Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Stacy Mantle on October 10, 2012 at 9:02am

I just wanted to let you all know how excited I am that Shepherd's Moon is now approaching its 20,000 download! For anyone who hasn't read it yet, I hope you will give it a chance. It's the story of a woman who can communicate with animals (all animals) and winds up running a type of "halfway house" for wayward Weres. Together they solve crime and help other Were-creatures adjust to their lives while saving the world (not literally). Anyway, since this has been such a crazy year-long journey, I wanted to share the victories as well as the struggles. Thanks for the ongoing support as I complete book two of the series and still work and run a website! Here is a link to the novel if you would like to check it out...
http://www.amazon.com/Shepherds-Moon-Series-ebook/dp/B005ZN147A

Permalink Reply by Denise Baer on October 10, 2012 at 11:39am

Hello,

I'm currently working on my second novel, genre still up in the air. The 'working title' is Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Sarcasm. I did a blog post of the Next Big Thing on my blog - http://skippingstonememories.blogspot.de/2012/10/author-interview-n.... It talks about the novel. I still don't know how it will end, so I'm excited to get there to find out.

Does everyone else have a current manuscript they're working on?

What would you say is your writing weakness? Mine is show. When I wrote my first book (still collecting dust), I realize it was all tell. I didn't show the reader much, so I took time to learn and practice how to execute show in a natural way.

Densie

Permalink Reply by Anne Parks on November 2, 2012 at 9:53am

Love the title!  

Permalink Reply by Toi Thomas on November 6, 2012 at 4:00pm

That is a good title.

I too have issues with show and tell. My current book is a mixture, which I prefer when I write, but some people seem to be out right against tell. I get that a whole book that just tell's you what's happening could get old after a while, but a healtht mixture should add to a story...

I think back in history when all stories were told verbally, I'm sure the orators who could show a good story were more popular, but I bet the telling orators didn't go hungry.

Permalink Reply by Denise Baer on November 7, 2012 at 12:33am

Books have to have some tell, but when the entire book is telling me the story, I believe I never really got to experience the book. I'm very particular about it because I try to learn and improve the craft of writing and show vs. tell is part of it. I've recently read books that are all tell and I feel cheated.

Stories were and are still told verbally. An audio book that has a narrator showing you the book through voice changes and such can make a book and build an audience.

Permalink Reply by Denise Baer on November 7, 2012 at 12:19am

Thank you! I keep throwing it around in my head to see if it sticks.

Permalink Reply by Lisa Barnett on October 27, 2012 at 9:13am

I'm now working on my first novel after having focused on poetry for quite some time ( I have a chapbook coming out from Finishing Line Press in March). It's a comic novel written in the voice of a young man who is trying to save his family's overpriced food emporium by finding an exotic fruit to sell. There are sub-plots involving a romance and the theft of a painting. The action takes place in New York City and southern California.

The voice was a surprise to me but it seems to be working well. I had started an earlier novel with a main character who more closely resembled me, but I realized that the only parts that worked were the comic bits involving this character and her colleague/best friend.

I've written almost 10,000 words and it's now clear to me that I need to develop one of the sub-plots further, which will require rewriting some earlier sections. I'm thinking of keeping going and coming back to this later on. How do you manage your sub-plots and do you find that plots evolve as you write?

Permalink Reply by Denise Baer on November 7, 2012 at 12:25am

Lisa, I had several sub-plots in my published dark, psychological suspense thriller, Net Switch. At first, they evolved as I wrote but later, through revisions, I wound up writing a cast of characters and a document of dates and notes.

Permalink Reply by Anne Parks on November 2, 2012 at 9:52am

I'm just starting on my first novel, and working hard to get a first draft done.  I am amazed at how different the story is, now that I am dragging it out of my head and actually putting pen to paper (and then into the computer, of course).  It is a legal fiction that follows a criminal defense attorney who is trying to balance finding love for the first time while trying to win the biggest case of her career.  It has some twists and turns, as her new love interest does not understand the commitment to her client in proving him innocent of a crime that seems like a open and shut case of guilt.  I have been transplanted in beautiful Annapolis, MD, and love it!  I have an English undergraduate degree, so I spent most of my life reading and writing about what I just read!  Then I decided on law school, which has spurred a couple of story lines, including my current creation.  My husband is career military, and has supported me through all my various "loves," including this recent need to write after about 15+ years.  As a military wife, I have lived all over the place (and am in fact, running out of fingers to count how many different places I have lived, and will soon need to venture south to my toes)!  It has afforded me the opportunity to understand different areas of our country, different cultures, and many, many people.  I hope to be able to effectively reflect this in my characters and settings.

I am so excited to get to know people who have this same "affliction" and get feedback, as well as knowledge about the world of writing and publishing.  Or to just make some new friends!

Permalink Reply by Jessica Vealitzek on November 2, 2012 at 10:06am

Welcome, Anne! Sounds like you have plenty of rich experience to draw from. Keep us updated!

Permalink Reply by Meg Waite Clayton on November 9, 2012 at 9:00pm

>how different the story is, now that I am dragging it out of my head and actually putting pen to paper

Seriously different! What is that quote about the vision being destroyed with the first paint stroke. Welome, from another lawyer-novelist. I also love Anapolis, used to live in MD--north of Baltimore, in the horse country there, where I started writing in earnest and where my 1st novel, The Language of Light, is set. :-)

Permalink Reply by Toi Thomas on November 6, 2012 at 4:10pm

I'm currently working on the sequel to my first novel, which I just released as a second edition, since the first edition was not exactly done the way I wanted. Needless to say, I'm self-published.

My first novel is called Eternal Curse: Giovanni's Angel. You can learn everything you'd want to know about it at my blog http://ecsuniverse.blogspot.com/. A few weeks back, I wrote a post in The Next Big Thing Blog Hop about it.

Also at my blog, there is a link to the free companion guide I wrote for the book. I orinially wrote the companion guide as a blog challenge to myself durning the beta reading process of publishing the first edition. For 40 days I wrote only about the book I was planning to publish, and in doing so, I greatly improved the story. I still keep the blog in case someone happens upon in a random search. I figured that since blog content is free to its viewers, a published, enhance, and more detailed version of that content could also be free.

 

I look forward to learning more about the other authors here and their works.

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