Collaboration

Michael W. Davis

Davisstories.com

Creating 90,000 words that touch a reader in all the right places is difficult, yet when compared to collaboration with another author, especially one of the opposite gender; you’ve jumped two tiers up the hardness scale. Add to that a generational gap and OMG. Joint writing projects will naturally hit obstacles that require bridges be built, but both writers must be willing to meet at the center of the crossing. VEIL OF DECEPTION, a new release for this month, was one such endeavor with an author named Candace Morehouse and began as an experiment. Frankly, I wasn’t 100% convinced all the road blocks could be overcome, but both of us really wanted the project to work, given the potential realism that would be achieved by having both a man and woman represent the POV of each gender.

Was the experiment successful? I think so. For the first time in eight of our contracted novels the publisher shared that the submission reviewers literally raved about the story, and I think much of that result has to do with the realistic dialog, confrontations, and struggles that occurred between the hero and heroine. What came forth in the story often reflected the confrontations that were taking place in the background as we created the scenes. Each time one of us would throw up the halt sign, we would stop and analyze why a particular vignette, action, or event caused such difficulty to the other writer. In many cases, we discovered that the obstacle stemmed from the core differences between the way men and women approach and view life.

Each awakening to the difference between the gender mindsets offered an epiphany that had to be reflected as internal dialogue by the character, and in so doing helped to foster the bond between hero and heroine. The growth between the characters expanded outside the story and into the writers. Both Candace and I sensed that our understanding and appreciation for the opposite POV has broadened and matured our abilities as writers.

What’s the story about? Well here’s a little taste. If you’d like to read a few excerpts and reviews, check out either of our websites (Davisstories.com or CandaceMorehouse.com).

BLURB: Something suspicious is happening at Spenser Lake. People are disappearing and their bodies never found. The fear and uncertainty affect the tranquil community, but especially Kurt Hawkins. The guilt that he was responsible for his wife’s loss precludes any normalcy in his life until he meets Danielle Gillette, a reclusive author with skeletons of her own. When the mystery to the disappearances is revealed, they discover sometimes truth cuts deeper than a lie.

Big Mike
Michael W. Davis (Davisstories.com)
Author of the year, 2008

Blind Consent, “The answers are buried in the secrets of the past.”
Forgotten Children, “Only Sara knows the truth.”
Tainted Hero, “Sometimes good people do bad things.”
The Treasure, “A lonely heart can impair one’s judgment.”
Veil of Deception, “Sometimes the truth cuts deeper than a lie.”

Visiting With Old Friends

Flawless, Tavos’ love story, releases in February. (Love, love, love the cover) As Tavos was first introduced to readers in Invisible, characters from both Invisible and Breach Of Trust appear in Flawless.

I LOVE it.

Writing and reading about characters in previous novels is like visiting with old friends. We have a few drinks. We catch up on each other's lives. We share the laughs. We console each other through the tears.

My characters haven't stopped living. Time has moved on (it moves on in the fictional world as it does in the real world). They've changed. For example: Maeve is a little less guarded in Invisible. Maeve and Hagen have a child (and another one on the way). Hagen cusses less. Okay, maybe the last isn't true but…

I’ve changed also. I’m not the same writer who wrote Invisible. I’m older. I’ve had different life experiences. I’ve eaten way too much chocolate.

So when we meet again, we're different people. I still love all the characters (yes, even the baddies) but I click better with the more recent additions, likely because they have more in common with the new me. I'm more confident and… well… have a bigger mouth than I did when I first met Anne (from Breach Of Trust). I'm more secure with asking what I want than I was when Maeve approached me (she's so good at being Invisible that no one meets her unless she wants to be met). I'm more like Grace, okay with being a bit goofy and accepting that no one truly is Flawless.

Writers, have your characters changed over the years? Readers, do you prefer different heroes and heroines than you did, say, a decade ago?




