My Favorite Halloween Monster

free photo from Dreamstime

October is one of my favorite months, aside from it being my birth month. I live in Central Pennsylvania and the fall foliage hits its peak during the tenth month. The mountains are ablaze with reds, golds and oranges. The weather also becomes pleasant. Summers in Pennsylvania are usually hot and humid, but the fall, particularly early October, is refreshing—and because of this lower humidity, October’s sky seems to become a brilliant, deep, blue. I love that shade and even make mention of it in A Hunter’s Angel by calling Ian’s eyes “October blue.”

But there’s another reason I love October. I love Halloween. I spent this past weekend decorating my front porch. I do a haunted house/witch theme and dress up during Trick or Treat as a witch to hand out candy from a large, black cauldron I have over a “flaming fire.”

But despite this tribute to my inner witch... I love ghosts. I hate watching horror movies, which let’s face it are fake and fictional, but I love watching the shows on the History Channel or the Travel Channel about the most haunted places in the world. I love the story about the Winchester Mansion and how there are rooms that lead nowhere simply because the ghosts of the people killed by the Winchester Riffle told Mrs. Winchester to build them.

Or the stories of the ghosts in New Orleans and on some of the southern plantations.

I’ve actually worked in a two haunted places. The hospital I used to work at (which was no longer used as an inpatient facility when I worked there) had all kinds of stories. There are two in particular that stand out.

When the building was renovated and turned into doctor office space, the workers swore they would hear babies crying where they ripped out the old maternity ward area. The other incident happened while I was working there. Several X-ray techs had chilling experiences with a more sinister specter in the radiology department, which just happened to be in the basement where the morgue had been. One of the scariest things happened when all the department doors were opened, even the locked ones, all the garbage cans were strewn in the halls, and chairs were stacked on top of the desk in the office. This all occurred within in a ten-minute period while the tech had come up stairs to do an X-ray in the urgent care unit where I worked one evening. No one had access to the downstairs office but the tech. Needless to say, she never wanted to work alone in the evenings again, and I avoided the basement of that building like the plague!

Carlisle Historical Photo

I’ve since left that little hospital and now work on an old Army post. There have been entire books written about the ghosts that haunt Carlisle Barracks. The most scary stories come from the old Hessian Museum. This old stone building was built in 1777 by Hessian prisoners of war as a powder magazine during the Revolutionary War. But it was also their prison. Many of these mercenaries died in that small stone building. I’ve been in there, and it’s a creepy place. It’s dark and dank and cold, even though it’s not meant to be. And many people have claimed to have seen the emaciated bodies of the prisoners working on the building or inside the cells.

Yes, if this looks at all familiar it's where I had my photo shoot in March. Here's my picture standing at the very door pitured above.

Of course, the most haunted place around here is Gettysburg. In fact, one of the fun things to do in the town isn’t touring the battlefield, but taking a ghost tour. I’ll be talking about some of the most famous ghost stories from that beautiful little town on Friday on the Inkslingers Blog.

Do you have any ghost stories? And what is your favorite Halloween monster?

The serial killer stalking Clayton, Pennsylvania, isn’t all that has Chief of Police Grace Wallace worried. For a year, she’s tried to forget Special Agent Ian McHenry and now he’s the expert the FBI sent to catch the killer. She can’t stay away from him, but something primal is telling her to run to save much more than just her heart. Despite the strict code of ethics Ian vowed to follow as a vampire hunter, he craves Grace’s blood above all others. If he chooses to stay, Ian risks losing his chance at divine forgiveness. But if he leaves Grace unprotected from the evil he’s hunted for over a century, he loses more than just his soul…

The Wild Rose Press | Amazon | Barnes and Noble | Kobo

 

 

Brigit Wolfe, a born werewolf, hasn’t killed a human in over a hundred years, although now, she wonders if the animal attacking people in Silver Creek, Colorado, isn’t her. But she might have bigger problems when her cowboy neighbor, Austin Calhoun, ambles into her bar. Austin hasn’t been a vampire for long, but he is determined to prove to himself that he’s worthy of his hunter’s dagger. Brigit’s rare beauty and blade-sharp tongue enchants him. She ignites a passion he thought was dead, but is she the killer his master sent him to destroy? During Austin’s investigation regarding Brigit’s involvement in the deaths, an old crime surfaces connected to her human best friend. These two immortal enemies have to join forces to solve the mystery before someone else dies. But can they survive the heat of their own desire?

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Deleted Scene: A Hunter’s Angel

Available everywhere Ebooks are sold July 20

This week is an exciting one for me... On Friday, my first published novel, A Hunter’sAngel, releases! Yay! Throw the confetti! Pop those champagne corks!

Yeah, I’m a little hyper about it all. And I’m having a blast.

Today, just for you all, I’m sharing a special treat.  A deleted scene.  This has not been professionally edited, since I’d cut it long before I submitted it to The Wild Rose Press, so forgive any mistakes...LOL

Hope you enjoy!

