Series Books - Pitfalls and Pratfalls

I'm gleefully editing my "Schumaker" story. Still enjoying it, in spite of the fact that I'm now into the "work" end of it rather than the less structured, creative aspects. In spite of the fact I've read this story a dozen times already.

As I work out the kinks and clean up the sloppy bits, my mind is racing ahead to the next story (although I can only write one at a time). I've been making notes for Cinda's story (from Living Canvas), but I'm also concerned about writing the second Kundigerin story (Wolf's story), and that concern is reinforced by some feedback I received.

The thing about writing a series (Kundigerin is my first "series") is that you have to leave room to expand on a theme. Provide information to the reader to draw them into subsequent books. In Mist on the Meadow, we find out that Wolf has a gift of his own which is unexplained. And there is a scene in the book which the characters don't quite understand (and that is conveyed, they don't know exactly what happened). Consider those points "teasers" for the next book. The plot is resolved, the relationship is resolved, but some of the more ambiguous points remain so, to be addressed in the next book. I'm pleased that people #1) notice these points, and #2) aren't getting hung up on them to the point where they didn't like this story. It's a delicate balance that I'm still learning.


Part of me feels I should continue Wolf's story before I do Cinda's - and this is the problem with an active imagination. So many ideas! So little time. I didn't immediately embark on Wolf's story after finishing Mist on the Meadow because there is a "recovery" period after you write a story. Finishing a book is like childbirth (you may have heard that analogy). I was exhausted with Wolf and Marissa - needed some time away from them. I had Schumaker on my mind, so I delved into it head-on.

I think of Anne Rice and her Vampire books. I remember reading them when they were "new." She annoyed me with her "open" endings. I like my books, even in a series, to have a beginning, a middle and an end. Anne Rice didn't give me an end. I finished The Vampire Lestat with a gasp, and Queen of the Damned had not yet been released. I was angry! I wanted to know what happened! I'm a little worried that some people will feel that way with Mist on the Meadow. It isn't open ended, but some things are unresolved, to be continued. I owe it to my readers to answer their questions!

And yet Cinda is whispering in my ear.

The final decision will come when I finish "Schumaker" - and I'm getting closer! By that time, Cinda may have quieted down and I won't be so conflicted. I do feel a responsibility to Wolf, after all. And I am chomping at the bit to take a tour of the Schwarzwald. The Kundigerin series is still active in my imagination and seeing some of the "old country" will surely help me perpetuate the folklore I've created. Unfortunately, the trip will probably have to wait until I get to Kundigerin 3 (Uncle Balt and Rosalie). Keeping my fingers crossed (and anyone who wants to share their experiences in that region - The Black Forest, I'd love to hear from you!)

Titles - or How to Summarize a Book in Four Words or Less

I am finishing up the first draft of my next novel, which began with an inspiration from the Grimm’s Fairy Tale of “The Shoemaker and the Elves.” Yes, well, it isn’t anything like that story, really, even though my working title is "Schumaker and The Elf Writer."

From the time Michelle’s father left to serve his country and never returned, Michelle has grown used to men leaving her, and her attractive new tenant is no exception. In spite of their initial attraction, she is determined not to become involved with a man she knows up-front will leave her. But her long-lost father has something to say about that . . .

Author Keith Schumaker is renting a home near the hospice where his mother lays dying while he finishes his latest novel. His agent assigns a ghostwriter to him to get him to “the end,” a ghostwriter who, unbeknownst to Keith, is also his landlord.

Michelle Alvere donates an egg to help her sister conceive, but her sister refuses to help Michelle recuperate after complications from the procedure send Michelle into surgery. Michelle rents out her home and runs away to the South of France to visit an aunt until the baby's due date, but the author renting her house back home isn’t ready to vacate. 

If you're wondering where I came up with "The Elf Writer," based on the "Shoemaker and the Elves," I picked Michelle's surname to represent something Elfin. Alvere, in French, translates to Elf Counsel. As a ghostwriter, that's kinda sorta what she does . . .

Any title suggestions?

Happy Fourth of July - and random-ness

©DJL Photography

I don't wish to be remiss in celebrating our Independence! I hope you celebrate the 4th of July safely and take a moment to thank the people who continue to fight for our freedom. My hope is that our government hearkens back to its beginnings and remembers that they are there by the people, for the people, and not for their own interests or the interests of people who are willing to throw some extra money in their direction.

Remember when being the wrong religion was against the law? Remember when black people weren't allowed to vote? Uh huh. This whole issue of gay marriage has been a puzzle to me. The government has no place telling people they don't have equal rights. Well done, Supreme Court, for taking themselves out of it. Maybe my religion doesn't condone gay marriage, but my religion also doesn't shun people. It's God's place to judge, not mine. We are taught to love one another. Period. 

Okay, off my soap box.

