It’s Just Your Point of View
July 10, 2018 by Tari Jewett in category Charmed Writer by Tari Lynn Jewett tagged as Cynthia Swanson, Edgar Allen Poe, Erika Robuck, Mark Twain, Megan Hart, point of view, POV, The Book Seller, The Tell Tale Heart, Tom Sawyer
I’m the mother of three sons, all voracious readers, and all highly opinionated. Each knows what he expects from a story, so if he’s going to invest time reading a book, it better deliver. So, no surprise that as I rinsed the dishes and arranged them in the dishwasher my youngest son, Joey joined me to talk books.
“Hey Ma, do you prefer books written in first or third person?”
I thought for a moment, which did I prefer? First or third person point of view? “Either as long as it’s well done.”
A lively discussion ensued regarding the pros and cons of first person…he had mostly cons, I was somewhat divided.
I wondered how my writer friends might feel about the topic, so I brought it up at a recent write in.
“It doesn’t work well in fantasy, how do you give the reader a view of the world you’ve built in first person?”
“Don’t like it, it just doesn’t work for me.”
“The reader’s view is too limited in first person.”
The majority landed on the third person POV team.
Interestingly enough I’d never considered POV as controversial until these conversations. Personally, I love good writing, and whether the author delivers in first or in third, I’m happy.
First person done well can be amazing. Think Tom Sawyer, by Mark Twain, or Edgar Allen Poe’s, The Tell Tale Heart. Either story can be told in third person, but first person gives you a more personal glimpse into the main character’s head, and The Tell-Tale Heart gives you a view of the mind of an insane person that you probably couldn’t get in third person.
Some of my current favorite authors do first person brilliantly.
Author, Megan Hart writes in both first and third person and does both well. Her first-person books are seductive, slightly dark and suck the reader in from the very first line. As a reader you know her heroine, and each page gives you a better understanding of the main character, the choices she makes, what she thinks and how she feels.
The Book Seller, by Cynthia Swanson is written in first person. Swanson could have told the story in third, but by writing in first, she kept secrets from the reader, only to be revealed at the perfect moment.
Erika Robuck pens literary fiction in first person. Many of her stories offer a glimpse into the life of a historical figure, but written from the point of view of a fictional character who could have been in their life. By doing this, Robuck is able to present a different perspective. The story is fiction, but with an amazing excellent historical detail. She leaves you wondering…what if?
I write primarily in third person, but occasionally in first. And I read and love both. Tell a good story, make me turn the next page. If the writer puts me into their world and I don’t want to leave, I don’t care what tools she (or he) uses to get me there.
What about you? Do you prefer to read third person or first? And why? Or do you care? Which do you use when you write?
The Power of a Restart – by Kitty Bucholtz
July 9, 2018 by Kitty Bucholtz in category It's Worth It by Kitty Bucholtz, Writing tagged as Goal Setting, Kitty Bucholtz, time management, Writing Goals, writing life
Since it’s early July, I’ve been thinking about and talking about and podcasting about hitting the Restart button. How have we been getting on with the writing goals we decided upon six months ago?
I know that I am way off from what I expected. Moving to another country will do that to you! So I’ve been thinking about how I want to adjust the year to finish with strong, achievable goals. I did a live broadcast presentation for the Yosemite Romance Writers in May, and decided to use the recording for a mid-year podcast. Here’s the link to the audio, and here’s the embedded video.
Right after I posted that episode, it occurred to me that it might be a good time for a personal goal review as well. When I started thinking about that for myself, I realized I had some changes to make in my life if I wanted to accomplish my new/biggest goal for the year – recovering from burnout.
