Happy Horrorween!

Is this an awesome cover or what? And just in time for Halloween! I'm pleased to have Robert Ropars join me on the blog today. He's the author of DARK BITES: Four Tales of Horror. We're sitting here nibbbling on skull cookies and sipping rummed-up apple cider. Robert, welcome!

Thanks, Susan. These skulls are delicious.

Here, have another and tell us how many books you've written.

I have published seven books since 2008.  These include two books of poetry, Carriage Returns in 2008 and Romantic Confessions in 2009, a four-part ebook series in 2010, including Windy City of the Dead, Like Cats and Dogs, The Red Planet, and 848, and these latter four I subsequently published as a collection called Dark Bites:  Four Tales of Horror in December 2010.

Ah, I see.

What books or authors have influenced you, Robert?

A wide variety of authors including (but certainly not limited to) Stephen King, Tim Powers, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelly, Percy Bysshe Shelley, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Lloyd Alexander, J.R.R. Tolkein, Neil Gaiman, Len Deighton, Robert Ludlum, etc.

What has been your most rewarding experience during the writing process?

The reaction/comments from so many people all over the world has been gratifying and encouraging.  It further fuels my desire to write and publish many more stories.

Tell us  more about Dark Bites.

After publishing two books of poetry, I sought to return to fiction, which I had previously pursued within the context of short stories.  I had researched ebooks and deciding to get going again, I felt that doing a series of shorter stories/novellas that I could then combine into a collected volume made a lot of sense.  This book contains four stories of horror with strong female protagonists.  Though they can be read on their own, they interlock in a variety of ways creating a larger world.  The women face zombies, werewolves, vampires, ghosts and the scariest monster of all-a sexual predator.  I wanted to explore these classic horror genre themes with a fresh eye creating a new look at old stories.

Is it available in print, ebook, and Kindle formats?

Dark Bites:  Four Tales of Horror is available in print via Amazon  http://www.amazon.com/dp/145361494X  and http://www.createspace.com/3459434 as well as ebook for Kindle  http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004G8R0NM, and Nook  http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dark-bites-robert-ropars/1100216190 , Kobo http://kobobooks.com/ebook/Dark-Bites-Four-Tales-Horror/book-hY4_yOhEc0uMUX7htv2vNg/page1.html , and iPad   http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/dark-bites-four-tales-horror/id411645082?mt=11  via those individual etailers and Smashwords.com http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/32178.

Boert, ...?

Whoa, Susan! I think you've had too much rummed cider. LOL.

Ahem, perhaps. Let me try that again. Were any of your books more challenging than others?

The Dark Bites series was definitely more of a challenge than the two books of poetry.  The first was a collection of poetry I had already written over a twenty-year period.  The second book of poetry was new poems and haiku written in 2009, but they were a labor of love and not a prolonged endeavor.  With Dark Bites I was creating a four-part series with stories that needed to stand on their own as well as work as a cohesive whole.

What are some of the problems you faced while plotting a series with ongoing characters?

The challenge was to be prudent about how much/often characters and locations appeared in each story (if at all).  In other words, I wanted to ensure that any crossovers mattered and weren’t just included to artificially link unrelated stories.

How do you develop characters?

Once I have my story idea in place, the characters come to me and I mentally draw out their lifestyle, interests, tastes and name.  It’s a bit like inventing someone I’d really like to meet, have tea/coffee with and hopefully end up long-term friends with.

How do you choose your setting?

Living in the Chicago area since 1986, and loving the area as I do, I never felt that my stories would take place anywhere else.  However, I wrote the stories in such a way that if they were to be adapted for film for example, if needed they could be transplanted to London, Paris, San Francisco, etc. with only minor tweaking.

What are your protagonists' strengths? Flaws?

All four women are strong, intelligent, and largely self-sufficient.  I wanted to write the kinds of strong heroines I enjoy reading or seeing in movies.  I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from women who’ve read the stories and appreciated the main characters’ strength and courage. 

Can you tell us about current or future projects?

I’m currently putting the finishing touches on a new horror ebook Dead Woman’s Curve which should be available right about now.  I have at least three or four horror and thriller stories outlined ready to write.  I am planning to constantly push my boundaries and comfort zones and try other genres including western and romance.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?

I Tweet a LOT so definitely consider following me on Twitter ( http://twitter.com/robertropars ).  I have a Facebook account ( http://www.facebook.com/robertropars ), but rarely use it (feel more in tune with Twitter I guess).  I blog occasionally, not often enough. ( http://robertropars.wordpress.com/ ).  In addition, I have author pages on both Smashwords.com ( http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/robertropars ) and Amazon ( http://www.amazon.com/Robert-Ropars/e/B004FRP8CY/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0 )

Grab another cookie, Robert, and have great success with your books. Maybe we can connect on Twitter and Facebook.

I'd like that, Susan. Thanks again, and a Happy Horrorween to everyone out there!