Also remember to leave a comment with your email address. I’m running a contest.  (See below for details.)

~~~

Shane watched from under the large oak tree in the side yard of a dilapidated farmhouse. A mixture of blocky plastic toys, rusted farm equipment, and an engine block resting on cinderblocks were strewn over the muddy yard. In an old barn behind the house, a dim light shown between the cracks in the old oak planks. A screech and a thumping of metal hitting metal followed a chorus of curses.

“Fuck it, I’m goin’ to bed. Sheryl will just have to come here to pick ‘em up in the mornin’, if she wants ‘em that damn bad,” grumbled the young man inside the barn.

The boy was alone. The only other heartbeats near came from the old clapboard house—the young, small hearts of children.

He moved to the battered doorway of the barn-turned-garage. The plank doors hung opened, despite the cold night. Aged to twenty-four years, named Johnny Markel, recently divorced from a cheating wife, two kids... Shane ruffled through the boy’s mind further. He worked at a factory he hated, but for his kids he’d put up with the crap from his boss. Someday he’d finish the computer training and get a better job. Maybe go to real college.

Pitiful. Shane backed out of the boy’s mind and allowed him to take notice of him.

“Hey, who the hell are you?” Johnny’s brusqueness didn’t mask his spike of fear.

Shane raised a brow and smirked. “I’m your worst nightmare.”

Before the boy could react, Shane moved in behind Johnny too fast for the boy to see the maneuver. Shane entered Johnny’s mind again and paralyzed him. Panic came to the boy with blinding ferocity.

“It pleases me greatly you aren’t heeding the warnings of the local ineffectual law enforcement. You know the ones—stay inside and don’t go out at night alone.” Shane allowed Johnny control of his facial expressions, and he laughed when the boy’s eyes bugged. “You do know there is a serial killer on the loose, do you not? Oh, what is the media calling me...” Shane circled the boy and pretended to think as he tapped a finger on his cheek. “Ah, yes, the Alleghany Slasher. But trust me. I’m more frightening than any mortal killer.”

“No!” Johnny shouted when Shane gave him control of his voice.

Shane moved behind him again. “Tell me, Johnny,” Shane said near his ear like a lover. Johnny’s shock washed over Shane along with his terror. “I know a great deal more than your name, Johnny. Your simple mind reads like an open book—a very boring and uninspiring one at that. Do you believe in the undead?”

“What the fuck are you talking about? Did you drug me or somethin’?”

“Oh, this modern time can be so despairing.” Again, Shane circled his prey. “Mortals are bombarded every second with information, and science has made people shortsighted and unbelieving in the unexplained, the mystical world.” He stopped and held Johnny’s gaze. “Mortals have no idea how limited their science is.”

Johnny’s mind sent a stronger signal to flee. Shane blocked it, but not before a shudder ran though Johnny’s paralyzed body.

“Why can’t I move? Lemme go!”

“Oh, some fight. I like that. Makes the blood tastier with adrenaline.” Becoming weary of the game, Shane moved in behind him again.

“Blood?” Johnny croaked. Shane let Johnny look over his shoulder, and Shane allowed his eyes to take on the demonic glow of a vampire about to feed. His canines descended. The scream that followed from the boy was piercing.

With Shane’s mental compulsion, Johnny tilted his head, offering his neck. Johnny whimpered, pathetically pleaded, “Please, I have two little kids. Don’t hurt them. They’re all I have.”

“Yes, I can hear their hearts. Dear little children, I’m sure. So innocent, so sweet.” Shane smiled, baring his teeth. The pulse at the base of Johnny’s neck beat erratically, and Shane laughed. “Ha! You didn’t even know you had a worst nightmare until you met me.”

Johnny cried out again as Shane sank his fangs into the warm flesh. Instantly, the boy stopped trying to struggle, and as Shane drained him of life, he writhed in as much complete terror as venom-induced bliss.

Once his heart stopped, Shane slit his throat with an authentic Bowie knife he’d pilfered from a French trapper he’d preyed upon along the northern Mississippi River almost two centuries ago.

He dropped the body and melted into the shadows outside.

~~~

To find out more about A Hunter’s Angel check out my website (http://ceradubois.wordpress.com/a-hunters-angel-the-book-tour/) for a schedule of my blog stops during the book tour. I will be presenting a series of short stories called The Vampire Encounters. Follow me as I interview Ian McHenry, Master Vampire Lucas Pomeroy, Vivian van Dyke Pomeroy, and have a scary run-in with Shane Chamberlain. Hope to see you along the way.

Contest: Please leave a comment and your email address.

Two Lucky Posters will get a PDF copy of Bloodwine. (for info on this short story click)—drawing to happen on July 20.

Stalker Prize: Every Poster will also be entered into a drawing of a $10 gift card from either Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice)—drawing to happen on September 1.

(Stalker means that, if you follow my book tour [link to list above], for every comment your name will go into the hat. So, for example, if you comment ten times on ten different blogs, you have ten chances at winning.)

 Good Luck!

My Perfect Hero

In honor of Father’s Day, I’d like to dedicate this post to what makes up my perfect hero.

Because isn’t that really what all fathers are, especially to us daughters? 

So, here’s what makes a perfect hero to me. Like most readers and writers of romance, I like an alpha hero.  I don’t mind if he’s tortured; in fact, I prefer him that way. But I don’t like him to be so alpha he comes across as a jerk. I’ve read a few bestselling authors who, in my opinion, cross the line between their hero being a strong willed man’s man to just being a jerk.

