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How do you read?

September 24, 2015 by in category Archives

I was discussing a book with a friend and commented that I still read like a 12-year-old. Then realized that comment might need a bit of explanation!

For me, that means that my reading experience – even after all these years and all the books- is one of total immersion, utter commitment to the characters and story.  I believe in the characters – they are people to me – and I enter the space they inhabit for the duration of the story.


I see authors and their work, or really any creator/creative act, whether it’s creating a story, a painting, a piece of music, a song, as having a similar relationship as a parent might have in creating a child.

Sure, you’ve created it. And yes, you have significant responsibilities towards it, and a deep connection with it. But it is not you. You do not own it. It has the right to self actualize in the best way it can.

Your job as a creator is to enable it to be the best it can be. Not just on your terms, though your role is a significant one, but to achieve the three part balance: of what you have to offer, what the creation itself needs, and what is needed to enable it to survive in “the world.”

So to all the author/creators that incorporate helpful feedback, sometimes painful to hear, a giant thank you for your dedication to making your “child” the best it can be. For setting aside your ego for the sake of the work. And the same in my experience goes for editors: for not bringing personal preferences and agendas to the experience, but appreciating that your shared role is to enable that “child” to be the best it can be and face a challenging world with strength, self confidence, and the ability to withstand “The Heart-ache, and the thousand Natural shocks That Flesh is heir to” (to quote Hamlet). There should be a balance that is ego free for parent/creator, for editor/teacher, to be open to delivering, hearing and incorporating what is best for the child/work.

This perception has helped me understand and believe in the value of the role of an intelligent external opinion in the development of a work, and thus the external party’s ‘right’ to challenge the creator’s vision if it doesn’t feel right, doesn’t feel like it is best serving the work.

But my understanding of my reading style has also has helped me understand my own often quite passionate dislike of a story! Yes, I am sorry to say the offending work is often a very well reviewed, award-winning literary ‘masterpiece.’

I realize that in ‘literary’ or groundbreaking stories authors can have a goal, a point of view, something they wish to illustrate or challenge.  And they have chosen the compelling medium of storytelling to express that point. Their characters and plot serve the author’s vision.  The character’s lives, their actions and reactions, the events that occur in the story may at any point in time be subordinated to that Vision.  Manipulated to do their creator’s bidding.  The character’s integrity, consistency, their very selves are just a pawn to the author’s desire to present an idea, to illustrate a point, to surprise, to break new ground.

I know my horror and sense of betrayal is…well, perhaps naive. One could argue that the author created these characters; surely he or she can do whatever she likes to them?  But for me, those characters are real, and they are not being respected. It’s like watching parents force their musical child to play competitive sports, or harp on marriage for career minded one, or vice versa!

Luckily some stories deliver on both, offering profound insights, breaking new ground, opening minds and hearts to a new perception though the humanity and vivid evocation of their characters and the believability of their story. Those are the stories I treasure.

So just saying my recent foray into Pulitzer prize-winning fiction has not been a very successful reading experience for me! But this realization has also helped me understand why a good friend can totally adore a story that I have found emotionally bankrupt, and enabled me to stop thinking that my friend is an idiot!  I now realize that we read differently and derive sustenance and delight from different things. 

And that’s not a bad thing.



Isabel Swift

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Pets and Assorted Animals in Stories. Love ‘um or Not? By Connie Vines

September 13, 2015 by in category Archives tagged as , ,
This month’s Topic: Pets or other animals in your stories? What function do they perform in the story? Do they need to have a function? Can they be a character? 

Since I am an animal lover and owner of a multitude of pets (exotic, barnyard, and typical suburban) at various times during my life, it only goes to reason that I will have them peppering my short stories, novellas, and novels.  

My Rodeo Romance Series (understandably) incorporates a cast of horses, sheep, cattle, dogs, cats, etc.  Some of these animals only have Cameo roles, while others are characters in their own right.  My Fun & Sassy Fantasy Series also features a pet as a main character in each story line.  Gertie, a pet Teddy-Bear Hamster, is Zombie Meredith’s BF in “Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow”.  “Brede” Rodeo Romance, Book 2 features a horse and cattle dog.  “Lynx” Rodeo Romance, Book 1, features the hero’s horse named Texas. The next book in my series, “Rand” Rodeo Romance, Book 3 features a poodle who belongs to the heroine.  Rand’s interaction with this very unrodeo-like dog is priceless!

