Z is For...

Actually I'm kind of at a loss. I'm sure there will be Zebra and Zzz's posts. Maybe something on Zippers, Zenith's, Zorro maybe...huh. Zorro might be interesting. There's zipper, zigzag, zucchini, zinnia, zeppelin, zero, zodiac, zither...

I'm really happy to be at the end of this challenge. And HAS been a challenge. A post every day for a whole month...surprised I survived it.

Happy end of challenge day!  Maybe I'll make myself a badge like they do for NaNoWriMo...one of those, "I'm a Completely Insane Blogger" ones for my side bar.

So, come May 1st, its back to the regular blog schedule. Beginning on the 2nd, I will be featuring posts on the writing craft, tips on the publishing industry, author features, reviews, and more.

I'ts been a pleasure. Now...Go Write!


Addendum: Elizabeth Mueller made this Fanta-bulous Badge!  Awesome...

Photograph by Prayitno.

Which Would YOU Choose?

Which One Would YOU Choose?

I need your help! My next novel depends on it...


One of the things I do when I am constructing a character is to find a picture of a star or model that fits the "essence" of  the character. Rugged, debonair, blue collar, international playboy...a "look," if you will, to help me with my description. Its more helpful if they're in a movie or sitcom because I can observe gestures and what not to see if they'll fit with the kind of character I'm constructing.

The Heronie

I usually try to capture different pictures with various expressions to be true to face type...cleft chin, raised eyebrows, crooked smile. That sort of thing.  But I am TOTALLY STUCK!


You see, I'm writing a gothic romance. I have the "ethereal" look of the heroine picked out already.
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It's the hero I'm having trouble with. I'm writing the kind of love story where the hero/antihero is sort of brooding. But I don't want him to be the typical, "dark and mysterious" type of look.  I decided that an almost angelic, blonde - pale type of look might be more interesting.


This is my problem. Unless I choose the tanned, beach-body blonde stars out there...which I do not want...then I can't really think of who to put on my cork board to stare at. For work purposes of course!


Some suggestions from friends are:

Paul Bettany
Pale, intelligent eyes, can do brooding.

Simon Baker

Performed excellent bad boy brooding in The Guardian and The Mentalist.

Jude Law

He is magnificent AND a total train wreck, bad decision-maker, all around great looking mess. That's just in his personal life.

I gotta say...I'm at a loss. The genre calls for "beautiful, but dangerous" which is kinda hard to pull off. 


Also a dark secret that tortures them at least until the heroine can "save" them from themselves.


I know...I KNOW! But its a genre that allows me to explore darker images and mysterious happenings and I'm really excited about it.  We all have a soft spot for the bad-boy.  I real life, you should run screaming. In the fantasy of a romance novel, only YOU can change them. They find redemption and happiness...with you.


So...I'm putting it to a vote. Help me choose who the brooding hero of my next novel will be. I have a poll button on my sidebar-------> 


Or...If you don't like any of them...leave me a suggestion in the comments. 


Can't wait to see what you all think!  Until next time...Go Write!
Photograph by Lucky Burrluck. Photograph by Bazylek.

Don't Fight Zombies Without It - "D"

Don't fight zombies without reading this first - "D".

I know very little about Zombies. I know that my brother knows more and in fact argues that certain movies depicting "fast" zombies are crud.  I have no idea what he's talking about.


Of course, he does attend the annual zombie walk in Seattle so there may be larger issues at play.


Since this blogging challenge puts me in touch with writers of all genres, I thought I'd do some research on zombies in case I come across one while commenting today.


My first order of business was to locate a Zombie Weapon Guide, because what is the best sword for fighting the undead?  I thought it would be a light saber, but apparently the forums don't appreciate "idiot answers." 


Whatever. 


I did find out that most athletes would likely survive, not for their physical prowess, but because football pads and wrist guards are really handy against bites.


You should have a "Ready Pack" which appears to be an earthquake survival kit but with more weapons.


Some experts suggest boning up on skills you might need. Car repair, campfire building, lock picking, booby-trapping things to explode, locking infected friends in sheds...that type of thing.


For further study, be sure to take the Will You Survive or Are You Walking Meat quiz here.


I'm sure you experts out there have more advice. If I've missed anything please let me know. Until next time...Go Write!


This message brought to you by the A-Z April Blogging Challenge.


Photograph by Abode of Chaos.

P is For Primal Scream - A Blogfest

For "P" is for Primal Scream..., I thought an explanation was in order.  As most of you know, I've decided to host a A Primal Scream Blogfest in honor of the celebration of Cinco de Mayo. In the spirit of that gutsy, hard-won battle, I challenge you to post the most exhilarating, teeth-grinding, blow-them-out-of-the-water scene from your latest WIP.

