Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Down for the Count

Happy Tuesday, everyone! Well, I'm out of commission for a couple of days because of an elbow injury. Doc said take it easy on the computer for now so I'll be able to delve in and give my 30 days of crazy writing in November for NaNoWriMo.

Fingers crossed it'll be 100% working by then. Just one week to go.


This year, I plan to write through every day, even if I finish my NaNo novel. Markaza and M both need to be finished, too.

So, we shall see.

Anyway, I invite you to check out some of my archived posts during my couple of days out!

Here are some of the most popular ones according to my stat meter:

Dialogue Exercises - A short series with fifteen dialogue exercises to flex your muscles. Three on each link.
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5

Punctuation Series - All about how to use various punctuation, according to the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition.
Dashing Dashes and How to Use Them
The Period
Comma Part 1
Comma Part 2
Comma Part 3
Parentheses, Brackets, Braces, and Slashes

Choosing a Viewpoint - Pros and Cons of different viewpoints.

lOOk at YoUr xXx series - How to maintain a cohesive online presence.
bLog
wEbSitE
fAceBoOk
tWitTeR
bUsiNeSS CaRd - This one also has a link to a handy PDF you can download and keep.

Your First 100 Words

Enjoy picking through the fun :)

Which ones do you like best?

I'll be back to give you some more tomorrow. Unless some of those authors impacted by the blogger blackout decide to take me up on my offer :)

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Friday, October 24, 2014

Radio Interview

Happy Friday, good people of the blogosphere! Wednesday, I was interviewed on the World of Ink's radio show by Marsha Casper Cook and Willow Cross. I invite you all to listen to our discussion on writing, marketing, and other writerly things.

Here's the link!

Jo Michaels on World of Ink

Hope you enjoy it :)

Did you listen? What did you think?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Thursday, October 23, 2014

Crypt Keeper by K. A. Young - Blog Tour

CryptKeeperBlogTour
Crypt Keeper by K.A. Young Molly Maddison #1 Publication Date: October 21, 2014 Genres: Dark, Fantasy


Purchase from AmazonPurchase from KoboPurchase from iBookstorePurchase from Smashwords
Crypt Keeper Cover

Synopsis:

Book 1 in the Molly Maddison series
Molly Maddison grew up in a funeral home that unfortunately backed up to the largest Insane Asylum in the state. Very few understand what happens after death, Molly does. While other children were playing in the park with their living friends, Molly was in the cemetery playing with the dead. To say she is troubled is an understatement. Now Molly has a new plan, to attempt to lead a normal life, and ban the contact with any of the dead. Realizing that she is madly in love with one of them was never part of that plan. However neither life or death ever go as planned and Molly is called upon to perform her role as the family Crypt Keeper… Is she up for the task? Only time will tell.

B&N


Add to Goodreads

About the Author

KA Young
K.A. Young is a paranormal/fantasy romance author that lives with her family in the South. She began writing because her mind was swimming with incredible stories that were begging to be told. Her love for reading began as a small child when she realized that a good book was an instant escape to a mystical land that could be reached anytime and from anyplace.

Pretty gnarly, eh? What do you think? Will you check it out?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Book Review - The Fly House

Happy Wednesday, everyone! Squee! Boy, do I have a book review for you today. I found myself guffawing over this one, and I'm excited to introduce you to this awesome Indie author. This title will go into my Indie Fever Reading Challenge list, because I've never read a book by Misty before, and am thrilled to now say I have. Anyway, before I get to it, here's my review recap (notice changes to the list):