Setups and payoffs

This is Peter's last bookmark. I'd like to thank him for sharing so much information about writing. I wish him the best year ever!

Hi, Susan and followers of this blog. Today let's talk about setups and payoffs.


In writing fiction you can do anything you want, fly like superman, get shot in the chest and live, have a beautiful person walk up and ask for a sexual assignation, anything, and make it sound logical, so long as it's set up properly. This is one of the most important topics in fiction writing that is often overlooked.

The success of any book depends on the finesse with which the author sets up each payoff, sometimes called foreshadowing. This is something we've alluded before, but which is important enough to be taken up as a separate subject. For instance, let's take a denouement paragraph in a made-up book's last chapter that hasn't been setup:

Marsha felt her head slam against the butcher-block island as John bent her back across it. She had always liked that feature in her kitchen. His body pressed her down. Fear gripped her as she knew from past newspaper articles that John was a murder and was intent on brutally killing her. As he grabbed her around the neck, smashing her head against the counter, she fought to hold on and suddenly remembered the ten inch chef's knife she kept at the side of the island to cut vegetables. Desperately she reached around for it. She felt the handle, gripped it, then plunged into John's back.

Can you see the trouble with this? We, as writers, have to take the time to show the reader there is a butcher-block island in the kitchen. We have to mention the past newspaper articles to show John is a killer. And 'suddenly remembered' a knife when it is desperately needed? This is like divine intervention. It all stops the action, stretches credibility, and has the feel of being made up as the writer went along, which, of course, it was.

The rule of setups and payoffs is to set up something twice when it is subtle, in case the reader misses it the first time, or once with a BIG show, before playing it in a payoff.

So how would we do that? In chapter two Marsha talks to her lover while cutting vegetables on the butcher-block island for dinner and ends up putting the knife in the side holder. The attention is on the conversation, however, not the action, but subtly we let the reader know about the butcher block and the knife. In chapter eight, Marsha admonishes her son for using the chef's knife in the living room to cut string and returns it to the butcher block. Again the attention is the action between the son and Marsha, but if the readers missed the knife in the butcher block slot the first time, they know it now, and if they did catch it, it's a logical action to replace the knife where it belongs. We work out a similar scenario for the newspaper articles of the killer in different chapters. Now, with everything set up, let's see how the scene plays:

Marsha felt her head slam against the butcher-block island as John bent her back across it, his body pressing her down. He would kill her. That certainty flashed in her mind as she groped for a weapon. He smashed her head down again. She fought to hold on as she felt for the the chef's knife in side slot of the butcher block. She felt the handle, grabbed it, and in one fluid motion plunged it into John's back. Goodbye, John.
That last sentence I just throw in. But see how much faster the motion flows? The paragraph probably should be lengthened for clarity and suspense--I cut it short--but the essential thing to note is that we need no explanations to get in the way of the action.

There is one major caveat to this. If mentioning something twice is good, mentioning it three or twenty three times has to be better, right? No, folks, that's telegraphing it, like saying--look, nudge nudge, knife. So, over-setting something up is as much a problem as not setting it up at all.

If we want our story to flow seamlessly, we'll not only use setups and payoffs for major things, like the chef's knife above, but for minor events as well. Way back in BookMarc #7, in talking about first drafts, we mentioned how we suddenly needed a bar scene in a restaurant. This actually happened as I was writing Killing Thyme, the second of the Jim Dandy Elderhostel Mysteries. If I wanted the novel to flow as if it were happening before my readers' eyes, explaining after the fact--the restaurant had a bar I hadn't notice before--wouldn't do it. I had to go back to the first time Jim entered that restaurant and add a line about seeing the bar. Later, when he goes to the restroom, I added a couple of words like: he passed the door to the bar. Those two lines, spaced at each end of a chapter, brought the reader right into that bar later on w/o any needed explanation.

We can also use negative setups. In one of my pre-and-never-to-be-published books, I setup the unlikely killing of an important man by having someone say "no one would be stupid enough to try to kill him with that many bodyguards around." Do that a couple of times and we get an 'oh yeah' reaction in our reader's mind.

A perfect example of using setups and payoffs is the movie, Medicine Man, with Sean Connery. I recommend renting this movie to every writer I know. Watch it once to see how well it works for entertainment. Then watch it a second time with a pad and mark down every event that takes place, even minor things from the opening scene of burning trees. Nothing is left to chance. Each event is subtly shown, shown again, setting up the watcher to be ready to accept each event as it is finally paid off.
Now you might be saying to yourself, this will take away the suspense at the end. Well, then, go rent Sixth Sense and do the same thing, only don't watch the director's cut until the second time through.
From the beginning BookMarc we've stressed how "easy reading is hard writing." If we want our books to be easy reading, if we want to scoop up our readers and carrying them along in the moment, we'll take the time and make the effort to setup every payoff.

That said, Peter and I both hope readers gleaned a few gems from these 30+ bookmarks and will put the information to good use. I look forward to reading a multitude of wonderful books during 2011.

