Lisa Lickel

2011-03-22T14:32:00.021-05:00

Whispers…Wishes…Wonder

Author, Executive Editor, Freelance editing, Book reviewer, Interviewer, Mentor

"What if" stories with a twist of grace

unique relationships...family...mystery...love...victory

"Let us hold unswervingly to our faith, for He who promised is faithful." Hebrews 10:23

2011-03-22T14:20:00.000-05:00

Reader's Guide Discussion Questions

1. Describe the desires and goals of Ann, Mark, Ritchie, Rachel and Maeve. Did they get what they wanted?

2. In nature a meander scar is the visible remnants of a stream that circled over time and rejoined the main course. The resulting pool is called an oxbow lake. The lake will eventually dry up because it is cut off from its source of water. How does the title fit each character’s journey? What caused their lives to veer off the natural course? From what were they cut off?

3. What could Ann have done differently to keep her life on track? What were her choices and what circumstances affected her decisions?

4. Did Ann do the right thing when she learned the truth surrounding her husband’s disappearance? What else could she have done?

5. Who had the most to lose or gain by Ann’s actions?

6. If you were in Ann’s place, what might you have done once you learned the truth? Is telling the truth always the best course of action?

7. How could Ann come to terms with the actions of Gene’s mother? How could Mark?

8. Were Ritchie’s reactions both to his father’s disappearance and to Mark’s appearance natural? Why or why not?

9. Meander Scar is really a story about what makes a family. What was Mark’s real motive in coming home? Did he find what he was looking for? Did Ann?

10. How did Mark earn Ann’s family’s trust? Who needed and was affected most by this trust?

11. What things in Mark’s life were most important? How were all of his actions measured by those things?

12. Mark felt that he failed everyone around him. Do you agree or disagree and why? What could he have done differently?

2011-03-22T14:14:00.000-05:00

"Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its ardor unyielding at the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame. Many waters can’t quench love; rivers can’t wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned." Song of Songs 8:6-7.

Chapter One

Ann Ballard jerked awake, shaken by a rumble she felt clear to her bones. A dazzling flash of light burned her retinas when she glanced through the living room window. She jumped and felt her heart stutter at the roll of thunder that rattled the panes of glass.

At least she’d been saved from sinking into the nightmare again. Three times in a row, whenever she’d closed her eyes she dreamed of being trapped in a swampy pool on the banks of the winding Black Earth Creek, helplessly watching her son Ritchie and his friend Trey struggle against a current. The fact that the creek was not that big in real life didn’t seem to matter in her dream.

Ann tossed aside the afghan that had been covering her feet and stood. Only little old ladies took naps in the afternoon. What was the matter with her? The magazine she’d been reading slipped to the floor, sending the photograph she used as a bookmark spilling out. She snatched up the picture before it bent. She knew what sleeping during the day would lead to: wandering her big empty house at night, wide awake and scaring herself silly at every creak. Probably another headache, too. One that would take two days of head-banging and nausea to get over.

Another crack of lightning sent her scurrying to the kitchen.

Dinner. Make dinner. Anything to distract herself from the storm.

Speaking of which … Ann stopped in front of the cupboard and rubbed her arms. Where had she stored the battery-operated lantern? Were the power cells charged and ready? She hadn’t swept the basement all summer and hoped she wouldn’t have to wade through curtains of cobwebs if the severe weather forced her to take shelter down there.

Long ago, her first thoughts in inclement weather went to protecting her family. Since she’d been alone, wondering who would come to her rescue if she became trapped like those Chinese earthquake victims was turning into a sour hobby—especially on weekends when her niece Maeve was gone.

One thing she knew for sure: her mother-in-law wouldn’t be the first in line to save her. Maybe Ritchie would care. After a few days anyway, when she was due for supper at his and Colleen’s house in Portage and didn’t show up with the casserole.

The doorbell rang. Ann walked down the hall, grinning at the thought of Donna, her mother-in-law who hadn’t liked being a grandmother, becoming a great-grandmother. She fingered the colored square of paper in her hand while she pushed aside the filmy panel covering the sidelights to check out her visitor.

Bonus. A beautiful, dark-haired man stood on her step. Almost any company would be a welcome interruption. Ann opened the door to a gust of chilled wet breeze. Goose bumps rose at the sudden drop of temperature the coming storm brought. A scurrying rustle of dried leaves swirled on the unswept deck of her pillared front porch. Rain slashed at his little car on the brick drive.

Did she recognize him? Something about the nose … the photograph! Ann resisted the urge to compare her picture with her guest.

The man’s lips tilted into a practiced smile as he held out a hand. "Mrs. Ballard? Ann? Do you remember me? Mark? I’m Mark Roth. Trey’s brother? We lived next door."

Yes, yes. That was it. He squatted at the edge of the frame in her photograph of Ritchie and Trey in fifth grade with a catch of bluegills. How could she have forgotten Mark’s eyes? Even when he’d been a high schooler, those eyes had been the talk of the neighborhood ladies. Arresting blue, the iridescent color of bluebird feathers, Patricia from across the way used to say. Patricia always had been a bit of a nature freak.

Ann put a hand to her mouth and held up the picture with the other. "Well, this is amazing. I was just cleaning Ritchie’s closet and thinking about the boys and their fishing and found this photograph." What on earth made her say such a ridiculous thing? "Oh, you don’t care about that. Please, come in."

Ann pulled the door wide and gestured. He’d filled out from the wiry athlete who took the basketball team to a regional championship. How many years had passed since she last saw him? Ritchie’s high school graduation. Mark had gone east to college and stayed except for an occasional visit. After Trey’s accident a few years later, the Roths moved away from Wisconsin.

When Mark’s broad back was turned, Ann smoothed her hair and tugged her blouse straight, took a deep breath and prayed her deodorant was still working.

Mark preceded her into the living room and, with sweet attentiveness in his enchanting smile and raised brows, waited until she’d taken a seat before he settled into a place of his own. Wow—no one had manners like that anymore. She perched on the edge of one of the oxblood club chairs on either side of the formal brocade sofa. "Well, how are you? It’s been a long time. Are you visiting friends?"

"I’m fine, thank you. I’ve moved back to town. Just a week ago, as a matter of fact."

"You moved from Virginia? So, you quit your job? I’m afraid your parents and I haven’t kept up much, just a note once in a while, since their … retirement."

Out of the corner of her eye, Ann saw the rumpled stack of newspapers she’d left on the end table and a cobweb hanging from the lampshade. Unexpected company rarely happened. Shame! How could she have let the place go? She looked back at her guest before he answered. "I’ve accepted a position with Jung and Royce."

A tingle of surprise made her raise her eyebrows at the name of the well-known private law firm here in Clayton. Unfortunately, she and Gene had required their services more than once to yank Ritchie out of some scrape. That, besides their general legal business. "Todd Royce was a golfing partner of my husband Gene’s. I hope it works out for you. They must think highly of your abilities."

Mark turned his head toward the cold gas fireplace. He shrugged and faced her again. "I’ve had a few successes. I hoped to catch up on news from the old neighborhood. I heard Ritchie and Colleen are expecting a baby. And I wondered how you were doing."

Ann nodded and smiled. "I’m well. It’s nice of you ask. And excited for Ritchie, even though that will make me a grandmother." Ann jumped back to her feet like some excitable rabbit. "Forgive me. Why don’t I find us a something to snack on?" She started down the hall only to hear him follow her.

Her kitchen, with its seldom used gleaming copper-bottomed pots and dark flecked granite countertops, felt small and cold. She flipped a switch to light the sink area and the swag over the breakfast table set in front of the patio doors. She and Gene used to do a lot of entertaining. In fact, Ann used to do a lot of things, but it seemed that no one wanted half a couple in the spotlight. Maybe they thought her circumstances were contagious.

Snacks. Right. Ann checked the chrome refrigerator, although she knew exactly what she had in there: a quart of skim milk three days past the due date, some yogurt, old tortillas, and leftovers from the church guild lunch meeting a week ago. Drat. The refrigerator fairy hadn’t visited. Cooking for one didn’t call for a stockpile of food. Maeve always ate on campus. Ann closed the door with a grimace. Stalling for time she asked, "How do you like being a lawyer?"

Mark settled back against the counter and folded his arms.

Ann let her eyelids half close as she studied him. She tried to keep her breathing even, to direct her heartbeats to remain steady. Mark was definitely no longer the sweet polite young man from next door, but an adult in his…let’s see…thirties? He was nine years older than Ritchie and Trey; which made him nearly thirty-five. Eleven years younger than she. And he didn’t resemble any of the staid lawyers she did business with at Ballard, Gorman and Wicht, Gene’s company, where she worked as a CPA two days a week.

Eleven years…not so many. Men married much younger women all the time. In fact, just last year…stop it. Where did that come from? Ann watched Mark’s lips move, answering her question, while she stood there like a smitten idiot. Thinking ridiculous dreamy scenarios. Watching him like a lusty lonely widow—which she was not. A widow, anyway.

But he was pleasant to look at. His smooth face showed more character lines than her son’s. His deep chest and flat stomach under the soft gray dress shirt and dark pleated slacks hinted at regular workouts, something the swimmer in her appreciated. She tuned back in to his words.

"I love helping people solve their problems, especially the folks who’ve been victimized. You know, the easy targets. I worked for a grassroots group last year who represented landowners over an abandoned mine land property dispute with a reclamation company."

Ann tore her gaze away and hunted for clean glasses in the cupboard to his right. "So, you sound like you’re settling in." He wasn’t likely to find too many victims to help at Todd Jung’s prestigious firm, but she kept her mouth shut. "Is it hard to change firms? Or does everyone do business pretty much the same way?"

Mark took the two tumblers she grabbed and turned on the tap. "The work I do, estate planning and business law, has to work across multiple states, but every firm has its own way of handling clients."

Ann looked for ice cubes, hoping they hadn’t evaporated since the Fourth of July, the last time she knew she had any. They took their glasses to the kitchen table. Lightning crackled outside her patio. She gasped at the immediate report of thunder.

Mark pulled her chair out for her. "Close one."

Ann focused on his calm expression and relaxed. "Seems like this has been going on for long enough already."

"I listened to the radio on the way over here. Sounds like a quick-moving storm. Should be out of here soon."

They watched the play of cloud-to-cloud lightning for a few minutes. Like Mark said, the clouds scudded along. He told her about some of the spectacular storms he’d witnessed in the hills around Lynchburg. Ann circled the rim of her glass with her finger, trying to think of something witty and mature to say. It’d been years since she’d had a personal conversation with a man to whom she wasn’t related. "You must have liked it there in Virginia to have stayed so long."

"I always planned to return to Wisconsin. I consider it home."
"And now you’re moving up the ladder."

"Mr. Jung knows I want to spend a certain amount of my time doing pro bono work. He thinks it’ll be good for the firm’s image. Plenty of folks need help around the Madison area."

Ann read the tautness of her guest’s expression. Touchy. Okay, time to change the subject. "So, you’re back in Clayton. It’s really good to see you. I’m sure Ritchie and Colleen will be happy to know you’re nearby. And, um, your other friends. I thought you were engaged?" Ann looked for a wedding ring. Nope. Well, not all men wore one. "Did you get married? Is she with you?" Ann tried to recall the name Tiffany Roth linked him with in one of her Christmas cards.

"We’ll have time to catch up. I hoped you were available to celebrate my new job with me. You were one of few people from my past who always believed in me, supported me."

Ann’s back went straight with surprise. "Me?" She shook her head, brow furrowed. "I didn’t do anything special."

Mark smiled. "More than you know. How about we talk over dinner? I’m hungry."

One of the few people from his past … in her opinion, Mark’s father and stepmother had shamefully neglected both Trey and Mark while they spent all their time on their Internet business. All Ann had done was attend a few of Mark’s games and make sure he’d been welcome in her home.

This grown man was different from the boy next door. Ann knew Mark Roth, and yet she didn’t. Exciting? What was the matter with her? This nice young man simply wanted to be polite and touch bases with people he used to know. And maybe he was lonely if his wife had stayed in Virginia to wrap things up. The least she could do was eat a meal with him, for old times’ sake. She knew better than anyone that eating alone wasn’t much fun. And he was obviously proud of his new job. "Of course I’ll celebrate with you. There’s a new buffet place we could try."

Ann didn’t protest when Mark ushered her to his newer model metallic blue Mazda. Not that she embarrassed easily, but the little Ford she’d traded for her Beemer showed its age.

She knew she’d chosen wrong when they entered the crowded lobby of the restaurant. The place was a madhouse decorated in fake Wild West. Had the storm made everyone crazy to get out? Mark smiled grimly as he folded his wallet back in his pocket after paying the cashier. He picked up a cafeteria tray with their soft drinks in chipped plastic cups and flatware wrapped in a paper napkin. The cafeteria din made her clench her jaw.

Mark led the way into the main dining room and indicated a far corner with his elbow. "I think I see a free table." They seated themselves. Ann wished the place would wash away and take her along. At least she wasn’t trying to make some kind of impression on him, as if he were a prospective client. Or a candidate for a romance. She looked at him, hoping he could see how sorry she was for choosing such a raunchy restaurant. Mark mouthed something she couldn’t quite hear.

"I’m sorry, what did you say?"

A young waitress with a nose ring arrived, setting a basket of greasy-looking rolls on the table. She lingered, eyeing Mark as she might the dessert table while reminding them to take a clean plate whenever they visited the buffet. Ann wondered how Mark’s wife would have treated the girl and sat up straight, squinting with what she hoped was a disapproving frown. Now she felt more like a mother protecting her naïve son. She lost the frown when he spoke.

"You must enjoy the food here," Mark said after the young woman left.
"I’ve never been here. Ritchie and Colleen said they liked it." Ann took a deep breath and risked a sip of the cloudy iced tea she’d ordered. She couldn’t see Mark bringing his wife here. What kind of person was he married to, anyway? "So, um, Allison..." That was her name! "Isn’t she here with you? Did you leave her to settle things in Virginia before she comes?"

"I’m sorry, I can’t hear you."

Ann was pretty sure he’d heard, but no way was she going to shout her question again. She already sounded like a busybody grandma. "Do you … do you—"

Mark cut in. "Let’s see what they have to eat."

Ann scavenged without much success through the commingled aromas of steaming platters and bins of canned and diced and fried-looking bits. Mark did not appear to have fared much better, she noted, when they returned to their table. Mark looked around, as if waiting for something.

Ann turned her head, too, but did not see anyone she knew. When she faced him again, his eyes were closed. Ah. Praying.

That church youth group he’d attended in high school must have left a lasting impression. She briefly copied him. When he looked up at her again with a peaceful expression, she picked up her fork. Dare she ask about Allison again? Ann decided on a safer topic. "How are your parents?"

"Parents?" He cocked an ear toward her. "Dad and Tiffany are well as ever, if that’s what you asked. Golfing every day."

They gave up trying to converse through the ruckus after that. She couldn’t think of anything to say to him on the way home. Since her ears were still ringing with the noisy chatter and clank of dishes, she appreciated the quiet. Within an hour after they left Ann’s, Mark drove back into her driveway. He stopped the car and went around to open the passenger door for her. Another of his quaint mannerisms few practiced anymore.

Ann hesitated after he closed the car door. "Thank you. I … I can’t recall the last time … well, anyway, I apologize for tonight. You must let me make amends."

Mark accompanied her across the driveway to the dark front door. "Yes, I’d like that. Soon." They arrived on her front step. "But I think I’ll choose the place."

"Would you like to come in?"

What made her ask that? She stopped mid-reach with her key. "I’m sorry, never mind me. You’re tying to make connections with people you knew before. Not that I remember everyone, but maybe I can help if you’re trying to track down someone in particular." She felt his long stare. Maybe he was just as embarrassed as she was, caught at trying to flirt. Flirt? Oh, goodness. A little old married lady chatting up a nice married young man. If there couldn’t be a flood to swallow her, how about an earthquake? Could things get any worse?

"Thank you, that’s kind of you," Mark said. "I’m slowly finding my way again. But I’d like to have some coffee, if the invitation’s still open. We didn’t get much of a chance to talk back there."

Ann clutched the key so hard she knew she’d bear the impression of it for hours. It squealed, metal on metal, as she tried to insert it into the lock with nervous fingers. She opened the front door and turned on a light with a shaky, yet defiant, flip. She could have a harmless little talk with her former neighbor’s son. Do something more exciting than her usual trip to the Y, the monthly guild meetings, and working at Ballard, Gorman and Wicht, reminding Gene’s partners, Howie and Tim, that Gene could walk in the door any day now. As if he could. "Coffee?"

"Yes. Can I help?"

She led the way to the kitchen, and let him fill the carafe at the tap while she ground beans. Mark flashed a smirk. "You like fresh ground, too?"

"Ah, don’t tell me you’re one of those coffee snobs," Ann teased back as she started to measure the grounds and promptly lost count. How many scoops was that?

"I have been contemplating how an espresso machine would fit in my apartment. That was four, by the way."

The heat of embarrassment crawled up the back of her neck. How had he known? She looked at him out of the corner of her eye.
He leaned against the countertop, arms folded the same as he had earlier. "Ann."

Other than when she’d answered her door to him earlier, she’d never heard him call her anything but "Mrs. Ballard." Did that make him a contemporary? Or her less formal? She looked up at him after ensuring a steady trickle of dark liquid entered the glass pot. "Yes?"

