Tip O'Day #459 - Just Say "No"

Guest blogger Karin Kaufman on “Jumping the Publishing Curve.”

In early 2011, I sent a query letter to a literary agent. One of those “if you don’t receive a reply, it’s a no” agents who haven’t the time, energy, or inclination to send even a one-line rejection via email.

I thought, OK, fine. I can deal with no reply. I’ve spent hours on the synopsis and query — properly formatting the latter to avoid being disqualified from the get-go by an assistant whose job it is to scour queries for obedience to format — and I’ve jumped through numerous hoops, some justified, some silly, but big deal. If I don’t hear from the agent, I’ll move on. I’d been told it could take years to land an agent, and after all, this was only my first query letter. I had many dues to pay.

Two months later, realizing that, indeed, I’d scored a big red no on my query, I turned to the next agent on my list. This one wanted the following: (1) a query letter of three (no more, no less) paragraphs, (2) a short synopsis, (3) a long synopsis, (4) a jacket blurb, (5) a tag line for my novel, and (6) a marketing plan.

In other words, he wanted me to do his job for him. With very little chance that my work would pay off. I calculated how many hours it would take for me to jump his gates like a good little pony and laid down my own big red no.

No, I will not start down this path. No, I will not make sure my email subject line is just right so that your automated system doesn’t kick it out. No, I will not spend the next three years sending queries by the score in hopes one agent will deign to respond. No, I will not sign with an agent only to find he can’t market my book and has decided to retire to North Carolina. No, I will not take a $3,000 advance (if I’m lucky) and be consigned to the back shelves (if I’m lucky) of a dying bookstore chain. No, I will not accept a 7.5 percent royalty rate when I’m the one supplying the content. No, I will not confine myself to one genre. No.

I’m lucky. It took me one query letter and a brief, wavering moment as I considered writing the next to decide to go Indie. That moment happened to coincide with the explosion in Indie publishing. Other writers have spent years searching for an agent—and years more waiting for a publisher to come along.

In July 2011, I published my first novel, The Witch Tree, on Amazon. So began the Anna Denning mystery series. In 2012, I uploaded the second book in the series, and last year I published All Souls, a speculative thriller that, had I been beholden to an agent and publisher, never would have been written.

God bless agents, with their hoops and gates, for pointing me toward Indie publishing. If you’re considering going Indie, I encourage you to give it a try. These days you have nothing to lose. After all, agents are beginning to call Amazon the “new slush pile.”

You have to laugh.

Karin Kaufman is author of the Anna Denning cozy mystery series and the Gatehouse Thriller series (under the name K.T. Kaufman). Her first novel, The Witch Tree, was a 2011 Grace Award finalist. When she’s not causing mayhem in the lives of her characters, she enjoys reading, drinking far too much coffee and tea, and taking walks in the foothills of the Colorado Rockies with her two rescue dogs, Sophie and Cooper. The Amazon Kindle link to All Souls is http://goo.gl/pbuKqx.

Tip O'Day #449 - We Don't Want No Stinkin' Colons

Guest blogger and Montana author Karen Wills says “We Don’t Want No Stinkin’ Colons.”

Well, sometimes we want them…maybe. The easy part of writing is the creative, free-flowing draft work. After that comes editing. I’m in the throes of that for my second novel. Thanks to Dixon’s request for a guest blog, I can take a break. But then I find myself perseverating about the infernal editing.

Let’s start with the tricksters of punctuation, hyphens. You think you’ve cornered them. A two-word adjective before the noun it modifies will be hyphenated, right? But then, the rule wriggles out and throws an exception at you. Think of storytelling bards.

My husband found me a book by Mary Louise Gilman, One Word, Two Words, Hyphenate? Gilman’s book is mostly wordlists, but helpful ones. The Chicago Manual of Style is also essential, as are dictionaries. When all else fails, see whether Internet writers hyphenate a word.

Almost as tough as hyphens are members of the colon family. Believe it or not, punctuation has trends. The semicolon, so necessary and popular with long-winded eighteenth and nineteenth century authors, seems to have fallen out of favor, especially in dialogue. I see those lowly drones of punctuation, commas, now separating long phrases that semicolons would have divided in the past. The ground explanation of what semicolons are for, one I still like, is that a semicolon is halfway between the full stop of a period and the California stop of a comma. Colons were once used to introduce lists of cumbersome phrases or clauses. Colons are now in disfavor with many groups: critique groups, editors, teenagers. You see what I mean.

