Researching Columbia by Kat Martin
February 8, 2019 by A Slice of Orange in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Guest Posts tagged as #amreading, #RomanticSuspense, Columbia, Kat Martin, Maximum Security Series, Research for Writers, romantic suspense, The Conspriacy
Researching Columbia
Sometimes what you think is going to be a great idea for a novel turns out to be a whole lot of work! That’s what happens when you realize the idea you are now in the middle of isn’t going to work the way you thought it would.
In THE CONSPIRACY, I got the idea for a book that started in Texas, moved to the Caribbean, and ended up in Venezuela. With all the trouble country is having, I thought it would be a great setting for a Romantic Thriller.
Unfortunately, after I was well into the book and started doing the necessary research for that segment of the story, I realized the geography I needed, and the rural setting didn’t exist in Venezuela.
I spent days digging around in South America, looking for a rainforest that could be reasonably reached from the Caribbean island of Aruba. Nothing worked.
Finally, I realized there actually was spot that exactly fit the image in my head. (This happens to writers all the time. No one knows why.) The spot was in Colombia, a place I had no desire to write about, but fit the story exactly.
So I went to work researching a remote area of Columbia accessible from Aruba.
Chase Garrett, the hero of THE CONSPIRACY, with the help of Harper Winston, the woman who hires him to find her missing brother, wind up in extreme danger in the Columbian tropical forest. It’s a very unusual place that required hours of research, but in the end, it was worth it.
I had my work cut out for me, finding which animals, reptiles, and birds lived in the area. Reading about the customs of the indigenous tribes, and the politic. Rebel armies inhabit the forest, and they don’t like intruders.
The research made THE CONSPIRACY one of the most challenging books I’ve written, but hopefully it’s one of my most interesting. I hope you’ll look for THE CONPIRACY, the first of my Maximum Security series, and that you enjoy. Until next time, very best wishes and happy reading,
Kat
New York Times bestselling author Kat Martin is a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara where she majored in Anthropology and also studied History. Currently residing in Missoula, Montana with her Western-author husband, L. J. Martin, Kat has written sixty-five Historical and Contemporary Romantic Suspense novels. More than sixteen million copies of her books are in print and she has been published in twenty foreign countries. Her last novel, BEYOND CONTROL, hit both big lists … NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LIST as well as the USA TODAY BEST-SELLING BOOKS LIST. Kat is currently at work on her next Romantic Suspense.
A selection of books by Kat Martin
The 2019 Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award
February 7, 2019 by Bethlehem Writers Group in category Contests, Writing Contest tagged as Animal Stories, Bethlehem Writers Group, Bethlehem Writers Roundtable Short Story Award, The BWG, Writing Prompts
The 2019 Short Story Award Is Now Accepting Entries
The theme is Animal Stories, broadly interpreted.
Stories of 2,000 words or fewer about
WILD ANIMALS, PETS, or IMAGINARY BEASTS
are welcome
(so long as an animal is an important
character or element of the story)
The winner will receive $200
and may be offered publication in BWG’s upcoming anthology,
Fur, Feathers & Scales
Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales.
For more information or to enter the contest go to The 2019 Short Story Award.
Just in case you need some ideas, here are a few writing prompts.
The Joys—or Not—of Editing by Linda O. Johnston
February 6, 2019 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Barkery & Biscuits Mystery, editing, For a Good Paws, Linda O Johnston, Midnight Ink, mysteries
The Joys—or Not—of Editing
I’m currently in the process of reviewing and responding to the copy edits for For a Good Paws, my fifth Barkery & Biscuits Mystery for Midnight Ink. The process they use is a bit more complicated than many publishers I’ve dealt with recently since it involves making notes about things to change and not just redlining a clean version. It takes more time, but it’s really not so bad.
I’m a bit emotional about this one anyway, since it’ll be my last mystery for Midnight Ink because the publisher is sort of closing–at least not buying any more books, although they may continue to market existing ones for a while. So far, I haven’t requested my rights back and probably won’t immediately.
Will I do more Barkery mysteries? I’d need to get at least some of my rights back to do that, and I’ve got other ideas to work on first–so I’m not sure. But if not, I’ll miss them!
These days, I’m sitting at my computer a lot working on those edits, which are due soon. Recently, we’ve had a lot of rain, so sitting at my computer is a good place to be. Since I’m in LA, I didn’t experience the Polar Vortex first hand but I’m sending hugs to those of you who did. We have family near Chicago, so I got to hear some fairly scary stories—but all came out of it okay. Hope that’s the same with you and yours as well.
And yes, the year marches on. No, it’s not March yet, but it is almost Valentine’s Day. So hug your sweeties, stay warm and dry—and read, write and/or edit some good books!
Rebranding …The Covers
February 5, 2019 by Tracy Reed in category Pink Pad by Tracy Reed tagged as book covers, Marketing For Romance Writers, rebranding, Tracy Reed
REBRANDING…THE COVERS
Last month I shared about my plans to rebrand myself as an author. This month I started putting the plan into action. Excuse me while I pause for a little childish whining…this is hard.
Now I’m back to my adult self. No one who has gone through the rebranding process said it would be easy. It’s more like masochism. How is it possible to derive pleasure from such a challenging process? But it’s exciting seeing the changes come to life.
I have another business and had the opportunity to work with a consultant and was shocked at what I learned about my business. I’ve been an entrepreneur for quite a while. I thought I knew my business, but in the back of my mind I always felt I could be doing more…doing better. So when the opportunity arose to work with a consultant, I jumped at it.
