Six Sentence Sunday: The Killer Valentine Ball

For fun, thought I'd try something different and share some sentences from my short story, The Killer Valentine Ball for Six Sentence Sunday.

Jess wonders if maybe, just maybe, there's a way to save this one when she goes out on a blind date -- on V-Day of all days! (Can you say loser?)
Well, it turns out to be a night she'll never forget...

Six sentences from The Killer Valentine Ball by C.A. Verstraete

The music played quietly in the background. When the shadows brightened, Jess caught a quick glimpse of one of the couples. The young man's mouth gaped open. His partner's gown glistened with streams of dark ribbons. The light flashed again and Jess gasped. Those weren't ribbons!

** You can read more about Jess from The Killer Valentine Ball today as well at the MuseItUpPublishing blog.

Miniature Gifts!

I'm so behind that I figured I'd better show the mini gifts I got from my mini friend Kitty in Holland. She always makes such fantastic purses, totes and display boxes. I'll have plenty for my ladies' shop I've been collecting things for. (forever!)

The robe is a pretty iridescent fabric, and it's hand-sewn! The tote and bag are great too! She also hand sews her pillows and most of her mini clothing. And she knits the hats, too. Something I can't do!





We've been friends and trading minis for about 10 years now I think? It's always fun and we both enjoy sharing our projects.

Next time I'll show the fantastic things she sent for Valentine's Day! After that, I'll show the half scale Tudor house/shops in progress, so be sure to come back Monday!

Peg Herring, author of new mystery, The Dead Detective Agency, says Don't Slow Down Your Readers!

Today, I welcome Peg Herring, author of the new mystery, THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY.

About the Book:

Secretary Tori Van Camp wakes one morning on a luxurious ocean liner where she is offered whatever a person might desire: food, clothes, recreation, and the companionship of congenial people. But Tori has no memory of booking a cruise. What she does have is a vivid recollection of being shot point blank in the chest.

With the help of the stunningly handsome Mike and the unnervingly serene Nancy, Tori soon learns the purpose of her voyage. Still, she is haunted by the image of the gun, the crack of the shot, and the malevolent face of the shooter. Who wanted her dead, and why?

* Contest: Comment here and on any of the blogs, or answer "The Poser" to be entered in the drawing. * See the next blog stop.

The Poser: Name three books/series with a female P.I. as protagonist.

The Prizes: Weekly prizes (your choice of THE DEAD DETECTIVE AGENCY in ebook or print format) will be drawn from the names of those who comment on the blogs as we go. Comment once daily, but the first commenter each day gets entered twice in the drawing on Saturday!


Slowing Readers = Bad Policy
By Peg Herring

In fiction, anything a writer does that slows down the reading experience is probably not good. We read fiction to escape and enjoy, and we should generally not have to stop and think—or stop at all. Reading a mystery novel should be like floating down a river, but sometimes authors make things difficult, and it’s more like slogging up a mountain.

Author intervention, those times when the writer’s attitudes and beliefs slip into the story, slows the flow of the narrative, and I always wonder how it slips past the editors. If in a novel I think, “This guy is trying to convince me that the government is evil,” the story becomes less enjoyable. Now, if I’m shown that the government is evil, okay. But if characters sit around and talk about how evil the government is, or if the main characters think a lot about how evil it is, I’m taken out of the story. And that’s bad.

Another way authors slow a reader down is by going over the emotional aspects of the story again and again, especially toward the end, when the action should pick up. If you’ve read a book where the author visited for the fourth time the protagonist’s doubts about whether his father really loved him, you might have wanted to shout, “There’s someone sneaking up behind you with a knife! Leave the angst for later!”

Avoid the Dump

Some writers describe every outfit worn by a character and every setting visited. Unless it is important to the plot, that information can be woven in or even left out. Most readers create their own images, so brief, simple descriptions, casually thrown in as the story progresses, are better than overkill. Even history or detail on a topic should be inserted carefully. I dislike the “Tell us what you know about the history of archery, Jane” that often precedes page after page of “info dump” in a way no real conversation would.

It’s true that great authors of the past introduced stories slowly, describing everything from rock formations to apparently unrelated action (think THE GRAPES OF WRATH-the turtle crossing the road). Most writers today, especially mystery writers, can’t get away with it (unless you’re a dead Swede).

Another noticeable slowdown is repetition, like overuse of characters’ names. At first it helps us get people straight, but later it isn’t necessary, particularly for major characters. As long as there is no confusion, pronouns work well, being such faint words as to be almost unnoticeable.

