I’ve wanted to be a published author since 6^th grade, but it wasn’t until 2007 that I started to actively pursue it. Don’t get me wrong, I wrote a lot. I have folder after folder filled with the good, the bad, and the very ugly of my writing. It was almost like a light clicked on in 2007. I had the duh! moment of “if you want to be a published author, then you’ve got to start submitting your stuff.”

At the time I was attending college, working part time, and writing. I couldn’t imagine juggling anything else.

And then I got pregnant.

Oh, my husband and I were excited. We had been talking about starting a family and this little surprise came at just the right time. While I was expecting, I finished up my college classes and graduated. And silly me was convinced that raising a baby would not be as time consuming as writing all those history papers. Of course, I was wrong. My writing quickly got pushed to the back burner as bottles and diaper changes took the forefront. What was I to do? I can’t just assign myself a writing time everyday. I’ll just sit there for my allotted hour and stare at a blank screen. I wrote whenever the muse struck, and it seemed that was always when my son needed me. Luckily, Fade to Black was already finished. It only takes a minute to send an email, so I submitted it when my son was napping. The harder things to do during nap time were the time consuming edits for Fade as well as my own personal writing.

Around his sixth or seventh month, my son began sleeping for 12 hour stretches through the night. 7pm-7am. Actually he still does that to this day. And it was from 7pm-9pm that I started to put my all into writing. If my muse wasn’t into it, I’d spend that time updating my webpage or blog, doing interviews for Fade, or getting the final draft of Promises to Keep together. But as his first birthday rolled around it was getting to be too much. Fade had great reviews, and people wanted to know what happened next. I needed time to write Fade’s sequel, and I had none left. For a moment I considered ending my writing career. I had done what I wanted to do; I had gotten published. But I quickly ended the thought, since my new dream was to be on the NY Times bestseller list. I couldn’t get rid of my son, not like I’d want to. He is one of the few things in my life that I will never regret. Let’s see, that left my job. It just had to go.

Now my son is sixteen months old, walking everywhere and getting into everything. I take care of him, play with him, and be the best mommy I can be. That is, until nap time. The second his little eyes close I am at the computer, doing what I can to forward my writing career. It’s rough being a wife, mom, and writer but somehow I pull it off. And one day, years from now, when I look back at this time in my life I will be so proud of myself for not giving up on my dream.

I am a writer. I was born a writer. I will die a writer. Nothing in this world or the next will ever change that.

Heather KuehlCheck out Promises to Keep, available now from Eternal Press!www.eternalpress.ca/Kuehl.html

http://heatherkuehl.blogspot.com

www.twitter.com/heatherkuehl

The smile Cadence bestowed upon him was undoubtedly the most brilliant he’d ever seen and for a moment, Curtis was certain heaven had opened its gate just enough to let a glimmer of light shimmer upon the mere mortals and sinners. For half a heartbeat he dared to believe she was one of the lost angels his grandmother had so oft spoken of. Surely she was one of them, fallen from the heavens, adrift on the earth to help lost souls find their way. No one had ever smiled at him that way, and when she plied him with those huge amethyst eyes, he wasn’t just lost… 

He was wrecked. 

Oh, but she shouldn’t look at him that way, as though he were some sort of hero, because he wasn’t. She shouldn’t look at him with all the innocent trust in the world glistening at the surface of her eyes because it was downright dangerous. And it was dangerous because, even though heknew he shouldn’t, he liked having her look at him that way. He wanted it. Craved it. Deep down in the farthest reaches of his soul he wanted to be her white knight, and it made him remember when he hadn’t been a total bastard, and it made him want a whole world of things he couldn’t begin to dream of having. 

How many of us have watched a movie or read a book and thought… I could have written a better ending to that story…?  I know I have, and it goes to show that coming up with a stellar story idea is not always the most difficult task for writers.  So, you ask, what is the most difficult task for writers?  Getting that amazing story idea on paper in a way that sucks readers into the book. 

Descriptions, ranging from scenery to character emotions, are a key element in creating the world of your story.  In the above excerpt from ANGEL AND THE UNFORGIVEN rather than say—Cadence smiled at Curtis—the hero describes what he sees in the heroine’s smile…  

So how do you make ordinary wording and sentence structure extraordinary? 

Here are a few tips for drawing readers into your story: 

1.      First of all remember that writing fiction is fun!  You can bend and break a few of those little rules English teachers spent years drilling into your head.  You can begin a sentence with a conjunction—in moderation of course… use sentence fragments… and a slew of other “rules” the English professors loved to ding your grades for. 

2.      Remember that small details make the difference between a must read and a so-so story no matter how amazing the plot.  Don’t just tell me your character sees a dog—describe the dog for me.  For example: 

A wagon clattered down the down the road, a dog panting at the back wheel. 

A wagon clattered down the muddy road, a floppy eared, yellow mutt panting at the back wheel.           

 Which sentence gives the better visual?In the second sentence we learn that the road is muddy.  How would your visual change if the road was described as dusty or the dog described as rangy?     

3.      The thesaurus is your best friend.  If a word seems overused and boring it probably is.   

Take for instance the word walked—several synonyms include strode, sauntered, ambled, loped and each has it’s own connotation for how the character is walking.  For example: 

Brian walked toward the study door. 

Brian ambled toward the study door. 

Brian sauntered toward the study door.

Find the word or synonym that best describes your character’s action and use it.  If you’re stuck go ahead and insert the more generic word and go back later.             

4.      Bringing back our English teacher… I’d like to point out the necessity of tools such as  metaphors and personification in creating descriptions that are artful and grip your reader. 

The chilly breeze whispered a prudent warning to the riders cantering deeper into the forest. 

