Friday Field Trip - Galveston

Today's Friday Field Trip come courtesy of fellow writer, commenter, and blogger, Carol Kilgore. I'm sure some of you know her from her blog, Under the Tiki Hut. I hope more of you will step forward with photos to share. Thanks, Carol!

These photos were all taken sometime between April 14-19 this year on Galveston Island in Texas. Galveston has been around for a long time and has a rich and slightly dark history. The island was severely damaged by Hurricane Ike in September 2008 and is still recovering. Century-old live oaks were destroyed and sculptures designed from their trunks dot now the landscape where they once ruled their surroundings. I’ve included a lot of different sights so you can get a better feel for Galveston and its proud people. Enjoy!

Rules? Why?

What I'm reading: Mystery, by Jonathan Kellerman

Remember,Ellis Vidler is giving away a book to one commenter, and you have until Friday to leave yours on her post. Scroll down to Tuesday.

There was a very interesting discussion at the Mystery Writers of America Yahoo group about when a dead body should show up in the book.

This puzzled the heck out of me. I know when I started writing romance, people told me I broke the "rules" because the first male character on scene wasn't the hero. Rules? I'd never read a romance, but the mystery I thought I was writing was, according to my daughters, turning into one, so I thought I should start reading them.

At first, looking at the short category romances (I tend to think of them as romance Garanimals because of the color and design coded covers), that seemed to be true. Now, I have no problem accepting conventions and reader expectations. If it's a romance, then there's going to have to be a hero and a heroine, and figuring out who's who is part of the reading experience. And in those very short books, I could understand why you had to get there early on.

Luckily, I had just about finished my first draft of my novel or I might have given up. I expanded my reading horizons and found there were very successful rule breakers out there. Allison Brennan even killed off a character that seemed to be set up as the hero. And Linda Castillo didn't bring her characters together into anything resembling a relationship until well into one of her books.

Ask Yourself Why

What I'm reading: Hollywood Scandals by Gemma Halliday.

Thanks so much to Ellis Vidler, yesterday's guest, for her look at showing emotions. Remember, she's giving away a book to one commenter, and you have until Friday to leave yours. Scroll down.

Why is there a dog in DANGER IN DEER RIDGE? What's the most important question to consider when you're writing? That's what I'm talking about today at The Blood Red Pencil. Hope you'll drop by and say hello.

Meanwhile, please don't forget that I'm giving away copies of DANGER IN DEER RIDGE as part of my buy 1 get 1 free offer. Click the Deals & Steals tab for how to get yours. Remember, you can buy When Danger Calls from any of your favorite e-tailers, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, All Romance eBooks and Smashwords.

Aiming for the Heart

Today, help me welcome author Ellis Vidler to Terry's Place. She has a giveaway, so read through to see how to enter to win.

Do you ever shed tears as you write? Not from frustration when something doesn’t work or you realize you have to scrap fifty pages of blood and sweat, but because something you’ve written strikes a chord emotionally? Author Ellis Vidler laughs, cries, and double checks the locks when she writes. She identifies with her characters.

Remember the movie Romancing the Stone? In one of the first scenes, Kathleen Turner sits at her desk in her pajamas, clicking out the last chapter of her novel and weeping into an endless supply of tissues. She’s writing from the heart and feels every word. Turner’s tears may have been slightly exaggerated, but most of us have cried over books and movies or even a tragic or touching picture on the news. Ellis certainly has.

That’s what writers do--aim for the heart. Elmore Leonard said that. If a scene touches someone, it will stick with the reader. Strong emotions create strong memories. That’s why we read, isn’t it? To experience something outside ourselves. The purpose of fiction is to evoke emotion.

Hints for Public Speaking

On Saturday, I was at a local library speaking to a book club about writing. Speaking in public isn't a major problem for me. I was a teacher for many years and am used to talking to groups. But I know there are some who dread having to address others.

What I've found helpful.

1. Have an idea of your audience. Since the person who invited me to speak is an aspiring writer, it was quite possible that there would be both readers and writers in the group, even though it was a book club. If you think you'll have a mixed group, try to have some brief words to cover both contingencies. I have two basic "programs" – one geared to readers, and one geared to aspiring writers. Neither is particularly in depth, but they each provide talking points. Readers made up the majority of my audience, but I talked about my 'beginning writer' handout as well, explaining that as readers, they might not be aware of what's 'behind the scenes' on the page, but they might like to watch for some of these points as they read.

2. Get there early so you know what kind of space they've allotted for you. Depending on the size of the group, you may be seated at the front of rows of chairs, or they may have a podium set up. Or a microphone. If that's the case, you'll have to remember to speak into it so your voice doesn't fade in and out. Also, greet people as they arrive. Don't hide until you're introduced. The idea is to be a "real" person, not someone who's too important to mingle.

