Guest Posting on Writers Village - Killing Characters.

John Yeoman's Logo - I love it!

Just a quickie to let you know I'm guesting on that great site, Writers' Village. A piece about killing off
your characters. Have a gander and join in the chat. We all need to do our players to death sometimes. How's it go for you?

Click this link to read the piece.

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Author Interview with Jeannie Walker

Jeannie Walker is an Award Winning Author, Award Winning Songwriter and freelance writer. She studied creative writing in New York and Connecticut and is a member of the International Association of Writers. She became a real-life Sherlock Holmes to help solve her ex-husband's murder. She is an avid reader of mystery novels, and the wife of a murdered Texas millionaire, for whom she wrote, "Fighting the Devil". Jeannie Walker's debut novel, the true crime story, "Fighting the Devil" is a 2010 BOOK OF THE YEAR SILVER AWARDS WINNER in True Crime & 2011 National Indie Excellence Awards

Hello Jeannie, please tell us about you, as a writer.

I write because I love it. I write because I believe in truth and justice. I write because I want to reach human beings and tell them to keep trying and to do all they can, because in the end it is worth it, and to let everyone know we are not alone in our struggle. I grew up in rural Oklahoma and later Texas. Most of the reading and writing I did was in school. Growing up on a farm didn't leave a lot of time for anything else except tending to farm animals, feeding and watering the chickens, gathering the eggs, milking the cows, and feeding the pigs. Then there was harvest time when the entire family had to pull cotton, combine wheat, and bale hay. Any spare time I got, I spent outside sitting under a big oak tree enjoying nature and reading a good book. My English teacher at Lone Wolf, Oklahoma was a big influence in my life. Mrs. Schreiner encouraged all her students to excel in reading and writing. I worked hard to achieve excellence and make straight A's because of the respect I had for Mrs. Schreiner and my other teachers in school.

  

Would you tell us something about your latest book?

My latest book is "Fighting the Devil" - A True Story of Consuming Passion, Deadly Poison, and Murder. It is a true crime story, about the murder of my ex-husband, a Texas millionaire, who was callously poisoned to death in an unthinkable and horrendous way. It is depicted the way it really happened with factual accounts, information, recollections and actual dialogue, as well as photos.

How did you come to write this particular book?

The sheriff asked me to help with the murder investigation because the small county could not afford and did not have the time or resources to do extensive research. I became a real-life sleuth to help solve the murder.  I wrote the book to speak for my ex-husband, who no longer has a voice and to tell the aftermath with the strange twists and unexpected results. 

Do you have a favourite character from the book?

My favourite character is the Sheriff, for whom I dedicated the book. He was a small town sheriff, who was very devoted to his job. He died before he saw anyone arrested or justice done in this murder case.

Where can people buy your book?

My book can be purchased on my website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords.

What qualities does a writer need to be successful?

I believe in order for a writer to be successful, they must have confidence in their ability and the patience to persevere.

What’s your working method?

Taking the necessary time to research, organize, and outline before I ever sit down to write the manuscript.

What’s the single biggest mistake made by beginner writers?

Expecting overnight or immediate success.

To what extent are grammar and spelling important in writing?

Yes! It is absolutely essential and vital that there are no grammar and spelling mistakes in the finished product. Grammar errors and spelling mistakes is a turnoff to readers.

How much do you revise your MS before sending it off? 

I delete at least 10 percent from my first draft. According to a writing genius, Mr. Stephen King, the formula for success is 2nd draft equals 1st draft minus 10%.

As a writer of true crime, a non-fiction area, to what extent do you think genre is useful in the publishing world? 

When one thinks of genre, certain images and themes are conjured. Genre theory is important because it informs the reader as to the subject matter.

Many authors see marketing as a bind. What's your opinion on this, and how do you deal with it?