Misty Provencher The Fly House  REVIEW BELOW
Elle Todd The Elect REVIEW HERE
Molly Taggart Off Target REVIEW HERE
Gloria Piper Finnegan's Quest REVIEW HERE
Skylar Hamilton Burris The Strange Marriage of Anne de Bourgh REVIEW HERE
Tamar Hela Feast Island REVIEW HERE
Rebecca Trogner The Last Keeper's Daughter REVIEW HERE
Scott Marlowe The Five Elements REVIEW HERE
L.K. Evans Keepers of Arden: The Brothers Volume 1 REVIEW HERE
Sarah Mäkelä The Witch Who Cried Wolf REVIEW HERE
Felicia Tatum Masked Encounters REVIEW HERE
David T Griffith The Bestiarum Vocabulum REVIEW HERE
Thaddeus White Sir Edric's Temple REVIEW HERE
Heather Topham Wood The Memory Witch REVIEW HERE
N. L. Greene Illusions Begin REVIEW HERE
J. A. Huss Tragic REVIEW HERE
Pauline Creeden Sanctuary REVIEW HERE
Casey Bond Reap REVIEW HERE 
Casey Bond Devil Creek REVIEW HERE
S. G. Daniels The Druid's Doorway REVIEW HERE
Peprah Boasiako The Hitman WILL NOT REVIEW
C. S. Janey Surrender To You Amazon Kindle $2.99
Morgan Wylie Silent Orchids Amazon Kindle **FREE** ~
Laura Howard The Forgotten Ones Amazon Kindle $0.99 ~
Christina Marie Morales Ambience Amazon Kindle $2.99

A little about the book up for review today:

Title: The Fly House
Author: Misty Provencher
Genre: NA Science Fiction
Length (print): 472 Pages
Buy LinkAmazon Kindle $3.99

Synopsis:
The Earth’s atmosphere is swiss cheese. To avoid the oncoming oxygen crisis, black-sheep heiress, Maeve Aypotu, has been chemically suspended in one of the Archive’s plush, underground, multi-million dollar chambers. Scientists claim they can patch everything up in about 15 years, so, just to be safe, the Archive programmed the chambers to open in 17 years.

And then, everything on Earth went wrong.

Up on the surface, Pluto has taken control of the planet, scorching away all signs of human civilization and reconstructing the environment to suit the Plutian’s lucrative dragon trade. Humans are now laborers, using survival and repopulation as currency among their Houses.

The Archivers, finally emerging from their chambers, are entering into a whole new world. Learning to trust this new community of humans may need to start small—with the fusion of one powerful Rha and one bad ass black sheep—if a damaged race ever hopes to regain control of their alien Earth. 

***Contains adult material***

Now that you know what the book is about, let me get into a few things.

*Will not appear in review elsewhere. Before I read the book, I was completely enchanted with the cover. Dragons? Yes, please! But, once I'd completed the novel, the cover made a lot more sense. I won't go into that here, but you'll love the subtleties once you're done and take another look.*

Time to get into my review!

I snagged this book during a Facebook party where the author was doing some insane promotion. Sad to say, I have a huge TBR list because of my one-click finger obsession. But, I was making a review list, tossed this title into the hat, and was thrilled when it ended up clutched between my fingers. I dove in with gusto and consumed the book in a little over 24 hours. Let's move on to why.

From a Reader's Perspective:
I'm always honest in my reviews, and I have to say, the first chapter of this novel had me wondering how I was going to comprehend what I was about to read. It was difficult to understand without the new language on Earth, and there were few definitions of terms. Needless to say, I was worried the whole book would be written in the same style.

Not so.

After that first chapter, the story really took hold and the language/writing became smoother. Pacing was off the charts perfect, because I had a hard time putting the book down. There aren't long passages of world description, it comes out organically, so I didn't find myself skimming. Score one for the author. But, I got enough to really picture the future Earth I was reading about, with many things being left to my own imagination (which I love).

Character development also is done over the course of the novel, and I was delighted to find I'd want to be BFFs with the main character, Maeve. She's tough, damaged, and demands a man win the right to be with her (much like the dragons). It's probably why Diem, the love interest, was so drawn to her in the first place. He trains dragons. Enough said. One of my favorite characters was the Plutian overseer of the Fly House. His references to human body parts left me with tears leaking from my eyes. I will forever after use the term: pain berries.

Once you read it, you'll understand.

I was able to go back and read chapter one again (and understand it) after I finished the book. So, there's that!

