How Story Structure Saved My Sanity (and My Writing Career!) by Cathy Bryant

Hello, Katy Lee here. Today I have author, Cathy Bryant visiting the Scribes with some really great info for you! So take it away, Cathy!

Psst. Hey you. Yes, you. Wanna hear a secret? I have oodles of incomplete novels residing in my file cabinets. They started off as great story ideas—stories I was in love with enough to launch myself into the lengthy process of writing a novel . . . um, well . . . at least for the first thirty-thousand words.

So what happened between my optimistic start and the time where I threw my hands up in surrender, snatched up the stacks of finished pages, and crammed them in the dark depths of my desk? Simple. I hit the proverbial brick wall and couldn’t decide where the stories should go next.

For years, the same scenario would play itself out. Dream the story. Attack it with gusto. Write merrily. Hit the wall. (Rinse. Repeat.) Then once my kids were grown and on their own, I decided it was time to get serious. I voraciously studied the craft of writing using the internet, books, online classes—whatever I could get my hands on. Then finally, I found the cure for my ailment . . .

. . . Story structure.

All stories follow a tried-and-true formula (with minor variations). Don’t believe me? I’ll prove it. Read this post, then watch two or three movies—preferably in different genres—to see if you can find these elements included in each of them. And to drive home the point, I’ll also give you a few movie examples. (You can do this with books, but it saves time to watch a two-hour movie instead.)

Part One

-Regular World:

When the story begins, the main character is in his/her normal everyday world. (Examples: Mary is at the wedding of a client in The Wedding Planner; Frodo is in the shire in Lord of the Rings; George Bailey is in Bedford Falls in It’s A Wonderful Life.)

-Opportunity Knocks For A New Life:

The hero/heroine then has an opportunity for a new life. (Examples: Erinpersuades an attorney to give her a job in Erin Brokovich; Robin Williams’ character initiates a plan to see his children in Mrs. Doubtfire.)

Part Two

-Event That Changes the Plan:

Something happens to the main character that changes everything and moves them into the real story. (Examples: A tornado hits Dorothy’s house in The Wizard of Oz; the ship hits an iceberg in Titanic.)

-The Point of No Return (midpoint of the story):

Our hero/heroine must move ahead knowing there is no turning back, with the stakes higher than ever. (Example: In an attempt to gather evidence, Mitch McDeere is forced to hide his activities from both the antagonists and the FBI in The Firm.)

Part Three

-Dark Moment Which Leads to the Final Battle:

The worst of the worst happens, but our hero/heroine has grown throughout the course of the story and is now ready to take on the antagonistic force. (Examples: in almost every romance, this is where boy loses girl, but then goes on to win her back; the oldest son of Mel Gibson’s character dies in The Patriot.)

Resolution & Aftermath:

The biggest scene in the story takes place, followed by the ending scene(s). (Example: Rocky defeats . . . well, depending on the number, you can pick your opponent.) =)

I hope this helps you in your own story-writing and saves your sanity in the process. And who knows? If you’re like me—and have a few dozen stories hidden in your files—it might be time to dust them off and see if we can get past that proverbial brick wall…

 

Cathy Bryant’s first completed novel, TEXAS ROADS, was a 2009 ACFW Genesis finalist. In 2010, Cathy added A PATH LESS TRAVELED to the Miller’s Creek novels, and is currently working on THE WAY OF GRACE, book three in the series. Cathy, a native Texan, recently yanked up her yellow-rose-of-Texas roots to be transplanted with her husband of thirty years to Northwest Arkansas near the world’s cutest grandson. You can find out more about Cathy at www.CatBryant.com or find her on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you, Cathy for sharing your secret with us. This was just the message I needed to hear today!

 

Readers: Cathy is giving away one copy of A Path Less Traveled for 25 or fewer comments and two eBook giveaways of the same book for more than 25 comments…so start commenting, asking questions, discussing problems in your WIP…you name it, let’s hear it!

*Enter your email in a safe format by 5/21/12 12:00PM ET if you want to be considered. The winner will be announced next Sunday.*

Dark Things II: Cat Crimes – J.D. Revezzo ‘Fesses up!

Happy Friday everyone! Casey here! Today’s guest author is J.D. Revezzo. For some cat myth de-bunking, JD is also over at my website: Kitties for a Cause!

JD, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the Scribes’ favorite question.

How do you battle the doubt monster? 

The best way is that I give the scene to a friend and ask her if it’s as bad as I think. If she says yes, I toss it and try again; if she says no, I know to stop worrying.

