through his dialogue and actions that he can read the heroine like a book. His actions are often tender, yet at the same time his facial expressions are amused.
I'm currently writing a story with two first person POVs. Yeah, it's a challenge, but I had to get into a secondary character's head so came up with the idea of a series of diary entries scattered throughout the manuscript. I'll have to see how it all works out in the end. Not quite there yet. ( I have to admit, I don't understand why an author would use third person when they never leave the heroine's POV, yet I know of several who do so.)
My first three books, Along Came Quinn, All in the Family, and A Tangled Web are done in third person, but the fourth, Nearly Departed is not. My soon to be released, Hear No Evil is also in first person. In the newly contracted, The Reunion, I'm back to third person.
The Reunion almost got away from me. I loved a secondary character so much she ended up taking over the story. That required a massive re-write. I almost did it in first person, but needed to get into the heads of others, including the killer. In the end, I used first person for the killer's POV and kept the other characters in third.
Keep in mind that dialogue must sound natural. I always loved writing dialogue. I could get away with using sentence fragments, adverbs, cliches, and the occasional grammar goof (sorry Grammar Divas) because that's the way people talk. Listen to a nearby conversation (okay, eavesdrop) sometime. Dangled participles, split infinitives, pauses in narration along with all of those mentioned above abound. But it sounds natural.
Also remember that actions should be kept natural, too. Unless your speaker is an actor, dramatic actions are best left for tension-filled, suspenseful moments. A sigh doesn't have to be heaved. Hair doesn't have to be tugged at when a simple hand running through it will do. A character doesn't have to stomp across a room even though angry. Striding works. Don't forget body language and facial expressions. Lifted chins, squared shoulders, a straight spine, raised eyebrows, or compressed lips can tell a reader exactly what that person is thinking.
I keep looking for the book to be written with no narrative--only dialogue and actions/facial expressions. Hmmm. Something to think about. I wonder if it's even a possibility. But then, I never wrote inside the box.
Have a great day and I'll be back soon.
Suzanne
Hi everyone.
I was so looking forward to this Christmas. Anticipation was high and I could barely contain my excitement at watching grandchildren open gifts. I envisioned a fabulous couple of weeks visiting family. I had it all planned right down to the days we'd spend on the road and how many nights we'd sleep in each place.
What I totally forgot was what I call the "Peek Factor." This is a corollary to "Murphy's Law"--what can go wrong, will.
Christmas morning in Memphis was all I expected. The kidlets were bouncing with joy and having a ball. My Colts fan son sent me a stern look when he opened his newborn son's Dolphin onesie, but I maintained an innocent look. Gift opening turned into an all day affair when my daughter-in-law's family came later in the day.
The next day was a typical Memphis winter day--temp around 40, windy, and raining. Yuck. In spite of the weather Bruce and I went to dinner that night with friends. On Tuesday, things took a turn for the worse. I woke up with a stuffy nose and a slight PND sore throat. I drank lots of fluids and rested. By evening a cough had developed. By the following morning, I knew I had trouble.
We took off for Rockford around 7:00. At our first gas stop, I bought some Spicy Hot V-8 (really pretty good stuff) and a package of Sucrets. Nine hours later I bought a couple of bottles of wine and Ny-Quil.
Thank goodness we opened the gifts in Rockford that night. Once again, the experience was wonderful. And it was a toss up as to who was more surprised by their gifts--my 5 year old grandson with his new bike or my daughter-in-law's squeal of glee at her new Kindle. After that things went downhill fast.
My congestion increased, the coughing got worse, and neither Bruce nor I got much sleep for the next 4 days. Ny-Quil and Sucrets were not getting it done, so I switched to Clariton 24 hour. It help a little, but not enough. By now the wine was gone. I was dry--dry, mind you--for 4 days and didn't care. I coughed so hard and so often, I pulled muscles in my stomach. Not fun. I felt awful for my son and daughter-in-law who had to put up with me.
On Monday we made the decision to bag the rest of the trip. Who wants a guest hacking up a lung every few minutes? We left for home 5 days ahead of schedule. I can't ever remember having done that before.
So on Wednesday night we finally pulled into our driveway, exhausted and happy to be able to sleep in our own bed. Luckily, I was feeling somewhat better.
The congestion is almost gone and the coughing has eased. I ate real food for the first time in days last night. I think I may be on the mend. The temps here in SoFla are predicted to be in the mid-to-upper 70's this weekend, so that should help. Obviously going north in winter is not an option for me unless I can figure out a way to NOT get sick. I'm working on it.
