Truths, Lies and The Tower

"It seems like on every page you are learning something new, more truths revealed."

"Another breathtaking, fast-paced, eye-opening and jaw-dropping novel from an Awesome author!"

The Tower (Deck of Lies, #2) has been reviewed at Keepin' up with the Joneses. Read the whole thing to find out how to enter a book giveaway and get some new reading material (after you buy The Tower, of course!)

Writing 101: Following Up

If you follow the blog, you already know how to comb through book blogs to get reviews. You know how to approach reviewers in order to get them to read your work. You know how to deal with review exchanges, and how to handle the inevitable criticism. But if you're not also following up, you're doing yourself a disservice. The follow up is one of the best tools you can use for getting reviews. 

Are you using it?

Remember Me? 

If you're committed to being an indie, you're probably going to self-publish more than one book (or maybe you already have). Whether you're writing a series or several stand-alone books, you can't neglect all your follow ups. So if you're asking, what's that, you already have been. It's okay, you can still catch up. 

• Keep track of your reviews. If you're going to properly follow up on the reviews you get, you've got to keep track of your reviews. I'm a big advocate of organization, so my first suggestion is to keep a spreadsheet containing links to the review, the date of the review, the name of the reviewer and the book they reviewed. Not everyone is that anal-retentive (read: obsessive). You can just as easily keep a Notepad file of a link to the review, or even save emails from your reviewers in a separate mail folder. Do this, and it'll be incredibly easy to follow through with your follow ups.
• Wait. Once a few weeks have passed, write to those reviewers about your next book. Maybe it's the next in the series they've started, maybe it's just your newest release, it doesn't matter. You're following up. Tell them thanks for their original review, and if they're interested you've got another book. Would they like a free copy? Book reviewers are book readers first and foremost, and when you wave a free book at them you're bound to get a response...just make sure you ask the question the right way. 
• Asking. Naturally, you're going to want to keep track of all the reviewers who gave you good reviews. But don't balk at keeping reminders for the ones who gave you not-so-good reviews, too. A follow up gives you a second chance to win them over, and it shouldn't be missed. With a reviewer who might be more hesitant to read your next project, you've got to approach them a little differently. Reference the problems they might have had with your last book (poor editing, perhaps, or flowery language) and tell them why you think they'll like this book. 

Follow ups should always be personalized. They take a little more time to write, but they have a much bigger return value. You're much more likely to get a review from a reviewer who has given you their time in the past. Following up will continue and deepen the relationship, and it can never hurt to have a good relationship with a friendly book blogger. 

Getting Thrilled by Justice

"An exhilarating ride, and once I started the book, I just couldn’t stop."

Justice (Deck of lies, #1) has been reviewed at Keepin' up with the Joneses. There are some spoilers, so feel free to read the whole review if you've already read Justice, and see if you agree with the reviewer!

Writing 101: Passed vs. Past

Words that sound alike, homonyms, are problematic for every writer at one time or another. Some homonym pairs are especially evil, because the two words in question have similar meanings. Passed and past are perhaps the most evil of all homonym pairs. Maybe that's why they're used incorrectly so often.

Past

The word past is confusing, because the word itself is not past tense. It's a perfectly normal adjective, a descriptive word, used when describing something that has already happened. 

"Didn't you and Jim break up?" 

"Yeah, but that's in the past." 

Past is a word that references time. It's even part of a word trio, a group of buddies known as past, present and future. The three are often mentioned together, and it's worth remembering because it'll help you use past correctly. There are different ways to use the word, different places to put it in a sentence, but the meaning of past won't ever change: it's something that already happened. But it can also refer to a specific thing, or person, or time, that has already come and gone.

"All past championship players will be on campus to visit the current champs." 

"I'll meet you at half past seven." 

"That car sped right past us!" 

Confusing, right? When used all these different ways, past becomes an adverb, a noun, even a preposition at times. In most cases, you're probably going to be using past when you're trying to get your point across. But sometimes, you might need the word passed instead.

Passed

The word passed is the past tense form of the verb to pass. This just means to proceed or move forward, according to the OED. It can refer to anything: a physical object, a metaphorical obstacle, time itself. You can pass a test, and you can get past a test. If you tell your friend Mimi that you did a good job on the test, you might say you passed it.