Some punctuation is unpopular, but necessary. Modern philistines don’t care about apostrophes. Don’t the people who put up billboards ever look at what they’re doing? My favorite is the sign with big eyes that says, “If your looking at this, its selling.” The rule is that the apostrophe goes in place of the missing letter in a contraction, and outside plural possessives, but just before the s in singular possessive, except for (here’s the inevitable exception) its.

Besides punctuation, there’s the matter of spelling. It’s been said before, but I’ll repeat it. Use the spell checker with caution. It might not understand which word you meant of two or more spelled correctly, as in rest and wrest.

As for capitalization, we all know about proper nouns, but then there are those pesky points of the compass. I have a block about this, so routinely visit section 8.45-46 of the Chicago Manual of Style to read again, “Compass points and terms derived from them are lowercased if they simply indicate direction or location.” Then come the exceptions, including the North and the South.

There’s plenty more to watch out for when you want perfectly clean copy. I’ve been advised to read from the bottom, read out loud, or give it to somebody else, but a few mistakes might still creep in. I speak from personal experience after editing my thriller, Remarkable Silence, for the second time.

Bibliographies are a whole different headache.

Clean copy sells better, and it makes an author proud. Exhausted, but proud.

Dixon says: Karen Wills is a former critique partner of mine, and just an all-around nice person. You can find her archeological thriller, Remarkable Silence, on Amazon Kindle here.

I will also echo her advice that Spell Check doesn't always help. Especially if you write about cereal killers.

Tip O'Day #440 - What Makes a Thriller?

Guest blogger Gary Williams on “Pacing.”

We’ve all heard the real estate adage when buying property. The three most important things are location, location, location. Well, when you embark on writing a thriller, there’s a similarity. The three most important traits of a successful thriller are pacing, pacing, pacing.

Aside from an interesting story, good writing and meticulously editing, a successful thriller must launch the reader on a path. It’s a slow progression in three acts. Act one sets the story up by building the character, settings and mysteries. Act two is where the protagonist and antagonist begin to feel each other out, and small battles are won and lost. Act three ratchets up the tension. The stakes have been clearly defined. The protagonists are usually in dire situations and the antagonists appear to have the upper hand. It all builds to a staggeringly swift pace as the two sides clash in a pulse-pounding finale that usually involves life and death.

So you think I’ve over simplified it? Maybe, but think of any great thriller you’ve ever read. Either the story started slow and turned on the jets, or kicked off with a bang and never let up. Either way, when you got to those last 100 pages, you couldn’t stop reading. You were so entrenched in the characters and learning their fates that you couldn’t put the book down. Laundry, yard work, school homework, walking the dog, and everything else became secondary until the final resolution was revealed. And it’s all because the pace of the story sucked you in, refusing to let up.

As a writer, what are things you can do to ensure your thriller is paced properly?

Limit scenery descriptions

I’ve read thrillers that were exceptionally well-written, the prose glistening off the page. Yet the story was marred, bogged down in scenery details or a character’s rambling thoughts to such an extent that it not only interrupted story-flow, it brought it to a grinding, teeth-rattling halt. A thriller is not the time to get flowery with your descriptions. Describe what’s important to the story, and move on. Extensive scenery descriptions should only be done if it’s vital to the storyline, if something about the scene will come into play later, or if you plan to have an action scene occur there later in the story.

Let me expound on this last point. Action sequences, especially late in the story when the pace should be amped up, are not the times to elaborate on scenery details. It bogs down the frenetic pace. You can get around this is by describing the location earlier in the story, if possible. Then, when the action heats up at the end, the setting has already been presented to the reader. All that’s necessary is brief setting reminders. Of course, sometimes this isn’t possible. The crescendo chapter might be the first time a location is visited in the story. In this case, describe it briefly. Remember, action (and pacing) is paramount. Don’t lose the reader because you were more interested in writing about the specific art work that adorns the walls at the Elizabethan home, instead of focusing on the antagonist tied up in the chair in the parlor with a ticking time bomb.

Limit Character thoughts

As writers we always want readers to relate to characters. This is accomplished primarily by displaying character actions and allowing readers to hear their inner thoughts. Caution must be taken as to the extent a writer allows the reader inside a character’s mind. Again, early on in the story is a good time to expose his/her thoughts and provide insight into their personal history. But once you reach the last third of the novel, keep the character’s musings in check. (Unless, of course it’s a delusional character and his thoughts are germane to the storyline!)