I'm also working on another trip--in the summer this time. See, first we go to Memphis, then take a side trip to...But wait, that's another blog.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and new year. I did, in spite of all the sickness. Those grandkids are just too important to pass up.
Until next time.
Suzanne
Hi everyone.
Wow, has this past month been busy! Between writing and the holidays, I haven't had ten minutes to call my own. Bet I'm not alone.
My husband has been home now for a month and after 2 years getting used to living together again is an adjustment. We both picked up routines and habits that aren't necessarily compatible. It's like dating forty-plus years after the fact. However, having him home is the most important thing, and if I have to make a few changes, then so be it.
If any of you follow me on Facebook, you must know about the bloated work in progress I've been bitching about. My final word count was over 103K--way too long. I spent close to 2 months self-editing the damned thing before chopping it down to 92K and giving it a new title. I still wasn't satisfied, but sent it off to my editor at The Wild Rose Press on the theory that I'm never satisfied with the final results of anything I write. At least I can say "mission accomplished."
I had also been doing a lot of re-writes on a submission sent in last fall. My persistence paid off. I was offered, and accepted, a contract on The Reunion. It's about a killer knocking off classmates at a high school reunion. Two attendees try to unmask the murderer and the motive. Since it's romantic suspense there's plenty of love to go around. I really liked this story and wanted the contract BAD!! My 50th high school reunion is coming up in a few years. I'm banking on my former classmates buying the book to see if they're in it. Some are, carefully disguised, of course.
Still no word on when Hear No Evil will be released, but I'm sure it'll be soon.
Tomorrow, my husband and I leave for Memphis, Tennessee, and Rockford, Illinois, to spend Christmas with family. I have never seen my grandchildren open gifts and will not be deprived of it again. Hubby is in semi-retirement and our time is our own. We're traveling and that's the end of it. I can hardly wait. I went nuts buying gifts. Hubby is convinced we'll need a semi to transport them all. I think careful packing can fit everything into the Trailblazer. But that's his job, not mine. LOL.
I'll try to share the travel experiences and the family moments over the next few weeks.
Hope this holiday season finds all of you in good health and happy spirits. A Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukka, and Joyous Kwanza to all my readers and friends.
Talk to you later.
Suzanne
Hi everyone.
Today's the day--Black Friday. The day millions of crazed, bargain hunting shoppers hit the stores at an obnoxiously early hour to trample each other in an effort to snag that $250, 40 inch plasma TV--of which the store only has 5 in stock.
I used to throw myself into the maelstrom, too. I quit about 6 years ago when my husband and I showed up at 7:00 in the morning at a Best Buy. The parking lot was jammed--not a space to be found, so cars found spots in highly creative places like the sidewalks. Due to fire regulations, store personnel were only allowing a certain number of customers inside at any given time. We were told the wait was over an hour, whereupon my husband said, "The hell with this. We don't need a (whatever the item was) that bad!"
We left only to witness two women get out of their cars and argue--loudly--over a parking slot not even vacated yet. The current resident was still unloading his purchases. Luckily, the two nut cases didn't see us. We had parked on the grass berm just outside the lot.
I can remember that as a kid, my parents would honor the day after Thanksgiving by shopping. We'd trek to the nearest mall whose stores opened at 10:00 in the AM. (This was the late '50s or early '60s when malls were still open air conveniences.) We'd split up with me going with Mom to buy for Dad, while he went on his own to buy for us. After lunch, I switched to Dad and we did it all over again. I know it sounds silly, but it worked.
Somewhere along the line the times kept creeping back--10:00 became 9, then 8, and then 7 until the magical 5:00 doorbuster time was achieved. Now, stores are greeting people at midnight, and for the first time in my memory, some establishments were open for business on Thanksgiving.
I guess maybe I'm getting old, but I still see Thanksgiving as a time for family and giving thanks, not pushing and shoving your way through a mob to get a so-called bargain.
If this keeps up, we will likely see Black Friday begin sometime in July. Even the term Black Friday is fairly recent. I just don't remember it being called that 15 years ago. The words bring to mind something dark and evil when, of course, it really refers to the retailers making tons of money and putting the store's books in the black. I'm not sure that's the case anymore what with the economy and all. The internet has also taken a chunk out of the day. I won't even get into Cyber Monday.
Now I spread my holiday shopping over several months. At the moment I still need a few items, but my husband and I will go on a weekday when the crowds are reasonable and the parking spaces, if not plentiful, at least accessible.
