3T Writing Tidbit - What's in a Name?

I recently wrote a rant post on repetition, how over-repetition drives me nuts, and techniques to avoid that. Avoid over-repetition, not driving me nuts.

Here is one place to break that rule. When first establishing a character, do repeat the character's name several times.

 Back when they had TV intros, several took advantage of this. Whatever you think of the set tensions, I can still remember "Who am I? I'm Rick Castle Castle Castle" and "Every writer needs inspiration and I've found mine Detective Kate Beckett Beckett Beckett".

Now, this doesn't have to be a straight repeat like Nixie Nixie Nixie (or Beetlejuice... nope, not saying that one 3 times). You can change up how you get your character's name in the reader's mental ear. Make it part of the title (Biting Nixie) or have established characters talking about her before or after she shows up. Make it explicit by having her introduce herself or make it implicit by weaving it into the scenery (a lawyer or banker on a billboard; a singer's song streaming in the background).

Mix these approaches up to make sure your character's name stays with the reader.

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.  

2T Repeat Performance - Style...And More

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published August 29, 2013 for What's on the Bookshelf

Thank you to Jen and What’s on the Bookshelf for having me here today!

1. What is your favorite line from BEAUTY BITES?

I love banter, and many of my favorite lines are quick back-and-forth. Here’s an exchange between Synnove (“I”) who has done a favor for her cousin Twyla, asking sexy ad man Ric Holiday to handle Twyla’s ad campaign. But Ric has said no. Synnove and Twyla review over a glass of wine.

“This is more than wine can handle.” I set my glass down. “Where’s your chocolate?”

“S’mores?”

“No. Straight up.”

“You’re going to do it.” [Twyla] smiled. “You’re going back.”

“Don’t sound so happy. You’re going to owe me so bad you’ll be my Favors [B**ch] for the rest of your life.” I rummaged around in the cupboards, caught the sting of cacao and found the giant extra-dark bars between a box of graham crackers and a bag of marshmallows. I cracked one in half without opening it, tore the paper in two and handed one to Twyla.

“Favors [B**ch]?” She took her half, unwrapped a corner and bit into it appreciatively. “Aren’t you forgetting the time I bailed you out of the principal’s office after you greased Anna Versnobt’s ‘back’ vibrator with heat rub?”

2. Describe Synnove in three words or less.

Substance over style.

3. Describe Ric in three words or less.

Style…and more.

4. What was the hardest thing about writing BEAUTY BITES?

The near-tragedy that sets the end in motion. I write my stories with a very light emotional touch for sensitive readers. But this scene needed to be gut-wrenching to honor what happens in it. Synnove does warn the reader so that she can skip ahead to the next chapter if she needs to.

5. Can you tell us what's up next?

I’m very excited that Downbeat, Biting Love Book 7 is releasing in March 2014. It’s Rocky’s story, and I actually started it before the first Biting Love book was even published. But its place in the series arc meant I didn’t get to finish it until this year. I’m glad it was delayed though, because it’s one of my favorite projects, and my readers, editors, and the writing community has made me a better writer and the story benefits from that.

I’m also in the planning stages for Book 8, Aiden’s story, and frankly that one will be a hoot because it pairs the sleek, smooth assassin with an inept but loveable Ruffles.

3T Writing Tidbit - writing update

I haven't been writing lately, because in 2018 my life took a hard turn, with several events indicating I needed to get back in the regular workforce, including the death of my older brother and that of one of my uncles-in-law, and my mother-in-law's near death. Plus my sales were down and we had basically one income, which in this economy is living quite dangerously.

So I went back to school and freshened up my credentials for application development or as we used to call it, computer programming. Fast forward two years, I got a day job just as COVID reached its peak and my home writing office was repurposed as a home app development office. Fast forward five more years and it's now.

And I've been mentally working on Soul Mates all along.

There's a blog or two or three out there about the troubles I've been having with the final book in the Pull of the Moon series. I didn't like the hero. The heroine was boring. The plot was disjointed. The villain had one-dimensional motivation.

One by one, over the years, I've been working these out. 

I'm still not writing, but I'm a lot closer than I've been. I'm actually getting exciting about the hero, the heroine, the plot -- even the villain. 