Have you thought about writing something that is completely different for you?  Perhaps writing in a new genre or just taking a story someplace that you haven’t done before.

Funny you should ask that, I have three things I’ve been working on for the last two years that are completely new to me, when I started dabbling in Romantic suspense and cozy mystery. However, like the story I wrote for Dark Things II: Cat Crimes, which involves a furious Sekhmet, her priestess, magic, curses, and time travel, I’m most comfortable in Paranormal, Fantasy and SF worlds.

Would you like a peek at it?

“What Sekhmet Keeps”

by J.D. Revezzo

Betrayed by a false lover, cat shifter priestess Onfalia Mau lost her lioness soul and freedom to her lover’s treachery and Sekhmet’s wrath. Now, after three thousand years, Donquar has returned with one thing in mind: to steal the goddess’s scepter. Onfalia knows that to do so means to unleash Sekhmet’s unholy, bloody Slaughter on the world and she’ll stop at nothing to foil Donquar’s plans.

Excerpt:

Claws dimpled his skin, as if she sought attention. She nuzzled her head into his hand, and purred. Chibale tapped her on the nose. “Now, don’t try to charm me, kitty. I can’t keep you. Out.”

She purred louder and nuzzled his chest.

“Oh, hell.” He carried the cat into the kitchen and poured her the last of his milk. “I don’t mind black coffee, anyway. But tomorrow, we’re finding your owner.”

He dropped his jacket onto the chair, then set down before his computer. The cat leapt onto the desk as he went to work. When he misspelled the goddess’ name, the cat reached out a paw and hit the delete key back to the S-e-k. Chibale stared at her. “Did you belong to an English teacher?”

The search engine suggested Sekhmet, and he carried on with his work. The cat slipped into his lap as he read the first promising page.

Goddess of Lions. A daughter of Ra; represented the scorching power of the sun. “Lion. Sun.” He shook his head. “Never did understand these stupid stories. ‘When mankind rebelled against Ra’s domain, Sekhmet attacked, slaughtering thousands and drinking their blood.’ Sounds like a nice wholesome girl.” The cat shifted in his lap and stretched up, resting her paws against the edge of the keyboard. “You’re so interested in mythology, should I give you to Onfalia?” She looked at him, and he scratched her ears as he returned to his search.

Scepter, Sekhmet. “How does this tie into the stolen scepter? Any idea, kit?”

Two hours into his search, a headline caught his attention: Slaying uptown. Occult in Nature?

“So obvious.” The cat meowed and Chibale looked down at her, meeting her tawny eyes. “Oh, you think so too, do you?”

Festival to appease Sekhmet’s slaughter.

“Hopefully they won’t do the opposite, eh kitty?”

************

I hope you’ll check it out, and enjoy these fabulous stories! All proceeds from the sale of our anthology will go to Cat House on The Kings, a no-kill cat sanctuary in California.

Their URL http://www.cathouseonthekings.com/

Buy links for the anthology:

In Kindle and paperback at Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/DARK-THINGS-II-Crimes-ebook/dp/B006O15YBE/ref=tmm_kin_title_0/185-0297248-1137456?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2

And in Epub at Lulu.

http://www.lulu.com/shop/compiled-by-patty-g-henderson/dark-things-ii-cat-crimes/ebook/product-18787458.html

What story haven’t you told yet that you want to tell?  What is holding you back?

Oh, there are a couple. What’s holding me back? I’m still in research mode for a them. There aren’t enough hours in the day, I suppose! LOL

What would you do if you couldn’t be a writer any longer?

Well, I have a degree in art history so I’d definitely want to work in a museum.

They say that every author has a partially completed, quite-possibly-terrible half a story shoved in a drawer somewhere.  What is yours?  What is it about?

You’re going to laugh. I tried to write an “Arthurian retelling” back in high school.

What makes it terrible?

*Laughs* You mean other than the fact that it’s a God-awful mess and not exactly original? I think it’s more character sketch than actual story. What can I say? It was a first attempt and, looking back, I’m glad I never finished or tried to do anything with it.

 Would you ever consider picking it up and finishing it?

Probably not. But maybe. Never say never.

How do you come up with your shtick? That signature that makes your writing unique.

I try to insert some paranormal or fantasy something, however slight, into just about everything I write. For instance, a ghost, a curse, a god or goddess, a string of bad luck for the character, some sort of family legend. Something…weird, always creeps in.

What was your biggest misstep in your writing career so far?

There are two actually, one I waited too long to get serious. Don’t do that, folks. If you think you want to write (or paint or whatever your artistic muse leads you to), at least try. The other is that I have a bad habit of taking the wrong advice from the wrong people.

