Week 12: The Next Big Thing

The Next Big Thing . . . we all like to think we will be.  I suppose there can only be so many Twilight’s in a lifetime, but you never know . . . right?

We are blog hopping our way through some new reads.  For those who aren’t familiar with a blog hop . . . to me it’s kind of like a treasure hunt – once you find something on one blog you hop on over to the next blog link for more treasure.  In this case, the treasure is a wealth of new and exciting books.  Some are still being written, some are just being released.  Either way, for fiction lovers . . . it’s a treasure and I’d like to thank Lisa Vandiver for tagging me to participate.

(Click the link to find out about Lisa’s book.)

In this particular hop I answer 10 questions . . . you get to learn about my current WIP (work in progress), some of the characters I’ve come to think of as real, and how I got to the point of being nuts enough to write down over 70 thousand words worth of what the voices in my head have been whispering to me.  When it’s all said & done . . . comments and questions are always welcome. 

Q & A

 

What is the working title of your book?  Lullaby, it’s Book 1 in my Book of Dreams Series.  Books 2 & 3 are tentatively: DreamWalker and Awakening.

 
Where did the idea come from for the book? I know it sounds a little familiar, but I had this crazy dream.  Off and on for years I’ve written dreams down so I’d remember them, but this one was different.  I didn’t write it down . . . at least, not right away.  It was persistent.  It kept replaying in my mind all day through work.  When I got home, it was still looping over & over.  It demanded to be written down.  Finally, after doing the typical mom stuff, I sat down to write.  Literally write, not type.  When I stopped (notice I don’t say finished) I had over ten handwritten pages.  It was my “here’s your sign” moment.  After writing in some way for years, it was time to listen to the voices and REALLY write.

 

What genre does your book fall under?  This is tough.  I’ve had Beta Readers from the ages of 14 through 55 who have categorized it slightly differently. But they all keep wanting the next chapters before I’m done writing, so I'll take that.  My story covers a lot of territory.  Let’s try this: it’s a supernatural edge-of-your-seat, what’s gonna happen next story with a decent dash of romance, a good bit of action and enough mystery to make you want to keep reading. (I hope)

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?  WOW . . . that’s a tricky question and I won’t lie, I’ve thought of it many times.  Truth is, this story plays like a movie in my head and I just write down what I see.  I’d say this:

Halle – (An ordinary, slightly mature for her age, 18 year old – on the outside. But she's far from ordinary . . . only she doesn’t know it yet) Possible actresses:  This is a hard one . . . maybe Grace Phipps.

Aedan – (Alpha male type Guardian all the way, has been all business for thousands of years, his hard shell of a heart was untouchable, until now) Possible actors:  Ian Somerhalder or Tyler Hoechlin.

Jenna – (Halle’s BFF since 7^th grade, a bit of a wild child exterior with a knack for talking Halle into things) Possible actresses:  Chloe Moretz, Juno Temple or AnnaSophia Robb.

Matt – (Poster boy-next-door type, loyal friend, closest thing to a brother Halle’s ever had) Possible actors: Honestly . . . I imagine my oldest son in this role, Patrick Curren O’Grady.  He’s a pretty darned good actor.  You never know.

 

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?  I came up with two but this one won out:

Halle Michaels feels like she’s on the brink of insanity, but balancing on the edge between insanity and reality is the one place where she will uncover more than any sane mind would ever imagine - about herself, her family, and her entire existence.

Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?  I intend to shop for an agent and see how that goes first, but I’m inpatient and will likely self pub if shopping takes too long. After all, if I have readers already, doesn’t that mean I shouldn't make them wait? lol

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?  It will have taken me just over 2 years when I’m done (within a few months), but I took about 10 months off in the middle of writing for personal / family reasons and I spent a few months on research.

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?  I honestly don’t know.  I have avoided reading books within the paranormal and supernatural genres while I have been writing.  I didn’t want any other storylines mixing in my mind and intertwining with mine.  I will say this . . . if you love paranormal/supernatural romances - I think you'll LOVE this series.

Who or What inspired you to write this book?   Hmmmm . . . I suppose my inspiration ultimately came from God since this spouted from a dream that didn’t want to leave me be.  Since then, inspiration to go on has come from my Beta Readers.  If they hadn’t loved it so much . . . I probably would have moved on to another story.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

 

~Halle~

For as long as I can remember, the voices have haunted me.  They used to be faint and encouraging . . . recently, not so much.  And my dreams . . . don't even get me started on the dreams.  It seems that my reality isn’t so realistic anymore.  The question is, am I going mad or is someone – or something – trying to get my attention?

 

~Aedan~

I am a Guardian and a Warrior of the Highest Realm . . . sworn to protect.  I allow nothing to interfere with duty.  Guarding Halle Michaels will be no exception.  Many of my kind would say that you have to feel in order to effectively protect.  I disagree.  Emotions are for the weak and I refuse to ever be weak again.