The scene can be the inciting incident, the climax, or anything in between. It can be an emotional blowout, or something more concrete. It just has to be your own. The Blogfest is on May 5th. Your entry can be any length, but remember to get to the height of the action as soon as possible.

And, as always, remember to comment on your fellow entrant’s blogs as we all work very hard to do a great job to entertain. Sign ups are on the side bar.

So get those fingers flying! I can't wait to see what you guys got.

Photograph by Morgali Photography, Uploaded on December 22, 2009.

Business Meetings at the Chug-A-Lug

The Blog, Secret Story, is hosting a "Bar Scene Blogfest" today and I thought it might be a fun way to get myself to hone some of my writing skills, especially with dialogue. The scene parameters state that it can occur either inside or outside a bar, and that anything goes.  I'm very excited to read the other entries.

This scene is from my novel, Purple Knot. Reyna Cruz, a petite powerhouse, uses her skills as a private detective to solve her best friend's murder while trying to mend fences with the man she left at the alter...her best friend's twin brother. 

The scene that follows is between the antagonist, a biker named Crawley and Shane, the pharmaceutical tech he snared into a corporate drug scheme. Parker is the husband of Reyna's friend, she suspects he had her murdered to cover up his involvement in the drug ring.

Business Meetings at the Chug-A-Lug

Shane

Seventeen miles away, Shane, noticed light glint off of something for the second time tonight. He couldn’t quite place it, but he’d seen the effect before. He did a few lines before coming to see Crawley, and the drugs were making his skin itchy and his eyes hyper sensitive to light. Shane glanced back at the where he’d seen the light, decided he should probably write down the instances he thought he was being followed, and then batted at a non existent ant on his forearm.


He scratched at his chin stubble, thinking, before he walked up the broken wood stairs to the bar and peered in through the window. Crawley was perched on a torn, red vinyl bar stool. He tossed back a shot of tequila.

Shane’s heart beat in his mouth, and he tried get himself together. He had to tell Crawley about the detective chick. Parker had warned him she would get into their business and despite Shane’s efforts, she had. Now she was more of a problem than he’d ever imagined possible. He squared his shoulders and walked into the bar and up to Crawley who didn’t bother to look over at him.

“What do you want?” Crawley asked.

“We have a problem.”

Crawley spit a sunflower shell down at the floor and eyed Shane with disinterest.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Shane forced himself to stay rooted to the floor and not to run like his entire body was screaming for him to do.

“Well, you’re not going to like it.”

“Just spit it out, Shane.”

Shane sidled onto the stool next to Crawley and spun the little wood peanut bowl a few times. He didn’t quite now how to begin.

“Parker met me at ‘The Border’ tonight. He said he absolutely can’t move the chemicals right now. And…and I think, Crawley, that maybe he’s right. The audit people are coming…”

Crawley rolled his eyes and sighed. He motioned to the bartender to bring him another drink.

“I told you that don’t matter to me. You and Parker promised me the ingredient I need, and I expect you to deliver.”

“I know but, you see the paperwork could really get us both in trouble and now with his wife murdered…”

Shane never finished his sentence. Crawley backhanded him off the stool so fast that Shane brought the bowl of peanuts down with him. Stunned, Shane crawled on all fours toward the table a few feet away. He knew from experience it was harder for someone to kick you if you had some cover. The bartender and two other men in the bar stared into their drinks, making sure not to witness anything.

“Get back here,” Crawley growled and yanked Shane by the neck of his shirt. He led the two of them back out onto the pea gravel parking area behind the bar. “How much have you been doing, Shane?”

“Crawl…Crawley, wait,” Shane stammered. “I just needed…”

Crawley rammed Shane against a nearby truck and shook him by the front of his shirt.

“Get your nose out of the drugs. They’re rotting your brain. Now, I have a deal lined up to sell close to two million dollars worth of tablets, and I need those chemicals for the batch I promised.”

“I-I know, Crawley. I just need a few more days…” Shane tried to focus on Crawley’s face but his head was spinning.

“No, we don’t have a few more days,” Crawley said and Shane thought he looked nervous.

Shane scratched his head and made a face like he smelled something horrible. It was his thinking face.

“Well, Parker said he won’t do it, and he won’t meet with me anymore,” Shane whined. “He said that tonight, just an hour ago. Parker said he’s out.”

Crawley looked at Shane like he wasn’t there, like he was looking through him to the truck behind. Crawley narrowed his eyes, thinking.

“Didn’t you say that Parker’s had some changes to his family recently, something about his wife's will?”

Shane nodded even though he did not, in fact, remember.

“Give me your cell phone.”

Shane complied, and Crawley called a number and waited through the rings.