Do you have a word related pet peeve?

Yes. Two sets of words, actually, bug me when I see them in manuscripts (speaking as a critique partner or, in the past, a chapter contest judge): Its/It’s and There/Their/They’re. YES, there is a difference between those forms of the words. Get it right or get a big RED X on your mss from me. It’ll even make me roll my eyes if I see it in ads, in webpages, or …just about anywhere. Yes, I’ve even seen it in books, from time to time. Those sets of words, when used wrong, drive me up the wall.

What is your junk food of choice?

Anything salty. Mostly potato chips though.

What’s the most dangerous or risky thing that you’ve done?

I’m not really a thrill seeker. I won’t even do roller coasters! I guess you could say “Every time I get in the car”. I mean, heck, anything can happen.

What is your guilty pleasure? {Remember: this is a ‘G’ rated blog! }

I guess I could say books. I enjoy collecting books—and writing.

 About J.D. Revezzo:

J.D. Revezzo has long been in love with writing, a love built by devouring everything from the Arthurian legends, to the works of Michael Moorcock, and the classics. Her short fiction has been published in Dark Things II: Cat Crimes, The Scribing Ibis, Eternal Haunted Summer, Twisted Dreams Magazine and Luna Station Quarterly.

You can learn more about her works at her site: http://harshadpassion.wordpress.com/

 or if you wish, follow her on Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/pages/JD-Revezzo/233193150037011

Or on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/juliannewrites/

Thanks for being our guest today JD! Best of luck with the anthology.

Scribes fans – have questions for JD – ask away!

Refilling the Creative Well

PJ Sharon has left the building! I’m away this week on a much needed vacation. Basking in the sun and having fun in North Carolina while preparing for my #2 stepson’s wedding. After gearing up for last weekend’s fabulous CT RWA Fiction Fest conference and all of this promoting and marketing business, I’m well past due for a break.

The past few months have been a whirlwind of activity for me. I won’t bore you with all the gruesome and hair-raising details, but needless to say, I’m more than ready to set aside some time to rest and relax. As much as I’m enjoying my new career as an author, I have to say, I’m struggling to get the next book written in the time frame I gave myself. I was able to produce first drafts of my previous books within a few months, so when I set my production schedule, I assumed I would be able to manage the same pace. But that was before I entered the realm of publishing, where 80% of my time would be dedicated to marketing and promoting the three books which I indie-published over the last six months. I’d hoped to complete the next book by July. What planet was I on when I thought I could do that? I don’t think superman had stronger kryptonite than an impossible deadline.

Which leads me to part of the problem. The book I’m working on is the first in a dystopian trilogy. I’ve never written a series…and I’ve never written about a world that doesn’t yet exist…both challenging on many levels, even for experienced writers. The hardest part for me, however, is that my left brain has been working on all cylinders and leaving my right brain creative side in the dust. Now I know better than most how important balance is for good health and optimal performance, so I know exactly what I need to do. Refill my creative well. That requires me to change my focus and perhaps even my expectations.

The good news is that I’m aware of the problem and know what I need to do to fix it. The first thing I need to do is remind myself that I am the boss, a mantra I’ve been practicing a lot lately. What that means is that I can change my deadline date without fear of reprisal from a publishing house. I hate to disappoint readers, but I know they would prefer quality over quantity any day of the week, so I’m hoping they’ll stick with me and be patient. The next step is to kick back and regroup. Fortunately, this trip came at the perfect time. The price I’ll pay for being off-grid for a week will likely be a mountain of e-mails to address upon my return, but the mental break will hopefully give me a chance to kick start that right brain into high gear. When I do return, I’ll need to reassess my marketing plan, get control of my schedule, and revamp my life a bit to carve out time for writing and resume a more balanced writer’s life.

So if I don’t return your e-mails, comment on your blog, or show up on your twitter and Facebook feed, just know that I’ll be back…in limited view…in a week or so. Thanks for all the support, Scribe’s followers, and have a wonderful week! My Scribe buddies will be fielding comments today, so feel free to chime in on any other ideas for balancing my business and writing life. 

How I Got My Agent….

I finally got an agent! Hip hip hooray, YES!, YAY! and every other happy word I can think of. But let me tell you this process was not an easy one. It took years.

Me jumping for joy!

I started writing in 2007, my senior year of college. From the beginning I wrote romance. I blame Susan Elizabeth Phillips’ THIS HEART of MINE, which was the first contemporary romance I had ever read. (Till this day I still have a soft spot for Kevin and Molly.) And Jennifer Crusie whose BET ME introduced me to Minerva and Cal and was the only book I’ve ever read twice in a row. You know when a book is good when you still remember the characters names years after putting it down.