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Every month, Kimber Chin gives away her favorite romance eBook read the month before. To enter, visit http://businessromance.com/

WINTER DREAMS

Outside my writer room window we're having a mini-blizzard, bad enough so I can hardly see Lake Superior. I think about how much I enjoyed winter as a kid, with sledding and ice-skaing with my friends, neither activity I dare indulge in now that I'm an old bat. I console myself with the knowledge that, even when young, I never did either on a day like today. This is our second winter in our dream home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Before this, like other Snowbirds, we packed up, cat and all, and drove to Florida. So even our loves-the-outdoors cat, Kinko, is not accustomed to all this snow. Although on a calm day, if the tempurature is above 20 F.. she'll venture out for a bit onto the snow to smell rabbit tracks. But, having sold the Florids house, we're now year-round Yoopers and so is Kinko.
So what did I used to do as a kid when there was a blizzrd? I wrote stories. And now that's what I'm still doing. The Viking has built a fire in the fieplace and it's a temptation to make popcorn and sit beside the fire. Which we'll do later, when it's time for Happy Hour.
What am I writing? I'm trying desperately to finish the first story in my Darkness of Dragone Trilogy, Dragon's Pearl, so I can submit it to Ellen. It's set up here in the U. P., but not in the winter--except for the last book, Dragon's Stone. For some reason--maybe the blizzard--I'd rather be writing that one, but pearl and diamond come before stone.
My New Year's resolution was to finish the first book in all of the series books I've begun. Until I do, I'm not allowed to write anything else unless it's a novella for an already-contracted anthology from Jewels of The Quill. I think I've mention we're a closed group of 12 published authors who promote each other. We've found it quite effective, but the problem in starting this kind of group is you have to have a fearless leader with lots of energy and one who is computer savvy--which,lucky for us, we do. And it's not me!
How many series have I started? Six. And an outline for a seventh, but the first book was never begun, so that doesn't count until I finish all the rest. Whne will I finish? Unless the Maynas are correct about 2012, I estimate maybe five years. At which time I'll be an even older bat.
My next book for Champagne is LADY LUCK for their new IN THE CARDS Tarot series, where an Tarot card found accidentally in a main character's life changes everything. Fun to write. It may or may not be out this year, but I hope so. Now back to Dragon's Pearl... Jane

No time to say hello GOODBYE! I'm late, I'm late I'm Late!

I absolutely abhor being late. When we were kids my father instilled in us the whole "If you're not at least five minutes early then you're late." Employers used to love me because I'd be popping into work ten, fiften even twenty minutes before my shift and I'd do pick up stuff to help out-sometimes on the clock, sometimes not.

My husband was a splash of cold water in my reality. The time you tell him is the time it is. And his watch isn't always right. When we were dating he would arrive just on time or sometimes about five minutes late. DROVE ME BATTY. Still, he didnt flinch when he was grilled by my father as the man cleaned his rifle collection. He loved hunting, fishing, motorcycles, stock car racing and Nascar. He was excited and willing to learn to ride a horse so I figured why not.

Twenty-plus years later I'm mortified to realize that he has rubbed off on me. I'm still very by the rule if you're not early then you're late for Dr. Appointments, dentist, work, church, restaurants and drives but on the day to day thing I've found myself slipping.

Like this post...I was supposed to have writtern it early, scheduled it to release and then been fine with moving on...my bad. I was working and totally spaced on the fact that TODAY was the blog day. I feel like a total jerk and I humbly apologize to y'all for having been late.

Of course it did offer me something to blog about...(love it when something works out.)

I thought I'd run somethign just for fun. THIS IS NOT A CONTEST! It's not for any sort of prize, just something for entertainment. I'm going to put some quotes, and you can tell me in the comments where they came from. Like, for example, who says Git R Done? The answer would be Larry the Cable Guy or I'd even accept Tow Mater. Get it?

Okay here we go. Remember no prizes, just for sheer fun: I'll be answering them in my Thursday blog post on www.donicacovey.com That will give you time to make your guesses in the comments--

1) I love it when a plan comes together!
2) Oh my stars!
3) Whatcha talkin' 'bout Weezy?
4) You Meathead!
5)Shady Pines, Ma!
6) Ohh...there's just one more thing...
7) Would you believe...
8) I know nothing!
9) Oh Rob!
10) WAHHH!
11) Kiss my Grits
12) Yes Master
13) And awaaaay we go!

