Mike Angley

Visiting the Child Finder Trilogy today is author Mark W. Danielson.  Mark grew up in El Cerrito, California, overlooking San Francisco Bay.  He received his BA degree from the University of Northern Colorado and earned his MA from Webster University while serving as a Navy pilot.  He currently travels the globe as an MD-11 captain for Federal Express.  Mr. Danielson has published over 100 non-fiction articles in various periodicals since 1978.  Diablo’s Shadow is his third reality-based suspense novel, following The Innocent Never Knew, and Danger Within.  As a member of the Mystery Writers of America, he has participated in numerous author events, including the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, Men of Mystery, Barnes and Noble Mystery Author’s Night, Cutting Edge Murder, Hi-Jinks on the High Seas, and Kids Love a Mystery.  His interests include hiking, fine arts, tennis, and restoring cars and boats.  His varied experience and travel is evident in his writing.  He and his wife live in Denver, Colorado, not far up the road from me!

MA:  So how did you end up writing?  Did any of your professional experiences influence you?

MD:  I have been painting and drawing my entire life, and writing is an extension of this.  Writing has always been easy, and it certainly helped in college.  I wrote a few things for the college paper, but never had the journalism bug.  At the time, my goal was to graduate and become an Air Force pilot.  My first published article was in Sport Aerobatics and I wrote several more for them and Sport Aviation.  After transferring into the Navy, my job forced me to become computer literate, and that’s when my writing really took off.  The ability to cut, paste, and spell check, made writing a lot more enjoyable.  After having countless non-fiction articles published in a variety of periodicals, I wrote my first novel, but never sought publication.  In fact, Danger Within may have been my first published novel, but it was the tenth novel I wrote.  Inspired by real events in my current job as an airline pilot, I felt it was important enough to get published.  Thankfully, the readers agreed.

MA:  With all your experience writing non-fiction, why did you ultimately choose to write novels?

MD:  I enjoyed writing non-fiction, but fiction allowed me to tell reality-based stories without being documentaries.  This freedom opened up a whole new dimension in writing.  I continue to freelance non-fiction articles, but I get more satisfaction out of fiction.

MA:  Tell me about Danger Within and your other projects.

MD:  I write reality-based suspense stories.  As I mentioned, Danger Within is about an actual incident within the airline industry.  Except for the names and locations, the first third of this story is true.  While it is not autobiographical, I do share my protagonist’s frustration.  Those outside the aviation community have been as enthusiastic about this book as those within.

The Innocent Never Knew is the true story about the Balkans plane crash that claimed the life of Clinton’s Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown.  It is told as a side plot to this girl-on-the-run mystery, which begins with a fictitious plane crash in Albuquerque that claims the life of a US Senator.  This action-packed conspiracy goes all the way to Washington DC.  Those who have ever questioned Ron Brown’s death will love this one.

Diablo’s Shadow is a mystery where an estranged couple must cope when their daughter disappears on an outing with the father.  Full of accusations and twists, this book was inspired by the Polly Klaus kidnapping as well as more recent missing child cases.  Anyone with children will be hard pressed to put this gripping tale down.

MA:  I can certainly see the reality-based nature of your writing!  How do you go about develop your protagonists?

MD:  Without sounding trite, my characters truly write their own stories.  By the time I sit down and start writing, I have formulated the story countless times in my head, but still have no idea who the characters are until the writing begins.  No doubt these characters are extensions of people I have encountered and experiences I have gained in traveling the world as a military and airline pilot.  I have been very fortunate to see so many things; it is great sharing them in scenes.

MA:  I can appreciate that given my own military and law enforcement background.  What makes your heroes tick?

MD:  My characters are real, therefore they make mistakes.  Their strengths would be their determination to see things through.  Their weakness is they are human, but this human quality also allows the reader to connect.

MA:  What about your antagonists…anything you care to let us in on?

MD:  Each story has its own version of a bad guy, and I would be foolish to reveal them.  But the definition of “bad” is as vague as identifying a weed from a plant, or defining the enemy.  It all depends on your point of view.  It is very important that the antagonist(s) be characters with reason for their deeds.  People committing heinous acts without explanation have no place in a story.

MA:  Since your writing style, while fiction, is grounded in reality, I imagine many of your own life experiences come into play, other than what you’ve already mentioned.

