Justice Reviewed at Goodreads

Author Melanie Cusick-Jones surprised me with a full review of Book 1: Justice today. In it, she calls the book "a well written YA mystery - good pace and enough action to keep you reading."

Read the full review at Goodreads before you buy your copy of Justice at the Kindle Store!

Review: Seven Moments in Time

Todd Tystad's Seven Moments in Time is a sweet short story collection that I finished in a single reading. Each little vignette is exactly what the title promises it will be: a single moment. Every one of the 7 stories briefly illuminate the lives of a lovable cast of characters, each of whom is poignantly revealed and introduced before our moment with them is over.

Each tale left me wanting more, and at the end I ached for some solid conclusion. But my anger at Todd Tystad lasted only a moment when I realized that author's true brilliance: engaging me in each story. I found myself imagining the end of each tale, thinking about each character, wondering about each event that was described. That made Seven Moments feel personal, and even more real.

The formatting is beautiful and each story flows well, compelling me to read more and more and more. I was sad when I got to the end, and look forward to re-visiting this book in the future. I'll definitely read any more of Tystad's Moments if he chooses to release a second volume.

Writing 101: The Main Character

Every book is driven by at least one main character, a singular hero or heroine who propels the plot. Often, the main character has to face a challenge or foe, obstacles they must overcome in order to get to the happy (or tragic) ending. But if that character doesn't reach out and grab your audience, readers may not stick with your story all the way to its end. The main character is the driving force of your book, so make it great.

Characteristics

Who is this person? What motivates them? What are their hopes and dreams? If you don't know, your readers don't know. Readers want a character they can identify with, a three-dimensional character who has their own independent thoughts, wishes and yes, even problems. Identify and know the characteristics of your main characters, who they are as a person. Nervous habits, likes and dislikes, opinions -- these are the things that make a person real, and the same stuff makes characters real to readers.

No one is perfect, not even in books. If you want to craft a main character that others can believe in, you've got to give them flaws -- or at least one major flaw. Readers are all real people, and like real people they make mistakes and bad decisions. Your character should have some flaws, too, and shouldn't always do everything right. Some of the most lovable literary characters are very flawed, but people embrace them because they can relate.

Appearance

What does your character look like? Tell your audience in detail what they might see if they look at your character. You want your main character to jump off the page, and that means giving them a physical appearance so readers can "see" them within their own minds. A character that your readers can envision is a real, relatable character that will jump off the page.

Physical flaws are important, too. Ask one hundred people if they dislike something about their appearance, and one hundred people will say yes. What doesn't your character like about his/her appearance? Perhaps they have pale skin, a cleft chin they hate, wide shoulders or 15 extra pounds hanging around their hips. Why would a reader, who has all the normal hang-ups that come with being human, read a story about a physically perfect human being? That's not relatable, and it's not very realistic unless there's a good reason for it (they're a vampire, they've had plastic surgery, etc.).

Character Writing

The key to writing a believable, relatable main character is in having a clear idea of who that character is. Make sure you know the person you're writing about, even if they're someone you've made up in your head. If the character feels real to you, it's more likely to feel real to your audience. A great main character can make any plot shine and stand out above all those other books out there.

New Ad Unveiled

The good folks at Book Bags and Cat Naps, one of my favorite book blogs, will be running a brand-new ad for Justice all week long!  BB&CN is full of reviews, excerpts and author interviews that help me figure out what to read next. Check it out on their site and tell me what you think.

Review: Confessions of an Average Half-Vampire

Lisa Shafer's Confessions of an Average Half-Vampire is a wholly wonderful story. You never quite know what you're going to get with an indie book, but I confess that I was drawn into the tale right away. Confessions is technically perfect and mistake-free, which makes it even easier to be completely mesmerized by the plot -- and I was.