From an Editor's Perspective:
Commas! Eep! I found a bunch of places where commas should've been and weren't, or shouldn't have been and were. It caused me to stumble more than once. Word confusions: metal vs. meddle, seating vs. sitting, woman vs. women, etc... And one big confusion in the story where Diem has been off flying for a while, then returns and wonders why his dragon didn't detect Maeve earlier.

Rating:
1 Star for characters I loved and were complex
1 Star for world building without infodumping
1 Star for pacing and plot
1 Star for making me laugh out loud more than once
-1 Star for editing
Overall: 4 out of 5 stars! Recommended for those over 18 years of age, who love a good sci-fi novel.

Have you read it? What did you think? If you haven't, do you plan to?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

Your First 100 Words

Good Tuesday to you all! Today, we're gonna talk about the first 100 words of your novel, why they matter, and what you can do to help them out. No jabbering today on my part; grab those pens and notebooks and let's get going!

I know you've heard it a million (billion?) times: Your first 100 words are everything.

No, they aren't, but they're a crucial part of the whole.

Think about it. When a reader picks up your book on the shelf, the first thing they read is the back, right? Before they pick up a sample digitally, your synopsis is what they read. Once they're past that hurdle, they'll flip the book over, open the front flap, and read a couple of paragraphs. Or, in the case of a digital book, they'll download the sample, open it, and read the first couple of paragraphs.

If they enjoy it, they'll buy. Look at caviar. People like it, they pay a LOT for it.

So, your first 100 words are important, yes, because they're what will get you the sale.

I guess you could say they're one third of your most important elements. Yeah, the other two are your synopsis and last 1k words (I'll go into the last 1k sometime soon).

So how do you beef up those first few paragraphs to make them something readers are dying to get more of?

Move the reader. Give them a wow moment.

Engage the five senses, and use powerful words.

Let's try a little exercise. In this, I'll try to set the tone, hint at the genre, give a great example of my writing style, set the POV, and give a bit of a setting.

My eyes opened to find total darkness.
All my limbs began to tingle, and my breath came in ragged gasps. There was no light for my pupils to adjust to.
Not one tiny speck of illumination.
Those nightmares I had when I was younger were in my face; all too suddenly a grim reality.
I tried to sit up, to get away from the oppressive inkiness, but my head hit something that felt like wood.
Automatically, my hand moved to touch the spot, and I scraped my knuckles across the timber, making them itch with a thousand splinters.

~98 words~

Okay, now we'll have to edit this to read a little more powerfully. Ready?

My eyelids lifted, and darkness assaulted me. Oppressive, thick, suffocating. Even after a moment of lying still, not one speck of illumination could be harvested to penetrate my pupils and assist my sight.
Nightmares I'd had slammed into me full force, and I tried to rise. Something wooden smacked my head, forcing me to remain supine. My hand moved to comfort my battered forehead, only to end up itching with a thousand splinters as my knuckles scraped the timber.
I shook, wondering what I'd done to deserve my mother's punishment again, aware of the tears that were ruining my mascara.

~100 words~

Notice I got more description and feeling into the second pass. If I went over it again, it would probably remain pretty close to what I have here.

Things you know or can safely assume:
  • This is a young person in a dark place (some kind of box?), with at least a piece of wood that's so close she can't sit up.
  • She's lying on her back.
  • This isn't the first time she's been there.
  • She's afraid of creatures from nightmares or total darkness.
  • First person, past tense.
  • There is zero light to be had, which conveys the person is buried somehow, and it leaves the reader wondering.
  • This is a punishment for misbehavior - But what?
  • She's old enough to wear makeup.
  • She's crying
  • Probably a contemporary thriller or horror story.

From the first attempt to the second, I condensed passages, used better (stronger) words, and gave you more lead-in.

Read them again and see if you can pick up on the things I changed while conveying the same tale.

Flow wasn't sacrificed, and the sentences are more varied in the second part.

Would you want to read more?

That's the idea. You must convey to the reader many things, but it has to sound natural and leave them wanting to turn the page for more.