Have fun and let me see your answers! Dont forget to check my Thursday Thirteen list to see how many you got right!

Hugs
Donica

New Contracts Signed!

After spending the holiday season working two jobs and now getting ready to bring in a roommat it seems like writing has gone by the wayside. Well, not exactly with 7 books due for release this year! Yikes! Edit-central! Definitely will be a left brain year!

I am thrilled though that The Photograph has a home with Desert Breeze and will be out this summer. It's definitely given me the incentive to finish writing book 2 in that series.

And The Glass Cage, book 2 of my McKenna Crime series (of which book 1 is the Spell) will be out in July with Siren-Bookstrand. This story is perhaps the darkest I've ever written and has a number of elements of what I went through not too long ago.

The dark, cold and rain lately is definitely conductive to writing and reading -- and I've had some good reads in my hands lately including Kathryn Kennedy's My Unfair Lady and Mariah Stewart's Dead Even. Very diverse genres but both were hard to put down reads.

Recipe for a Great Day!

I found this on the web and thought I'd share:

Life is too short to be unhappy!
Here is a recipe for the best day(s) on Earth...

Ingredients:

1. A Handful of Happiness

2. A Handful of Love

3. A Handful of Gratitude
Gratitude is one of the strongest positive feelings. We all have something to be grateful for.

4. A Handful of Dreams
Feel free to dream big dreams and make small steps towards them.
"To dream anything that you want to dream. That's the beauty of the human mind. To do anything that you want to do. That is the strength of the human will. To trust yourself to test your limits. That is the courage to succeed."
~ Bernard Edmonds

5. A Handful of Freedom

6. A Handful of Creativity
Try to be creative in everything you do. Try to do your best every time you are doing something. Do not be afraid to use your imagination. It's such a pleasure to do something new. Feel the joy of creation!

7. A Handful of Laughter
It's difficult to overestimate the role of laughter. It makes us feel good and unites us. In addition it is the best medicine! And it certainly can make any day brighter.

8. A Game
Don't be afraid to lose, everybody can lose. One day you will be the winner!
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall."
~ Confucius

9. A Handful of Magic

Do you believe in magic? Well, you should. Life is full of miracles. In fact, life itself is a big miracle. There are so many things that are beyond our understanding.
"There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle."
~ Albert Einstein

10. A Holiday
Celebrate every day of your life! Let the spirit of holiday fill each corner of your heart. Why not? You live your life to its fullest and move towards your dreams!

Directions:
Mix the ingredients and start the best day of your life--and do not forget to add some spice!

Nutrition Facts:

- Calories: 0
- Very good for your health
- Makes you feel good

Enjoy!

Until next time, Angie

http://www.angelaashtonbooks.com/

Amulet of Fate

Once A Rebel

Corsair Cove

available @ http://www.champagnebooks.com/

Adrian's Angel (coming August 2010)

Fish Stories

One of my favourite movies is Big Fish, a story about a son who has issues with his father's tall tales. He couldn't take his dad seriously throughout life, and near the end finds out the true value of a good storyteller, whether the stories are exaggerated or not.

Everyone knows memoir authors draw from their own experiences to write their books, or they provide the details to a ghost writer. Sometimes I wonder how they remember their lives in such detail. Maybe they keep journals, or some might have superior memories. Some of them have great stories to tell, like John Elder Robison's Look Me In The Eye. Some have ordinary lives but tell their story with humour. Others exaggerate and pass off their lies as truth.

Not all writers have spectacular lives to draw from, so we use our memories as building blocks to create fiction. Some memoirs are simple accounts of incredible lives, and others are jazzed up with dialogue and incredible detail.

How accurate can we possibly be if we are writing a memoir? While some authors can recall past experiences with crystal clarity, I have a hard time remembering what I ate for dinner last night. I wish I had kept a strict journal when I was younger. 

