Tips for Novice Writers – and Reviewers! 

     Here's something you can take to the bank.

     If you’re a writer, you write. Doesn’t matter if no one but you reads it. Stories and characters waltz about in your brain and you simply have to allow them to blossom into text. However, once we do allow our works to be seen by people other than those who personally know us, then we have to learn to accept criticism and we must understand when to take advice to heart and when to dismiss it. These are difficult lessons to master.

     Here are the top three things I’ve learned from reviewers:

1. Get as many reviews as possible from people you don’t know. Look for similar praise and beefs. If several reviewers praised your snappy dialogue, rejoice and strive to make your dialogue sparkle even more. Conversely, if several reviewers note that your pace is slow or that it was difficult to understand her heroine’s motivation, take a close look at those hiccups. Fix them before you write your next book.

2. When reviewers find typos or bad grammar and punctuation, hire a professional editor and proofreader for your next project. Be aware that editors and proofreaders aren’t the same thing. Editors discuss plotting, characterization, pacing, word choices, and sentence structure. Proofreaders catch typos, incorrect punctuation, misspellings, and continuity mistakes.

3. Be sure that the people who review your books actually like the type of book you’ve written. I’ve had yucky reviews from people who admitted that “I don’t usually read this kind of thing” or “romances aren’t my cup of tea.” I dismiss those. Same goes for the editor you choose. Ask the editor who she/he has read in your genre and what her/his favorite books are in your genre. If she/he hasn’t read any books that have been published in the past two years, then she/he probably isn’t savvy about what’s hot and what’s not in your field.

     Let me also caution you not to reply to a reviewer or editor until you’ve given yourself a day to think about it. Temper whatever you say or write, understanding that your work was published and people have a right to their opinion. With reviewers, it’s best to thank them, taking them  to task only when they get “personal” in their critiques. With editors, it’s best to discuss why and how you can improve what you’ve put on paper. Great editors can make you a great writer, so when you find one, don’t ruin the relationship by being too cantankerous and stubborn.

Getting Handsy

My New Fetish -- Men's Hands

I don't know why, but I have become fascinated lately with men's hands. I especially love large hands with long fingers. Yes, I know about the age-old analogy of what a man's hands can tell you about a more intimate part of his body, but I'm not going there here. I have gone there, but not right here and now. (By the way, I find that, for the most part, it's true!)

It all started one day when I was watching a commercial on TV and I noticed that, when the man rested his hand alongside the woman's head, his hand covered the whole side of of it! I placed my hand in the same place on my head and my hand covered from my jaw to the corner of my eye. Then I noticed how a man's hand can cover a good portion of a woman's back or her hip. One evening I placed my hand against my guy's hand and his fingers soared past the tips of mine. I'd never really noticed that before.

Not every woman needs or wants to feel smaller or fragile next to a man, but many do. It's not that we want to be "the weaker sex," for most women know this is poppycock. However, the femininity in us does call us to enjoy the feeling of protection. I truly think it's part of a woman's DNA, going all the way back to our most primitive beings. The placement of a man's hands on a woman's body can make her feel all sorts of things -- things she might not even feel comfortable feeling! Small, protected, sheltered, gentled, placated, submissive, claimed, revered, adored.

Look at the handshake. It's given to mean that the person holds no weapon and is offering peace and solidarity. Ask any businessman or businesswoman and you'll find that handshakes have never gone out of style. James Bond put a lot of stock in a man's handshake.

Where a man is allowed to place his hands on a woman speaks volumes about his relationship to the woman. If a woman lets him run his fingers through her hair, she feels an intimacy with him because women (and men) don't like you to touch their hair (other than a hairstylist or barber) unless they are quite familiar with you. Face touching is the same. As humans we are programmed to protect our faces -- most importantly our eyes. So, allowing someone to touch our faces without permission takes some trust. Just think how many people in your life you would feel comfortable about running their hands over or through your hair or caressing your face. Not very many, huh?

When a man embraces a woman's shoulders it says they are friendly. When he slips an arm around her waist, he's more than friendly. Why is this? Because his hand is coming closer to her private parts, that's why! And if he cups her backside . . .whoa! They're lovers or very nearly lovers. Or he's going to get his face slapped.

It's the language of hands. Fascinating.

Let's give a hand to hands. They do a lot for us, they say a lot about us, and they send signals out to us. And there's something about a man's  hands . . . long fingered hands . . . wide palms . . . strong and yet gentle . . . oh yeah. Gotta hand it to 'em!

 

Piping Hot and Ready to Serve

Any time I have a book coming out, I'm excited and nervous. But this time it's different. This time I'm really excited! Maybe it's because I've thought about this book for about 10 years. I have wanted to write about psychic detectives and have rolled plots around in my head, but never wrote anything down. I've been writing nonfiction, historical romances, and contemporary romances. This next novel is my first stab at romantic suspense and it is a lot sexier than anything I've written before. It could be termed a bonfire.

