#WordlessWednesday An old photo of laughing Jazz the #cat #justforfun
Image
6
Monthly Archives: October 2017
NaNoPlanno: Tools for NaNoWriMo Prep
It’s a week before Nanowrimo starts and I haven’t prepared at all. This post has really inspired me to start planning, and I’m looking forward to checking out the links as well. Book 3 here I come!
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month: a frenzy of writing with the goal of producing a 50,000-word novel during the thirty days of November.
NaNoWriMo is a great opportunity to push yourself as a writer. It’s all about quantity of words, not quality. It’s vomit writing, spilling your guts, taking an idea and running with it, sans editing, revision, and second-guessing. It goes to the core of the creative process of writing: putting words on the page.
The official NaNoWriMo was created by author Chris Baty in 1999 and is now run by the nonprofit National Novel Writing Month. Hundreds of thousands of writers have participated over the past eighteen years, writing billions of words.
Why do so many people set out to write 50,000 words in just thirty days? There’s a lot to be gained beyond wordcount: NaNo forces you to focus, put writing higher…
View original post 1,374 more words
#tuesdaybookblog The Writer’s Lexicon by @KathySteinemann #bookreview
The Writer’s Lexicon should be on every writer’s desk! Read on to find out why.
Blurb
You’re a writer. You just read your manuscript and discovered your characters nodding like marionettes in every chapter. When they’re not nodding, they’re rolling their eyes.
Oops.
Time to slash the Pinocchio strings and turn them into real live people. Award-winning author Kathy Steinemann will provide the tools. She cuts through the so-called rules and offers simple solutions.
Too many repetitions of “little”? There’s a cure for that. Do you rely on “very” too often? There’s a cure for that too. You’ll find the remedies in this book’s dispensary.
Should you ever use anything other than “said” to attribute dialogue? Are exclamation points taboo? The answers might surprise you.
Learn how to harness body language, cut hackneyed adjectives, and draw on the environment for ambience. No more wooden characters. You’ll transform them into believable personalities your readers will learn to love. Or hate.
Get in the driver’s seat, relax, and enjoy your journey—with Kathy Steinemann’s book as your GPS.
My Review
The author contacted me about reviewing her book and I’m so pleased she did. When I read the line ‘…characters nodding like marionettes in every chapter’, I knew this was a writing resource book I had to read.
It couldn’t have come at a better time for me as I’m in the process of fine-tuning the second book in my series Silent Sea Chronicles. I know I’m guilty of creating nodding, grinning character who laugh and cry far too much. There are plenty of other examples of words that you may not even realise you are overusing (that being one!), and a multitude of alternatives to try.
Kathy Steinemann uses imaginative examples of how not to write sentences, along with examples of how to improve your work. There are A-Z lists of alternative words, and story prompts throughout. The book gets you thinking about why you have chosen particular words, and she helps you think of ways a few well placed words can bring your story to life. There are also chapters on punctuation, how to include the senses in your writing, and a list of 400 redundant words.
I think it’s a brilliant book for every writer to have on their desk. Unfortunately, I’ve only read The Writer’s Lexicon on kindle (I highly recommend a paperback). I can imagine my paperback copy would have post-it notes stuck all over my favourite chapters. It has certainly got me thinking, and I will be using this as a guide to help me tighten the writing in my books.
5 well deserved stars.
Writing Update #amwriting #amediting
I haven’t done an update in a while so in order to clarify things in my own head, I thought I’d share my plans for the rest of 2017.
Update 14/10/2017 – The giveaway is now over and in total 1831 people entered. The Lost Sentinel is now on over 1000 tbr bookshelves and I have gained close to 30 new followers on Goodreads. All these figures are fantastic, it’s just a shame the person who won is a serial competition entrant who has clocked up a massive 59k book on their to read list. They appear to give those they do win away, so I hope my book will find its way into the hands of someone who wants to read it.
(There are just a few hours left to enter the Goodreads giveaway for The Lost Sentinel – over 1500 people have entered so far. Don’t miss your chance to win a copy before 8am GMT 12/10/17.)
***
I’m just a few scenes away from printing The Sentinel’s Reign (Silent Sea Chronicles #2) for what I hope will be a last proof read before I pass it to my beta readers. I love this stage where I find out what works and what doesn’t!
***
I’m really excited to be taking part in NaNoWriMo this year where I hope to draft out the major part of The Sentinel’s Alliance (Silent Sea Chronicles #3).
***
My hunt for book covers goes on, but I hope to have a cover reveals for book 2 and 3 soon.
***
I hope to contact some book reviewers by the end of the year regarding The Lost Sentinel and Visions of Zarua.
However, if you are a book blogger reading this and would like to receive a review copy please get in touch via the comments or my Contact Me form.
***
I have several other book ideas to work through including a time slip novel that appeared to me in the summer and is itching to be written.
It looks like I have a busy few months ahead of me.
How is the rest of the year looking for you and have you signed up for NaNoWriMo yet?
***
If you want to find our more about my books, please click on the universal Amazon link below where you can read the blurb, check out reviews and download a free sample.
#Wordlesswednesday #Catinabag
#tuesdaybookblog Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek #audio #bookreview #thriller
Therapy by Sebastian Fitzek is an addictive read / listen that grips you right from the start. Before my brief review; here’s what the book is all about…
Blurb (Goodreads)
No witnesses, no evidence, no body: Star psychologist Viktor Larenz’s twelve-year-old daughter, Josy, who had suffered from an inexplicable illness, has vanished under mysterious circumstances during a visit to her doctor, and the investigation into her disappearance has brought no results. Four years later, Viktor remains a man shattered by this tragedy. He has retreated to a remote vacation cottage on a North Sea island, where a beautiful stranger named Anna Glass pays him a visit. She claims to be a novelist who suffers from an unusual form of schizophrenia: all the characters she creates for her books become real. While writing her most recent novel, Anna has been tortured by visions of a little girl with an unknown illness who has vanished without a trace, and she asks Dr. Larenz to treat her. Viktor reluctantly begins therapy sessions with the stranger, but very soon these sessions take a dramatic turn as the past is dragged back into the light. What really happened to Josy? Do Anna’s delusions describe Josy’s last days? And is Larenz a danger to himself and others?
Therapy is an absolutely gripping psychological thriller, an intelligent, fast and furious read that will stay with you for a long time after you have followed Viktor into the depths of his own psyche, and have figured out who Anna Glass really is.
My Review
I was totally addicted to this book and found myself listening to it every spare minute I could find.
The premise of a daughter disappearing without trace and a schizophrenic novelist having the answers had me desperate to find out more. With this story you’re never sure what is reality and what is delusion, and it was all very cleverly handled.
I love stories that keep you guessing and I would love to see this one made into a film.
The only possible disappointment for me was the very end. But I’m not giving away any details, so you’ll have to read it and let me know if you were satisfied with the outcome.
This is my first read of a Sebastian Fitzek book and it was so good, I’m almost nervous about picking up another one.
Overall, I rate this book 4.5 stars (only deducted 1/2 for the over use of unnecessary description of characters towards the beginning of the book.)
Why don’t you check the book out on Goodreads and if you have read it, let me know what you thought in the comments.
Suzanne Rogerson Fantasy Author 