I guess that's why I'd rather use mere snapshots of my life as a resource for my fiction. That way, I can embellish to my heart's content. Within reason, of course.






Do you have a fish story?

Image: Ridley likes fishing shows and hockey.

THOUGHTS ON COURTING WITH ZI

I see courting as a balance between seduction, flirting and intrigue washed with honesty, humor and reality, all designed to impress another to be moved toward desiring to share their time, a simplistic definition for a complex process. A process that has spanned all human and animal history. The pull of Yin and Yang to complete each other. A genetic pre-disposition to mate... to couple... to find a partner. Man and woman are different, capable of co-existing independently but quietly needing the other... wanting the other.

Yes, I agree each can stand alone. Yes, each can requite their goals... though I see that there might be a hollowness or emptiness, being alone. Look deep down in to our soul to a place hidden by rationalizations and you might see a desire to have someone special in your life. You might reveal a want to share. A need to protect as well as being so... A yen for intimacy... a passion to be vulnerable, knowing that expressing that vulnerability requires trust and that trust lets you be closer to the person you really are...

no games...

no shams...

no manipulations.

Zi

EXCERPT SNAKE DANCE ~ Release February 2010

Knew What?

VeIper was so altered. He wanted. So much was involved in that want. Part was the simple longing of male to wohen, most was to hear his name on her lips, to brush at
the feather that fluttered under the lake breeze, smell the white baby’s-breath that was woven into her headdress, to know what made her smile, to give her the gift of his heart, to laugh with her. Yes, laugh. So few times had that sound graced his world, but with her he suspected laughter would be as commonplace as joy. His thoughts were foolish. His need was ridiculous. Yet he continued to stare, drinking in each nuance honing memories, as he was certain many others must have stared.

It was then that he realized the reason for her song. She knelt before a wounded fawn. It appeared to have a broken leg. The songbird of stunning lilt and pixie stroked that twisted limb and sang and as she sang the leg straightened. When she finished the fawn rose and her song stilled.

KILLER DOLLS IS AVAILABLE: Unaware that bio-terrorist are using her handcrafted dolls to attack the innocent, Letti Noel finds herself falling for Taut Johnson, an undercover FBI agent. Even as deceit is a growing barrier to their love, it's the stalking terrorists that are a threat to their lives.

We'd love to hear from anyone interested in what we do. Anyone who writes us at angelicahartandzi@yahoo.com and leaves an s-mail address, we will send you a gift and add you to any future mailings.

Angelica Hart and Zi
KILLER DOLLS ~ September 2009
SNAKE DANCE ~ February 2010
CHASING GRAVITAS ~ July 2010
angelicahartandzi@yahoo.com
angelicahartandzi.com

KILLER DOLLS can be purchased at
Champagne Books
http://www.champagnebooks.com/

Show 'em More

So I'm reading one of my favorite authors, Susan Elizabeth Phillips and as usual, it's a book I can't put down. As an author, it's hard to find time to read anymore so I usually catch an hour here or there. Often it will be two weeks before I get back to the book I started which makes it hard to keep up with characters, plot lines, etc. But if I get a book I can't put down and there have been several lately, like Kimber Chin's Invisible or Michael Davis's Invisible Children, I find myself reading for pleasure without worrying about why I can't put the book down.

However, for some reason, with this new book I'm into, I started actually dissecting what it was that made it so enjoyable. The author has a way of developing the characters that really emerse you into their personalities. It's the subtle details that make this book sing. She shows the reader who the character is in a way that breathes life into the story. What I Did for Love also brings in characters from previous stories and I think if you're a fan of a particular author, stand-alone books in a series is a great way to keep readers coming back for more.