Through His Eyes is hopefully the first book in a series of at least three using the same two main protagonists -- Levi Wolfe and Trudy Tucker. They are both psychics, but he can channel the deceased and she can channel the living. In other words, together they work both ends of a crime -- Levi can relive crimes through the victim's eyes and Trudy sees the crimes through the perpetrator's eyes. Levi is a showy psychic, appearing on television, radio, the Internet, and magazines. He's gorgeous and talented, perfect fodder for a celebrity-crazed media. He also has a checkered past that he's trying to keep locked away. Trudy is more reclusive and just starting out as a professional psychic detective. She's extremely gifted and vulnerable to the evil she can tap into in others. In this first book they join forces to identify a serial killer in the Florida Keys.

I've just approved the book cover and it's fantastic. Now I'm lining up advertising, begging book reviewers to read it, and finding "beta readers" to read it and post early online reviews. It's scheduled for an April release.  I'll post the cover here soon.

I'm blissful and hopeful that it will do well. Some of my fans won't like it because the sex scenes are more explicit and erotic. But this is written for a whole different audience.

Having made big plans for the next book or two in the series, I'm doing what I can to get the first one off the ground and running so that I can have the next ones published.

It wasn't easy. I did three complete rewrites of it. The first draft was more than 500 pages long! I just wrote and wrote and "vomited" everything on the page. Then I let my best friend/writer read it and she was . . . well . . . tepid, bordering on asking me, "Are you insane? You really think this is a good book?" She commenced to tell me everything that was wrong with it and -- damn it all, she was right! I hate when that happens!

Rewrite #2. It was better, but still needed work. My agent and her assistant told me to "sex it up." They informed me that if I really wanted to go "adult erotic" then Levi and Trudy were going to have to crank up their libidos. 

Rewrite #3. I took a deep breath and removed all my "don't go there" signs and went for it. The sex sizzled on the pages.  The suspense elements heated up. Everything came together. Finally. My best friend approved -- even though she doesn't like hot sex scenes -- and my agent said she could present this one to publishers. Amazon has accepted it, so it will be an Amazon Exclusive ebook. If it does well, they will consider a series. (I just broke out in a cold sweat thinking about how this book will be received!)

But I'm not going to stress about that right now. Now I want to relax in the bliss of having finished a book that I'm very proud of and experience the bliss of that accomplishment. Ten years of this book simmering in me and now it's fully cooked and ready to serve!

The Writer's Crucible

Finding a Good Reason

Years ago I was reading a How To book on writing and I came across an excellent lesson on character motivation and believable plotting. It had to do with the plot's crucible. In a nutshell, a plot crucible is the reason why characters must continue toiling away, staying together, and not fleeing or simply saying, "Screw this, I'm outta here."

It was a revelation for me and has helped me plot every single book since then. Sometimes I read a novel and I think, Why doesn't she ask him if that woman is his girlfriend? Or I will wonder, Why are they staying together if they're both so miserable right now? There has to be a good, sound reason for people to remain shackled to a situation or premise or idea. If not, they just look stupid.

In real life we all have a fight or flight response. Flight is easiest. Things become too messy, too dramatic, too stressful, and we take a powder. Easy. Fight is much more difficult and usually we resort to fighting when we feel we can't run away. Something is holding us in place. Running away would cost us too dearly.

For example, in the first question above, why the heroine doesn't ask a simple question of the hero to clear up a huge misunderstanding. This is a weak plot device and most readers will roll their eyes and think the heroine is as dumb as a stump or -- worse! -- a doormat. If she goes around upset because she believes another woman owns the hero's heart, but can't bring herself to ask him about it outright, can we really admire her and want to be like her?

The crucible here is nonexistent. There is no good reason why she is hanging around. Now, if the other woman told her that the hero is betrothed to her and that her family is depending on the marriage (and the hero's money) to save them from being thrown out in the street as paupers and that the woman's father is gravely ill, this might give the heroine pause to think that she should step back and not become the reason a family is tossed out of their home and responsible for an old man's death. But then you have to find a good reason why she wouldn't discuss this with the hero. I mean, wouldn't it be logical for her to ask him about it? So, then you have to decide how he's going to answer and how this will either strengthen or weaken the crucible. See? Sometimes you have to just abandon a plot or plot line and start all over.

But that, my friends, is plotting.

So, when I plot, the first order of business is the crucible -- the trap from which the protagonists can't escape because escape would be far worse than sticking it out. It has to be a solid trap -- not some flimsy thing that wouldn't hold a butterfly prisoner. Sometimes, it's a fight over a place (land, house, business) and sometimes it's a fight for a person (a child, a parent, a first love), and sometimes it's a fight for a thing (inheritance, honor, revenge). Whatever the focus, it must be clear and sharp and the reader must buy into it totally. If they pause to wonder why the protagonist doesn't just throw in the towel and be done with it, you've lost your battle and your war.

When you have a crucible that is a fortress from which your characters dare not leave, you have a formidable plot and iron-clad character motivation.

Queen of the Rewrite

Once Again With Feeling . . .

