See a Photo and Tell Me Your Tale Contest!

Okay...it's the season to be jolly...and have fun!
Contest: Win a $15.00 Godiva Chocolates gift card!
Contest ends midnight EST 20 December.


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Check out this photo.  It says, "While shopping for your Christmas present..." and GUESS WHAT? YOU have to finish the tale in just a paragraph!

So instead of leaving a comment, leave a paragraph! Be sure to put your email address in the comment box with your paragraph.

Remember: Just one paragraph to write your amusing tale about this photo!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year!

Photo: Rockshots.com

A Tale of Two Blue Cats

Happy Holidays!

This year I'm celebrating the friendship of these two gorgeous but very different purebred "blue" cats that are sharing our home.

Some of you may have seen my Blue before. He's my baby...a delicate looking Russian Blue who's the undisputed king of the house. Seven years old this year, he's been an only cat for five of those years.

Now, though, he has a partner in crime. LoverDog (LD for short) is a huge nine year old Chartreaux my human baby brought with him when he moved back home last month. Bounced around in recent years from one home to another, LD endured an airline journey stuffed into a crate that fits under plane seats with his human--this one who has vowed they'll be together as long as they both survive.

Mind you, LD outweighs Blue by more than ten pounds. For the first week or so, Blue was intimidated by all that bulk, taking refuge under the covers of my bed for long, solitary naps. Little by little, though, curiosity got the better of him and he started slithering out, looking and hissing at his new best friend. LD took it all in stride.

Soon they were sniffing and chasing each other, the best of buds who now share two separate litter boxes as well as each other's food and treats. They're enjoying the "cat company", or at least it seems they are...and we're all enjoying our two blue babies as we get ready to celebrate the holidays together.

I wish you all a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza or whatever day is special to you...and a wonderful, prosperous 2012!

Books for Christmas!

I'm an author, so books are always on my mind. I'm also a reader -- a voracious one who reads in multiple genres. Most of my friends and some of my family also read like crazy, so this year when I thought of presents and then thought about my poor wallet, I decided to make my gifts do double duty: I'm buying books -- they make great gifts AND I'm supporting an author.

I'm staying away from the NYT Bestsellers. My friends and family will have heard of those on their own. I'm trying to stick with small press and indie authors who need our support. Thankfully, in my work running tours with Goddess Fish Promotions, I've come in contact with hundreds of authors I wouldn't have otherwise heard of. And it's opening a whole new door for me.

I've gone on a search. Smashwords is one of the best places to look for small press and indie authors. And, many of those folks offer their eBooks at a super low price (many times as low as $0.99), so if I find something that looks just right for a friend ("Fezariu's Epiphany" by David M. Brown for the fantasy lover, "Brainstorm" by Gordon Kessler for the thriller lover, or "Farsighted" by Emlyn Chand for the YA lover for instance) I can buy the eBook and read it to make sure it's a good book. Most of my friends and family don't own eReaders, so I buy print.

And here's the neatest thing about indie authors. With some exceptions (David M. Brown lives across the pond, for instance, so it's cost prohibitive) they're more than happy to personally autograph a book and send it to you.

I suppose I could just buy a gift card to Barnes and Noble and send it, but I love that I'm able to use my knowledge of the small press / indie market to help them discover new authors they might not have found otherwise.

So, yes... it's books for Christmas this year! I've found a way to make my dollar do double duty.

What are some small press and indie author books you can recommend to me in all categories? Not just romance, but mystery, YA and more?

Dramatic License

Oh. Hello. I didn’t see you come in. I’m afraid I’ve been preoccupied lately. Deadline, you know. The new book, The Opening Night Murdre, is due on January 1, and it still needs about twenty thousand words. So I’ll be spending every spare moment (and some stolen from other things) getting this new manuscript in proper shape. Blogging just ain’t a-gonna happen today.


However, I do have something to offer. The new book is an historical mystery that begins with a Declaration of Dramatic License. See it below, and see what you think:


Declaration of Dramatic License

In my associations with my fellow authors, often I’m drawn into debate about the moral obligation of historical fiction writers to be true to historical fact. I think most people agree that accuracy is desired, at least so far as the commonly known facts are concerned. I don’t know any writer of historical fiction who doesn’t claim at least due diligence in their research. But some feel that reading one general history is plenty, while some are trained historians who bring to bear years of studying primary sources. Several authors I know claim their stories never deviate from history by so much as a single word or thought. Anything less, they say, is Untruth and perpetuates Confusion among the uneducated and ill-read masses.

They all lie.