As a writer I knew I wanted to accomplish that. I had to accomplish that. I’m the kind of person that once she decides she is going to be good at something doesn’t stop till she gets there. So I wrote BY HAND, (gasp) for years. Full novels in notebooks while I read every romance novel I could get my hands on. This was my training period. I had no clue what the RWA was or that local writing groups existed. All I knew was that I wanted to write. And so I did, like a job, I wrote everyday, getting a little better.

In 2008 I completed( typed) my first novel and sent it out to about a dozen agents. In the back of my mind I knew it wasn’t ready. It was too long. The plot was a little all over the place and the genre wasn’t clearly defined. I didn’t know that then though. I didn’t know much except that I wanted to be a writer.

A few more embarrassingly bad hand written manuscripts and one semi decent one later I decided to enter a contest. I really wanted feedback. I knew I could write but I didn’t know much about the art of writing. It was then the writing Gods interfered and introduced me to my Fairy Writing Godmother Kristan Higgins who suggested I join a local writers group. From these people I learned about community and what it really feels like to have people truly want the best for you.

I also learned practical things like… I suck at commas.( Thank you, Jane.) And sometimes I am far too wordy. I make my heroes say stuff that most self-respecting men would never say. (Thank you, Christine.) I tend to over complicate my plots. And I use You’re when I mean Your.

They helped me learn from my mistakes, showed me it was okay to have practice manuscripts.(Thank you PJ Sharon.) So when I sat down to write the book that got me my agent I was determined to write a good one.

I know I didn’t write the next great American novel but I wrote a book I could be proud of.  (I promise I’m getting to the good part now. Damn writers and their back story!)

So I sent it out into the world and ended up getting 6 full requests. 3 partial requests and a hell of a lot of rejections. I queried 51 agents since December 16, 2011. I was getting frustrated by the whole process. The funny thing was I never received a rejection on a full manuscript. I actually wanted one of those, just for the feedback alone. Three of those agents had my book for months and each day of silence was making me more and more discouraged.

But then it all happened so quickly. I got a request for a full. Then the next day I got a call from that agent offering me representation. As soon as I hung up with her one of my dream agents requested a full, when I told her I had just been offered representation she asked me not to sign anything until she got the chance to read it. By that time I was ready to barf. Two agents! And if that wasn’t enough my fairy god writing mother was bragging (as all good fairy writing god mother’s should) that I had just received an offer to yet another agent.  That agent asked that I email her. So I sent off my manuscript and the day after that I got another call.

I really and truly fell in agent love with Emmanuelle Morgen. Love LOVE LURVE! The other agents were nice but Emmanuelle rang every bell, told me exactly what I could expect from her and what she would expect from me. She didn’t make me huge promises and was up front with everything. Explaining the history of the agency, who her clients were, what advances were like, what houses were the best for authors. We talked about the future, and long-term goals and that was before she ever offered me representation. I hung up the phone after our forty minute conversation and felt like this woman will do her best to get the best for me.

I’m not the type of person who can have laid back agent. I need someone who is going to be on my tail to help me create the best book I can. And so when Emmanuelle said I needed to get on those edits and cut down my word count by 5- 10k and get it back to her by Friday morning. I busted my ass to do so. By Friday afternoon I had my work with five houses. All of this happened in the span of two weeks.

People who see me wonder why I’m not shaking with excitement.(Well, I barely gotten any sleep these past two weeks) But I am excited and grateful and happy, but I’m also a realist. I know that crap happens, and despite the best of intentions books don’t always make it to publishing. And until I see my book on a shelf I’m going to keep my optimism cautious. And I’ll never stop learning how to be the best writer I can be.

Sooo thank you to all my CTRWA members who have cheered me on. And to my fellow scribes, especially Casey who has seen my book at it’s worst and still encouraged me to finish it. And to Kristan Higgins who has been the best Fairy Writing God Mother a girl could ask for.

Honor Thy Mother

Happy Mother’s Day, Katy Lee here, and in lieu of Mother’s Day, I thought I would share a bit about my heroine’s mom in my Inspirational-Romantic-Suspense, Real Virtue. (FYI-I did post this on Sandra Orchard’s blog last month, sorry if you’ve already read it.)