I also require my heroes, at least the ones I write, to be men of impeccable honor and honesty. They have to be gentlemen, even if they don’t consider themselves one. They have to be kind to old ladies, babies and animals and especially to the heroine.

He has to have a great sense of humor. I love a man with a dry sense of humor, and have a tendency to write my heroes having one.

My heroes have to believe in some greater purpose. And be willing to fight for it.

So, what is your perfect hero?

That Dirty Word…Promotion

In July, my life as a writer takes on a new and exciting turn. And I will be up to my eyeballs in that dirty word....

Promotion.

My first book, A Hunter’s Angel, book 1 of The Hunter's Dagger Series, comes out on July 20. It’s been a long and exciting road since I first signed the contract in October with The Wild Rose Press. A lot of new things, like working with an editor, getting that first galley and crying when I saw my name on the copyright page, seeing my name on a book cover for the first time—yes, more tears happened here, too--and finally getting that final galley and the release date.

But as the date of my book becomes a reality, I’m beginning to stress. I have a fairly good marketing plan (at least I hope it's a good one) but I wonder if it will be enough. And even scarier, how will I know if it’s working. Unlike with self-publishing, I’ll have no idea if certain things are working and if it’s a waste of time and money.

My plan in a nutshell is a simple one, but hits many different venues—which I hope will produce sales.

1—Promote through a book tour (Bewitching PR) for 1 month. I also have other dates lined up on my own. I’m using several blogging opportunities—interviews, character interviews, excerpt spotlights, articles and hopefully book reviews.  For the articles, I’ve actually started writing a series of short stories using my characters and their back-stories. Which for me isn’t that hard since I also have the tremendous myth that I’ve created surrounding my vampires, the demon that created them, and the guardian angel who hopes to save them. I’ve also plan on writing articles spotlighting my favorite vampire romances, like JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood (which I discovered AFTER I wrote my Hunter’s Dagger Series by the way) and Amanda Ashley’s vampires, and how my books are similar—but different.

2—Give aways. I have several things planned here. One of the most exciting being the jewelry I’m designing as prizes for commenting on the blogs. Right now I’m working on angel wing earrings and necklaces, but I’d like to add some daggers in the mix, too, and make some charm bracelets to be up for grabs. I’m also going to give away $5.00 gift certificates from The Wild Rose Press. The grand prize I’m hoping to offer at the end of my tour is a basket with a gift card from either Amazon or Barnes and Noble, candles and other goodies common to Pennsylvania, since the book is set here.

3—Street Fairs. I’m planning to participate in a couple local street fairs. I’ll offer signed cards such as rack cards, postcards, and trading cards all with info on my book. I’m also thinking of doing a book drawing in conjunction with this—especially since the first fair I’m going to will be in June and my book doesn’t come out until July. To be eligible to win the free copy, a person will have to go to my website and contact me through there. Even if only a handful take the bite, it will expose them to my writing/website and hopefully they’ll come back for more.

4—Library talks. This is something I really want to do, but am unsure if it will work out. Our local libraries have had some serious budget cuts, and adult programs have been cut drastically. But I have feelers out and am hoping something comes around.

5—Business cards. The simplest thing that I’ve been doing is giving my business card out to anyone who show any kind of interest in my books. I even gave a bunch to my stepmother to give to the curious folks back home, who have been asking about my books.

So, my question is for you who have published, especially those of you who don’t have the freedoms self-publishing gives you (like giving your book away for free on Amazon)—What have you done that works and what hasn’t? What would you suggest we newbies try? What do you wish you had done but didn’t try?

Making the Deadline

How many of you make deadlines and try to stick to them?

I have a deadline. One I imposed on myself, but to make sure all the rest of my plans fall into place, I need to make this darned deadline.  My current WIP needs finished by March 31.

Am I going to make it?

Yes—well, I hope so.

I’ve been suffering lately from writer’s block. Well, not really, I’ve been finding ways to distract myself. I hate when I start doing that. I don’t have time to be distracted. I have to write!

I have a ton of things I have to do this summer.

I want to finish the re-edit and polishing on one of my contemporary Westerns to get it out there and submitted—that is if the current editor who still has the partial don’t really throw a grenade into my plans and request a full… Note to all concerned—DON’T SUBMIT WORK THAT’S NOT REALLY READY. Sure the three chapters I sent her were polished to a spit-shine, but the rest of the book—all 100,000 words of it—not so much.

Then I need to write the third book of my paranormal series. And let’s not forget the promotion, as in the way of a month long blog tour and picking up as many stops on my own along the way, I have planned in July and August for the release of the first book of the series. I’ve started writing a lot of those blogs already and want to write a heck of a lot more after I finish my current WIP on March 31.

Not to mention the volunteering I do for the RWA, critiquing for my fantastic CPs, and I do work full-time and have a family, home, and just living to take care of, too.

And who knows what else might be coming down the pike—HOPEFULLY, I’ll also be doing edits on book 2 and my current WIP for editors who have them under contract.

So, back to my question, will I make my self-imposed deadline—probably, because I learned a long time ago to budget my time. And I’ll reward myself for completing the task on time.