I hope everybody had a good Thanksgiving. With my husband home for good, we over-indulged. So what else is new? Comatose on turkey is as much a tradition as football, family, and--ahem--Black Friday.
Stay safe and I'll be in touch later.
Suzanne
Hi everyone.
Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday. It signified family more than any other time of the year. When I was a kid, my parents almost always traveled back to family for the celebration.
I mostly remember the mid-50's to the mid-60s as the best of times. We'd leave on Wednesday morning for the then 6 hour trip from Indianapolis to Belleville, Illinois, my parents' hometown. Two of my mother's sisters lived there and most of my father's family lived across the Mississippi in St. Louis.
This was a homecoming and we made the most of it. I remember the laughter, the food, the men gathering in the living room to watch football, the women in the kitchen gossiping about heaven only knows what (I usually ended up in the living room. Even then I loved football.), the evening poker game, at which my mother full of Whiskey Sours would declare she had a flush on the theory all the cards were red, gave us all a moment of hilarity, and did I mention the food?
In those days, Interstate 70 was still in the future. The trip was made down the old Route 40 complete with those wonderful Burma-Shave signs along the way. "Dinah doesn't/treat him right/But if he'd/shave/DYNA-MITE!--Burma-Shave" was my favorite. Years ago I bought a book titled, The Verse by the Side of the Road. It lists all the Burma-Shave jingles used across the country.
Sadly, all those lovely people are now gone. I miss those days and the close family gatherings. In today's world of the internet and e-mail, the closeness is often missing. My husband and I moved around a lot and rarely traveled on the holiday. We celebrated Thanksgiving at home, just the 4 of us. We had fun and enjoyed the football and the food, but it wasn't the same. I still miss those poker games.
Now, we celebrate the holiday alone. It's a sign of the times, I guess. Families scatter.
This Thanksgiving will be the best in a long time. My husband's job in Gainesville is finally over. He's coming home for good. For that I am truly thankful. And this Christmas will mark the first time I'll get to see my grandchildren opening presents. We're taking time to smell the roses and travel to Memphis and Rockford. I intend to do that at least twice a year from now on.
Here's hoping everyone has a wonderful holiday. Wishing you all the best, and if you're traveling, please stay safe.
Until next time.
Suzanne
Hi everyone.
I'm a writer. I love what I do. I love creating characters a reader can love, hate, and laugh or cry with. It's my job and according to the reviewers I must do it fairly well. All have been nice in their comments.
But some aspects of this late blooming career leave me cold. Marketing and promotion head the list. In the old days of publishing, an author's job was to write, show up at booksignings, attend conferences and network. The publisher took care of marketing your product and promoting it. Not so any more. I don't know whether it's the rise in popularity of e-books along with the Kindle, Nook, and other readers or whether publishers are so busy they no longer have the time to devote to actually selling your books.
Regardless, as an author I am now expected to do a large portion of this myself. I gotta tell you. I suck at it. I hate going out to places and constantly hawking my books. It's pushy and I was raised that pushy wasn't very nice. And to be honest, I have no clue what marketing is. Not a clue!
I try to do all the right things. I blog whenever I can, but coming up with subject matter is sometimes hard. I tweet once a day as a rule, although I wonder at how effective that is. Taking time to read everyone I follow eats into my writing. And what good is tweeting if those you follow don't follow back? I'm on Facebook several times a week, however, most of my 1700+ friends are also writers, so that means I'm preaching to the choir. Ditto with buying ad space in Romance Writers Report and Romantic Times.
So what else is there? I've sent books to conferences for the goody table, but have no idea if this is effective. I've set out postcards/bookmarks at chapter meetings, but once again, it's preaching. I'm also on Goodreads, but must admit to not understanding how to use that either.
This coming Saturday my local RWA chapter meets and the subject is marketing. I've attended marketing programs before. The problem is that I simply do not understand what they're talking about. I can't decide whether I'm stupid or just intimidated by the subject matter.
Maybe this Saturday I'll come away with that magical spark that will ignite my brain, but I'm not holding my breath. Besides, where would I find the time to market and promote? Like I said, I'm a writer and I want to write.
Have a good day and I'll chat with you later.
Suzanne
Hi everyone.
As you all know, I hate blogging when I don't have anything to say, but really--a month? I'm a writer for crying out loud! I always have something to say. So, today I'm going to let whatever pops into my head out for all to read. Here goes.