It is a given that authors must market their own product. Nobody knows the product better than the original author. The author has everything to gain from personal marketing, even though at times it can be rather time consuming.  I take marketing my book with a grain of salt and just grin and bear it. I believe that when we market our own products, then we have the right and the fortune to brag of our success and accomplishments.

What sort of displacement activities keep you from writing? 

Household chores, telephone calls, and marketing my book keep me from my writing.

What support, if any, do you receive from family and friends, writing group, or dedicated professionals?

I am blessed in that I receive support from my family, friends and also dedicated professionals, who kindly offer their services and expertise.

Is presentation of the MS as important as agents and publishers suggest?

It is imperative to have a professional presentation of the MS.

How long does it take you to write a book?

Honestly, it took me 20 years to write this true crime story. As it was a murder case, certain things had to happen before I was able to finish it. In real life it can take decades to bring a perpetrator to justice, no matter how seemingly obvious his or her guilt. I was hoping to have a good ending for my book.

Who or what inspires your writing? 

Other authors inspire me.

If there’s a single aspect of writing you find frustrating, what is it?

Finding the time to sit down and actually put my thoughts and research into a readable format.

Is there a particular feature of writing that you really enjoy?

Being able to pick up my own book and realizing I was the one who wrote the book, and was the person solely responsible for making it happen.

Do you believe creative writing is a natural gift or an acquired skill?

Some people do have a natural gift for creative writing. But, most people, like myself, have to study and learn the art of creative writing.

What are you writing now?

I am working on my next true story about my Cherokee Indian heritage.

Do you have a website or blog where readers can visit?

I have a website and also a blog. The links are:  http://jeanniewalkerbooks.com

  http://jeannie-walker.blogspot.com

Given unlimited resources, where would you do your writing?

Given unlimited resources, I would still do my writing on my IMAC computer in my home office.

Stuart's Daily Word Spot: Jealousy or envy?

Jealousy: noun - overwhelming fear, suspicion, or belief one is, or might be, displaced in someone's affections; distrust of the faithfulness of a spouse or lover; of God - His intolerance of the worship of other gods (which has always struck me as an odd quality in a being supposed to be omniscient and almighty); resentment or envy of another person or his or her possible or actual success, advantage, or superiority; rivalry; concern or anxiety for the preservation or well-being of something or someone; vigilance or care in guarding something or someone.

Envy: noun - feeling of resentful or discontented longing aroused by another person's better fortune, situation.

As is so often the case with alternatives in English, its vocabulary culled from so many different languages, there is some overlap in the meanings of these two words. However, jealousy is generally used to convey the emotions felt in areas of possession and protection, and envy generally expresses a desire to actually have what the other person has (instead of them, rather than as well as).

‘One day, your insane and unfounded jealousy will drive a wedge between us, destroy all the love I feel for you, and send me out of your life for good.’

‘Mary guarded her new baby with that jealousy only the new mother knows.’

‘Derek was consumed by envy of his neighbour to the extent he plotted murder so that he might take all those things he thought the man had but didn’t deserve.’

Ronnie Dauber, Author Interview.

SA: Tell us a little bit about yourself.

RD:  I’m a freelance writer and author and I live in Ontario, Canada with my family. I’ve been writing short stories and poetry all my life, winning my first poetry award when I was 12 years old for a regional contest about President Kennedy. I remained actively writing while raising my seven children, and when my youngest was old enough, I returned to full time college to earn my diploma in Business Admin and Common Law. I became a certified Court Reporter and enjoyed my legal career until I sustained injuries in a car accident and was forced to retire early. When I was able, I returned to college and earned three diplomas in writing literature for children and adults. Since then, I’ve enjoyed the time I’ve spent writing stories and I have many creations just waiting to get down on paper.

SA:  Tell us about your current book, Web Secrets, in a few sentences.

RD:  Web Secrets is an adult suspense/thriller, set in present day New York City. It’s about a young bride, Madison Richards, who investigates a personal issue and ends up tangled in a web of lies and deceit. As her family and friends begin to disappear, she has no one left to turn to except a friend in cyber space, and that’s when she discovers that she is the target of a psychopath killer.