If you're one of my readers waiting for the finale to Pull of the Moon, don't lose heart. It's coming.

2T Repeat Performance - Beauty Bites

 

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published August 29, 2013 for Readers' Roundtable

Thank you to Sydney and the Reader’s Roundtable for having me here today!

Mary, tell us a little about yourself and your upcoming release.

I’m a reader, writer and flutist with a skewed sense of humor and a smattering of engineering genes (yay, details!!).

Beauty Bites is the sixth story in the Biting Love series of hot paranormal action layered with romance and quirked up with characters.

It’s the story of Dr. Synnove Byornsson, a plain girl who grew up to be a great beauty but still favors substance over style, and Ric Holiday, adman extraordinaire who’d be all about style if he weren’t hiding a few things—like that he’s a two hundred year old vampire.

Synnove owes a favor to her cousin Twyla from The Bite of Silence—the cousins have been trading pranks since the cat and water balloon incident. Twyla’s the city admin for the little town of Meiers Corners, and she wants Synnove to ask Ric to take the city on as a client.

Ric is attracted to Synnove, but doesn’t want to go near Chicago. That’s the home of the mafia-like vampire who turned Ric as a child. Ric escaped with the aid of his assassin friend Aiden (in between fights, the duo exchanges guy-digs and quips).

So Ric turns Synnove’s proposal down. Then a sly temptress with a counterproposal forces his hand. The two women are scheduled for a face-off, with Ric as the prize.

Here’s the warning: Contains a doctor with a bod for sin, an ad exec with a chip on his shoulder, sarcasm, sex, and a cabin full of annoying friends. Secrets are revealed. One heart-stopping, horrific moment leads to the ultimate of happily-ever-afters.

What inspired this fantastic series and how do you keep coming up with fresh, innovative material with each installment?

Thanks for your kind words! <3 One way to keep things fresh is making each heroine a bit different, which puts a different spin on the kind of humor in the story. Liese loves puns; Nixie sees the world through punk glasses; Elena’s all cop; and Junior loves music jokes. Even characters who are similar, like musicians Nixie and Junior, have a different background, so while Nixie’s punk, sassy and rebellious, Junior’s all business.

It also helps that the series stakes are rising. Each story reveals a little more about vampires, takes us closer to the heart of the Iowa Alliance (the good guys), and gives us a badder bad guy with a little more mayhem.

But one of the best ways to keep writing fresh is taking part in communities of readers and writers. People who love stories are the support and encouragement to learn new and better storytelling.

What other books do you have in the works?

I’m very excited that Downbeat, Biting Love Book 7, releases March 2014. It’s Rocky’s story, and I actually started it in 2008 before the first Biting Love book was even published. But its place in the series arc meant I didn’t get to finish it until this year. I’m glad it was delayed though, because this one is near to my heart, and my readers, editors, and the writing community has made me a better writer and the story benefits from that.

I’m in the planning stages for Book 8, Aiden’s story, and frankly that one will be a hoot because it pairs the sexy, smooth assassin with an inept but loveable Ruffles.

What are 5 things that you'd like your readers to know about Mary Hughes and/or the Biting Love series?

The Biting Love series came about after years of rejections. I put everything that had gotten great feedback into a story...and it got published. Keep writing. Write from the heart (and the gut :).

Aids to Meiers Corners. Nixie’s slang guide: http://maryhughesbooks.com/Nixie%20Slang.htm; the Biting Love series reading order: http://maryhughesbooks.com/Reading_Order.htm.

The stories have fun elements, and I’m careful to keep the emotional touch light. However, there is one stark scene in Beauty Bites, and highly sensitive readers are urged to follow Synnove’s caution and skip ahead to the next chapter.

Downbeat has a scene I’ve been waiting five years to write J

I love it when the series is discovered by new readers. I’m also hugely grateful to dedicated long-time readers. I love to hear from both!

3T Writing Tidbit - A Brief Rant

 As I was sorting through my cards (I jot down ideas on writing on index cards and have, at this point, an inch and a half pile) looking for things I haven't written a tidbit on, I came across one on scene planning.

While overall it's the usual: Goal, Conflict, Disaster, there's a difference. It suggests color-coding the scene based on twists, shifts, and repetition. It's this last that I want to address.