John Howard Reid

John Howard Reid is here today to discuss his writing. John, it's great to have you as a guest. Please give us a short bio.

I've spent a life tradein the book trade. I started off as a publisher's representative and gradually moved up the ladder to the editor's desk and the publisher's chair. Most of my books were originally published by the company I was working for at the time, although, with permission, I did sell at least three new books and dozens of reprint rights to rival firms. I also contributed many articles and thousands of movie reviews to newspapers and magazines. At one stage, I was the movie critic for two rival city newspapers. Of course, I used a pseudonym for one of them!

When did the writing bug bite, and in what genre(s)?
 At the age of 18, I started off as a playwright and was moderately successful in my university years, but I soon realized that while actors were nice people to observe in a movie or on a stage, in real life they were not such pleasant company. The crunch came when I was assisting the producer and handied out a copy of my play to the various cast members. They all ran off, clutching my play to their breasts. And what did they do? Did they read my play to discover what it was all about? No! They all counted up their lines. And before you could say A.A. Milne, they were all racing back to the producer screaming that their roles were too small or that Jimmy Jack, who was only a featured player, had more lines than the stars.

Briefly tell us about your latest book.
Merryll Manning: Beachfront Holiday is the third and most recent title in the Merryll Manning series of mystery suspense thrillers. I'm attached to these books because they were the means of first attracting critical attention to my work. In fact, one of the later books, Merryll Manning Meets the Last Generation, was selected by The Sunday Telegraph newspaper as the "Best Novel of the Year".

Congratulations! 
How do you determine that first sentence?

I don't think the first sentence in a novel is all that important. For a short story, yes. For a novel, no. What is important in a novel is (1) The title and (2) The front cover. Both must attract the potential reader's attention. This is why I now insist on publishing my own books. Admittedly, I have allowed other firms to publish Large Print editions and I must admit, I have been reasonably happy with their covers. But I was most displeased with the cover Angus and Robertson (a Rupert Murdoch company) chose for Merryll Manning Is Dead Lucky. Although the book received hat-tossing reviews far and wide, sales were poor. The cover was impossibly drab. The very opposite of eye-catching. Admittedly, the book did eventually sell out. But it took two years, and my contract was not renewed. By way of contrast, in the same week that my book was released, a thriller from another firm with an extremely colorful, attention-grabbing cover hit the book-stands. This book received only three or four reviews (all of them extremely negative), yet it had sold out within a month. And, would you believe, it’s still on sale in book stores everywhere (and now in its 23rd impression)? Good reviews in themselves do not sell books. Good writing does not sell books. Imaginative plotting, page-turning incidents and believable characters do not sell books. Covers sell books. And eye-catching covers that quote enthusiastically over-the-top catch phrases from reviews sell even more books!

I know a great cover attracts me. I don't like the drab ones either.
How do you develop characters? Setting?
Mostly I rely upon real people and real settings. Merryll Manning is me, not as I am at present, but as I was in the years when I served in the army. People who knew me then would describe me as very aggressive. I needed to be, because I am basically a loner. I was drafted into the army and I determined to make the best of it by finding out how the army operates. To do this, I needed to ingratiate myself with the officers, to make myself indispensable, to put myself in a position where they would rely upon me for advice. I succeeded. But after all that, would you believe, I still haven't written my army novel? I've made many attempts. So far, no success. The problem is that I have too much material. Too many colorful characters. Too many incredible incidents. But at least the character of Merryll Manning has emerged from that experience.

Do you have specific techniques you use to develop the plot and stay on track?
I wish I did. My method of creating stories and novels is to let the characters do all the writing. Unfortunately, once an author lets his characters loose, they tend to lead the story into all sorts of impossible dead ends from which they cannot be extricated. I have at least 50 novels and stories in this category. Occasionally, after a few years' meditation, I can think of a way to rescue them. Occasionally! I wish I had a dollar for every manuscript page stashed away in my overflowing suitcases, cabinets, linen closets and wardrobes.

What are your current projects?
 I'm now working on (or rather re-working and revising for American publication) the fourth Merryll Manning novel, Merryll Manning On the Rim of Heaven. I should mention that although all the Manning novels could accurately be described as mystery-suspense thrillers, they can also be categorized in different sub-genres. I dislike repeating myself. Merryll Manning: Trapped on Mystery Island is a highly-charged "Ten Little Indians" in which the claustrophobic atmosphere of the island is deliberately so tense, it's almost overwhelming. Merryll Manning: The Health Farm Murders is likewise an Agatha Christie, but with a more detailed and more accurate setting (it is backgrounded against a real town), more colorful characters and more plot twists. Merryll Manning: Beachfront Holiday is a police procedural, but here too the hero is far more deeply involved than in most novels of this genre. Merryll Manning On the Rim of Heaven is both a small-town and an unlikely partners entry in which one of the principal characters from The Health Farm Murders not only makes a re-appearance but plays a substantial role.