Sex

Thrillers sometimes have a heavy element of sex. If it’s necessary to the story, that’s fine. Yet gratuitous sex can be overkill. If the theme of the story is sexual in nature, then by all means, describe it how you see fit. But the same rules apply as mentioned with scenery details. Unless it’s critical to something in the story or shows a character trait, readers don’t need graphic details.

Self edit until it hurts

Writers write. It’s what we do. Yet we have to recognize when text is superfluous. Some of my best descriptive work never made it into print because it simply wasn’t necessary and caused the story to drag. It’s very important to ensure all scenes are core to the story. Although not a book, as an example, I own the Director’s Cut version of the 80’s action movie Lethal Weapon. It contains deleted scenes that never made it to the theatrical release. One such scene early in the movie shows Mel Gibson’s character, Riggs, dealing with a crazed gunman who is holding a classroom full of school children hostage. The intent was to display Riggs' suicidal nature. The scene itself takes several minutes and, ultimately, was cut because Riggs’ suicidal obsession was best presented while he was in the presence of his new partner Murtaugh, and not in a stand-alone scene that had no bearing on the rest of the story. In this same fashion, writers must truly evaluate scenes that can be edited from the story to help the pacing. Remember, thrillers are typically shorter in length that other genres. It’s not about word count. It’s about gripping the reader and keeping them craving more.

A thriller combines stellar writing with whirlwind pacing. This pacing should grow rabid by the time the reader reaches the last third of the book. That is not the time to gum up the works with unnecessary descriptions.

Gary Williams writes with Vicky Knerly. They have co-written four thrillers, including Indisputable Proof, named as one of the top fiction books of 2012 by Rosa St. Claire of the Miami Examiner. Their latest thriller, Manipulation, was released just last month.

Tip O'Day #423 - Flashing Back

Guest blogger Ben Drake flashes back to earlier today, when he had a question about flashbacks.

Does every flashback need a catapult?

I am a lover of the flashback. I recently read a very good story with several flashbacks in it, and I just wrote a story with some attempts at flashbacks on my book site. They are not as easy as one would think. An editor I know has told me about one rule for flashbacks – there needs to be a trigger for them.

But what about when the character is insane? In my own mind I don’t need a flashback catapult when I am transported back into the actual, strong memory. Then again, it has been said that I do not have the soundest of minds.

Dixon says: Thanks, Ben. In my opinion, there’s only one rule for a flashback (or a flashforward) – you need to be absolutely clear when you’re going into and coming out of the flashback.

Flashbacks can be any length at all. They can be one phrase long – The smoke from the fire made Paul break out in a sweat, taking him back to the burning crack house in Phoenix when he accidentally shot an innocent kid. They can be a hundred pages of longer. In the novel The Godfather, there’s a huge flashback right after Sonny’s wedding, going back to Don Corleone’s youth in Sicily. I’ve seen books where the opening and closing chapters are bookends, in the present tense, and the rest of the story is a flashback. An example of that is The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

The Liberty Valance short story by Dorothy Johnson (as well as the movie) is also an example of a flashback within a flashback, when Sen. Stoddard (Jimmy Stewart) reveals that Tom Doniphon (John Wayne) actually shot bad guy Liberty Valance. To get even more complicated, there are cases of a flashback within a flashback within a flashback, such as Six Degrees of Separation.

It’s easy when the flashback starts and ends at chapter breaks. Thirty years earlier makes a nice transition. The same thing goes for a scene break. When the flashback occurs in the middle of a scene, the author needs to go out of her way to ensure clarity without jerkiness, both going in and coming out. My suggestion is to do your best and then show it to some critique partners (beta readers) to see if what’s in your mind works on the page.

As for Ben’s question about an unbalanced character, if that person has already been established as unreliable, there’s no reason a flashback shouldn’t work. In my WIP, a thriller tentatively titled Montana is Burning, there’s a schizophrenic character named Winnifred who holds lengthy discussions with her dead mother, her son (who may or may not have been aborted), the devil, and various imps. If Winnifred tells you today is Saturday, you’d still better check a calendar. Her flashbacks are some of the most entertaining parts of the novel, even though the reader isn’t sure whether they actually occurred.

