3T Writing Tidbit

One of the realities of the writing life is that after you've written your amazing perfect story, you've got to entice people to read it.

So we all have hooks, those things that make us go Ah! or Wow! For many of us, these hooks are in the form of a stereotype.

Ugh, no! Not the STEREOTYPE.

Do you like brand better? or how about archetype? Whatever you call it, it's a character or trope or situation that's deep-rooted in our very psyche, and it gets our interest.

But here's the tidbit. Excite the reader with the stereotype -- then add a twist. Go off at a right angle or 180 degrees or swing your partner do-si-do all the way around. It freshens up the stereotype, it makes it your own, it gives it the pizzazz it needs to go from Ah! or Wow! to I want.

The sweet, shy maiden who gets stubborn when you threaten her friends.

The hooker with the heart of gold who's actually an undercover agent.

The up and coming rock star with an identical twin brother who is undercover and can't afford to be outed.

Go wild!

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 -- Contrast

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

Originally published May 2, 2011 for Star Shadow

Contrast

I visited Alaska for the first time last week. I’d done some research and knew Anchorage was a good-sized city near the Gulf of Alaska, and that mountains were nearby. So I wasn't expecting any surprises. I’d seen mountains before, rising from the plains in Colorado. I’d seen water before, the Pacific in San Diego and the Atlantic in Florida. I’d seen cities before, from Boston to Kansas City, from Chicago to Houston.

What I didn’t understand though, was that in Anchorage, the mountains and water and city are right on top of each other.

No gentle foothills swelling from the Plains. No long beaches lapped by ocean tides. Mountains thrust from water, and are the city's backdrop scrim. The contrast is abrupt. Stark.

Compelling.

Writing must also be compelling, so contrast is vital. Which leads me to taglines. After the book's cover snags the reader's attention, the tagline and blurb are story capsules to draw the reader into trying a page or two. 

Sharp contrast makes these short capsules sing. Here are three of mine.

• He’s a candy box of sex appeal wrapped with a golden bow. She’s on a diet. (Biting Me Softly)
• Nitro? Meet glycerin... (Biting Nixie)
• At last, the perfect lover. Now what? Stake him, shoot him—or love him? (Bite My Fire)

3T Writing Tidbit

Here's a bit of a wayback. I used to have an Author Tool Bag. I'd include various sites that had information I found useful. And at the end of the tool bag post:

My Author Tool Bag features sites I use in writing, editing, and marketing. It's stuff I've found online. The usual caveats apply--no recommendations either expressed or implied, don't click on blind links, have a good antivirus, etc. You know the drill. 

 Hey whaddya know, it's still good advice, lol.

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 -- Why Do I Write Fantasy?

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

Originally published April 28, 2011 for Amber Polo

Why do you write fantasy?

To me, fantasy is an integral part of life. It’s that sense of wonder, the ability to see the amazing beauty and variety all around you. It’s the fun, the joy, the wow that makes life worth living. I think that, since fantasy is the “what if” that enchants everyday life, all stories are imbued with it, from romance to spy thriller to sword and sorcery. 

I write fantasy because it’s got the biggest helping of wow. The most play in “what if”. I write fantasy because that’s the biggest story playground. 

My published books are red-hot vampire romances. Strangely, my favorite novels star mostly wizards: Jim Butcher’s Dresden Files, David Eddings’s Belgariad, J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series. I recently discovered Charles Stross’s Laundry FilesbI think the series appeals to the computer programmer in me. My favorite vampire fantasy (and comfort read) is Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. 

As a reader of fantasy, I love the interplay of possibilities that you can’t get in a regular story. Fantasy can show human nature against incredible backdrops, stretch it to the limits and beyond, pit the soul against truly impossible odds. I think fantasy is for the reader who wants more, and more again.
Not only would I write fantasy if nobody read it, I did, for twenty years!

3T Writing Tidbit

 Character. We authors have a hundred and one ways to create them, from rolling the dice on various attributes like an RPG to using personality quizzes to hearing them in our heads.

But how someone reacts to a situation is the best way to figure out who they are. Simple example. Let's say you have a character who's an amateur detective. Let's say you want that person to be reasonably smart. 

Which is better, when the initial clues have been laid out, if your detective is asked, "Who could have committed this grisly crime?"

A) "I have no idea."

B) "I'd rather not speculate in advance of hard facts."

How you decide your character acts will tell readers more about your character than anything.

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 -- As Simple as ABCBC

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

Originally published April 27, 2011 for Victoria Allen
 

As Simple as ABCBC

I’m a pantser. I love to take a strong man and a stronger woman, throw them together and let ’em have at it. So you might think I’d be the last person promoting order.