"There’s never been any word, no new reports or information about him? About your … about Mr. Ballard?"

Ann blinked heavily and shook her head. "No. There’s never been any more than false leads. Nothing at all now, for—"

Seven years. Sunday would mark the seventh anniversary of the disappearance of her husband.

2011-03-21T17:49:00.000-05:00

Simple Tools of Freelance Editors
Used with permission. Originally appearing on September 18, 2009 at kvbwrites.

Michelle Levigne has over a dozen years experience in the editorial department at a community newspaper. She also has over 40 short stories and poems in fandom, over 40 novels and novellas published with small presses. She is the editor/publisher of a fanzine and a short fiction magazine.

On top of all of this, she has years experience working for a business publisher, changing transcripts into book chapters, 10 years proofreading for a national advertising agency, 10 years editing for various small press publishers, a BA in theater and English, and an MA in film/writing.

Your first question is probably, "What's a freelance editor?"

The simple answer is: Someone who's going to help you with the final polish of your book before you send it to an agent or an editor at a publishing house.

Because face it - editors are so overwhelmed with work loads and submissions and wading through truly wretched slush piles that they need "excuses" to reject. That's why a lot of publishing houses nowadays will only take submissions from agents - who act as a filter for them by going through the mountains of submissions that fill the slush piles.

The fact that you can follow the rules of grammar, spelling, punctuation and formatting - or can't/won't do so - will be the first watchful dragon at the gate that you have to get past.

I ran a very short-lived quarterly short fiction magazine (more years ago than I care to remember), and it taught me a valuable lesson on what editors go through. I was appalled and frustrated by how people couldn't be bothered to follow guidelines or couldn't be bothered to ask for guidelines, and had no idea what standard manuscript submission format meant.

People sent me stories typed single-spaced, 10pt font, on onion-skin paper - front and back! - and 20 pages folded up four times and jammed into a #10 envelope, with no SASE. Or they sent an addressed envelope with no stamp. Or they told me how much they expected to be paid for the story, and what issue they wanted it to appear in. Lack of SASE got them tossed into the garbage can without being read. I learned after the 1st issue not to deal with egos or ignorance of the rules, and NOT to waste my paper and stamps (and ulcer medicine) educating them.

And worst of all - this was a short fiction magazine, but people sent me Bible studies, testimonies, book reviews, and proposals for theology books they wanted me to publish. What part of SHORT FICTION didn't they understand?

Why am I telling you all this? To make a point: Editors get lambasted with so much stupidity from people who imagine themselves to be "artistes," that with a little common sense and effort, you will stand out from the crowd. Or as one published author at a writing workshop said about my chapter: Like a diamond in the manure pile.

And you know what made my story stand out from everyone else's? Not that it was good - it was wretched! - but because I used standard submission format, and I demonstrated I knew how to use standard grammar, spelling and punctuation.

You're here, you're serious about writing, so let's assume you understand the basics of grammar, spelling, punctuation and sentence structure. Here are some simple "tricks" or "keys" you can use to smooth out your story, make it easier for the editor to read, and flow faster.

IN ORDER TO
Wordy! "John wanted to win the soapbox derby in order to impress the guys in his new school." Know what? In Order To = To. Read the above sentence and take out "in order." Trim the wordiness. Nine times out of ten, you can use "to" in place of "in order to" and the sentence reads
just fine.

Your sentence is two words shorter. The sentence flows a second faster. How many times can you cut those two words out of every page, every chapter? Trimming a few seconds from every page adds up, so the story moves a little faster for your reader. Picking up the pace carries her
along, holds her interest.

So try to trim wordiness whenever possible.

START/BEGIN
"Wendy started to pack for her Hawaii vacation." Umm, how long can someone start to do something before they're actually doing it? Think about it. You can't continue to start doing something. Make sense? Why not just say "Wendy packed for her Hawaii vacation"?

There are only two times you can get away with saying "He started to/She began to." The first time is when you qualify what/where someone started - "He began packing by making a list of events on the cruise." "She started her lecture with an introduction to."

The other time is when there is an interruption: "Wendy started to pack, but a phone call stopped her with only her socks and sneakers pulled out of the closet."

WAS/ING
The dreaded was/ing combination. It's weak. It puts distance between the reader and the character. It feels passive. "He was walking down the road." Why not just say, "He walked down the road"? It's stronger. It's more active. And, All together now: It trims wordiness, making the pace faster. Notice a pattern here?

IBPMs
Impossible Body Parts Movements.

"His eyes roamed the room." Umm, NO! His eyes did not pop out of his head and roll around on the floor and up the walls. His GAZE roamed the room.

Nine times out of ten, when someone says the character's eyes did something, it was the character's gaze, not her eyeballs. His attention or his thoughts wandered, not his brain. Her sense of smell picked up something, not her nose. <G> I read this in a published novel: "The
squire's nose told him there was meat stew." Um, no, his nose can't speak, so how can it tell him? His sense of smell caught the aroma of meat stew. So THINK about what a body part is supposedly doing, and if it normally can't - His eyes danced. Really? - then have something else convey the image you want. I know people use such phrasing all the time, but that doesn't mean it's right, does it?

THAT vs. WHO
When you're talking about people, use WHO. When you're talking about things, use THAT. Yes, I know we read all over the place, "The people that wanted." But the proper way to say/write it is, "The people WHO wanted."

SHE AND I/HER AND ME
Otherwise known as subject and object confusion.
"They gave an award to Terri and I." "Me and Terri had a vacation last week." WRONG! My Sunday school teacher does this so often, and I want to stand up and correct him, but that would be disrespectful, and unfortunately, so many people don't notice it.

"They gave an award to Terri and ME." How do you know that's right? Take out the other person - would you say, "They gave an award to I"? No, you'd say, "They gave an award to me."

In the other example sentence, you wouldn't say "Me had a vacation," would you? No, you would say "I had a vacation," so the correct form of the sentence is "Terri and I had a vacation last week."

"I" is the subject - the one doing the acting.
"Me" is the object - the one being acted on.

The simplest way of checking if the subject or the object is correct is to take the other person out of the sentence. If it sounds wrong when you're the only one there, then it's still wrong when someone else is with you. Got it?

THOUGHT TO HIMSELF
I hate this! Unless this is a fantasy or science fiction novel, where people communicate telepathically, who ELSE is the POV character going to think to, except himself?

Just think about this! (Notice I didn't say "Think to yourself about this"?

Of course, someone is going to say, "Yeah, but what about someone speaking to himself?" That's different. When your character speaks, and especially if there are other people in the room, you have to indicate who is being spoken to. And quite frankly, it shows something about a person's character if she's talking to herself, rather than the guy across the aisle or on the other side of the room. Make sense?

PLURAL AGREEMENT
"Your reader needs to understand what you're saying to them, so they can go out and apply the principles you've been teaching." If you start the sentence talking about ONE reader, then the rest of the sentence needs to be in the singular. I know a lot of people use "them" and "they" as sort of a gender-neutral singular, rather than "it," but it's so inconsistent and ugly. Either refer to your subjects in plural all the time, or switch back and forth between "he" and "she." I edited a book where an entire chapter referred to "the baby in Christ" and then went to on to talk about "them." I kept having to tell the author - change it to "babies" so there's agreement! If you want the gender-neutral "them," then everything has to be in plurals: "Your READERS NEED" rather than "Your READER NEEDS." Make sense?

TRY AND
Try and win the race. Try and understand. Umm, are there two verbs at work here? NO! Are you trying something, then doing something? NO!

No, no, a thousand times no! You do not "try and," you "try TO" do something. Try TO win the race. Try TO understand. Try to remember this rule, okay? Especially if you're going to ask me to edit your book before you submit it to a publisher.

ONE WORD OR THREE?
See Struck & White's "Elements of Style." If you're using three words to say what one word will do, use the one word. Keep things as concise, as simple, and as short as possible. Unless you need long, convoluted, poetic sentences to convey a feeling or rhythm or subconscious idea. Are you trying to create a word picture, or impress your reader with your vocabulary? Sketch a setting, don't make the reader sit for half an hour noticing every petal on a flower and every leaf on a tree and catalog every scent, every sound. Only list the details that are necessary to the story itself. Michener can get away with this - you're not Michener! At least, not yet. <G>

I was involved in a long-running Easter drama at my church, as the scriptwriter and back stage manager. A woman involved in making costumes was so protective of "her" costumes, shrieking at people if they used too much makeup, because it would damage "her" costumes, even though the costumes were mostly church property, she made herself miserable. People didn't want to work with her. She used gorgeous materials for her costumes, but they were totally inappropriate to the time period, or she insisted on using materials that required dry cleaning or other special treatment. In essence, whether she was aware of it or not, she wanted the drama to revolve around her costumes. She never learned what I learned in theater class - it's a group effort. I could have tied myself up in knots every year when the actors mangled my script and insisted on using King James English when the rest of the dialogue was "modern." But I had to let go and let my contribution become absorbed in the whole. I was there as part of the team, not the star.

In the same way, you have to let your vocabulary and imagery become absorbed by the story, as support for the composite of the "movie" you want to put in the reader's imagination. If anything stands out, it will jar the whole and ruin the experience for the reader - just like an emerald green silken robe in the middle of a stage full of earth-colored robes jarred the audience.

A basic rule is to make your language secondary to the story. You want the reader caught up in the WHOLE of the story. If the reader has to keep stopping every couple of pages to untangle your words and images, you're going to lose her. The reader should be blissfully unaware of you, the narrator - and so carried along by your story that when she closes the book, she turns it over, reads your name on the cover and says, "I have to find more books by this author!"

2011-03-21T13:54:00.000-05:00

Discussion Guide

for Healing Grace

by Lisa Lickel

✤ What kind of a person was Grace? How well did you get to know her? How did she feel about and use her gifts?

✤ How did the personalities of Grace, Ted, and Randy support their actions?

✤ How did Greg Evans and Matty van Ooyen fit into Grace’s life?

✤ To what did Marliss credit her successful pregnancy? Do you think Grace agreed?

✤ Have you ever faced a traumatic situation like Grace’s, where you just wanted to run away? Why do you think Grace took all the blame for her husband’s death?

✤ In what ways did the people of East Bay need Grace? Did she meet their needs? How or how not?

✤ How did Grace need the people of East Bay? In what ways did they support her or not support her? Is your community similar or different to East Bay?

✤ How did you feel when Grace finally let the past catch up with her? Was her reaction a surprise? Did she need to go through that experience in order to reach out to Ted?

✤ What were the main issues in the story? How do they compare to other books you or your group has read?

✤ How was the Petoskey stone significant to the story?

✤ Did the setting work to frame the scope of the story?

✤ How easy or difficult was it to follow the course of the story?

✤ How did the title serve the book’s theme?

2011-03-20T17:43:00.000-05:00

Writing Devotionals by Julie Dearyan

Used with permission. Originally appearing September 20, 2009 at kvbwrites

Julie Scudder Dearyan is a writer and speaker. She is the editor of Victory In Grace, a monthly online magazine that ministers to people touched by her father and brother's television and radio program, Victory In Grace. She has been published in Focus on the Family, Clubhouse, Secret Place, Quiet Places for You, Marriage Partnership, Leadership Journal, and in many other publications.

What is the mission of Devotional writing?
A devotion gives people a two-to-five minute experience to encourage them to think about what God wants to do through their lives. People need to come away from reading the devotion encouraged and blessed, having read a Scripture along with its practical application.

Format: Scripture reading, quote for the day, Title of Reflection, Text of Reflection (check format of market you are targeting)

Length: Scripture-1-2 verses, Quote-One sentence, Reflection-200-300 words (some markets have them as short as 100 words-make sure your word count is right on and you have followed the format of other published devotionals in that market as closely as possible)

Start with an illustration
Your own life is the best place to start. In fact, with a little practice, you will start to see devotionals everywhere you turn. I pretty much could write a devo about anything these days.

Write down things you see God doing in your life. Randomly do this for a few days. They don't have to be profound, huge experiences to be a great devotion. Actually, it is better if they are the little things that happen when you see God's hand-this will resonate with your audience. The illustration can be as short as one sentence or as long as two paragraphs.

Here's an illustration from a devotion I wrote for Secret Place:
It was one of the last days of our vacation. The sun hid behind some clouds. We decorated sand castles at the beach and romped in the waves until I noticed pale red on my daughter's neck. I hadn't put suntan lotion on her. The less-intense sun had lulled me into laziness.

Transition sentence
Now, transition from the illustration to the spiritual truth. Here's how I did it:
A shirt kept the burn from increasing but the incident made me think about how I often neglect my spiritual side when my life is in less-intense mode.

Scriptural Truth
One or two sentences or paragraphs (depending on length of your devo) will help the reader to make the connection to the spiritual. This devo for Secret Place was short so my Scriptural truth is succinct to say the least.

I read my Bible but with a "let's get it over with" attitude. I pray but perfunctorily. I minister without a cheerful attitude. When things are calm, I tend to be a bit lazy with my
Spiritual disciplines.

Broaden to a wider audience
Take a sentence or two to make the devo applicable to any reader-not just readers who are like you. If your devo is written to Moms, then think of Moms who are in different circumstances than you are. Consider the mom who has adopted or the mom who works full time. Here is how I
did it for Secret Place.

Maybe you are between projects at work. Perhaps your children are at college, and while the quiet is welcome, your spirit longs for more.

Invite reader to make a decision
This is very important. The reader needs to be asked to make a decision regarding the devotion. It doesn't need to be a big decision. You are not asking the person to come forward and dedicate his or her life to full time missionary service. Just a small decision-something doable in the reader's busy day.

Here's what I did:
Consider taking a walk today, preferably in a beautiful place, where you can share your longing heart with God.

Tie it up with a reference from the illustration
Now tie up your devo package with a pretty bow by referencing the beginning illustration. Here's my tie.

The squalls bring us to our knees but so should the calm.
Lord, help me every day no matter how busy or calm my life is going to
remember how much I need you.

Secret Place wanted me to end these with a prayer. Not all devos ask this.

That's it! Why don't you try writing a devo or two. They are easy and fun to write. For me personally, they are a great way for me to see how God is working in my life and I take great hope from that.

The Map Quilt

2011-03-20T17:37:00.000-05:00

The Map Quilt, a sequel to The Gold Standard, released in May 4, 2012 as an electronic book. Print book coming soon!

MuseItUp Books, Canada purchase from the publisher here.
Or From Amazon here.

ISBN: 978-1-77127-038-0

Recipes, and reader's guide will be available soon.

About the Book:
Death in rural Wisconsin is only the beginning to new chaos in Robertsville. What do a stolen piece of revolutionary agricultural equipment, a long-buried skeleton in the yard, and an old quilt with secrets have in common? Hart and Judy Wingate, who met in The Gold Standard, are back to solve the mystery of The Map Quilt. Hart’s new battery design could forever change the farm implement industry. But after the death of Hart’s most confrontational colleague in a fire that destroys Hart’s workshop, the battery is missing.

Throw in a guest speaker invited to Judy’s elementary classroom who insists she owns the land under Hart’s chief competitor’s corporate headquarters, and a police chief who’s making eyes at Hart’s widowed mother, it’s no wonder Hart is under a ton of pressure to make sure his adventurous pregnant wife stays safe while trying to preserve his company and his reputation.

Review from Peggy Bennitt:

Map Quilt— Lisa J. Lickel—Buried Treasure Mysteries, Book 2

There are lots of myths and legends that surround the truth of the Underground Railroad, and its operators and stations along the way to safety in the north and Canada. Dynamic storytellers, oral tradition and dedicated teachers continue to keep this piece of history alive and real for each new generation. Map quilts are a part of the mystique that surrounds this era of American history.

When Judy was awakened by a kick to the bladder, she awoke with the remnants of a dream clouding her mind. She rolled her hugely distended body out of bed and picked her way from the bedroom and down the stairs, carefully avoiding the cat, Poncho Villa. Through the mudroom door, she noticed a haze on the early morning horizon and could hear a siren in the distance…and coming closer. Fire!

Judy Wingate, a fifth grade teacher in Robertsville, Wisconsin, is winding down the school year for her students with an oral presentation about the Underground Railroad. Her husband, Hart, is an engineer and inventor for AdventiveAg, a satellite company of a larger corporation in St. Louis, Missouri. Together with his partner, Hart is preparing to “go public” with their newest product: a solar-powered battery, especially adaptable for farm equipment.

To add to the busyness of their life, Hart and Judy Wingate are expecting their first baby in just a few weeks. What they aren’t expecting is to have Hart’s workshop burn down in the wee morning hours, or the grisly discovery in the burned out workshop.

The Map Quilt by Lisa J. Lickel, weaves mystery, myths, black history, and the dynamics of family and community into a great read. The thread in the story is the legend of map quilts used in the Underground Railroad to help slaves, and freedmen alike, escape their pursuers using fabric maps designed as quilts. By adding corporate intrigue and spiritual questioning to the mix, Lickel blends the fabric of daily life with pieces of history for a wonderful reading adventure.

About the Cover:
About the Buried Treasure Cozy Covers
Nika Dixon, cover artist, answers my questions.

Please note: Nika is a great cover designer for all genres, including steamy romances and Red Rose Publishing, which are shown on her web pages. I am very happy with her designs for my inspirational cozy mystery covers.