Eric, the titular half-vampire, is a perfectly non-heroic hero. He's got all the problems that come with being in middle school (like trying to figure out what a girl really means with those confusing text messages and finding ways to hide stuff from his too-clever mom), but he's also got a pesky little genetic problem: he's a half-vampire. In Lisa's world, vampires don't live in creepy castles and hunt for victims by night -- they wait for cloudy evenings and matter-of-factly drink blood to stay healthy. Eric goes to school, does his homework and plays piano -- mostly ragtime and other peppy pieces.

Lisa Shafer's vampires aren't created but born. All the garlic-waving and cross-holding in the world won't protect you from Eric...not that you'd really need it, anyway. This is definitely not just another vampire story. Confessions takes readers from a little town in Utah all the way to Scotland, where even the Old World vampires are bright, colorful characters who are perfectly normal...except for the blood thing, of course.

Confessions is a quick read and entertaining throughout. Eric makes mistakes, but he's got a good heart -- and completely shatters most of the wild myths that have turned vampires into horrible Halloween fantasies. I can't wait to re-visit Lisa's unique world in the upcoming sequel!

Writing 101: The Character Sheet

Every writer has their own little tricks, and I'm going to share one of mine. Every book has a main character, and sometimes more than one, but there's a whole host of supporting cast members who appear within the pages. Whether you're mentioning a character only once or more than a dozen different times in your book, you need to include them on the character sheet. It's not talked about as often as the outline, but it's probably just as important.

What is the Character Sheet?

I can't tell you how many times I've been in the middle of writing, only to have to stop and ask myself, "wait, what color were his eyes again?" I learned to create character sheets for all my books the hard way -- I found myself repeatedly combing through pages I'd written to find a last name, a physical description, some characteristic I assigned in the past and forgot in the present. A character sheet keeps all that mess straight, so you have one simple reference point any time you need to remember a full name, an eye color, a hair shade or any other pertinent information you've assigned to one of your characters.

What Goes on the Character Sheet?

The characters in any book help to make it great -- or bad, as the case may be. Characters that are believable and identifiable are the strongest, the ones who have flaws that others can relate to. Your characters need more than a name if they're going to jump off the page. Readers want to feel like they're a part of the story, and they can't do that without getting a sense of who the characters are. Show your readers what the characters look like, maybe what their favorite music sounds like, even what they like to eat if it's relevant to the story. All these little details are difficult to remember, especially if you're focusing on a complex plot. So why try to remember when you can keep them all on your character sheet?

Writing the Character Sheet

Every writer should write their character sheet in a way that's easiest for them to use. Mine are split into sections, and each character is listed by his or her full name. For the Deck of Lies, for example, I have characters sorted into different locations and categories: School, Family, Around Town, etc. Each character has a brief physical description, and in some cases I'll include what kind of car they drive and their clothing styles, along with other important information. When I'm looking for a specific character, I can just scroll through the list to remember whatever it is I've forgotten.

A character sheet is a great personal reference tool for writers, and it provides a means to strengthen each and every character who appears in any story. Writing is definitely time-consuming, but there's no reason you can't use tricks to make it a little easier.

Writing 101: Editing

Editing is a hot topic of discussion among writers, and my personal religion. To put it mildly, I believe in the power of editing. No book is complete without it. But at the same time, editing your own work can be a very difficult, very painful procedure. Think of it as a necessary evil all writers must face.

Editing for Grammar, Spelling and Punctuation

Editing serves a main function for any piece of writing: it makes it readable. In today's day of visible spellcheck and auto-correct, it's easy to simply write along without worry about spelling each and every word the right way. Who has time to worry about putting i before e and doubling the l when changing the tense? It's a lot to think about, especially when you're trying to create interesting characters and weave them together in a believable, enjoyable story. It's okay to just focus on your writing, and get that done...but after that, it's time for the really hard work.

You should read through your book in entirety more than once to check all the grammar, spelling and punctuation. Readers are going to be instantly turned off by mistakes. Errors are frustrating to readers, and it won't help you sell your work. You cannot rely on spellcheck to get everything right. You have to read your work, line by line, to make sure it's perfectly written.