I'm climbing up on my soapbox here. This is a pet peeve, and if you don't want to hear a diatribe, don't go any farther.

You've been warned, lol.

Repetition can be good. It's a basic tenet of musical composition. State your theme. Repeat it, to get it in your listener's ear. Then start to repeat it - but vary it just enough to make something new. Think the start of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Da-da-da-duhhhh. Da-da-da-duhhhh. Da-da-da-duh, da-da-da-duh, da-da-da-duh (and we're off!)

Repeating the scene's goal or the protagonist's goal can be good. If it's been 100 pages since it's been mentioned and she's about to face her deepest fear, by all means, give the reader a reminder.

But for the love of all that's holy please please please do not repeat it twice a page. Don't even repeat it more than twice a scene unless you're going to vary it enough to make it new.

Don't you trust your reader to remember it?

I have a favorite PNR author I had to stop buying because she repeats the heroine's goals and/or fears at least a dozen times per chapter. Without variation or adding anything to the plot, character, or even deepening those goals/fears.

Deep breath. Thanks, I feel better now.

So what can we do about this authorly tic? 

• Trust your reader to remember the goal (it's strong enough to remember, isn't it?). 
• If you must put in a reminder, vary it somehow from the last time you brought it up.
• Better yet, make it add to the plot, or character development, or deepen (or twist!) the goal somehow.
• Reread the whole scene. It'll take hours to days to write a scene, and we may be repeating the goal because we can't remember it from yesterday. Read it as the reader will experience it to catch that annoying tic. 
  

(See what I did there? I repeated the information in the paragraph 2 above this, but varied it to make it stand out differently.)

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.   

2T Repeat Performance - Small Town, Big Romance

 

I've done a number of blog tours over the years, posting on different sites. Now I'm bringing them to you!

Originally published August 27, 2013 for My Odd Little World

Thank you to Nancy and My Odd Little World for having me back!

Why a small town for the setting, instead of a major city?

 New Orleans, Chicago, and New York give an urban fantasy or paranormal romance that gritty urban flavor. My vampire romances are set in the small German-immigrant settled city (pop. 7000) of Meiers Corners, a town outside Chicago, for several reasons.

The contrast is funnier.

Come on. Opie with fangs? Instant hoot.

(Don’t worry. The heroes are all big bad alpha males. No wimpy neck-sippers in the Biting Love romances.)

The writerly answer is that setting is another character. In this case, it’s really true, because Meiers Corners has a lot of personality. It’s a self-contained community, settled in the 1800s, where everyone is still related to some degree, even the newcomers—the genes rub off. It’s like an extended family. Everyone knows the rules. Arrive twenty minutes early for everything; the instant the lawn gets longer than one-point-five inches the mowers come out. Meiers Corners makes a great contrast to characters like Nixie, a punk rocker who spells authority G-e-t-M-e-O-u-t-t-a-H-e-r-e.

The personal answer is that I was born in a big city and grew up in a bedroom community but raised my kids in a small town, and it was a new experience for me. In some ways we were like Oscar and Felix in the Odd Couple, but my little town rubbed off on me just like Meiers Corners does. I’ve moved since then and at our new place we have the best-clipped lawn in the neighborhood!

3T Writing Tidbit - Body Language

 As writers, we're told constantly "show, not tell". While I'm not behind this statement more than 70% (cuz really, how boring would be having to live through all the character's moments in a day?), I do think we need to be good at it in order for the reader to become truly immersed in the story.

So here's an easy way to show not tell, one we use in real life: body language. The proof's even in the description! It's not talking language. It's the language of movement, of showing a story through intimate personal dance.

Keep an eye out for ways people in your life (or just people-watching) signal emotions. Do they lift an eyebrow in disbelief, or do they wince? Maybe when they're puzzled, they scrunch up their face or just rub their nose.

Once you have a list of ways an emotion can be shown through body language, go back and consider them against your character. Would Superman, if he was puzzled, be a face scruncher or a nost rubber? Would Sherlock Holmes, if he was disbelieving, be a wincer or eyebrow lifter? 

Pick your body language and have fun showing!

Published since 2009, over the years I've accumulated various items of writing wisdom. The Third Tuesday Writing Tidbit showcases these items in no particular order. Click here to see all 3T Tidbits.