Hauntings in the Garden and Writing "small."

Halloween is almost upon us and, in celebration, the Wild Rose Press has brought out  Hauntings in the Garden, a set of nine mini-novellas on a Halloween theme. I'm celebrating the occasion with a series of posts looking at the art of writing "small." I won't pretend it's easy but judging from my own experience, it's the ideal way for a slow writer to catapult their fiction into the publishing marketplace.

Some of these I have read and shall review, some of these will also be mini-novellas by friends that I have read in the past and shamefully not reviewed. As a newly published writer, I now realize the importance of reviews and the understand the anguish of waiting to see what readers might say.

Today's post focuses on the blurbs. Analyse what features they have in common. Decide what makes them successful. Would they intrigue you enough to buy the book? 

Firstly are the three books out this week: click on the links for full details and excerpts at TWRP. The first is a sweet romance with a private eye  hero.

Caper Magic [d9137] - $1.99 : The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

P.I. Nick Forrester comes to Cape Brendan ostensibly to assist with Caper Madness, a month-long celebration of everything Halloween. In reality he is tracking a woman on the run. Within days he is confronted by Annunciata Doyle, a vivid reminder of a pain-filled past.

After retreating to Cape Brendan in defeat and humiliation, Nunie Doyle's only hope was to make the best of forced retirement. There, in this quaint tourist town on the shores of Lake Ontario, she earned the love and respect of new friends and neighbors—and put her talent for helping women to good use.

With the mutual goal of making Caper Madness the best ever, Nicke and Nunie fight tooth and nail on the personal level, each discovering a new side to the other, sides that make them consider making drastic changes for the rest of their lives.

This attraction: Is it complete madness-- or sheer magic?

Rating: Sweet
Page Count: 60
Word Count: 14880
978-1-62830-656-9 Digital

And now for something completely different-- a spicy New Adult suspense.

http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=5862

What Carrick County’s powerful Phelan family want, they usually get, whether that’s land like the Fitzgerald farm, or women, like the Fitzgerald girls. Handsome Liam can’t tempt Ranalt, whose heart belongs to neighbour Colin Sweeney. But his older brother Rory attracts her sister Lacey like a magnet draws steel.When the boys and their father Patrick visit Joe and Sheila Fitzgerald with a mysterious offer, all hell breaks loose. A furious Joe orders the Phelans off his property and away from his daughters, warning he knows what to do about ‘their kind’. Soon afterwards, Fitzgerald fences are slashed and cattle lie torn apart. Coincidence or cause for fear?There are secrets in Carrick County people don’t dare reveal. But Ranalt will risk everything to protect her family, the man she loves and the little girl she adores. Each turn of the summer moon brings danger and in the shadows, something waits...

Werewolf, New Adult, suspense
Rating: Spicy
Page Count: 57
Word Count: 14500
978-1-62830-564-7 Digital

And again for werewolf lovers from Dayana Knight.

http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=242_177_136&products_id=5863

Breanna McShae is a practicing green witch—harm to none, do as you will is the mantra she lives by. She must seek a familiar as her powers have reached peak and grounding does not pull enough of her magick back.  After performing a ritual asking the Goddess to provide her with her given familiar, she finds she has two animals vying for her attentions—a wolf and a raven.  The catch is one of them is the love of life and the other devastating trouble—a sikkqui—a creature that can assume any shape and sucks the very essence of human spirit and soul out leaving none but death and destruction behind.  The only way to destroy it is too perform a dark ritual, which is taboo for a green witch.  Her biggest problem is to figure out which animal is the sikkqui and then go against her very nature to destroy it without destroying herself and the shifter who has captured her heart.

Werewolf
Rating: Sensual
Page Count: 46
Word Count: 12320
978-1-62830-565-4 Digital

Hauntings in the Garden:Planning and Purpose.

Halloween and Nano Wrimo are fast approaching. In celebration of the first, The Wild Rose Press has brought out Hauntings in the Garden, a set of mini-novellas on a Halloween theme. 

I'm celebrating the occasion with a series of posts looking at the art of writing "small." I won't pretend it's easy but, judging from my own experience, it's the ideal way for a slow writer to catapult their fiction into the publishing marketplace.

Writing "small" is one way for the slow writer to gain publishing/self-publishing credits. And if you're a Nano entrant this year, you could produce at least two if not the statutory three books to reach the 50,000 word target. And in celebration of the writing month, I'm adding the link for Lazette's Nano e-book which I found through Darcy Pattison's Weekend Notes.

It's a value-filled 130 page e-book with a spooky front cover and lots of helpful information and links.

All week long I shall be celebrating the Hauntings in the Garden. The novellas--about a dozen of them--are all under 15000 words and ideal if you're studying how to write "small."

Some of these I have read and shall review, and I shall also, as time goes on, review mini-novellas I have read in the past. As a newly published writer, I now realize the importance of reviews and understand the anguish of waiting to see what readers might say.

I have given The Wild Rose Press links but the Amazon link found on the book page does go to Amazon.com , readers elsewhere will have to use the search feature to find the books in the Kindle store.