How do you know when to use passed? When you're using it as a verb. Unlike past, which can be many parts of speech, passed is only one. It's a verb. That's all you need to know.

 
The month passed uneventfully. 
He passed me this note in class.
Sure I saw her. I passed her on the way here.

Notice the placement of the word in the examples, and how it's used. Verbs refer to action, to something happening, and that's how passed is always used. It's action. 

But what if I change the verb in the sentence? Then, I have to use passed's difficult twin brother.

Sure I saw her. I walked past her on the way here.

See the difference? In this version of the sentence, the verb I'm using is walk. And since I passed her on my way here, I walked past her.

Telling the Difference

So if you're confused about past and passed, take heart. These two are darn confusing, they're spelled alike, their meanings are similar and they are pronounced exactly the same. Of course writers get confused, and this is one of those many things that spellcheck just can't fix. To use them both correctly, just identify your verb in the questionable sentence. If the verb being used is to pass, you've got to use passed. If past isn't the verb in the sentence, then you're using it the right way.

Writing 101: Comedy and Tragedy

There are dozens of different book genres, but when you get right down to it there are only two types of books: comedies and tragedies. Do you know which type of book you're writing, and what makes the difference between the two?

Comedy and Tragedy

Dustin Hoffman explains the nature of book writing beautifully in Stranger Than Fiction, one of my favorite movies. In the flick, he tells Will Ferrell the difference between a comedy and a tragedy: "Tragedy you die, comedy you get hitched." It's a pretty simple explanation, some might say trite, but it's also true. Every fiction book falls somewhere inside the comedy-tragedy spectrum. Sometimes, it's easy to tell which kind of book you're reading. Really clever writers keep you guessing until the very end. But when you're writing, you have to know which direction you're pursuing...because if you don't, no one else will be able to figure it out, either. 

• Comedy

 

Comedies are funny, and generally they have relatively happy endings. There's a common misconception that comedy stories can't be serious. This is absolutely false. In fact, it's a great idea to blend humor into your dramatic scenes, because that makes them a whole lot easier for readers to take. When a book is too dramatic and too heavy, it's going to turn readers off. Life is already dramatic and heavy, so don't be afraid to lighten up a little when you're writing. People read to escape their reality. Don't make the world they're escaping into one sad, heavy event after the next. Some writers add specific, funny characters into their stories to lighten up the mood and provide some much-needed laugh lines. This is a device known as comic relief. Comedy always has a place in any story.

But if you're writing a story that can be identified as a comedy, your main character has to overcome their greatest obstacle and/or defeat their foe (the antagonist, or villain, of the story). In almost all cases, the main character is alive at the end of the comedy and the reader has a general sense that their life is going to work out okay. Some writers craft beautiful, tear-soaked tragedies, only to flip the audience on their heads at the end of the book and resolve the whole thing with a blissfully happy ending where the main character is alive and well. It can be an effective writing device, but it can also be a bit of a slap in the face to the reader. So if you're going to write a happy comedy ending, make sure it makes sense. The ending must fit the rest of the book, and shouldn't necessarily come too abruptly. It's also important to note that the hero, or protagonist, of any comedy story is likeable. The most well-known type of literary comedy is probably the romantic comedy, in which a couple comes together after several funny obstacles are put in their way.

Literary comedy examples: A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Bridget Jones's Diary, Freaky Friday

• Tragedy

Tragedies go for tears, not laughter. In a tragedy, people are going to die. In many cases, the main character is going to die at the end of the book. Tragedies contain a lot of drama, and more than one very sad and heart-wrenching scene. Every good book contains some tragedy within it, and it's okay to add a little sadness even into a very funny comedy. It's never  easy to make your reading audience laugh or cry, and the secret is to find a good balance. Don't just hit them constantly with sadness, but also don't lighten your tragedy with too much humor that might take away from the seriousness of the book. 