So, your first 100 words aren't everything, but they're crucial.

Try this exercise on your own, then go here and copy/paste your text to see if your word count hits the mark.

Post your results below! I'd love to see what you come up with.

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Monday, October 20, 2014

Author Interview - Christina Mercer

Happy, happy Monday, everyone! Today, I have the lovely Christina Mercer on the blog. Can I get a shout out of love for this awesome lady, please? I met Christina at the Friday night signing event at UtopYA Con 2014. I was lucky enough to get to sit right next to her (we were arranged alphabetically); and, me being me, I struck up a conversation. Her first image below is her at the signing. Awesome display, huh? She's one amazing person. If you don't have tickets to UtopYA 2015 yet, they go back on sale in November. You can get one here. Grab your pajamas and a cup of coffee, relax, and read on to the end where you'll have a shot at winning a book!


Jo: Welcome to my little piece of Heaven, Christina! I’m so excited to have you on my blog today. I loved researching you for this interview; you’re quite the interesting lady! Ready to get into it?

Christina: I am so ready and sooo happy to be here!

Jo: Awesome! Let's jump in there. I'll start with a book question. *grin* Your books have gotten some serious attention in the competition world. Arrow of the Mist has two significant awards (Semi-Finalist in the ABNA, and an Honorable Mention in the Writer’s Digest 21st Annual Indie competition), and Honey Queen was awarded one (Best-in-show at a California SCBWI Regional Con) so far. Congratulations on those huge achievements. I have to ask you how it felt when you were notified.

Christina: The ABNA contest was my first novel award and it really helped give me the validation I needed to keep going, keep writing, keep persevering toward author-dome. Positive acknowledgement in any form is huge for writers because we are constantly wondering if our stuff is “good enough,” so I was/am utterly grateful to have had my work honored in these competitions.

Jo: Yup, I've felt the exact same way you do about validation. Sometimes, it's just awesome to hear someone say how much your work moved them, eh? I know you’re a beekeeper, and I ran across some interesting tidbits about them on your website, but I have to know the exact moment you formulated the idea for Honey Queen.

Christina: Honey Queen came to me the beginning of the summer in 2011. I was tossing the idea around with my teenage son and he actually came up with the title before I’d written a word of the story. The book is a mix of my passion for writing young adult stories and my love of honey bees. And I’d never read anything else like it!

Jo: I've never heard of anything like it, either. I already bought it, and it's on my early 2015 TBR list! *grin* Why are you driven toward Celtic lore? Irish roots?

Christina: My mother’s side is Irish, but more than that is a life-long fascination with mythology. Celtic countries in particular revered nature, trees, herbs and also the unicorn (my child-hood obsession). Many of our nature-based paths today stem from Celtic traditions that speak to me on a deep level. I will also say that Greek mythology provided my imagination with visions of Pegasus and beautiful oceanic goddesses, and so where my first two books honor my love of Celtic mythology, Honey Queen showcases inspiration from Greek myths.

Jo: Um, what little girl doesn't dream of having a unicorn? *giggles* Guilty! I love mythology. Took a class in college for the heck of it. We should talk about it sometime because I'm not as familiar with the Celtic lore. Your books all have awesome reviews on Amazon. That rocks! Are you nervous about what every author dreads (the low rating)? What do you think you’ll do?

Christina: LOL. I’ve already had that first “bad” review (though not on Amazon), and it put me in a total funk for a day. Then I realized that every author gets them, even the big players. It’s bound to happen because our stories simply won’t appeal to everyone the same and everyone has a right to their opinions. Constructive criticism is good because it helps us grow, and I appreciate a well-thought-out review, even if it’s a “low-rated” one. But I do take comfort in the fact my books have received mostly great feedback! :)

Jo: Explains why I didn't see it. I love that outlook. I remember the first low review I got for I, Zombie, and it was well thought out and concise. I appreciated the reviewer taking the time. Plus, she was super sweet about it. Let’s talk about your brain child, Indie Visible, for a moment. What’s the goal of IV, where did the idea come from, and what are some of your future plans for the group?