I agree that unless one is deliberately and openly writing what is called “alternate history” one should stick as close to the known facts as humanly possible. Hollywood often makes us groan and fidget to see, for instance, William Wallace in a kilt or Jane Grey dewy-eyed and in love with the puppet-king husband foisted on her by her father. Or Mary I fat and ugly, and therefore evil and wrong. Or a svelte Henry VIII with a buzz cut and bedroom eyes. I could go on, but I’m sure Gentle Reader knows what I mean. Hollywood often gets it wrong, and we’ve learned to accept that. But we expect better from literature. We desire accuracy in print.

However, in any work of historical fiction there is a level of detail at which known fact fails us and the drama must be served. It is impossible to know exactly what was said or done in private chambers long ago, and even more difficult to know the inner thoughts of the people whose stories the author is trying to tell. At some point in the narrative one must start making things up.

Storytelling is the glue that makes sense out of random facts. One does one’s best to keep the conjecture to a minimum, and to stay within reasonable limits of plausibility, but there is no getting away from the fact that one’s job is to fill in blanks left by historical documents that tell only a fraction of what went on.

The Opening Night Murdre is a work of fiction, set in an historical period. To avoid being chained to the well-known history of either the King’s Company or the Duke’s Men, ordinarily I would have invented a fictional theatre to house my fictional troupe and fictional characters for my story. But then I still would have had to place it on an actual London street where no theatre existed. I might even have placed it on the spot where the Globe had stood, and called it something else. No matter how hard one tries, there’s always the line where fact butts up against fiction.

So why not use Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, located near what is now Porter Street in the Southwark district of London? Unfortunately, that theatre was torn down in 1644, sixteen years before our story opens.

However, this is fiction. If I can invent a theatre and place it on a spot where no theatre actually stood in 1660, then why not simply resurrect the Old Globe and put it where it was originally?

Further, with only a little hand-waving, why not let this fictional troupe of actors perform Shakespeare’s plays even though the two royal theatres were granted a monopoly on “serious” dramas? It’s true that the King’s Company and the Duke’s Men were given patents and Shakespeare’s works divided between them, and lesser companies were limited to older forms of comedy, mummeries and mime. But it is also true that one reason for the patents given to the King’s and the Duke’s companies was to control new playwrights who might satirize the king. So my fictional troupe has been given fictional permission to perform the works of Shakespeare and his contemporaries, which could not ever be about the current regime.

Although it is my sincere wish not to annoy my Gentle Reader, who might cry, “But no! That didn’t happen!” I reply, “Of course it didn’t happen. In the words of another great playwright, Oscar Wilde, That’s what fiction means.”

Anne Rutherford

December, 2011

Editing: A love/hate relationship

I'm going to discuss my favorite topic—editing. Seriously, it's my least favorite. When an editor returns a manuscript and those bubbles fill the side of the page, I cringe. What was I thinking? What did I do? What isn't clear? Oops, forgot a word. Scrolling on, the pages with no comments allow me to breathe easier. All in all, the revisions improve the manuscript. Make it shine. I love to see the final version. So why do I detest the task of editing so much?

I'll tell you why. It's not that I'm close to my work, as if it were my "baby". Hell no. I can change a scene or take something out without a second thought. That doesn't bother me. What brings me down with edits is the time involved and the whole rethinking process to make sure everything runs smooth. It's a time consuming task, and quite frankly, I'd rather be writing. Edits always come through when I'm in the middle of another project. Not the editor's fault. That's just the way the world spins. So, I'm having to put aside the project I'm happily working on to revise the last book or the one from a year ago. Naturally, I don't want to do it. (The kid in me is coming out.)

After several deep breaths, I remind myself the finished product will be good. It always is. Not to mention, edits are part of the "writing process". I learn from my mistakes, which means I apply what I've learned to future projects, which should reduce the amount of edits. One day. I hope. LOL.

Bottom line, it's good to have an editor and to revise a manuscript. Although I'm not fond of the task of editing, I would never publish without an editor reviewing my work. The time spent revising is well worth it. I deeply appreciate editors for taking their time to read and make comments (sometimes four times). After all, they have the difficult part of the "publication journey". Writers spill the beans and editors grab the mop and point where to clean. Their job is not one I'd want, but I totally respect and appreciate, even if I'm the one cleaning up the mess. LOL. The finished product always shines, and that is what we all want.

My urban fantasy novel, The Awakening, comes out next month (January 2012). Here's the blurb:

Two investigators--one human, one vampire--find a young woman among a mass of dead bodies. She has no memories, and nothing but her clothes, two receipts, and a mysterious dagger carved with the initials 'SB'.

As she seeks her identity, SB realizes she's unlike any other creature in the world, making her the most valuable person on the planet. And the most wanted.