SA:  How did you come to write this particular book?

RD: I have watched many movies and read a lot of books over the years, and as well I have a creative imagination. So putting them together often results in potential stories like this one that bounce around in my mind. Once I had the main conflict figured out, the rest came easy.

SA: Who is your favourite character in your novel?

RD:  My favourite character is my protagonist, Madison. She is an innocent young woman who had to grow up in a hurry and overcome some of her inner fears, and she did it under stressful circumstances. Yet, these circumstances didn’t change her beautiful sweet character.

SA: How can people buy your books?

RD: Web Secrets, along with my other novel, is available at Barnes & Noble and at Amazon as a hardcopy, as well as in the Kindle Book Store as an e-book. It’s also available at Lebrary.com and at Smashwords in several digital formats.

SA: What qualities do you believe make a successful writer?

RD: I think writers all possess different qualities in their own way but in general, I think that a creative mind blended with realistic facts and trained writing skills make a successful writer. Being creative allows the story to expand and become full and interesting, and having realistic facts makes it believable – unless you’re writing in the future or another genre like fantasy. Trained writing skills are useful so that the story can be polished and flow easily.

SA:   What do you believe are the most common mistakes that new writers make?

           RD:  I’ve read many first chapters of books from beginner writers and the repeated mistake that I see is they are writing their creation in their own words, but they have little knowledge of proper wording, format, dialogue or grammar, and they aren’t writing with an easy flow. They have a desire to write - and that’s good – but like any other profession, writers need to learn how to develop the skills into what is a good and acceptable manuscript that bears the quality and acceptance that professional publishers are looking for. This is what gives their book the quality to stand out from the others,  and yet it’s the one detail that many writers are bypassing.

SA: To what extent are grammar and spelling important to a writer?

      RD: Grammar and spelling to a writer are crucial in producing a quality novel because it’s one of the keys that denote a professional and quality written manuscript. But having said that, it’s interesting to note that even books written by famous authors might have the odd typo. The difference between that author and an aspiring author is that their name often is what sells their book and followers will buy it anyway, whereas the new author is still at the stage where they’re proving that they can write, and typos can work against their credibility.

SA: How much revision of your MS do you do before you send it off?

     RD: I spend more time revising than I do writing the original manuscript. I revise as I go along and since I know that most things should be introduced to the reader in the first few chapters, when I think of something different later on in the story that I know will work well, I go back and make a mention of it somewhere. This keeps the story flowing and prevents it from having unknown objects pulled out of a hat, so to speak, which makes the story less believable.

SA: Do you have support, either from family and friends or a writing group?

           RD:  I’m fortunate to have a very supportive husband who really believes that I have talent and who encourages me to write. My family is also supportive and they look forward to each new book debut. I’m a member of LinkedIn and I’ve joined several groups where I’m able to keep up-to-date with the writing profession and stay in the now with the business.

SA: Is presentation of the MS important to agents and publishers?

      RD: Yes, presentation of the MS is everything because it’s the “first impression” that reveals the writer’s qualities. This is important when writers want to prove to publishers that their work is worthy of being viewed by them. 

SA:  How long does it normally take you to write a book?

           RD: It doesn’t take me long to plan the story once my creative thoughts get going, and so getting it on paper would normally be done very quickly. Unfortunately, I’m not able to sit for long periods of time at my desk due to my injuries from the car accident and so what should only take a month to get onto paper can take me several months. This is very frustrating but on the other hand, I now have several books in my mind just waiting to get on paper.

SA:  Who or what inspires you?

           RD: I was taught in college to observe every little thing around me because many details in a story can be inspired from them. And so inevitably, everything I see has some part in my creations. My first book, Mudslide, was really inspired by my two sons. One went white water rafting and fell into the river and was caught under the rapids, and the other went on a portage hike where it stormed so much that they spent the entire hike trekking through mud. It didn’t take me long to put these two incidents together with my imagination and my own memories of hiking to create an interesting adventure novel for teens.