Christina: Indie-Visible 1.0 actually began in the fall of 2012. I joined the group a couple of months after its inception and worked alongside some super dynamic women. We had a good routine for blog posts and book reviews, with our overall aim to eventually provide a site where Indie authors could gain advice and referrals to Indie publish their books. A variety of factors contributed to the re-launch of Indie-Visible 2.0 (watch for it on February 1, 2015!) with three of us from the original group plus a few other awesome additions to comprise the core crew, along with a list of bloggers and freelance experts to make up our larger membership. Our greatest mission is to provide a one-stop, extremely interactive site where Indies can build their publishing teams and where readers can find quality Indie books while having fun with the authors they love.

Jo: I'm super excited about it. IBGW is so honored to be part of your group. Indies banding together? We may take over the world. *grin* So, you say you’re naturally shy, so how do you force yourself to open up and meet people? Do you put that shyness trait into any of your characters?

Christina: Boy, it has been a slow process overcoming my shyness. Publishing my first book and having my first signing was a big step (it helped that lots of family and friends were there). The more I actually put myself “out there” with signings and interviews, the easier it became. Public speaking is perhaps the truest test and when I had my first speaking gig at a high school, I surprised myself in how calm I felt. I believe the camaraderie I have found within the writing community and the support given from those who enjoy what I write has done wonders for this once painfully-shy girl to overcome her fear.

Jo: I would've never guessed you were shy! So, you're doing a great job. Time for some rapid fire questions! Circles or squares (you can’t say hexagons! LOL)?

Christina: No hexagons? Okay, then Circles :)

Jo: Disposable or reusable?

Christina: Reusable

Jo: Vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry?

Christina: ALL! Oh, all right, Vanilla


Jo: Time travel question! I love these. So much fun to see what people say. Here we go: If you could go back and change one major event in history, what would it be and what impact do you think it would have on the world? I know, I’m tricky. *innocent grin*

Christina: Oooh, that question could generate an entire essay from me! Everything in history has had a domino effect in causing the next big event, and the next after that, so that the true roots of events causing devastation actually stem from things set in motion way, way before the events take place, so choosing one thing, one root thing is HARD! I mean I could go back as far as the time of Christ or Constantine or when the Black Death hit or less far back to Slavery in America or the Stock Market Crash or when Hitler became Chancellor of Germany or the Vietnam War or 9/11 . . . And I’m not even going into the fact that out of many horrific events, great things have also been born (inventions and human interactions that might not have happened otherwise). So, changing history is VERY TRICKY indeed!

BUT in keeping with the question, I’ll stick to the 20th Century and go back and abolish WW I as the major precursor to events (the biggest one being WW II) that caused massive devastation and forever changed our modern world.

Jo: Sweet answer. I'm a tricky type of person. *evil-laugh* I know you and Chelsea Starling are very close. How did you guys meet, and what makes you work so well together?

Christina: We actually met right after the launch of Indie-Visible 1.0 in 2012 when I jumped on board with the group. We really got to know each other soon after that when Chelsea created my web site and the cover for my first book. We “clicked” right away, as if we’d known each other forever, and when I learned her birthday was the same day as my husband of 27 years, it made perfect sense :)

Jo: She does some awesome website work. I love her designs! Isn't it funny how there are those people you just mesh with? Well, before this post gets too dang long, I’ll have to end it here. Is there anything I didn’t ask that you wish I had, or any little nuggets of shame you’d like to share with my readers?

Christina: I’m honored to be here amid such a fantastic audience!

Jo: We're honored to have you! Thanks so much for joining me today. I can’t wait to see you at UtopYA Con 2015!

Christina: Thank YOU for having me!! And I am counting down the days until UtopYA 2015 :)

Jo: Aren't we all?

Now, it’s time to reveal the featured book of the week!