And once you've checked all the words and every period to make sure it's correct, you're all done, right? No...not by half.

Editing for Readability and Plot

A technically perfect story is all well and good, but no one is going to be interested if the story isn't entertaining. While you're checking all the technical stuff, check your story for readability. Make sure the plot hangs together and everything is smooth. If you don't laugh when you read it, the story isn't funny. If you don't cry, your readers won't. If you don't understand it, no one else will. While you're reading, pretend it's not your story. Tell yourself it's someone else's work, and look at it through objective eyes. You characters should be consistent and true to the characteristics you've given them, your plot should move along (and not drag, because that's boring) and the climax of the story should truly be the most exciting part of the whole book. If possible, take a break from your work for a week between edits. Then come back and edit again with fresh eyes.

When's the Work Over?

So, you've edited for all the technicalities. You've edited for the readers. When the heck are you done editing? There's no hard and fast rules when it comes to editing, because every writer operates differently, but a good rule of thumb for editing is that you're ready to stop when you read your work and can't find a single mistake. Maybe it'll take two reads, maybe it'll take twenty-two reads, but if you're still finding mistake then you still aren't done editing. It's a real drag to edit and edit (and then edit some more), meaning it's extremely tedious, but the end result is worth it. A well-edited book looks professional and makes a good impression.

Would you rather have your work remembered as a sloppy mess, or a neat and concise work that reads well?

Writing 101: The Outline

I've been spending time on the Goodreads forums lately, and one topic really struck me as I was reading along: the book outline. It's a hot topic on the forums, and every writer seems to have their own style of using (or not using) an outline to keep their plots straight and their books organized. So today's Writing 101 lesson will be the outline -- how to use it, when not to use it and what to do when your writing doesn't match it at all.

Outline Basis

Everyone arranges their outlines differently, and it's not always the method of organization that matters (but I do know that pets and Post-Its aren't a good mix). Some writers organize outlines by chapters, some by events. I write mine by days and dates; maybe you've noticed I'm always very clear about which day of the week it is in the DOL series. Again, it doesn't matter how the outline is organized, only that it is organized. An outline isn't a huge chunk of text, it's a map of where your story is going to go. Create spaces and design an easy-to-follow layout if you want to follow this map.

Your outline is going to change. If you absolutely have to hard it on hard copy, don't simply write out an outline using pen and paper; you want your outline to be mobile so it has room to evolve. Instead, write out each plot point, chapter or day (or whatever) on an index card. Don't number them; they can be kept in a certain order, paper clipped or color-coded to help you keep track. I always write my outlines in a blank Word document so I can change them at will.

Writing the Outline

You've made a firm decision on the layout of your outline and you know just how you're going to write it. So...what are you going to put in it? Writing the outline should take considerably less time than writing the book itself. You don't need to get extremely detailed, or even spell out every single plot point.

Remember, the outline is nothing more than a set of notes you're writing to yourself; it's just a way to keep yourself organized so your writing turns out exactly as you want. You know what your book is about, so you may record your outline in nothing but certain keywords. I write short sentences that don't seem to make much sense: "Rain school. Owen reaction. Fallon attitude?" That might be four pages' worth of story right there, because I know what each item means: write a scene with Rain at school, be sure to include Owen's reaction to the news, what is Fallon's attitude like these days?

Following the Outline

Once you write your outline, it's there to serve as your guide -- but you are not a slave to it! You purposefully designed your outline to be changed, so don't be afraid to change it. I know that I've started writing many times, and found my story going in a new direction I never expected. If you start writing and you get onto something, don't force yourself away just because it doesn't exactly follow your outline. Only change it if it's bad, if it makes no sense or if it's completely out of place in your story. If it's good, work with it and include it in the outline. Always stay open when you're writing, because many exciting things can happen.