I’m especially excited to give a little more insight into Arlene Mesini’s character because Arlene was influenced by my own mother. You see, like my mom, Arlene suffers from the horrible brain disease, Schizophrenia. When I set out to write Real Virtue, I did not plan for Arlene to have this disease. Never in my wildest imagination did I think my story would link up with it either, but during my research of online virtual-reality gaming I came across an avatar with this affliction. You see, in Real Virtue, my heroine is a gamer who takes her pastime a little too far. She is living a life that is a bit removed from reality…just like her mother. But in Mel’s case, she has the choice.

It was during my research that I found this video of what a day in the life of a schizophrenic person is like, and in watching this video I knew I had found my heroine’s mother—and the perfect conflict for Mel to face.

A conflict I understood very well.

I’m going to be honest here and say, growing up with someone who has this disease is extremely difficult, and it took me a long time to understand my mother’s pain, but more importantly, to accept her as she is. If I was ever to have a relationship with her, I needed to stop trying to escape from the reality of the situation, (excuse the pun) and get to know her.

And the same goes for Mel.

So, once Arlene was “born,” I knew I had an opportunity to take it one step further and honor my own mom through her. I dedicated Real Virtue to my mom as the strongest person I know. I can only hope Arlene does her justice.

The Unlocked Secret That’s Not Really a Secret: Happy Mother’s Day to all you mom’s out there! Being a mom is the most important thing you will ever do. Take pride in it. You are shaping the world and you ARE making a difference. And remember to honor your own mom today. She, too, made a difference.

Question: So since we’re sharing, tell me something about your mother. But remember, keep it honoring.

Lessons I Learned In The Woods by Becky Wade

Hello, Katy Lee here, along with the wonderful author of My Stubborn Heart. I was blessed to review a copy of this book a few weeks back, and when I finished I immediately invited the author to share the day with us. I’m so excited she said yes! But more than that, like any good storyteller, she came prepared with a story!

So, Becky Wade, take it away! 

Imagine a princess who set off on a journey toward a pink and glittering castle.  She’d fallen in love with the castle through her recurring dreams of it and so she worked for years to reach her destination, overcoming obstacles, honing her navigation skills. 

At last — finally, joyfully — she arrived!  She lived in the castle for a few years, enjoying its splendor.  But on one fateful afternoon, the owners of the castle came for her, politely escorted her across the moat, and raised the drawbridge against her.

Bitterly confused and disappointed at her banishment, the princess settled into a cottage in the village.  A benevolent town Elder gave her a miniature pony as a gift.  The Princess adored the pony, so she decided to pour all her heart and attention into the care and raising of miniature ponies.  She tucked away her dreams of castles.Years passed. 

The town Elder paid her another visit.  He showed the princess a beautiful drawing of a castle constructed entirely of flashing diamonds.  He spun enchanting stories about the place.

Her old hopes stirred.  She wanted, down deep within herself, to see the diamond castle.  But she knew firsthand how perilous and difficult the expedition would be and how disappointing the destination might prove.

The Elder reassured her. He promised to walk beside her and to help her across every mile of their joint quest.  All that He required of her?  To expend the effort the trip would demand.

So, taking her ponies and her frayed courage in hand, the princess set off into the woods behind the Elder in pursuit of a castle of diamonds.

 CAST:

Princess: Me.  (Don’t you love being a writer?  One can give oneself the role of Princess!)

Pink Castle: Publication of historical romance novels for the general market.

Elder: God.

Ponies: My kids.

Diamond Castle: Completion of a manuscript for the Christian market.

 

The above tale is, in a nutshell, how I found my niche in the world of books and publishing.  I first set out on my writing journey eighteen years ago and, as you can see, I took a circuitous route!  Here are a few of the lessons I learned in the woods….

• The first time I chased the dream of publication I took a traveled road.  I studied the craft.  I joined writer’s organizations and local chapters.  I was desperate for someone to read my work, so I enlisted critique partners and entered contests.  I traveled to conferences.  I practiced hard by churning out one manuscript after another.  Lesson #1: The traveled road is one route to publication.
• I never felt right about some of the content in my secular romance novels, yet I managed to rationalize my concerns away.  Well, God Himself eventually stepped in and closed that door firmly.  Lesson #2: If you don’t feel 100% right about some facet of your work and/or have to rationalize away concerns — you’re headed in the wrong direction.  Stop and reassess.
• The second time I set out, this time with the goal of writing a novel for the Christian market, my instincts directed me to veer off the traveled road and to follow instead a narrow pathway. I wrote the book in a solitary way, just me and God.  No organizations, no critiques, no contests, no deadlines.  Lesson #3: Follow your instincts because God speaks to you through them.  Narrow pathways can also lead to publication.
• Since I only had an audience of One to please, I wrote the book of my heart, the way that I loved it, and exactly as I wanted it to be.  I stumbled backwards into a modern setting, which turned out to offer a great backdrop for humor, which turned out to suit a quirky, casual, wry author’s voice I’d never known I possessed.  Even better, though?  The writing brought me such joy!  The most joy I’d ever encountered in a project.  Lesson #4: The real blessing isn’t in the destination of publication or happy readers or career success.  The real blessing is the satisfaction that’s found en route, in the doing of the work. So choose a trek that deeply delights you.