It turns out the edits I sent in last month weren't the final ones. I totally forgot about the galley proofs. Those came back a couple of weeks ago. Good thing, because I discovered a major continuity error. It seems that during my revision phase months ago, I added some dialogue to the beginning of a chapter. Turns out the dialogue mentioned something to the hero he didn't know until later in the chapter. Groan! It was an easy fix, but the kind of thing I should have caught.
I was also in the middle of those revisions requested by my editor for another story. Once the corrected galleys for Hear No Evil were sent, I turned my attention to The Reunion, worked like a fiend, and finally sent them out last week.
I also finished a work in progress. Normally, that's a reason for celebration. But this particular story is over 100,000 words and comes in at a whopping 516 pages. It's so bloated, it's about to explode. Needs a lot of editing before I can even think about submitting.
Tomorrow is Halloween. I hate Halloween. Always did. This loathing started when I was about five or six years old. I was dressed up like Cinderella (didn't we all?) and walked up to a neighbor's door while my Dad stood at the end of the driveway. Suddenly, two older kids jumped out from the bushes making the usual growling noises. Scared me to death. I screamed and cried. I vaguely remember Dad yelling something obscene at the boys who promptly ran away. I ceased the activity when I was ten.
Plus when you stop to think about it, Halloween is a contradiction. We tell our kids not to take candy from strangers, yet on this particular night we allow them to knock on strangers' doors and beg for it. I know Halloween is All Hallows Eve and the scary costumes represent an effort to frighten evil from our lives. But I have never considered it a holiday even though All Saints Day representing good in our lives is November 1st. I'll hand out candy when the little ones knock, but at 8:30 my front light goes dark and I'm watching Monday Night Football.
And speaking of football, my fantasy team really sucks. I'm 0-7 in my league. My team mirrors the Dolphins who are 0-6. I'm going head-to-head with my son's team today while the 'Phins play the Giants in New York. Maybe we'll both get lucky and nail down a win.
I could go on, but I think you've all had about enough. Hopefully, next time I'll have some good pithy advice to share about writing. So until then, stay safe and I'll talk to you later.
Suzanne
Good morning everyone.
I know it's been a long time since my last posting, but I have a good excuse--several in fact.
1.) I sent in my final revisions on my next book, Hear No Evil.
2.) I wasted almost a week dealing with incompetent morons in my cell phone customer service department. The damned thing still isn't right, but at least I can make and receive calls and texts.
3.) I got a pleasant e-mail from my editor saying just a few revisions on my latest submission and they can issue a contract.
4.) I have a new grandson!! Naturally, I dropped everything and flew to Memphis to count all fingers and toes (came out right). I did nothing except enjoy myself for a week.
Okay, those are my excuses. Now it's time for my blog subject--definitions.
I know this may sound strange, but when is an author published? The industry is changing so fast, it's hard to put a meaning to the word.
I'm sure many of you remember the sometimes bitter discussions amongst RWA members 7 or 8 years ago before Kindle. E-books were beginning to take off and the question arose as to the right of e-authors to call themselves published. Some maintained that if an author did not receive an advance or their books could not be found in brick-and-mortar bookstores, then the title shouldn't apply. (RWA also went through a bruising discussion about 5 years ago as to who can be admitted to PAN status based on advances/royalty totals. I almost quit over this one.)
Others claimed that if a contract had been signed and the book released, then that author was published. The consensus was a contract is a contract and it didn't matter how the book was delivered or where it was bought.
Fast forward to today and the specter of self-publishing. I'm not talking about established authors who are uploading their backlists to Kindle or Smashwords. These are books that were released before the digital explosion. The writer's bought back their rights and now own a book that has been out of print for years.
No, I'm talking about the unpublished author, regardless of ability, who sees his or her way clear to upload without benefit of an editor. All it takes is a bit of formatting and a lot of balls to assume what you have is what someone else will buy. I've read some very good stories and some incredibly bad ones. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.
Does Kindle or Smashwords issue a contract or can the author simply upload? And if there is no contract, is the author considered published? I'm curious as to what everyone thinks. Does the person who uploads something really bad deserve the title "published?" Authors who sent in dozens of manuscripts and suffered the rejections before a signed contract came their way, sweated through the revision process, and spent years honing their skills might have a good reason to stick their noses into the air.
But then, that reminds me of 7 or 8 years ago.
Have a good one.
Suzanne
Hi everyone.