The same is true of dialogue tags, modifiers, and what I call “empty phrases”, those that don’t need to be there. “Alicia noticed that Tom seemed angry.” Why not just say, “Tom seemed angry?” For writers, I’ll offer a cure for repetition on the 18th at Bo Parker’s blog, but as a reader, I get irritated at the drag on my consciousness. If a story is moving well, I should not even notice individual words and phrases.

There are people who like a leisurely story, who don’t mind if a body doesn’t appear until page 71. I am one of them IF the writing is good and the characters are intriguing. Even then, readers don’t need to be slowed by unnecessary words, author intervention, obvious “teaching moments” or needless description.


The Perpetrator: Peg Herring writes historical and contemporary mysteries. She loves everything about publishing, even editing (most days). Peg’s historical series, The Simon and Elizabeth Mysteries, debuted in 2010. The second in the series will be available in November from Five Star.

Writing Tips today at Teen Word Factory

Today, I share some writing tips at The Teen Word Factory. Stop by and say hi!

Welcome to Lois Winston, author of crafty mystery, Assault with a Deadly Glue Gun; BONUS How-to: Make a Button Pot!

Today I welcome Lois Winston, author of Assault With a Deadly Glue Gun, an Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery new this month from Midnight Ink.

The Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries series features magazine crafts editor and reluctant amateur sleuth Anastasia Pollack. ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, the first book in the series, received starred reviews from both Publishers Weekly and Booklist. Kirkus Reviews dubbed it, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” (And how can you resist a book with a crew of animals, including a devilish French Bulldog?)




Lois is also published in women’s fiction, romantic suspense, and non-fiction, as well as being an award-winning crafts and needlework designer and an associate of the Ashley Grayson Literary Agency.

About the Book:

When Anastasia Pollack's gambling-addicted husband permanently cashes in his chips in Vegas, her life craps out. She's left with two teenage sons, a mountain of debt, and her nasty, cane-wielding Communist mother-in-law. Not to mention a loan shark demanding $50,000.

Anastasia's job as crafts editor at American Woman magazine makes life even stickier when she discovers the dead body of über-ambitious fashion editor Marlys Vandenburg hot-glued to Anastasia's office chair. Marlys collected enemies and ex-lovers like Jimmy Choos. When evidence surfaces of an illicit affair between Marlys and Anastasia's husband, Anastasia becomes the prime suspect. Can she sew up the case and keep herself out of jail before the real killer puts a permanent end to her investigation?

** Comment on this or any of the other blogs during the month-long tour to be entered into a drawing to win one of five copies of ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN. If your email isn’t included in your post, email Lois at lois@loiswinston.com to let her know you’ve entered.

* Watch the Video * Check out Anastasia Pollack's blog
* Keep reading for her take on crafts and a fun, easy how-to!



Now, here's Lois:

Thanks for inviting me to guest at Candid Canine today, Chris! In ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY GLUE GUN, the first book in my recently released Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, Anastasia is living with quite an eclectic menagerie, including Mephisto the Devil Dog, her communist mother-in-law’s French bulldog. I dare say, the dogs in your books are a lot nicer!

Anyway, I’m here today to talk about crafts, not dogs. I’m always amazed when people tell me they don’t craft because they have no talent. The beauty of crafting is that anyone can do it, talent or no talent, depending on the project. Just as you wouldn’t pick up a paintbrush for the first time and expect to recreate the Mona Lisa, you don’t start crafting projects meant for experienced crafters. You begin at the beginning. Do that, and your confidence will grow with each project, and you’ll begin to challenge yourself, moving from beginner projects to intermediate projects to advanced project.

I’m a big fan of buttons as a crafting medium. Who doesn’t have a tin, box or jar of miscellaneous buttons squirreled away somewhere in the house? Maybe you inherited them from your grandmother or mother. Maybe they’re simply all those extra buttons that are pinned to clothing you’ve purchased over the decades. I love crafting with these buttons. You can turn them into anything from jewelry to home dec items.

By the way, did you know that the button was originally created for ornamentation, not as a fastener? Primitive buttons made of shell, bone, wood, and metal have been found dating back to 2000 BC. However, evidence of buttons being used as closures is not found until sometime around 1200 AD. By the middle of the 13th century there are references to button makers in the laws governing French craftsmen guilds. (Bet you weren’t expecting a history lesson when you started reading, were you?)



So back to crafting… the photo of the button necklace (which was a gift from a crocheter) is a project that requires a certain amount of skill. Although it’s a simple project if you know how to crochet, it’s intimidating for someone who doesn’t crochet.