So, I've finished my next book-- the first in a trilogy -- and now I'm rewriting it after I've had a writer friend/editor read it and tell me where I've gone off the rails. This is actually the fun part. I think writing is pretty darn difficult. I'm like Carrie Fisher, who once said she doesn't actually enjoy writing as much as she enjoys "having written." Yeah, I can understand that.

Don't get me wrong. It's not easy sitting beside your editor/writer/friend and hearing that she doesn't understand or particularly like my heroine. Nope. That's no fun. Or that she thinks my hero is "too girlie" in certain parts of the books. Ooops! You never want that to happen! But I know myself and I know that, while the initial consultation stings and sometimes cuts to the bone, if I give myself time to lick my wounds, I will agree with about 95 percent of what she's telling and showing me. I also know that this isn't easy for her either!

You might think that most editors have feelings coated with stainless steel, but I think you'd be wrong about that. Having known a few professional editors, I can remember how they agonized over having to call a writer to discuss a major rewrite or even a rejection. They weren't cackling as they rubbed their hands together in glee. They were dreading it and going over and over in their heads how they were going to handle it.

My friend has told me that it hurts her when I argue or challenge her during these sessions, so I try to keep my mouth shut. Later, I tell myself. Later, after you give yourself time to think instead of defending yourself and your writing. I know that I can be rational after I "sleep on it."

I'm deeply into the rewrite now and my friend/writer/editor told me yesterday that she's really enjoying the newest version and that she can hardly believe it was written by the same person. Oh! Okay! I'm the Rewrite Queen! All bow down and show me some respect!

Patting myself on the back, I coo to my writer's ego . . . "There, there. It's all better now, isn't it?"

Riding the Big Wave

Go with the Flow!

Isn't it great when a novel sinks into your blood and you find yourself eager to keep writing? Even when you're not writing it, you are thinking about it, dreaming of the next scene and bits of great dialogue?

I am there right now. Loving the novel I'm writing and even plotting the next two novels in what I hope will be a series. It has been a long, long time since I was this excited about a novel project. I dream about it at night. I wake up thinking about it. I look forward to sitting down and writing 10 or 20 pages a night after I have worked all day at the computer writing non-fiction for my real job! Oh, yes. I am writing in a fever!

I love my characters. I love the plot. I'm doing something I haven't done EVER as a novelist. I am writing this book without a synopsis. I decided to just keep writing after I had enough for a partial because I didn't want to stop. I wanted to keep writing it because it's so much fun. It's going well, I think, because I have been thinking about this series for at least two years. Maybe longer.

It is a contemporary and it is in a genre that I have never written in before. Everything is new and risky and deliciously scary!

I have sent chapters to my friend, who helps edit my books. She is not too thrilled with it -- or so it seems at this stage -- and you know what? I don't care! I am loving writing on it so much that, if no one likes it and my agent passes on it, that's cool with me. Writing it is such a joy that it's enough for me.

Of course, I hope it's published. I want others to love it, too. However, if it isn't, it has been such a lovely ride that I surely won't regret the time I have spent on it.

This is such a different feeling for me! To write with joy and simply enjoy riding the crest of this sweeping, all-consuming wave of creativity.

Cowabunga!

Attack Soggy Middles

The middle of a novel is where the quicksand dwells!

Plotting a novel usually begins and ends rather well. It's that middle part that is challenging. Most of the time, you know how the book will begin and how it will end. You might also know or have a good idea of some key scenes. However, as you plot and you reach mid-point in your book, invariably your pace slows and you are faced with every writer's dilemma: Now what?!

When you don't do an outline or synopsis, this juncture can be daunting. You've been flying along and now you're stuck in quicksand. Have you read books where all of a sudden a secondary character shows up along with a subplot? This new development is introduced and dealt with in the space of, say, four or five chapters. How convenient! Well, that's one way to shore up  a saggy middle, but it can also be disconcerting to the reader and play hell with your pacing.

However, the surprise subplot is better than chunks of introspection where the hero and/or heroine review what has happened in the book so far, reflect on it, share memories of their childhoods, and wonder what the future holds for them. This "soggy middle" rescue operation is always a poor choice. You will put your reader to sleep or the reader will skim over these chapters, and the charm of your book is lost. You will also probably receive less than enthusiastic reviews.

Outlining allows you to address saggy middles efficiently and effectively. Since you aren't in the throes of writing the book, you can stop and reflect on what scenes of interest  you can add that will further the main plot, keep up the pace, and add to your characterization. The middle of the book can be -- and should be -- a build up of what's to come in the novel's final revelations, black moment when all seems lost, and wrapping up scenes. These important middle  scenes should engage the readers, not put them to sleep. They should include surprises, insights, and carry your "red thread" throughout. Think of the Harry Potter novels. Did everything exciting grind to a halt in the middle part of those? No! Things heated up!

So, the next time you read a book where a Stop sign pops up in the middle and everything slows to a grinding halt, you can smile knowingly and think, Ah-ha! The writer didn't plot this one out well enough and found himself/herself in quicksand!

Writers can dig themselves out, but it does take planning and good plotting! And it is much, much easier to do at the outline stage than at the actual writing stage.

Good Luck! And keep a shovel handy at all times.