“Hey, it’s Crawley. Do you know where the rich boy is right now?”

Shane watched Crawley frown and then nodded.

“Are you sure?”

Crawley’s head snapped to Shane and that made him jump. Shane wondered what Parker was doing.

“Well, let’s see if we can’t find a way to motivate him, then.”

Photograph by theopie, Uploaded on August 17, 2007.

H is for Hair-Raising!

Today's entry in the Blogging From A-Z, April Challenge, is "H" is for Hair-Raising! I love a good action scene. Something that makes my spine tingle and my breathing hitch up as I worry for the character and fret for their survival.

One of my favorite movie scenes is in Michael Crichton's, Jurassic Park movie where the RV is hanging over the edge of the cliff and the main character is on the window…and then the spider cracks start webbing out from under her. Yikes! I was nervous.

I’ve been writing and *cough* re-writing a climactic scene in my book, Ruby Dawn, where the heroine has to rush into a building to stop the hero from being killed. She’s just an ordinary gal in an extraordinary situation. Do or die, she has to cowboy-up and be brave, whether or not she feels brave. The building is buckling after an explosion she set off accidentally, the hero is tied to a chair injured, and the antagonist knows she’s on her way in and he's waiting for her.

I’m working on it, but it’s difficult. I want the scene to move quickly, but not so quick there's not enough time to build tension.  On the other hand, a climactic scene that moves too slowly...is boring.

Pacing, I’m told, is the key to these scenes. The clock is ticking, the consequences of failure devastating, and the obstacles seemingly insurmountable…these are the elements of a nail-biting, hair-raising moment in your character’s life. Wicked Wordsmith has a great article on the elements of a suspenseful scene, if you're interested.

My question to you readers out there is this: What is your favorite Hair-Raising scene? It could be from movies, books, or real life. Let me in on why it affected you so much. I’d love hear from you. Until next time…Go Write!

Dont forget to sign up for the Primal Scream Blogfest - Your Most Heart Pumping Scene, here on April 19th. The Blogfest will take place on May 5th...can't wait!

Photograph by Orin Zebest, Uploaded March 11, 2008. Photograph by Jeff Kubina, Uploaded August 9, 2006.

B is for Breakdowns!

First of all, I want to thank those of you that emailed me or commented on my blog about the Alternate Version Blogfest that I participated in yesterday.  You guys are wonderfully supportive. 

Fellow blogger has issued a challenged to blog every day of the month of April (not Sundays) with each post topic starting with a letter of the alphabet. Its called The Blogging from A-Z Challenge. This sounded sufficiently insane for me to think it was a great idea!

So yesterday was obviously "A" for Alternate Universe. Today's offering is a bit more personal. Its "B" is for Breakdown...or perhaps that should be under "N" for Nervous Breakdown?? Not sure.  You see, I recently completed the first draft of my current novel, Ruby Dawn, and started revisions.  Great, right? Well, I read an article from my critique group about, "Hooks".  Not the fun fishing kind, but the literary kind.

To explain, the email asserted that one of the most common points of rejections that editors say influenced them to reject a manuscript is that the story doesn't hook them right away.  In fact, they apparently prefer for a hook to occur within the first 50 words...WORDS.  So I read my manuscript...and had a Breakdown...my hook is almost three pages in.  ARGH!

So I've gone to work, but I need your help. I've posted the original opening paragraph below followed by the revised "Hook-ed" paragraph.  I would love it if you read them both and told me what you think.

Original:
I was eight years old and newly born. A broken child found abandoned in a bus station. I lay unconscious for two days in the I.C.U. No memory of who I was, or who hurt me so badly ever came. There was no missing child report. No parents clamored at the reception desk begging to know my condition. I simply blinked into existence one morning. The nurses named me Ruby Dawn, after the color of the morning sky the day I opened my eyes.

"Hook-ed":
I should have known to stay away from dark corners. Nothing good ever happened to me in them. But it was my job to look and it was a good thing I did because the ghost I found that night belonged to me. In retrospect, the asphalt and the blood seemed fitting, considering my start in life.

A broken child found abandoned in a bus station. I was eight years old and newly born. I lay unconscious for two days in the I.C.U. No memory of who I was, or who hurt me so badly ever came. I simply blinked into existence one morning. The nurses named me Ruby Dawn, after the color of the morning sky the day I opened my eyes.

According to the article, a hook has to grab the reader with the promise of what is too come...sort of a literary teaser to keep reading.  I'll keep working and look forward to your ideas and input. Feel free to not only critique...but throw out some ideas.

Photograph by: Dave-F, Uploaded on February 4, 2006. Photograph by orangeacid, Uploaded on August 1, 2006