I think the smartest thing I ever started doing was imposing deadlines on myself. I do this every day. By doing so, I get things done—including reading a little along the way and doing family things and even cleaning the toilet. I don’t doddle on the internet when I know I have things that need done. I may not get them done until the end of the day, but I get them done.

How do you manage your time so that you complete all that needs to be done?

What Makes a Hero...

What Makes a Hero…Well…A Hero?

Tuesday was the day for lovers, so I thought it appropriate to talk about why we love heroes.

They are sexy…

They are brave…In more than one way….

They are honorable, have integrity and are otherwise dependable…

They are bad-ass and maybe even a little bad boy…Heck, they might not even be completely human…

Did I mention they are sexy?...

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  Hope this wasn’t too much information thrown at you at once…LOL

Happy Valentine’s Day—a little late.

Cera duBois/Sara Walter Ellwood

A Hunter’s Angel—from TWRP release TBA

To Register or Not to Register Your Copyright, That Is the Question

Over the weekend, I read a disturbing article http://www.rtbookreviews.com/rt-daily-blog/plagiarism-plagues-self-publishing from RT that sparked a discussion on the Self-Publishing Forum on the MyRWA website. The article is about the rise of plagiarism among books that are being self-published and what an author can do to protect themselves. Essentially, there are people out there stealing other’s works and self-publishing them as their own.

This got me to thinking… One of the most basic ways we can protect ourselves is by registering our copyrights with the Library of Congress. But should we?

After doing some research, I believe it is. But first, I must add this disclaimer—I’m not a lawyer and I’m no expert. I got my information from the Copyright Office website, other blogs and articles on the issue of copyright law and protection. I’ll add the list links to the bottom.

I know what most of you are thinking… The moment we write an idea down, it is now ours and is copyrighted. It belongs to the writer, so why go through the hassle and expense of registering it?
But here’s the answer why we should:

MONEY!

And I’m not talking about the $35.00-$45.00 it takes to register the work. I’m talking about statutory damages. If you don’t register your copyright, you can’t sue for statutory damages! You can still sue, but if your copyright isn’t registered, you will have to:

1. Prove the work is yours and was yours long before the infringement happened. Relying on a “Poor man’s copyright” won’t cut it in court if the other person is claiming YOU are the infringer.
2. Pay for your lawyer and the court costs.
3. You CANNOT sue the infringer for money!

Now, when you register your copyright:

1. The proof is now on the infringer, but since you have registered your copyright, you have all the proof that it is yours.
2. The infringer pays for your lawyer and court costs.
3. You CAN sue them for money!

Let me use an example (I’m modifying an example from a webinar I watched on this topic by a copyright lawyer—also listed in under sources.) Let’s say you self-publish a book, you are unknown and didn’t do much promotion, didn’t have money to edit, so you didn’t sell well.

Okay, someone reads this book thinks it the next Harry Potter or Twilight but needs a little help (it needs editing and the writing needs cleaned up—BUT story is still yours!) She takes your characters, your world and basically your story—her only contribution was editing. She self-pubs this book and makes a fortune! She gets a book deal from the biggest of the NY 6 and a movie deal…She’s rolling in the money on your idea!

Here’s what will happen if you have registered your copyright. You contact the Copyright Office and file that there has been an infringement. You hire a lawyer and file a lawsuit. The thief can’t prove she’s done more than edited the book and promoted the hell out of it. You win the case and she ends up having to pay all the court costs and you millions—Remember this is the next Harry Potter.

Now, here’s what happens if you do not have your work registered. Oh, you can still sue, but now you must prove the work is yours… Easy, you say, because you always send yourself a copy of the work—a “poor-man’s copyright.” Well, this doesn’t hold up in court. Even if the court decides the work was yours, you don’t have the right to sue for damages! Basically, all you can come away from your lawsuit with is a piece of paper saying “yes, the work is yours” and a bill for the court costs. Sure, our thief may be ordered to cease and desist, but she gets to keep the millions that should have been yours.

Boy, to me that $35 bucks and the PIA paperwork sure doesn’t seem so bad now.

But this isn’t just for the self-published to be aware of. My first book will come out this year published by The Wild Rose Press. They put the notice of copyright in the front of the book, but they do not register the copyright. If I want the copyright registered, I must do it on my own. Read your contracts and ask questions. If the work isn’t registered, I’d suggest doing so… Don’t assume you can register it later. You can, but if there is an infringement, you must prove the book is yours, and that can a real PAIN.

Sources:
http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html
http://learn.lawline.com/video/why-is-it-important-to-register-a-work-with-the-copyright-office/
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/why-you-should-go-through-the-trouble-of-registering-your-copyright-when-everyone-tells-you-that-you
http://womeninbusiness.about.com/od/copyrightlaws/f/FAQlaw-should.htm
http://law.freeadvice.com/intellectual_property/copyright_law/register_work_copyright_protection.htm


Photo Credit: © Stuart Miles

Simmering the Story

Have you ever had an idea that comes to you but you can’t write the story just now, so you let it sit there in the back of your mind to simmer?

This has happened to me a couple times. My idea for my first completed contemporary Western was like this. The entire time I was writing the second half of my first paranormal, I kept thinking about the characters of that other story.  

