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Mystery Mondays: Damon L. Wakes on Planning Your Novel

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 13 Comments

It’s Monday again, and we’re here with Damon L. Wakes author of Ten Little Astronauts.

Planning Your Novel by Damon L. Wakes.

Personally, I don’t like to plan my books in too much detail. Knowing (at least in your head) how you get from beginning to end is essential, but for me summarising individual scenes seems excessive: I feel as though I might as well just write the scenes themselves.

What I find does help is to take a pack of record cards and note down all the major plot points, one per card. This makes for a really quick way to put together an outline of the story, and you’re free to add or remove cards as necessary, even while you’re working. There are other advantages to this sort of plan too, but I think those are best left for another post.

I first tried this approach when writing my prehistoric fantasy novel, Face of Glass, but it proved especially handy while plotting out the twists and turns of my sci-fi murder mystery, Ten Little Astronauts, which has since been accepted by Unbound!

 

 TEN LITLE ASTRONAUTS

engine-roomThe U.N. Owen is adrift in interstellar space. With no lights, no life support, no help for ten trillion miles, it seems as though things can’t get any worse. Then, Blore finds the body.

Ten Little Astronauts is Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None set in space. The novella takes the essence of Christie’s murder mystery and condenses it down into a tense, hard sci-fi thriller.

Ten astronauts are awoken from suspended animation to deal with a crisis on board their ship. Selected from a crew of thousands, none of them knows any of the others: all they know is that one of their number is a murderer. And until they work out who it is, none of them can go back to sleep.

With the environment of the ship itself acting as an added threat, the story progresses at a faster pace with a more rapid series of twists. Setting the mystery in interstellar space – where a radio message could take years to reach anybody – also offers an immediate explanation as to why the characters can’t simply call for help, eliminating a lot of the introductory scene-setting of Christie’s original.

Despite the futuristic setting, the world of Ten Little Astronauts conforms as closely as possible to the scientific understanding of the present day, based on extensive research drawing on everything from the ion thrusters of NASA to the vessels preserved at the Royal Navy Submarine Museum. Grounded in reality, the science fiction acts as a backdrop to a mystery that can be broken down and solved by conventional means. The characters and premise will be well familiar to fans of Agatha Christie, but the story itself is brand new.

Pledging to support Ten Little Astronauts at Unbound is more than just buying a book: it’s an opportunity to bring that book into the world. The novella is already written, but it needs your help to make it into print. Of course, there are also rewards for supporters, ranging from digital copies of the book all the way up to a writing workshop with the author.

Book Cover:

Not available yet, as that’s one of the things that the crowdfunding campaign aims to cover. However, there is this video filmed on board HMS Alliance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXjvSRTPDRs .

 

WHO IS Damon L Wakes?

unbound-portraitDamon L. Wakes was born in 1991 and began to write a few years later. He holds an MA in Creative and Critical Writing from the University of Winchester, and a BA in English Literature from the University of Reading.

Every year since 2012, Damon has produced one work of flash fiction each and every day during the month of July. He usually writes humour and horror, occasionally at the same time. Tackling so many stories with such a short word count has given him a knack for well structured narratives formed of tight prose.

When he isn’t writing, Damon enjoys weaving chainmail. He began making chainmail armour ten years or so ago, but quickly discovered that there was no longer much of a market for it and so switched to jewellery instead. He now attends a variety of craft events, selling items made of modern metals such as aluminium, niobium and titanium, but constructed using thousand year-old techniques.

Damon’s other interests are diverse. He has at various times taken up archery, fencing and kayaking, ostensibly as research for books but mostly because it’s something to do.

Links:

Website: www.damonwakes.wordpress.com

Blog: https://damonwakes.wordpress.com/posts/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authordamonwakes

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DamonWakes

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/6560972.Damon_L_Wakes

Newsletter: https://damonwakes.wordpress.com/newsletter/

Ten Little Astronauts: https://unbound.com/books/ten-little-astronauts

Farley’s Friday: What’s for dinner?

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 15 Comments

Farley here,

Humans are odd. They bring rodents into the house and expect me not to chase them.