Now take a look at the flower pot picture. Cute, isn’t it? And you know what? It’s a project that’s easy enough for a child. So don’t be intimidated. Pull out your stash of buttons, and follow the simple directions below. Happy crafting!



MAKE A BUTTON POT

Materials: Terra cotta pot (any size); clear acrylic sealer; tile cement or glue for plastic/metal/glass (Note: if doing this project with children, be sure to buy the non-toxic variety of glue); assorted buttons without shanks; felt; marking pen.

1. Make sure pot is clean (scrub well in soapy water, rinse, allow to dry.)

2. Coat the inside and outside of the pot with clear acrylic sealer.

3. Place the dry pot on a scrap of felt. Trace around base of pot to draw circle. Cut out the circle inside traced line so that circle will fit over pot base without sticking out beyond the bottom edge.

4. Glue felt to bottom of pot.

5. Glue buttons randomly around pot.

Dumb Crook & Would-be Felon Friday - The Traffic Stop

I've thought about starting this blog series every time I read the paper, so here's the first installment showing just why crime doesn't always pay...


STOP!

In Wisconsin, a 17-year-old boy pulled over on a traffic stop gets his license out of his wallet, and oops! out comes some marijuana with it. You wanna bet he's thinking, gee, so that's where I put it? (Well, maybe the age explains it?)


** Yes, they'll get better as there's no lack of criminal "geniuses" out there... In the meantime, feel free to share your own DUMB CROOK story....

Welcome to Evelyn David, author of Murder Off the Books and other Brianna Sullivan Mysteries

Author Independence Day
By Evelyn David

Last October we – authors Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett who write together under the name Evelyn David - decided to join the ebook revolution and become an Indy Author.

Yes, we have two mysteries that have been published through a traditional publisher and we plan to continue that method of getting books to readers. Murder Off the Books and Murder Takes the Cake are available in print and ebook formats from Wolfmont Press.



The cozy mystery series, true whodunits we call "fast, fun, and furry mysteries with a little bite," feature a private detective and his trusty sidekick, an Irish wolfhound named Whiskey. The third book, Murder Drops the Ball will be published in spring 2011.

While our series is traditionally published, with the influx of e-readers and their growing popularity, we not only wanted to be part of the new wave of ebooks, we wanted to ride it from the beginning. We wanted more.

Going the traditional publishing route, it takes two years at a minimum to write, edit, find a publisher, edit some more, get on the publisher's schedule, and finally if everything goes right, end up with that same book in a reader's hands. Often the time frame is a lot longer - or if you can't interest a publisher in your book - the time frame is "never."

With ebooks, the clock runs faster. The author writes the book, edits it (or hires an editor), formats it (or hires someone to format it), creates a cover, uploads it to one of the many new digital publishing platforms (Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, Google), and in a couple of days, the ebook is on sale ready to download into e-readers all over the world.


What's an Indy Author?

The best we can tell, it means the same as "self-published" but without all the negative connotations of the past. Writing and publishing your new novel directly to ebook without the services of an agent or publisher is not only possible, but popular. If you have books that are now out-of-print, assuming you had all rights reverted back to you, becoming an Indy Author can mean continuing to earn money on stories you thought were, pardon the pun, dead.

We had written several short stories detailing psychic Brianna Sullivan's adventures in a small, fictional Oklahoma town, but hadn't found the perfect way to publish or market them. Too short for a novel, but too long for traditional shorts for magazines, we decided to develop the series in volumes of ebooks with the total word count of each volume coming in at about 16,000-18,000 words. And most importantly, we decided to self-publish them. Wait, let me revise that statement. We became Indy Authors.



To date we've published three volumes - I Try Not to Drive Past Cemeteries, The Dog Days of Summer in Lottawatah, and The Holiday Spirit(s) of Lottawatah, available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Smashwords. A fourth ebook is scheduled for release near Valentine's Day.


Tackling the impossible?

We began the process of converting our stories into ebook formats without any idea of how to go about it. Of course we're used to jumping into the deep end as we only learned afterward that collaborating on a novel was supposed to be impossible and we've been collaborating for six years now without any problems.

So when we decided to publish the Brianna Sullivan Mysteries, we were used to taking risks. We researched the formatting processes and taught ourselves how to do it. We are both readers in addition to being authors, so we learn how to do something by reading about it.

