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The Storyteller’s Gift

December 15, 2018 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as plot, Storytelling

I am one of six children. I fell into the ‘top half’ of the family; the three kids born while my parents were young and just starting out. Christmas was not an extravagant time for us, but I only know that now that I’m grown.

In our house, preparations for the holiday began long inadvance and always with a vengeance. Cookies were baked, decorated, and frozen. The house was scoured to make ready for the decorations and then scoured againafter the tree and tinsel were up.

My father spent his evenings in the garage after a long day at work making things with his saw and sand paper. To this day, my mother assembles the manger he built almost 60 years ago. The three kids – all of us sharing one room – fell asleep as my mother’s sewing machine whirred long into the night. Come Christmas Eve we would dress up in new clothes – I especially remember a red velvet dress with white lace on the puffed sleeves – and awaited the arrival of relatives.

Soon the house was filled with German voices (my mother’s parents, cousins and aunts) clucking over the dinner that would be served on the good china. My father poured drinks and sent us kids weaving through the crowd of adults to deliver them. The doors of the ‘living room’ were closed (we only went in there when we had guests). After we ate and the ladies had finished the dishes, everyone would fall silent at the sound of something – or someone – on the roof. My dad would call out, “I think Santa has been here” and Christmas began in earnest.

How my father got on and off the roof in his Christmas clothes and back inside the house so quickly remains a mystery to this day. The cousins and my brothers and I would be wide-eyed, anxious, and ever-so-polite as we waited for my dad to throw open the doors to the living room. There, under the tree, was one package for everyone. These presents were filled with things we needed but we didn’t care. They were wrapped in silver and gold paper and anything wrapped in silver and gold had to be good.

We never asked how Santa got into the house. We would have seen him come down the fireplace since it was in the family room, but we never did. We should have asked why it took so long between the sounds on the roof and my dad’s announcement. And our beautiful Christmas clothes? We didn’t associate the sound of the sewing machine with the pretty dresses for me and vests for my brothers. We were kids dazzled by the pageantry of our spit- and-shined relatives, and sumptuousness of the table, and solemnity of church at midnight mass, and the warmth and camaraderie of our extended family and above all, the story of our Christmas.

I look back now and see that my parents were like Rumpelstiltskin spinning straw into gold. They created so much from swaths of left over cloth, bargains from the grocery, and scraps of wood. What my parents did was far more than sleight of hand, pulling glorious things out of a humble hat. My parents showed me what good storytelling was all about: hard work, good timing, a cast of characters, a compelling plot and a little magic.

Wishing you the happiest, most magical Christmas season; a season that is the beginning of your best stories ever.

Rebecca

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I AM UNAVAILABLE (maybe you are too)

November 15, 2018 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as Amazon, business or writing, communication, Craft

This morning the wonderful author, Mindy Neff, forwarded a blog post by David Gaugrhran. I had to read it twice to understand that Amazon had a problem and it affected me. Somehow many of our books are now unavailable for sale in the European market. Most of these markets are very small and those readers access Amazon through the U.S. portal. Granted I don’t sell many books in Malta, but I would like to have a presence there. But these weren’t the only markets in play. Australia – a huge market for me – is compromised. The UK, another market where my sales were solid is now nonexistent. Canada also is showing unavailability.

I had noticed the sad state of affairs on my dashboard in the last few weeks, but I put it down to a change in fashion. Perhaps people were tired of thrillers; perhaps another sub-genre had edged out my procedurals. Now it seems that – best guess – the new software Amazon put in place to comply with the EU’s demands to protect their population from information gathering and sharing might be at fault. I applaud the effort Amazon made for compliance, but I am disappointed in the lack of communication regarding the problem.

There is also good news to be gleaned from this. First, the community of authors is generous. Thank you Mindy for passing along this information. Thank you David Gaugrahn for explaining the situation as you know it. Both have allowed me to be proactive in contacting Amazon. I haven’t heard back yet, but through the grapevine I understand Amazon is working hard on the problem. Next, this was a wake-up call for me. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed by the amount of information coming my way. Like a reader skipping to get to the end of a book, I can miss things that are crucial to my business. I am recommitting to staying on top of things. Finally, such an ‘event’ reminds me why I went wide. While I have an aversion to selling my work to one outlet based solely on principal, this reminds me that there are also real reasons not to so so. With Amazon dark in so many markets I am still available through Smashwords itself and the platforms to which they deliver.