Title: Honey Queen
Author: Christina Mercer
Genre: Young Adult Fantasy/Paranormal Romance
Length (print): ~185 pages
Buy links: Amazon Kindle $2.99 ~ B&N $2.99 ~ Kobo $2.99 ~ iBooks $2.99

Synopsis: Love is honey sweet, but it comes with a fatal sting . . .

Melaina Maris needs wings to fly the gap between loving Sam and her family’s ancient curse that forces carnal love and then kills the male lovers. She won’t let the same fate that killed her father befall another. She refuses to allow her goddess-created bloodline to continue. But there’s no easy way out, especially after the curse turns her into the Honey Queen—savior to honey bees—intensifying her charms.

To help her fulfill the curse’s demands in the least harmful way, her grandmother takes her to mate with terminally ill Boyd. But Boyd’s gay. And an expert in mythology. Instead of having sex, Melaina learns how she might summon the goddess who created the ancestor bee-charmer and cursed her bloodline. Melaina's magic—tears to save honey bees from endangerment—could be enough to persuade the goddess to end the curse. But an unexpected discovery soon changes that hope, spinning Melaina into a swarm of love, friendship and death.


While your fingers are in the clicking mode, why not give this lovely lady a follow on every social media platform I could think of when writing up the template for these interviews (plus some)?

Twitter: @cwritebuzz
Facebook: Christina Mercer Writes
Pinterest: Christina Mercer
Website: Christina Mercer
Blog: Christina Mercer
Goodreads: Christina Mercer
Google +: Christina Mercer
LinkedIN: Christina Mercer
Instagram: cmercerbuzz

Christina has been so kind as to grace us with a GIVEAWAY! Holla! Enter with the Rafflecopter form below.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you have any questions, pop them into the comments below! Christina will be happy to interact with you.

Well, that’s all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo

Friday, October 17, 2014

Length of Novels - It Matters

Happy Friday! Welcome back to the humble ablog! Exciting things coming for you next week! Here's the current lineup: Monday - Author Interview with Christina Mercer, Tuesday - Your First 100 Words, Wednesday - Book Review: The Fly House, Thursday - Crypt Keeper Tour K. A. Young, Friday - Fractured Glass Cover Reveal. Yeah, so you wanna come back for all that.

Also, I'll be putting together the official reading list for UtopYA. A page will be dedicated to that endeavor. Be sure you check that out, as well as voting for the official poster design (coming soon)!

Today, we're gonna talk about the length of your novel and why it matters. Remember that post on genre from yesterday? We're keeping with that theme. So, grab your pens and notebooks and let's get going!

Let's begin by thinking about why page count plays into your novel writing. If you write epic fantasy, your books will be really long (think LOTR) because you'll be taking time to explain things and build characters and worlds so the reader can see and feel them. You can't label a book that's 100k words in length as epic fantasy and not expect backlash from fans of the genre. In contrast, you don't want a contemporary romance to end up with a 300k word count, either.

So how to know?

Your research lies in the best seller list. Go look at the most popular books in your genre and see how many pages they have. I'll get to the math on factoring an approximate page and average word count in a moment. Write down the top three best sellers and navigate to their Amazon pages. See how long they are.

Now for the math.

I'm gonna use some numbers I grabbed really quickly from the Young Adult list here:

320 pages: If I Stay by Gayle Forman
337 pages: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
306 pages: Where She Went by Gayle Forman

See a trend? Yeah... So, we now have a page count that we'll average. Add all the numbers together:

320 + 337 + 306 = 963

Divide by three:

963 / 3 = 321

For every four pages, you have about 1k words. So, divide by four:

321 / 4 = 80.25

Multiply by one thousand:

80.25 X 1000 = 80,250

Now, I don't know about you, but I've heard Young Adult books range from 35-75k. Our number is slightly more. Go figure.

So, you can gather readers of Young Adult enjoy a length of around 80k. 

This matters because you don't want to try and sell a 300k word novel to a crowd that enjoys, on average, 80k words. You won't do well. After all, you write so others will read your work, right?

I hope this helps you in some way.

What do you think? Did you try it for your genre?

Well, that's all for today, folks! Until next time, WRITE ON!

Jo