MD:  Absolutely.  As an airline pilot, I was deeply affected by the incidents portrayed in both Danger Within and The Innocent Never Knew, while being a father inspired Diablo’s Shadow.  Polly Klaus was kidnapped from her Petaluma home, a mere two blocks from my sister’s house.  My nieces were close to Polly’s age.  It could have just as easily been one of them.  Events like this never leave you.

MA:  So what’s next?

MD:  I have a new detective series currently under consideration which introduces Fort Worth Homicide Detective Maxx Watts.  A classic murder mystery, Watts investigates the murder of a small publisher in Writer’s Block.  Hopefully I will have some news about this book later this year.  Its sequel, Boxed In, is well under way.  The third in this series is in my head, but it will be a while before I begin writing it.  What I love most about this detective is I can set him anywhere in the world.  The third book is set in France.

MA:  Do you intend to write sequels to your stories, or otherwise feature some of the same characters in future stories?

MD:  While all three of my published stories could have sequels, I prefer writing the Maxx Watts series.  Some characters from Writer’s Block will appear in Boxed In, and other characters from Writer’s Block will appear in the third book.  Once people get to know your characters, it’s good keeping them around.

MA:  As a writer of a trilogy, I have to agree!  What else would you like to let my readers know?

MD:  My web site is full of articles, information, and first chapter previews.  There are posts and photos from some of my international travels as well as articles that apply to some of my books.  As a Murderous Musings blog author, I write a weekly story on whatever comes to mind.  Some apply to the writing craft, some are on travels and experiences, and a few are simply fluff.  Feel free to check them out.

MA:  Thanks for spending some time today on the Child Finder Trilogy.  I encourage everyone to stop by Mark Danielson’s website and blog for more information about his stories and his unique background:  http://www.markwdanielson.com/ and http://www.murderousmusings.blogspot.com/

When Editing Backfires

by

Mary Deal

A lesson in editing and follow-thru, told through a true story.

One of the most ludicrous conversations in all my writing life happened recently.

About a year ago, I edited an accumulation of short stories for a client. Last week he contacted me and asked why his writing had not been accepted anywhere. I told him to bring his CD over and let’s take a quick look at the stories again. Maybe I missed something in my edits. He arrived this morning carrying a thick folder full of rumpled and dog eared paper manuscripts.

For privacy’s sake, I’ll call him Joe. Parts of our conversation went like this:

“Where’s your CD?”

“These are what I submit,” he said. “Some people don’t send them back. It gets awfully expensive.”

What I learned was that he sent out paper manuscripts, which many publishers still allow, but he also had them sent back when they were rejected. More than that, he was resending mangled manuscripts out to the next submission. Gads!

After I explained about electronic submissions, which more often than not these days include whole book manuscripts as well, his shoulders slumped.

Once I looked at his paper copies, I realized he had done little to no editing. I didn’t remember much about the stories from a year ago, but clearly, I had previously seen his glaring errors and recommended fixes in my critiques.

“What’s wrong with my stuff?” he asked. “I’m on all of these writer’s websites and everyone says my stuff is great. So why doesn’t it get accepted?”

“Does anyone on those websites ever tell you what’s wrong with your writing?”

“Not really. They like my writing. There’s a lot of chatter about what’s right and wrong, but no one’s really said anything I can use.”

I nearly choked. So much great advice and information is available on all the sites I frequent, I can’t imagine anyone not learning. “You mean you can’t take some of that advice and bring it back and make it your own? You can’t apply it to your own work?”

“Well, if people say my stories are really good, then they must not be that bad.”

“Joe, all that information floating around those sites, you think it doesn’t apply to you because it’s someone else’s critique? You should be applying any valid suggestion made to others to your own writing too. If it’s good advice, apply it in your work.” I really didn’t know how to explain it to him. He wasn’t getting it and maybe never would. “How can you read all that advice on all those sites and not understand and use it in your own stories?” I could see he was struggling to understand but the synapses in his thought processes weren’t connecting. “I see you didn’t correct your grammar and punctuation. Why not?”

“Well, publishers do that, don’t they? That’s what they’re in the business for, right?”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “No, they don’t. That’s why you came for an edit.”

“You didn’t comment on what I wrote about,” he said. “So that meant my stories were good enough. Proofreaders at the magazines would clean it up.”