Maybe now is the time for you to take a minute to reassess your publication strategy. Selling only through Amazon might be a perfect match for you. As for me? I want to do everything I can to remain available.

Rebecca Forster started writing on a crazy dare, now she is the USA Today and Amazon best selling author of over 35 books. Her thrillers have been called “Perfect. . .Impossible to put down” by the CBS legal correspondent, Laurie Levenson. Rebecca is married to a superior court judge and is the mother of two grown sons.

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1 Email, 6 Authors, 2 Thrilling Bundles

October 15, 2018 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as Advice to Myself as a Newbie Author, Authors, book bundle, boxed set, business of writing, thrillers, writing

When I received an email from best selling author Melissa F. Miller asking me to join a book bundle with thriller authors Pamela Callow, Diane Capri, Colleen Cross, and Pamela Samuels Young, I jumped at the chance.

We released Legal Action ($2.99) and Legal Briefs ($.99) earlier this month. Legal Action is a set of six full-length novels; Legal Briefs is a bundle of novella’s and short stories. I like to think this two pronged approach is unique. I certainly thought the addition of Legal Briefs was genius. I attended the NINC (Novelists Inc.) conference in Florida mainly to meet some of these ladies. The experience was fabulous, but even without face-to-face meetings this bundle would have been a great collaboration.

WHY IT WORKED:

Melissa had a vision that was easily communicated and she offered an administrative option (important for me).
Participants spanned a spectrum of one genre which meant sharing readers might overlap but would probably not completely duplicate audiences.
Each of us had similar marketing tools in place and were comfortable using them.
A basic plan was agreed to as a foundation that could be built upon.
A price structure was agreed to that met the objective of widening our audiences.
Trust, respect, and communication made the process simple, enjoyable and effective. David Miller (administrator) created covers, social media images etc. leaving the authors free to write new material for the Briefs bundle.

BOTTOM LINE:

If you want to participate in a boxed set with other authors take it upon yourself to start the process. Offer a proposal that is both creatively exciting and purposeful in marketing. That will begin the conversation.

One last thing. Google the title of your bundle before it’s set in stone. Imagine our surprise when we found out that Legal Briefs was also the title of a number of erotica novels. At least our cover stands out. Though if we had an image of a man in his underwear on the cover maybe our reach might be greater.

So Bundle up. It can be a wonderful experience.

P.S. Offer the administrator a percentage of any profit. Their work is invaluable.

USA Today & Amazon best selling author Rebecca Forster

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Cover Me

August 15, 2018 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as books, communication, cover, cover design, covers, Craft, design, writing

I find it difficult to write – or speak – in short form. To communicate, I must take not just the road less traveled but also all roads in between. My children say a conversation with me is like trying to keep your head above water in the ocean while being knocked about by swells and the occasional rogue wave. I’m not sure if my husband share’s this opinion. Then again, I’m not sure my husband’s hearing is up to snuff.

When my boys were small they begged me to write a children’s book. I ended with fifty thousand words and killed off most of the characters, so my one effort really wasn’t suitable for children (it was, however, the basis for a later novel).

I had a similar problem with lullabies. As a young mother I realized I didn’t know any. Still, I was determined to be maternal and sing my boys to sleep. In those days Cops was all the rage and the theme song was catchy, so I softly sang “bad boys, bad boys, whatcha going to do when Sheriff Brown comes for you?” Years later, my sons told me that they would stare wide-eyed into the night waiting for the police to come get them because they were pretty sure they were bad boys. Luckily, they have stopped asking me to write a children’s book and these days no one wants to hear me sing.

All this brings me to the point. It can be unbearably difficult for a cover designer to work with someone like me. Up front I am apologizing to Hadleigh O.Charles (cover designer) for my inability to be decisive, my tendency to forward six thousand royalty free photos for her consideration, and my failure to understand that the blue stripes at the top of an email mean there is something for me to download. Since I have learned nothing from my children’s assessment of my communication style, my emails to Hadleigh are like the verbal pinging of a steel ball inside a bell.