I can see them hiding behind the glass door! They’re holding these things called Guinea Pigs. They squeak. They run in bursts. So tempting…

farley-and-guinea-pigs

I’m a wheaten terrier, stress the terrier. I just want a little sniff of the creatures.

What harm could that do?

Woof Woof.

 

Mystery Mondays: Call For Author Guest Blogs

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 13 Comments

Promoting Reading – Promoting Authors

Mystery Mondays began in July 2015. Authors from many genres who write with a hint of mystery have told you about their books, answered your questions about writing and shared their thoughts with you.

Every Monday, you’ve be introduced to another author and maybe discovered someone you’re not familiar with.

Are you an author interested in guest blogging?

I am now accepting guest blog requests for the next few months of 2017 starting on March 27th so if you’re interested contact me here.

If you’d like to participate, here’s what you need to qualify:

  • you are a published author – traditional or Indie or any other way that I don’t know about,
  • or you are about to publish fairly soon
  • and you want to promote other authors and spread success,
  • you write novels with a hint of mystery,
  • you are willing to engage in the comments section when readers comment on your post.

All I ask from you is that you follow my blog, comment on author’s posts and help share via Twitter and Facebook.  If you’re interested send me a message via my contact page.

The Guidelines:

You’ll have to send me your bio, back text of your novel, author photo and book cover. I’d like you to write something about yourself, your novel, your research, a writing tip or a publishing tip.

Please keep in mind I am a family friendly blog. I do reserve the right to edit anything I think might be inappropriate for my audience, which I will discuss with you first. I think anything under 700 words is great, but it’s your book so up to you.

I’m looking forward to hearing from you and sharing your novel with the Internet world.

Mystery Mondays: Lily Black on Riding the Authorial Rollercoaster

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

storm-of-attraction-hi-resWelcome to Mystery Mondays. Today we’ll go on an emotional ride with author Lily Black.

Let’s give her a gift by sharing this post and helping her spread the word about her debut novel Storm Of Attraction!

Riding the Authorial Rollercoaster (without losing your breakfast) in three easy steps by Lily Black

As writers and authors, we’ve willingly stepped away from the midway games, with their big fluffy teddy bear prizes. We’ve scarfed down the last of our cotton candy, and asked someone else to hold our hat and coat. We’ve climbed on a rollercoaster, because that’s just what being a writer and author feels like.

Early on, I thought this was a temporary state. That once I got comfortable writing books, it would get easier. Once I had a solid critique group. After I signed an agent, or after my first book was published. But I’ve done all of the above (and undone some of them) and also watched as friends advanced their own careers, and I’m now confident that the particular swoops of the rollercoaster may change, but authors never get off for long.

So here are my suggestions for how to survive riding the authorial rollercoaster!
1–Ever notice how much easier it is to scream and wave your hands on a roller coaster when other people are doing it, too?  This applies to submissions—whether to agents or publishers as well!  Find other authors in the same stage you’re at, or only a little further down the path.  Having a group like that to hang out with socially is great, because the challenges you’re facing now go way beyond needing help with a manuscript and are hard to explain to someone who hasn’t been there.

2–Promise yourself you’ll buy that cute little stuffed unicorn if you get on the ride and don’t jump off in the middle.  Why the reward?  Well, you’d celebrate if you got a contract, right? Probably rush out and buy yourself that fluffy unicorn you’ve been eyeing! But when you’re riding the submission roller coaster, getting a contract is beyond your control.  In fact–and this is important–the moment where you get a contract is actually a reflection of all the many things you did right up to that point. So isolate those things you did right/will do right to get there, and as you go forward, reward yourself in bite-sized pieces for taking those steps.

3–What about that writing thing you’re supposed to be doing?  How does that fit into this roller coaster riding?  You’ll spend a lot of time standing in line—that is, waiting on reviewers, publishers, and everyone else.  And when you’re doing that, it’s tempting to focus entirely on how nervous you are about the roller coaster, and how you hope this time you don’t cry and you’ll be brave enough to lift your hands.  But you’ve got to take your mind off the roller coaster and focus on your next book. So, one of your daily things you get rewarded for (like the fluffy unicorn, above) should be writing, revising, and working on the next book.