A Romantic short: Stacy Dawn

One little book that, for me, fulfills every one of the criteria for a satisfying read is Stacy Dawn's Love Her Like the Devil. It's under 3000 words but every word counts and her skill in creating characters that jump off the page is breathtaking.

If you like Westerns and/or Halloween spookiness, it's great. If you're reading it as a writer studying the craft, it's a strong example of a well-written short story.

http://www.wildrosepublishing.com/maincatalog_v151/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=242_175_141&products_id=5841

It's rated as sensual--(PG, PG13) 

The blurb sets the place, tone and the problem: where, when, who, and what's the challenge?

A chance meeting in a honky tonk on Halloween finds Luke in the arms of a brown-haired beauty. But if the stories he overhears are true, she may be far more than she seems...and he's more than ready to find out.

Too many blurbs end with a question that any self-respecting reader can immediately answer. Will the warring couple get together? Of course. It's a romance isn't it?

This tag leaves us intrigued--What are the stories? Who or what is she, really? What's he going to find out?  Perfect.

Short excerpt

Halloween sure brings out the characters, don’t it?

Luke Santana chuckled at the group of college kids clamoring past him to get into the Double Deuce Honky Tonk. Half of them wore ridiculous outfits he couldn’t even begin to understand and the other half traditional fairs of caped crusaders, masked phantoms, zombies and sexy maids. He quite enjoyed the latter.

As he moved to the bar, his gaze caught on one particular blonde in a baby blue corset tight enough to overfill the small cups. The lights behind the bar glistened off Bo Peep’s pale breasts, and he instantly became hard. Luke grinned. This was his rare night away from the family-run business…and he planned to enjoy himself.

He adjusted his Stetson and sidled up to the bar, tossing a leg over the stool next to the buxom beauty. A heady breeze of cheap perfume plumed around him as she turned and graced him with a perfectly wicked smile.

****

Paragraph 1: Place setting through name of venue and the bustling characters thronging it. Character inserted deftly through mention of the outfits hero doesn't understand and they're ridiculous because he doesn't understand them--why is he so out of touch?--and the traditional outfits that appeal, the sexy maids.

Paragraph 2: Reinforces Luke's intentions in being there and answers the question of what he does, and why he seems a bit out of touch with some of the other revellers. (Note for those of you who love ladling in back story--this is all I need as a reader.)

Paragraph 3: We really see the characters here, him with traditional Stetson and macho style, her doused with perfume and the contrasting juxtaposition of perfectly and wicked. Her attitude is revealed in the verb. She graces him with her smile. 

The precision in the choice and juxtaposition of vocabulary convey a wealth of meaning in a minimum of words. The reader is caught up in one point of view and deciphering meaning from the start.

You can find Stacy Dawn, her offer of free reads and her contact form at

www.stacydawn.com

Her blog: www.stacydawn.blogspot.com

****

How many years does it take to make a writer?

The answer is also a question--the one with which I started this blog all those years ago. How long is a piece of string?

As long as it needs to be. And in my case, learning what I need to know about fiction writing has taken forever.

So if you're a slow writer, take heart. I've signed the contract, seen the cover art and my novella has a publishing date in mid-October.

Done it at last!

It's the first in a series of cozy mysteries and if you're aiming for publication and thinking you'll never get there, try my step-by-step action plan which will be available soon.

Will it work for everyone? Not sure. The week before the novella was due with my editor, I was still doing my best to wimp out. The book wasn't right, it had holes you could drive a coach and horses through. Why had I ever thought I could write a cozy mystery? Where was I going to dump the clues? What were the clues? Disaster.

How to succeed

Make yourself accountable. I did not tell family and friends but I promised my publisher to be ready by a certain date. People were relying on my finishing. I had a definite deadline that had to be met and an editor who listened to all my reasons for opting out and said "Just finish."

Write a blurb, synopsis and outline. No use saying, "But it'll all change as I write." Of course it will. But the very act of summarizing possible events and how you hope your characters will act and react helps you crystallize ideas and note plot weaknesses. Your synopsis and outline will change and strengthen as you write just as muscles strengthen and lengthen with exercise.

Never ever beat yourself up for missing a day, a week, a month of writing.
Feeling unreasonably guilty does nothing to help you write. It just leaves you upset and demotivated.

Do one thing a day toward creating your book. And it doesn't have to be writing. Just thinking about a character will let him or her develop naturally in real time. Note the things about which you feel strongly during the day, the week. Give your characters the same passions.

Live life. Use it. Local newspapers report lots of odd incidents which can brighten up subplots and tone up saggy middles. Some very successful books have sprung from real life neighbor squabbles. That's the great thing about being a writer. You can always get your own back by disguising particularly annoying people as characters in your book.

Just finish. You can't beat the advice from my editor.

And then there's the marketing...

Marketing as a Beginner, my post for Writers on the Move this month, not only has some interesting marketing ideas but also links to Cynthia Lindeman's amazing list of 101 Writers' Resources from her article for Boost Blog Traffic.
If you don't know it already, check it out. The site is full of superb advice for bloggers.


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