Ben’s guest post was a fine example of brevity. Unfortunately, I rarely demonstrate that talent.

Tip O'Day #420 - Don't Wimp Out

Guest blogger Jeff Mariotte on keeping in shape.

You write with your writing muscles.

Like any other muscles, you've got to use them, exercise them, keep them in shape. If you let them atrophy, they won't be there when you need them. If you take care of them and work them out regularly, they will.

So write.

A lot.

It doesn't necessarily make writing any easier, but it almost invariably makes your hard work turn into something better.

Jeff Mariotte has written over 45 novels and numerous comic books, mostly in the supernatural thriller, horror, western and suspense thriller genres, as well as nonfiction works about serial killers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the like. You can find the paperback of supernatural thriller Season of the Wolf here.

Tip O'Day #415 - The Best POV

Guest blogger Carolyn Arnold says “First Person POV Can Save Your Writing.”

All of us -- both as authors and as readers -- want characters we can relate to and connect with. Nothing can kill a plot much faster than cardboard shadows roaming the pages. I’m sure we’ve all been victim to this plague at one point or another, whether the infection has been injected by us as the author, or we’ve tried to read a book that has them.

The question as an author is, how can we avoid flat characters and get ones our readers feel they can pinch?

When we start out writing, we all have areas we can improve on. In fact, even once we may have “mastered” one technique or area, we’ll find there are still ways to sharpen it further. That’s why I always say that writing isn’t a destination but a journey -- a metaphor that holds true in so many ways.

So if we are to improve our craft, the old adage, practice makes perfect, is always in play. When I started out writing, I didn’t even know where it was headed. My goal was simply to write a full-length novel. I didn’t see beyond that until a few months after I finished the first draft. And it wasn’t until I wrote Ties that Bind, the first Madison Knight novel, that I realized how serious writing was to me. Going from a single goal to a lifestyle, I was reborn an author. It’s quite likely my situation mirrors your own. You may also relate to the fact that once you decide you want to make money with your books and have people “out there” read them, you have to refine them to the point of exhaustion, and beyond.

Along my journey, I discovered I needed to sharpen my characterization. I went back to Ties that Bind repeatedly revising and tightening until Madison Knight came alive off the page. It was at this point I proudly published the novel satisfied she was relatable and like a real woman I could run into on the street.

This didn’t happen overnight. As mentioned, it took many return visits to the manuscript and time. Maybe you’re wondering how I knew what I was looking for? Here’s how: writing first person POV saved my writing.

Possibly you’re cocking an eyebrow right now, or smirking at the statement, but it’s true. Think of it this way: the most popular point of view to write in is third close. That is the use of “he” and “she”, where as the author you’ve distanced yourself immediately by pulling out of the character’s head. You may argue that third close gives you “insider knowledge,” and it does if executed properly. That latter part is the key. So, how do you get there?

Think of writing first person. The use of “I,” “me,” “we” and “us” become the terms used in this point of view. It instantly feels more personal. By using “I” and looking at emotions and situations in first person, you are right inside that character’s mind. You feel what they feel, see what they see, hear what they hear, and smell what they smell.

In consideration of this, my suggestion to all authors is: write something in first person.,/p>

For myself, this came in the form of a full-length novel (Restitution, not yet published). But you don’t have to write a novel. Why not just try a short story, or if you’re struggling with a scene, re-work it (for your purpose) in first person?

Close your eyes. Immerse yourself in the scene. Breathe in deep and focus. You are your character. How do you feel? What do you see? What do you hear? You get the idea.

By writing in first person, it benefits your writing in at least two ways:

1. It strengthens your intimacy with your characters, and in turn, your readers -- even when writing in third close. In fact, I find when I’m writing close third in a first draft, I have inadvertently put “I” because I felt that close with the character.

2. It takes away any hesitation to branch out and try something new. This is very important, because as author as we must continually challenge ourselves.

For myself, after I wrote Restitution, that was then I revisited Ties that Bind. In fact, at the time of this post, I have written three novels utilizing this point of view with a fourth in the works. Here’s another challenge for you: switch off between first and third to play with the plot of the story and further heighten conflicts and create more suspense.

Of course, my advice to all authors, write any story the way it demands to be told. For me, I took on the challenge of mixing first and third in a few thrillers I have written. My thriller/police procedural Eleven (part of the Brandon Fisher FBI Series) utilizes this and is currently available for Kindle or in print.