So - for authors, it's important to revisit the basics from time to time. The basic I plan to revisit is the character charts. To get deeper into each character, I need to develop back history for each character no mater how minor. Some of the info might be info the reader never sees or never finds out about the character, but the chart becomes a valuable tool for making quick reference remarks. It's a great device for inserting action tags. Instead of saying: She yawned, bored, one could say instead; She yawned, finding the subject as boring as her college chemistry. Sure, you could put more and depending on the story this opens up an opportunity for feeding in a bit of backstory, but just that one comment lets the reader know a lot of subtle details. The character is educated, probably doesn't like science and it listening to something or someone who is not inspiring her at the moment. For even more detail, one could name the college she attended which would give the reader a lot more information.

Yep, this weekend will be all about character charts for me.

How to make other authors jealous!

I can hear it now - Allison Knight has flipped her wig, gone over the edge, has lost it completely.

Why will others be jealous? Easy. I've handed over most of my promotional work to an expert, and it won't costing me a dime.

How? you ask. Simple. I asked my husband who is very computer savvy, retired and has played a lot of solitaire lately, if he'd be willing to figure it all out and take over. And there was no arm twisting on my part! He agreed and in only a couple of days, he's accomplished things I've had on my to-do list for months.

As authors know, it's difficult to write and also send hours promoting at the same time. I've blogged about it before. Goal setting is wonderful, but at the end of the day, there are still things that should have been completed that didn't get done. Just deciding where and when you want to spread the news about a new release, or a signed contract can take hours, hours when you really would rather be writing. I was getting close to pulling out a few hairs, trying to get news out about the sequel to Heartsong - Battlesong - and also work on the characters screaming to have their book finished. I had reached the point of meltdown!

My wonderful husband agreed to do the things I'd been trying to find time to do - as I said for months. Not only does he read and correct everything I write, (well, except for my blogs) he also makes CD's to distribute at conferences, my bookmarks, and other printed promotional material. Now he has taken over filling out information needed on various internet sites.

See, I said you would be jealous.

Hopefully, you have someone close to you who would be willing to step in and do some of the time consuming work needed to keep your books on people's lips.

I also have to wonder if I could convince him he's a better cook than I am. Then I wouldn't have to fix our meals. I'd have enough time to read some of the wonderful books written by other Champagne authors.

Making Time

I can't believe the holidays are over.

I had so many things on my to-do list that I wanted to get to over the holidays. To be fair, I did manage to get some of them done - unfortunately none of them related to writing.

One of the major things we got to was our basement. Eventually we plan on finishing it but for now the kids enjoyed it more in it's unfinished state. It's a place where they can go and burn off some energy without worrying about breaking anything. Anyway, long story short, we reorganized the basement to mirror how we'd like to see it when it's finished and purged a bunch of stuff. Goodwill and the local book store (hmm, there was something writing related there after all) benefited greatly from this process.

However I had hoped to get caught up on the Covey Awards, find out what is happening with the site I review for (they've been awfully quiet as of late), and maybe even do some actually writing.

I'm not one for making resolutions - after all most of them get broken - but perhaps I need to give in and make a resolution to make time.

The problem is how to go about making that time. I have a full time job that takes up most of my week. That leaves the weekend but I usually end of doing family stuff. Try as I might, there never seems to be enough time to get everything done.

So if anyone has any advice, I'd be happy to hear it. As long as it doesn't involve making any lists - I don't have time for that. :)

Going Global with Champagne - eBooks in 2010

With the recent announcement by Champagne’s publisher J. Ellen Smith that we are going global, it got me to thinking about what this really means. Of course, the response from my fellow authors has been 100% positive – who wouldn’t want to learn that their books will soon be available in even more places?

Right now, Champagne books can be found on Amazon, the Coffeetime Romance bookstore, Mobipocket, Fictionwise, eBookwise, CyberRead, InfiBeam (located in India with a limited selection), and Mybookstoreandmore (limited selection). Next up is a new online bookstore coming from a large Japanese company and the Sonly online store.

Since Champagne books are always released in digital format, they can be easily uploaded to a variety of devices in a number of formats, including the popular Kindle. File formats of .epub, .html, .lit, .lrf, .pdf, and .lrc are all available, letting you read a Champagne book on nearly any device.