Shock actually rippled through my nervous system. Once I got my bearings again, I said, “You paid me to edit your stories—these.” I held a few in my hands and sort of shook them at him. “An edit doesn’t include telling the writer which topics to choose.  The edit you paid for was to clean up punctuation, grammar and composition to make the writing understandable to your readers.”

“Well, since you didn’t say anything about my topics, and people liked my stories, I figured they were good enough to send out.”

He wasn’t getting it. “Do you still have the print outs of the edits I did on all these stories?”

No,” he said, looking sheepish. “I didn’t think I needed them after all.” He pulled some pages from the stack he brought. “I was wondering if you could read this new story and tell me if it’s any good.”

Again, I almost fell off my chair. The first paragraph took up nearly the entire single-spaced page. I saw little punctuation and his compound sentences would bewilder the most diligent of editors. I didn’t read any farther. “I’m sorry, Joe,” I said. “I’m not taking on anything new. I’m happy to do this one follow up visit on these older stories, but I’m not editing anymore.”

I did one last thing for Joe. I made him wait while I searched through my archives of old CDs. When I found the one that included his edits, every one of them, I burned another copy. When I handed it to him, I looked him straight in the eyes and said, “Make every single one of these changes to your stories. Print out fresh copies and then find another editor who will look at them.” I knew he was about to ask me to see them once he made his changes. I needed to stay one jump ahead. “A fresh pair of eyes is best. Find a new editor.”

The expression in his eyes remained deadpan. No Aha! experience there. It wouldn’t matter how many writing sites he frequented, or how many editors he paid, he just didn’t get it, or he was simply self-absorbed and too lazy to improve.

Please visit Mary Deal’s website for more wonderful articles like this one: Write Any Genre.

My guest-blogger today is Young Adult (YA) author, LM Preston.  Ms. Preston was born and raised in Washington, DC.  An avid reader, she loved to create poetry and short-stories as a young girl.  With a thirst for knowledge, she attended college at Bowie State University, and worked in the IT field as a Techie and Educator for over sixteen years.  She started writing science fiction under the encouragement of her husband (a Sci-Fi buff) and her four kids.  Her first published novel, Explorer X – Alpha was the beginning of her obsessive desire to write and create stories of young people who overcome unbelievable odds.  She loves to write while on the porch watching her kids play or when she is traveling, which is another passion that encouraged her writing.

MA:   Welcome aboard!  Please tell me a little bit about your professional background.

LM:  I am an engineering, part-time university professor, wife and mother of four kids. I love being an engineer and have over seventeen years and a Master’s degree in the field.

MA:  Wow!  I’m impressed, and I can see how that blend of science and motherhood came together to inspire your Young Adult sci-fi writing.  I take it that’s why you chose to write novels?

LM:  I’ve always loved writing, and did it a lot as a teen and college student to express my thoughts and exercise my active imagination.  I’d given it up when I started my career and had kids.  My husband dared me to write a science fiction novel and I was hooked ever since.

MA:  What makes your stories special and unique?

LM:  I write YA science fiction. I usually write stories about kids that seem to be the outcast but through their own struggles learn about themselves and overcome the impossible.

MA:  I don’t write the YA genre, so I can’t even imagine how it is that you develop your characters.  How did you go about creating your protagonist?

M:  Many of my protagonists just pop up in my mind. They find me more so than me developing them. Once the story flows I force myself to outline the entire book before I write. This works best for me and allows me to finish my books in about four months.

MA:  We share a similar technique.  While I use the same protagonist in my stories, I let each story flow, follow it with an outline, and then commit to writing it once it’s fleshed out that way.  So tell us more about one of your heroes.

LM:  In Explorer X – Alpha, my main character, Aadi, struggles with his desire to do the right thing and fights against the temptation to give in to his ability to abuse his powers.

MA:  What about an antagonist…is there a unique “bad guy” or a recurring nemesis of any kind?

LM:  There are several foes in this tale. The main foe is TEGRC, the company that created team Explorer X.  There are also the evil beings that try to torture and oppress Aadi and his friends.

MA:  I almost hesitate to ask, but did any of your real-life experiences factor in to the plot at all?