BONUS, because this particular section of the roller coaster has steep curves and someone just lost their hat: Once in awhile, remind yourself of all the rejections that world famous bestselling authors received.  I know, I know!  This will feel like an indulgence, and maybe a tad narcissistic since they’re all so amazing and you’re just you.  But you know what?  They were noobs once, too, and setbacks happen to the best of us.  A little reminder that rejection is part of the process, and not a value statement of your book can really help you survive those sharp turns.
After eight years of riding every rollercoaster in town, my first romantic suspense launched into the world just two weeks ago. Now I’m enjoying some new swoops and turns as the reviews come in. It’s already been quite the ride, but I promise to throw my hands up if you will. 😉

lily-with-zeke-largeLily Black believes in true love, but is also quite sure going after it is the scariest thing we’ll ever do!  She explores this dynamic in her romantic suspense novels, which are set in the small imaginary town of Willowdale, where people dream big, love deeply, and kick butt if necessary.  She has a black belt in Chung Do Kwan Tai Kwon Do, and has also trained in everything from judo to broadswords.  She lives in North Carolina, where she works as a content editor for a small publisher, and divides her free time between the mountains and the sea with her very patient and loving husband and their teen daughter. She is also the co-creator of the Book Ninjas’ Blush-O-Meter. Readers everywhere search the Book Ninja’s online catalog for romance, YA and chicklit novels in all genres, and find books that match their blush level!

Her debut romantic suspense–Storm of Attraction–launched February 13th, 2017 from Red Adept Publishing.  She welcomes you to join her on the journey!

Author website: http://www.lilyblackbooks.com/

Book Ninja’s Catalog: http://www.book-ninjas.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Lily-Black-1713161408963150/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lilyblackbooks

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/16078435.Lily_Black

 

Storm of Attraction

storm-of-attraction-hi-resLove is worth fighting for.

Alexa Wolving has just one rule: never give a guy a second chance. That works just fine in the safe life she’s built. In the charming town of Willowdale, her day job as a librarian balances perfectly with her evening job as a black belt instructor. But when she attracts the attention of a stalker, Alexa’s carefully built world begins to crumble.

Drew Cosimo knows he broke Alexa’s heart five years ago when he took his first Ranger assignment and disappeared from her life. Now that he’s out of the army, he’s moving back home to Willowdale. He’s not looking for a fight, but making peace would be easier if Alexa hadn’t told the entire town he was a money-grubbing jerk. Despite the tension between them, Drew is quick to offer his protection when a stalker forces Alexa from her home.

As the stalker’s attacks escalate, Alexa and Drew are forced to face their painful past and the simmering attraction between them. They must fight to save each other before everything they care about goes up in flames.

 

New Book Deal: Imajin Books and Kristina Stanley

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 26 Comments

I’m thrilled to announce I’ve sold the eBook and print rights for my upcoming novel LOOK THE OTHER WAY to Imajin Books.

What’s LOOK THE OTHER WAY about?

It’s the beginning of a new series set in the Bahamas. The mystery takes place aboard a Lagoon 380 catamaran, which happens to be the type of boat I lived on for 5 years.

Mattina sailing
Mattina in the Bahamas

Here’s the blurb:

A year after her Uncle Bobby mysteriously disappears in the turquoise waters surrounding the Bahamas, Shannon Payne joins her grieving aunt to trace his last voyage. Shannon hopes the serenity of the sea might help her recover from a devastating breakup with her fiancé.

Sailing their 38-foot catamaran, A Dog’s Cat, is Captain Jake Hunter, a disillusioned cop who has sworn off women. While Shannon tries to resist her growing attraction to the rugged captain, she uncovers some dark truths about her uncle’s death that might send all three of them to the depths.

Thank you to Imajin Books for once again supporting me!

Imajin Books is a Canadian publisher that publishes suspense, mystery, thriller, paranormal, horror, romance, fantasy, young adult and select non-fiction. They will be open for submissions April 2017, so keep your eye on the website if you’re looking to submit a novel this year.