Here is the link to the audio. And here is the video with my self-discovery. 😉
I’ve been getting a lot of feedback from people about the episodes where I’ve talked about my firsthand experience with burnout. (Here’s the embarrassingly honest look at my journey in audio and in video.) Now that I see how much it affects other people as well, I’m going to bring on more guests to talk about how to recover and how to avoid it. I hope my willingness to talk about both burnout and restarting helps others – you included! 😀
Featuring: Jina Bacarr
July 7, 2018 by Jina Bacarr in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Featured Author of the Month, historical romance, Jina Bacarr, kindle scout
Jina Bacarr : July Featured Author
Jina Bacarr discovered early on that she inherited the gift of the gab from her large Irish family when she penned a story about a princess who ran away to Paris with her pet turtle Lulu. She was twelve. She grew up listening to their wild, outlandish tales, and it was those early years of storytelling that led to her love of history and traveling.
She enjoys writing to classical music with a hot cup of java by her side. She adores dark chocolate truffles, vintage anything, the smell of bread baking and rainy days in museums. She has always loved walking through history—from Pompeii to Verdun to Old Paris.
The voices of the past speak to her through carriages with cracked leather seats, stiff ivory-colored crinolines, and worn satin slippers. She has always wondered what it was like to walk in those slippers when they were new.
Thanks from a Featured Author! by Linda O. Johnston
July 6, 2018 by Linda O. Johnston in category Pets, Romance & Lots of Suspense by Linda O. Johnston tagged as Featured author, Linda O. Johnston, mystery, Romance; suspense, thanks
I was so delighted last month to see that I was A Slice of Orange’s featured author for June!
The post had a picture of me holding one of my books, plus it contained some of my covers in several of my series, including both romance and mystery. It also contained a description of me and my writing. It looked great!
I don’t use social media as much as I should, but first thing I thought of was sharing the post on my Facebook page to let people know about it—which I did.
And now, on my usual post on the 6th of each month—July 2018 this time—I want to thank A Slice of Orange for featuring me!
The Author Store [Part Two]
July 5, 2018 by Tracy Reed in category Writing
Happy July…smile.
Last month I started talking about my Author Store. I finally have it up and running. That’s the good news. Now for the bad or not as good as I would like it news. No sales, yet. However, there’s been plenty of traffic. Last month the store had almost one thousand visitors. YEAH! But no sales so far.
I have to admit I thought this would be easy, especially because I come from a retail background. What I forgot is this is a new venture and most new ventures need time to garner momentum.
So what’s my plan? Post about the store on social media. Run Facebook ads and possibly reach out to some bloggers and do giveaways.
I’m also working on a marketing campaign for the boxes. The Facebook ads are great and so are the blog posts and mentions, but it’s that in your face mentality that will hopefully generate sales.
Here’s a little info on my Author Store. I’m using Shopify. I already have a store on Shopify and feel comfortable with them. They have amazing customer service.
Before I switched to Shopify, I designed my own site in Adobe Muse. I liked it, but when I decided to offer signed print books as well as set up a store, I knew I had to switch to a shopping cart system. I could have gotten Shopify Lite, which would allow me to add a cart to my existing site for only $9.99 per month. It was too complicated to attach my old site to this vehicle. Instead, I opted for the basic Shopify plan which gave me more options.
Switching to Shopify gave me access to some really amazing templates and things I wasn’t able to do with Adobe Muse. One of the cool things about using one of their FREE templates, is you can adjust it for your needs. I did some minor tweaking to a free template and was very surprised when Shopify complimented me.
Another added perk to using Shopify, is the KIT VA Bot. This is one of my favorite tools. Kit sends me data based on internet activity and how it might relate to the products in my store. As well as marketing suggestions. I’ve tried Kit on Facebook Ads, but they weren’t as targeted as I’d hope. However, Kit is good for social media posts. Shopify also offers pretty good analytics. They may not be as detailed as Google, but they’re pretty good. There are other website hosts you can use, but Shopify happens to be my favorite.
So what’s in my store? I have curated a small selection of items to start: A mug, book plates and subscription boxes. In the next few months, if not sooner, I’ll be adding exclusive print books. I don’t want to overload my readers with a lot of choices in the beginning. I want to keep things fresh, which may mean rotating the inventory.
In the beginning, there will be a lot of trial and error and much needed feedback as to what to offer. But I believe my Author Store will become a valuable and profitable asset for me.
If you’d like to see my store, stop by www.readtracyreed.com.
Have an amazing month.
