All About Time

What I'm reading: Day of the Dragon, by Rebecca York

A brief commercial message: I've uploaded a new free read at Smashwords, "The Other Side of the Page." It's a collection of my 'job interviews' with Randy and Sarah, plus a look at what they say about me when I'm not around. It's just for fun, and I hope you'll download it. And don't forget—the coupon for "A Summer's Eve" will expire on the 16th. Download it now while it's a free read. Coupon Code BL83R. Click on the 'story' tab above for the links.

Now, back to our regularly scheduled blog post:

One challenge I faced when I wrote my first novel was how to deal with time. The plot required that my hero and heroine be separated, which meant that time moved forward for each of them. Thus, a scene with Sarah might start in the morning and carry her through to lunchtime. Meanwhile, of course, Randy's story didn't stop. When I shifted point of view from Sarah to Randy, it was important to let the readers know when they were.

Sometimes it was possible to start the new scene with a quick "catch up" transition, if , as in the above example, I was going to pick up with Randy at lunchtime. But what if something important was going on with Randy at the same time readers were busy with Sarah? Then it would either be a flash back (yawn—not recommended) or I'd have to jump back in time.

Time became fluid. We'd move forward, then back up, then catch up once again as the POV characters switched. . For the last chapters of the book, where Sarah was missing and Randy was trying to find her, I actually wrote their scenes separately, then dovetailed them so the reader didn't have to go too far forward before backing up and starting time over again. But I was always writing chronologically.

Friday Field Trip - Quw'utsun

Today, I'm turning things over to my sister-in-law, Amy Daraghy for more pictures from her trip to Vancouver Island. If you missed her first pictures, they're here. This trip is to the Quw'utsun Cultural Center in Duncan, BC.

Trust Your Subconscious

What I'm reading: French Pressed, by Cleo Coyle

We pause for these commercial messages…Digi Books Café has a 20% discount offer on all e-books. NOWHERE TO HIDE is one of those books, so if you've been contemplating reading it, this is probably the cheapest way to get it. The coupon code is e3d9d10a3c. Link to the book is here.

Of course, if you 'd rather have a personalized hard copy, you can email me and I'll send you one (or any of my other print books).

Friday's special treat of seeing one of my Free Reads, THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PAGE, get some unexpected publicity still makes me smile. If you missed it, you can see the article here. The link to the download itself is here . And, for the record, Hubster even downloaded the Kindle app for his phone so he could "buy" the story and help keep its sales ranking up there.


As you read this, contractor gods willing, our guys should be finishing up installation of the new "front" door and getting the new lights and mirrors in the bathrooms. We finally got delivery of our nightstands, so no more cardboard boxes. Next up: exterior pressure cleaning and a new coat or two of stain.

As for writing …

A Kindle Surprise

Surprise, surprise - One of my free reads, 'THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PAGE" was a featured pick at "Kindle Nation" today. A serendipitous discovery. (You have to scroll down a bit to find it)

Or, the direct link to download the story is here.

Storyboard Saga - Part 5 - Plus more news

What I'm reading: New Blood, by Gail Dayton; The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Stieg Larsson

We pause for a brief commercial interruption:

RELEASE DAY! True, it's a free read, but it's still fun. "THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PAGE" is available now from Cerridwen Press.

And this is the last week to enter my contest for a chance to win a copy of Lee Lofland's fabulous reference book, "Police Procedure & Investigation." Details on my website. Don't wait too long.

Back to your regularly scheduled blog post.


I was asked by my RWA chapter to present some of my 'plotting for non-plotters' techniques at their next meeting—which is this Saturday.

I'll bring my story board, of course. I'll be presenting with another member of the chapter, erotic romance author Lara Dien, and we're going to get together Wednesday evening to figure out what we're going to say.

And, the members usually want handouts. I like getting handouts. But now I have to create one – before I give the talk. To me, that sounds suspiciously like plotting in advance!

Keep Reading...

I'll be working on that this week. And yes, once I have it done, I'll share. And if Lara has a handout, I'll share hers too.

As for the storyboard tracking. I'm moving forward, as you might be able to tell if you compare this picture with the one I posted the last time I discussed my discovery of this technique.


And here's my idea board.

My only new addition to the storyboard: time. I normally do this on the computer, in the master file, but I've really been enjoying being able to look at the whole book without having to search the manuscript, so I've added neon green stickies reminding me which day it is (and I'm in chapter 20, and day 3 has just dawned.

Time is always a challenge when I'm writing more than one POV character when they're not on the same page. Character 1 might be off investigating the crime, while character 2 is telling her friend about getting mugged. Character 3 might be off jogging. I'd settled into a 'routine' – each chapter began with a scene in Gordon, my cop's POV, and the second scene was from either Megan's or Justin's, and they'd alternate. You can kind of see this on the storyboard: Gordon's green, Megan is pink, and Justin is blue.

Then I hit chapter 19. I knew at some point, I'd have to deal with his attraction to the waitress, and this seemed to be when he demanded it happen. The scene carried over into the "morning after." (It was also a bit strange to have an abbreviated, mostly off-the-page sex scene after writing 6 romances). So, I was now in the morning of day 3.