Mystery Mondays: CJ Petterson on Novel Themes

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 1 Comment

screen-shot-2017-01-21-at-8-43-04-amMystery Thriller Week is an annual event that celebrates the Mystery, Thriller genre. Welcome to all writers, published or unpublished. MTW was Feb.12-19, 2017! That was last week, but we still have mystery authors to showcase.

Mystery Mondays is helping celebrate by hosting mystery writers leading up to this exciting week.  Today we have C.J. Petterson, author of contemporary romance novels.

NOVEL THEMES by C.J. PETTERSON

How does an author come up with a theme for a novel? I usually look for something in the news, but that’s incredibly ominous and ugly right now. So, let’s go lighter. First, let’s agree that novels need a theme, a premise on which to hang the action and plot points. An overall theme continues as a thread through the novel. It lets a writer connect the dots of subplots to the main plot. One way to get a handle on finding your theme/premise might be to think about describing your novel in one sentence, a cliché for example. I try to come up with the cliché to use as a thread (premise) then polish it into a back-of-the-book blurb.

Caveat:  A cliché is, by definition, a trite and overused expression—a figure of speech that has become tiresome and uninteresting. Several experts advise against the use of clichés in your narrative. In fact, author and editor Sol Stein has this advice: “Cut every cliché you come across. Say it new and say it straight” (Stein on Writing, 1995).

Clichés are those taboo things that writers should avoid like the plague, but they can be good fodder for this exercise.

For a romance story, how about this one? “Love will find a way.” Then every time you put an obstacle in a character’s path on the way to her required happily ever after, that obstacle would be overcome with some kind of act of love . . . even self-love (conceit, egotism) is fair game.

Another cliché for a romance could be, “All is fair in love and war.” Here, the premise is that the character can do whatever he/she can in order to capture the heart of a lover. You’d expect the tale to be rife with conflict.

For a love story (which doesn’t always end happily ever after): “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride.” Sounds sad.

Or how about this trite line for a YA or memoir: “A coming of age story.” That premise keeps the threads of the story tied to some agonizing affliction and growth of young people over a longer time span.

A possible theme for one of my stories could be “My brother’s keeper.” Choosing Carter is about an American woman who wants to extract her brother from a domestic terrorist cell.

In my latest work, “Bad Day at Round Rock,” a historical fiction short story in the Western anthology, The Posse, I think of the premise as being “Money is the root of all evil.” The characters’ quests to find a hidden cache of stolen twenty-dollar gold pieces are the cause of all the mystery, murder, myth, and greed in the story.

Going back to Stein’s admonition to cut all clichés, what if one of your characters is fond of using clichés? I say, okay. Use them, but only in that character’s dialogue.  However, too much of that can become distracting to your readers. I also believe that even Stein’s new and straight words can become hackneyed when used too often.

If you have a different way of working on theme/premise for your novels, let me know how you do it. I love, love, love learning new methodologies.

And thanks, Kristina, for your gracious hospitality. ‘Preciate it.

THE POSSE:

6-ebook-cover-the-posseMy latest work is a short story in the Western anthology, The Posse. “Bad Day at Round Rock” is a historical fiction story written in overlapping segments about four people whose lives are changed by a cache of twenty-dollar gold pieces that the outlaw Sam Bass stole in a train robbery. The story is chockfull of history, mystery, myth, greed, and love…as is the rest of the anthology. Seven authors contributed short stories to The Posse. All are human interest tales but with all the action you expect in a story about the Wild West.

Lyn Horner: The Schoolmarm’s Hero

Franks Kelso: One Way or Another

cj petterson: Bad Day at Round Rock

Charlene Raddon: The Reckoning

Chimp Robertson: Headed for Texas

Jim Stroud: Savage Posse

Chuck Tyrell: Set a Thief

Bonus- Frank Kelso: Tibby’s Hideout.

Look for The Posse anthology, tales of action, romance, myth and truth, on Amazon.

WHO IS C.J. Peterson?

cj-author-pix-crop-2-copyAuthor cj petterson is the pen name of Marilyn A. Johnston. As cj, she writes contemporary romance novels as well as fiction and non-fiction short stories that have appeared in numerous anthologies. She has served as judge for the Romance Writers of America’s Daphne du Maurier contests. Her works-in-process include a mystery series that features private detective Jannicka “Jake” Konnor.