LM:  Yes. My childhood was challenging, and I was always tempted to make detrimental choices. Yet, each time I struggled and fought my way out of those circumstances.  I believe all kids have the ability to make the choices that allow them growth in their lives.  Also, the ability to do amazing things is a definite possibility for all.

MA:  So what’s next for you?

LM:  The Pack releases this August. It’s an adventurous upper YA novel about a blind vigilante who sets out to save her brother and the missing kids on Mars.  Explorer X - Beta comes out next year.  I just finished writing Bandits which is an upper YA novel about a boy named Daniel’s quest to find his father’s killer and treasure.

MA:  It sounds like you are really enjoying the journey.

LM:  I love writing because it’s my way of letting young people realize that they have a voice, and an ability to do anything.  If I can achieve my dreams so can you.

MA:  Well thanks for taking the time to visit with The Child Finder Trilogy today.  My readers can learn more about LM Preston and her stories by visiting her websites: www.lmpreston.com and http://lmpreston.blogspot.com/.

The Muse

by

Mary Deal

The Oxford dictionary defines Muse as: 1. (in Greek and Roman mythology) each of the nine goddesses who preside over the arts and sciences, and, 2. a woman who is the inspiration for a creative artist.

Evidently the ancients saw the muse as feminine.

I recently read a blog post and responses that said the writer of the post, a male writer, did not believe in such things as muses; that he and only he created what he did and one day he would write something that would be published. Others agreed saying that no outside person influenced anyone’s creativity.

Since mythology is a result of us humans needing to label everything in order to understand it better, so did the Greeks and Romans give the creative force a name.  Muse.

In the same dictionary, another definition of muse is: 1. to be absorbed in thought. 2. say something to yourself in a thoughtful manner.

This definition makes the meaning of muse a very personal one.

While creativity is personal and belongs to the person in whom it courses, how then would we describe what’s going on within ourselves?

My creative ability is active today.

The energy that flows through me surprises me.

I don’t know where all my ideas come from.

You have no creativity.

As a writer myself, besides these sentences being too verbose, long and stiff, they are boring. They call attention back to us in an egotistical manner. As we do with a great deal of our language, why not adopt the ancient mythological name of Muse, relax and have some fun?

My muse is hot today!

My muse always surprises me.

I give my muse free rein.

You need to wake up your muse.

The muse IS creativity. We all have creativity to whatever degree we care to nourish it. We need to be a little more playful, even if it means we seemingly that we turn our abilities over to the muse. She is not a woman out in the universal ether. She is the force inside us that ignites the arts and sciences. If you wish to partake of those types of creative endeavors, all you need do is accept her. In doing so, you accept the creative energies in yourself and they will catch fire.

Please visit Mary Deal’s website for more wonderful articles like this one: Write Any Genre.

Marketing Your Work of Fiction

I authored this article at the request of fellow author Cynthia Vespia.  She has it posted on her blog as well, Cynthia Vespia: Author of Thrills and Chills.  I hope you can benefit from my insights into marketing your work of fiction in the 21st Century Internet and social media age!

Unless you are among the top three or four best-selling authors at a major publishing house, your publisher and agent will expect you to play a significant role in marketing your work.  This is true for many of the well-known authors, the mid-listers, and pretty much everyone else.  The writing industry has always been competitive, and today it is much more so.  Fewer people buy books in a recession, resulting in decreased revenue for publishers.  This translates into smaller marketing budgets all around.  The top horses in the stable will get the biggest slices of a shrinking pie, leaving almost nothing for the rest of us to graze upon!

But all is not without hope.  There are several things an author can do to promote and market that treasured work of fiction.  In this article, I focus on a variety of “virtual world” techniques for creating and maintaining a robust Internet presence to increase your visibility and help you sell more books.

Website.  You have to have one, and this should be the first step you take before considering anything else I suggest in this post.  Think of your website as your base camp.  You want everything else you do to drive web traffic to your website where you have rich content about you and your stories.  I recommend breaking away from a traditional HTML-based website and use a blog platform.  I use WordPress (www.wordpress.org) because it is easy to use, has thousands of options for things like themes, plugins, and widgets (I’ll explain in a moment), and it is free.  What I really like about WordPress is that the “control panel” sits on a server, and not on my home computer.  This means I can log-in from anywhere in the world, on any computer, and make changes, post new articles, make comments, interact with people, and so on.

