Ebook readers – electronic versions of Intimate Distance are now available for download!
The kindle version is up at Amazon, the iBooks version is in the iBookstore and the Nook version is available at Barnes and Noble.
• click here for Intimate Distance for Kindle
• click here for Intimate Distance for iPad
• click here for Intimate Distance for the Nook
And in answer to the question, when is the next one coming out? I’m working on it!
Busily working on edits to Living Canvas with hopes it will be done by the end of the summer. I’ll keep you posted!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Learning by Example
One of the things you always hear in writing is to show, not tell. I’ve seen dozens of articles on the topic with one-paragraph examples embedded within. It’s a fairly simple premise, and yet not always an easy thing to achieve. Description is important to the story so that readers can “see” what you’re trying to portray. As an author, I can see things in my head fairly clearly, but often those things don’t make it to the written page.
One of the things that keep us sharp as authors is to read someone else’s work. In my case, today, I’m reading Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher. I read Stephen King a lot growing up, and then I think I stumbled on one of his books that stretched my imagination a tad too far – or maybe it was something a little too creepy, so I moved on to a different author. I still think he’s a remarkable author, and as my son is now a rabid Stephen King fan, I’m borrowing some of his books.
Picking up Stephen King after a number of years, I’m struck once again at how vividly he portrays his scenes. This is a perfect example of showing your readers what you see in your head. Each character has his own idiosyncrasies so that it isn’t as important what they look like, although you do see that, as what their personal tics are. He takes you deep into their point of view and effortlessly, it would seem, shows you the world through their eyes.
As I read, these things strike me. I’ve always been a hands-on learner, and Stephen King is an excellent teacher in this regard. I finished reading a chapter the other day and sat down to my own work to do some editing. Suddenly, I saw things more clearly. “She walked through the door and into his house.” Seems a straight-forward thing to do, eh? But I found myself asking, What kind of door? What did she see when she walked in? What was she feeling when she walked in? Did anything out of the ordinary catch her eye? There are the usual other sensory responses that I tap, the feel of the door, the smell of food cooking inside, what she hears, etc. After just one chapter of Stephen King, I felt as if I’d just walked out of a seminar on ‘showing’ and, thus, I can apply the lessons to my own work.
It isn’t always easy to weave the details in seamlessly, without stopping the action and taking the reader out of the story to show them. King is a master at his craft, and at a time when I needed a refresher, I’m glad I picked up one of his books.
One of the things that keep us sharp as authors is to read someone else’s work. In my case, today, I’m reading Stephen King’s Dreamcatcher. I read Stephen King a lot growing up, and then I think I stumbled on one of his books that stretched my imagination a tad too far – or maybe it was something a little too creepy, so I moved on to a different author. I still think he’s a remarkable author, and as my son is now a rabid Stephen King fan, I’m borrowing some of his books.
Picking up Stephen King after a number of years, I’m struck once again at how vividly he portrays his scenes. This is a perfect example of showing your readers what you see in your head. Each character has his own idiosyncrasies so that it isn’t as important what they look like, although you do see that, as what their personal tics are. He takes you deep into their point of view and effortlessly, it would seem, shows you the world through their eyes.
As I read, these things strike me. I’ve always been a hands-on learner, and Stephen King is an excellent teacher in this regard. I finished reading a chapter the other day and sat down to my own work to do some editing. Suddenly, I saw things more clearly. “She walked through the door and into his house.” Seems a straight-forward thing to do, eh? But I found myself asking, What kind of door? What did she see when she walked in? What was she feeling when she walked in? Did anything out of the ordinary catch her eye? There are the usual other sensory responses that I tap, the feel of the door, the smell of food cooking inside, what she hears, etc. After just one chapter of Stephen King, I felt as if I’d just walked out of a seminar on ‘showing’ and, thus, I can apply the lessons to my own work.
It isn’t always easy to weave the details in seamlessly, without stopping the action and taking the reader out of the story to show them. King is a master at his craft, and at a time when I needed a refresher, I’m glad I picked up one of his books.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Home
I'm still plodding through rewrites of Living Canvas and fussing about the title. The good part is that it feels WONDERFUL to be writing again after making half-hearted attempts for several months. It may be rewrites, but I'm re-energized by the new direction of the story.
One of the things that I've been working on is describing the concept of "Home." What does Home mean to you? My main character, Audrey, is in her 20's, and because her parents had her when they were older, they're already deceased. This leaves Audrey more or less on her own with no siblings. It creates a very independent person, by necessity, but it also makes a sense of home a bit different. What does home feel like? She has a very close friend, someone who is more like a sister, but that friend is moving on with her life and Audrey is feeling left behind. She's losing her sense of home, even though she's built a nice life for herself - alone. This raises an interesting question, however.