Most recently, the idea has come from a song. I was listening to the latest Luke Bryan song on the radio while housecleaning, and before I knew it, I had the basic plot of a story in my mind. For several hours, it was all I could think about. Now, every time I hear “I Don’t Want This Night to End,” I start thinking of this story the characters.

I have to finish the paranormal I’m currently working on for submission, then I want to finish another contemporary Western that I began but haven’t finished so that I can submit that one, too. But I swear this book will be the next new project I start. I may even try making it just a novella. We’ll see. I just know that by this time next year, I’ll have a story with a rodeo cowboy down on his luck, a beat up pickup truck, and a rich city girl carrying one huge secret with miles of open road to fall in love on… I can’t wait!

The Elevator Pitch

On the October 21-22, I’m attending the New Jersey Romance Writers "Put Your Heart in a Book Conference." I’m not pitching, but several of my friends are. When I saw this article “Prepare Your Elevator Speech” by Margot Carmichael Lester, MonsterContributing Writer on Yahoo, it got me to thinking about how these five points could be adapted to work for an elevator pitch with an editor/agent.

1—Focus on the book

If you haven’t done so, come up with a high concept, one-sentence blurb of your book. The higher the concept the better. Think about what makes your book stand out, and yet, what makes it the same. Focus on the goals, motivations and conflicts of your characters.

2—Do your homework

Know why you want published or represented by this person. What makes him/her special? Have you taken a workshop with him/her? What makes this person your dream editor/agent or publisher? What books by this publisher have you read? Or if it’s an agent, do you read the authors he/she represents? You may not have to bring up any of this, but if in the course of your conversation, he/she asks any of these questions, it would be better to be prepared.

3—Be professional

This should really go without saying. We all have the knack of pointing out a fake. Don’t tell the editor/agent you’re best writer ever. Don’t brag and don’t kiss up. If you’re published, bring it up, but don’t make things up. Don’t blame others. I know, sounds like common sense. But we all know how that seems to be in short supply sometimes…

4—Keep it short

We are all busy people and editors/agents are some of the busiest. Keep your pitch focused and interesting.

5—Practice

The best thing you can do is write out your entire pitch. Then practice, practice, practice. Aloud and in front of a mirror. Pretend your reflection is the editor/agent of your dreams. Make notes of where you can improve. Try to reduce your nervous habits. Make it sound natural by varying your tone of voice. Become familiar with the script, but don’t become so focused on memorizing the script until you can’t think of anything else. This is where knowing as much as possible about the editor/agent is important. If he/she asks you a question, you’ll still be able to keep your cool and give an intelligent answer. Have your friends—writer friends who are familiar with what you are doing are best, in my opinion—to critique your pitch. It might even be a good idea to have them role play with you by asking questions about your story that are not covered in the pitch, or to ask you one of the questions mentioned in Number 2 to practice those answers as well.

Good luck!

How Many Times Have You Rewritten a Story?

How many times have you edited a manuscript that you believed in?

I have one story that I’ve totally rewritten or edited/polished at least 20 times. Yes, 20. The first time was immediately after I finished it. The story topped out at 120,000 words. Don’t ask me why it was so long. I have no idea. But I knew it had to be shorter. So, I cut 20,000 words. Then, it was rejected by an editor. She gave me some fantastic suggestions, and I tore it apart again. This time the “finished” product was 86,000 words. Then I did it again , and again, and again…you get the picture. Eventually, the finished manuscript turned out to be 63,000 words and hardly any of those original 120,000 words even remain. But the best thing is that the story keeps getting better with each rewrite, and I fall even more in love with the story.

A few weeks ago there was an article on Yahoo from the writer of THE HELP regarding her obsession about “fixing” her story when she got rejections, which she got 60 of them before signing with an agent. I have to admit I’m the some way.

How about you? Do you keep fixing your stories, or do you just shove them away after so many times being rejected?

Never Give Up

Last week a movie opened up in theaters everywhere that wouldn’t have if it hadn’t been for one author’s tenacity. The book, THE HELP, spent months at the top of bestselling lists since its publication in 2009. It has inspired and entertained people everywhere. All this would have remained just a dream for Kathryn Stockett if she’d stopped trying. If she’d given up.

I will admit I have not read the book or seen the movie. I’d like to read the book now that I’ve learned Ms. Stockett’s story. But when I clicked on this article (http://www.more.com/kathryn-stockett-help-best-seller) on Yahoo last week, I had no interest in it except in the shocking headline: Kathryn Stockett's 'The Help' Turned Down 60 Times Before Becoming a Best Seller.

I was instantly awed and inspired for obvious reasons. Here’s a story about someone achieving the same dream I have. It showed me that hitting the lottery that we writers all play CAN and DOES happen. But I was also saddened. What if she would have given up? What if she didn’t have the determination, bordering on obsession, to get her story published? The world would have missed out on an really good book. And Ms. Stockett would have been one more disillusioned writer.