What have your instincts told you about your writing journey in the past?  Or what are they telling you now?  Have you made any wrong turns along the way?  Or have you reached a goal only to find you might have been slightly off-course the whole time?

 

And let me just add my two cents, Becky…I totally felt your joy in writing this story! It came through perfectly on every page. And readers, it’s got a hot hockey player in it…what’s not to like?!

My Stubborn Heart is available now from Bethany House Publishers and you can purchase it here through Amazon!

A Sensational CBA Debut in Contemporary Romance!  This summer author Becky Wade makes her CBA debut with a fun — and funny — contemporary romance.  Amidst the light-hearted banter and laugh-out-loud moments is a compelling spiritual journey of one woman’s choice to listen to God and wait on him.  Filled with humor and authentic romance, My Stubborn Heart is shaping up to be the hit of the summer.

Kate Donovan is burned out on work, worn down by her dating relationships, and in need of an adventure. When Kate’s grandmother asks Kate to accompany her to Redbud, Pennsylvania, to restore the grand old house she grew up in, Kate jumps at the chance.

Yet, she discovers a different kind of project upon meeting the man hired to renovate the house.  Matt Jarreau is attractive and clearly wounded — hiding from people, from God, and from his past.  Kate can’t help but set her stubborn heart on bringing him out of the dark and back into the light… whether he likes it or not.

 

Becky Wade makes her home in Dallas, Texas with her husband, three children, and one adoring (and adored) cavalier spaniel. Her diamond castle (an inspirational contemporary romance titled My Stubborn Heart has just been released by Bethany House.

 

Readers: We would love to hear your comments and questions, but first, I’m going to through the first question out there…Becky, what is next for you? Spill it!  

Review of MY STUBBORN HEART by Becky Wade

Greetings, Katy Lee here, bringing you my thoughts on my most recent read. But before I do that, I want to remind you that REAL VIRTUE is the Book of the Month for The Clean Reads Online Book Club. You have all month to join them. So click on the link to get details. And I appreciate it, for sure!

Now back to my review…

Normally, I am a fast reader, but Becky Wade had me slowing down to absorb each and every exceptionally placed word on the page. I didn’t want My Stubborn Heart to end…even though parts of it hurt to read. A lot.

HEROINE: Kate Donovan has prayed for a husband and has now come to the town of Redbud, PA for a break from her childrens’ services/social work job, which having worked in a simliar position, I can understand the need for a break. She’s there to renovate her grandmother’s childhood home. She’s spunky and quick-witted. She’s petite and funny. She has a beautiful, pure heart and someone I would love to be friends with. The one thing I wished differently for her was that she wasn’t so down on herself about her looks. Yes, she had been dumped a few times, but even the beautiful people of the world have been. I didn’t see any past experience in her life that would make her see herself in this light.

BUT having said that…I suppose when the hero is some beautiful, world famous athelete who could have any woman in the world, ANY simple woman would wonder if she was worthy to be on the arm of that guy.

And speaking of the HERO: Matt Jarreau is all that! I typically don’t like jocks, because of their ego, but he is the exception. The story is not so much about his ability on the ice, but about his pain. He is wounded and hiding. Yes, he is beautiful, but he is not superficial, and, man, does he know how to treat a woman–when he sets his heart on her, that is. He has a family who loves him and hates to see him hurt. They pray for him. They pray for someone to reach him. And God answers that prayer.

But sometimes God doesn’t answer our prayers the way we think He should. And that’s all I will say about that.

READ IT! You’ll be glad you did. My Stubborn Heart is filled with insight and great writing, tidbits to take away and ponder later…and even savor.

*A thank you goes to the publisher for sending this to me in return for an honest review.

The Unlocked Secret and BONUS: Becky Wade will be visiting the Scribes this Wednesday, May 9th all day! So be sure to stop by and see what she has to say. I’ll give you a hint…It’s about castles!

Question: What book are you reading right now? Does it have you slowing down to savor every word?