An effective way of switching between characters for different scenes, mixing first and third or not, is another challenge -- and another post. For now, just keep writing, and heck, why not give writing first person a try? It might save your writing.

Carolyn Arnold is the author of both the Madison Knight and Brandon Fisher FBI series. To find out more information about her available books and upcoming releases, you can visit her at carolynarnold.net or peruse her Amazon Author Page.

Tip O'Day #347 - "Consistently Varied"

Guest blogger Stephanie Osborn on “Things They Don’t Tell You In Author’s School – Part 1.” (Eighteen months ago, when I invited fellow writers and book lovers to submit guest posts, Stephanie was the first to climb aboard – with not one but eight Tip O’Day suggestions. I thought it might be interesting to revisit those early posts from the third week in January, 2011.)

I’m a fairly decent writer, with a good half-dozen popular books to my credit. (Not bad for a couple years in the business.) And long before I submitted a novel manuscript for publication, I did my homework. I knew about query letters, slush piles, and house formats. I knew some publishing houses don’t take unagented submissions and some do. I knew how to find the correct name and address for a submission, and to address the query letter TO that person. I knew how to make my query letter POP.

But once I got into the industry (translated – once I had a novel under contract), I discovered there are some little details they don’t tell you in author’s school.

Sub-thing: Everybody knows not to trust spelling and grammar checkers, right? They don’t know there from they’re from their… (finish the statement on your own). Good. ‘Nuff said. On to the serious stuff.

Thing One (with apologies to Dr. Suess): Different publishers have different definitions of what constitutes novel length. For some, it’s anything over forty thousand words. For others, it’s sixty, and for most in my genre (science fiction slash mystery) it’s around one hundred thousand. This is a rough rule of thumb, and generally the bigger the number, the more leeway you have, plus or minus, in your word count. But make sure you know what the definition is for your genre, and MAKE IT LONG ENOUGH, or you could run into problems.

Tip O'Day #326 - Know Your Voice

Guest blogger Helen Hanson asks, “Who writes like me?”

I slow danced with an agent for almost a year before I indie-pubbed my first novel, 3 Lies. Pitching a book to an agent requires a thoughtful analysis of the book’s marketability. Better still, he wanted a comparison between my writing and that of someone famous. Yikes! Not even out of the nest and I have to fly with the raptors. I write thrillers so these rare birds never form flocks.

John le Carré? I’ve read nearly all of his books, but he’s a strict spy master. I’m not.

John Grisham? His earlier works held some humor which I employ. But all his books involve a court case. Only one of mine does so far.

Tom Clancy? I want to know the type of weapon the assassin fired. I don’t want to know how to field strip the rifle. Pssst. Don’t tell anyone. I prefer the movies made from his novels.

Ultimately, the tenor of my prose isn’t suggestive of anyone famous. It’s my pain, failure, and triumph permeating the pages of my novels. Each of us writes from air space that no bird can share. People I’ve loved, cultures I’ve enjoyed, strangers I’ve engaged–these are the moments which color the ink from my pen. My favorite authors undoubtedly left traces of their DNA in my consciousness, but the words coming out are strictly my own. And I’m good with that. Even if I never soar with the eagles.

It’s my voice. Loud. Deep. Routinely off-key. But uniquely mine by which to die or fly.

Lean more about Helen at her website or check out her novel 3 Lies here.

Tip O'Day #323 - Reach Out to Others

Guest blogger Pat Bertram - I Am a Thirteen-Month Grief Survivor. ( A post from “Bertram’s Blog” on April 27, 2011, used with permission.)

Yesterday at my grief support group we were asked to complete the sentence, “After he died, I was surprised that . . .” Everything that happened in the thirteen months since the death of my life mate — my soul mate — has surprised me. No, not surprised me. Shocked me.

I was shocked that the end came so quickly. He’d been sick such a very long time, his health fading slowly, that his dying became our way of life. When he was finally diagnosed with inoperable kidney cancer, we were told he had three to six months to live. He had only three weeks. And those weeks seemed to evaporate in just a few hours.

After he died, I was shocked by the very presence of grief. My brother died four and a half years ago, and my mother died a year later. I handled both deaths well, so I thought I could cope with the death of my mate. I didn’t know, had no way of knowing, that one didn’t grieve the same for every loss. I didn’t know, had no way of knowing, that there was a physical component to the death of a long time mate, that it would feel like an amputation.