 

Normal is overrated.

Halle Michaels is on the brink of insanity, at least that what she thinks.  Each dream she awakens from is one step closer to the last ounce of normalcy she knows slowly seeping from her life.  But the edge of reality is the one place where she will uncover more than any sane mind would ever imagine - about herself, her family, and her entire existence.  Her world becomes a journey through discoveries and deceit, her past and a future no typical mortal could face, forbidden romance and the true meaning of selfless love.  Just when she thinks her sanity is lost - along with any hope of a normal life - she discovers she was never meant to be normal.

She was born to be so much more.

 

List of my tagged blog hop buds for next week.  Check out their blogs next Wednesday to read about their WIPs and New Releases:

Theresa McClinton

Robert Chazz Chute

Carlyle Labuschagne

Victoria Danann

Krissy Clowe


 

 

Romancing the Hop Winners

I just wanted to thank EVERYONE for participating in the RomHop.  The winners from my blog are listed below.

 

I would have loved to respond to each post individually, but since I don’t have time this week to do so . . . I’ll share what I feel Romance is here:

 

To me, romance is more than what meets the eye . . . romance is what meets the heart.  What you see with the eyes can deceive you, but the heart . . . it never lies, even when we try to lie to ourselves.

 

Winners

 

$10 Amazon gift card – Catrina Barton

eBook ARC of Lullaby – Tobi H. Helton

The JUICY Award – Anonymous (for the Song of Solomon post) Whoever you are . . . email me so we can discuss your prize. write2breathe@yahoo.com

What IS romance?

 

Today I’m celebrating the idea of Romance with a little Giveaway!

I'm personally awarding one prize not listed to the JUICIEST (not X-rated please...I don't have the disclaimer on my blog...lol) comment.
 

(**$10 Amazon Gift Card and eBook ARC of my upcoming novel, Book of Dreams: Lullaby)

There's also a Kindle Fire, Nook & other great swag available for the Grand Prize drawing from all the entries on the tour.

So . . . What is romance?  Can you answer that with a few sentences?  Really?

As writers we delve into this mysterious martyr every time Character A catches a glimpse of Character B across a crowded room, or graveyard, or runs smack into them turning a corner . . . either way, you get my point.  We dig our claws in and hang on for the ride when it begins.

I could go on and on about what I happen to think romance it.  I could spout off about candlelit dinners (which are a bit cliché at this point, if you ask me), roses (at least find out her favorite flowers . . . don’t just half-heart it with the old standby) or love poems.  Ok, actually . . . love poems are still a really great idea if done right.  Just, for the love of all that is holy, don’t start it off with “Roses are red, violets are blue . . .”  If you do, you don’t really deserve to get the girl/guy.  Seriously.

 

With that said . . . let the contest begin.

Here’s how the contest works.  Go through the list below & do those things. Yeah . . . I know.  Simple.  I don’t like to complicate things.  You can come back every day during the giveaway and enter AGAIN.

(Side Note:  Simply clicking on the +10 or whichever to get points for joining/liking/tweeting DOESN'T sign you up for the site or automatically perform that action for you.  You have to actually join in the right margin/like the FB page or Tweet. It won't count your points for the raffle otherwise.  Please make sure you do this so you get your "tickets" submitted.)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

And remember to visit the other sites on the Romancing the Hop Blog Tour today...many are also giving away great prizes. the list is below.

 

**A few notes about the prizes.  I will need info for the winners in order to send the Amazon gift card and the ARC for Lullaby will be emailed once it is completed and available, likely 3-4 weeks prior to the scheduled release date . . . fingers crossed will be sooner rather than later.

Ideas for Marketing Your Book: Part 2

Repeat after me:

I love marketing.

I love marketing.

I love marketing.

I’ve read somewhere that if you repeat something for at least 10 seconds, you’ll remember it.  Maybe if you repeat it enough times, you’ll start to believe it as well.   Who knows . . . the human mind is a strange and wondrous thing.

As I mentioned in part 1, you realized once you have made it to getting your book published that the work has only just begun.  Writing your book, editing it, publishing it – that was the easy part.  Those things have a sense of closure to them. 

Marketing . . . well, marketing is like that painful, angst-ridden breakup with your ex – closure isn’t an option.  It goes on and on.   (Tweet this comment)

Ultimately though, marketing brings with it a satisfying end – much like running into that ex months later and seeing that you are 10 times better looking than their current arm ornament and likely more mentally stable.

Here are more ideas for getting you to that ultimate reward.

List # 2 – Send, Send, Send

1.      Send a copy to review sites or book review blogs (I am in the process of putting a list of these sites together . . . stay tuned for that).