Where can folks learn more about your books and events?
I have a Merryll Manning website: http://merryllmanning.exactpages.com/
There’s also a general site at http://johnreid.exactpages.com/. I welcome correspondence from readers at johnreid@mail.qango.com

Thanks for the interview, John. I wish you continued success with your Merryll Manning series.

Interview with Goddess Anthology authors

Texas-based publisher, L&L Dreamspell, has an anthology entitled The Dreamspell Goddess Anthology which showcases twenty-one writers, among them Cornelia Amiri, Helen Henderson, Jodi Diderrich, Joyce Scarbrough, and Diane Lawson. I am delighted to have these five ladies here for an interview.

Welcome, ladies and give us a brief biography and short synopsis of your story.
Cornelia Amiri has eight Celtic/Paranormal/Romance books: Timeless Voyage, Queen of Kings, A Fine Cauldron of Fish, Druid Quest, The Fox Prince, The Vixen Princess, Danger Is Sweet, and One Heart One Way. She also wrote shorts in four L &L Dreamspell anthologies. Living in Houston Texas with her son, she loves to read historicals, romances, and paranormal novels. Books that combine the three genres are her biggest weakness except for chocolate.

The story "Rhiannon” brings to life the myth of the Welsh Horse Goddess, passed down from tribal foretime. Having cleverly thwarted a forced betrothal with the use of a magic bag, Rhiannon weds Chief Pwyll. Though passionately in love they are beset by strange happenings. All eyes point to Rhiannon as the cause of their greatest tragedy. Is their love for each other strong enough to survive the dark days ahead?

Jodi Diderrich: I claim Hebron, IL as my hometown, though I haven’t lived there since I was eleven. At present, I live in Kenosha, WI, with my husband, Dan, and our two dogs, Sam and Molly. When I’m not writing stories, I work as a part-time teacher at a local parochial school and volunteer once a week as an English tutor for the Kenosha Literacy Council.

“Hiram’s Rock” is a murder mystery based in the Alaskan wilderness. Hanna and Hiram are making their annual journey along the Iditarod trail. One morning, Hanna awakens to the realization that Hiram is lying dead beside her. At first, she assumes he must have died of natural causes, but when she moves his body, she discovers a puncture wound in his back. Someone has murdered Hiram in the night, and now, the killer is coming after Hanna who is unwittingly carrying the rock that her man had died for.

Helen Henderson invites readers to ride the Old West or travel to the stars. As a feature-story writer and correspondent, she has written on a wide variety of topics including air shows, military and American history, bicycling the mid-Atlantic states, and antiques and collectibles. She has also authored two non-fiction histories.

“Ambush Luck” is a historical piece of a woman in a non-traditional role in the American West. Married and happy in her life as wife and mother, Helen Rawlings thought she had put her past as a fast gun behind her until a gang kills one of her adopted sons. When the outlaws try to eliminate the only witness -- her other son, Josh, Helen risks everything to once again become the notorious Hell Lost, gunslinger and defender of the righteous. In a traditional western showdown, Hell confronts those threatening her family. If she survives, she would be faced with the biggest crisis of all, rejecting the lure of adventure and once again turning her back on a life riding the high trails.

Diane Lawson: My name is Veva Dianne Lawson. I began life as an attorney and got out of it as soon as humanly possible. Writing has been a part of my life since I was a child. I have been writing seriously for many years.

I have two stories in the Goddess Anthology. “Was Helen of Troy and you remembered it wrong” is narrated by a woman (Catherine) in the present about her past lives of which Helen was one. Her problem is that she thinks the memories might simply be a symptom of insanity. Also, she wants to set the record straight about a book written by her past self about their life as Helen.
The other story, “The Lost Planet of Homely Women” is about an invasion of one planet by another that goes terribly (and I hope humorously) wrong.

Joyce Scarbrough: As an intelligent Southern woman, I am weary of seeing myself and my peers portrayed in books and movies as either post-antebellum debutantes or slack-jawed yokels, so all my heroines are smart, unpretentious women who refuse to be anyone but themselves. Naturally, I felt compelled to write a story for an anthology like this one that featured strong female characters. In addition to my three published novels and "Heart's Tempest," I have three other short stories featured in upcoming anthologies from L&L Dreamspell. I write full time and also do freelance editing.

"Heart's Tempest" is about a hellion named Jaycee Stevens who doesn’t plan to stay a second longer than necessary in the rural Alabama town where she grows up with her alcoholic father. Usually, everything Jaycee does is focused on either getting a college scholarship in softball or pretending to her boyfriend Cole that she’s a lot tougher than she really is. When Cole finds out she has a Valentine’s Day tradition with a boy who’s had a crush on her since third grade, he knows there’s a lot more to this blonde tempest than meets the eye.

Do you write any other genres?

Amiri: I have a Steampunk/Romance novel coming out under the pen name of Maeve Alpin in 05/2010. I have a mystery short story in A Death In Texas.