Nika Dixon is a freelance writer who graduated with a degree in broadcasting and spent years working in the television industry before expanding her role to include that of a part-time educator and college professor. She teaches both graphic design and web development and also consults with corporate clients on using social networking for business. Nika is also a published romantic suspense author.
Hi, Nika. How did you become a book cover designer? What is your training?
I have always been a cover junky. Whenever I’m at the bookstore, library, or online looking for reads, I ALWAYS start with the cover. If the cover looks cheesy or badly designed, I can only assume the story is equally bad, and I won’t go any further. Yes, I could possibly be missing the most amazing story or author I’ve ever found, but I’ll never read it because I can’t get past the front of the book.

I began designing covers when my first manuscript was picked up for publishing. After digging through some of the published cover designs, my internal artist was turned off by how many covers were being released with no thought to design. Bad layering, misused image placement, terrible text choices.... It makes me cringe to see some of the designs people are showcasing as ‘professional’.

Not wanting to take any chances with my own cover, I submitted my own design then offered my services to the publisher to help give artists a more professionally designed cover. I’ve worked in web design for over twelve years, and I teach it at a college level, so it was easy to put some of the same practices to use.

What are the most fun and least fun parts about the job? What is your idea of a perfect design?
In my opinion, the perfect design is a cover that pulls your eye in right off the start. It makes you physically pause just to look at the image.

This is what I want to provide for my authors.

When the writer is pleased with the cover, they’re going to showcase it. They’ll put it on their blog, email it to their friends, make bookmarks and postcards. Having your name associated with a design the owner loves is the best publicity an artist can ask for, and one of the greatest things about designing.

On the flip side, it is incredibly painful when a writer is so insistent on having a certain cover design that they refuse to take any advice. There have been times when I’ve asked a publisher to leave my name off as the cover artist because I refused to be associated with the writer’s decision on the final product. It seems harsh, yes, but at the same time I want to make sure my name is recommended for good, solid cover designs. Because I work freelance, my name is my brand, and it’s important to me to make sure I’m properly represented.

Do you prefer to start with the author, the publisher, or your own ideas that represent the book?
I never start a book cover without attempting to talk to the author first. Sometimes they answer, sometimes they don’t. Either way I always send an introductory email before starting the base image.

Whenever I’m able to open a dialogue with the writer, the cover always turns out much better than if I just designed based on what they’ve filled out in their Cover Request form. Some authors have a clear idea in their head of what they want, others are open to suggestion based on the topic of their book.

Because we work strictly with royalty-free stock images, it can be difficult to find the perfect image, but most of my clients are willing to flex with the look if they know the final product will be the best representation they can get.

How often do you read the books you for which you design the cover? Or go and buy them later, or recommend them to friends?

As a cover designer, I must read the summary and the clip of the story to get an idea of what the book is about before I can propose a valid design. There have been times when the summary or snippet has caught my attention enough that I have indeed purchased the book just to continue reading!

Thank you for that behind-the-scenes look at a cover artist’s methods.

Connect with Nika:
Web: http://www.nikadixon.com/cover-art
www.nikadixon.com
www.twitter.com/nikadixon
www.facebook.com/nikadixon
https://plus.google.com/116983034818883824034

Read an excerpt:

A week later, Hart still could not let go of the look between his mother and the chief. He saw them, googly-eyed, again and again, like in some movie reel. He had difficulty focusing on his plan to peek through Harding’s office now he and Bryce had flown to St. Louis. He had to shake off his mother’s business. He would deal with that little pickle when he got home. Maybe his brother Jim would like to know what was going on. Didn’t he care Mom drove so much, so far?

Back to the job at hand. Because of his widow’s lawsuit, Harding’s office was kept locked. It was on the other side of Crawford’s and shared an executive bathroom. Hart happened to know a spare key to Harding’s side was taped on top of the bathroom door frame, having seen Harding’s secretary use it one day when he was visiting his boss.

Bryce set up a golden opportunity for Hart to attempt access to Harding’s office when he offered to take Crawford and the others out for lunch. Hart made up the excuse of a phone call to stay back at the office, even though the celebratory lunch was for the reinstatement of his and Bryce’s project. Crawford’s long look did not deter Hart. Once Crawford’s assistant went to lunch herself, the coast was clear.

In Harding’s office, Hart booted up his colleague’s laptop while sneaking a glance at a stack of mail on the desk. He wondered about fingerprints, but decided to ask God to forgive him instead. Was there ever a good enough reason to break the law? Jesus went against the law of the Pharisees and Sadducees. Could he take a peek, if it would help figure out why Harding died? He did not, to his shame, know the state of Harding’s soul, but Hart was sorry he died in the manner he did. If anyone ever needed to look through his own personal or company papers to help Judy, he would be thankful.

Harding’s screen came to life and at the same time Hart noticed a bank statement poking out of the pile of mail. The envelope bore yellow tape marked “special attention.” Even with God’s forgiveness Hart would not have opened the envelope. He had seen that notation on notices that came to him he received before his former fiancé left him. It meant “overdraft.”

Harding’s file folders were arrayed on the desktop of his computer screen. Folder IA97762-F was right up front, along with a number of other projects in the 977 line, which stood for InventivAg’s power supply initiatives. Hart clicked the icon and saw that the information was stored in the “briefcase,” which meant it came and went with Harding, ready to be moved at a second’s notice into a portable flash drive; one of which was still inserted in a port. Three minutes later, the sweat of fear along his back chilled at the ominous sign of tampering in the design of his invention.

Hart had spent months with the tool people working out the type of steel to use. But Harding listed a different steel in the materials list for the key component. No wonder Jacobs from the production team had problems, as he stated in his fax to Bryce at the office before the fire. Was this the design that went out to assembly? He needed to check right away; hopefully he could prevent the bad steel from doing any lasting damage or hurting anyone if it crumpled under stress. Thank heavens the plant was right here, and not overseas.

Hart quickly shut down Harding’s system and rushed to the plant. Even if Harding was trying to take revenge on him or InventivAg for some unknown reason, Harding would not be so stupid as to try to pass on this mistake to Hugo.

A Summer in Oakville

2011-03-20T13:53:00.000-05:00

A Summer in Oakville

co-authored with Shellie Neumeier

One Magical Summer in Oakville, Wisconsin,
Love Finds its Way through Four Entwined Lives.

Tessa Hasmer Murphy has a secret. Estranged from her husband, will she let a past love and a fight to save the family farm destroy her marriage and daughter Lindsay’s happiness?

Lindsay Murphy plans to live on her grandparents’ farm until she can find a job, but developer Brandon Calloway has other plans for the property. As she wages war against him, will she lose her heart and the farm both?

Widower Arthur Hasmer’s life and that of his son, Andy, spiral out of control. Then old friend, Dana London, reenters the picture with the power to help them all back to love, joy and faith.

Andy Hasmer has the ultimate bummer life. No mom, not much of a dad, no future. When he’s sent to the farm and wrecks the truck, nothing could be worse than the lousy job he takes to pay Grampa back—except maybe putting up with the pastor’s daughter, Ella.

c. Lisa J Lickel

September 1, 2011 From BlackLyon Publishing

A Five-Star Reader's Favorite!

$15.00 plus $2.00 shipping and 5.5% tax

Available on Amazon Kindle and Print and from the Publisher Bookstore
Banes and Noble Print and Nook

ASIN: B005KF6I2E

ISBN: 978-1-934912-39-3
Price: $16.95 paperback
Price: $8.00 Ebook (PDF format)
Pages: 268 paperback

Discussion Guide

Read an excerpt.

A Summer in Oakville excerpts

Watch the Booktrailer

Praise for A Summer in Oakville:

A Summer in Oakville transports readers deep into the soul of family. Lisa and Shellie have woven four unique stories into one heart-tugging narrative of reconciliation, love, forgiveness, and hope. It's hard to say who inspires me more. Tessa, Lindsay, Andy, and Art each bring their longings and unravel their secrets in a situation that ultimately ties them together as tightly as your family or mine. A very uplifting read!

Naomi Musch - author of the Empire in Pine series and Heart Not Taken

A Summer in Oakville is the vivid portrait of a fragmented family finding the faith to unite in an effort to save the land and life they thought they had lost. A wonderful story you might find a bit of yourself in.

Allan E. Ansorge author of the Bay Harbour stories

"You'll be hooked from the first page of A Summer in Oakville. This novel grabs the senses and doesn't let go." ~ Carolyn Howard-Johnson, multi award-winning novelist and poet

Summer in Oakville is a cleverly-composed novel that addresses issues from the past, affecting four characters' present-day lives. Shellie Neumeier and Lisa Lickel are a dynamic writing duo!

~Andrea Boeshaar, author of the acclaimed series, Seasons of Redemption
www.andreaboeshaar.com

Four sweet novellas combine to tell the charming story of A Summer in Oakville. Saving your heritage, forgiving the past, and uncovering years of family secrets are weaved through four very different romances to create a delightful read that I looked forward to coming back to each day. Grab a cup of tea and enjoy.

--Cherie Burbach, author of Internet Dating Is Not Like Ordering a Pizza and Working Writers

"Like quills of bittersweet devotion that pierce the heart, yet warm with the matchless comfort of forgiveness—A SUMMER IN OAKVILLE is a beautifully woven series of unforgettable novellas.”
Author Tessa Stockton

Reviews:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fantastic Contemporary Novel!, September 3, 2011

ByPenny Zeller, Christian Author and Speaker (USA)

This review is from: A Summer in Oakville (Kindle Edition)

When I first heard about "A Summer in Oakville," I loved the concept of four characters in one book detailing their experiences and their lives. The plot intrigued me and I decided to read it. I'm glad I did!

Through vivid character portraits, the reader is introduced to family members Tessa, Lindsay, Andy, and Art. Each character's story is from a different and unique perspective.

Second chances and forgiveness are strong themes throughout the book and I love the twists and turns in Tessa's story. Lindsay's story was my favorite; however, I enjoyed each character's story and felt that Ms. Neumeier and Ms. Lickel did a fantastic job of tying the real-to-life issues of those living in a small town into a satisfying contemporary novel. As a matter of fact, reading through the pages made me feel as though I was in Oakville, Wisconsin, watching all of the events - including attempts to save the family farm and tales of unexpected romance -unfold.

"A Summer in Oakville" is a book that will grab your interest and keep you turning the pages. I highly recommend it!

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet characters, September 2, 2011

ByBonjour Poetry Reviews(Wisconsin)

This review is from: A Summer in Oakville (Kindle Edition)

I so enjoyed reading the lives of Tessa, Lindsay, Art, and Andy from A Summer in Oakville. Authors Shellie Neumeier and Lisa Lickel have crafted a wonderfully sweet book comprised of four related novellas. Each novella is told from a different character's perspective, and each serves to further the overall story of the Hasmers and Murphys in their quest to save their family farm.

I especially enjoyed the varying perspectives on life and love from each character, which included a middle aged woman contemplating divorce, a young woman who still hasn't found her niche, a widower struggling with memories, and a boy who on the surface seems like a typical sullen teenager. Each story contains a humor and innocence, as the characters deal with forgiveness, family, and love.

5.0 out of 5 stars Bittersweet tales of love and forgiveness, September 1, 2011

ByTessa Stockton "Political Intrigue Novelist"

This review is from: A Summer in Oakville (Kindle Edition)

Meet members of a family...Tessa, Lindsay, Andy, and Art, and how their lives are connected--not only by kith and kin, but individual and collective heartbreak. Their stories are unique and moving, their names forever etched in the memory lane of my heart.

I'm drawn to stories of forgiveness and A Summer in Oakville does not pale. It holds its own, brightly, in what's an enchanted narrative woven together by four separate novellas, skillfully written and a joy to read.

Through relationships challenged, life lost, even battles over land rights and development in rural Wisconsin intensified, find love renewed, second chances embraced, and forgiveness presented around every corner.

God is faithful and good--just witness it through the related characters abiding in a special little town called Oakville.

2011-03-20T13:43:00.001-05:00

Reader’s Guide Questions for
The Gold Standard
by Lisa Lickel

1. Judy had a fascination with family. Why do you think so? Think about your own family and how you relate to them, both in the past and today. How did/do they influence you?
2. Why did Judy so firmly believe that Louise’s death was not accidental?
3. The Gold Standard is a story about losing and finding. What were some of the things that were lost and found?
4. Bryce and Ardyth had a complicated history. How did their upbringing play into their decisions and misunderstandings? Did you understand and agree with Ardyth’s choice as a teenager? What about Bryce’s decisions?
5. What was the real reason behind Louise’s death?
6. Who were the suspects and what were their motives?
7. Who could Judy trust? Should she have trusted Hart? Who would you have trusted?
8. Why did Judy wait so long to go back and explore the bomb shelter after the tornado?
9. What was the significance of the family diaries? Do you think Louise read her mother’s diaries, and if so, why did she keep the secret?
10. What role did Carranza play?
11. What was the treasure?
12. Were you surprised by anything in the story?
13. How important was the setting?
14. What standards did each of the characters choose to live by?

2011-03-20T13:28:00.001-05:00

An Excerpt from The Gold Standard
Re-releasing in 2012 from Muse It Up, Canada

Standing on the lawn in front of her house, her erstwhile boyfriend held out his arms to her. “Judy! Babe! You didn’t return my calls. I had to see if you were all right.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Judy noticed Carranza beginning to slink along the front porch railing with the same look in his eye that she’d seen when he hunted cowbirds.

“Graham.” She kept her distance, putting out a hand to ward him off when he reached out to hug her. “I wasn’t expecting you. What can I do for you?”

“Ouch! Babe, that’s cold. Is that any way to greet your fiancé?”

Judy focused on a point just behind Graham’s head where Carranza came to a halt. The cat’s tail began to twitch. She moved past Graham, trying to draw him away from the porch railing. Instead, Graham appeared rooted to the spot. He folded his arms and twisted his hips to keep her in sight.
Should she warn him about Carranza’s occasional lapse in judgment and tendency to pounce? “Fiancé? We haven’t talked about marriage, Graham. I’m even debating whether or not to return to Lewiston. In fact, I’m looking into other work. We only dated a couple of months, and not even exclusively.”

“Hey. I never dated—well, just once. Or twice. But those were country club functions and you weren’t available. What was I supposed to do? Come on, Judy. I put a lot of time and effort into this relationship. I came out here trying to make nice. I know how much you want to stay out here, and I do, too. . . . Owww!”

Judy watched dispassionately as Carranza flew through the air with the greatest of ease and landed, claws fully extended, on Graham’s back.

“Judeeee!"

Judy managed to pull the cat off the twirling Graham. Carranza immediately went limp and slipped out of her grasp. He charged a few body lengths away and turned and looked at them both through haughty eyes before he sat and began to repair his ruffled coat.

“Judy!” Graham spun around again, his face a mask of anger.

“Here, Graham. Stop that. Let me see.” Judy ordered him to sit on the step of the porch while she went to find some lotion and bandages. She returned to find Graham hunched over.

Graham stared at her, his mouth pouty. “What’s with that animal? Did you train it to be an attack cat or something?”

Judy motioned for him to pull his shirt off so she could look at the scratches. She knelt behind him to wipe at the bloody slashes. “Of course I didn’t train Carranza to attack. He’s got a mind of his own.”

Graham reached back and grabbed her wrist, stopping her ministrations. “We need to get some things straightened out.”

Judy leaned back on her knees and wrested her arm from his grip. “You’re right. We do.” She bit her lip. “I don’t want to marry you.” She looked at him in time to notice the dark color suffusing his cheeks, his widened pupils and flaring nostrils indicating anger.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “A lot of girls like you. You shouldn’t—”

“I don’t want just any girl! I need. . .I want you.” Graham heaved himself up abruptly, hauling the torn shirt back over his head. He stepped a few paces into the yard and waved an arm. “Look at all this, Judy. You can’t live here alone. Take care of this land.

You need someone to help you. Now, be reasonable.” Carranza had not moved. Graham hesitated when his trajectory would have taken him near the cat. “Come back with me. If you do, we—we can hire someone to work the farm. Yeah. . .that might work. We’ll live in Lewiston and come back here whenever we want. You’ve got a good job. You don’t need to get another in this podunk town. And I can take care of us both if you don’t want to teach anymore.”

2011-03-19T18:03:00.000-05:00

Lynn Squire shared a lesson about how to develop your character's spiritual journey at: http://faithfictionfunandfanciful.blogspot.com/

Welcome, Lynn. The post originally appeared on July 13, 2010
http://www.lynnsquire.com/
"Presenting Biblical Truths through Story"http://www.createspace.com/3346081

Your Character's Spiritual Journey

If you are writing Christian fiction your protagonist, at the very least, should demonstrate some sort of spiritual journey. This is more than just mentioning God now and again. This requires raising some question of faith that drives the character in search of a deeper relationship with God--or perhaps, for the villain or a minor character, away from God.

In preparation for composing a novel, I write three journeys for the hero and any character whose journey affects the protagonist.

1. The 'hero's journey' as it pertains to plot;

2. The character's 'inner journey';

3. The 'spiritual journey,' which is closely linked to the inner journey.

For details on the hero's journey and the inner journey refer to http://www.thewritersjourney.com/ by Christopher Vogler.