Like Spring cleaning, every now and then you have to take some time away from the everyday to update and freshen your space. I’ve finished doing just that with my author website, and I hope you’ll take a minute to stop by and tell me what you think!

I’ve included a page for cookies, since I have never been able to overcome my addiction to them. I’m doing much better, mind you, but it remains a struggle! With so many delectable treats and so many fun pictures on Pinterest, I felt it was my duty to share.

For those souls willing to share their favorite cookie recipes, I will select a winner on August 1, 2013, to receive an electronic copy of one of my novels (your choice).

The cookie page is still under construction – or rather, I view it as a work in progress. Click here to visit the new website!

© DJL Photography

Writing is Work

For those of you following along, you may know that I've been working on a new story. The creative part is fun, letting loose my imagination to create something that I hope will resonate with someone else and give  that someone a few hours of escape into a different place and another person's head.  The hard part is making it readable.

I tend to be a slap/dash kind of writer. I've tried to neaten up my style, to write "cleanly" through the process, but that doesn't work for me. I start with the kernel of an idea and go forward. Usually, that kernel of an idea barely resembles the finished product. To keep with the analogy, think of popcorn - before and after.

When I begin, I can see the story clearly in my mind, but on my first draft, I don't convey everything that needs to be said. This is where my critique group is invaluable. They point out my missing plot points and my character flaws, which I know intuitively, but which I haven't shown to the reader. Let me take this opportunity to thank them, because they stick with my stories through the "what the heck? That doesn't make sense or even remotely work," phase and quite often don't see the finished product.

My writing progress has slowed, largely due to the fact that as I near the end, I have to clean up some of that mess along the way so that the story makes sense. I still have lots of holes to spackle and paint over. That's the point where writing becomes work rather than fun. It also slows down the forward momentum, knowing that once you reach "the end," you have to start over and fix all the sloppy work that brought you to that point. I did revamp some of my beginning chapters while I was stalled out, and I've been procrastinating by  consulting authoritative guidance for some of my plot points. A part of me is anxious to finish so that I can go back and tend to the messy spots, while the common sense part of me knows that once I begin that process, it will be slow and laborious.

The original inspiration of The Shoemaker and the Elves has long since fallen by the wayside, although it did help me to name my characters. I have no concept for a title at the moment, and yet with a little luck, this book  will be finished by the fall. I am anxious to finish, with two story ideas pushing it forward.

Which brings me to my final question. Which story comes next?  Cinda's story (from Living Canvas), or Kundigerin 2 (part 2 of Mist on the Meadow)?

Back to work . . .

When Do You "Not" Leave a Review?

I'm always on the lookout for the next book to read, and there are frequently good reasons to choose the ones that I ultimately select. In this world of highly competitive authors, I'm starting to feel a little like I do when I go shopping: you can't buy anything unless it's on sale. While that might always have been true (or at least close), these days it's much more attractive to take that book that is "free for a limited time," or at an "introductory price." Granted, I will still pay regular price for the books that I know I want to read, authors I know and trust, or recommendations from friends whose opinions I trust.

The last few books that I've read were disappointing. One author I'd read before and thoroughly enjoyed, so expectations were high. Realization was low. Hoping it was a fluke, I've downloaded another book by her with my fingers crossed. Another was by an author I know personally. Those are probably the hardest, because when you like that author as a person, again, you have high hopes. Again, I was disappointed. The story was excellent, but the writing was a struggle. I almost put it down after the first couple of chapters, but I'm a compulsive finisher, and so I finished it.

I have a hard time reading stories in the "omniscient" point of view. Too often it feels like "head hopping" and you lose track of who's saying what or who's doing what. The last book I read also did a lot of "telling" of the story rather than "showing." And not only did it "tell," it repeated itself. The author had some excellent foreshadowing of events that drew me in, some nice characterizations. There was a lot of positive going on in that book. As a reader, I like to be drawn into the plot, though, and not hit over the head with it. Repeatedly.

I guess this is more or less my review of that book, since I don't intend to leave one for her on the book sites. I find it difficult to recommend, and because I like the author on a personal level, I don't want to dis her on a public level. I'm normally not shy about leaving reviews. Authors want them, need them. The good and the bad. A lot of hard work goes into writing a novel, and I always take that into consideration.

As an author, you learn to take the good with the bad. I'm very excited that I'm getting good reviews for Mist on the Meadow! But I don't expect the story to resonate with everyone. I had one review that was 2 of 5 stars, and yet the reviewer said some very kind things that, to my eye, still recommended it. As I was chatting with one of my other author buddies the other day, we joked about fragile egos and shoring ourselves up for that negative review that you know is just moments away from being posted. Books are subjective. You can't please everyone.