SA:  Is there any aspect of writing that you really enjoy?

           RD:  I really enjoy living through my protagonists, especially in the Survival Series. They are able to live and experience some really amazing events and since I have control over them, I can make anything happen that I want to happen and still survive.

SA:  Do you think writing is a natural gift or an acquired skill?

           RD: I think having the ability to write is a combination of both. You need the natural gift of imagination in order to create a story that is complete and that fulfills the reader’s needs, because without it you’ll miss a lot of detail or complacency that gives the story its value. But developing your writing skills is also important because you need to know how to write these creative thoughts in a format and with composition that gives it quality.

SA:  What advice would you give to writers still hoping to be published?

           RD: I would tell writers that the publishing world is changing and that self publishing is an acceptable means to get their book out there. There are actually two key issues that I would advise. One would be to have their manuscript edited by a professional copy editor to ensure that it meets the requirements of a quality manuscript, and the second would be to research the avenues of self-publishing thoroughly via discussions in writing forums and at sites like Editors and Predators, so they can know which ones are good.

SA: What are you writing now?

           RD: Currently, I’m a little more than halfway through the second book – Fire Storm - in the Survival Series. This series is a collection of young adult action-packed outdoor adventures involving four teens that always find themselves at the right place but at the wrong time. Their fun times always put them in a race against time as they become quests of rescue and survival.

SA: Do you have a website or a blog that readers can visit?

           RD: I have a professional blog at www.ronniedauberauthor.com that not only profiles my life as a writer, but links to blogs on my books, as well as books from other great authors. I also have a Face Book page called Ronnie Dauber – author, and I’m also on Twitter at http://twitter.com/#!/RonnieDauber. I invite everyone to please join me there.

For my review of Ronnie's book, Web Secrets, please visit Goodreads via this link.

Author Interview with Victoria Roder

I’m author Victoria Roder.  I live in beautiful central Wisconsin and I’m an average girl that likes to hang out with my family.  We enjoy camping, hiking, shooting bow, and motorcycle rides.  My first novel a paranormal romance ghost story, The Dream House: Visions and Nightmares was released by www.asylettpress.com .  My serial murder mystery Bolt Action was released April 2010 from www.champagnebooks.com

Tell us about your action thriller, Bolt Action.

Secrets of the past, murder, mystery, revenge, deception, sexual tension, and the “State Quarter Killer”; Bolt Action offers it all.  Detective Leslie Bolt is a tough talking, gun hording, motorcycle riding investigator with as much insecurity as the rest of us.  After a childhood of abuse suffered at the hands of her father, Leslie stashes a collection of pistols, revolvers, and even keeps a Browning A-Bolt Stalker Rifle in her broom closet.  She is stand-offish and down right rude.  Having to work a serial murder case with her handsome ex-lover Detective Lance Kestler doesn’t improve her disposition. 

The “State Quarter Killer” is selecting victims that appear to have nothing in common except for the State Quarter placed under their lifeless bodies.  As the body count mounts, Leslie Bolt begins to fall for the sexy medical examiner, Jack Donington.  Perhaps a couple of Harley’s, paint drumming to music, and a new romance can help Detective Bolt conquer her own demons from the past.  When Bolt’s apartment is tossed and her sister goes missing the question rises; will Detective Bolt capture the serial killer before her sister is the next victim? 

Where is Bolt Action available?

From Amazon.com here.

Bolt Action is also available in paperback here. 

How did you come to write this particular book?