Diderrich: I write in almost any genre. I’ve written a number of children’s stories, often featuring special dogs and cats that I’ve known. My first prize winning piece, “Sam’s Day”, was about my cocker spaniel, Sam. I’ve also written an unusual not-quite-science-fiction piece that will hopefully become a graphic novel. I also write poetry and have started what will one day be my “great American novel” loosely based on my father’s family.

Lawson: I have had poetry published and my plays, “The Services of Women” and “Broken Things” were produced as part of the EWARD ALBEE NEW PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL in Houston Texas. “Broken Things” went on to be produced off, off, off Broadway in New York and also was presented at the NEW YORK FRINGE FESTIVAL. I have a short film called “Silence” in post-production and am in pre-production for another short film called “Prom Night”.

Scarbrough: All my books and stories focus on the heroine's relationships with her friends, family and love interests, so I think they are best described as women's fiction. While love and romance play a big part in everything I write, my stories feature too many other story elements to be classified as romances

Is there a different writing process for short stories than there is for novels?


Amiri: I have a lot less space to work in but the actual process I use from rough draft to submission is pretty much the same for both.

Diderrich: Only in that I can’t drag it out. I have to force myself to stay short, succinct. Otherwise, it’s the same. I start with a scene and a very broad plot. The main characters come to life as I write that first scene. They just fall into it, becoming more real as the story progresses.

Henderson: My writing crosses many genres from science fiction and fantasy, to historical fiction and adventure. While my fiction doesn't always fit into the true romantic genre, the stories often cross into romance.

Much of the process is the same for short fiction as opposed to the longer length novel. One major difference for me is that where I can mentally plot, organize, and write a short story, I storyboard my novels with pencil and paper. The shift allows me to weave more intricate plots and make sure my characters are in the correct place. By eliminating logic errors, I can focus more on other aspects of the story such as dramatization and bringing the setting to life.

Did you write the story with a particular real life strong woman in mind? How do you relate to the woman you wrote about?


Amiri: My story is about Rhiannon, the Celtic horse goddess. I kept her myth and legend in mind as I crafted this Celtic/Mystery/Paranormal/Romance. In ancient Celtic times Rhiannon was a goddess most women could relate to, they strived to be like her. She was strong but committed to her family.

Diderrich: I don’t know anyone exactly like Hanna, although with five sisters, each of them as individual as fingerprints, I can find pieces of her in each one. There are also parts of Hanna that come from me, her maternal instinct toward her dogs, for example, and there are parts of Hanna that I wish I possessed, like her physical strength and ability to think on her feet.

Henderson: I can see much of my mother and my grandmothers in “Hell Lost”. All three were strong women who were able to rise above the traditional roles expected of women of their time. My mother was known to swing an axe, toss a bale of hay, or do whatever was needed on our family farm. In honor of my coal-country mountain heritage and the women of my family, I write westerns, including “Ambush Luck” in the Dreamspell Goddess Anthology, under the persona of my ancestor, Jessie Treon.

Lawson: “Helen” is about loneliness and trying to make sense of a confusing world. I think we all have these feelings on occasion. “Lost Planet” incorporates the silliness we all see occasionally in men and women. So, no particular strong woman is a part of the stories.

Scarbrough: Actually, the heroine in "Heart's Tempest" is also the heroine in my novel, Different Roads. Jaycee has been living inside my heart ever since she was a motherless six-year-old featured in my Christmas short story titled "Hope Chest." All her stories are dedicated to women who were once forgotten little girls like she was, most of whom are much stronger than they even realize. Fortunately, my own childhood was nothing like Jaycee's. Maybe that's why I feel so much for women like her and have to write about them.

Did you collaborate with anyone else during the anthology process or write on your own?

Amiri: I write on my own.

Diderrich: I’m not big on collaboration. Working with another writer would leave me wondering if my contribution had been truly integral to the work. I’d feel like an interloper, I think. I do belong to a wonderful writers’ group, though, that gives me great feedback on the mechanics of my stories and insight into how a reader might react to it and why.

Henderson: For me, writing is a solitary effort.

Lawson: I am solely responsible for these stories for better or worse.

Scarbrough: I have a best friend named Lee Ann Ward who is also a writer. We critique each other's work and bounce ideas off each other, but when we write it's a one-woman show--unless you count our heroines. They definitely have a say in what happens!

How do you discipline yourself when writing?

Amiri: I try to write at least 2000 words a day but sometime that doesn't work out. I'm striving to be more consistent with it.

Diderrich: I have to make a schedule, which keeps me writing fairly regularly for a while. Eventually, I get bored with the schedule or circumstances change and I have to make a new schedule, but I always need to have something or someone telling me when it’s time to write. Otherwise life just takes over and everything else gets done, but not the writing.

Henderson: I make sure that I always have paper and pencil with me. As well as a few pages of the chapter I'm currently working on.

Scarbrough: This isn't a problem for me, because once I start writing a story, it consumes me and that's all I want to do! So I guess my answer would be that I force myself to eat and sleep while I'm writing!

