Friday, July 30

I read it I loved it The Sugar Queen

I finished reading The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen. I went through walmart last week and they had a mess of books for $4. I decided on this one and am so glad I did. It was a good story about  family secrets, love,  and  superstition. 

Of course, today when I went back all the discounted books were gone.  Damn, I should have purchased a couple of the other ones I had considered too.  I haven't wanted to check a book from the library as we are going up to Indy to see our kids in Aug and Sept.

I think I'll read her others.  My library carries them, I checked, but I'll have to wait till Sept.

I'd love to know Titles that some of you have read and enjoyed. 

Happy Reading

Sunday, July 25

Who is the INTERN?

I love the INTERN. But who is she? She's written a book published about 3 months ago. Alas, none of her readers, that I know of, know who she really is or the title of her recent published MS.  I even sent her a partial ms for her to crit for me. (yes, there is a fee involved) But I don't know who she really is.

She speaks of her hippie roommate, her techie boyfriend.  Is this all a ruse.  Maybe the INTERN is really MALE. 

Alas, I don't care.  Some things are better left unknown.

Is she among these debut authors in 2010?

Tuesday, July 20

Day One and the word Purchase

I was fortunate to be picked by the Shark to win a Promotional copy of DAY ONE by Bill Cameron.  OMG It was sooo good.  I loved it.  I sure would like to see a query letter on this one.  It would be interesting to see how that was written.  To purchase a copy of Day One click it.  Ask your local library to get a copy, more than one....I'm sure there'll be a waiting list for this. I will warn you that there is some rough language, but hey it wouldn't be the same without it.

On to the word PURCHASE. I read it in one of the Twilight series, you know with Bella, Edward and Jacob.  It stopped me in the middle of my reading as it had nothing to do with money but with getting your feet on stable ground.  I read the word again in a couple of other best sellers (which sorry I don't remember which ones) and then AGAIN in Day One.  Okay, and they all referred to getting a foot hold in mud or slippery hills.
Of course I couldn't put Day One down to bother looking it up and seeing a real definition.  I had to wait til I finished the last word.  And then I got out my thesaurus and here is what it says:  3--a secure hold or grasp also: advantageous leverage.

None of the characters could get an advantageous leverage where they were walking, crawling, or otherwise in deep shit.

Since I read this word in highly advertised fiction, perhaps I need to use the word in my current WIP. Or better yet how about the title?  Hee hee.

Tuesday, July 13

Scene Transitions

I believe one of the hardest things for me to write are transitions from one scene to another. There are lapses in time between interesting events in real life and so even more true in fiction. We never tell anyone about the regular day we had in our lives, we tell them about the exciting things we have done or been involved in.  So, it is boring to read about a character eating, brushing his teeth, shopping etc.

Introducing a new scene may be in the same place or another.  But there must be some sort of change in your protagonist.  As I try to make my transitions smoother, I need to think of what happened in the previous scene and what my protagonist wants in the next one. Get into his/her head as his thoughts move the story forward, what he mulls about what happened in the last scene and what he hopes to achieve in the next one.

The scenes must relate to the story in a progressive order.  I cannot plop my hero/ine down in the middle of nowhere, and have the reader trying to guess where she/he is.  It's good to show in the first couple of lines where our hero is and what she is doing. 

If the scene is in the same place, perhaps now it is night instead of day. Or if the MC has gone somewhere else having her slam the car door and rush down the drive to knock on a door. 

I have found the most helpful for me is Make a Scene by Jordan E. Rosenfeld