Except… what makes the difference between clear and huh? Or even between believable and not?

The right order.

The wrong order is like stumbling on the stair that’s not there, or drinking from an empty glass. Like reciting the alphabet backwards. I’m not talking about deliberate red herrings or plot twists, but ABC turned into ACB-what?

I have a story to illustrate. I once played a maid in the play Gas Light. Set in the 1880s, I was supposed to enter under dialog and light two gas lights on either side of the set. Not real gas lights, but as I touched my long pole to each the lightboard brought up the electric light hidden within.

I managed one but didn’t get to the other in time. The lightboard had to bring up the second light anyway, making it look like it’d been lit by ghosts (or the really bad error it was). And yes, I got yelled at. Never did that again.

ABC can get muddled in many ways. Besides my ghost lighting (B without A) there’s ABCBC and AC.

I’m taking my examples from Biting Me Softly because I know how I changed it. Well, and because it’s In Stock at bookstores across the US ? “I” is Liese, a Saint-Pauli-girl-next-door programmer. Her hero is Logan Steel, over six feet of golden, graceful vampire.

Problem: Redundant orderbABCBC vs. ABC.

Before: The instant Logan touched me, he knew and the smooth, seductive lover morphed into marauding pirate. “Liese. You’re so ready—treasure for the taking. I’m going to plunder you, princess. Prepare to be boarded.” One hand captured my face, securing me for easy ravaging, and he breached my pitiful defenses with a devouring kiss.

The problem? He touches, he knows, he morphs. Then in his speech we go backwards to where he’s knowing again. Then he morphs again. What has more impact, ABCBCbor ABC?

After: The instant Logan touched me he knew. “Liese. You’re so ready—treasure for the taking. Prepare to be boarded, princess.” The smooth, seductive lover morphed into a marauding pirate. One hand captured my face and he breached my pitiful defenses with a devouring kiss.

Problem: Causal order. A>C vs. A>B>C.

Before: His tongue invaded me, stole my breath. His taste overwhelmed me, his heat fierce and unyielding. His hand slid into my hair, anchoring my head. The other yanked me into his muscular body. He seized my bottom, cupping and fondling. I arched helplessly into him, banging up against his pirate’s prow, and it was a monster.

One hand anchors, the other yanks. Then he seizes her (which hand?) and she arches. This is actually okay (if you can overlook the phantom hand), but inserting a cause for his yanking adds a layer and increases the tension between them.

After: His tongue invaded me, stole my breath. His mouth overwhelmed me, his heat fierce and unyielding. Fingers slid into my hair to anchor my head for an even deeper kiss. When I moaned and tried to evade his plundering, his arm wrapped around me and yanked me tight into his muscular body. He seized my bottom, cupping and fondling. I arched helplessly into him, banging up against his pirate’s prow, and it was a monster.

In short: To order attention to pay a difference makes. And, um, it makes a difference too :)

Happy New Year to You

I'm not supposed to be working today. Our offices are closed for the holiday, after all. But I am sitting here, monitoring my work computer because of a little thing peculiar to professions diverse as doctor and computer geek -- the on-call.

So while technically I have a day off, I'm awake and relatively caffeinated and trying to be productive with what would otherwise be empty time. As Weird Al says, "Well, it sure beats raising cattle. Yeah and I forgot the next verse. Oh well, I guess it pays to rehearse." Probably raising cattle is fun IRL but what else rhymes with Seattle?

Anyway, one of the things I'm doing is clearing up all my post-it notes. You know, the ones you write when a great plot idea strikes you in the middle of the night...? (What? Not everyone does that??)

I recently read Sourdough by Robin Sloan. I enjoyed the novel (and loved Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore). Sourdough has a line that hit me as brilliant so I jotted it on a post-it. Now I'm sharing it with you. It has more meaning if you've read the book and know about the characters, but it stands alone well enough.

Clingstone smiled distantly. "Oh, what about that book? I still love it. But I also wonder how it could possibly have resonated so powerfully with a twenty-three-year-old who had seen so little of the world. Now that I've actually suffered, I find it somewhat...theoretical."

Truth, that.

I'm also consolidating my post-it notes on Soul Mates, book 3 of the Pull of the Moon series. Having a bit of trouble with my lead male character, but I managed to re-imagine him via a bunch of middle-of-the-night soul-searching post-its. We'll see how these brilliant (tongue-in-cheek) revelations stand up to the light of day. Wish me luck.

From all of us at Mary Hughes Books, warm wishes for a safe, happy, healthy, productive, and satisfying 2022!

Here's a little cynical realization about this new year... https://imgur.com/t/happynewyear2022/3jpCmPp