For realistic purposes I select animals/breeds that I either have owned, or have working personal knowledge (chickens, turkeys, quail, pheasant, pigs, sheep— bred for. . .well, dinner during my rural days).  My dogs: Greyhound (my favorite & a rescue) Poodle (AKC champion pedigree), and– my husband’s dog, a Chi-wienie (Chihuahua Dachshund mix). I also like to add my horses (Quarter horse, Arabian) into the mix. 

 Due to my allergies to cats, my info in developing feline characters comes mostly via friends and the Animal Channel.  Now the unconventional pet experiences, were discovered firsthand (I did raise sons and have three younger brothers).  Iguanas, horned toads & hamsters, parakeets, an Amazon parrot, a runaway (flyaway?) cocktail, all have a way of finding a place in my life and my stories. 

Future adventure with pets?  

Probably. 

Right now I seem to be fixated on goats–pygmy goats to be exact.

I simply adore baby pygmy goats.  Mind you, I reside in the suburbs of Southern California.  Frequently, my husband reminds me,  â€œYou cannot raise a goat in our backyard, there are zoning laws.” 

Of course I know there are zoning laws J.  I also know goats are herd animals.  “We will need to have two goats,” I remind him. 

“We?” He grunts and goes back to his ‘man-cave’.

If you look at a YouTube video and read the mentioned online article titled: Pygmy Goats. The opening hook states: You should reconsider your choice in pets if you want an animal to stay indoors with you.
Well, sugar.  I really don’t relish those cute little darling’s chewing my maple furniture.

I did find one particular fact of interest while websurfing —(probably only humorous if you’re the sole female in male household)  â€˜Goats are messy eaters too, pulling feed out of buckets and leaving it on the floor.  Once it’s trampled, they really don’t want to touch it.’  Ah, the bygone days of life with teenage sons and team members.

While my characters do not always have pet, my characters have often had a pet during childhood, interact with an animal, or (YA stories) would like a pet. 

Why, do I believe animals are important to a story line?
It is a way to show character, good and bad.

How people treat animals will give a reader insight into my main character, or my villain.  I believe treatment of an animal hints at how he/she will treat a vulnerable person (child/spouse).  If the hero seems uncaring and selfish to outsiders, give the heroine a view into an unguarded moment he shares with an injured puppy, or his care of his horse.  His truck may be battered and dirty, but his horse is well groomed, fed, and sheltered each night.

However, my animals need to have a purpose.  Sometimes it may only be comic relief, or a confidant in a YA novel, but unless it is a Cameo role (or red herring), my animals have a personality and a place in the storyline.

Who doesn’t remember, “Call of the Wild”, “Old Yeller”, “Misty of Chincoteague”?

I believe pets, can enrich a story—my novels, as are (in my opinion) as most genre novels, a story about life and the human need for love and companionship.

Not every novel calls for an animal to part of the story. 

Not every person wishes to be responsible for a pet.
I did a bit of research and discovered these stats (the info about fish surprised me).
*Stats: 2014, 83.2 million dogs live in U.S. households, 95.5 million freshwater fish live in U.S. household, and 85.8 million cats live in U.S. households.
* Statista.com

So, what do you think?  Do animals add depth to a story?  Do you love un, or not?

Happy Reading,

Connie

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Cinderella turns Video Belle: My Kindle Scout Experience Part 5 by Jina Bacarr

September 11, 2015 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

(You can read my previous posts about my experience with the Kindle Scout program by clicking on Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.)

Do your characters keep you awake at nights?

Mine do.

First, they wanted to be Kindle Scout winners…

Now they want to be video stars.

And it’s all Cinderella’s fault.

Cindy had so much fun at the ball and then meeting the queen and getting her picture taken everywhere she went, she didn’t want to give it up and spend her days sitting in the castle watching old movies.

So she riled up the characters in my Kindle Scout winner, LOVE ME FOREVER, and convinced them they could be stars.

Cindy went Hollywood on me.

She’s now producing a bunch of short videos with highlights from LOVE ME FOREVER and yes, she even convinced me to do the voiceovers.

How could I refuse? You want to shout your book to the rooftops and do your very best to promote it, so I’ve been slaving behind a hot microphone, and guess what, I’ve got some videos for you.

I hope you enjoy them…

 
Civil War: “Love Me Forever” time travel romance from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

 
Civil War Sister against Sister: “Love Me Forever” Time Travel Romance from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

 
Women Soldiers in the Civil War from “Love Me Forever” from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

So what’s the next step in the Kindle Scout experience? I’ve received tons of support from other Kindle Scout winners with retweeting, blogging, YouTubing, etc. It’s been an extraordinary experience, kinda like joining a sorority or fraternity. A sense of having each other’s back and always being there if someone has a question.