I am addicted to true crime shows, so it was just a matter of time before I wrote a serial murder mystery.  The idea of Bolt Action started with the characters, Detective Leslie Bolt and her sister Tasha.  My personal story of adoption was published in the anthology entitled A Cup of Comfort for Adoptive Families, Adams Media 2009.  My story entitled Why I Believe in Angels is the account of how I came to live with my current family at the age of seven.  With their acceptance and support, they helped me become who I am today.  That publication has inspired many people to share their own stories of adoption with me.  Heartfelt tales told through the eyes of parents and also from the children that were adopted.  I am sorry to report I also heard a few troubled stories of adoption, and one comment remained in my thoughts and stalked me.  That sole comment became the disposition for the sisters in my novel, Bolt Action.

Which of your characters do you love/hate/fear/pity the most and why?

I have a spot in my heart for Detective Leslie Bolt.  I can understand her hard, kick ass, outer shell and the chip on her shoulder, but she’s a good person and wants to reach out without knowing how.  I feel pain and pity for her sister Tasha because she acts happy on the outside, but she is bitter and superficial.  Life can be hard, but we choose our positive or negative attitude.

   

How much time do you spent on plotting etc before you start writing?

        

An idea will formulate in my head and once a character starts talking to me I begin writing.  So far, I don’t plot stories out.  I do write a description of the characters down on paper, so that I don’t give them green eyes on page 4 and blue eyes on page 104.  My characters take on a life of their own, I just tell their story. 

Where do you do most of your writing?

 

In my den, but I’ve been known to scribble notes on gum wrappers and restaurant napkins.

 

You’ve also written a ghost story/murder mystery.  

Tell us about your story, The Dream House Visions and Nightmares.      

Although a sweet romance develops throughout the novel, it is a murder mystery wrapped in a paranormal ghost.  I personally have had a recurring dream since I was a child about a house that my family lived.  With encouragement from my sister, Tammy, that dream and the house became the premise for my novel, The Dream House Visions and Nightmares.  A ghost in a bloody nightgown pleads for help for her children, dream sequences of blood spewing out of windows, drowning, and walking across human bones foretell of sins of the past and forewarn of danger in the present.  After recurring dreams stalk her, Hope Graham returns home to learn that the truth can be more frightening than a nightmare. The Dream House Visions and Nightmares contains, ghosts…dream interpretation…revenge…and murder!

It is available at www.asylettpress.com and

Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Dream-House-Visions-Nightmares/dp/1934337641/ref=pd_rhf_p_t_2

What are your current projects and works in progress?

My first picture book, What if a Zebra had Triangles? Will be released by Vintage Reflections Publishing.  I am excited about paranormal thriller, The Haunting of Ingersull Penitentiary that I just finished.   Detective Leslie Bolt will return to kick a little butt in Bolt Reaction: A Detective Leslie Bolt Mystery.  I am also working on a children’s puzzle book, The This, That, and Another Kind of Puzzle Book, and two picture books, An Important Job to Do – A Noah’s Ark Tale and Baby’s First Book of Jesus. 

Please feel free to visit and contact me through my website at www.victoriaroder.com

You can't change the past, but you can choose your future.  

Breaking Faith Published in Full as eBook for all platforms.

As a result of public demand, I've now published Breaking Faith as an ebook in its full version. That means that the ebook now contains the erotic scenes that previously I'd restricted to the print version.
On reflection, I should never have allowed the prudish attitudes of a few readers to influence my decision on this. The erotic content is integral to the story; neither gratuitous, nor extraneous. The book, after all, is about the difference between love and sex: it cannot properly convey that theme without some sexual content.
So, if you'd like to read this book on your PC, Mac or eReader, you can now do so by visiting Smashwords.     In the near future, I intend to place this on the Amazon Kindle site as well, but if you want this for your Kindle, you can still do so via Smashwords.

Review of The Doll Makers by Penny Grubb

The Doll Makers is published by Robert Hale

I met the wonderfully idiosyncratic heroine, Annie Raymond, in Penny’s first detective novel, Like False Money, and enjoyed her doubts, courage and intelligence there. In The Doll Makers, Annie travels from her new post in London to visit her father in Scotland and Penny Grubb highlights the contrasts between the noise and claustrophobia of the capital and the space and relative peace of a small Scottish loch-side town.