In a tragedy, the villain of the book doesn't necessarily have to win. Many great tragedies have been written where the hero wins but still dies. In many tragic endings, however, the book ends quite sadly. Goodness, love, chivalry -- these things have not prevailed. One of the most famous, and well-known, examples of literary tragedy is Romeo and Juliet. Other examples include Bridge to Terabithia and The Shipping News. At the end of a tragedy, your readers ought to be in tears. 

Comedy and Tragedy, Redux

The greatest stories blend elements of comedy and tragedy together in the same book, allowing readers to experience a full gamut of emotion. When it's done well, it becomes a wonderful adventure of hope, sadness, laughter and loss. When it's done badly, it becomes a roller-coaster ride that jerks readers back and forth, excruciatingly so. Pay attention to how you're feeling when you're reading your work, and how much your feeling, and how many times your feelings are changing. You want to keep your audience engaged and involved...but you don't want to jerk them around.

Writing 101: Storytelling

I blog a great deal about punctuation, proper grammar, the importance of staying organized and all the work self-published authors have to do in order to get reviews. But at the end of the day, after you're done promoting on Twitter and editing pages and thinking up new ideas, you've got respect the fundamentals of writing. Don't ever forget the most important element of any good fiction book: storytelling.

The Elements of a Story

The art of telling a great story is very complex, at least until you break it down into its most basic parts. You should always try to write realistic dialogue and avoid over-writing throughout. You've got to think about capitalization and comma placement and all of those little details. But before you do any of that, you have to know what story you're going to tell...and you're going to have to make sure it's a complete story. 

It's simple -- deceptively so. Many authors seem to forget the most basic element of writing fiction. It's all about storytelling, and when you get right down to basics there are only three parts to any story: a beginning, a middle and an end. Does your book have those three elements? Any short story, any poem, any song, and piece of writing must have these elements. If they don't, the writing is going to feel unfinished and it's sure to feel unsatisfying.

• The Beginning

Your book may have a Page 1, but that doesn't mean it's got a beginning. The beginning of any story should introduce the primary protagonist (the hero or heroine of the story) and ideally, the primary antagonist (the villain, or bad guy). It should also set up all the action that's going to follow. Make sure the reader understands the setting of the story in the beginning, and give the reader just enough background to form a basic understanding of who the characters are.

Lots of authors fail to write a proper beginning because they rush straight to the action that takes place in the middle of the story. This makes the story feel rushed. Instead of allowing things to unfold naturally, the reader is hit in the face with plot right away. Nothing major should develop until the reader has some working knowledge of the main character; how else can the reader accurately judge and process everything that's about to happen?

• The Middle

All the action of the story, the real meat, is in the middle. Many writers excel at writing the middle portion of the story, when it's all love scenes and action scenes and important plot points. Creating a strong middle doesn't mean you've created a strong story, however. If you skimp on the beginning, I don't have the right context for all the stuff that's happening here. And if you skimp on the ending, then you just cheated me and wasted all my time with your half-told story.

• The Ending

The end of the story is where the reader's work all pays off, and it's the trickiest part of any story to write. You don't want to the reader to feel cheated, but you may not be the type to offer a completely satisfying happy ending, either. There are really only two ways to end a story: neat, and cliffhanger. In a neat ending, all the loose ends are tied up. All the questions are answered, the mysteries are resolved and the reader has some idea of where all the important characters have ended up or will end up in their lives. When the Harry Potter series finally came to an end, for example, the reader got to see all the main characters in the future and had a good idea of how their lives ultimately turned out.

It was all nice and neat, with the villain dead and all that. But on the flip side of the ending coin, you've got the cliffhanger ending -- also known as a messy ending. This time, the reader still does have questions. Few things, if anything, have been resolved. The villain is still out there, somewhere, and someday this story is going to continue. It's tricky to write cliffhanger endings, because you have to do it in a way that doesn't discourage the reader. Give them a reason to stick with your book series without insulting them too badly at the end of the book. Some resolution should be provided; some progress must be made within the pages of the story itself. Make it clear that this chapter of the story, at least, has come or is coming to its end.

The ending completes any story, or continues it to its next phase. Do it badly, and the reader will have a lasting negative impression of your work. Do it well, and they'll keep coming back for more stories. The ending will make or break your book, but you've got to put just as much effort into the beginning and middle, too. Remember the fundamentals of writing, and your writing will be a lot better. 