My friend wrote/writes a series of books, and she pointed out that someone had left reviews on every one of the series that were basically identical. And negative. Which begs the question, why did they read every book in the series if they didn't like it? As an example, I read the first several Diana Gabaldon books and was enraptured by the first two. From that point, they seemed to go downhill, and my apologies to Ms. Gabaldon, but I will not be reading any more of her books. I stuck with her through her last one, but the last three have been a struggle, and the last one just plain made me angry at having wasted my time. I'm afraid I've lost interest in the characters.

So to the point - when do you not leave a review? For me, the only time is when I know the author personally and that "nice person" part of me doesn't want to bruise a fragile author ego (which we all have). Reading a negative review from a random reader doesn't phase you nearly as much as one from a peer, and in this case, that author had an endorsement from a well-known peer. So maybe I missed something. Maybe it was that subjective part of my brain that didn't engage in her story. The self-important part of me would argue that the well-known peer didn't actually read it, or was given a synopsis.  The humbler side of me argues that the story was good.

My advice to you - always leave a review after reading a book. The next best thing to word of mouth advertising is a review, and in this highly competitive world, we need all the promoting we can get. If you are compelled to leave a negative review, take into consideration whether this book is "not for me" or "a piece of crap." Balance the good with the bad. Be honest, but be constructive, not destructive.

Hasta

Raindrops on Roses...

I'm officially stuck. I have to admit the hardest parts of writing are those moments when my characters are in mortal danger. On the plus side, once I get past this speed bump, it'll be clear sailing to the end. In the meantime, I want to share some of my favorite things, those thing that make me smile when I'm having a tough day. I hope one of these photos makes you smile, too.

Because we should all have our own castle

My assistant

Waiting for a star 

When I see you Smile . . .

Lil' Rae of Sunshine

Writing with International Flair

Do authors do anything with feedback? The answer is absolutely yes!

I've been receiving feedback for Mist on the Meadow (for which I am truly grateful!). A common comment has been a request to translate the German that was used and/or provide translation tools.

When an author drifts into foreign language, generally it is repeated in English immediately, or by the next character speaking. I tried to do that with MOTM, although I admit I did not translate the German folk song that is referenced. I also did not translate Uncle Balt's term of endearment for Marissa, Liebling.

I have always had a flair for languages, but I do not have a strong grasp of German. I do have German heritage, so there are some phrases and terms that I grew up with (I think it was the great-grands that came over). French is the language I would claim to maybe be able to speak as an alternate to English, and I studied Italian while I was writing Touched by the Sun (The Treasure of St. Paul). I also studied Spanish and have a passable grasp of that language. The thing about French and Italian and Spanish is that because they are all Latin derivatives, once you know one of those languages, the others aren't as difficult to comprehend/learn. I also studied Scottish Gaelic when I went to Scotland, not because I had a need for it, but because of my linguisitic interests. Let me tell you, that was the most difficult to grasp, and I only managed to master a handful of words.

As requested, I'm going to cover the German I used briefly now, and I promise that when I write the second in the Kundigerin series, I will include a guide. Here's the quick, easy, short version, and since I'm not good at transcribing the appropriate pronunciation symbols, where they haven't been provided, I will direct you to Google Translate to "speak" the pronunciation for you.

Liebling is similar to "sweetie, or darling, or honey." In German, when "i" and "e" are together, you pronounce the second one, so in this instance, you would pronounce it "lēb-ling." Meine is "my" and pronounced with the long "i" (since it is the second letter), or mī-na.

Kundigerin is the feminine form of Kundiger, which translates as an expert or "one who possesses specialized knowledge." In its plural form, Germans add "-en."

Eine, translates as "a" or "an."

The German folk song, “Du, du, liegst mir am Herzen” translates "you, are deep in my heart." (I'd be happy to translate the whole song for anyone who wants to know the lyrics).

Dumkoff, well it's pretty much how it sounds (i.e., dummy).

Gut Deutschish stock, this means she comes from good German breeding.

Sprechen nicht, this translates to "I don't speak any (German)." "Ch" is pronounced with a "k" sound.

Fröhliche Geburtstag. Happy Birthday!

Hüter des Geheimnisses. Translate: keeper of the secret. I'm going to send you to Google translate to figure out how this is pronounced!

Ofenschlupfer. There is a direct translation for this, but it is idiomatic, so this should be translated to be understood as apple bread pudding.

Gesundheit. Commonly used when someone sneezes. It translates as "health," or "bless you."

Das ist die Liechtensteiner Polka mein Schatz! Polka mein Schatz! From the Liechtensteiner Polka, the line says "this is the Liechtensteiner Polka, my darling."

mein Schatz - my darling/sweetie/honey.

So that is your German class for the day. There is a phrase that I grew up with that I got a lot of backlash on, so I didn't incorporate it. Evidently, it is more localized, so it isn't widely used/known, and my German checkers suggested I bounce it from the book. It was more for my personal enjoyment anyway (didn't add anything to the story).

All of this being said, does it annoy you to see foreign language used in a story? Would love to hear more opinions!