This just goes to show that little companies can, indeed, grow up to become large companies. Growth is a good indication of a company’s health and while traditional print publishers are scaling down and cutting back, Champagne is growing by leaps and bounds.

Retail giant Amazon, inarguably the largest seller of eBook titles, claims to have sold more Kindle eBook readers during the 2009 holiday season than any other item in the company’s history and that Kindle eBooks outsold print books. There’s some skepticism about this report – number one being that the majority of those eBooks “sold” were actually free downloads. Still, this is pretty exciting for those of us in epublishing.

What this all means – to me, anyway – is that 2010 is going to be THE year of the eBook. These days who doesn’t have a PDA or an iPhone (or something similar)? And what’s the easiest way to fit reading a book into a busy lifestyle? To download it, of course.

Now if only my aging relatives would jump on the bandwagon… (I’ve got an aunt who recently got her first computer but refuses to get an internet connection).

Until next time - adios amigos,
Candace Morehouse
www.candacemorehouse.com

Let Me Sneak You Away

I want to steal you away for a moment. I want to be that whispering voice you just can’t place – the seductive lilt luring you away from that next Romance book you plan on reading. Sure, you can always come back, but I am more interested on where you can go.

There is another world beckoning. Sometimes it comes on the twitter of a bird with iridescent eyes and plumage that only shows its true colors beneath three moons. The come-hither might also be an undertone of humming machines, where the most precious commodity is a song. There are voices – as much alien as human. Other peoples struggling to come to grips with who they are, or who they want to be. Imagine that you could fly with your lover – maybe even share his mind. Gaze upon your humanity through multi-faceted eyes.

Oh, the wonders you might see over there. Dawn - broken up into myriad splashes of light across sunken cities. The soft touch of a nebula’s purple hues spread across ten thousand miles of sentient forests. Imagine yourself in the velvet of space alongside an echelon of gleaming ships, with the galaxy as your backdrop.

It is not all geeks, guns, and high-tech. There is intrigue, love, betrayal, and pretty much everything else one would want. There is adventure waiting beyond that stuffy Victorian mansion, with all the trimmings of entangled relationships and conflicted aspirations.

Science Fiction. You know you want to.

Kerry (with a respectful nod to my Romance peers - where do you think I learned all this?)

www.kmtolan.com

When the Ocotillo Bloom - a woman's growth story.

This was my first novel and one very dear to my heart. Having suffered from depression from time to time, I can empathize with my heroine Lynn Devry. This is her growth story.

Blurb:

Lynn Devry takes a summer job at a spa in West Texas hoping to dispel the depression she's experienced since her divorce, only to discover the spa is really a ranch for problem children. Seth Williams, ranch owner and child psychologist still loves his glamorous ex-wife, but finds himself inexplicitly drawn to the needy but prickly school teacher. As this mismatched pair help their young charges improve their self-esteem and modify behavior, both learn it’s not the past that’s important, but the future. Set against the rugged splendor of Big Bend Country, two people meet and discover that all things are possible when the ocotillo bloom.

Excerpt:

At 6:15, she slid the first five pans out of the oven. Cookie started the waiting wranglers through the breakfast line. Though 15 minutes late, no one complained.

At the appearance of Seth’s commanding appearance in the food line, Lynn bristled. She waited for him to comment on their lateness, but he didn’t. He pinched a bite off the top of a flaky biscuit and popped it into his mouth. As he chewed, a grin as big as Texas spread across his face.

“Excellent biscuits, ma’am. I see Art didn’t lie about your baking skills.”

Lynn snorted and turned her back on him. Arrogant man. She’d like to make a few special biscuits just for him. Wonder what he’d prefer, arsenic or hemlock? When she looked again, he was gone.

***********

Seth watched his new bread cook. Her face flushed from the heat of the ovens and the hard work of rolling out biscuits. If she were tired now, she’d be dead when she finished kneading bread dough.