With a variety of themes (visual styles), plugins (applications that perform functions…like search engine optimization (SEO)), and widgets (stuff the reader can see and use, like my contact forms), I have created a site that looks like a traditional website, but has a rolling blog and hidden functions that integrate my content with the major search engines.  What this means is that the search engines crawl my blog every day and pluck new content, resulting in moving my search ranking up on a real-time basis.  As an author, this means I am more “discoverable” when people search certain key words.

Let’s face it, anyone can find you easily enough if they search for you by name.  What you really want is to land among the top ten results when people search more generic terms, like mystery, thriller, author.  The only way to get there is to establish a significant presence in cyber space.  Your website is the most important first step you must make toward this goal.

Social Media.  If you are not on sites like FaceBook or MySpace, create an account soonest and make sure you put your author website on your profile.  Cross-referencing like this enables the search engines to make critical links.  I also recommend you place links to your social media sites on your website so that your fans can find you there and “friend” you later.  Another advantage to having a presence on social media sites is that it gives you an additional platform to market your books.  Some sites like FaceBook even allow you to create a fan page…it may be best to have someone else start this for you so as not to appear vain, but a fan page is definitely something to consider.

Groups.  Many sites like LinkedIn and Yahoo have “groups” you can join where you can post information about you and your work.  Of course, look for groups that have something to do with writing!  Be sure to read the rules for posting to these groups since they are all moderated to a certain extent, and some things may be considered inappropriate.  Generally speaking, announcements like new book releases, a superb book review, or an award you won are great things to mention…and be sure to put your website URL in the post!

Author Profile Sites.  There are many such sites out there, and the following is just a partial list: GoodReads, Authors Den, Book Blips, shelfari, and so on.  Consider creating an author profile on these sites since they are well-indexed in the SEO community.  One you are there, your “presence” will get picked up by search engines, and thereby increase your visibility.  As with the groups, make sure you place a link back to your website.  On my website, I maintain a list of links to my author profiles on every page on my site for additional cross-referencing.

Guest-Blogging.  Seek opportunities to guest-blog on other authors’ websites, and offer to reciprocate (if you have a blog platform site).  When you guest-blog, you will add more grist to the SEO mill that will enhance your visibility.  Your name will be linked in the mysterious virtual world with other authors, so there will be a pathway that connects you with them.  The more visible another author is in the search engines, the more visible you will be as a result of these connections.

Press Kit and Media Events.  Maintain an up-to-date press kit on your website that a reader can view and download.  There’s no prescription for what must be in a press kit, but on my website I have the following items at the ready: Press Release, Biography, Sample Interview Q&A, Praise/Reviews, Media Coverage, and various image files (face and book covers).  I’ve been approached by various media outlets to do stories about me in their publications as a result, thereby increasing my exposure.

Media Pitches.  Cold pitches rarely work, so I would avoid them.  There are some free services that reporters and journalists use that I do recommend.  You simply sign up for the service, create a profile, and on a periodic basis you will receive emails containing lists of queries that reporters are looking for “experts” to interview.  I use three: “Help a Reporter Out” (HARO.com), reporterconnection.com, and pitchrate.com.  If you are able to establish yourself as an authority on a subject the journalist wants to write about, make a pitch and use it as a platform to plug your book during the interview.  I’ve been successful on several occasions with print, traditional radio, and internet radio venues in marketing my book this way.

Good luck and happy-marketing!

Author Jean Henry Mead is my special guest today.  She began her career as a news reporter, later serving as a news, magazine and small press editor. The author of four novels, her latest release is a senior sleuth mystery/suspense novel, Diary of Murder. She’s also the author of eight nonfiction books. Her magazine articles have won state, regional and national awards and have appeared domestically as well as abroad.

Welcome aboard, Jean!  Tell us about your professional career, before you became a novelist.

JHM:  My first professional writing job occurred while I was editor-in-chief of my college newspaper. I worked 35 hours a week as a reporter/photographer for a daily newspaper in California, and drove 25 miles to a neighboring town to carry 15 units of study. At that time I was a divorced mother of four young daughters. We studied together at night and all managed to stay on the honor rolls. I also coached and managed their softball team which went all the way to the national playoffs one year. It instilled the work ethic in my daughters.

MA:  You sound like a dedicated, multi-tasking mom and writer!  So how did you come about to write novels?

