Style, Star Trek, and Demons...

Neil Gaiman NOT Tim Burton

Every once in a while I like to go over the favorites on my Twitter account because often I've opted to star more than just Grumpy Cat pics and retweets of stuff Jimmy Falon says. 

Usually I have set aside links to wonderful advice from fellow writers, agents, even other industries...all with the intention of somehow using it to make me a better writer, marketer, editor...

So since I am going on four days straight of nonstop writing and am a bit fried at the moment...I thought I'd see what I've starred and pass on any blogs, articles, or videos I found particularly helpful.

We all know this is just procrastination on my part...but bear with me. There's some good stuff in here.

For one, the most recent, is a post by Agent Rachelle Gardner on How to Create a Style Sheet for Your Manuscript.  I've done this for the past few books and I cannot tell you how helpful it is!

Here is a Tweet from J. Leigh Bailey in which she extols the virtue of The Star Trek Way to Avoid Saggy Middles. The blog is Tara Lain, and is on a restricted setting, but the article itself is actually spot on. If you're having a problem with  floundering mid-story chapters then give this one a read.

Kristen Lamb, of course, always has great writing advice and her post about Driving the Demons to the Surface is amazing. Its all about torturing your characters and bringing about motivations and core personality via action not telling. This is a MUST READ...I'm serious. Go there now.

Rachel Thompson over at @badredheadmedia posted a link to Galley Cat's article on Free Sites to Promote Your eBook.  Its a great list of sites and strategies for all authors, from brick and mortar to
indy digital.  Take a look.

There are of course thousands of other posts out there to help you no matter what season of writing you are in. From concept to cover reveal, research to revisions...

Hope these links help. Now GO WRITE!

COTT's Clash of April Releases!

Beach trips, mountain jaunts and lazy days in the swing on the front porch. Tis the season to enjoy a great read outdoors. Clash of the Titles’s got five brand new April releases to recommend. It’ll be difficult to choose from these three romances, a mystery with suspense, and women’s fiction. The stories tell of a woman who falls in love with an Army veteran with PTSD; a kidnapped doctor accused of murder; a woman yearning for a family; a lady with a heart attack and spiritually broken heart; and three unwed mothers from three different eras. All will tug at your heart. But please select the one you most want to get lost in. Then vote for it below.

Cindy Waymire, a college senior in search for a topic for an upcoming sociology paper, finds more than a topic when she meets Army veteran and college freshman Danny Flynn outside the student union. An undeniable attraction to this troubled veteran leads her on a difficult and winding path that brings her to a crossroads—get into a relationship with a man who has serious mental health problems or turn her back on one of the best men she’s ever met.






Dr. Matt Newman escapes from kidnappers only to land in the ICU then awaken to find the police are convinced he’s a killer, and he’s still a target. Can attorney Sandra Murray and he find the truth before it’s too late?

Terri Hayes owns a thriving Day Care but hungers for a child of her own  while  writer Steve Evans has all the family he needs. Will harsh words and sneaky plans drive them further apart, or does God have another plan?








What would you do if the one man who can help is the one man you can’t trust? A heart attack has stopped workaholic Mara Keegan in her tracks, but Mara’s heart needs to be healed in more ways than one—will Joel Ryan help her or take all she has left?

Three women from three different eras face the aftermath of unwed pregnancies, desperate for hope. Can it be found in the memoirs of Anna, who ran a home for unwed Moms in the 1890’s, or is there no link to their cries for help and their source of hope?

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Where'd She Go?

Photo by Dan Edwards

So I'm writing in 3rd person for this new project. I've done it before. You see, although all the books in my past two series are 1st person, the hero's point of view (POV) is always in 3rd person. So I can do it...theoretically.

The problem I'm running into is that although I understand how to write in that POV, its never been the main POV of my novel.  Since he is the love interest and invariable described, scrutinized, and drooled over by my 1st person heroine, you already know what he acts like, looks like, feels like when he's holding her...or rather, you -- the first person heroine.

But!  I'm having a heck of a time introducing character description and even internal musings in 3rd as the main point of view.  I feel, as does my critique partner, that the main character is...dim?

Not dim-witted...but not as vivid as my 1st person characters.  Am I struggling with deep point of view? Do I not identify with her as much because of that?  Is it that its a historical-ish type of book and that makes me falter?

I DON"T KNOW!!!!   

I'm struggling here and this is very new to me. I usually really plot out my characters and fully understand them and their motivations and this time is no different. I've got her down pat. I just can't get her out of my head as fully realized as I want.

Maybe I need to rewrite my current 16,000 word manuscript as 1st person before I go any further.  I mean...its only chapter 10 out of 40 or so.  One quarter of the way isn't too much to re do, but...

It totally is.  I don't like the idea of rewriting that much. Truly horrifying prospect.

Anyway...I know a lot of you are 3rd person authors or readers and I would truly love some thoughts. 

Blessings ~ rb