Blast From the Past

Hey, all. Suze here. Guess what? May is the Scribes’ birthday month! We’re going to have some special things going on all month long in honor of our upcoming first anniversary (including some pretty cool giveaways!). Make sure you visit us every day so you don’t miss anything.

Just for fun, I thought I’d repost my very first blog. Hope you enjoy it!

Hi, all.  Susannah Hardy here.  I’m a writer of humorous mysteries set in the fictional resort town of Bonaparte Bay.  I hope you’ll be able to travel there with me soon!

With summer approaching, I was thinking about my own childhood summers in northern New York State, way up by the Canadian border.  I would often spend a day or two with my grandma, Gert.  Gert lived with her second husband in a little converted one room schoolhouse, surrounded by zinnias, peonies (which she called “pineys”), and old-fashioned pink roses.   She always did her housework and gardening in the morning, because after lunch she dropped everything.  She’d make herself a cup of Red Rose tea and put an Archway cookie on a plate, then park herself in her rust-colored velour recliner in front of the television to watch her “stories.”  Now, there was no cable where she lived and she only got a couple of stations, so it was the CBS soap operas for her — The Edge of Night, and Secret Storm, and As the World Turns.

The point is, her stories were important to her, so she scheduled her other activities in such a way that she had time for them.  And that’s a lesson we can all learn as writers.

There are so many demands on our time — families, housework, jobs for those of us still in the traditional workforce — it can seem impossible to eke out even a few minutes to write.   I’m here to tell you, though, that The Dream, whatever The Dream constitutes for you, is never going to come true unless you find time for it.

Notice I didn’t say “make time.”   We’ve all got the same twenty-four hours in the day (at least here on Earth that’s true — you fantasy and sci-fi writers, modify to suit your particular planetary rotation), so there’s no way to make the day magically longer.  However, we can structure our days to include a few hours, or even just a few minutes, to work on our stories.

Maybe you can get up an hour earlier than the rest of your family (easier in the summer than the winter here in the Northeast!).  Maybe you can skip going out to lunch with your co-workers, but instead brown-bag it with your BFF the laptop in an unused office or the local coffee shop.  Maybe you could – gasp! –ask your family to make a simple dinner a couple of nights a week, or put in a load of laundry, or run the vacuum cleaner.   Maybe you could — bigger gasp, possibly resulting in hyperventilation! — limit Facebooking, Tweeting,  Internet surfing, e-mail reading, and/or television watching.  You might just be surprised at how much you can get done in an hour or less of focused effort.  And even small amounts will eventually add up to a completed manuscript.

Take a look at your typical day and see where you can rearrange or delegate some tasks, or delete some time-suckers, to find time for your Stories.  Nobody else will, or can, do it for you.

Till next time,

Susannah

What Physics Games Taught Me

Thea Devine here, a rabid Mahjong Titans fan.  I play it endlessly, I’m fascinated by it, I love it.  But what I never expected was that I would go crazy nuts over physics games.  You know — the cut, slice, dice, collide and explode things kind of games.  Oh my goodness — your basic hopeless-at-math, barely-passed-algebra, don’t even talk to me about geometry, calculus. trigonometry or physics student madly in love with and intensively absorbed by physics games.

And I’m constantly searching out new ones (don’t tell my husband — who did take calculus and trig) and I spend far too much time playing games, which require analyzing angles, balance, sweet spots, swing, timing and torque, among other things, in order to collide, cut, destroy or dynamite the objective.

But here’s the thing:  the angles, timing, swing, and speed don’t always work the way you think they will.  Sometimes, when you slice one way, your object collapses the opposite way.  Or your maneuver to get two pieces to collide when one is descending faster than the other which is perched on a ledge with no discernible way to reach the oncoming object leaves you dizzy and totally perplexed.  How many times do you try it the way you think it should work before you realize you have to recalculate and devise a different  theory?

Sometimes, I discovered, you have to think back to front, down instead of up, sideways instead of straight ahead.

Sometimes, I thought in a lightbulb moment, that’s how you have to approach a plot that’s not working. Slice and dice.  Go under instead of over.  Cut the ground out from under a character and see what happens.  Think front to back, especially if you’re plotting a mystery.   The bad guy has to account for everything in order not to be suspected.  The guy who says he took off on a camping trip with his kids the snowy stormy night his wife was murdered sounds awfully suspicious.  There has to be a better alibi than that.  Start with the murder.  Who what when where why how.  Especially what and how.  Back to front:  how did he do it, how did he cover his tracks, what’s his alibi, how does he make it foolproof, where does he slip up (subtly)?