Yesterday was a day filled with frustration. My Facebook site was unavailable due to a site issue. Now this has happened before, but the fix has only taken the Facebook gurus a few minutes to employ. Wednesday was over an 8 hour shutdown. And I was not alone with this problem.
It's funny how something as seemingly inconsequential as a social networking site can tear a gap in your life when removed. I felt like I'd lost a body part. I was incommunicado with close to 1900 people on both my personal and professional pages.
Social networking has become the way to communicate with friends and relatives. It beats out e-mailing and has the phone relegated to an afterthought. Call my land line and you'll get the machine. I never pick it up unless I know who's calling and want to talk. My cell has a very limited contact list.
I subscribed to Facebook back in 2008, first with a private page I like to keep small and intimate, and then with my professional page where I friend everybody who asks. Twitter was added last year. I don't seek a lot of followers, but all are welcome to receive my tweets, and unless you are selling something not writing related or pushing porn (you'd be surprised how often that happens), I'll follow you back.
My husband refers to Twitter as a million people talking and nobody listening. He's right about that, but I like to follow editors, agents, and publishing houses just to see what's happening. I'm on my private Facebook site and Twitter several times day. The professional site maybe twice a week.
I do all promotions through social networking (my website is all but abandoned), so when one or the other goes down, it's traumatic. Lately, Facebook seems to have been dealing with a lot of problems. Rumors are hot and heavy that they've been hacked BIG time and don't know how to stop the hackers.
A friend of mine recently switched over to Living Social, the new Google site. I'm thinking a professional page over there might not be a bad idea. Just for back-up if for no other reason. I'm also considering adding Google Chrome as a third browser. I know that as an author, success can lead to complacency. Maybe it's time to shake up my networking lines of communication.
If any of my readers are on the Living Social site or use Google Chrome, let me know how you like it.
At the moment, I'm back up and running on Facebook. If you aren't already with me, send me a friend request. I'll confirm. I can be found @writesbooks on Twitter.
Hope you all have a wonderful day, and I'll talk to you later.
Suzanne
Hi everyone.
I've been reading romance novels most of my adult life. It started when my husband was in basic training in 1969. We'd only been married a few months, and other than crocheting afghans (yeah, I'll admit to that), had tons of time on my hands after work. Then one day while waiting in the checkout line at the drugstore, I spied a circular rack filled with books and out of curiosity, picked one up. The back cover blurb of maybe fifty words sounded interesting (something about a very young secretarial sort of heroine working for an older Lord Something-or-other). At the top of the page was a big Harlequin banner and the cover art was dreadful, but hey, it was something to do other than pick up that damned crochet hook.
Two days later I went back and bought more of the books. A addict was born. Strange, it was almost effortless and I certainly never saw it coming. As the years passed, I graduated on to the Loveswept and Candlelight stories. And then came Silhouette. Oooo, spicy. Over time, the spicy increased. I loved it.
Then one day about twelve years ago, I read a book that left me asking the question, "What if...". A writer was born. I had no idea what I was doing, but wrote anyway. It would be several more years before I even heard the words "point of view", "backstory", and "to stupid to live". Finally, I wrote a story that put the heroine in danger. Ah, romantic suspense. I had found my niche.
It took six years of conferences and RWA chapter meetings to finally get a story out to the public. I consider myself lucky. Good writers have been laboring for ten or more years to sell a book. Some never do. This ain't an easy business to conquer, and when you think you've got it made, BAM! along comes the fickle public demanding something new. So, as writers, we try to give it to them.
Three or four years ago, I decided I was tired of writing all those love scenes. I craved more action, more suspense. After all, I'd grown up with Nancy Drew and Agatha Christie. I wanted to write mysteries--the kind with bodies popping up every few chapters and a demented killer. And of course, once a romance writer, always a romance writer, so I keep some romantic elements in the story, but my heroines are strong, take charge types. I never did like the literary soft, submissive woman nor was I enamored of the uber-alpha male.
Changing genres is like learning all over again, but that doesn't deter me. I'm going to keep on writing and submitting those damned mysteries until one sells. (Or I die, whichever comes first.) I also need an agent to help me along the way. The industry is changing so fast, it's hard for a simple author to keep up. Unfortunately, the agent market is harder to crack than a year old walnut, but that won't stop me from trying.
I guess what I'm saying is: Rejection is a part of the learning curve. I've got a file folder full of them. Don't let those "thanks, but no thanks" letters get you down. Keep writing. Keep learning. And by all means, keep submitting--whatever the genre.
Until next time.
Suzanne
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