Have you participated in any other anthologies? If so, which ones?

Amiri: Yes. A Death in Texas, Sleeping with the Undead, and Romance of My Dreams, all with L & L Dreamspell.

Diderrich: I haven’t participated in any of L&L Dreamspell’s other anthologies yet. However, I won second place in a contest, The Golden Journey Short Story Competition, a few years ago with a story, “Sam’s Day,” where the winning stories were published in an anthology, The WriteStuff Writers’ Golden Journey, 2006.

Henderson: “Recov” in Romance of My Dreams, Vol II by L&L Dreamspell (awaiting publication)

“Pirates Reprise” in Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 9 by Sam's Dot Publishing (awaiting publication)

“Withym: Treasure Beneath the Sands” in The Writer’s Written Word 2008: Compendium of Short Works by the Monmouth Creative Writers’ Group

Lawson: This is my first.

Scarbrough: My story "Hope Chest" was featured in the 2008 edition of an annual Christmas anthology titled CHRISTMAS IS A SEASON published by Excalibur Press, and my story "Journey of a Thousand Miles" was featured in the 2009 edition. I also have a story in the upcoming L&L Dreamspell anthology DREAMSPELL REVENGE Volume1 and two stories in ROMANCE OF MY DREAMS Volume 2.

When writing, what themes do you feel passionate about?


Amiri: I love to write about strong women who know themselves or find themselves (warrior women), and the ancient Celts. My interest in history is as strong a drive as my writing so I often write historicals, usually set in the dark ages or ancient times. I also like to write humor.

Diderrich: I feel very passionate about women and enjoy exploring the ways they handle the problems and advantages they encounter because they’re women. I am also a big animal advocate. I love all animals, even spiders and snakes and find it unconscionable that some humans think they have the right to lord over them and treat them any way they see fit.

Henderson: I am old fashioned enough that I prefer happily-ever after endings, or at least the potential of the future the character wants. My heroes are men to die for and my women worthy of walking beside a man rather than behind him.

Lawson: I always want to make certain that my heroes and heroines (whatever their struggles) end up doing the right thing.

Scarbrough: Love definitely dominates when it comes to my writing, but I also seem to be drawn to writing about emotionally damaged characters like Jaycee. Usually it's the men in my stories with all the baggage, and my heroines are the only ones who can help them get past it.

James Michener once said, “I’m not a very good writer, but I’m an excellent rewriter.” Please respond to that statement as it relates to your individual writing process.

Amiri: Yes, I totally agree. The easy and fun part is the rough draft, meaning the first time I finish the story. The hard part and the bulk of time and writing is put in after that, in rewriting.

Diderrich: Most of the time I agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Michener, and I always go back and reread and edit my work. Once in a while, though, I find, that when I’ve finished my rewrite, the piece has changed to the point that it’s no longer the story I set out to tell. Maybe it’s a better story mechanically, but it’s no longer what I wanted to say.

Lawson: I am still rewriting “Helen” even though Lisa and Linda have already taken it into the anthology.

Do you have other writing projects underway?

Amiri: I am always working on new manuscripts. I have a Steampunk novella coming out in May and a Celtic/Romance novel, Druid Bride, to be released in May as well. I have a short fantasy story in Twisted Tales of Texas Landmarks with L &L Dreamspell to be released in the fall of 2010.

Diderrich: I have a number of projects going on all the time. I have a mystery novel finished looking for a publisher, and I’m half way through a second story using the same protagonist. I also have an idea for a graphic novel that I’d like to see put into print. I wrote the back story and have everything else in my head. I just need an artist to do the artwork for me. Another book I’m working on is a children’s book based on Sam (the dog from “Sam’s Day”) and his big sister, Molly. I wrote it a while back, but recently brought it out and had my critique group look at it. They had good things to say about it, so I’ve been editing it and looking at publishers to submit to.

Henderson: I have a romantic fantasy novel currently under consideration by a publisher, and a second is finishing up the review process.

Lawson: I am currently trying to write a mystery novel.

Scarbrough: I'm about three-quarters done with a coming-of-age novel titled Shades of Blue that my critique group partners have said reminds them of To Kill A Mockingbird. I can't tell you how flattered I am to even be mentioned in the same breath as a book like that. I'm also writing a YA paranormal novel that I like to describe as DEXTER meets BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER. No vampires, just a smart-mouthed dead girl with a penance to pay.

Where can readers learn more about you and the anthology?

Amiri: At http://www.CelticRomanceQueen.com and at http://www.lldreamspell.com/CorneliaAmiri.htm.

Diderrich: My website is http://www.jodiderrich.com/. Anyone interested in finding my work can look there. If they need more information, there is a link where they can e-mail me. I can also be found on Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter (jodid007) and Booktown.

