Winners All Around

Thanks for your patience, everyone. John Sharpe's winners are Karen C. and Janet Kerr. Contact John at sharpewrites (at) gmail (dot) com to make arrangements to claim your books.

And a HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS to Nicole who finished the LA Marathon with a personal record of 4:09:12

Way to go, all.


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What Do Authors Owe Readers?

What I'm reading: Contest Entry #2 of 8

First, a warm welcome to my newest followers. Thanks for coming on board, and I hope you'll stop by often. Next, please check the sidebar. I'm teaching an on-line workshop on Point of View next month, and would love to see some of you there.

There's been a lot of heated discussion on the new Amazon Kindle Select program for indie authors. In case you haven't heard, Amazon created a new program which benefits authors. It makes books available for readers to borrow (provided they've paid the $79 to become a member of Amazon Prime), and also gives authors the perk of promoting their books as free for a specific number of days per quarter. Free books raise the recognition factor.

The catch? You have to agree to publish ONLY at Amazon for a minimum of 90 days.
Authors are jumping on the bandwagon to mixed results. A lot seems to depend on whether they're well known to begin with, and whether they're selling established books or new releases. Since the program is less than 3 months old, it's impossible to make generalizations. Obviously, the authors who are the most excited about the program are the ones seeing immediate results.

Clearly, Amazon is in it to suck up as much of the market as it can, and that's simply doing business. The same goes for the authors who choose to participate. Indie authors are no longer controlled by their publishers, and they get to make their own choices.

Tips For Finding Your Groove

What I'm reading: The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly

First, today is the last day to request a copy of FINDING SARAH. If you want a copy, email me at bookstore @ terryodell (dot) com with Thanksgiving in the header, and tell me whether you want a Smashwords coupon or a Kindle gift. This is NOT a contest. Everyone who asks can have a download. My only 'catch' is that you download the books when you get your email, since this giveaway ends today. If you want to preview the book, you can find the first chapter on my website.

And pop into the Deals & Steals tab to see how you can enter my contests.

As faithful readers of this blog might know, lately I've had little time to work on the WIP. I was sidetracked by edits for DEADLY SECRETS, my upcoming mystery. One daughter came to the states from Northern Ireland to visit. Hubster and son had birthdays. Our other daughter competed in the Iron Man in Arizona, which meant two driving days each way plus the event itself. Then came Thanksgiving.

Since I'm not under a deadline, I didn't even try to move forward on the WIP. Didn't even have my laptop. But now that I'm home, our daughters are back to their own homes, and the laundry is done, it's time to get back to work.

How to deal with lapses in writing time? I'm sure everyone has his or her own system, but the following works for me. Your approach will differ, depending on your own writing system.



1. Get rid of chores that will nag.
If you are going to worry about cleaning house, paying bills, going through email, take the time to get the critical things dealt with. Otherwise you're not going to be focused on your writing.

2. Do critiques for my crit group.
This might seem counterproductive, but freeing your brain from your own plot issues and looking at someone else's writing can help get your brain into thinking about the craft itself.

Free Book Offer Ends Soon

A reminder that I'm giving away downloads of FINDING SARAH to anyone who asks for one. Email me at bookstore (at) terryodell (dot) com with Thanksgiving in the subject line. I'll give you either a Kindle gift or a Smashwords coupon. Be sure to tell me which version you want in your email. Expires Monday, so don't wait.

I've hit 400 followers via Google Friend Connect. If you want to win some books, you have to tell me. Check the Deals & Steals tab for the details. I'm still hoping for 500 by the end of the year ... that will be a BIG BUNCH OF BOOKS, so tell your friends to follow this blog.

Next giveaway will be when I get 20 more newsletter signups. You can do it at my website.


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Friday Field Trip: Iron Man Arizona

What I'm reading: Fatal Judgment, by Irene Hannon.

First, a reminder that I'm giving away downloads of FINDING SARAH to anyone who asks for one. Email me at bookstore (at) terryodell (dot) com with Thanksgiving in the subject line. I'll give you either a Kindle gift or a Smashwords coupon. Be sure to tell me which you want. Expires Monday, so don't wait.

I know a lot of you read my post about my daughter's first Iron Man Triathlon, and know that we drove down to Arizona to watch her amazing effort. Here are some pictures of the event. For anyone who doesn't know what an Iron Man is, it's a 2.4 mile swim followed by a 112 mile bike ride, finished up with a 26.2 mile run. Nicole spent the year training and it paid off. She finished strong, with a smile on her face, and was very close to her projected time. You can read her race reports to see what it was like from her side at her blog, Banana Death.

These athletes are either nuts or way too dedicated--or both. We saw athletes who were running with prosthetic legs--one man even carried a spare. And a tandem bike, which was used by a blind competitor.

The first event was the swim, which began right around sunrise. Imagine over 2500 people in the water waiting for the start.

This was the leg of the race where it was virtually impossible to pick out individual competitors.

We found a spot near the point where the swimmers exited the water. Nicole had predicted about 1.5 hours for her to complete the swim, which is her weakest event. She was very close to that time.

And if you want to know what it's like to watch the swim portion of an Iron Man, I tried a short video with my cell phone.

Next came the bike ride.

Using Multiple POV Characters

I hope you're having a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. A reminder: Today's the last day to take advantage of my e-book giveaway.

And another reminder that I'm hosting a month-long discussion of characters at Coffee Time Romance. It's free, and you can drop in any time. And thinking about characters leads me to today's post.

When authors put a character on the page, they've made a decision as to whether or not it will be a POV character. In my opinion, if you're going to make a character a POV character, there needs to be a good reason for it.

If the only reason you're adding a POV character is to show his thoughts, then you should probably re-think it and see if there's another way to get that information to the reader. We live in a single POV world. A POV character has to be critical for plot advancement, not author convenience.