The spiritual journey, while similar to the character's inner journey, is a separate with unique steps based on the Christian faith and where that character is with respect to this faith. Here is a simple overview:

1. What the character currently believes about God and his relationship with the Almighty;

2. A disturbance that shakes the character's current way of thinking;

3. The character refuses to see the faults in his belief system;

4. Events and people force him to take a serious look and consider a change;

5. The character takes a step to 'test the water' of this change;

6. The character vacillates between throwing himself into the change and holding on to his former belief system;

7. A course of events challenge his old beliefs;

8. A 'life and death' type situation necessitates that he implements the change in his faith;

9. Consequences of the change of faith that requires his steadfastness;

10. A climatic event that tests his steadfastness;

11. The life and death decision to stay the course of his new faith or retreat to his old beliefs;

12. Living in the victory of his new faith (or return to his old beliefs).

Does this have to be a conversion journey? No. However, that is usually the simplest choice for a writer to write. It might be something as complex as a Calvinist moving away from his beliefs or a Puritan moving away from the rigidity and bondage of law (for example, Susannah in Siri Mitchell's Love's Pursuit).

The key difference between the inner journey and the spiritual journey is the inner journey holds the 'me-factor' while the spiritual journey holds the 'God-factor.'

The inner journey focuses on the character's need to change based on to how he sees himself in relation to the world.

The spiritual journey focuses on how the character sees himself in relation to how God see's him and what the character will do with that understanding. The journey becomes God-directed rather than character-directed. It may or may not be a part of the character's inner journey. The character may have separate internal issues. For example, developing courage to face an abusive husband that is different than her journey to discover God's grace. In such a situation, her inner journey might be the channel for her spiritual one. In essence, God becomes a character within the story that your hero must interact with, and those interactions will shape your hero.

By charting these three journeys I am able to round out my character. The plot points will align with the inner and spiritual journeys to create sympathetic characters who make choices consistent with the situations they face. These choices reflect their personalities and demonstrate their story objectives. I still need to shape the personality of the character, through dress, gestures, voice, etc., to give believability. However, I have the points framed in such a way that the scenes (in the shape of goal, conflict, and disaster) provide opportunity to show the character's personality and how it affects his decisions. That, of course, is a subject of discussion for another day.

2011-03-19T14:00:00.000-05:00

Read the first chapter of Healing Grace, by Lisa J Lickel

Chapter 1

Morning? Or evening?

Grace scrunched her eyes at the bright shaft of light that pierced her lids. She sat up, head reeling at the sight of the swirling, geometric tones of the ugliest aqua-and mudcolored drapes and bedspread she could ever remember seeing.

Her temples throbbed, and the curtains came in and out of focus. She blinked, hard.

She got out of the bed in the tiny room, reasonably sure it was morning. She searched her handbag for a remedy for her headache.

“More clues, that’s what we need,” she said out loud, just to test her hearing. “Where are we?”

The receipt for the motel room lay on the bedside table. Grace noticed with mild shock that the motel was in a generously sized community in northern Michigan—two states away from where she started. There was no clock in the room, and her watch had stopped. She pushed the television on with a shaky finger to find a local station that would indicate the time.

She peeked out the window at the parking lot then cautiously slipped out the door to retrieve the emergency bag she always kept in her car. Sometimes her patients lived far up in the hills in unsavory conditions, and an extra outfit was necessary when she had to stay overnight. Her work as a physician’s assistant demanded she always be prepared for anything.

Her former work.

In the shower, she adjusted the nozzle so the spray wouldn’t hit her full in the face. Four days. She’d lost four days to her fear and compulsion to escape. Woodside was far away, and she would never go back to Tennessee. There wasn’t anything she could do for anyone there anymore. They didn’t need her.

The check-in slip indicated she had arrived here two days ago, two days of which she had absolutely no memory. She must have slept the entire time since.

Little sparks of flashback slowly came to her as she paced the four steps, forward and back, that was all the space available in the room. She ran a hand through her mink-brown hair as it dried in soft waves above her shoulders then stepped the mirror on the dresser. The little tear in her earlobe had healed already. She fingered it absentmindedly. If she wanted to continue to wear pierced earrings, she’d have to poke a new hole.

She sat back on the bed, thinking, remembering. The ceremony had been as dreadful as she’d imagined. Too soon after Sean’s. Anyone in her position would have lost her nerve and run, she reasoned. Stop it. No more funerals or thinking about death for a while.

The nightmare drive on the interstate. That trucker in Indiana trying to pick her up when she stopped for gas and food she wasn’t hungry for. She’d ended up leaving without eating anything.

Grace poked through the bag of clothes on the bed. She was pretty sure she had obeyed the driving rules, had gotten gas at the right moments, stopped at the right signs, taken the exit. How had she ended up here? Why here, in Michigan, near the lake?

After dressing, she went outside in search of something to put in her stomach. It felt like a good four days since she had eaten—what? Some cold toast she forced down that last horrible morning at…home.

“No, no longer home.” Grace fixed the thought firmly in her head. “I’ll find a new place.”

She looked around curiously, tallying what little she knew about the state—Great Lakes, fruit and automobiles. Not a lot to go on. No one she knew lived here. That was probably the best part. She didn’t have to be afraid if no one knew her, knew what she’d done. And not done. The parking lot was nearly empty and she crossed the twolane highway in the thin, sharp sunshine to a little mom-and pop diner overlooking Grand Traverse Bay.

Michigan, for whatever reason, was the place she was meant to be.

Grace took a breath and stopped upon entering the little house. She heard the realtor drive away with a little zip and crunch on the gravel driveway and felt a moment’s panic.

“Not buyer’s remorse at this stage of the game, my good woman,” she scolded and forced herself to take deep regular breaths.

She set down the sacks she’d toted in from her green Subaru on the dusty braided rug. The truth of real estate agent’s comment before handing over the key became painfully obvious.

“The place hasn’t been opened up in a number of months. The last occupant was ill. It will need a little TLC.”

Grace, after her brief, cursory tour before signing the papers, had asserted she could clean it up herself.

Maybe she’d been a little hasty.

She could smell it in the air—sickness and neglect. Grace shivered and turned a slow one-eighty, squinting through the twirling motes. She could see cobwebs, and didn’t want to pull the dangerously lopsided curtains open for the showers of dust she knew would follow. They looked fragile, and she was pretty sure they would need to be tossed out, anyway.

She noticed the pile of toys and the weight bench in the corner near the open stairway. Passing through the doorway on the far side of the long, narrow living room, she found the kitchen—the sad, neglected kitchen, definitely not the heart of this home.

“Who paints a kitchen puke green? And what’s up with the dancing hot peppers stencil? Honestly.”

She had painted her Tennessee kitchen a cheerful yellow and kept it spotless. Here, she wondered about bugs, and heard the rustling of mice in the cupboards. With a sigh, she began to pick up utensils from the kitchen table. Little bits of flotsam—napkin bits and nut shells of some kind—decorated the cracked and scorched ancient linoleum countertops.

“God made trivets for a reason,” Grace said in exasperation.

She turned on the faucet, wiping away the attached spider webs. Warm orange gunk came out accompanied by gurgles and forceful interrupted spurts. The liquid spewed thickly around the stained sink. At least it didn’t smell bad. She cheered when it soon cleared up.

Just call me easily pleased.

The real estate woman had checked the lights to make sure the electric company had “turned her on.” Grace tried to chuckle. It came out like a zebra snort, a zebra that smelled lion and was trying to warn the herd.

“You’ll be all right.” The plump, business-like agent had meant to reassure her. “It’s a ways out of town but not too far, and the neighbors are good people. In fact…” as she looked down at the drive and stirred some gravel with her brown patent pump “…ah, this used to belong to one of the brothers. The house is part of the original homestead. You’ll be okay.”

She pressed a card into Grace’s limp hand. “Now, here’s my card. You just call…” Conveniently forgetting Grace had not yet applied to the local cooperative for telephone service, “…if something isn’t right.”

Grace was tired of hearing about all the things she didn’t know so couldn’t bring herself to ask what the woman meant by “one of the brothers.” She figured she would find out in good time.

It was a risk, settling down and opening a new bank account— a whole new life—in East Bay, Michigan. Grace wasn’t exactly hiding, but neither did she care to let anyone she left behind know where to find her, now that…

She shook her head. No, there wasn’t anyone left who needed to know, who cared. She got out a pad of paper from her leather handbag and toured the little one-and-a-half-story cottage making notes of the supplies she would need. Cleaning first, then fixing. Definitely painting. And figuring out some furniture. Something to sleep on. Do I even have a hammer? Talk about starting from scratch.

By the third day and the fifth trip into town, Grace decided to treat herself. She had passed the cute little chaletstyle building that housed the local library often enough without stopping in. She could take the time today.

“An afterthought—you know—a whad’ya call it, motherin-law’s cottage? Built on the edge of a big apple orchard,” Marie Richards, the town’s librarian, told Grace when she went to apply for a card. “The Marshalls, now, they did real well. Put this town on the map, you know. Keep us alive these days through the co-op.”

Most of the trees had been torn out and not replanted, she continued. Grace wondered how much of the original land was left in the family and what had happened to the orchards. She nodded and smiled as if she understood. She would have to plan on doing a little research.

Marie went on to tell her that the property edged East Bay, and was not actually within the village limits, but she would let Grace have a card, anyway.

The local resale shop proved to be a blessing for filling in her wardrobe, and no one there said a thing when she went back three days in a row, modeling the former day’s purchase. Maybe she could get a sofa and some chairs there, some dishes. Service for one. Grace smiled humorlessly. They didn’t even have to match.

Grace was so intent on cleaning she didn’t notice company coming until the pounding on the front door startled her. She let out a screech, nearly tumbling off the kitchen chair on which she had perched to brush cobwebs from the living room ceiling and walls with a broom. A peek through wavy glass at her visitors, revealed more than one—a delegation of two.

One and a half, she amended as she pulled off the threadbare T-shirt covering her hair and opened the oak front door to a man and a small boy. “Good afternoon.”

The man was very tall and terribly gaunt. He leaned on a crutch and stared at Grace with narrowed eyes, frowning as though he had not expected to see her. The black-haired little boy held a pillowcase with something lumpy inside in one hand and with the other held the man’s hand. She thought she recognized them from the other day at the bank when she went to sign the closing papers for the house.

She had been surprised to find no one besides the real estate agent and the bank’s vice president at the meeting. The former owners had not been able to stay and meet her, but everything was in order, she had been told. The man cleared his throat and spoke at last, breathlessly.

“I—we—wanted to see that you were all right,” he said, glancing down at the child then back at her face.

“Yes, thank you, I’m fine. Last occupants apparently left in a hurry,” Grace replied.

“Um, right. I guess the place is a mess. If you need some help with anything…” His voice fell away. Grace guessed the unspoken “you can call me” would be a meaningless phrase, and not just to her.

His sallow face turned even more pale. Perspiration trickled down his temple, even though the air was cool. His left arm and leg started to quiver. Sweat rolled past the startling white rictus of a scar on his temple, along the premature age line around his eyes and dripped down his jaw onto his faded navy T-shirt labeled “Sleeping Bear Dunes.”

They stared at each other on the porch until the silence became uncomfortable. The man’s eyes were the color of the Morning Glory pool at Yellowstone, Grace thought.

She looked down to the child. He stood behind the man’s legs, clutching the bag to his chin, and peered back at her, an anxious expression creasing his forehead.

“Eddy, give Mrs., ah, Mrs…”

“Runyon.”

“…Runyon the bread.”

The miniature grubby hand thrust the pillowcase in Grace’s direction.

“Thank you, Eddy. I’m Ted Marshall,” the man said, apparently

recalling they had not exchanged names. “And this is my son, Eddy.”

Eddy stuck his head sideways from around his father, eyed Grace solemnly then disappeared again.

Grace held the bundle. “Nice to meet you both. Grace Runyon.” She did not offer to shake hands. “Thank you for the gift.”

“I…can…work a bread…machine,” Ted Marshall gasped out. He wobbled and reached to steady himself against the jamb, holding up a hand when Grace came through the door and reached for his arm. “I’m all right. Just give me a second.”

“Um, thank you, Mr. Marshall—and Eddy—for the bread. Would you like to come in and sit for a minute?” The case felt cozy in her hand, warm from the fresh-baked loaf and the child’s hand.

“Ted. Call me Ted. We have to get back.” He straightened and clenched the crutch. “I have an appointment, but thanks anyway. We’re just over there…” He indicated a hedge of tall scraggly bushes. “…on the other side.”

They turned and clumped across the gray-green warped porch boards. Eddy looked back through the open door.

Grace followed his gaze and realized she had the abandoned toys piled in the middle of the room. He turned and bent to grasp his father’s crutch to help him manipulate down the steps.

Grace watched, her mouth pursed. How old was he? Maybe four? Too young to have to help a parent just get around.

She looked up at the ceiling, free of webs but showing cracks in the white paint.

“I will not, Lord! No! You brought me here for a reason, but not that. Please, not yet. I just want to be free for awhile! Away from sickness, and everyone else’s hurt. Let me heal myself, first.”

She sank down on the empty floor and watched an ant carry a load that should have weighed it down. She slapped the T-shirt against the smooth floorboards and hunched up her knees. Staring at nothing, she let her forehead rest against her wrists.

Later, Grace ate her dinner, butter melting on the rewarmed loaf of bread, sitting at the now-immaculate chrome kitchen table. She thought about her visitors. Ted was obviously the former occupant; she wondered about the nature of his illness. He had received some terrible injury, evident by the scar on his head, but was it related to his need for a crutch?

Usually, a head injury wasn’t referred to as an “illness.” Well, her neighbors were none of her business. Not that sweet little boy with the poignant eyes. Certainly not his enigmatic father. And no way was she interested in knowing where Eddy’s mother was.

She cleaned up after her solitary meal and started scraping off layers of old paint. Underneath a bubbling cowboy-hatted jalapeno dancing alongside the back door, she leaned closer— the walls had once been sunny yellow.

2011-03-18T09:17:00.000-05:00

Shellie-Lisa Oakville Daily News 9'11

How To Build a Great Book Review mini workshop

2011-03-18T08:50:00.000-05:00

How to Build a Great Book Review mini workshop 2011

2011-03-17T13:45:00.000-05:00

Recipes from The Gold Standard
by Lisa Lickel

Hart’s Focaccia Bread

By Hand:
1 c. warm water
1 pkg dry yeast
Let these two work until bubbly
Add: 3 1/4 cups flour, more or less, to make dough
1 T sugar
1 tsp salt
2 T. Extra virgin full fat olive oil
Variations: add ¼ cup dried tomato to the dough, and/or flaked onion, or dried chili peppers to taste
.
Knead 12-15 minutes until elastic – pinch of dough doesn’t break from ball.
On a greased cookie sheet, press dough into a firm, flat 12-inch circle. Let raise 20 minutes.

The topping:
Focaccia can be flavored with various herbs and cheeses. The key is to use a good olive oil base.
To approximately ¼ cup olive oil, add your choice of herbs to taste. Some variations include 2 T. grated Parmesan or Romano, or finely grated yellow cheeses, minced garlic clove, up to 2 tsp. rosemary or other herbs such as oregano and basil as desired.
Poke holes evenly across the top of the circle, approximately at one-inch intervals, using the round handle of a wooden spoon. Brush your olive oil mixture thickly over the top.
Bake in preheated oven set to 400 degrees for about 15 minutes, until browned.
The dough can also be made in a standard bread machine:
7 ½ ounces warm water, 3 cups bread flour, 2 T. dried milk, 1 T. sugar, 1 tsp. salt, 3 tsp. margarine or butter, 2 tsp. dry yeast.

When dough cycle is finished, remove from pan, knead on a floured surface a couple of minutes, and proceed as above.
________________________________________
Church Potato Salad for a crowd
Yield: approximately thirty servings.

10 lb potatoes – peeled either completely, or 2/3 if using red potatoes, to keep some color. Cut into 1 inch or so cubes and boil 15-20 minutes – test for doneness with a fork. Don’t over cook or you’ll have a starchy mess. You can also cube potatoes after boiling – cook longer if leaving uncut.
Add: 2 cups salad dressing/mayonnaise, 1 large sweet Vidalia onion, finely chopped, 8-10 hardboiled, peeled and chopped eggs, 10 chopped radishes, 3-4 stalks chopped celery, T. salt to taste, 1 T. dry mustard to taste, 1 tsp. pepper to taste

________________________________________
Ruth Harris’s Carrot Cake

1 1/3 cup good canola or salad oil
2 c. sugar (using raw sugar makes for a rich caramel flavor)
3 c. grated peeled or washed well fresh carrots
4 eggs, slightly beaten
Sift together:
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
May add 1 cup chopped pecans, ½ cup golden raisins if desired

Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl; stir in dry ingredients, beating well.
Pour into well greased 9 x 13 pan.
Bake in a pre-heated 350 degree oven for about an hour. Cool thoroughly before frosting.
Serves 12

Cream cheese frosting:
1 8-oz package softened cream cheese
¼ c. softened margarine or butter
Approximately 2 2/3 cups powdered sugar, enough to make a creamy frosting
½ tsp. vanilla
Beat well. Frost thickly when cake is cool.

________________________________________
Ardyth’s Real Lemonade

Ardyth makes a quart at a time, but you can easily double the recipe.
She squeezes four large lemons, or five medium-sized ones, into her quart jar, adds about half a cup of sugar and fills it up with water and ice cubes, mixing well. She’s also been known to slice fresh strawberries into the jar, as well as crushed fresh mint leaves.