Henderson: http://www.lldreamspell.com/HelenHenderson.htm

Lawson: Of course the anthology is discussed in the LLDreamspell website. I also have a website at Dianne@vevadiannelawson.org

Scarbrough: You can read samples of all my work on my pages at Authors Den: http://tinyurl.com/yafjyty. For updates about the anthology and all my book events, the best thing to do is find me on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/26q2sdj. I love getting new friend requests! I also have a blog called "Blue Attitude" that I don't update as much as I should, but there are some excerpts posted there too:
http://joycescarbrough.blogspot.com/

Ladies, it has been my pleasure to learn more about you.

Handling Social Media

We all know how time-consuming it is to have multiple online sites to maintain. Penny Sansevieri, author of Red Hot Internet Publicity, gives advice on how to handle social media without getting overwhelmed.

10 Ways to Rock on Social Media and Still Have a Life
It's true: social media is here--and there goes your life! Well, maybe not entirely but it sure seems that way sometimes, doesn't it? If you've held off joining the social media party because you were worried about what a time suck it would be, take heart! There are a lot of authors who feel the same way. I speak at conferences all the time and at almost every event I get at least a half a dozen people who insist they don't have time to devote to social media. Well, the fact remains you don't have time not to! But if you are still worried about the time commitment, let's take a look at how you can do this without dumping too much of your time into this effort. I mean an author's still gotta write, right?

When it comes to social media, understand this: sometimes more is not better; it's just more. You don't want to push yourself to too many sites because that can lead to fragmenting yourself too much online and, when you get fragmenting, you often get site abandonment. Meaning that you populate content on a (social media) site, only to forget it even exists.

1. Skim: the first phase of online promotion is often reading. This can be anything from Twitter posts to Facebook updates, blog posts and online articles. Here's a tip: skim. You'll want to be very selective with anything that you feel is worthy of an in-depth read. Save your time for the real important stuff and skim the rest.

2. Subscribe to RSS feeds, but only those you actually read: it's tempting to subscribe to a whole bunch of RSS blog feeds (just like it's tempting to get an email box full of newsletters but save yourself the hassle and only subscribe to content you can actually read). The same goes for people you follow on Twitter, if they don't add value, let them go. You don't need the noise.

3. Keep a timer nearby: if you are allocating time each day to your online activities, it's safe to assume you'll go over time unless you really police yourself. Get a kitchen timer and keep it near your desk, when the buzzer goes off, stop!

4. Automate whenever you can: automating can be the key to your online happiness. When you have autoresponders or auto content generators in place they can save you scads of time. An easy and quick way to implement example of this might be your newsletter sign ups. There are a variety of systems, one of them via Constant Contact that will allow you to easily automate sign ups. Even if you have a giveaway for signing up, the system can handle this too!

5. Consolidate your online presence: when you use sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Squidoo, you can really consolidate what you're doing online. Why? Because these three sites "talk" to one another, what that means is that if you update one, they all update. Makes it easy, doesn't it? While you still should visit each of these to populate them with content, you can also plug your information into one source and have it update all your properties. The 'source' can actually be your blog too. Using a site called Twitterfeed can update your Twitter account each time you update your blog, and there are widgets in Facebook and Squidoo that will do the same.

6. Get a routine: get yourself into a social media routine. You'll want to identify the best times of the day for you to blog, get active on Facebook, Twitter, etc., and then don't diverge from that. Stick to a schedule and a routine.

7. Cross-pollinate your stuff: much like my section on consolidating, you'll want to also cross-pollinate your content. Syndicated online articles are a good example of that. You can link to these articles from a variety of places. Your Twitter account for one will really benefit from this content, and you can also upload it to Facebook and Squidoo.

8. Do only essential things: you can waste a lot of your time online. By now you know that a million things can distract you; it's important to keep to the essentials. This means that you define what pushes your campaign forward and what doesn't. By doing this you will gain a better sense of where it's best to spend your time. For example, if blogging seems to get you a lot of new newsletter sign ups, continue doing it.

9. Don't follow the leader: while there are a lot of folks out there telling you what to do (including moi), you want to do what's right for you and your campaign, not what's popular. Twitter, for example, might make no sense for you at all. So don't just follow advice because you trust the source. Listen, learn, then do what will have the biggest impact on your campaign.

10. Create a plan: without a direction, any path will do. Make sure you have a plan for going online, don't just do it because it's "hip" or everyone else is. Make sure you spend some time creating a focused outline of what you'll do, what your goals are and what you need to attain to accomplish these goals. A plan will not only keep you focused, but also stay better on track with your marketing. A plan should include goals and a to do list so you make sure and sift through all the action items you need to create a rockin' online campaign.

These days, social media is a must for anyone promoting anything. But it doesn't have to mean that it's a time suck too. Keeping a social media presence also means managing it carefully. Know where to spend your time, what needs to be limited and where your efforts need to be expanded. Sometimes the quickest way to grow traction online is to isolate your efforts, while everyone is throwing it all "out there," you can create a focused plan that will not only gain you momentum, but readers as well.