The story holds the reader’s interest from the start and keeps a tight grip on it to the last word. Penny has a way of getting inside the heads and hearts of her characters to bring them to life. Even her villains carry characteristics that make the reader care what happens. But it is Annie who we really empathise with, in spite of her faults, irritabilities, occasional snap judgements and chaotic domestic lifestyle, or maybe because of these. Her quick wits, intelligence, bravery and determination drive the story, with its multiple threads, racing us from chapter to chapter, anxious to know what happens next and eager to identify the real villains amongst the panoply of potential candidates.

There are surprises, shocks and moments of sudden illumination in the twists and turns of the plot so that it becomes difficult to put the book down. I was forced by circumstances to read the book in two sessions but would have read from beginning to end without interruption had it been possible. Such is the developing pace of the story that the reader becomes emotionally engaged in the ever more complex puzzles that lead Annie into great peril. The reader is given clues denied the detective and this makes for tension as we see her stepping toward dangers we know of but to which she is blind. Clues are scattered throughout the narrative for the reader to solve the puzzles, but the solution is not easy and I was surprised by the denouement, though it was, in the end, the only possible outcome.

Penny handles scenes of danger particularly well, injecting feelings of fear, anxiety and doubt into the story so that the reader is drawn into the created world. Her meticulous research takes us inside real buildings with Annie, along real streets and into real woodland with her, to perilous drops where we hold our breath and into peaceful glades, where we rest for a while as she ruminates.

The Doll Makers is not simply a damned good read, it is an experience shared with the indomitable Annie as she moves through curiosity, incomprehension, disappointment, betrayal and growing enlightenment to a conclusion that is scary, intense and inevitable. If you enjoy your crime spiced with a mixture of gritty realism, humour, human failings and intelligence, this is definitely a book for you. I don’t generally read crime fiction, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book and heartily recommend it.

 Buy from Amazon UK

Buy from Amazon USA

Review of Little Fingers by Tim Roux.

Tim Roux writes with imagination, style and aplomb. The characters who people his books do so as if they were real men and women, sharing their intimate secrets, their darkest desires, their deepest emotions, their dreams and hopes and thoughts. In Little Fingers, the story unfolds mostly through the words of Julia, a character unique in fiction. Clever, manipulative, hedonistic, obtuse, consistently inconsistent, courageous, beautiful and elusive, Julia lies, exposes injustices, avenges, loves and hates as she takes the reader through the series of events that lead to a series of murders. Accused of murder by the world weary and sympathetic Inspector John Frampton, she sets about discovering and explaining what really happened. But the twists and turns of the plot, fascinating and intriguing as they are, take secondary place to the fascinating characters revealed by her enquiries. This is not a crime novel, though it deals with murder, rape and paedophilia. This is not a romance, though love, sex, seduction and fancy play their parts. It is a literary novel, but not in the inaccessible way of so many such labelled works.

There is courage in this writing. Ideas are aired. Emotions are explored and justice is examined. Some of the characters are wicked, some basically good, some indifferent and others passionate but all have their flaws and all have their reasons for who and what they are. There are no stereotypes here, no cardboard cut-outs. Flesh and blood populate these pages and will make the attentive reader smile, laugh and cry, agree and deny, gasp and hope, and turn the pages till the end is reached.

I heartily recommend this novel. A damned good read.

For other reviews and information visit Tim Roux at Nightpublishing.

You can buy Little Fingers here.

Word of the Day is divorced from the post that precedes it and produced in response to a request from a follower to provide just such a service.

Word of the Day; zambuk – an Australian member of the St. John’s Ambulance Brigade, a first aider attending an event. ‘After Sheila and Bruce collided on an urgent run for the dunny, they had to call a zambuk to sort out their various injuries and slight concussion.’