The best "how-to" guide we found was the free guidebook at Smashwords, an ebook publishing and distribution platform. You upload your manuscript and Smashwords converts your book into multiple e-book formats, including Kindle, Nook (e-pub), pdf, Apple iPad, etc. The guidebook also helps get your book ready to upload directly to Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

If you have enough patience to read the guidebook several times and can follow instructions to the letter, you can successfully format and publish your own ebook. And if you can't - based on your past history of never being able to put together "some assembly" required furniture without parts left over, or never being able to install a software program without crashing your computer- save yourself a lot of hair pulling and hire someone to format your ebook while you write the next one. Either way you win.

One warning. Being all things - author, editor, cover artist, and publisher - means you are responsible for not only writing a good book, but editing it, and making sure the formatting results in an ebook that readers want to read. If you skimp on any part, your sales and reputation will suffer. If you have questions about our ebook journey, please feel free to ask.


About the author:

Evelyn David is the pseudonym for writers Marian Edelman Borden and Rhonda Dossett who together author The Brianna Sullivan Mysteries, Murder Off the Books, Murder Takes the Cake, and the short story, Riley Come Home.

Marian lives in New York and is the author of 11 nonfiction books on a wide variety of topics ranging from veterans benefits to playgroups for toddlers. Rhonda lives in Muskogee, Oklahoma, is the director of the coal program for the state, and in her spare time enjoys imagining and writing funny, scary mysteries.

Marian and Rhonda write their mystery series via the internet. While many fans who attend mystery conventions have now chatted with both halves of Evelyn David, Marian and Rhonda have yet to meet in person.

** Don't forget the contest at the end!

** Check out Evelyn David's appearance schedule and writing projects at The Stiletto Gang blog, and at the website.






**CONTEST!! We'll give two winners their choice of one of our Brianna Sullivan Mysteries - in the ebook format of their choice. If they already have the first 3 volumes, we'll give them a copy of volume 4, being published next week - Undying Love in Lottawatah.

The first winner is for the best comment left on the blog by Sunday 6 pm Central. Or if they have problems leaving a comment, they can send a email to us at evelyn@evelyndavid.com saying they read the blog.

Daily A to Z Blog Challenge in April

Glutton for Punishment? Join me in April as I try the Daily A to Z Blog Challenge beginning April 1. Sounded interesting since you use letters of the alphabet as a starting point. Posting will be daily except Sunday.

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie?

Or don't, according to a recent study that says that sleeping with your dog will make you sick.

Junk science? Another scare story?

Of course, kids should not make a habit of letting Fido or Kitty sleep with them. (Then again we're talking about kids who roll in dirt, etc., right?) Yes, you don't want to kiss the dog on the lips or have them lick your face... But - has this researcher ever had a pet - especially a dog or puppy, you wonder? (Try dodging puppy kisses!)

But oh before you panic, the disclaimer is despite the spread of some diseases, and the implied risk, the keyword here is RARE.

Like another recent story, probably based on a study, talking about the risk of lead in reusable plastic bags. Like we all think about that??

Or past examples: that frying - as in french fries - releases a chemical linked to cancer.

Or that grilling can have cancer risks. Or... there are dozens of other examples I'm sure.

First it was food, and now it's the dog. So not fair.

This is most likely another of those stories based on so-called "research" about things that will supposedly kill/hurt/harm us. Give them a few weeks or so and they'll change their mind.

You know what? Unless you're a hermit or want to live in a bubble, you can pick up germs anywhere - like the grocery store or the family bringing home those wonderful cold germs. Anything can happen.

Kick the snoozing, snoring dog off the couch or out of the chair? Don't let them lie by you? Yikes! I'll take my chances and let sleeping dogs lie.

(c) 2011 http://candidcanine.blogspot.com

** What do you think?

Top 10 Favorite Songs Blogfest

Today I'm participating in the Top 10 Music Blogfest at Alex Cavanaugh's blog.

Music has always been part of my life. Funny I can still remember all the words to a Top 10 song I loved as a teen in the 70s, but I can't remember details of something I did last year (last month? week? haa!)

Maybe it's the age-- back then music had meaning. It connected you to specific events and things in your life: heartbreak, disappointment, happiness, etc.

Here's my Top 10 Favorite Songs (well, really, how can you pick only 10?) - there are probably others but these are the ones I think of that had meaning to me or that I really liked: (in no particular order)

TOP 10 FAVORITE SONGS:

1. Begin the Beguine, Glen Miller
2. Band of Gold - Freda Payne
3. Indiana Wants Me - R. Dean Taylor
4. Shame - Evelyn Champagne King (my dance song!)
5. Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves - Cher
6. Valerie - The Monkees
7. Cara Mia Mi and This Magic Moment - Jay and the Americans
8. Patches - Clarence Carter
9. Baby Blue - Badfinger
10. Locomotion - Grand Funk Railroad