I thought I had my stuff together, but after the first meeting, I realized I didn’t know crap about my business. When she asked me “Who my customer was?” I gave my answer. Only to discover, it was too broad. I thought my website was amazing, after all, the site host, family and friends, all said it was great. They were sincere in their compliment. However, the reality was, my social media was a mess [Thank God Elena Dillion helped me with my Pinterest page before my first meeting, giving me one brownie point with the consultant]. There was a mix of styles. The colors and graphics were all over the place. My business profile had no cohesion.
When I completed the process with the consultant, my business had a definite brand. So when I listened to the RAM speakers talk about rebranding, I understood because I’d just gone through it with my other business. However, this was a little more difficult because the product that needed a new look was something I created. Something I needed to take a hard look at.
As writers we are very creative, but sometimes we’re not as objective to the marketing process as we need to be. I’m not saying you have to design your own covers and graphics. You do however, need to know what the trends are in your category and most importantly, you need to know who your reader is. And make the necessary changes no matter how painful it is.
I write Contemporary Romance with African American Romance as my secondary category. The books in these categories are similar. I looked at the also boughts for the titles I wanted to change and came up with designs I liked. The commonality for both categories was shirtless men or couples. My two most downloaded books have shirtless men wherever possible or a hot couple. Of course there’s an exception to every rule. For me that rule is having a woman on the cover. My third most downloaded book, has a woman on the cover.
My cover design plan included shirtless men, couples, bold fonts and eye catching blurbs.
I’m using stock images right now. I would love to use exclusive images on some of the books, but I first want to see what the reaction is going to be. Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with stock images. However, if you can afford to use an exclusive image, do it. Most exclusive images give you a little more latitude in use. If an exclusive image isn’t an option and you can’t find anything you like with one of the stock image sites, there are several free sites with nice images. Some of the free image sites allow for a little more flexibility in use. I’ve used www.unsplash.com and www.pexels.com .
I have been in the creative lab and wanted to share some of the new covers. [These are all stock images from Deposit photos.] I have a little tweaking to do before making these live.
THE FIX UP…
I like the original cover, unfortunately, after a couple of years, the bloom is off the rose. The new cover was originally A Southern Gentleman Vol 2. The new image felt more in tune with the character.
MISS MATCH…
I like the image, but the font is horrible. I’m pretty sure the poor font choice is why this book isn’t moving as well as it should. I opted not to change the image because I might want a new look when I release book two and what a cohesive look.
FIRST ENCOUNTERS OF LOVE…
This was my first boxset. It does fair. However, the image is similar to another one which does well. You’d think this would benefit. However, I think the other image confuses people or makes them think they already bought the box set. I’m going to try something I’ve never done before, a couple. I know the shirtless man does well, I’m hoping the couple does just as well.
Before I finalize a cover, I ask my reader group for feedback and then run test ads on BookBub and Facebook. The one with the best results is the winner.
My plan is to start releasing the new covers this month.
Next month, I’ll share all of the updated covers and talk about my production schedule.
Happy writing.
Telephone Booths in the 1950s by Will Zeilinger
February 3, 2019 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as Fads, Researching Historical Fiction, the 1950s
Ah, the convenience of a smartphone. Almost all of us have one (or more) of these tiny mobile computers and telephones, in one.
Believe it or not, the first mobile telephone call from a hand-held device wasn’t made until April 3, 1973. Cellular phones and smartphones were still decades in the future.
Now, let’s take a look back to the mid-1950s and see what calling home entailed.
If you were not at home, the first order of business was to find a telephone, and you had better have had a pocketful of change because you paid to talk.
In the U.S., one could find “pay phone” inside a telephone booth or just “phone booth” for short, as they were called, on many street corners and in most commercial establishments. On the street, the ubiquitous phone booth featured a folding glass door that afforded some privacy and protection from the elements. They were not air-conditioned, but when you stepped inside and closed the door, an overhead light would come on. That feature was especially helpful at night. By the mid-1950s, most were upgraded from a wood and glass structure to a weatherproof glass and aluminum booth that was large enough for one (maybe two, if you were friends).
If you’re too young to have seen one in person, you’ve no doubt, seen them in old movies and TV shows.
They were found inside almost any hotel, train station, bank, restaurant or office building. You would have seen rows of wooden phone booths lining a wall somewhere near the entrance. Many of them had a seat inside for long conversations. During breaks between the action at conventions or meetings, people would line up to use the half dozen or so telephones in larger hotels, and in smaller hotels, there may have been two or three.
Today many hotels and convention spaces have mysterious empty areas that will cause the visitor to wonder the reason behind the wasted space. The answer is telephone booths once stood in those places before they were removed because they were no longer needed.
To make a call you would first deposit a nickel or dime in one of the round holes at the top. “Dial” it on the rotary dial . . . one digit at a time. A live telephone operator would come on the line and tell you how much money to put in, based on the number. If you didn’t know the person’s number, you’d look up the person by name from the telephone directory book, suspended under the phone. If you needed to make a long distance call, the live operator would handle that for you as well.
Since the 1950s were part of a decade of fads, one popular fad was “Phone Booth stuffing.” The point of this was to see how many people would fit into a phone booth designed for one person. From what I could learn, the record for cramming the most people into a standard sized telephone booth was 25. This was accomplished by a group of South African college students.
Too many people? You want a little privacy when you make a phone call? In today’s culture, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find privacy in a public place when you need to have a conversation (except maybe, in your car) I’m sure you’ve been in a restaurant or standing in a checkout line, and had to endure someone’s inane conversation right behind you or next to your ear. Well—good news! Some establishments are resurrecting telephone booths by providing an enclosed compartment with a comfortable seat and a door (see phone booth) for people to make or take private cell calls without having to go out to the parking lot. What goes around,comes around.
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