JHM:  I wrote my first novel at age 9 to entertain classmates, a chapter a day written with pencil on construction  paper. But when I reached high school I wrote for the school newspaper and went on to become a news reporter. However, there was always the desire to write novels. Raising four children on my own sidetracked that desire until the kids were grown and I remarried.

MA:  I understand fully how difficult it can be to write while pursuing something fulltime.  In your case it was raising your family, but for me it was my USAF career.  Do you have any professional experiences that influenced your fiction career?

JHM:  I was a police reporter so that inspired my mystery/suspense novels, but I first wrote a Wyoming historical novel based on years of research for a centennial nonfiction book. I spent two years behind a microfilm machine for that and had 18 inches of typed notes left over, which I plan to use for a historical mystery series.  And yes, I heavily researched members of Butch Cassidy’s Wild Bunch for my novel, Escape, a Wyoming Historical Novel. It’s based on actual historical events of the late 1890s and is laced with humor.

MA:  Tell us about your subsequent novels.

JHM:  My second and third novels are my Logan & Caffertry mystery/suspense series, which features two 60-year-old feisty widows who solve the murders of their friends and club members living in a retirement village in California’s foggy San Joaquin Valley. Dana Logan’s beautiful journalist daughter arrives in time to help with the investigation but places her own life in danger. The book is titled A Village Shattered.

In the second novel, Diary of Murder, they’ve sold their homes in the retirement village and purchased a 32-foot motorhome to travel the country. On their way to Wyoming to visit Dana’s mystery novelist sister, Georgi, they learn that she has died. Georgi’s husband claims it was suicide, but Dana and Sarah find Georgi’s diary and investigate her murder. Along the way they encounter a vicious drug ring and more bodies. They nearly lose their own lives in the process.

I’m currently working on the third novel in the series: Murder on the Interstate. Dana and Sarah encounter a murdered young woman along I-40 and are targets themselves.

MA:  How did you go about developing your two protagonists?  What are their strengths and weaknesses?

JHM:  I’m a seat of the pants writer who listens to her characters’ dialog. They actually write the book for me. I may have subconsciously adapted some of the characteristics of a couple of good friends for Dana and Sarah but they’re definitely originals with quirks of their own.

Dana is logical, an introvert and determined while Sarah is quirky, old fashioned and outspoken. They seem to balance each other’s strengths while shoring up the other’s occasional weaknesses.

MA:  Considering you write your mysteries in a series, is there are particular nemesis the ladies encounter in each book?

JHM:  Because the women are on the move, they dispatch each antagonist before moving on to the next murder case in a new location. On down the road, a former “bad guy” may escape prison and come after them, but I like fresh villains in each book.

MA:  Did any of your real-life experiences factor in to the plot at all?  I imagine as a former police reporter you’ve got some good fodder for your stories.

JHM:  Oh, sure. You have to write from experience to be convincing, unless you’re writing fantasy. My first freelance interview was with a couple of sheepherding sisters in the Wyoming outback, in their late 70s and early 80s. When I wrote my first novel, Escape, I portrayed them as twin sisters living in the badlands. Not until the novel was finished did I realize the characters had been patterned after the sheepherders.

MA:  So what are your future writing plans?

JHM:  I plan more Logan & Cafferty books because they’re so much fun to write. I’ve also finished a children’s  novel, The Mystery of Spider Mountain, and a nonfiction book to be published by Poisoned Pen Press, called Mysterious People–interviews with other mystery writers, including Carolyn Hart, John Gilstrap, Louise Penny and Rick Mofina, among many others. I’ve also started a historical mystery/suspense series featuring a single woman homesteader in Wyoming.

Thank you for turning the tables on me with this interview. You can access my Mysterious People interviews at: http://mysteriouspeople.blogspot.com/ and writing advice and book reviews at: http://advicefromeditors.blogspot.com/. Many of the writers I interview are giving away copies of their books to blog visitors who leave comments.

MA:  Thanks, Jean.  I appreciate your visit with us today and sharing information about your life and your books.  I encourage my readers to visit your websites for more about Jean Henry Mead.

Faces, Quirks, and Personality

by

Mary Deal

Only twenty basic faces or facial structures exist throughout the world. I read this somewhere and it caused me to look deeper at the characters about which I both read and write. Fortunately, many variations of these twenty faces exist.