Only trouble was, Megan and Justin were having dinner on day 2 in the previous scene. To keep the time continuity clear, I'd have to jump ahead to the next day. But there were critical plot points that had to be covered.

At least Megan and Justin were together, so when I popped back into their POV scene, it would be when we left off.

When I read the chapter, I realized I was asking the reader to figure out that they'd just jumped back in time to the previous night. It made more sense to flip the scenes in that chapter. The other alternative, which didn't feel right, would have been to have a really long chapter to bring Justin and Megan into the morning of Day 3. While I don't have any rules as to how long a chapter or scene should be, each scene seems to feel complete at about the 4-6 page mark.

Another possibility would have been to have added Justin's scene to chapter 19, making it a three-scene chapter.

Is any of it 'right' or 'wrong'? I don't think so. Some authors will put date, time, and place headers in each chapter or scene of their books. I find that I gloss over or ignore them, wanting to know what's happening more than where or when, so I don't choose to add them to my books. I suppose if I had a lot of threads where characters were all over, I might consider it.

Scenes and chapters don't have to conform to any given length. So, adding a third scene wouldn't be 'wrong' either. It just didn't feel right.

And that seems to be how I write. It has to flow in such a way that it makes sense to me first.

What's your preference on following time when dealing with stories where the POV characters aren't together?

Tomorrow, my guest is author Blair Bancroft, who's going to recap her special tour of the FBI from the Romance Writer's of America conference. I'm regretting not being able to go even more. You won't want to miss it.

Feeling Like an Author

What I'm reading: Tailspin, by Catherine Coulter

Saturday's presentation at the Maitland Library was a panel discussion of how the five authors on the panel got started in writing, and whether they would do it again, or will keep doing it.


Three of the other authors had one book published. I sat there with my four books and felt like a "real" author.


The last panelist had been writing from age thirteen, but was still looking to break into print. Everyone agreed that persistence was vital. One addressed the fear of being able to 'do it again' in another book, although he had at least four more in his head, waiting to be written. I was extremely gratified when one of the members of the audience came up and told me how I'd given her hope when I said I didn't start writing until much later in life, and that there was no reason to think it was ever too late.

An aside – what I'm taking away from the panel was the fact that the other woman there writes standing up! She has her computer on her dresser, atop a stack of books so it's at the right height. There's character fodder everywhere.

Keep Reading...

Next: Yesterday morning, my Cerridwen editor sent me the final copy of my short story, The Other Side of the Page, that's going to be released in the near future (no official date yet) as a free read (they call them "Scintillating Samples") from Cerridwen Press. It's a total departure in that it's not really a story at all, but rather a tongue in cheek look at a writer's life.

This is the 'official' blurb:

Finding the perfect hero and heroine for a romance novel can turn a writer’s hair gray—that’s why I advertise for them. Interviewing characters can be exhausting, and getting them to stick to the plot? Well, it doesn’t always work that way. And then you find out they’re talking about you behind your back…

Meet Randy and Sarah, the hero and heroine of Finding Sarah and Hidden Fire, in a funny and illuminating look at what goes on behind the scenes of the romance writing process.

I'll be sure to shout out when it's available for download.

Another project has put my novel-writing on temporary hold. I have a chance to participate in a mystery anthology. Only trouble is, the story I submitted was only half as long as what they were looking for. Since the story doesn't lend itself to expansion, I offered to write another, related story. Which means I have to write it! This is as close to working under deadline on something other than edits as I've come yet in my writing career, and although I don't have a hard and fast date, ASAP is the working goal.

Short stories are entirely different from novels. You don't have room for much character development, sub-plots or a large supporting cast. I've got my protagonist—a Homicide Detective, already established in the first story. I've also got a secondary character, also introduced in that story.

Confession: The germ for this story showed up over drinks with Homicide Detective Mark Hussey. He mentioned things that set off red flags for homicide detectives, and one of them seemed a perfect starting point for a story.

So, Gordon, Megan and Justin, are patiently waiting in the wings – actually, Megan and Justin are in a posh hotel in Denver, and Gordon's still back in my fictional town of Mapleton, Colorado. Yesterday, I actually managed to write something for both projects, but I'm not sure I can sustain that. They're both mysteries, and I fear getting them mixed up, as I'm still learning who Gordon, Megan, and Justin are.

I admire those who can work effectively on more than one project. Robert B. Parker said he normally worked on one book in the morning, took a break, and worked on another in the afternoon. However, he's got to know his characters backward, forward, and inside out by now. (Not that I'm comparing my work to his!)

So, challenges for this new story:

Am I writing for word count, or am I writing the best, tightest possible story? Since I tend to write "long", it's important that I keep an eye on the temptation to use three words (or ten) when one will do, simply because I can watch the countdown on my spreadsheet approach my goal.

Should I write straight through, and then go back and cut? Or should I look at each day's production the next morning, and tighten as I go? Will I have the inner strength to cut, knowing it's pulling me farther from my goal?

Given that my name will be on the piece, I'm thinking I'll find that strength.

Tomorrow, my guest is Jacqueline Seewald, who's sharing her thoughts on how to get your work published. See you then.