Or reverse things.  Make a male character into a woman (or vice versa).  That solved a problem for me when I had in my head the picture of this guy on a subway whom I noticed when my husband and I were on our way into Manhattan one evening (we lived in Brooklyn then — that’s how long he occupied my head).

He’d knelt in front of this couple, and the expression on his face was just gorgeous:  all lit up, all intense and focused on the couple. . For years I wanted to make him into a  a hero — but I couldn’t fit him and that moment into any scenario I was working on.  Then one day I thought — he doesn’t have to be a guy. And if I changed him and his glowing intensity into a woman, it would give me the heroine for a contemporary project I’d been thinking about.

Outside the box.  Sometimes you have switch off that linear thought process.  When I was in the midst of thinking about the plot for The Darkest Heart, I still couldn’t wrap my head around the idea of a romantic vampire hero.  I was thinking blood, gore, dank, dark, dirt, yuck — romantic?  Really?  I mean I knew the reasons vampires are alluring:   they’re mysterious, they’re immortal;  you’re flirting with reckless endangerment (death is but a kiss away).  they’re protective … but none of that sparked any romance in me.  So I asked my husband.  And he said, in his logical look-at-every-angle way, “they’re victims.  They had no choice.”

I mean, I never even thought of that.  I wasn’t as deeply into physics games then (if that’s an excuse), so naturally I didn’t think of a different angle.  But instantly that one outside my box perception opened everything up for me.  My hero was now vulnerable.  He’s wrestling with what he was, what he’s become, what he can’t change, and where this irrevocable transformation must lead, even as he’s bent on a warpath of revenge.  And then the heroine pops up to derail all those plans …

And there was the plot.  All because of one different perspective on vampires.

Oh, do I love my husband!

Do you play physics games?  What about your plots and plans?  Have you ever sliced, diced, exploded or reversed a plot?  Did it work?  How much do you love your husband?

REAL VIRTUE Chosen for a Book Club Read

Hello Scribers, Katy Lee here. For the month of May, my latest release, Real Virtue, has been chosen for a book club read. The International Book Club of Clean Reads asked me to join their group, and I did, but not without weighing the costs of being a part of something like this. The biggest one being … it will cut into my writing time. (sigh) But in the end, I figured that the benefits of joining a book club far outweigh the costs, and here are a few of those benefits I reap:

1. I am exposed to reading material that I might otherwise pass over, or never hear of—and that includes people hearing about my books. But if I keep my mind open, I can learn about others’ experiences and how they have opted to look at the world as a result of them.

2. A book club keeps me in touch with the world. That doesn’t solely mean reaching readers, but also reading different genres and literature that expose me to different viewpoints I may not have encountered otherwise. It can only better my writing.

3. It’s a safe place to exchange and challenge ideas. Many times I just don’t like a book, but in the discussions I am able to listen to others share what they did like, and it may help me understand my own thoughts.

4. Readers are bright, knowledgeable and articulate people, and they make great friends. Who doesn’t need friends?

5. It’s an opportunity to make lifetime connections with people that go beyond following you on Twitter or liking your Facebook Fan Page.

The Unlocked Secret: Book clubs can open a lot of doors for writers. And with so many to choose from, you’re bound to find one that will fit your writing style and genre. And perhaps your book will be chosen, too! I know I am blessed for Real Virtue to have been chosen as the next read.

Readers: If you would like to get in on the read, please contact me for the details. The more the merrier!

Question: Do you belong to a book club? What is your biggest benefit? Your cost?

And here is a blurb about Real Virtue:

In a virtual reality game where she can fly, there’s someone aiming to take her down.

 Mel Mesini is a New York City restauranteur and an avid virtual reality world traveler. She’s risen above her misfit life and now bears a striking resemblance to her glamorous gaming avatar. But her successful life—both online and in reality—takes a swerve the night her father is seriously injured in a hit-and-run. Mel is careened back to her judgmental hometown, where being the daughter of the town’s crazy lady had made her the outcast she was. To make matters worse, Officer Jeremy Stiles, the man whose harsh, rejecting words had cut her the deepest, is heading the investigation.

Jeremy knows he hurt Mel and attempts to make amends by finding her father’s assailant. When he realizes she’s the actual target, his plan for reconciliation turns to one of protection—whether she wants his help or not. What he wants are answers, especially about this online game she plays. Is it a harmless pastime as she says? Or is she using it to cover something up? As a faceless predator destroys the things that matter to her, Jeremy knows he’s running out of time before she loses the one thing that matters most—her real life.