One story I read described the heroine as a raven-haired beauty with emerald eyes. Usually we draw upon personal memories of people who resemble these descriptions. That one caused me to imagine a stately woman with black hair, green eyes and a milky complexion.

Sometime later, I read the same simple description in another story. Wow! This woman gets around.

In order to create characters that are not mirror images of all the rest, writers need to further define them, maybe give them some quirks.

What if a raven-haired beauty with green eyes had a birthmark on her cheek? Not a dark one, just noticeable enough to make her feel insecure from childhood on. That one mark would make her different in so many ways. Her insecurity might cause her to have a timid personality, something she needed to overcome in her adult years; something to overcome in the character arc of the story.

Suppose this dark-haired beauty was so high strung that she stuttered when excited, stuttered to the point of getting on people’s nerves. Her personality would certainly be different than that of a demure beauty with a birthmark.

If this woman was perfect in every way, and doted upon as a child and her beauty exemplified, she would have a different outlook, perhaps an overweening personality. She would have her own set of life’s obstacles to overcome.

A single quirk can define the personality of any character.

We writers must make our characters different from all the rest, no matter how common they begin. The ways we make them different affects their personalities; and what is a character without a distinct personality? Be diligent and give your characters plausible variances, but be careful to give them the types of quirks that will define their persona as needed to fit your plot.

Please visit Mary Deal’s website for more wonderful articles like this one: Write Any Genre.

I am pleased to introduce today’s guest-blogger, Stacy Juba.  Stacy is the author of the mystery novel Twenty-Five Years Ago Today. She is a freelance writer and former daily newspaper reporter with more than a dozen writing awards to her credit, including three New England Press Association awards and the American Cancer Society New England Chapter’s Sword of Hope Media Award. Her young adult novel Face-Off was published under her maiden name, Stacy Drumtra, when she was 18 years old. Her web site is www.stacyjuba.com.

Eighteen years old!  You hear it right, folks.  Now that’s impressive.  Stacy, you have some significant writing accomplishments in your life, not only because you published so early, but because of the professional work you’ve done.  Tell us some more about that.

SJ:   I’m a new mystery author, with Twenty-Five Years Ago Today released in October 2009 and Sink or Swim scheduled for release tentatively in December 2010, both by Mainly Murder Press. I’m also a freelance writer/publicist, working with clients such as the Melanoma Education Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to saving lives from melanoma. (http://www.skincheck.org.) In addition, I’m a former daily newspaper reporter and have won several journalism awards over the years.

MA:  Why did you choose to write novels?

SJ:  I started writing short stories in third grade, and by high school, I was submitting stories to magazines.  I started my first novel, Face-Off, at age 16 and found that novel-writing came more naturally to me than short story writing.  I liked having the room to develop characters and allow the plot to unveil. Also, I was an avid reader growing up, and always dreamed of seeing my books in a bookstore. Once you have that experience once, you want it to happen again. The last reason is that even though I’m introverted, I have quite a lot to say. Writing novels is a rewarding way to express myself.

MA:  Did your professional writing career inspire your fiction writing in any way?

SJ:  It certainly did. I began my journalism career as an editorial assistant for a small daily newspaper.  My responsibilities included writing obits, wedding and birth announcements, answering the newsroom phone, and compiling the 25 Years Ago Today column from the microfilm.  This experience inspired my new book Twenty-Five Years Ago Today.  Following in my path, the protagonist is an obit writer and editorial assistant. While researching the 25 Years Ago Today column on the microfilm, she stumbles across an unsolved murder.  My second mystery novel, Sink or Swim, has been accepted for publication in late 2010. That book features a personal trainer who works in a health club. I worked in a health club during my senior year in college, and that experience lent authenticity to the gym scenes in the novel.

MA:  So, tell us more about your newest novel, Twenty-Five Years Ago Today.

SJ:  It would appeal to both mystery fans and romantic suspense fans. For twenty-five years, Diana Ferguson’s killer has gotten away with murder. When rookie obit writer and newsroom editorial assistant Kris Langley investigates the cold case of the artistic young cocktail waitress who was obsessed with Greek and Roman mythology, she must fight to stay off the obituary page herself.