2.      Find a top reviewer (I’ve linked to the site for you) of books in your genre on Amazon.com and contact them, asking if they’d like a copy of your book.  Reviewers LOVE free books to read.

3.      Send a copy to local book clubs in your area (and surrounding areas too). 

4.      BONUS:  If the local book clubs have regular meetings . . . set up a “Meet the Author” night with them . . . have a Book Signing while you’re at it. 

5.      If you still have them in your area, send a copy to your local independent bookstore as part of a marketing kit or press release.  Bookstores love to receive advanced free copies and often give them to their employees to read and suggest to customers.

6.      Offer free copies on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest – whatever social media outlet you can get on – as a raffle.  Create fun contests for your readers all while building a contact list to send updates too.

7.      Give away free copies on bookmooch.com.  Ask readers to only mooch your book if they are willing to review it for you on Amazon.com.  You can gain more reviews which will in turn help sell books.

8. College Campuses! Don’t forget your campus bookstore, campus library, campus clubs, writing groups, historical societies, etc.  Especially if your target audience is YA!

Well . . . I have way more marketing tips than I had realized.  I’ll have to make sure I have a Part 3 very soon.  Until then....Happy Marketing!!!

Dear John,   Dear John:   Dear John;   Dear John?

Recently I was having a conversation with a friend of mine (who happens to be a published author) about grammar and how, even as a writer, it can be a bit daunting.  Most writers are not editors as well.  We WRITE.  We don’t really think about where the semi colon should go or when it’s appropriate to use an emdash instead of an ellipsis.  In truth, starting out, many of us don’t even know what an emdash is!!!

Friends Don’t Let Friends Perfuncturate Punctuation

(I know you’ll look it up if I don’t tell you.... Per*func*tu*rate\, v. t. To perform in a perfunctory manner; to do negligently.)

So...here’s the catch, I do edit for this friend of mine.  Each week he writes a newsletter to send out to his readers, I edit it before I let him send it (because friends don't let friends abuse grammar).  Since I began editing for him, the newsletter has gone out once before I was able to work my magic. It wasn’t pretty.   (It was also redistributed after I got my hands on it.)  I say all of this to get to this point...

I have decided to create an addition to my blog I’m going to call GRAMMAR 101.  The first subcategory will be PUNCTUATION 101.  I think we will start with the :::drumroll:::

Emdash ( — )

The emdash is a versatile little bugger.  All the functions of the comma, semicolon, AND colon! 

It can be used to create pauses, join two independent or dependent clauses, or introduce a list.  

It's a less formal version of the aforementioned marks which are typically preferable in more formal writing—luckily for us, we aren’t that formal around here and the emdash is right at home.

In narrative writing, I think of it as more vivid and more invisible than those marks all at the same time.

While it is long enough to create a pause, there generally aren’t any spaces around it, and therefore your text will have a more continual flow.  

Because of this it can easily be used for scenes where you want a flow unbroken by real stops, especially in stream-of-consciousness writing or action scenes:

(I’ll use characters from my book for examples because—well—I can.)

Aedan reached one hand for the door—Halle dangling lifelessly in his arms—he stretched with all he had toward the handle—but it was too far.

Compare that to:

Aedan reached one hand for the door, Halle dangling lifelessly in his arms; he stretched with all he had toward the handle, but it was too far.

Ok, so the second example is most likely more correct from a formal standpoint, but the emdashes cause the reader to slow down which makes it more dramatic.  On the flip side, the first example is probably too dramatic, so I would recommend balancing the scales between the two:

Aedan reached one hand for the door, Halle dangling lifelessly in his arms.  He stretched with all he had toward the handle—but it was too far.

In this last example, the emdash creates a brief pause just at the peak of suspense:  Will Aedan get the door open in time? And then the dash's length drags that moment out until the question is answered for us.  

A semicolon would’ve been wrong there (aka incorrect grammatically), and a comma or colon just wouldn't have had the same feeling of suspense.  Personally I love dashes if for no other reason than the dramatic effect they can create and their flexibility.  It’s not quite an addiction (that would be the ellipsis . . . which we will get to) but I probably overuse them in spells.  So, if you share my tendency to use them, keep in mind, like all highly dramatic marks, they should be used sparingly or they lose their punch.

If a period is a stop sign, a semicolon a rolling stop sign, then the emdash is the yellow light you pause at, then speed through.  

Click To Tweet

But wait....there’s more... (I’ve always wanted to use that line)

The emdash can also be used to highlight interruptions.  It doesn’t matter if this occurs within a sentence or at the end of it, still works.

The unconscious Hellion—the only somewhat tolerable kind, as far as Halle was concerned—lay motionlessly on the concrete floor.

Matt, I swear, I have no idea what you’re—HEY! What do you think you’re doing?