After he died, I was shocked by the depth and breadth of my feelings. During the last year of his life, and especially the last six months, he’d begun withdrawing from the world and from me. This withdrawal, this lessening of a need to be with others is a natural part of dying, and my response to his withdrawal was just as natural — an increased determination to live. He might be dying but I wasn’t, and I had to untangle our lives, find a way to survive his dying and his death. I thought I had successfully completed this task, but his death rocked me to the core of my being.

After his death, I was shocked by his sheer goneness. Because I’d spent so much time alone that last year, I thought life without him would feel much the same, but it isn’t like he is in another room or another city or another country – it’s like nothing I’d ever experienced before. I still have no words to describe the finality, the undoableness, the vacuum of death. He was part of my life for thirty-four years. We breathed the same air. We were connected by our thoughts, our shared experiences, the zillion words we’d spoken to each other. And then he was gone from this earth. Erased. Deleted. I still can’t wrap my mind around that.

After his death, I was shocked that I felt so shattered. So broken. And I am shocked that I still feel that way at times. I am shocked that no matter how strong you are, how well you are healing, grief can slam into you at any time, especially after a good day when you’re not expecting it, and the pain feels as raw as it was at the beginning.

After his death, I was shocked by the scope of grief. You grieve for the one who died and you grieve for yourself because you have to live without him. You grieve for all the things you did and the things you didn’t do. You grieve for what went wrong in your shared life and what went right. You grieve for the past and you grieve for the lost future. You grieve for all the hopes and dreams and possibilities that died with him. It’s amazing that anyone can survive all that pain, but we do, and that shocks me, too.

After his death, I was shocked by how complicated human emotions can be. You can feel sad and unsad at the same time. You can be determined to live, yet not care if you live or die. You can know in your depths he’s gone, but still listen for him, still yearn for him, still worry about him.

Mostly I’m shocked that I am still the same person I was before he died. Such emotional trauma should have changed me, made me stronger and wiser perhaps, yet I’m still just me. Sadder, but still recognizably me. Well, there is one change. I’ve always been a worrier, but now I try not to fret about the future, try not to wonder how I’m going to cope with growing old alone. After his death, I am no longer shocked that life can remain the same year after year. Nor am I shocked that it can change in an instant.

Learn more about Pat at her blog. She is the author of four suspense-thrillers from Second Wind Publishing plus a nonfiction book, Grief: The Great Yearning. She also moderates the FB group Suspense-Thriller Writers.

Tip O'Day #313 - Realistic Military Thrillers

Guest blogger Harvey Black on visiting actual settings.

Many action-adventure books have been written about World War II, but not so many by writers from one of the Allied countries from the point-of-view of German soldiers. Harvey Black has written three novels about Fallschirmjäger – a German word for ‘parachute hunter,’ the name given to their paratroopers. His first thriller, Devils with Wings - The Green Devils Assault on Fort Eben Emael, was released in the summer of 2011, and Devils with Wings: Silk Drop came out in early 2012.

I have wanted to write a novel since I was a teenager. Enthralled by Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings, E.E. Doc Smith’s Lensmen series and Edgar Rice Burroughs, I felt sure my first would be of the fantasy or science fiction genre.

Joining the army changed all of that and my new passion became military history. Devils with Wings - The Green Devils Assault on Fort Eben Emael, was based on the adventures of two young Fallschirmjäger paratroopers during the early part of World War II, climaxing with the assault on a supposedly impregnable Belgian fortress.

For both books, I visited the locations in person. For Devils with Wings: Silk Drop, I walked the routes in Crete where my characters would have marched, up to 18 miles. Most of the descriptions in the novels were written in situ, looking at the terrain as the actual combatants would have viewed it. For my third novel, I shall also visit Leningrad and the River Neva in the near future, to ensure that realism is maintained.

To learn more about this author, visit his Amazon.com author’s page.

Tip O'Day #308 - Spark into a Flame

Guest blogger Dawn Torrens on her writing passions.

To say I am passionate about writing would most definitely be an understatement. I could not imagine a life without writing. I keep all my ideas for future books in a journal, all ideas written in hand. I am never without my journal, as you never know when or what will inspire an idea. Once I have a story in my head, it has to come out right there and then, I become all consumed and spend every available minute penning that story until it’s finished. Thankfully I have an understanding family.