And we’ve started our own Facebook page: KP Authors. Check it out!

More exciting news: Ken Burns’ Civil War has been remastered and is being shown in high definition on PBS. This is the last night, so be sure to tune in! It’s been thrilling to see the battles in my romance novel come alive…

Thanks for coming along on my journey with me…and come back next month for more on my Kindle Scout experience as the program grows…I wouldn’t be surprised if I have more videos for you.

~Jina
Website: www.jinabacarr.com
Blog: www.jinabacarr.wordpress.com
  ================
 
https://twitter.com/JinaBacarr
www.pinterest.com/jbacarr
https://instagram.com/jinabacarr/

And on Vimeo you’ll find my videos covering my books, poems, etc.:
https://vimeo.com/user216350

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Cinderella turns Video Belle: My Kindle Scout Experience Part 5 by Jina Bacarr

September 11, 2015 by in category Archives tagged as , , , , , , , , ,

(You can read my previous posts about my experience with the Kindle Scout program by clicking on Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.)

Do your characters keep you awake at nights?

Mine do.

First, they wanted to be Kindle Scout winners…

Now they want to be video stars.

And it’s all Cinderella’s fault.

Cindy had so much fun at the ball and then meeting the queen and getting her picture taken everywhere she went, she didn’t want to give it up and spend her days sitting in the castle watching old movies.

So she riled up the characters in my Kindle Scout winner, LOVE ME FOREVER, and convinced them they could be stars.

Cindy went Hollywood on me.

She’s now producing a bunch of short videos with highlights from LOVE ME FOREVER and yes, she even convinced me to do the voiceovers.

How could I refuse? You want to shout your book to the rooftops and do your very best to promote it, so I’ve been slaving behind a hot microphone, and guess what, I’ve got some videos for you.

I hope you enjoy them…

 
Civil War: “Love Me Forever” time travel romance from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

 
Civil War Sister against Sister: “Love Me Forever” Time Travel Romance from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

 
Women Soldiers in the Civil War from “Love Me Forever” from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.

So what’s the next step in the Kindle Scout experience? I’ve received tons of support from other Kindle Scout winners with retweeting, blogging, YouTubing, etc. It’s been an extraordinary experience, kinda like joining a sorority or fraternity. A sense of having each other’s back and always being there if someone has a question.

And we’ve started our own Facebook page: KP Authors. Check it out!

More exciting news: Ken Burns’ Civil War has been remastered and is being shown in high definition on PBS. This is the last night, so be sure to tune in! It’s been thrilling to see the battles in my romance novel come alive…

Thanks for coming along on my journey with me…and come back next month for more on my Kindle Scout experience as the program grows…I wouldn’t be surprised if I have more videos for you.

~Jina
Website: www.jinabacarr.com
Blog: www.jinabacarr.wordpress.com
  ================

 
Tennessee Belle goes to a Confederate Ball in 1862 from Jina Bacarr on Vimeo.
 
https://twitter.com/JinaBacarr
www.pinterest.com/jbacarr
https://instagram.com/jinabacarr/

And on Vimeo you’ll find my videos covering my books, poems, etc.:
https://vimeo.com/user216350

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Are you a Storyteller?

August 26, 2015 by in category Archives tagged as , , ,

Author Shannon Donnelly is stopping by today to talk about storytelling.

 
There are workshops on dialogue, on character, on marketing your book, and just about everything else to do with writing and stories. But let’s talk about the big picture for a minute—let’s talk about the art of being a story teller.

Edgar Rice Burroughs taught me a lot about being a story teller. He was a prolific writer—he also was not at times a very good writer, but he knew how to spin a yarn as they used to say. I went through a phase where I devoured all of his books, but one stands out in memory as being awful. Truly terrible. But I kept reading…and wondering as I turned the page. The Oakdale Affair is about a bear in a cellar. Really. It’s melodramatic, has stiff dialogue, and you still turn the pages. It keeps pulling you forward. Burroughs was a story teller.

So how to do you learn this art of storytelling? I’m doing a workshop on this that goes into depth, but let’s just cover ten tips here that can help you be a better story teller:

1-Read a lot.Yes, it’s obvious, but most folks don’t give this enough weight. Read across genres. Read cereal boxes—short is harder than long. Read everything—and read with a critical eye. Take apart stories that make you keep turning the page, and take apart ones that don’t. Read to see how a story is spun on a page.