He leaned back in his chair, folded his arms across his chest, and looked around the room. It was going to be a good day. The wranglers were well fed and happy. Lynn’s face lit with pleasure at their compliments. She deserved every one. Her biscuits were some of the best he’d eaten. He considered going back for two more, but didn’t want to experience another glare like the one she’d shot him as he went through the line. Probably because of the big grin he had on his face. Flour smeared her cheek, and a glob of dough clung to a strand of her bangs that had escaped the bandana she wore to hold her hair back. Damned if she didn’t look cute.

You can read the entire first chapter on my website.

Happy Reading and Writing

Linda

Linda LaRoque ~Western Romance with a Twist in Time~
Forever Faithful, Investment of the Heart, When the Ocotillo Bloom, A Law of Her Own, Desires of the Heart, My Heart Will Find Yours, Flames on the Sky 
www.lindalaroque.com/   www.lindalaroqueauthor.blogspot.com/

Branding, we’re not talking cows here

Branding? What is it? I wanted to know more about the term and its use since it apparently applies to us and our writing, not just large corporations.

Definition: Voice? Plot? Values? Reliability: that I will wind up the details of my twists and turns in the plot.

Ah-ha. Branding is me. My integrity combined with my interests and values create my brand, because who I am contributes to and is incorporated into what I write, whether it’s a travel essay, a blog or flash fiction.

But how does my brand apply to my three Champagne novels?

In the contemporary Mortal Coil, a widow with a ten-year old daughter tries to save her nursing home residents from the Ponytail Perp. The cop assigned to the case and she become allies friends, lovers, and more. Brand: sweet romance, family values, sense of responsibility and altruism. Trust the author to wrap up the details.

In Tangled Web, an innocent woman is seduced by what we would now call a player, but in 1935, was a user, a selfish rogue or a philanderer who takes no responsibility for their child. She rebuilds her life and moves from his influence to become a nationally known… Brand: Romance, grit, suspense and eventually sweet romance and the reliability that the author will not only wrap up the details but will not commit any anachronisms.

Coming in 2011: Kill Fee is so named because it involves an environmentally sensitive article that strays into a murder plot and cover-up. Editors want it pulled, thus requiring that they pay the author a kill fee—in more ways than one. No one is innocent. The all too possible story reflects back on the writer and her entire life. By her side is her attorney, with no agenda but to be her helpmate. Sweet romance, loyalty, family values, humor and whimsy wrapped up neatly and logically.

All my writing has commonalties. People have told me, "I found myself agreeing with your article before I saw your name at the end." Or, "I thought that might be yours."

Ellen Smith, our Champagne Books publisher pointed out to me that although the term Branding has been around for several years, newer writers are becoming more aware of it. This is why your Web site must reflect your brand, not just your latest or your favorite book. As Ellen said, "That way, when someone says (your name) they know exactly who they are talking about.

"Branding is especially important when building an author’s platform. It’s what brings your readers to you," she stated.

This makes perfect sense when you consider how we wait to experience the next book by Nora Roberts, John Grisham, Clive Cussler, Dean Koonz or Stephen King, to mention only a few. They are reliable brands in their own genres.

Build your reliable brand and display it on your Web site. You don’t own it; you are it.

　
Julie Eberhart Painter is the Champagne Books author of Mortal Coil, in which she practices both medicine and law without licenses, and Tangled Web, a story close to her heart. See Julie’s Web site at
www.books-jepainter.com The World, the Flesh and the Devil, American Castles and Tahitian Destiny are available from Amazon and Barnes & Noble. Her nonfiction e-book, From the Inside Out, a volunteer looks at staying motivated, is considered a best seller on the Net. Watch for Kill Fee, Coming in October 2011.

The tight rope

Michael W. Davis

Davisstories.com

Like most readers, I want to be taken away from my everyday world when I dive between the pages. The words and images must grab me and not let go. Few authors can do that for me anymore with the thousands of books I’ve read. That’s one of two reasons I don’t read as much fiction as I did twenty years ago (the other is a lack of time given I’ve become consumed by my own demanding muse). So what is it that envelops my mind and encourages me to escape from my life until I reach the last word of a story? Three things:

1. The Voice – The cadence and rhythm of the words must sing in resonance with my inner self so that I am comforted by reading vs. seeing.