I wonder how many times writers may have given up too early. Either on a story or on our dreams in general. Ms. Stockett’s story isn’t the only one out there like this. Many writers had to query dozens of times to hit that one agent/editor willing to take a chance on them or saw the gold that none of the others did hiding within the pages. How many HARRY POTTERs or TWILIGHTs or THE HELPs are languishing out there on a hard drive or in a drawer because the writer gave up at rejection number 10 when query number 11 would have sent them to the stratosphere? Or gave up at rejection 100 when 101 would have been the winning number?

Rejection may not be easy. But that too takes some crazy, stubborn obsession to shrug off. And just remember if you don’t query and keep querying, if you don’t keep trying—no matter what you want to accomplish—you never will.

NEVER GIVE UP!

Remember to Smell the Roses

What are you doing this summer? I seem to get this question a lot as the coveted season of leisure draws near. And if you're a workaholic writer like me, you might not realize how you're answer my end up reflecting in you writing come winter.

My family is foregoing a vacation this year—blame the economy for that. I have a book I need to revise to get back to my agent for submission to an editor and I have two others I’m waiting to get word back on from editors. Depending on what happens with these and what feedback I get, I could be working on more revisions—either under contract or for resubmission. I also have two WIPs I’d like to finish up by the end of August. Plus, I work full time and have a family to take care of.
So, what am I doing for fun? My friends clarified. And I realized my answer only included more work. You know what they say about all work and no play.

For me, and for many of you, writing is fun. I love the thrill of creating a story. I even enjoy the revision process. Learning all I can about craft and the business is another thing I devour. But therein lays the danger. We all should remember that no matter how fun something is, too much of a good thing could lead to feeling overwhelmed which could lead to burnout.

And burnout is not good for your writing. The muse needs rest, it needs stimulated with something other than you poking at it to give you new ideas. It needs to lay on the beach or play in the pool, too.

How am I avoiding burnout, and thus resting my over worked muse? By planning activities that gets me away from the computer and out in the sun. As the days get longer and the temperatures rise, I’m trying to get out and enjoy the day. I try to take a walk in the evening and sit on the deck with a glass of wine or a cup of coffee and a good book. I’ve planned to do some recreational things with my family. We’re taking a charted bus day trip to the Baltimore Harbor and the National Aquarium in July. We’re also visiting my family in Western PA and an amusement park and a local lake.

I know it’s still not much, but at least I’m giving my muse a break. Up until two weeks ago my husband and I had nothing planned. But I knew come September, I’d wonder where the summer went and regret not getting out more. And my muse will be rebelling, about the time I'll want to start a new book.


So if you’re a workaholic like me when it comes to your writing, remember to stop and smell the roses. They’re gone all too soon. I should know. I almost missed the roses in my garden altogether this summer. And who knows what my muse could have done with those few moments.

Revising an Old Manuscript

I recently decided to revise my very first (well, if you don’t count the book I wrote in high school) romance novel. I had been content to let this story lay in the preverbal desk drawer, never to see the light of day. However, several friends, who had read the story, began asking me about it when I spewed bucketsful of happiness over my agent sending my second book to Harlequin for consideration.

The fact that I wrote this story three years ago and people remembered it really got me to thinking—should this story really stay locked away, or is something there worth sharing?

So, over the past three months, I’ve embarked on a wonderful and sometimes frustrating journey as I took a second look at the story.

I learned so much about how far I’ve come as a writer. But it’s more than that. I put into use all the writing craft skills I’ve painstakingly learned over the past three years. I’ve rewritten stories before… Actually, I haven’t written a story that hasn’t gone through at least one major rewrite, but this was different because the revision didn’t happen immediately.

Here, I was able to see how much of a problem I had with passive voice. How god-awful my grammar and punctuation was. How stilted my dialogue was. I was able to see that the reason I never connected with my heroine back when I was writing the story was because she didn’t have any clear goals. I realized my conflicts needed to be stronger. And without a real goal, the heroine’s motivation seemed wishy-washy.
To fix these problems I had to not only change her characterization but also a portion of the plot. In the end, I deleted more of the book than I kept, and what I did keep has been mostly reworked.

Now, I’ll soon begin the submission process for this book. But despite whether I sell this novel or not, I’ve learned even more about myself as a writer. I learned how to recognize tight writing, what’s important and what’s really not crucial to the story—no matter how well-written or fantastic it may seem. I’ve become my editor and my own critique partner—and sometimes I wasn’t very nice to myself. But more than that, I revisited a story that I loved when I wrote it and breathed a better life into it.

I’m very excited about A HUNTER’S ANGEL and hope an editor out there loves it as much as I do.

Showing vs. Telling

Tell Me a Story...

What the requester really wants is to be shown a story. No one likes to be told anything. People, particularly readers, don’t like being preached to, and they don’t like being told what to think...So, we, as writers, have to SHOW them what we want them to think. The amazing thing is that, when we show our stories, we are also tighten the writing and eliminate most passive writing. Besides, we establish and stay in the much preferred deep POV.

Today I’m going to give five easy pointers on how to tighten your writing with SHOWING vs TELLING.

1. Always get into the head of you character. “Act” out his/her actions in your mind as you write the scene. This does two things.

A. Gives you stage directions that lets the reader know the characters movements.

B. Allows you to think about facial expressions that go along with feelings. Describe (show) these expressions. Don’t tell the feelings.