In romance, it's a 'given' that there will be two POV protagonists: hero and heroine. There might be more, but there are always at least two.

Mysteries are another genre. Most mysteries I read feature some kind of crime-solving detective, and often, they're part of a series where the same character heads up the entire series.

And then there's suspense, which by nature, requires more than one POV character, because the reader needs to know more than the protagonist—hence, the suspense.

A recent read falls into the suspense category (the back cover calls it a thriller, but I disagree with the recent overuse of the term). As someone who definitely prefers to connect with characters, I tried to step back and examine why the book works for me.

Labor Day Weekend Giveaway

Don't miss out on a chance for a free download of either WHAT'S IN A NAME? or DANGER IN DEER RIDGE. Offer expires Monday, Sept. 5th, 2011. Click here for details.


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The Author's Voice

What I'm reading: Blue Heaven, by C.J. Box

A reminder. I'm giving away e-books for a limited time. If you want one, don't delay. There's a link to the post in the Deals & Steals tab (or scroll down to Sunday's post). And, if I don't respond immediately, it's because I'm out of town for a couple of days. Be patient; I promise to honor all requests.

While at a recent writing seminar, I met several people who had attended the presentation I gave for a local book club. One of them said after hearing me speak, she read one of my books. Her comment was, "You write the same way you talk."

And I think that sums up my author's "voice."

I've discussed voice before, and since Hubster and I are taking off for our "official" anniversary celebration today, I'm going to repeat some points from other posts I've done on voice several years ago.

From what I understand, voice develops as an author writes. I judge the growth of my voice with the increasing ease of writing narrative. Not dialogue, because that is someone else's voice on the page—the character's.

Cowboys don't talk like artists, who don't talk like sailors, who don't talk like politicians. And men don't talk like women, no matter what job each has. When I write my male characters' dialogue, I always go back and cut it down by at least 25%.

But all the other words, the way the sentences are put together, how the paragraphs break—that's the author. And that's where the intangibles lie. When I was starting, and I'd enter contests, I'd get very disparate feedback from judges. Another author told me it meant I had a strong voice, which might or might not appeal to a reader.

A Free Ebook

Now through Labor Day 2011: Offer has expired. Sorry.

I'm offering a free download to anyone who wants either WHAT'S IN A NAME? or DANGER IN DEER RIDGE. The hope, of course, is that you'll take a few minutes after reading and post a short review. However, I can't require it, nor would I want to. I'm happy enough that you'd want to read one of my books.

Here's how it works.

1. Decide which book you want. The best way is to go to my website and read the book blurbs, excerpts, and/or first chapter. WHAT'S IN A NAME? is here. DANGER IN DEER RIDGE is here. If one seems to be something you'd enjoy, then:

2. Email me at bookstore (at) terryodell (dot) com with "Free Book" in the subject line. Tell me which book you want, and how you'd like it delivered. Your choices:

3. A gift for your Kindle OR a coupon code to use at Smashwords.

For the Amazon gift, include the email address you use with your Kindle account (not a kindle.com address) so it will go to the right place. Would you like your copy "Kindlegraphed?" Click here

4. You can leave your review at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Goodreads, or the Smashwords site, depending on where you downloaded the book.

5. If you enjoy the book, but you're not into reviewing, word of mouth is still the best advertising, so tell your friends.

6. Let me know how you found this post.

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A Room of One's Own

Kathleen O’Brien writes for Harlequin Superromance…whenever she can get the stars and the furniture to align perfectly. She can’t remember when she got so picky about her writing conditions, and she’d love some advice on how to relax. Or, failing that, at least some company in her misery! Be sure to leave a comment: Kathleen is giving away THREE books. Welcome, Kathleen.

Sometimes I think I'm the author equivalent of Goldilocks. I find it hard to write under just any conditions. Every little detail makes a difference. This chair is too hard. This one is too soft. This music is too loud, and that light is too bright.

Ugh. I'm not sure how I ended up such a prissy hothouse flower. I didn't want to be. I didn't used to be. My earliest professional writing years were spent at a daily newspaper. There, you plop yourself down in an open-plan newsroom, amid the chatter of other reporters and the rat-tat of countless keyboards, and bat out your 12 inches of copy by your six o'clock deadline. No whining allowed.

I loved it. Most journalists do. The noise and the urgency provided a current that swept me with it. Prowling the thesaurus for the perfect word would have seemed juvenile, because the quest was for clear, concise communication, not grandstanding. Writer's block wasn’t in my vocabulary yet. I composed my first paragraphs in my head as I drove home from my interview, and "downloaded" them the minute my rear end hit the chair. Sometimes not even my own chair, if another writer had confiscated it for a more urgent story, a tighter deadline. No big deal. I just found a free computer and got busy writing.

And the Survey Says -- Plus a Giveaway

Thanks to Robie for her excellent post. As someone who's in transition, I can appreciate it. And thanks to all who took the time to express their votes and opinions about the possible excerpts to use in conjunction with my next Five Star release, Where Danger Hides. And please read to the end of this post -- there's a contest and a free book as the prize. Now for the survey results:


In first place, with 47.5% of the votes, Excerpt #1
In second place, with 18% of the votes, Excerpt #3
In third place, with 16.4% of the votes, Excerpt #4
In fourth place, with 14.8% of the votes, Excerpt #2
And, "none" had a 3.3% share.

I also very much appreciate that more than half of the people who selected an excerpt also gave reasons for their choices, or ranked the excerpts in order of their personal preference.

And, as expected, I suppose, there were lots of reasons given for the individual choices. Some liked a hint of mystery, others liked voice, others mentioned piquing their curiosity. Some said they liked the image the excerpt created, some said they got a good picture of the characters.