E-mail #1: Hadleigh, are you there? Hadleigh? I need a cover.
Hadleigh’s response: I’m here
E-mail #2: Well, it’s for the (fill in the blank) series and the story is about (fill in the character) and (fill in three thousand plot points) and I’m attaching a few images – but then again you probably have some ideas – so shoot me what you think and – oh, wait – how’s the dog? Hope it’s not too hot where you are. But then again the story really is about people buried in the desert – then again maybe a half naked woman on the front would be better. . . in silhouette, of course. . .”
Hadleigh’s response: Silence
E-mail #3 (usually a minute later so to be fair she hasn’t had time to respond): Hadleigh, really, you do what you want, but I don’t think we should have blood. Do you think we should have blood? Have you seen other thriller authors use a lot of blood? I’m going to visit my mom so don’t worry if you don’t hear from me for a day. . . Still, here are a couple of links – okay ten links – maybe more – so you can take a look at the top ten (maybe more) bestsellers in my genre – when you have time. But I would like to be a little different. Like them but not the same. Better. You know? Like bestseller better. No hurry. I’m seriously going to visit my mom overnight.
Hadleigh’s response: Silence (perhaps she knows that I am writing email #4 within five minutes of email #3)
E-mail #4: Five pages peppered with ideas, apologies for bothering her, explanations, useless terms that I think describe typeface, color and composition.

I hit DELETE.

Hadleigh’s response (a day or so later): Three beautiful covers that somehow incorporate tiny specks of rational thought mined from my manic ramblings. She also sends an update on her dog.

Unlike my children, Hadleigh does not lay wide-eyed and paralyzed by my avalanche of input, yet like my children she manages to figure out what’s important. Hadleigh, love you and every other cover designer out there. So happy you have all us authors covered.

REBECCA FORSTER started writing on a crazy dare. Now she is a USA Today and Amazon best selling author with over 30 books to her name. These include the acclaimed Witness Series, Josie Bates Thrillers and her latest, The Finn O’Brien Thrillers. She is married to a superior court judge and is the mother of two grown children. When not writing, Rebecca is traveling the world looking for inspiration, sewing, playing tennis and reading.

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Just a Thought

July 15, 2018 by Rebecca Forster in category The Write Life by Rebecca Forster tagged as Advice to Myself as a Newbie Author, Craft, learning, writing

I am a huge fan of the Wall Street Journal Review section. Reading it reminds me that there are brilliant and talented authors around the world and if I want to protect my little patch of literary real estate I better keep upping my game. The Review is also my favorite bookstore. I often order a new book the minute I read about in the WSJ. But what I really, really love about Review is that I am inevitably inspired by something I read. This morning, it was a quote attributed to Thomas J. Watson Senior, Former CEO of IBM.

“The trouble with every one of us is that we don’t think enough. . .knowledge is the result of thought.”

This is from a new book by book by Bradley R. Staats entitled Never Stop Learning: Stay Relevant, Reinvent Yourself and Thrive. In his book the author argues that human beings are preprogramed to ‘act’. In fact, Mr. Staats believes we human’s have an action bias and that, by giving into it, we might be doing ourselves a disservice. By not thinking we could miss our goal because we’re moving simply for the sake of moving.

Boy, did that hit home.

I’ve been obsessing over my new project, typing for days, gaining word count, moving forward – except I’m not really getting anywhere. I have been screaming at myself to WRITE when what I need to do is whisper, think. In order to think, I have to ask myself the right questions, take the time to ponder them before I answer and, most importantly, understand why the answers matter.

I have a plot but not a theme. The plot, after all, isn’t just about action but about building a stage on which the characters will reveal themselves to the reader. And what about dialogue? I know I can write appropriate thriller dialogue but will it be fitting and true to characters that I have nurtured over the course of a seven book series? Should I be driving headlong into word count or taking more time to choose the right ones that will drive the story forward most dramatically and efficiently?

I guess I have a lot of thinking to do, but thanks Mr. Staats for reminding me that busyness is not the same as accomplishment.

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