Retired from corporate life and now living on Alabama’s Gulf coast, Marilyn takes her pen name from her paternal grandmother. She is a member of the international Sisters-in-Crime organization and their online Guppy group, the Alabama Writers Forum, the Alabama Writers Conclave, and a charter member of the Mobile Writers Guild

cjpetterson@gmail.com

Facebook

Amazon Central Author Page

Choosing Carter — Kindle / Nook / Kobo   / iTunes/iBook

Deadly Star — Kindle / Nook / Kobo

California Kisses 10-book publishers bundle on Amazon 99 cents

blog at: www.lyricalpens.com

Coming in late February 2017—“Bad Day at Round Rock” a short story in The Posse, a Western anthology of tales of action, romance, myth and truth.

MTW Facebook

Free eBook: BIG-PICTURE Editing Using Feedback’s Key Elements Of Fiction

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 2 Comments

You’ve finished your first draft. Congratulations! Now what?

Whether you’re self-publishing or going the traditional route, your story needs to be as good as you can possibly make it before sharing with others.

Now is the time to evaluate your writing with a big-picture edit to ensure your story works and is compelling to your readers.

But just re-reading your novel and looking for areas of improvement without having a process can waste a lot of time. Questions that come to mind are:

  • Where to start?
  • What to change?
  • How to make it better?

DOWNLOAD Free eBook

Don’t despair. There is light at the end of the editing tunnel. Just like you learned how to write a novel, you can learn how to perform a big-picture edit. All you need is a clear process, some editing knowledge, and the right tool.

With our free eBook, you’ll learn how big-picture editing is all about evaluating the major components of your story. We call these components the Key Elements Of Fiction.  Our eBook shows you how to use the key elements of fiction to evaluate your story.

BIG-PICTURE Editing

Farley’s Friday: A Magic Cupboard

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 12 Comments

Farley here,

There is a magic cupboard. It’s the holder of all treats. But there is a magic spell required to open the door.

Sometimes, I just need a treat, so I head to the door and gently tap my paw on it.

Humans have strange desires. They don’t like scratch marks on walls, furniture, doors-anything really. It’s as if they don’t want anyone else to know they’ve been in a room. A dog likes to leave a mark everywhere he goes, but I guess I have to be smart if I want that cookie.

I drag my nails hard enough to make a sound but not hard enough to leave mark.

Kristina comes to me and smiles. Now, this can go two ways. I get a treat, or I don’t get a treat. That’s part of the magic.

She’s hesitating, so I put my paws on my nose and push my rump in the air. I’ve got to look cute if I want her to be obedient and get my cookie.

Farley Being Cute

That doesn’t quite do it, so I roll around a bit. This makes her laugh.

She takes one step toward the door, and I know I’ve won. She’s going to give me a cookie!

Woof Woof

Mystery Mondays: Jane Jordan With Advice to Aspiring Writers

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 5 Comments

screen-shot-2017-01-21-at-8-43-04-amMystery Thriller Week is an annual event that celebrates the Mystery, Thriller genre. Welcome to all writers, published or unpublished. The Kickoff begins Feb.12-19, 2017! That’s this week!

Mystery Mondays is helping celebrate by hosting mystery writers leading up to this exciting week.  Today we Jane Jordan, Author of The Beekeeper’s Daughter.

Advice For Aspiring Writers by Jane Jordan.

front-cover-of-the-beekeepers-daughterI started writing in 2004 after I stayed in a remote old house on Exmoor which is located on the South West coast of England. The remote location along with the odd happenings I experienced made a significant impression. The caretaker’s stories of both the resident ghost and other related visitor reports fueled my imagination further, and so began the gothic vampire trilogy that were to be my first three novels.

The Beekeeper’s Daughter, was supposed to be my second novel. I already had completed a couple of chapters and had a basic plot. But that first story grew and grew, and I became absorbed in that saga and the research. I knew I had to finish those three books, before I could move on and concentrate fully on what was to become my fourth novel

In my first three books, I delved into the world of vampire superstition and legend, and combined it with a modern and complex love story. In my fourth book, I gave myself the challenge of writing about witchcraft and another time period. The more research I completed the more fascinated I became to write a historical thriller. It was a story that seemed to have a life of its own, leading me to interesting sub-plots and digressions that took me into realms I could not have imagined.