So I'm asking for other viewpoints. How do you define "home?" If I use your definition in the story, I'll send an autographed copy of The Treasure of St. Paul!
One of the things that I've been working on is describing the concept of "Home." What does Home mean to you? My main character, Audrey, is in her 20's, and because her parents had her when they were older, they're already deceased. This leaves Audrey more or less on her own with no siblings. It creates a very independent person, by necessity, but it also makes a sense of home a bit different. What does home feel like? She has a very close friend, someone who is more like a sister, but that friend is moving on with her life and Audrey is feeling left behind. She's losing her sense of home, even though she's built a nice life for herself - alone. This raises an interesting question, however. I grew up in a close family. We continue to be close and I'm blessed that my parents are still alive. For most of my life, we all went "home" for Christmas, or other holidays, or birthdays, or whathaveyou. Having a character who is orphaned as an adult, it makes you appreciate these things a little more, and on behalf of the character, I wonder who celebrates her birthday with her? What does she do for the holidays? As an author, I have bestowed her with shirt tail relatives and, again, a very close friend that is more than a sister to her. That helps, but isn't there still a sense of loss for all those things we take for granted on a regular day? It's a concept I'm still struggling with a little bit.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
All good things come to an end
I've been on vacation for the past week. From the day job. This means bonus time with the writing which I have been fast-tracking.
Elusive Shadows is becoming more focused and tighter. I'm amazed at the amount of work that still needs to be done with it, but that's what happens when you step away from a story for a period of time. I still find myself emotionally invested in it, and one of the common pitfalls in writing is becoming "married" to a scene. There was so much I wanted to show in this story that wasn't needed, for instance, a character tie-in to my first story (The Treasure of St. Paul), which I overdid, and melaleuca trees. I find their origin and history of melaleuca trees in Florida quite interesting and I had tried to work them into the story. I'm sure I still could, but I'd forced it the first go-round, so unless I can determine a better use for them, they've fallen on the editing room floor for the time being. I've also developed a much stronger bond with the characters, who were still introducing themselves during the first writing. I know them better, I understand them better and their personalities can now come through more clearly.
Back to work tomorrow, but I'm still cruising along with the editing. With the summertime allowing more "at home" time, I can continue with my forward momentum on the story. Of course, there are still the outside distractions to contend with. The weather has been marvelous. Having the vacation time, I was able to budget mornings for outside activities and/or chores and the afternoons (heat of the day) for inside, butt in chair, hands on keyboard. Then there was still time for the evening stroll around the neighborhood with DH. Hours in a day - its how you allot them.
I've done it for 20 years - balancing writing with working a "real" job. For me, this is the part of the year where the balance tips in favor of writing. I'm planning my time with a project in hand. While it would be outstanding if I could take these three months to completely devote to my writing, vacation time, like all good things, must come to an end. Fortunately for this writer, that doesn't mean an end to the writing.
Anon
Elusive Shadows is becoming more focused and tighter. I'm amazed at the amount of work that still needs to be done with it, but that's what happens when you step away from a story for a period of time. I still find myself emotionally invested in it, and one of the common pitfalls in writing is becoming "married" to a scene. There was so much I wanted to show in this story that wasn't needed, for instance, a character tie-in to my first story (The Treasure of St. Paul), which I overdid, and melaleuca trees. I find their origin and history of melaleuca trees in Florida quite interesting and I had tried to work them into the story. I'm sure I still could, but I'd forced it the first go-round, so unless I can determine a better use for them, they've fallen on the editing room floor for the time being. I've also developed a much stronger bond with the characters, who were still introducing themselves during the first writing. I know them better, I understand them better and their personalities can now come through more clearly.
Back to work tomorrow, but I'm still cruising along with the editing. With the summertime allowing more "at home" time, I can continue with my forward momentum on the story. Of course, there are still the outside distractions to contend with. The weather has been marvelous. Having the vacation time, I was able to budget mornings for outside activities and/or chores and the afternoons (heat of the day) for inside, butt in chair, hands on keyboard. Then there was still time for the evening stroll around the neighborhood with DH. Hours in a day - its how you allot them.
I've done it for 20 years - balancing writing with working a "real" job. For me, this is the part of the year where the balance tips in favor of writing. I'm planning my time with a project in hand. While it would be outstanding if I could take these three months to completely devote to my writing, vacation time, like all good things, must come to an end. Fortunately for this writer, that doesn't mean an end to the writing.
Anon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)