2. Realism – Whether its SF, thriller, romantic suspense, doesn’t matter; the descriptions, the characters, the scenes must appear realistic and complete enough that I can form vivid flowing visions in my head.

3. Struggle – The characters most be flawed, if not they’re unreal and incapable of creating empathy with their plight

All three are important to me as a reader, and I would assume the same could be said of many readers. Now, voice is very important, but I don’t find that to be the most difficult in creating my stories. That just seems to come natural, maybe because the voice that goes on paper is actually the voice running in head (I know, I’m a weird dude). However, as a writer item 2 and 3 above require the author to walk two tight ropes, and accordingly are the most difficult to achieve without going to far.

The first tightrope requires balance between too much or too little realism. If we go to far in realism or in the character’s struggles the reader can be insulted, revolted, or overwhelmed with the imaginary. Go to little and the reader becomes uninterested, bored, or remains outside the story. The second tightrope deals with balancing the story with our own belief system or morality, which may not be in tune with the latest fad or the PC police. Need an example? I’ll give you two:

1. My first novel, TAINTED HERO, was about an officer in the special forces conflicted between the modern dilemma imposed by social norms of right and wrong. The story was very real, given the hero and heroine were based on actual people I know, and the struggle was close to what often runs through my spirit. The novel did quite well in that it received six 5 star reviews and the realism of the story and characters was cited very positively by all reviewers, except one. She was horrified. Her contention was that it reflected too positively on our military especially given that they were fighting a war and killing people in Iraq (I kid you not). Now, in creating this story, I recognized the tightrope dealing with the parts of the novel going against some of the more extreme elements of our society that do not respect the military the way I do. You see, for 25 years of my career I worked side by side with men and women that gave everything of themselves, including their lives, for the country they love. I knew that reflecting the truth, the way they really are, their lives, their sacrifice, might anger some but one has to be true to their own belief structure or how can you look in the mirror. In all my stories I do walk the PC tightrope, but sometimes I fall into the pit of telling it like it is, and I do hear about it, but I can live with that.

2. In my novel FORGOTTEN CHILDREN, one powerful scene near the end of the story focused on two characters dealing with their imperfect nature. The female had stayed with a player male even thought she knew his nature was not to commit, and the male exhibited a roaming personality (no, this one was not derived from me, I’ve been hook to the same woman all my life). Now, both these characters are real. I have a sweetheart of a female friend that Sandra was modeled after, and Jim was a real life womanizer that I once knew. Just before this scene, Jim was offered a bitter taste of what his behavior was doing in terms of the women he used by his friend (wonder who that was). The reader learns there is a reason for his callus behavior; not an excuse but demons of his own that have blinded him to the pain he’s caused in others and himself. Jim has an epiphany about his live, what he’s become, and what he’s done. The scene is very powerful because his eyes are opened and he realizes Sandra is what he wants, what he has always needed and, well you’ll have to read the story. Point is, although the book was received well by reviewers (gave me 5 stars) and readers, a couple readers did not relate to that particular scene. Their reasoning was they didn’t like a woman allowing herself to be used like that. Truth is, I struggled with that very issue when I wrote the book, but Sandra’s flaws and Jim’s blindness are real life and made the final surprise outcome extremely moving. I did walk the tightrope, but felt the realism was important to that scene and left it in the story.

Why would anyone selectively leap off the tightrope? Like I said, those elements are difficult to a writer in trying to achieve an acceptable balance for the reader. But sometimes you have to take a risk for your own sanity, say the hell with it, and jump one way or the other, and accept you may hear about it later. After all, you can’t please everyone all the time (g).

Michael W. Davis (Davisstories.com)
Author of the year, 2008

Blind Consent, “The answers are buried in the secrets of the past.”
Forgotten Children, “Only Sara knows the truth.”
Tainted Hero, “Sometimes good people do bad things.”
The Treasure, “A lonely heart can impair one’s judgment.”
Veil of Deception, “Sometimes the truth cuts deeper than a lie.”