The Beekeepers Daughter tells the tale of an impossible love triangle, a dark legacy and a dangerous secret stretching back through generations of madness and betrayal. It was challenging to write because the book starts in the year 1698 in England.

The first scene portrays a witch being burnt at the stake. In order for my readers to feel it was authentic, I did a lot of internet research and studied several books. I uncovered old sixteenth century records of witch trials and visited the witchcraft museum in Boscastle, England. This museum houses the most comprehensive collection of artifacts in Europe. The story moves to the Victorian era, and I relied on research from books and the internet to make sure I accurately portrayed all the historical details, right down to the clothing and social etiquette of the times.

Annabel Taylor is a bee charmer and the Beekeeper’s Daughter. She has grown up on wild Exmoor, but when she meets Jevan, the blacksmith son, her life changes forever. They form an unbreakable bond, until they are forced apart when Jevan must leave for London. Annabel is heartbroken, she believes her life is over, and her only solace is her beloved bees. I loved the idea of the bees being a witch’s familiar, because bees are so key to nature and that fitted perfectly with the story.

By chance she meets Alex, the heir to vast estate lands and the foreboding Gothelstone manor house. Socially they are worlds apart, even though Annabel is inexplicably drawn to him, and even if she feels that Alex’s attention is merely a distraction from her true love. Although Alex has other ideas.

When Jevan eventually returns, Annabel realizes just how precarious her situation has become, and when Jevan’s life is threatened, she has to make a heartbreaking choice that could mean she will lose him forever.

It soon becomes apparent that Alex and Annabel are merely pawns in someone else’s sinister plan. Left with no other choice, Annabel must embrace her inherent power and destroy a powerful witch, before she and everyone she loves is destroyed.

My advice to any aspiring writer is to be true to yourself. Write about what interests you and not what you think you should write about, because it is the current trend. The reality is that the publishing process can take a long time and by the time you have finished your novel that market will have left you far behind.

When I first wrote about vampires they were not fashionable, and it was a couple of years before ‘Twilight’ hit the headlines, but I didn’t write that story worrying about that, or even thinking it could sell and make money. I wrote the story because it needed to be written. All my novels are like that, I stay true to myself and my genre, no matter what may or may not be in-vogue.

WHO IS JANE JORDAN?

janeJane was born in England, and grew up exploring the history and culture of London and surrounding counties. In the 1990’s she immigrated to Detroit, USA, eventually settling in South West Florida. She returned to England after a fifteen-year absence, to spend six years in the South West of England living on Exmoor. Here, inspired by the atmosphere, beautiful scenery and the ancient history of the place, she began writing.

Jane’s writes in the dark romance genre. She has four published novels. She also writes short stories and being a trained horticulturist, she has had articles published in a gardening magazine.

Jane Returned to Florida in 2013, and now lives in Sarasota.

http://www.janejordannovelist.com/

Audio Books: Self-publish or Traditionally Publish

~ Kristina Stanley ~ 31 Comments

I’m thrilled to announce that I’ve sold the audio rights for DESCENT to Auspicious Apparatus Press.

aap

What does this mean?

Sometime during 2017, DESCENT will be available on Audible.

There are so many choices for an author to make during the journey to publication. Self-publish? Traditional publishing?

The decision applies to audio books as well as printed and eBook editions. If you self-publish, you control most things about the publishing process.

If you publish via a publisher, you want to be careful what rights you sign away. My print and eBooks rights are with Imajin Books. But I didn’t sign away my rights for foreign language or for audio books.

I sold the German language rights for DESCENT to Luzifer-Verlag.

This means I now have the ability to sign with a different publisher for audio books.

Why did I decide to go this route?

For me, I want to spend my time writing and not publishing. Hence, I chose to use another publisher for audio books. This means I share the royalties, but it also means I’m free to write more. You’ll have to decide what’s right for you and what fits your skill sets.

If you have an audio book out, let me know in the comments below. I’d love to listen to it.

Thanks for reading…