And I completed the lessons and I think you’re going to like them!
Remember I had planned to release my new book this week? Then descended my head cold and my mind no longer functioned. I was sitting at a spreadsheet trying to input numbers, wondering why they weren’t showing up-and I was inputting them into a calculator I was holding in my hand, which wasn’t even turned on-that’s how out of it I get on cold/flu meds. I soft published the book and if you want to download a free copy for yourself, it is running as a free download, but only for August 29 and 30-Monday and Tuesday. If you would care to download it so you can read it and leave me a review-on those days, it’s free.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BBKMZXWJ
And then Dan got the cold as well. Behold two older folks trying to take care of the animals, meet deadlines and in general, do chores while really longing to go back to bed. It has not been a pretty sight. Luckily, the animals are diverting,m if not healing.
My cold has progressed far enough I am no longer on the medication, so my mind is slowly unwinding. I remembered some things I wanted to share with you; first the third week of November, the 13th til the 18th, I will be at the 20bookto50k Indie convention in Vegas-I am looking forward to meeting with many of my fellow authors and learning tons from seminars, not so much hitting the Vegas streets, but am planning on a few souvenirs. Of course, I need to be good and get two more books out before I close my catalog, put it on a QR code, and hustle off on a plane. I’ll keep you posted on the trip.
I will be having one really large giveaway concurrent on the trip so watch for a huge end-of-the-year giveaway with over 100 books, a kindle as a grand prize, and other goodies. Now I am being up front with you when I tell you I do these giveaways first, to add good folks to my email newsletter list and next to find new ARC readers and finally, I love gifting. It’s in my blood. That’s also why I am putting hints to you about writing I have learned over the years; and will soon be putting out official lessons you will be able to read, learn from, and put to actual use. I believe in giving back. And if you have anyone who would like to be on my advanced reader list, ask their permission and send them to this website to sign up. And now, on to the aforementioned hint of the week.
Hint of the Week
You’ve read, studied, and invented characters with a plot. After the exposition(introduction), you need to set a crisis, a conflict, a rising issue for your character. If it’s a mystery, it could be a murder, or a mission person or object. If it’s historical, you might make sure your facts about the era are correct and go with a specific event that your character was part of while it happened. If it’s science fiction, maybe a missile blew up? You need a crisis that this book will solve next. It needs to build over several pages or chapters. Lead your characters into that making it a doable dilemma. Don’t box your character in so he can’t escape. Make it realistic. I remember a joke about a little boy who was trying to tell a story to his dad one night. He said, “And there were Indians coming from the north side, and the rebel army from the south and the monsters from the mountain caves on the west and the buffalo were stampeding from the east and the ground had terrible snakes everywhere,” and the little guy stopped obviously trying to figure out what to say next. His dad said, “My! Jake there is in real trouble! How are you going to get him out of it?” The little guy sort of scrunched up his forehead and then brightened and said, “And them God swooped down with a Winchester…” Your story has to be believable or people will toss it. God doesn’t need guns and you can’t overwhelm your characters with too much crisis. They won’t live and neither will your book.
Watch out for announcements on when the first completed lesson(much longer than these hints!) is going to be released for you. But for now, I am taking this cold back to bed and dreaming of the day I don’t have to have colds, go to work at an office but can stay and write down all the stories I have coming up under the imagination tree; blessings and peace and sleep well.