I have 4 other books published. They are paranormal/urban fantasy romances. The Soul Catcher series includes:

Claiming the Evil Dead

Catching an Evil Tail

Fighting Evil

Love Conquers All Evil

Available from Noble Romance Publishing, Amazon, All Romance Ebooks, and more.

Happy Holidays!!

Mary Abshire

Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy Author

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Map your Rout or Fly into the Mist

December 2011

This is often a hot topic for writers, so I should just say, this is just my take on this subject.
I am a pantser. A flyer into the mist, as Jo Beverly says. I have tried to be a plotter. I did plot a complete book once, but I never even started writing it, or at least I had the first page done when I started plotting according to some grand scheme or other, and that is where it sits two years later. I was bored knowing how it all unfolded.
I have to keep going back to my mantra. Every writer is different. What works for one does not work for another.
Then why this article I hear you ask. Or is that me asking? Why bother? Well, to be honest, I just can’t help thinking about this stuff.
Here’s the thing – story is story. The art of writing story is as old as pictographs. There are certain things stories should have – at least in genre fiction. Certain peaks and valleys every story must touch. We’ve all taken the workshops, we all understand the concepts and the need for structure if you want readers to turn the pages. Hero’s journey, W plotting, three act structure, six stage structure,  any advance on six — do I hear a 9? All great, by the way. Great. Helpful. Wonderful that writers have taken the time to offer these tools to other writers.

As far as I can figure it out, what a pantser does (no no there I go generalizing again) what I do, is go back and make sure the story hits the highs and lows required once the draft is done.

These are the questions I ask myself. What are my goals motivations and conflicts for the happy couple? Yes by this time they are the happy couple. Are they clear to the reader and not just in my head?
Where are my turning points? Did I take too long to get there? – thus losing tension along the way.
Is the black moment black enough? Is it driven by the romance or the external plot? Does it work?

Coming in January from Harlequin Historicals

For me, the key scene by scene test  is as follows:
What changed? Who is worse off now than at the beginning of the scene? If no one is, then it needs fixing. Could something even worse have happened? How does it tie back to their goal, their worst fear or their conflict. Is what they have decided to do next reasonable and does it lead to yet more conflict?
Are the motivations clear to the reader? In that particular scene, not the whole book.  Whatever the character does, is it clear why the character does it? And the answer cannot be that the plot requires that they do that. If the plot requires an unarmed woman to go into a dark basement for no good reason, the reader will not buy it.

Without plotting the book, don’t you go off track?  That is a plotter asking, of course.
The answer is. Yes. Terribly. The last book I handed in, well I just never did get hold of that sucker by the date it was due.  And that’s where your editor and/or your critique group can help.  And that is why you need to go back and use the tools in your toolbelt  to polish and sand and rub.  Or at least I do. And I did. Hopefully it turned out much better.
Well that was fun. My guess is there are all kinds of writers out there in addition to Plotters and Pansters, for example:

February 2012

 

 

Pl-antsers   -    they pants a bit and plot a bit, then pants a bit more then plot ….
Plo-sters    -    They get an outline going through to the end then fly off the cliff, catching the odd tree branch
                       they planted on the way down, then leap again
Palonstters -     who knows what they do, but they do it well
I wish to every success no matter how you spell what you are.

At the end of the day, it is the story that really matters to readers.  But as I said, this is often a hot topic.

Ann

A Special Kind of Christmas

My family is doing something a bit different this holiday season. We're all pretty much convinced we don't need anything else. Presents are lovely, especially when given with thoughtfulness and care, but though things could be better we're all doing okay this season. For the most part we're foregoing gifts, and like I told my grandma, "you're still with us. That's all the gift I need." In our house, we're doing homemade gifts. My partner, an artist (You can see his work here) is going to take some photographs he took and help me turn them into a background for my bearded dragon's home. (It's 4' x 2', and I'd like to decorate it a bit more to look more natural.) I'm building him a website. But, for other family members, I'm making gifts.

And surprisingly, my partner and I were talking about it, and this holiday season is far more special than others have been, precisely because we're giving of our time and our energy. I'm going to bake cookies like a fiend, starting this weekend, probably. And I have a pattern for a homemade heating pad (filled with white rice) that I'm going to make out of funky and cute flannel patterns to give to my family members. (Got to love the remnant bin at the local fabric store.) (PS - Don't worry they don't have the internet, so they won't know what I'm giving them. Shhhh!)

In fact, in spite of all the work I have ahead of me, I'm looking forward to this holiday season. So I just wanted to stop by, wish you all the most joyous December, and I hope you all get exactly what you wish for this holiday season.

Now, I have some baking to do....

(You can learn more about the book above, a cute novella loosely based on our own experiences with a formerly feral kitten here: http://pinkpetalbooks.com/Dashboard-Kitten-Mary-Caelsto.html)