________________________________________
Judy’s Chicken Casserole

Judy had always heard that salt was bad for you, and she had never heard of savory, and couldn’t find paprika or pepper in Louise’s kitchen. Besides, they were such small amounts, what difference did it make?

If Judy followed the recipe, she would have made this:
1 large chicken breast, cooked and cubed
2 T. diced onion
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1 large potato, peeled and cubed
1 can of green beans, any style
1 can 98% fat free cream of chicken soup
1 1/2 tsp each: salt, parsley
½ tsp savory
½ tsp. course ground black pepper
Sprinkle top with paprika

Mix in a 1 ½ quart casserole dish. Bake in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Serves 5

2011-03-16T15:45:00.000-05:00

APPENDIX A – TECHNIQUES FOR BRAIN STORMING

CHANGE SOMETHING

Give your character a new or a different sub-set of directions or goals

Introduce a different character; change the tension or the setting or the season

Change a piece of furniture or picture in the house

DO SOMETHING

Physical activity can stir up ideas – get that adrenaline flowing:

Go for a walk, pacing around your house or yard, treadmill or exercise equipment

In season activities such as mowing, raking, shoveling, gardening

Cooking, cleaning

Visit a park or store and people watch

FREE WRITE/THINK

Set a timer for a half-hour and simply write about anything that comes into your mind – no rules, no

grammar, no goals, no editing

Set a timer and simply allow your mind to wander

Set a timer and surf the Internet

From MindTools.com

· Define the problem you want solved clearly, and lay out any criteria to be met. Make it clear that that the objective of the meeting is to generate as many ideas as possible.

· Encourage people to develop other people's ideas, or to use other ideas to create new ones.

· Let people have fun brainstorming. Encourage them to come up with as many ideas as possible, from solidly practical ones to wildly impractical ones. Welcome creativity!

· Ensure that no train of thought is followed for too long. Make sure that you generate a sufficient number of different ideas, as well as exploring individual ideas in detail.

From http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/perform/brainstorm.html

"Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." -- Thomas Alva Edison

What is Brainstorming? Brainstorming is a process for developing creative solutions to problems. Alex FaickneyOsborn, an advertising manager, popularized the method in 1953 in his book, Applied Imagination.

Brainstorming works by focusing on a problem, and then deliberately coming up with as many solutions as possible and by pushing the ideas as far as possible. One of the reasons it is so effective is that the brainstormers not only come up with new ideas in a session, but also spark off from associations with other people's ideas by developing and refining them. There are four basic rules in brainstorming (Osborn, 1963) intended to reduce social inhibitions among team members, stimulate idea generation, and increase overall creativity:

o No criticism: Criticism of ideas are withheld during the brainstorming session as the purpose is on generating varied and unusual ideals and extending or adding to these ideas. This allows the members to feel comfortable with the idea of generating unusual ideas.

o Welcome unusual ideas: Unusual ideas are welcomed as it is normally easier to "tame down" than to "tame up" as new ways of thinking and looking at the world may provide better solutions.

o Quantity Wanted: The greater the number of ideas generated, the greater the chance of producing a radical and effective solution.

o Combine and improve ideas: Not only are a variety of ideals wanted, but also ways to combine ideas in order to make them better.

Brainstorming Steps for a group: (Abbreviated)

o Gather the participants from as wide a range of disciplines with as broad a range of experience as possible.

o Write down a brief description of the problem - the leader should take control of the session, initially defining the problem to be solved with any criteria that must be met.

o Use the description to get everyone's mind clear of what the problem is and post it where it can be seen. This helps in keeping the group focused.

o Encourage a fun, enthusiastic, uncritical attitude

o Write down all the solutions that come to mind. Do NOT interpret the idea, however you may rework the wording for clarity's sake.

o Do NOT evaluate ideas until the session moves to the evaluation phase. Once the brainstorming session has been completed, the results of the session can be analyzed and the best solutions can be explored.

o Do NOT censor any solution, no matter how silly it sounds.

Brainstorming Variations

o One approach is to seed the session with a word or sentence pulled randomly from a dictionary or other book. Use this word as a starting point in the process of generating ideas. You may have seen this on Facebook.

o Keep all the generated ideas visible. As a flip chart page becomes full, remove it from the pad and tape it to a wall as that it is visible. This "combined recollection" is helpful for creating new ideals.

o If the brainstormers have difficulty in coming up with solutions, you may have to restate the problem in a different context, such as using metaphors or linking it to own knowledge.

Radical Thinking and Successful Brainstorming

One often used technique for generating new ideals in a brainstorming session is to pick up a dictionary and toss out a random word. However, there is a better way to provide a climate of creativity. There is a game called Cranium that does a good job of using the various parts of the mind. You sketch, sculpt, draw with your eyes, use your knowledge, unscramble words, spell, hum, whistle, impersonate, etc. in order to get your team member(s) to discover the secret word or phrase.

Out of the Box

"Thinking out of the box" is often used over, but you need radical thinking generators to reach a high creative level:

o Diverse thinking styles. You need lively discussions, not "Leave It to Beaver" dinner talk.

o Stimulus to spark the mind — activities that will get the creative juices flowing, such as the Cranium game or other random objects.

o Fear prevention — fun games, friendly environment, and firm gestures that creates the feeling that everything is OK!

This is truly "thinking out of the box" as it provides an environment that uses everyone's thinking styles, rather than telling them to change their thinking style. When you tell people "to come out of the box," you are basically saying that you want them to be the same box as you. Now why would we go to all that trouble of getting a diverse workforce and then cloning everyone into the same style? When you provide a creative environment, instead of trying to change a person, you get the real person! When you get real persons into open, trusting environments with creative activities, you get radical thinking. And when you get radical thinking, you get the next great ideal for your organization!

How to Stop Great Ideas

· "Inventions reached their limit long ago, and I see no hope for further development," - Julius Frontinus in the first century A.D.

· "A cookie store is a bad idea. Besides, the market research reports say America likes crispy cookies, not soft and chewy cookies like you make." - Response to Debbi Fields' idea of starting Mrs. Fields' Cookies.

· "Drill for oil? You mean drill into the ground to try and find oil? You're crazy." - Drillers who Edwin L. Drake tried to enlist to his project to drill for oil in 1859

· "The concept is interesting and well-formed, but in order to earn better than a 'C,' the idea must be feasible." - A Yale University management professor in response to Fred Smith's paper proposing reliable overnight delivery service. (Smith went on to found Federal Express Corp.)

· "Who the hell wants to hear actors talk?" - H.M. Warner, Warner Brothers, 1927.

· "We don't like their sound, and guitar music is on the way out." - Decca Recording Co. rejecting the Beatles, 1962.

· "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943

· "640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, 1981

· "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." - Western Union internal memo, 1876.

· "The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to nobody in particular?" - David Sarnoff's associates in response to his urgings for investment in the radio in the 1920s.

· "I have traveled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processing is a fad that won't last out the year." - The editor in charge of business books for Prentice Hall, 1957

· "But what ... is it good for?" - Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.

· "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." - Popular Mechanics, forecasting the relentless march of science, 1949

· "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." - Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of Digital Equipment Corp., 1977.

· "Professor Goddard does not know the relation between action and reaction and the need to have something better than a vacuum against which to react. He seems to lack the basic knowledge ladled out daily in high schools." - 1921 New York Times editorial about Robert Goddard's revolutionary rocket work.

· "I assure you, Marlon Brando will not appear in this film, " said a Paramount Studio exec about the casting of The Godfather.

· "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication. The device is inherently of no value to us." - Western Union internal memo, 1876.

· After Fred Astair's first screen test in 1933, the MGM testing director wrote a memo saying, "Can't act. Slightly bald. Can dance a little. " Astaire got the memo and kept it over his fireplace.

· An expert said of football coach Vince Lombardi, "He possesses minimal football knowledge. Lacks motivation."

· "So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'" - Apple Computer Inc. founder Steve Jobs on attempts to get Atari and H-P interested in his and Steve Wozniak's personal computer.

· "I'm just glad it'll be Clark Gable who's falling on his face and not Gary Cooper," explained Gary Cooper on his refusal to take the leading role in "Gone With The Wind."

· "If I had thought about it, I wouldn't have done the experiment. The literature was full of examples that said you can't do this." - Spencer Silver on the work that led to the unique adhesives for 3-M's Post-It notes

2011-03-16T06:48:00.001-05:00

LESSON FOUR PART ONE: COMING HOME

Let's open with prayer: Lord, Master, Creator and Owner of all things, we praise you, offer our worship and thanksgiving for what you have done for us. Help us to be grateful, to know you and to share you with others. Amen.

The final stage of the submission process journey is evaluation – coming home.

You've pressed the "send" button or watched the mail carrier drive away with your proposal packet. How do you feel about it?

Playing the waiting game – how long, how and when would you follow up?

What do you do while you’re waiting? And dealing with denial – the disappointment of being back where you started.

Q: I just learned something that would make the proposal I already sent stronger. What do I do? Update and send again? Send the correction?

Q: I just realized I made a terrible typo in the proposal I sent. What do I do?

Both of these questions will get you several answers. Some will tell you that good writing will win out – and on a good day, it might; some will tell you to go ahead and confess the error in another e-mail to the editor or agent. On any given day, either will work or get you booted. Every publisher and every agent has a different method of handling this problem. Of course you want to not let it happen in the first place. When I look back on some of my first query letters written with the Writer's Digest guide on my lap, I cringe. I have come a long way. You do the best you can, and don't give up. Pray about it; seek advice and do what you feel led to do.

One encouraging article in Writer's Digest several years ago was by a young author who set a goal to achieve a hundred rejections in one year – not by trying to be bad, but through honest efforts to keep submitting her work. That year I made it my goal to send out something every single week. So, once in a while I fudged and sent out a couple things in one week and skipped the next, but I sent out over fifty articles and proposals that year. They can only say no was my mantra. And its opposite is true: They can't say yes unless you send out your proposals.

Q: Should I write a thank you note whether or not my work has been accepted?

A brief polite e-mail often suffices when you receive a "denial"; at least a response and thank you for looking at my work, with perhaps a hopeful "perhaps we can work together in the future" message isn't out of place – but be very brief.

Andrea Boeshaar (http://www.andreaboeshaar.com) says: Persevere and be patient. Your idea might not fit a publisher's needs now, but it may fit in 3 years from now. Don't give up!

Kathy Carlton Willis (http://www.kathycarltonwillis.com) says: If an editor tells you when you will hear back, mark it on your calendar and give one month’s grace for emergencies and time delays before you contact the editor again. If an editor doesn’t give you a timeline, then consult a market guide and see their standard turnaround time. Again, give a grace period beyond that before you re-contact. When you do follow-up, make it short and non-pressing. Mention the date you submitted the query or proposal and say you are writing to inquire on the status of the book proposal in their house, so that you can continue to move forward with your project. See if they need anything else in their consideration of the book. And then thank them for their time.

What do you do while you’re waiting?

o Finish writing the book if you haven’t already

o Start another book to keep your mind occupied, always moving forward

o Work on your branding and platform

o Network with industry pros to build connections

o Make a list of other markets that might be a good fit, so if a rejection letter comes in, before the emotions hit, you can get it right back out the door again with a new publishing house. Always have a Plan B prepared so you don’t get bogged down when you get an unfavorable reply back from the editor.

Tomorrow I'll share the most excellent article and advice from Lynnette Labelle, with her permission—great tips I know you'll want to take to heart. Remember, this is the last week of lessons for this course. I hope you'll continue to work on your packets. I'm happy to answer more questions or look briefly at the material you send as part of this course. I offer paid critiques as part of the John 316 Marketing Network; I'm on the "Resources" page: http://john316mn.blogspot.com. Tomorrow is the big Membership Drive and Facebook party. Come join us!

Assignment: if you don't have a website, I strongly suggest that you consider it. For everyone, find three or four author web sites that you like, report back with why you like them.

For Tuesday, May 24

LESSON FOUR PART TWO

I leave you with the final words of wisdom from Lynnette. I'll be around to talk more with you and answer questions through Friday, and I hope everyone enjoys the Memorial Day weekend. We celebrate with a ceremony in my community, one which I put together this year through our historical society. I have been honored to help you figure out your plan of attack in getting your work published, and thank you so much for your encouragement this month. Blessings on your future!

And, lastly:

Q: Why wasn't my work accepted?

So many reasons, so many stories from so many editors and agents. Some of them include the hard and fast fact that maybe your work simply isn't ready. The editor might have recently accepted or published something similar. The editor or agent had heard this concept before. The editor didn't care for your word choices or style or plot. The publishing panel didn't want to take the chance. The professional readers couldn't make a decision. The genre wasn't a good fit for the direction of the company. The company didn't find your platform enticing. Your platform is too weak. The editor is about to take a different position. The agent had to cut off his or her client list. Your package got lost in the mail or cyberspace. The company cut off submissions for XX reason.

Do not take anything personally. There are so many stories of how long someone tried to find a buyer or an agent. Don't burn your bridges. The editor or agent may remember you and or your work when he or she is in a different position and able to look at you more critically.

Q. When can I submit again/submit again to the same company/agent?

Again, there will be many opinions and many experiences in this realm. I wouldn't recommend you keep submitting the exact same material; if you make requested or substantial edits to your work, unless otherwise requested, you can send the material to the same person or company again…but I'd recommend waiting at least six months to show that you have improved or changed the work, and that you have actually taken the time to do your best.

However, unless the company/person requests "NO SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSIONS" you can certainly submit the same material to more than one editor or agent at the same time. If you're mostly happy with your work and received no particular comments regarding the work in a rejection from one company, you can turn around and send it out again to the next publisher or agent on your list; but I always recommend going over your material again before doing so, even if you got a standard form rejection. You may easily have missed something. I love what Terry Burns said at the end of his class last month: "When are you through with a book? When someone gives you money and makes you leave it alone." I'm pulling out manuscripts that are four years old and going back to work on them with the help of new eyes and crit partners and the Chicago Manual of Style.

Unfortunately you may never hear from some of these people again, or even have your submission acknowledged. It's the nature of business today…and that's what professional writing is – a Business. The publisher/agent/marketer/author all need to make money. We're all on the same side and we all need to work together.

The three top participants who get a copy of my books are Sue Falck, Jo Walker, Beth Ziarnik

Lynnette Labelle is a certified copyeditor and proofreader with over a decade of experience. She’s the owner of Labelle’s Writing on the Wall, a professional manuscript editing business. Her writing coaching services include one-on-one personalized programs, online classes, and in-person workshops. Her editorial services focus on helping writers, both beginners and published professionals, perfect their craft and polish their manuscripts so they can take their careers to the next level. Lynnette is the editor of LoveBytes, RWA Online’s newsletter.

Visit Labelle’s Writing on the Wall at: www.labelleseditorialservices.com or check out Lynnette Labelle’s official website at: www.lynnettelabelle.com, where you can catch up on writer tips through her blog.

After THE Call by Lynnette Labelle

Do you know what to expect after you get THE call and sign with an agent? A lot more work. Why not complete some of those tasks either before you query or while you're waiting for a response from agents?

Here are ten projects you can tackle before an agent offers representation:

1. Join a writers' group. This is different from a critique group. A writers' group can offer support, candid advice from published authors, contests, workshops, and most importantly, the opportunity to network. Plenty of writers' groups are online, so you don't have to leave the comfort of your home. The best way to take advantage of an online writers' group is to participate in a reasonable and positive way. You want your name to get out there without spamming or annoying anyone.

2. Write an author bio of yourself. You'll need this for your website, and your agent will require this information when pitching to publishers.

3. Have a professional headshot taken. This will also be required for the same reasons as #2.

4. Create a website. A blog is optional, but a website is a must. Don't think that because you're not published you don't have anything to share on your website. Use your bio and headshot. Set up a "books" page to list blurbs for the novels you're querying or writing. This will change once you've sold, but it's something to catch a reader's eye until then. Showcase contests and writing awards you've won. If you've had any articles published, have a page with links to them. Don't forget to list writing related organizations you belong to like Romance Writers of America, or others. Your website might not look like much yet, but it shows an agent and editor you're serious about the business. They want their authors to have a web presence. Plus, once you sell, you won't have to worry about starting a website, just updating it.

5. Set up a dependable email account. Free email accounts are great, but have limits. Some aren't stable and you can lose everything in your inbox. What if you had a request from your favorite agent in your box, but never knew because that message was lost in cyberspace? The other problem with a lot of the free email accounts is they tend to limit your storage space. Most often edits are done electronically. What if your editor or agent sent you your manuscript with editorial suggestions? Will your email account allow a large file, the size of your full manuscript, to be sent to you or will it bounce back to your editor? What about your fans? At some point, after you sell, you should expect to receive fan mail. Do you have a different account for that?

Make sure your email address reflects your professionalism. This is not the time to be cute with an address like: imthebest@freeaccount.com or buymybook@freeaccount.com. You want your name to reach people, so use it in your email address. Better yet, use the email through your website server and double up on free advertising. For example: yourname@yourname.com. This tells the recipients your name AND your website address. Clever, huh?

Every email you send can be a source of advertising for you. Simply craft your signature tag with your full name (or pen name if you're using one), website URL, and blog URL. Just don't go overboard with this list because a long signature can turn people off.