2-Master technique.You want to get the technical stuff out of the way. If commas baffle you, nail them down and figure them out. Get a copy of Strunk & White’s Elements of Style and make it your bible. Make your sentence clean and clear. Write enough that technique no longer makes your story stumble.

3-Focus on character.Story is character and character is story. There’s a reason Burroughs is remembered for Tarzan—one of the most famous of all fictional characters. Not only did Burroughs exploit Tarzan, he was smart enough as a story teller to know he needed a great character to carry the story. Story is character and character is story. Focus on your characters more than your plots.

4-Figure out your theme. Every story is about something. You will also probably write about the same theme for most of your life. Figure out what it is that is your theme—what makes you hot under the collar or uncomfortable? What gets your blood moving fast? Write about something that matters to you—that will make your story matter, too.

5-Develop your voice.Write a lot. The only way you’ll find your voice is by writing. Write poetry. Write bad poetry. You don’t have to show this to anyone. Get the bad writing out of your system to get to the good stuff. Write in a journal. Write by hand. Write as a habit. Your voice will come out on its own eventually.

6-Learn how to structure. What this means is you need to know how to pace the reader and escalate the tension and conflict. That keeps the reader turning pages. These things come from learning craft—and some technical tricks that really do work. Read a lot and you’ll see other writers using these same techniques. Take apart Dan Brown, Burroughs, and other writers who sell a lot of books. There’s a reason why they do and it all comes back to story and characters—and keeping readers engaged.

7-Dramatize and twist.Stories are bigger than life—they’re dramatized. Learn how to make stories (and that means characters and dialogue) a little more, a little bigger and better than life. This means characters say things we’ve all wanted to say at times, and events happen in ways that we’ve always wanted them to. Surprise your readers—but keep it familiar. That formula has been shown to create hit songs and it works with hit stories, too.

8-Use setting as a character. There’s a reason Tarzan exists in his mythical jungle as “king of the beasts” with his Tarzan call. Tarzan’s setting is part of his story—it’s a main character. Create great settings. Push them to be fantastic, amazing, rich, vibrant, complex. Develop your settings as you would any other character. Use them as metaphors as visual clues to theme as contrasts.

9-Hit the key beats.A story teller knows the audience expects certain beats in a story—just like we all expect certain beats in a song. If you miss these beats, the story seems to stumble, and if it stumbles too much, the reader is thrown out. It takes care and time to master the art of weaving in beats without being obvious—and it takes practice. This is where you read to see the beats in the story, and then you apply that to your stories.

10-Payoff the read.A great story reaches an inevitable and satisfying ending. You want twists and turns, but you don’t want to go so far out there with your story that you lose your readers. Part of this means you write to satisfy yourself, but you also write to satisfy the reader. Keep this in mind. And know that the greater the ordeal for the character, the more time you need to take to bring the reader back down to regular life. Always work toward that satisfying ending—the one that seems so perfect that the story could not end any other way. If you set up that ending in the beginning, you’ll be a great storyteller.

Want to tackle this topic in more depth? OCCRWA’s September online class is Storytelling for Writers, with Shannon Donnelly. For information and to register please visit

http://occrwa.org/classes/sept-class-storytelling-for-writers/

 
ABOUT SHANNON DONNELLY

Shannon Donnelly’s writing has won numerous awards, including a nomination for Romance Writer’s of America’s RITA award, the Grand Prize in the “Minute Maid Sensational Romance Writer” contest, judged by Nora Roberts, and others. Her writing has repeatedly earned 4½ Star Top Pick reviews from Romantic Times magazine, as well as praise from Booklistand other reviewers, who note: “simply superb”…”wonderfully uplifting”….and “beautifully written.”

Her latest Regency romance, Lady Chance, is just out on Amazon.com. In addition to her Regency romances, she is the author of the Mackenzie Solomon, Demon/Warders Urban Fantasy series, Burn Baby Burn and Riding in on a Burning Tire, and the SF/Paranormal, Edge Walkers. Her work has been on the top seller list of Amazon.com and includes the Historical romances, The Cardros Ruby and Paths of Desire.

She is the author of several young adult horror stories, and has also written computer games and offers editing and writing workshops, and will be teaching a workshop for OCC on ‘Breaking Down Writers Block’. She lives in New Mexico with two horses, two donkeys, two dogs, and the one love of her life. Shannon can be found online at shannondonnelly.com, facebook.com/sdwriter, and twitter/sdwriter.

 

 
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