We know the breeze isn’t really whispering, or warning, but it certainly adds to the setting and overall feel of the scene.  

5.      Never underestimate the power of rewrites and a read through (or two or three) in finding new and better ways to improve your story and descriptions. 

6.      Use action words—instead of saying to turn use turned 

The smell was enough to turn Lydia’s stomach. 

The smell turned Lydia’s stomach.   

7.      Stay away from words that deter from the strength of your sentences—that, almost, it, to.   

8.      Also avoid from passive voice whenever possible.  In a nutshell passive voice is ‘has been’ or ‘have been’ followed by an –ing word.  Was is another passive word, but one that I personally have trouble staying away from.    

Now tell me… Writers what are your tricks of the trade?  And readers what draws you into a story? 

To learn more about me, my March release ANGEL AND THE UNFORGIVEN, and other books and projects visit www.melissalynneblue.com. 

To purchase ANGEL AND THE UNFORGIVEN visit http://www.champagnebooks.com/books/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=19_4&products_id=367

 

Yesterday I saw an article a friend of mine was reading called “Run Fast! Women to Avoid Dating” by Laura Snyder. It was a great article and inspired me to think about other types of people to avoid and somehow it got me thinking about readers. Yes, I’m a writer, but I’m a reader first: A voracious one.

I devour the classics, literary and commercial fiction or hybrids of  both,  biographies, memoirs, business books, references, how-to manuals etc…I have stacks of book everywhere (I need more bookshelves) and I like interacting with other readers to discuss my favorite pastime. I can spot a fellow reader like an addict can spot another junkie. This is my realm and I know it well. However, I’ve discovered that there are some readers who are best kept at a distance (preferably with garlic and holy water). So that you won’t suffer from them, here are a few I’ve identified—get close to them at your own risk.

The Royal

This is the reader who feels that only her taste is the right taste. That every book should meet her standards (and they are high and very strict) or be trashed, slashed or burned. And she has created a list of proper reading etiquette that she feels every reader should subscribe to. Some of her rules are that a book should be cupped and not handled, no one should use a forefinger to skim a page and a bookmark is the only way to save a page—breaking the spine, dog-earing a page or using a sticky note are obscene. While I have my own ways of handling a book, I don’t have a royal decree that I believe others should follow. This reader does.

The Debater

Think you know the theme of a book? You’re wrong! But that’s no surprise. This next reader believes that all other readers are wrong. He knows every aspect of the novel from the symbolism, the inspiration, the subtext right down to the copyright date and will tell you so. And you will soon discover that you must agree with all his assertions. A difference of opinion is considered heresy.

The Spoiler

This reader can’t keep a secret. She’ll tell you who the murderer is, the secret the heroine is keeping, and the one thing you’ve spent the last 300 pages trying to find out. This reader can never give you a brief summary of a book (like a good natured father who will lecture you on why you should be punished for taking cookies from the cookie jar when all you want is a good spanking to escape the boring torture). No, this type of reader reveals every plot point and twist and will suck the reading pleasure of discovery from future readers.

The Doomsayer

To this reader, fiction, as we know it, is going to hell. Nothing good has been written since (fill in the blank) and it’s only getting worse. She predicts that soon we’ll have nothing but crap to read and our brains will turn to mush and our civilization will disappear. Fahrenheit 451 has nothing on her imaginings. Burning books? No, there will be no books to burn because we’ll all be too desensitized by the present rubbish that is available to us and we won’t know the difference. For the doomsayer, technology like the Kindle, Nooks and Vooks will eradicate the need for storytellers and bookstores, writers, paper, pens and all other tangibles will end up in museums as distant memories.

The Magician

This reader makes books disappear. What do I mean? Loan a book to this reader and you will never see that book again. Poof! It’s gone. If you ask where the book is, he will tell you that he doesn’t have it, or that it’s ‘somewhere’ but he hasn’t had a chance to read it yet. Or he has read it and can’t find it. The magician will always find an excuse, but one thing is certain–your book is gone forever.

So, do you have a reader type you avoid? I will give away a signed copy of my latest release WORDS OF SEDUCTION to a random commenter.

 

Find out more about Dara on her website: http://www.daragirard.com Find out more about her latest release here.

 

 

 

 

 

I write a character book and I’ve often said that if I could only teach my characters how to type, I’d be in great shape.  I usually get an idea of who my characters are as the first step in thinking up a new story.   

For MAD, BAD AND BLONDE (out now!) I actually not only had the character but also had the title and the opening lines, which are: “It was the perfect day for a wedding.  Too bad the groom didn’t show up.”   I knew the hero wouldn’t be the jerk who left my heroine at the altar.  And I knew the heroine would be a children’s librarian. As a former librarian myself, I love writing about librarians.  I also love writing about Marines and former Marines.  Okay, the hero Caine Hunter had to be a Marine.  So here’s what I came up with:JILTED AT THE ALTAR!Librarian Faith West is going on her Italian honeymoon solo, but she’s not staying that way for long. Does her sexy rebound man have ulterior motives? When they both return to Chicago, Faith has her hands full keeping former Force Recon Marine Caine Hunter in his place…and out of her bed!     

     MAD, BADAND BLONDE has already received great reviews, including a highly coveted Starred review from “Booklist,” which describes it as “a rare treat.”  Library Journal’s Xpress online review describes it as “a perfect choice.”

Do you pick a book based on the characters?  Do you notice the cover first? What makes you buy a book?

For more info about me visit my Facebook pg at Facebook.com/cathielinz or my website cathielinz.com for contest info to win a free book or read excerpts from my books. I’m also on Twitter.