2. Which brings me to the next point. Avoid naming emotions. Instead, describe the character's actions and expression. Use your acting skills to show the reader strong emotions like anger, passion and fear. Even love can be more believable if you show the reader evidence of the character’s love rather than long passages of introspection or long declarations. Have your hero pour coffee in the heroin’s cup after a long, grueling day at the office. Think about the simple things others do for you to show their love. Remember actions always speak louder than words. Hence, the next point...

3. Avoid using words like:

A. Seemed

B. Believed, knew, realized

C. Became

D. Felt

E. Saw, watched

F. And anything else that tells the reader what you want them to think. However, sometimes we do need to establish a character is watching or felt something strongly. This is okay. Not all telling is bad, sometimes it’s unavoidable, but once the scene is set, stop telling the reader what you want them to think and show them.

4. Which leads me to the next pointer. Avoid passive voice. Most sentences that have any form of the verb “to be” linked with a verb (ex: The game was worked into the schedule by John.) can be rewritten using stronger verbs or by better sentence structure. (John worked the game into the schedule.) Look for passive voice and get rid of it. You will begin to notice two things:

A. Your sentences will be stronger and say more with less words.

B. You show the action rather than tell what an action is. When you do this, the reader sees exactly what your character sees or does, which helps you...

5. Stay in deep POV. If you follow the four steps above, you’ll actually find that you are in a deeper POV. Let your characters do the talking, let them show your reader the story they want them to see.

Because, after all, isn’t it really the story of your characters’ lives unfolding before the readers' eyes?

Pantser Plotting--Huh?

We all know what GMC stands for. We all use Debra Dixon’s formula in one way shape or form to craft a story. Some writers use elaborate methods to plot a story, to the point of practically writing it before they write the first draft. But today I’m going to explain my pantser’s guide to plotting…

An oxymoron for sure. Since the definition of a pantser is someone who DOES NOT plot. Anyone who knows me knows I define myself as a tried and true pantser. Most of the time I never know what my next scene will be. I don’t do mind maps; I don’t have bulletin boards with index cards of every action; and I decidedly don’t have an outline. I like to let the story unfold before me as I fill the blank page with words. However, I always know where my story is going and how it will end. And I don’t mean just the HEA at the end…Daring Hero riding off into the sunset with Brave Heroine astride his trusty steed. I know what had to change in their lives to bring them to this point, how they’d grown as characters (ARC) and I know what they had to overcome to have that HEA.

Okay, now you’re scratching your heads. Trust me I’ve done that more than once myself. I may not plot a story, but I do learn about my characters. And how I do this is by making sure I have a clear understanding of what makes these people tick. Once I decide on an idea for a story, I usually know who the key players will be—the hero/heroine and antagonist/s. I figure out what their back-stories are. What led these people to find themselves in this story idea? Then I think about where I want them to be at the end of the story. How do I want them to be different from the characters I’ve created from their pasts? I don’t do character interviews, but I write down everything that I can think of about the character—descriptions, personality, jobs, relationships, what would bring fear to them, what would bring them joy. I figure out what their goals are, what motivates them, and what would bring them conflict and how they might respond to that conflict. I even decide on if they have any quirks in their personalities, and more importantly, why are these quirks important. I do this for every major character. I still have no idea how their stories will enfold, but I do know that I, indeed, have a story.

The only thing left is to figure out how the characters best want to tell it and let them do the talking.

Giving Birth

Finishing a book is like giving birth. I’ve done it several times now, not counting the two times I’ve physically produced living children. And as with the births of my son and then my daughter, each time I finish a book is no less exciting.

The first time I gave birth was back in high school when I finished a Civil War romance I wrote for a journal-keeping exercise. Then, over the course of several years, I finished seven Star Wars fan fiction novels, not counting the forty short stories I wrote. Tonight, I gave birth again—I finished the rough draft of my fourth novel, which I’m hoping will someday be published.

For many writers, writing the first draft is the fun part of creating the story, watching it unfold before your eyes with each tap of a key on the computer. However, for me, creating all of those words to fill up the blank screen is tough, just like having a real baby. Pregnancy was not fun; at least, it wasn’t for me. With my son, I was sick the entire time, then I had false labor (Broxton Hicks contractions) from my sixth month until a week before I gave birth, which was two weeks past my due date. With my daughter, I didn’t have the sickness, but I did have the false labor the last trimester, horrible back pain and sciatica. My labor had to be induced and then ended up being all in my back.

As with my pregnancies, writing a first draft is not always fun, or easy. I don’t plot. I’m a pantser. I’ve tried plotting once (while writing my third book) and it screwed with my muse so badly that I ignored my fifty pages of carefully planned scenes and set out to find the story the way that has worked for me over the course of something like forty-five stories. I sit down and start typing. Sometimes what comes out is wonderful and sometimes it’s pure crap. I’ve had story miscarriages more than once. They were no less painful than the real one I had between my son and daughter. I mourned the loss and then set out to see what else I can create.