I have always had an incredible imagination - my mind never switches off. I may see an image or listen to a song that will set off a spark within me. Soon the spark turns into a bright flame, and a story is born. The most amazing feeling is arriving at the finish line with your book all complete. I have now written two books, each one written with passion. They are my babies.

I have been inspired by many authors over the years: Charles Dickens, Jane Austen and Emily Bronte among the classics, and then the great authors of our time, James Patterson, Patricia Cornwell, Steven King, Richard North Patterson and John Grisham to name but a few. My tastes are wide and varied. I love a good thriller, and I also like to lose myself in a great love story.

Learn more about Dawn at her website or FB author page.

Novel Excerpt Exchange #3 - James Kellogg

Novel excerpt exchanges help expose readers to new authors, as well as being a way for writers to support one another. This is the third one for me.

The selection below is from novelist James D. Kellogg. He is a civil engineer by training and an outdoor enthusiast by choice, and both elements are obvious in his thriller, E-Force. He and his wife Kristen are raising their four kids near Glenwood Springs, Colorado. You can contact James by email or visit his website.

This 1,200-word excerpt is from chapter 5 of E-Force.

Tempers were flaring at the manager’s meeting. Colt was certain that the Salem Witch Trials couldn’t have been more chilling. With the suddenness of an ocean squall, the forum had degenerated into a hostile volley of accusations and defenses. The handwriting on the wall was plain for Colt to see. The days of EcoFriends were numbered.

A female manager turned on the other five women. “I’m not paying the price for the bitch that ratted on us! Everybody knows I’ve put my heart and soul into this organization.”

“You’d sell us out in a heartbeat if you could profit!” One fiery vixen charged at the haughty accuser. “How much is the FBI paying you?”

“That’s right. Fight it out!” A man pumped his fist.

“Let’s make them all take polygraph tests.” One board member stepped between the two potential combatants.

“There’re better ways to get a confession than that,” another person said.

“Enough of this!” Howard Anderson finally took control. “We’re tearing ourselves apart because of one traitor. If we’re going to survive, we’ve got to stick together. The truth is going to come out. Whoever is guilty has one last chance for redemption. I’ll give you until the end of the week to come to me and confess. Then we’ll figure out how to make things right again.”

Adjournment was an armistice in an escalating war. At the reprieve, people scattered. Colt looked for Deb, but she was gone. The air in the building seemed poisoned. He hurried outside where he could breathe.

“Damned horde of barbarians,” Colt muttered on the sidewalk, shaking his head with disgust for the behavior his colleagues had exhibited. The organization was supposedly founded on trust and loyalty, yet every leader was bent on crucifying one of their own.

Anderson has lost his mind. Colt stormed toward the street. It was insane to prop up the terrorist group E-Force as a means to stabilize EcoFriends. It’s like skydiving without a parachute so you didn’t risk getting tangled in the lines. Everybody’s following him into the sea like a bunch of damned lemmings.

Without a doubt, Colt regretted his involvement with EcoFriends. Foolishly, he’d been a complacent passenger in his life and work. It was time to move behind the wheel and take command. EcoFriends was going to be part of the past, not the future.

“Colt, wait for me!” a familiar voice said.

Colt turned to see Deb dart across the street. A car braked to avoid running her down. She drew alongside Colt, ignoring the blaring horn as the vehicle resumed course.

“You almost got killed!” Colt was alarmed by Deb’s reckless action.

“What does it matter?”

“I don’t understand why you would ask that.” Colt evaluated his friend’s pale sickly appearance. “What’s going on? Where’ve you been?”

“Vomiting in the restroom.” Deb’s voice wavered. “We need to have that talk.”

“Let’s get away from the street.” Colt grabbed her by the arm. “I’ll walk you to your car.”

The pair didn’t speak during the brisk trip to a parking lot at the end of the block. When they reached Deb’s vehicle, she couldn’t contain herself any longer.

“Colt, can I trust you to keep a secret?” Deb asked in a hushed tone.

“Of course you can trust me,” Colt said, frowning. “What’s going on Deb?”

“I’m the one who went to the FBI. I told them about the money laundering.”

“So it was you.” Colt’s pulse quickened. “Holy shit. The meeting must have been a nightmare for you.”