MA:  Nothing like stumbling across a cold case to irritate a killer who thinks he/she has been in the clear all these years!  How did you develop the character of your protagonist?

SJ:  I gave Kris a job that I once had – obit writer/editorial assistant for a daily newspaper – and built her character from there. I decided that she felt responsible for a childhood prank which led to her cousin’s murder and has punished herself for years. As a result, Kris suffers from nightmares and insomnia and has a past addiction to sleeping pills. Kris works the night shift because she has so much trouble sleeping.  When she stumbles across the unsolved murder of Diana Ferguson, Kris obsesses over cracking the case and bringing justice to the victim’s family. Kris feels that if she helps this other family, perhaps she can redeem herself from her past mistakes.

MA:  So it sounds like you built some intriguing character flaws into your heroine.  Tell us more.

SJ:  Reviewer Diana Vickery at Cozy Library (http://www.cozylibrary.com/Default.aspx?id=692) noted that Kris is a bit naïve and not a hardnosed reporter, but that she has heart, desire and sympathy for her sources, something that is often missing in journalism today. Kris also has a strained relationship with her mother and sister. She has a hard time communicating her feelings and tends to hold things in, which leads to a build-up of resentment. She doesn’t trust others easily; however, Kris is a very trustworthy person herself. As a young woman in her mid-twenties, she has embarked on a journey of self discovery and is struggling to carve out an identity for herself and find her place in life.

MA:  So far you haven’t mentioned anything about your nemesis…obviously there’s a murderer out there.  Can you give us some insight?

SJ:  I think that question makes Twenty-Five Years Ago Today a unique candidate for book clubs to discuss. After the surprise ending, readers are left with the questions “What constitutes a villain?  Was the character who killed Diana Ferguson the actual ‘villain’ or was someone else the villain?  Was justice served?”  Readers have told me that the book stays with them for awhile as they ponder these questions.

MA:  Interesting. So in some respects it may or may not be a solved-cold case!  Beyond this novel what are your future writing plans?

SJ:  Mainly Murder Press will publish my second mystery novel, Sink or Swim, in late 2010.  It focuses on Cassidy Novak, a personal trainer who is stalked after appearing on the hit reality game show Sink or Swim – also known as SOS. I think it would appeal to mystery fans, as well as to fans of reality TV shows. In addition, I’m polishing up a paranormal young adult thriller tentatively titled Dark Before Dawn, and I’m also working on a new adult mystery series. At some point, I’d like to bring back an updated edition of my young adult book Face-Off, so I’ll be researching different options for that down the line.

MA:  Well Stacy, you have had – and continue to have – a wonderful writing career.  I want to thank you for stopping by the Child Finder Trilogy and sharing your stories, both fiction and personal, with us.  Please visit Stacy Juba’s website for more information about her and her books: www.stacyjuba.com.

Scene Changes

by

Mary Deal

A scene ends when the action ends or the conversation can add no more to that part of the story. Maybe one scene is in the grocery store; the next scene is outside on the docks. Usually when a huge shift in location happens, you begin a new chapter.

(Don’t try to write a sequel to “My Dinner with Andre” which happened totally in one scene at the dinner table. It’s been done and was successful because the actors were good.)

When you end a scene, leave the reader wondering what could happen next and wanting to read further. It’s called a cliff hanger. Leave something unfinished, like a threat of action yet to happen and we can see one character gearing up to do some dirty work. The reader wonders what could possible happen next? And so they keep turning pages.

Or maybe it’s a romance and you end the scene with two people simply staring into each others’ eyes wondering if they could work as a couple.

When you move to the next scene, jump into the middle of it. Use very little narration to set the scene. Best is to knit the action, narration and dialogue together.

Depending on how you present your story, you do not need to have each new scene be a result of another. In other words, that cute couple I just mentioned are staring into each other’s eyes. You wouldn’t and shouldn’t start you next chapter with them in a new location, still cuddling up to get to know each other. Once you introduce that they are mutually attracted, the next scene (the whole story middle) should have action that pulls them apart. Every couple has baggage to air before they become a couple. Regardless what background or location you place them in, the action must be lively.

Keep the idea of a cliff hanger in mind when you finish your chapters.

Cliff hanger = An exciting hint of things to come; something to make the reader want to know more.

Please visit Mary Deal’s website for more wonderful articles like this one: Write Any Genre.