For those parentheses addicts out there...yes, parentheses could be used in these examples just as easily, BUT keep in mind that parentheses create a little commentary world off to themselves, closed off from the rest of the world – I mean sentence, in my opinion the emdash doesn’t cause as long of a pause.

**Practical Tip for Authors**

Character Q is talking and Character Z interrupts her, it is highly useful to end Character Q’s speech with an emdash to indicate Q’s getting cut off mid sentence.

She attempted to mask the sound of her voice failing and her words came out in almost a whisper.  “What is it that I need protection from, Dad?  Because I can’t imagine anything more than – ”

“Me, Halle.”  Noah interrupted. 

Why is an emdash called an emdash you ask???  Excellent question!

My studies tell me there are actually three kinds of dash marks when it comes to typesetting:

1. hyphens, like so: - , hyphens join two words into one closed compound
2. endashes, which came about during the time of hand-typesetting using two hyphens (the length of an “n”, hence the name), and are used to join open compounds (like “the North Carolina–Virginia border”; “North Carolina” is an open compound because it is one word with a space in it) or to replace the word “to” (as in “1999–2010,” or “our Australia–Ireland trip”)
3. and emdashes, well, they are composed of three hyphens (the length of an “m”), and we’ve already covered all the fun they can have.

Word on the street is that writers are typically not expected to know about endashes – which is probably good for most of us!  My research also tells me that if you have a pretty decent understanding of how to use hyphens and emdashes correctly, most editors aren’t going to thrash you with the red pen on the endashes, they will leave those to the copyeditors.

Join the clan! It’s fast, easy, and oh yeah....FREE!! 

To keep up with the latest on PUNCTUATION 101 sign up as a follower in whatever way works for you.  There will be more coming soon.

Ideas for Marketing Your Book: Part 1

Ideas for Marketing Your Book: Part 1

Ok...so you’ve written what you are sure is the next NY Times Bestseller, you have a publisher (either traditional or self), now you need to market it. Let’s face it, all the thousands of hours you spent writing it and getting it published was EASY!!!  

The work is in the promotion!! Over the course of the last two years, I’ve collected ideas from hence and yon, as well as come up with a few of my own, that I think would be an excellent help to any author from any genre. 

There are a LOT of ideas, so I won’t drown you with them all at once.  If you are like me, too many ideas means feeling overwhelmed. Feeling overwhelmed means friends will finally come and check on you after days of you not returning phone calls only to find you staring at your computer screen and mumbling incoherent jibberish under your breath while rocking slightly back and forth in a mindless state. 

I don’t want to be responsible for that. 

So...without further adieu...(feel free to imagine a drumroll here)

List # 1 – Oh the places you’ll go....

1.      Donate a copy of your book to your local library...and maybe any local library within a short driving distance.  (Word of mouth is still the best advertising method).

2.      If your book is geared toward children or teens...donate a copy to school libraries in your area.  (Again...word of mouth & we KNOW how teens like to talk.)

3.      BONUS:  If the local school in #2 happens to be a school you attended...set up a “Meet the Author” night with the PTA or one day with the librarian...have a Book Signing while you’re at it. 

4.      Send a copy to your local newspaper OR the regional paper in your area along with a press release.  (Better yet...send it to BOTH).  Be sure to send it to the Attention of the Arts and Variety editor or Local Interest section.  If you aren’t sure who that is...Google it or call the paper, they will point you in the right direction.

5.      Speaking of newspapers... Send a copy to at least one national newspaper (I’d send it to as many as you can afford to send books to) along with a press release.  Again, to the attention of the Review Editor.

6.      Bookmarks!!!  I know...it sounds s little odd, but have bookmarks made with your book cover, title, website info & so on to leave at libraries (local & school), bookstores (they might put them in the bags of purchases for you for free if you ask nicely or at least let you leave them on the counter), any place that might relate to your genre or topic (like churches for religious books) or keep some to hand out like business cards when people ask about your book. They're inexpensive.

7.      Waiting rooms.  If you find books in your doctor’s office, dentist’s office, at the hospital, or any other waiting room you’ve frequented (or choose to stalk for this sole purpose), why not “conveniently” leave one of your own books there in the mix? You never know who will pick it up. (Remember...word of mouth)  This is an excellent opportunity for anyone who wrote a book specific to a field too, such as: nursing biographies, doctor advice, dental, self-help, etc.  (I’ve been in waiting rooms, and I would have LOVED to find something to read besides things related to the office I was in...don’t let that stop you from leaving a fiction book in a doctor’s office).  Heck...leave some bookmarks in these places too!

OK....those should keep you busy for the next week (or so).  I’ll bring List #2 out when you’ve had time to let this one sink in good.  Until then....

Happy Marketing!!!