“I can’t believe what’s happening.” Tears welled up in Deb’s eyes. “When I called from a payphone, the FBI agent promised my statements were confidential. I don’t know how Anderson found out. Colt, I’m scared.”

“It’s going to be okay.” Colt dabbed a tear from her cheek. “Nobody can pin the leak on you.”

“There’s more to the story.” Deb’s eyes were hollow. “All the dirty money went to E-Force.”

Colt’s heart skipped a beat at the assertion. Deb had uncovered the truth. Months ago, Colt had discovered that tens of thousands were going to E-Force. But he had done nothing. Like a fool, he continued to divert funds from his chapter, knowing the money was being laundered and funneled to E-Force.

“Is that what you told the Feds?” Colt sputtered. “How do you even know that?”

“I overheard a conversation between Anderson and Cain. And, yes, I told the FBI!”

“Deb, keep your voice down.” Colt cast a nervous glance around. “Maybe we should talk inside your car.”

“I haven’t told you the worst part,” Deb said after they were seated in the vehicle with the doors shut. “I’m not sure if I should.”

“What could be worse?” Colt felt as if he was about to be sentenced by a judge.

“Zed Cain is part of E-Force.” Deb was trembling. “If he finds out I know the truth, he’ll do something terrible. Colt, I don’t know what to do.”

“Just calm down.” A shiver rippled through Colt’s body. “This is bad, but I won’t let anyone hurt you. Did you tell the FBI about Cain?”

“Not yet.” Deb was obviously struggling to retain her composure. “But I’m going to. It’s the only way to stop these crimes.”

“But you don’t know who tipped off Anderson.” A light bulb went off in Colt’s head. “Maybe he’s got somebody inside the FBI.”

Deb shook her head with doubt. “We’re talking about Howard Anderson, not some foreign government.”

“Then how did he find out?” Colt’s unease was growing. “That’s a serious question, and we’ve got to find an answer.”

“Once Cain and Anderson are behind bars, it won’t matter. Then I’ll be safe.”

“It’s not going to be that simple.” Colt gripped Deb’s shoulder and looked her in the eye. “Something’s not right. There’s a hidden trap waiting to snare anyone who decides to be a hero.”

“Then what am I supposed to do?” Deb thumped a fist against the steering wheel. Another tear rolled down her cheek.

Colt suddenly felt conspicuous. “I don’t know yet, but we need to continue this conversation at a different time and place.”

“Okay, you’re right.” Deb nodded and reached for a tissue. “I’ll call you when I get back to Boise.”

They hugged for a few seconds before Colt stepped out onto the pavement. Deb ventured a weak smile and waved goodbye. Feeling lost and lonely, Colt looked after her car until it was swallowed in the traffic.

With eyes cast downward, Colt turned and walked away. Before he traveled twenty paces, a shadow crossed his path. Colt looked up to find Zed Cain standing in front of him. The man’s tall figure was imposing. With long black hair, he resembled a fierce Comanche warrior from days of old. Colt stopped dead in his tracks.

“Are you lost?” Cain asked without an ember of warmth.

A chill went down Colt’s spine. Did the alleged E-Force member suspect something? Maybe he overheard part of the conversation with Deb.

Colt managed a dismissive air. “I forgot where I parked. My vehicle’s over there. See you at the next meeting.”

Colt moved past Cain and retreated toward his Land Cruiser. He maintained a casual stride and resisted the urge to cast a backward glance.

Tip O'Day #35

Guest blogger Mike Pettit says: Consider Print on Demand.

My story is like so many other authors today. Months and months spent trying to get an agent, with rejection after rejection. Publishers won't talk to you without an agent, if then. The mainstream Agent/Pub crowd is sticking with proven moneymakers. They don't want to invest the time or money in new authors.

I finally gave up and took my career into my own hands. I found a P.O.D (Print on Demand) publisher, iUniverse, and now have four novels out on Amazon, B&N and several other sites. Sale are okay, but I'm not really in it for the money. I enjoy the notoriety of being a published author. It's a daunting task to be your own marketing, sales, and PR person but you have to do it. The mainstream guys are in a panic because of all the e-book action.

More and more authors are going this way. Depending on your goals, you need to decide what is best for you.

Mike writes the John Locke series of suspense thrillers and blogs about thrillers and other topics at http://johnlockethriller.blogspot.com/