Now that I’m holding my newborn in my arms, I don’t remember the frustration of not being able to figure out the last quarter of the story. I don’t remember how completely deleting 45,000 words and starting over before NaNoWriMo made me want to throw-up. I don’t remember the pain, when I had to change my hero’s conflict to make the ending work. But now, as I look at my infant, I see a bright future. I know that late nights are on my horizon as I work in some of the changes to the story. But I enjoyed my babies, I loved playing with my toddlers and now that they are teenagers, I love to talk and laugh with them. The same is true of my newborn manuscript. Now, I can nurture it and mold those rough words filling my computer screen into a beautiful child, and eventually a wonderful adult.

I love this aspect of writing. I love to rewrite and revise, tweaking until the story shines. For me, it is now that I can tie up all the loose ends and make sure the characters have the same depth in the beginning as they do in the end. Revising also allows me to stay with my babies a little longer. Help them grow into fine and glorious things that will make me proud to call them mine, just as my children never fail to make me proud. The baby I gave birth to tonight has a promising future. It’s the second book of a five book series.

However unlike pregnancy, I’m looking forward to staring at the blank screen again and seeing what I can give birth to in a few months. It never fails to amaze me when it happens.

Making Time to Write

As most of us at this time of year, I’m crunched for time. So, that’s what I’m going to blog about…how do I make time to do what I love?

Writing

I have no magic formula, but I really try to write at least fifty words in my WIP a day. Some evenings are good and I can push out as many as three thousand words. During NaNo, I averaged that many a day. But not this month. This month has been too crazy busy.

Even so, I still write something every blessed day. Why? You ask...

Because writing calms my nerves and makes me happy. And isn’t that what this time of year is about? Enjoying life and giving thanks for what we have? When I’m stressing because I still haven’t bought that present for my Dad or I still haven’t backed cookies or still have a few more cards to address, I open my WIP and become caught up in the lives of my imaginary people. Not for long, but long enough to help me take a breath. Things always seem to get done. After I’m finished here, I’m putting stamps on and sealing my fifty cards to send in the mail tomorrow. I just started writing them Tuesday night. Saturday is my baking day. Those who come to my annual family Christmas dinner won’t be disappointed. There will be cookies.

So, as we barrel toward the Holidays like Hugh Jackman did on the zip line on Ophra, don’t forget to take some time to do the things that make you happy and relaxes you. It might be reading, or painting your nails—for me it’s stealing fifteen minutes here or there during my crazy evenings to sit and get lost in my own world.

Happy Holidays!!!

Lassoing the Muse

~~Lassoing Inspiration~~
Hello, I’m Sara Walter Ellwood, and I’m a new blogger here on Nocturnal Nights. Thanks Tabby for inviting me to join your wonderful group of contributors.

As I tried to "lasso" a topic to write about today, I thought about the usual things that inspire or people who have inspired me. And there it was—I’ll talk about the things that inspire me. People can be another blog topic for another day...*g*

For me inspiration can come from just about anywhere—a song, a phrase in another book, a concept, an analogy or even from something someone has said.
Some examples from my own books shows just how oddly a writers mind works—well at least this is how my mind works.

A line in Stephenie Meyer's Eclipse inspired my first novel, A Hunter’s Angel, a vampire romance of which I’ve given up pursuing publication. I don’t remember the exact line, but it was in the scene where Edward is reading the paper and tells Bella that a lot of the news is caused by “their kind.” That got me to thinking, and by the time I’d finished the book, I had a plot idea about an FBI special agent who just happens to be a vampire who is also a vampire/werewolf hunter. He’s a good vamp in my world where there are both good (protectors of humans) and bad (killers).

The Rascal Flatts song, “God Blessed the Broken Road”, inspired my second book, The Long Road Home, which is the book that scored my agent for me. The song is about someone who finds his/her way to love, but acknowledges that if it hadn’t been for all the trouble in his/her life, he/se wouldn’t have found that love. The ensuing story is about a country singer who comes home to find his best friend dead and the woman he loves a widow, but as with all good stories—things are never simple.

The idea for my third book came from watching butterflies in my garden one day last summer. I got to thinking about the life cycle of butterflies, and about how they start out as ugly and disgusting things (virtually a worm) and end up being one of the most beautiful and most loved creatures in the world. Well, it wasn’t long until I had two characters with the ugliest pasts I could come up with finding love and a beautiful future together—they both became a Butterfly.

But what amazed me was that my cast of secondary characters and the history of my fictional Texas town would inspire an entire series—five books in all. And each one of them finding their inspiration from either events or songs or even a word. The second book of the series, which I’m currently writing, comes from the idea of how someone wanting revenge can cause a betrayal that is hard to forgive. But all of this heartache could have been avoided if The Hardest Words to Say had been spoken—I love you.

However, inspiration, that nugget of idea that comes to us at, sometimes the oddest of times, is never easy to pinpoint and is a constant need—like food, water and air. We can't survive without these things and writers can't survive without inspiration. However the story idea is only the tiny beginning. Where will the characters names come from? What will their personalities be like? What will they look like? How will the characters meet? What will bring them together and what will keep them apart? Where do the ideas for the actual scenes, the dialogue and characters come from? EVERYWHERE! Just take a look around.

So, the next time you become stuck, as I was when I started thinking about this blog article, thinks about the things that normally inspire you...Then go listen to that music or watch that movie or go to the mall and do a little people watching. You may be surprised by the strangest things that give you and idea to write about.