6. Grow a marketing list. This way, when your novel is released, you can contact people who might want to buy your book. They've already shown interested in your writing or they wouldn't have given you their email address. Be careful with this. Only contact people who’ve given you permission to do so. Setting up a form on your website or blog to “catch” email addresses is not the best way to form a list. If someone hasn’t specifically given you their email address so you can contact them when your book sells or is released, then they’ll probably consider your message spam. And nobody likes spam. You’ll be lucky if all the person does is delete your message. The reader may report you or refuse to ever buy your books. Not the best way to start off your career.

If you set up an email capture system on your website or blog, make sure people know what they’re signing up for. (This is the little box where people who visit your sites can sign up for a newsletter, enter a contest, request a free bookmark, or whatever you have in place.) You want your reader to have a reason to trust you with their email address. Don't ever betray them by selling that list.

7. Have a marketing plan in place. More and more publishers expect the author to do a majority (if not all) of the marketing for their book. If you sign the contract without a marketing plan, you'll have to come up with one fast. Why not take the time to create a well-thought-out plan right now?

8. Write the synopsis for your next two books. Yes, you read that right. Often, agents like to sell a new author as a three book deal, but that doesn't mean you need to have three books ready to go. A synopsis for your next couple of novels will show the publisher you're not a one-book-wonder.

9. Brainstorm titles for the novel you're querying. More times than not, your editor (and possibly your agent) won't like your title. This can be really crushing for some new authors, but if you have other titles to suggest, you have a better chance of ending up with something you created.

10. Write your next book. Don't sit by the computer waiting for a response from the agents you queried. Move on to the next project. This will help make the time go faster and set you up with Plan B in case an agent or editor likes your style, but not your first book. As tempting as it may be, if the novel you’re shopping is the first in a series, don’t work on the second book right away. It’s too risky. What if an agent comes back and says she likes your writing but not the concept behind the series? All you have to offer her is a book in the same series. Instead, work on something else. If the agent likes the series, you can switch to book two once you’ve signed with her.

2011-03-14T15:48:00.001-05:00

APPENDIX B – PLOTS in LITERATURE

People often say that there are only a certain number of basic plots in all of literature, and that any story is really just a variation on these plots. Depending on how detailed they want to make a "basic" plot, different writers have offered a variety of solutions.

1 Plot: Attempts to find the number of basic plots in literature cannot be resolved any more tightly than to describe a single basic plot. Foster-Harris claims that all plots stem from conflict. He describes this in terms of what the main character feels: "I have an inner conflict of emotions, feelings.... What, in any case, can I do to resolve the inner problems?" (p. 30-31) A Handbook to Literature. 6th ed. NY: Macmillan Pub Co, 1992.)

3 Plots: Foster-Harris. The Basic Patterns of Plot. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1959. Foster-Harris contends that there are three basic patterns of plot (p. 66):

1. "Type A, happy ending"; Foster-Harris argues that the "Type A" pattern results when the central character (which he calls the "I-nitial" character) makes a sacrifice (a decision that seems logically "wrong") for the sake of another.

2. "Type B, unhappy ending"; when the "I-nitial" character does what seems logically "right" and fails to make the needed sacrifice.

3. "Type C,’ the literary plot, in which, no matter whether we start from the happy or the unhappy fork, proceeding backwards we arrive inevitably at the question, where we stop to wail." This pattern requires more explanation (Foster-Harris devotes a chapter to the literary plot.) In short, the "literary plot" hinges on fate; in it, the critical event takes place at the beginning of the story rather than the end. What follows from that event is inevitable, often tragedy. (This in fact coincides with the classical Greek notion of tragedy.)

7 Plots

7 basic plots as remembered from second grade by IPL volunteer librarian Jessamyn West:

1. [wo]man vs. nature

2. [wo]man vs. [wo]man

3. [wo]man vs. the environment

4. [wo]man vs. machines/technology

5. [wo]man vs. the supernatural

6. [wo]man vs. self

7. [wo]man vs. god/religion

20 Plots:

Tobias, Ronald B. 20 Master Plots. Cincinnati: Writer’s Digest Books, 1993. (ISBN 0-89879-595-8)

This book proposes twenty basic plots:

1. Quest

2. Adventure

3. Pursuit

4. Rescue

5. Escape

6. Revenge

7. The Riddle

8. Rivalry

9. Underdog

10. Temptation

11. Metamorphosis

12. Transformation

13. Maturation

14. Love

15. Forbidden Love

16. Sacrifice

17. Discovery

18. Wretched Excess

19. Ascension

20. Descension.

36 Plots:

Polti, Georges. The Thirty-Six Dramatic Situations. trans. L. Ray

1. Supplication (beg something from Power in authority)

2. Deliverance

3. Crime Pursued by Vengeance

4. Vengeance taken for kindred upon kindred

5. Pursuit

6. Disaster

7. Falling Prey to Cruelty of Misfortune

8. Revolt

9. Daring Enterprise

10. Abduction

11. The Enigma (temptation or a riddle)

12. Obtaining

13. Enmity of Kinsmen

14. Rivalry of Kinsmen

15. Murderous Adultery

16. Madness

17. Fatal Imprudence

18. Involuntary Crimes of Love (eg: wed unknown sib)

19. Slaying of a Kinsman Unrecognized

20. Self-Sacrificing for an Ideal

21. Self-Sacrifice for Kindred

22. All Sacrificed for Passion

23. Necessity of Sacrificing Loved Ones

24. Rivalry of Superior and Inferior

25. Adultery

26. Crimes of Love

27. Discovery of the Dishonor of a Loved One

28. Obstacles to Love

29. An Enemy Loved

30. Ambition

31. Conflict with a God

32. Mistaken Jealousy

33. Erroneous Judgment

34. Remorse

35. Recovery of a Lost One

36. Loss of Loved One

2011-03-13T07:25:00.002-05:00

LESSON THREE

Thank you, Ann, for the beautiful reminder that it doesn’t take much to make a difference. Stop and check out the two-minute film she sent yesterday: http://www.flixxy.com/the-power-of-words-short-film.htm (More points for her!) Please, keep them coming! And if I may suggest, why don't you pick out at least three of the following components to work on, especially the biography if you don't have one, and see what you can do. A synopsis will be too long for this group, but perhaps your hook and blurb would be a good thing to start with. In fact, I'm having trouble with a hook sentence for a manuscript I'm trying to rework now. Maybe I'll pitch that to you, if we slow down later in the week, to ask your advice. And now, the definitions:

Cover letter

This is the letter that goes with your project THAT’S BEEN REQUESTED. It often includes much of what you wrote in the query, but here you have a little more room. I’d spend it on the project itself, Could go two pages, but I’d still keep it short and grateful, and very professional. Yes, often you use both in your proposal. And, to be perfectly honest, I’ve often shortened the cover letter, and just used it as a reminder of what my project was about, if the editor asks me to send proposal information such as standard forms that they’ve sent or asked me to download, or my biographical information or my marketing plan and that kind of thing. If I’m only sending a synopsis and the first few chapters, I’ll make the cover letter longer to include those biographical and marketing things, but otherwise, I’ll just make my letter a paragraph on the order of, “here’s the material you requested from me, about my story, which is….”

BIOGRAPHY

Your biography should be a nice paragraph saying who you are, expanding on what you wrote in your query letter. What are your writing credentials, maybe why you wrote this book, and a very little personal information. Keep it about yourself, and not your family or fans. List education and awards and previous work if any, organization affiliation, and so on.

Synopsis

I have actually (sorry – love that word) submitted to two publishing houses lately which have not been interested in a synopsis. One of them said, “we know you hate to write it, and we won’t read it, so don’t bother!” Yippee!

A synopsis is a summary, or a complete overview, of your writing project. It is a single-spaced document with your name and title on it, usually told in present tense, but in your unique writer's style and voice. You want to begin with your engaging, fresh, unique and enticing hook or theme or log line – this is the buggiest part of the whole deal. A synopsis has just enough details to showcase the scope of the book. Do not get entangled with all of the back story or subplots in your novel – just give the major points. If it helps you to make a rough draft that starts with a roman-numeral outline, go ahead and practice that way. The finished synopsis should be anywhere from one to three pages, according to what’s asked of you; if nothing is mentioned about length, I’d keep it to about two pages. You tell the whole story. Start at the beginning—of your story, not the back story or the reason you wrote it, or how it came about, but what’s going on now in your book. Tell what happens to the main characters. Tell the entire story, and don’t leave any cute cliffhangers. The editor wants to know if the premise holds, and if the ending is believable, if the characters are real. For non-fiction, you’ll give all your basic information, something about every chapter, your sources, your references, and the final analysis of what you learned, and what your reader should know after finishing your book. I’ve seen synopses up to ten pages, though, and non-fiction writers will need to give chapter summaries. A synopsis is used to judge the completeness of the project more than anything else. Generally, acquiring editors won’t spend the time on that length of synopses. A hook sentence is important, though: it’s your theme, the premise of your story in one sentence, or thirty or so words. Think: What’s the most intriguing thing that happens in your story? What would make someone want to read it, after reading just one sentence? Flip over a dozen books and read the back cover or the inside flap for a few clues. Or, better yet, visit a bookstore and pick up books at random and try to figure out what’s going on and why you would or wouldn’t buy it just by reading the publisher’s blurb.

Writing sample

This will usually be the first few chapters, fifty pages, or completed piece for shorter items – just what it is: give what they ask. If they ask for a "sample" without explanation, send the first three chapters. Always industry standard format font, margins, etc. whether you’re submitting electronically or by land. Check for information about attachments. There are a number of ways to format the pages, if asked to submit in an attachment. If there are no clear directives on how to number the pages, I prefer to use the “footer” like this: title/my name (eg; working title: The Gold Standard/Lickel) on the left, second line has the page number. Some prefer a “header” with this information, or put it on the right. Some people include the date of the submission or the draft. It’s just a toss-up from editors, who, for the most part, have said in interviews that they either don’t care, or will tell the author of his or her preference.

Writing Resume

This is similar to a resume you would use to find work. Writing resumes would be limited to your publication credits and your life of writing, not your work history. If you don’t have any, then you’d include other relevant information, such as projects you’re working on, contracts, your education, coursework, groups you belong to, what you’re doing to get published, your website, blog, social networking and marketing information, things like that. You can still use subject headers like “Goal,” “Education,” “Completed projects or Manuscript history,” “Recent publications,” “Personal information,” etc. For sample writing resumes, I’d check internet sites. Do a search for “writer’s resume.” I like this one, and based mine sort of like it: http://www.writing-world.com/rights/resume.shtml

Clips

Clips are usually short pieces of published work such as articles, reviews, short stories, or other small pieces you’ve had published that you have “clipped” from the publication and kept. They will most often be used when you submit to magazines or other periodicals. You make copies of these and file the original (or laminate it if it’s a newspaper article to keep it fresh if you think you’re going to use it for a couple of years). These “clips” are sent along with proposals for articles or assignments as proof that someone besides your mother or your spouse thinks you can write. If your articles are published electronically, you should download and either make printable document files (.pdf) of them, or simply get a good copy printed and make copies. Make sure your print includes the publication and date and url. Make sure that the particular clip you send to an editor is relevant to the publication and your proposal, though you’re really just using the clip to showcase your style of work, or provide evidence of your expertise in your subject area. I used my clip file quite a bit when I initially sought magazine publication, but I don’t think I ever got a job based on them. I have a box of them tucked away, and it’s pretty cool to say I’ve written hundreds of articles.

Writing Plan

I include this because it’s something I once had to do for a proposal. The submission guidelines were a set of those vague ones: as in, send your proposal with a writing plan. I’m not completely certain what this is, and a writing plan may mean something different to every publisher who asks for one. While this might be something more suitable to unfinished non-fiction proposals, but it's appropriate to let the publisher know that you're willing to work hard with an editor, that you work on craft, that you work on other material even after you've sent out a proposal (that you aren't planning to write this one book and nothing else). How much can you write in a day or week or month? If they ask you to make major revisions, can you do so in a reasonable amount of time? Are you a contemplative writer or a quick one? Do you endlessly edit, or do you turn in your second draft? Can you write under pressure? I like to gather my research, then attack the story. I can reasonably write a chapter, or ten-fifteen pages a day when I'm in writer mode. My plan would include my willingness to work with the publisher or editor to his or her satisfaction; I can offer a fairly quick turn-around on requested edits.

Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope if sending by land – most companies will return your submitted materials if you include a number ten (that’s the legal-sized, long one) envelope with the appropriate return postage. Some articles say you can include a self-addressed stamped postcard to indicate your submission has been received. The receiving editor will supposedly just have to pop that card in the mail. I did that for a year, and never got one back. I seriously consider buying an electronic postal scale every time I wait in line at the post office. How to decide how much return postage to put on your return envelope when you don’t know how much it’s going to weigh and cost before you head to the post office? I get everything ready, addresses, etc., have my initial pack weighed, ask for the same amount of postage in stamps and stick the stamps on my return mailer while I’m at the window, then package the whole deal and mail it off. I sent a whole manuscript to Canada and since the little PO in my community didn’t have Canadian postage to use for the SASE (no, I wasn’t forking over the money to return the whole ms – they can use it for heat this winter) I bought an international stamp. That’s seventy-five cents I gladly give to the post office and hope I never see it back. The company was Torn Veil books; my colleague, JoAnn Durgin, had her debut novel, Awakenings, with them. When we chatted about our experience, she mentioned that sending the ms by snail mail was one of their ways of weeding out the not-so-committed.

MARKET ANALYSIS or MARKET COMPARISON

This can sometimes be the same terminology as Market Plan; be sure to pay attention to what the publisher or agent is asking. Usually an "analysis" asks for you to find other books like yours for comparison purposes. Who do you write like? What does your story compare to? However, it won't help you to say you write like JK Rowling and have the next best YA book if the editor will just give you a chance, mostly because your statement can't be tested. Categorize your work. What genre do you write? Where will the bookseller shelve your book? Is it a mystery, science fiction story, a fantasy, romance, a historical novel, a western, a thriller/espionage/spy novel, horror, a crime or detective story? Some of these categories overlap, and most have sub-categories, like "Amish" fiction or "prairie" romance or westerns. In this category, what does your work most resemble and why? Write something like: "Readers who like (a particular author) might like my book because…" See also the genre lists in Lesson one if you need help defining your genre. Do your homework. Go back to the bookstore and lurk – who buys what; ask readers why they pick what they do and see what they call the genre.

MARKETING PLAN/BUSINESS PLAN

This is the toughest part of the proposal, most puzzling for new writers, and most important part for publishers. Publishers may look at this page before they will read your synopsis. Think like a businessperson. You have a great product. Now, how are you going to move it?*

What is your platform?** How many books can you sell? Who are you and why will people buy your book? Are there side products that go along your books? If you have a theme, for example a beach theme, are there products that you can sell with that theme? Is your character a chef? Include recipes, etc. These are the questions you need to answer. Your marketing plan should include numbers. Do you speak? To whom? Do you blog? Where and how big is your audience? How many people do you reach on the online social networking sites? Are you considered an expert or professional in your field? List at least a dozen or more ways you're willing to promote your work, including writing and delivering press releases to your local news media, creating speaking and teaching opportunities, signings, blogs and blog tours, visiting book stores, being a part of book festivals, gathering or seeking reviews and interviews both in person and online, using a book trailer, using the book forums, keeping up your website, using your social media network to make announcements, offering contests, using blog and local radio and or television (local cable station?), asking your local bookstores to stock the book, providing copies to your library or church library, creating articles or short stories based on your book, making use of current relevant news that relates to your book, seek personal recommendations and endorsements from recognized authors or reviewers, whatever you can do to get your name and the product recognized, the more outside the box the better. Think about and possibly seek professional endorsers before you sell the manuscript.

*This part deserves a longer talk. Although you're going to be succinct in your proposal, you need to make it count – help yourself out by letting your marketing or business plan pack a punch. Think like an inventor. You've just developed this fantastic product that will make someone's life bright. Now how do you let them know? Oh…right, most inventors (even the guys who invented Velcro was going for a better bra strap) actually have a readymade niche market. Not everyone can invent the mousetrap (hit the NYT Best Seller list and stay on it forever). But anyone can invent a better spoon (get a royalty-paying publishing contract and even make a little money). Now – how are you going to let people know about your spoon? Will it help people who have arthritis hold onto it better? Then we target retirement communities and AARP. Will your spoon be able to stir extremely hot liquids without melting? Then you target commercial kitchens, gourmet stores, maybe even chemical labs. You find out who's having a Pampered Chef party or a Tupperware party and you sneak in and surreptitiously pass your card around. You get the idea. This is why we talked about who is going to read your book. If you're targeting moms, go where those readers are – libraries with story hour, rec centers, yahoo reading groups who read like material. Writing a thriller? Who reads them – leave flyers and a sample copy at the fire stations. Those guys and gals don’t mind having something to do on their down time. Writing about kids or others with desperate medical problems? Speak to your Lions International group. Kiwanis and other groups are often looking for speakers. Find all the book clubs you can in your community and send the leader a flyer. Offer a free book to the host if he or she can get ten people to buy your book and have you come for a visit. Join the local chamber of commerce as a business. It might be well worth the investment and you'll make lots of connections.