Fiction Fashion Icon: Anne

Anne Shirley was bookish, talkative, orphaned, accident-prone...and my hero. I loved her story when I was younger, and the one thing I always associated with Anne was her red hair. Fashion is total -- it's not just about the clothes. But Anne had some very specific ideas about that, too, and that meant that I had to as well. 

Pigtails and Puffed Sleeves

Anne Shirley was first introduced in 1908 by Lucy Maud Montgomery in Anne of Green Gables, the beginning of what would become an extraordinarily successful YA series. She hated her red hair, and I've always wanted it badly (I'm blonde instead, and even that's debatable). So much so, in fact, that I dyed mine red for half of high school. Well, I tried. Turns out, blonde doesn't hold red dye all that well. The point is, Anne's been a personal style icon of mine for a long time. She didn't think her red hair was very fashionable, but she was certain about one must-have detail: puffed sleeves.

The dress scene in the film version of Green Gables is a big deal, and that's because in the book the scene is so very special. Matthew gets to thinking about Anne's clothing and in particular her sleeves, after she makes a big deal about wishing to have a dress with puffed sleeves. So Matthew boldly goes to visit nosy Mrs. Lynde for help, and soon enough Anne has a dress with the puffiest sleeves in all the world. On film it's blue and fantastic, and Anne wears a blue bow to match.

Anne's style is pretty simple, with a few embellishments. Later in life, she wears a pearl engagement ring because she's never cared for diamonds, and an imitation pearl necklace that one of her sons thought was the real thing when he bought it for her. She grows accustomed to her red hair, avoids pinks and yellows at all costs, and adds a statement piece to her outfit every now and then. Anne might add flowers to her hat or put a stunning necklace on display, but the most important thing about her style is its versatility. She may start the day at a school picnic and end it in the dark, dreary woods -- so footwear choices are especially important. Anne's not above trying to improve upon her lot in life. She even dyes her hair in one very memorable scene in the book, only the color doesn't turn out quite as planned (we've all been there).

What would Anne wear if she were a modern girl in today's world? Check out this post from The Gloss to see an Anne-inspired high fashion look.

Writing 101: Falling Out of Love with Writing

Before you self-publish, writing is a passion and a burning desire. Once you start self-publishing, it can start to become a chore. Falling out of love with writing is common to all authors, and it happens to everyone from time to time. There is definitely such a thing as getting too much of a good thing. 

Breakin' Up is Hard to Do 

Remember when writing was a hobby? Once you start self-publishing, it becomes part of your to-do list. Now, you've got books to promote. You've got links to Tweet. You've got sales figures to check and pages to edit and networking to do and forums to check...and oh yeah, you need to get some writing done in the middle of all of that. 

Self-published authors have a lot on their plate, and that makes it easy to fall out of love with writing. Many indie writers spend the least amount of time on the actual writing part. The research, the editing, the promotion -- this all takes up a huge amount of time. Creating book covers and trailers is also time-consuming. It's enough to drive anyone to the verge of a breakup. 

Think back to the first question again. You've got to remember when writing was your passion and your hobby, and come to terms with the fact that your role as a writer has now expanded. All the extra stuff is going to improve your skills and expose you to more readers. While you're doing all this remembering, don't forget about the time when no one read your work at all. You gain exposure as a self-published author, and that means you've got to put time in on a bunch of other tasks. 

Whenever you need to, schedule a little time to romance your writing again. Take time out from Tweeting or blogging or thinking about plots or whatever you're doing, and take a reading break. Go back to a book or short story you wrote a long time ago, something you haven't looked at it a while, and start reading. You'll see how you've improved since then, and you'll remember all those old feelings. Read long enough, and you may fall back in love with your first love (writing) all over again. If even that doesn't shake you out of your funk, give yourself a day off. Ignore social media, ignore the to-do list, ignore your email if you dare, and just take a break. Go do something else, get refreshed, and return to the page feeling a lot more loose and relaxed. You and your love of writing are bound to hit the occasional rough patch, but the two of you can always work it out.