Penny is the author of Red Hot Internet Publicity     

Penny Sansevieri's Advice About On-line Publicity

I am delighted to have Penny Sansevieri as my guest today. I bought her book, Red Hot Internet Publicity, and wrote a review (look in my archived posts). My copy is dog-earred and highlighted so that I can return to its pages to study and put some of her tips to good use. Since I had burning questions, I boldly asked Penny if she would consider answering them on this post so that all of you who read this blog will benefit.

Penny, welcome and please tell us a little about yourself and how you became a top Internet publicist.

WOW, thank you for the compliment! The Internet came to me when I was on a flight from San Diego to New York a number of years back. I realized that we are very fortunate to live in a country where anyone can publish a book. The problem with that is that now a lot of books are clogging the system and causing problems. Why? Review space is shrinking, and books are competing for the same shelf space which isn't getting any bigger, in fact shelf space is shrinking too. So I decided it was time to find a new way to market. Enter the Internet. We explored it for a while - we did a lot in beta. We had always done some marketing online, but not as much as we do now. Our campaigns are really leading edge. We were using Twitter almost three years ago, before anyone knew what it was. It's exciting stuff and it's really leveled the playing field.

What are some good ways to use our blogs for book publicity?
Well, if you're talking about the authors blog, I recommend that they blog - first and foremost and at least twice weekly. Authors should blog on topic, on current events related to their book, or anything that will engage, entertain, or educate their reader.

What should an author's Web site look like? What would you say to those who don't have a Web site to promote their books?
First off, your website is a 24/7 sales tool - every author *must* have a website. Second, what a site looks like isn't as important as what's on it and how well it's converting traffic. A site should be clean and easy to navigate - it should tell the visitor exactly what you're offering and give them a quick and easy way to buy your book. People don't want to guess what your site is about or what you're selling. You have to tell them up front. Be clear and remember you must sell the benefits. No one but mom cares that you wrote a book. Your readers want to know what the book can do for them!

How can I triple my book sales by having an Internet presence?
Well first off, it's about knowing your market/audience. You've got to get out and do some cyber-schmoozing. Here's a great little tip I teach authors to get themselves into the online conversation. The Internet is one big networking event. When you think of online promotion this way, the connections you make start to make more sense. So... the first and best place to look for these pockets of people is on blogs. I recommend finding the top 5-10 blogs in your market and following them. You can identify these top blogs on sites like Google Blog Search or Technorati, follow these bloggers and when you're comfortable, start commenting on their blog posts. This form of dialog is very important. Not only will you get to know the bloggers but you'll also begin networking with them. Then when you want to pitch them your book for review, they already know you! Also, each blog post you create creates an incoming link back to your site because when you blog comment, you have to register.

Let's talk about tags and keywords. There are still many of us who don't really understand how this works. How do we know we're selecting the right ones?
You really have to see what people are searching. Sometimes folks will look at Google Adwords to see what searches are most popular. Go check out your competition and see what types of keywords they have on their site and what they are using in their verbiage. Keywords are a very specialized industry but you can get a good sense by knowing and researching your competition...

I want to set up a virtual blog tour. How do I go about it?
After years of working with authors on Internet tours, talking about blogging, podcasting, social networking, and all other assorted online promotional tools, the basic questions still remain: How the heck do I promote myself on the Internet? Broken down in simple steps, this article is designed to give you a good starting point to kick your Internet promotion into high gear. It’s not difficult but you have to start somewhere. Let’s start with your web site…
Web site: Why would someone visit it? Why would anyone care? Before you start marketing yourself online, ask these basic questions. You can get anyone to a web site once, but getting them back a second, or third time is where authors often lose momentum. Studies have shown that less than 14% of web site visitors will buy the first time they visit. It’s only on the second or third visit that they decide to make a purchase. Anyone can drive traffic to your site, it’s getting them back that counts.

The point of your tour: getting incoming links.  Here’s the thing: anyone can get incoming links. The point is, you want GOOD and quality incoming links from sites that can actually send you traffic and readers that will buy your book. We get numerous calls from authors who have bought into inexpensive programs that do nothing more than driving unqualified, “tire kicking” traffic to their web site. This kind of traffic is not going to do you any good. In fact if you’re not careful, getting a bunch of errant links from sites that Google doesn’t feel are right for your topic or market can get you downgraded online instead of better ranking. So how do you beat this? First, you’ll want to download the Google toolbar. This toolbar comes with a Page Ranking piece (in some cases you may have to download this separately). This Page Rank is important because it’s an indicator of how important Google thinks a particular site is. Ideally sites you target will have a Page Rank of 4 or above. We like to target sites that have a ranking between 4-6.

Penny, this is great. I"ve learned even more and hopefully my cyber buddies have as well.
Bloggers, feel free to leave comments below this post for Penny or me. Ask questions. Penny has agreed to return with more tips to help us all. To learn more about Penny:

Penny C. Sansevieri
Author Marketing Experts, Inc.
Turning Authors into Success Stories
http://www.authormarketingexperts.com/

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