Not all of us are shooting for that timeless classic (literature); we're content with popular fiction that will eventually go out of print. But what makes that classic last? Why are those books called "classic"…well, Classic? Those stories explore issues that people like to talk about and contemplate, mistakes everyone makes, redemption, victory over impossible odds in bigger than life settings. They remain popular because people keep talking about them; they continue to be used in school curriculums, and…people keep talking about them and thinking they have to read it because it's been critically acclaimed, and...people keep talking about them. So – what keeps books in print? 1. Bigger than life issues that 2. People identify with and talk about partly because 3. They've received better than average acclaim by big-time influencers (see What an Influencer Does: https://reflectionsinhindsight.wordpress.com/2011/04/04/market-mondays-what-an-influencer-does/). And notice: the actual writing is important, but not tantamount. Even Mark Twain published himself. (http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/huckfinn/hucadshp.html) and John Grisham finally got someone to listen to him with his first novel, though it was a tiny independent press that put out a small first run, then went bankrupt: http://www.usatoday.com/life/books/news/2009-06-21-john-grisham-a-time-to-kill_N.htm and http://www.slushpile.net/index.php/2006/03/01/interview-john-grisham-author/

I'll bet you all can come up with a dozen more ways to promote I'll never think of. Let's be creative and share our ideas. Points! Points!

**Platform: that lovely word we hears lots, but don’t always have a good handle on. It is what it reads: a foundation, something to hold your authorial weight. Who are the readers who are your bedrock? Who will come back and hold you up with your next book? Here’s a great article from Writer’s Digest explaining it: http://www.writersdigest.com/article/get-known-excerpt

Other material I’ve been asked to provide in proposals include supporting scripture, theme, hook, back cover blurb. How to fulfill the request for each:

Supporting scripture is that verse that represents what your book is about. Use a good concordance for your theme if you're stumped.

The theme should be stated in one word such as grace, forgiveness, family, love, redemption, etc.

The hook is the sentence that makes me want to read this book – it’s not a summary, a ramble or a confusing jumble of theme and how many character’s names you can reference, it's that line that may be a question or an enticing statement that leaves the reader wanting more; usually less than 30 words. Sometimes this is called a LOG LINE; however "log line" is a movie term. I was just at a conference where the presenter, who writes plays, did a whole presentation on making a treatment for your novel. "Treatment" is also a movie term – basically the chapter synopsis. I am not a huge fan of interchanging terms.

The back cover blurb is usually five to eight sentences (or 100-200 words) expanding on the hook; en enticement. Read a few from books you have around you to get the essence. Here're a good couple of articles from Penguin: http://thepenguinblog.typepad.com/the_penguin_blog/2007/02/penguin_writers.html

Elevator pitch: either the thirty-second or up to one minute spiel on what your book is about and why I should care (am I representing it – tell me why I should and how it’s different than any other (eg Amish fiction); answer the unspoken editor or agent's question: if am I going to publish it tell me why I should risk thousands of dollars on you and how wide of an audience are you bringing me….)

And, believe it or not, there's now an App for that! Award-winning author and writing coach Linda Rohrbough has developed one. “Pitch Your Book” became available from Study By App in the Apple iTunes store April 23^rd for $3.99. For more details, see her web site: http://www.lindarohrbough.us.

2011-03-11T07:31:00.001-06:00

LESSON TWO: DO I HAVE WHAT IT TAKES

The second stage of the journey is figuring out the logistics. Do I have enough money, time, interest in the trip? Do I have the right apparel, vacation time? How do I follow the map?

Just like the proper preparation for a trip, writers should lay the groundwork for the submission process. Last week we talked about why we write and how to find a destination; this week we’ll discuss the first step in the process of sending out your manuscript. We’ll learn how to follow the directions for the target publisher or agent and write sample query letters.

Our own ACFW Publicity Officer, Kristin Billerbeck (http://www.kristinbillerbeck.com), has this say about proposals: "I think a bad proposal can nullify a sale. Most ideas presented are flat and the same, old thing. Publishers are looking for the sparkle. Something special that will be new to the marketplace. Then, they're looking to see if you accomplished that in the accompanying manuscript. Does is live up to what you've promised? As a former advertising/marketing director, I know what you need is a quality sales pitch. You want to give them a reason to buy your product. I truly believe the proposal can make the difference."

Nuts and bolts are integral to the framework upholding your final product. In our case, “final product” is that published article, devotional, short story, novel, novella, play, joke, greeting card, poem, song…whatever you’ve written that’s been acknowledged and printed by someone who didn’t raise you. Money isn’t part of the equation yet. As in any building endeavor, there are directions to follow in order for the completed structure to stand strong. Publishers already know this. That’s why they’ve developed a particular strategy to weed out the weak. You can use this to your advantage. Practice is a good thing (that’s how we professionals look upon rejections – or “denials” as a good buddy calls them).

Remember, a publisher or an agent can’t say “no” if you don’t submit. They can’t say “yes” either.

Submissions vary according to individual publishing house rules. You must be very careful to follow the house rules, or guidelines. But there are some basic underlying documents to prepare and keep on hand that can be adjusted as needed. Even if you don’t use each document, it’s still good practice and being prepared helps when you get that publisher’s message “Send me your proposal and the first three chapters at your convenience.” The preparation will help you understand and bond with your project. Enthusiasm is important when pitching your project, both verbally and in writing. For most written work, you’ll put together a “submission packet” which will probably include some or all of the following:

· Query/ query letter

· Cover letter

· Synopsis which will include a hook or theme or log line

· Writing sample, which will usually be the first few chapters or completed piece

· Writer’s Resume

· Clips

· Writing Plan

· Marketing plan

· Market analysis

· Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope if sending by land

Only the above items should be included, and only on industry standard supplies which are noted later. Always write your very best, use appropriate punctuation and grammar, no typos, everything neat and professional. Keep in mind, though, that different companies have different requirements. You may be asked to include a resume or fill out extensive information about yourself and your goals and experience from forms they’ll send you or tell you how to download, or a questionnaire of some kind to fill out online.

We’re going to focus on writing the query letter this week. Again, there are a lot of opinions, guides, advice, even form letters out there. Find some other samples, get lots of advice, then tailor it to your unique style.

What not to use or include:

Fancy stationery of any kind
Perfume or scent
Gifts of any kind
Voice messages
Revelations from God or anyone else
Threats
Promises
Sob Stories
Excuses
Underwear, locks of hair, or any other personal items/parts

What should you spend the most time and effort on? Your first impression. The first thing the prospective acquiring editor sees will most likely be the greeting of your query. The best thing you can do for yourself is to get the name right. Don’t laugh. It happens. All the time. If you were an editor, how would you sort out three hundred random writers begging for the chance to fill one slot in your schedule? How far would you read if the first thing you saw was a mistake? Think about it. Ditch spell-check after the first pass and read everything out loud, including the punctuation. And then have someone else look at it, too.

Rule number one and foremost: Do what you’re asked to do. Double check the submission guidelines.

For now, think about you and your work. Who are you? What is your qualification for writing this material? Who do you want to target? A publisher or an agent? Pick out three targets from last week’s lesson that might be a good fit for what you want to submit, and carefully go over the guidelines again. If there are specific requests that must be part of the query letter or submission packet, make a note of them. If there is an online form to fill out, copy down the required information to use as a template in your word processing program.

For Tuesday, May 10

Remember: everyone has an opinion about what works and what doesn’t. Listen to a lot of people, read a lot of information and then do what you think best to showcase your efforts and make the publisher say “yes! I want to work with this.” You have thirty seconds to make a positive impression.

Secret: The submission guidelines are not really guidelines. They are directions. You need to follow them in order to do it right. Sometimes they’re really vague. This is a clue—they want to see how up to speed, smart and creative inside the professional box you can be. Sometimes they’re very specific and helpful. They tell you to look and study what the company already puts out. (Another little tidbit of experience: it’s not true that publishing doesn’t cost any money. Writing doesn’t have to cost more than a piece of paper and a pencil, but getting published…well, you should try to purchase some books or magazines or whatever from the company that you target. Or at least read them in your local library. I’ll add here: save up and go to conferences to make face to face contacts. That’s really your surest bet.)

The guidelines may say exactly what kind of material/genre/length/proposal your targeted publisher or agent is looking for. They may say what time of year they accept submissions. They may even tell you how to format your letter and what to write. Do it.

Are you submitting electronically? Does the editor want an attachment or a message in the body of the e-mail? Is there a form from the website to use? Do they want queries by mail? Check the dates. Many companies have specific windows of opportunity during the year in which they accept submissions.

Chila Woychik, Publisher/Managing Editor of Port Yonder Press (www.PortYonderPress.com) says: Last year, I finally settled on a motto for Port Yonder Press:"Excellent. Evocative. Eclectic. We love the niche in you." In all honesty, I don't think we've yet achieved "Excellent" status. In fact, I'm not sure we ever will, but that's my goal, and that's what I'll push for with each and every new book that comes out of this office. I may look at the ones I've published before with a greater degree of discomfort in doing so, but that's okay too. So what do I, Chila Woychik, personally look for in a submission? To repeat: excellence, evocativeness, eclecticity. And niche: something that not every other print publisher is looking for, and certainly not something an ebook publisher will snatch up and be content with when they receive a $50 lifetime gross return for their efforts on that book. In essence, I want bestsellers. I want the best and only the best. Our submission requirements are extremely unique and super-tough to get past. If you follow those to a "T," I'll look. If not, you're sunk. My advice for whomever you choose to submit to: read and study the publisher's website. You may only get one shot with them: make it count.

Query/Query Letters

Publishers are over-inundated by the clamor of writers who want to be published. How to sort this out? They’ve often resorted to a query. Query, of course, means:

The publisher or agent wants you to ask him or her if your project is a good fit for the publication. This is your first impression. You might be asked to submit a simple query of a paragraph or so to begin with in an e-mail, or you might be asked to submit a query letter. These letters almost exclusively are limited to one page. If you have a paragraph query in which to make your case, use succinct language to outline your project in a couple of sentences; add one sentence about why it fits the publication and finish with one or two sentences about why you’re writing this particular item. This is good practice for any time someone asks you what your book is about and what audience you expect to read your book, anyway, so this is a great practice exercise. If there are specific guidelines or samples on the editor's or publisher's or agent's web sites or blogs, follow those. There are numerous samples for you to follow that you can find online.

A whole page will seem like a feast after trying the paragraph query. The whole page, of course, includes the industry standard format of header, body of letter, signature. Don’t make it look too crowded. Industry standard asks you to use a seriphed (ones with little tails like this one I'm using) font like Times New Roman, 12 point. No odd type face. Black letters. White or buff stand-sized paper. One-inch margins around your entire document. Cheaters will be caught. Bleary-eyed editors can tell ¾-inch margins or 10 or 11 point font in an instant. Some care. Don’t give them any excuse to toss your letter. This format holds whether you submit electronically or through the postal service. Headers or business letterheads are cool, but take up room. If you use something like that, make it match a business card for a professional look, but don't include the card with the letter. A letter is a letter. One page is one page. If you’re sending your letter in the body of an e-mail, and it’s supposed to be one page, test it out by writing the thing on a page in your word processing program, then cut and paste it into the body of your e-mail. Don’t try to mess with funky formatting; html will just make it look messy, anyway, when it’s received by the editor who reads it with his or her own e-mail program which may not be the same as yours. Either paragraph format is okay, but hint: If you use indented paragraphs with a .3 indent instead of .5 you’ll get more room on your page than if you use straight paragraphs with a space instead of an indentation; but remember to make it look neat, not desperately over-filled. This is only a suggested format.

A letter starts with a Header. Upper left or right corner:

Your name and address

Space

space

(left side) target Publication

space

Date

Space

space

Salutation (Try to give a name if possible; I've run across the situation where I specifically asked the company for a name, and they responded "we prefer to be anonymous"; otherwise, address Dear Acquisitions Editor, or however the company has it worded.)

space

Body of letter: probably about three paragraphs for a one-page query letter.

In general, how to make your case would include the query information, just expanded. I usually use up a sentence starting out by thanking the editor for looking at this query. Do include:

Nature of your project, including the final word count. (Now here’s where I have to say to beginning writers – please don’t submit stuff before you have it finished. It’s just a bad idea. And yes, I have experience with this. You can ask me.) Pretend you’re looking him or her in the eye, and they’ve just asked you what your (book) is about. Answer in three-four sentences. Pitch one project at a time, even if you have a drawerful. Give your hook, make it fresh and enticing; an invitation to read more. This is your sample writing style.
Who you are and your reason for tackling this project. The range for this paragraph is enormous. Just sticking with the facts is always best. Do not make any statements about what you think the scope of your project will be – that’s their vision. Do not compare your work to the big guns – although…some editors will tell you they like to know if you think you write like Jodi Picoult or Ted Dekker…it’s a tough call. You could probably be safe by sticking with genre instead of name dropping. Are you in any national organizations? Professional organizations? What’s your day job and does it have anything to do with your potential audience. This paragraph will mostly be a personality test and a potential marketing platform. Portray the best and most real “you” there is. If you’re a shy flower, ask someone else to describe you and use some of those descriptions. Again, you have three to five sentences. Bullet points take up room, but can be useful. Make them count. Definitely include writing credentials. “Don’t have any,” you say? Get some! “Um, how?” you ask? How ’bout this: Read any local newspapers? Most smaller rags look for color stuff or are crying for someone to cover a boring county board meetings. Same with smaller local magazines, which you can find at the library, but don’t be afraid to try a bigger niche one if you have a cool hobby or something, you never know. (Surprised me when Writer’s Digest wanted to publish an interview I had done as an assignment for a course I was taking.) Go to church with a national presence? Do they have a magazine or a website? That’s how I got my first creds. Are you familiar with any newsletters? Your library need a reviewer? How about your own blog or website?
Your third paragraph will probably be house-keeping stuff, like letting the editor know that you know who they are. Some general sentence about a recent release or article that affected you. A little repeated thanks. Let them know when you can be reached. Let them know you’re a hard worker and willing to do what it takes to be successful without sounding like you’re begging or groveling. Probably not a good time to mention that drawerful of rejections, either. You don’t bring up money or payment, or pleas to work on commission, or anything like that. You don’t ask questions about it. In fact, you don’t ask questions about anything. Not even when he thinks he’ll get back to you. If they accept your work and offer a contract, then you get to ask questions. You don't say your mom loved it, you don't mention that this may be your first book or your twenty-seventh try to sell this story; you don't say that you're certain this person will love your book.

Be professional, be courteous. A good story at a good time will usually get a look. If your query is denied, don’t burn bridges. No follow-ups inside a couple of months (unless told specifically otherwise), no arguing or sending you-hurt-my-feelings e-mails.

It should go without saying that you use your best language, strong active verbiage, hardly any “was”s, no typos

Practice is practice. Why’d you get denied the opportunity to make them money? It might not have been a good day for the editor. They might have already accepted something just like yours. Your story might not fit where they want to go next year, or the year after when they’re scheduling. Your story or your writing might need some polish. Keep trying. Most people have stories about how many

2011-03-10T15:22:00.001-06:00

Fictional Setting Development Tools

Use this sheet to get to develop your setting, whether speculative or earthly.

Working Book Title/Today's Date:

Overall Theme of the story in one word:

Hook sentence (in progress):

Historical Era/Reference/Age of community:

Name of community:

Significance of the name:

Nearby communities/significance (if any):

Physical size, such as how many square miles:

Approximate number of individuals and groups/families (and does this change significantly for any reason, such as tourist season or school year, or festivals):

Weather/Seasons and significance:

Physical landscape in community and the surroundings (i.e., mountains, water, sand, fertile soil, forest, karst and graben):

Type of buildings and construction:

Type of roads, transportation means and methods (does this change for any reason, such as muddy or impassible during a rainy season):

Means of trade (money/wealth):

Trade items (groceries, crops, manufacturing, natural material):

PAGE 2 – Fictional Setting Development Tools

Public buildings (stores, shops, museums, religious houses, educational centers, public safety):

Private home types:

Character's neighborhood/lifestyle (briefly):

Names of roads, parks, significant features – map as needed, including orientation:

2011-03-08T15:15:00.000-06:00

Fictional Character Development Tools

Working Book Title/Today's Date:

Overall Theme of the story in one word:

Hook sentence (in progress):

Name of Character (including nickname):

Significance of Name (family, heritage, culture, purpose – include significance and circumstances of nickname):

Physical description (include height, weight, body type):

Outward/visible characteristics (such as tattoos, piercings, scars, limp, lisp, etc.):

Manner of dress:

Hair color, skin color, eye color and glasses, significant facial features:

Emotional type (calm, hysterical, theatrical, sensible, chatterbox, suave, mature, etc.) This will help define the character's mood, actions/reactions, tone of voice, speaking voice, internal voice:

Birthdate, and age during the story:

Significant events in character's past, and age at the time that impact the character's actions in the current story (death in the family, marriage/divorce, attack, births, influential family, friends, moves, accidents, education, contests, work history, sibling relationships, adult relationships, pets):

Character's family history as needed:

Defining relationships in this story (marriage, friendships, siblings, co-workers, social standing):

2011-03-06T15:17:00.004-06:00

Help! I'm Stuck

A workshop for group brainstorming activities.

Prepared for QuadCities Christian Writer's Conference, April 8, 2011

c. Lisa J Lickel

How did this happen? My albino cows are lost in a snowstorm! My characters took a left when I distinctly told them right, and now their cell phone's dead because they forgot the charger. Good thing, since I have absolutely no idea what to do with them now, anyway.