3. Have handouts. I had bookmarks, business cards, a sheet of paper with a brief bio and covers of all my books, and CHOCOLATE.

Friday Field Trip - Mountain Springtime

Spring seems to arrive late up here in the mountains. However, when it arrives, it arrives FAST.

I took these shots of the aspen trees from our deck each morning, starting May 29th. You can almost watch them leaf out.

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Numbers and Time Sucks

What I'm reading: My Sunshine, by Catherine Anderson

Don't forget my buy 1 get 1 free sale. Check the Deals and Steals tab for details.

I was talking about sales figures yesterday, and numbers and stats are stuck in my brain. A while back, I did a post on Time Management, and I illustrated it with the image you see here.

About two or three weeks ago, I noticed my blog site hits had doubled. A little digging seemed to indicate that there was a link to that blog page when people searched Google images. So I had a lot of hits, but they were simply clicking onto that page and then out again. Were they doing me any good. Not really, other than boosting my visibility on search engines for a while.

During that time, I noticed that my "Klout" score and my "Technorati authority" jumped significantly. But what do those numbers mean? I have no clue whatsoever. Nobody rang my bell, or called, or even emailed me congratulating me on having better numbers. Nobody said, "Hey, I saw your Klout and so I'm going to follow your blog, read your books, shout it from the rooftops."

And now that whatever that phenomenon was, someone else quite likely used that same image and now their blog is getting all the action. My numbers are back where they were before. Should I be depressed? Or care?

Publishing: It's About Marketing

What I'm reading: Dirty, by Debra Webb.

Also, I'm revisiting my post on romantic moments over at Ellis Vidler's blog, the Unpredictable Muse today.

Thanks to Paty for sharing her reasons for going indie with her older books. I'm in a similar situation, and understand exactly what she's talking about. In addition to publishing my back list titles, I've also taken the plunge into indie-publishing a new book. And in case you missed it, I'm offering a Buy 1, Get 1 Free sale. And, unlike the normal retailers, I'm not restricting the free book to the cheaper one. Nope. Buy the 99 cent book (When Danger Calls) and I'll give you the $2.99 book (Danger in Deer Ridge) free.

Why? Because if you're someone starting in e-publishing, people are more likely to take a chance if you've got an established name. I don't. One of the ways to get noticed is for your books to rise in the rankings at the e-stores, and the only way to get them up there is for people to buy them or review them. So, in the hope that if I gave away books, mine would move higher up the ladder, which in turn would generate more sales, I'm willing to eat the cost of giving away books. After all, any business must have an advertising budget.

So, if you've been considering reading my Blackthorne, Inc. e-books, this would be a great time to take that next step.

Recycling My Books

Today I welcome Paty Jager to Terry's Place. Paty uses her love of the old west and ranch life to bring the characters in her historical and contemporary westerns to life. Growing up in a rural area books were her crystal ball to the world outside the secluded Wallowa valley. Her characters portray her feelings on life and love and her joy of reading.

Terry, Thank you for hosting me on your blog today.

I'd like to share with you today how I’m extending the longevity of my books and making them even more accessible to readers.

When I started writing I just wanted to put the characters in my head on paper and enjoy the process of bringing them to life on the pages. Along the way, my husband thought I should see dollars for my efforts and my friends who enjoyed the stories thought more people should enjoy them. That brought me to learning to better my craft and eventually start sending my stories to agents, editors, and contests.

I did well in most contests, usually becoming a finalist, and the rejection letters stopped being photocopied letters and said, "We like this, but…". I became frustrated that while they "liked it but", was nice, it wasn't putting my stories in front of readers.

Is Your Hero Mr. Perfect?

What I'm reading: Buried Prey, by John Sandford

First – stop reading right now and click the Deals & Steals tab. I've got an offer too good to pass up. Buy a book for 99 cents and get a $2.99 book FREE. No, I didn't get it backward. Click for details.

And one more "housekeeping" item. I've had people mention that although they've been reading my blog for a while, they didn't realize that only a short piece of the post shows up on this main page. Almost all my posts have a "keep reading" prompt. I do this because I prefer to have more posts visible on my home page, but I didn't realize some people might have missed it If you're one of them, I hope you'll start clicking through to the rest of the posts.


Today's post is targeted at readers more than writers, although I don't think you can really isolate one from the other. I'd appreciate feedback from both sides.

Recently, I've read a few "straight" romance novels by best-selling, many, many books to their name authors. Maybe the reason they didn't resonate for me is because I usually read either straight mystery or romantic suspense, but I had some trouble caring about the characters—in these cases, the hero. And I wondered if I'm the only one.

We all know that writing a "TSTL" character (Too Stupid to Live) is a story killer. And, I'm assuming that even though that caveat usually comes with descriptions of heroines, I'm thinking it should also carry over to the hero. Men can be stupid, too.