Where's my plot?

What happens next?

Mommmeeeee!!

Sit back and take a deep breath. Getting stuck, or even getting started, has a real solution. We've all been there – lost either because we didn't follow directions through poor sense of direction or miscommunicated instructions. Either works for when you get lost in the maze of your writing.

You can go from Crisis to Aha! by using some very basic brainstorming techniques. With a few steps, we can get your writer brain back on track. Once the challenge is outlined, a plan of attack that involves

creating conflict,
ramping tension, and
goal orientation

can make you victorious.

Brainstorming tools and techniques for a group (or even on your own): see Appendix A

For our group purposes, we'll use both our handouts and large sheets of used packing paper I've brought so we can work together. The group paper will be given to the author.

Getting started.

I like to use a large sheet of paper and either attach it a wall or lay on a large surface like a table or floor. (You can often buy "end rolls" at your local newspaper office.) Ground rules: courtesy, no idea-or-person/self-bashing; silly ones often end up working the best, talk fast, but also write, a timer, lots of pens – colors are fun, but it takes time to change. Pacing and hand waving okay.

Identify the problem. (Set your timer for five minutes.) Go backward to the last action, or the last point plot. Challenge yourself to directly identify What Needs to Happen. This works for either character or plot-driven stories. Refer to your master outline – if you don't have one, then stop right now and create one. What's the end of the story and How do I get there? What are the essential incidents that need to happen to keep the momentum going? What are the compelling conflicts that move my characters along?

Why can't you move forward? Is your plot potholed, derailed by robbers, or your tracks ahead covered by a landslide? Are your characters flat, lifeless, too happy or too clichéd? Do you simply not like what's happening? Get the tension ramped up to light speed to engage your readers.

Charting

Create a starting point: (Character) is… (Scenario) is…

Move forward. I suggest setting a timer for ten minutes.

Ask good questions.

What the general story goals, the specific character goals? How can these characters achieve their goals? Where do they need to go? Why is it crucial for them to be in this or that place? When will they meet their first, or second, or third challenge? Who will they encounter to either help or hinder their goals?

How can this problem be attacked? What are the options…these are good questions, not "why can't I fix this" for those types of questions tend to be self-defeating and have nothing to do with the situation. Think like your character: What would so and so do if this and such for forced upon him?

Chart: Who, What, When, Where, Why, How and spend a few minutes answering them.

Start Where I'm Stuck	My character is	My scenario is
Who (is in the scene) Are they necessary – do we need someone else or to get rid of someone?
What ('s happening) Can we shake anything up?
When (timing; what part of the story are you) Or time of day/calendar – can it be some other time?
Where (what's the setting) Does the action have to be here? Can some other place serve the purpose?
Why (motive, purpose)
How (are we moving toward the goal) If we're not actively seeking the goal, why not?

Building Tension

A writer builds tension through conflicts – both solvable and unsolvable.

To create tension, a writer can add elements to the story or take them away.

For adding elements: new surprise characters which do not always have to be human – pets with a quirk (think Charlotte's Web); a natural element like weather or earthquake; a favor element – friend or stranger asks something (think fairy tales)

For taking away elements: Think what can be lost – freedom, choice, things both or either loved or hated. What if the character recovered (think House) or received the goal without working for it? Loss through death; loss through carelessness (guilt); theft, natural or unnatural means – think loss of mentor: now the student has to figure out how to carry on.

Chart: Setting Conflicts (Big problems to Smaller problems)

But remember – they must all directly impact the resolution – every issue has to drive the story onward toward the solution/resolution

Solvable vs Unsolvable

Natural vs. manmade – impossible odds to overcome – always a great big final hurdle (think Poseidon Adventure; the Donner party; the young man who had to cut off his own arm; the Chilean miners)

Chart: Character Conflicts (Big Picture setting conflicts vs. Big Picture people conflicts)

But remember – they must all directly impact the resolution – every issue has to drive the story onward toward the solution/resolution

My fault vs. not my fault

Again – nature vs. humanity; is there anything that can't be solved? Think Captain Kirk – he didn't believe in the no-win scenario. If I can't fix it, can I live with it?

Note: Tension Building Blocks follows the charts.

Setting Conflicts	Bigger Problems	Smaller Problems
Solvable – what physical roadblocks are thrown in the way of your character's ability to achieve his or her goals?
Can you add something?
Unsolvable – if a problem arises that creates a permanent change, what or how is the character willing to deal with the issue? Adapt or die, encourage or urge others to give in?
Can you take away something?
Character Conflicts	Bigger Problems	Smaller Problems
My fault What did my character do that allowed this issue to occur?
Can you add something?
Not my fault – what extenuating circumstances or problems outside of the character's control occur that develop to force the character to decide to sidetrack to solve, or ignore in order to continue on toward the goal?
Can you take away something?

For Charting Ideas and finding those Aha! Moments

Tension Building Blocks

What If questions for anything and everything; especially news items.

What are Solvable and Unsolvable problems?

Natural disasters -- Earthquake, fire, storm, landslide, genetics, birth defects

Man-made disasters – some of the above can fit here too

People mess up!

People are horrible and mean to each other, whether they believe they're helping or acting in your best interest.

Love – is an action? Or a feeling? You react very differently according to what you believe.

Surprise! Characters don't always have to be human.

Adding pets or other effective characters, think Charlotte's Web, etc.

Asking favors – boons, questing stories

The Twist – take your character or your story in the opposite direction and see what happens.

Loss – What are things that can be lost?

Freedom

Choice

Things you love

Things you hate

How are things lost – through carelessness? This can lead to guilt

Lost through theft, death, natural means or unnatural means.

How about the loss of a mentor, and now the character has to figure out how to journey on his or her own?

Gather new people – can they be trusted? How will I know?

In Plot-driven Fiction, the problems often are natural disasters or outside influences (terrorism, criminal activity) that the main character must address. These problems affect the main character directly either through threatening family or job or colleagues. These will more likely be your action-driven novels, thriller, crime solvers, often mysteries, but not always.

In Character-driven Fiction, the problems are usually people-related, usually caused by or involve people close to your characters, or who become close to your characters. Romances, often historicals fall here, and women's fiction.

General fiction straddles the fence.

Goal Orientation

Reality Check: Are my goals achievable? If they're not, is that going to satisfy my readers?

Can I re-direct them without having to start over? Do I have a mini-goal in every scene that builds up to the big problem that needs to be overcome?

Is my character sufficiently motivated to overcome this problem or achieve the goal? What can I do to make it so?

Is the right person telling the story? Who has the most to lose? Who has the most to gain? This is often a struggle in books that have more than one main character. Many characters can be involved, each with an identified goal and substory, but often having a narrator, or one of the characters (and not necessarily the most high-profile or prominent one) be the glue that holds the rest of story together.

Do I have an identifiable plot? See Appendix B for Plots in Literature.

Chart: go ahead and chart your characters and their goals, clearly identifying who are the most prominent, what their conflicts are, and what their goals are.

Good stories revolve around these three points:

What is desperately needed; Why it can't be had; What needs to be overcome to obtain the goal.

Goal Orientation	Major goal	Motivation/Conflict	Minor goal
Overall theme of the story (in one word)	The desired outcome is: What will happen if it can't be achieved:	What is important about this goal? What is keeping the character from achieving the goal?	Select several minor accomplishments along the way to achieve the major goal. What is significant about these stepping stones?
Character
Character
Character
Character

Defining the Goal

One big issue often is: Whose story is this? Whose should it be? Is the goal realistic, achievable?

See Appendix B for Plots

2011-03-05T13:52:00.000-06:00

A Summer in Oakville excerpts

2011-03-03T06:32:00.001-06:00

LESSON TWO for May 9 & 10 - sample query letters found at the bottom

LESSON TWO: DO I HAVE WHAT IT TAKES

The second stage of the journey is figuring out the logistics. Do I have enough money, time, interest in the trip? Do I have the right apparel, vacation time? How do I follow the map?

Remember, a publisher or an agent can’t say “no” if you don’t submit. They can’t say “yes” either.

· Query/ query letter

· Cover letter

· Synopsis which will include a hook or theme or log line

· Writing sample, which will usually be the first few chapters or completed piece

· Writer’s Resume

· Clips

· Writing Plan

· Marketing plan

· Market analysis

· Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope if sending by land

What not to use or include:

Fancy stationery of any kind
Perfume or scent
Gifts of any kind
Voice messages
Revelations from God or anyone else
Threats
Promises
Sob Stories
Excuses
Underwear, locks of hair, or any other personal items/parts

Rule number one and foremost: Do what you’re asked to do. Double check the submission guidelines.

For Tuesday, May 10

Query/Query Letters

Publishers are over-inundated by the clamor of writers who want to be published. How to sort this out? They’ve often resorted to a query. Query, of course, means:

(Response point opportunity!)

A letter starts with a Header. Upper left or right corner:

Your name and address

Space

space

(left side) target Publication

space

Date

Space

space

Body of letter: probably about three paragraphs for a one-page query letter.

In general, how to make your case would include the query information, just expanded. I usually use up a sentence starting out by thanking the editor for looking at this query. Do include:

Nature of your project, including the final word count. (Now here’s where I have to say to beginning writers – please don’t submit stuff before you have it finished. It’s just a bad idea. And yes, I have experience with this. You can ask me.) Pretend you’re looking him or her in the eye, and they’ve just asked you what your (book) is about. Answer in three-four sentences. Pitch one project at a time, even if you have a drawerful. Give your hook, make it fresh and enticing; an invitation to read more. This is your sample writing style.
Who you are and your reason for tackling this project. The range for this paragraph is enormous. Just sticking with the facts is always best. Do not make any statements about what you think the scope of your project will be – that’s their vision. Do not compare your work to the big guns – although…some editors will tell you they like to know if you think you write like Jodi Picoult or Ted Dekker…it’s a tough call. You could probably be safe by sticking with genre instead of name dropping. Are you in any national organizations? Professional organizations? What’s your day job and does it have anything to do with your potential audience. This paragraph will mostly be a personality test and a potential marketing platform. Portray the best and most real “you” there is. If you’re a shy flower, ask someone else to describe you and use some of those descriptions. Again, you have three to five sentences. Bullet points take up room, but can be useful. Make them count. Definitely include writing credentials. “Don’t have any,” you say? Get some! “Um, how?” you ask? How ’bout this: Read any local newspapers? Most smaller rags look for color stuff or are crying for someone to cover a boring county board meetings. Same with smaller local magazines, which you can find at the library, but don’t be afraid to try a bigger niche one if you have a cool hobby or something, you never know. (Surprised me when Writer’s Digest wanted to publish an interview I had done as an assignment for a course I was taking.) Go to church with a national presence? Do they have a magazine or a website? That’s how I got my first creds. Are you familiar with any newsletters? Your library need a reviewer? How about your own blog or website?
Your third paragraph will probably be house-keeping stuff, like letting the editor know that you know who they are. Some general sentence about a recent release or article that affected you. A little repeated thanks. Let them know when you can be reached. Let them know you’re a hard worker and willing to do what it takes to be successful without sounding like you’re begging or groveling. Probably not a good time to mention that drawerful of rejections, either. You don’t bring up money or payment, or pleas to work on commission, or anything like that. You don’t ask questions about it. In fact, you don’t ask questions about anything. Not even when he thinks he’ll get back to you. If they accept your work and offer a contract, then you get to ask questions. You don't say your mom loved it, you don't mention that this may be your first book or your twenty-seventh try to sell this story; you don't say that you're certain this person will love your book.

It should go without saying that you use your best language, strong active verbiage, hardly any “was”s, no typos

Questions?

Practice! Start sharing these tomorrow. And if you respond, remember – this isn't critique class, it's big picture class. Be specific, point out positives too, please.

SAMPLE SUCCESSFUL QUERIES FROM LISA LICKEL

To a publishing company for a novel:

These were the directions I followed from the publisher. At the time, BlackLyon was an acceptable ACFW publisher with their inspirational line. They have a new inspirational novella line. I was offered a contract in late summer of 2009 and the book released for Valentine's Day in 2010 in both electronic and print format.

Direct all queries to: Queries (at) BlackLyonPublishing (dot) com. We prefer email, but will accept snail mail queries. No unrequested manuscripts or file attachments please. And please, no multiple submissions.

Your email should contain your name, manuscript title, type of novel, word count, a 1-2 paragraph blurb similar to what you might imagine the back cover of your book to read, and the first three paragraphs of your finished manuscript. (No formal synopses please. We hate reading them as much as you hate writing them!)

Lisa J. Lickel

my address

Black Lyon Publishing

BlackLyonPublishing.com

Date

Thank you for considering this query for a contemporary romance. I am using A Seal Upon My Heart as the current working title, although I had originally hoped to use a geographical term, meander scar, as related to a stream interrupted by an obstacle, but eventually returning to its streambed. This completed manuscript is 101,000 words, but can easily be made into two books, or even cut down. Currently, the duality of the love story – how far will Ann go to maker her relationship with Mark work, and the second half of the story – what will Mark do to stay with her, could be edited.

I have written for newspapers and magazines, am the author of a cozy mystery with Barbour Publishing, The Gold Standard, and of a contemporary intrigue, Healing Grace, from Zumaya. I write and perform radio theater with FreeQuincy Radio Theater, and love history. I was very impressed with the quality of Michelle Griep’s Gallimore.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Lisa Lickel

Hook

When does forever start? Can it end? When she faces grandparenthood, Ann Ballard decides to live again years after her husband’s disappearance. Mark Roth has loved Ann forever and gives up his comfortable job and fiancé to find out if she can love him back. Together, they learn how far they’re willing to go to stay committed to each other.

Back cover/flap copy suggestion:

When you find love, will you define it by its package?

Ann Ballard’s life does more than wander off course when her husband vanishes - it dams and stagnates during the seven years that follow. Gene has to be dead. She’s ready to sign his life away and move on despite the threats from the shadowy Ballard Trust.

Mark Roth can’t forget Ann, the first person who supported and encouraged him. He gives up his comfortable job and fiancé and returns to his old neighborhood, where he offers to help Ann resolve the matter of Gene's disappearance – the biggest issue that stands in the way of their growing relationship.

Ann might be ready to move on, but is she insane to return the feelings of a man more than a decade younger than she? When she discovers the events that caused Gene’s disappearance, revealing the truth may destroy more lives.

Mark, a well-respected attorney, must decide whether or not he can live with Ann's secrets, and her son's objections to their romance.

Just when Mark and Ann start on the straight and true course of happily ever after, their life hits another impossible obstacle. Mark’s faith is put to the ultimate test when he is faced with the biggest challenge of his life.

“All that is gold does not glitter.

Not all those who wander are lost.”

JRR Tolkien, Fellowship of the Ring

CHAPTER ONE

Ann Ballard jerked awake, shaken by a rumble she felt clear to her bones. A dazzling flash of light burned her retinas when she glanced through the living room window. She jumped and felt her heart stutter at the resulting roll of thunder that rattled the panes of glass.

At least she’d been saved from sinking into the nightmare again. Three times in a row, whenever she had closed her eyes, she dreamed of being trapped in a swampy pool on the banks of the winding Black Earth Creek, helplessly watching her son Ritchie and Trey struggle against a current. The fact that the creek was not that big in real life didn’t seem to matter in her dream.

Ann tossed aside the afghan that had been covering her feet and stood. Only little old ladies took naps in the afternoon. What was the matter with her? The magazine she’d been reading slipped to the floor, sending the photograph she used as a bookmark spilling out. She snatched up the picture before it bent. She knew what sleeping during the day would lead to: wandering her big empty house at night, wide awake and scaring herself silly at every creak.

I've had two agents in the past; the first was for 2 1/2 years and on the advice of others, I chose to sidestep to a different agent and we parted company; the new agent lasted less than a year and when the economy tanked, so did a lot of things.

To an agent, after being introduced by a different author freind who had connections in the field:

Date

Salutation

Thank you for taking the time to consider this query. (Name) gave me your name when we last discussed our careers and agent approach.

I like to write stories of a more literary genre, or women's fiction, that explore unusual relationships.

So far, I have written several mysteries and a number of pieces of general contemporary fiction, as well as a historical children’s series I've been working on marketing on my own. I have a contract with Barbour’s new Heartsong Presents: Mysteries, and placed a romantic intrigue about a faith healer at a secular independent publisher, Zumaya, due out in 2009. For Zumaya, I put together a lengthy marketing packet. I have also written simple romances and have an ensemble series that follows a year in the life of members of a particular congregation. Several families tell their stories, then the next year, the peripheral characters become the main characters, and so on. Two of the potential six in the series have been completed. I would be happy to discuss my current works in progress, both of which would be romantic intrigue.

I freelance for local papers, have had pieces appear in the Milwaukee Journal, The Word in Season, Writer’s Digest, and The Church Herald. I belong to a number of book clubs and writing guilds: American Christian Fiction Writers and Christian Writer’s Guild; and am locally involved in Wisconsin Christian Writers and Moraine Writing Guild. I am known to local newspapers and radio stations for my nationally syndicated radio theater pieces. I am available to speak and read and do mailings, and currently setting up a network and gathering place for other Wisconsin writers to meet and share ideas and encouragement. I am active in local and state historical societies.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Lisa J Lickel