Enter with the raffle copter:
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Prize is one e-book in your choice of format!
After you enter go check out the five star reviews on Amazon.com for Wanda Kay Fittro’s novel and see why people are loving it so much!
Congratulations Dawn Brower! Thank you to everyone who entered. Keep watching for more great giveaways!
I am trying to name my WIP and need your help. Please consider taking the quick poll at the bottom of this page to help me choose a title.
This is the blurb:
Amelia is devastated after her father’s death. As a young Lady in England she can’t make any decisions on her own until she reaches her majority. England holds a special place in her heart and she doesn’t want to leave it, yet her Uncle as her new guardian is ordering her to. He agrees to give her four weeks to settle her affairs and then she must board a ship bound for America.
Not wanting to easily give on a life in England Amelia devises a scandalous plan to stay in the only home she has ever known. Despite the fact that she must remain in mourning she decides marrying an English peer is her only option. In order to make it work she must trap him forcing a quick wedding.
Amelia meets Lord Goldstone, a Scottish Duke, who thwarts her carefully laid plans. Sparks fly as the two of them find themselves at odds with each other. Can they find a way to stop arguing long enough to explore their growing passion before Amelia must board a ship bound for America?
STOP
I have reached ten! If you received an e-mail response from me then you got in. Thank you all so much for participating. That was fun! For those of you who made it, I will send your edited chapters back by July 29th. For those of you who did not quite get in, follow my blog so that you do not miss out next time. I plan to do this at least once every other month-maybe more often!
*GO*
send those first chapters to musingsbymandy@gmail.com
2,500 word limit
preferably in a word attachment
I will post stop when I recieve ten
Update
I have five in so far
Update
Seven in, there is room for three more!
Tomorrow around noon eastern time I will post “go” signaling you to send your first chapters.
Things to remember
Send them to musingsbymandy@gmail.com
Include a short synopsis
Send your first chapter up to 2,500 words
After I receive ten e-mails I will post “stop”
My goal is to have all of them edited and returned no latter then July 29th. I will go through them in the order they are received.
I am looking forward to reading your masterpieces and helping you to polish them.
Have a great night!
Passive voice is a rather big no-no in the fiction world. I have often seen manuscripts rejected or revise and resubmit letters sent because of passive voice.
So what is passive voice?
Passive voice is when the subject is not active. Instead, the action is being done to the subject.
Here is an example:
Passive-The pancake was eaten by her
Active-She ate the pancake
Notice how in the active sentence “she” is the doer of the action.
An active sentence is structured like this: (Thing/person doing the action)+(verb)+(thing receiving the action).
When a sentence is in the passive voice, it makes the thing receiving the action more important than the person doing the action. In fiction writing, this takes the emphasis off of your characters, and you do not want that.
For example: The vacuuming was done by Annie.
The vacuuming has become more important than the character, Annie. The problem is that the vacuuming is not important to the overall story, Annie is. The sentence should be in an active voice: Annie completed the vacuuming.
Here is a link that shows you how to check for passive voice in MS Word: http://www.ehow.com/how_2273684_change-microsoft-word-settings-check.html
Here is a list of lazy verbs that often lead to passive voice:
Be, being, been, am, is, are, was, were, been, has, have, had, do, did, does, can, could, shall, should, will,
Would, might, must, may
Using these verbs is not wrong, and they do not always lead to passive voice. However, you do want to be careful and limit your use of them. Eliminating passive voice from your manuscript will increase your odds of receiving an acceptance letter.
The main reason I started this blog is to help authors. To that end I have decided occasionally to offer free-no strings attached-critiques and edits for that all important first chapter. Because I am human, and have editing responsibilities at Lyrical and Breathless Press’s I have to limit the number of free critiques. I have decided to do ten per session offered.
Here’s how it will work:
I will post the date on my blog telling readers when I will be doing critiques about a week ahead of time. (The first one will be Tuesday July 22nd).
1. I will post an invitation to send in your first chapter around noon that day.
2. Once I receive ten, I will post that I am closed.
3. I will content edit the chapters and provide some feedback.
The rules, because everything needs rules:
Once you see the invitation e-mail your first chapter to musingsbymandy@gmail.com
Include your name, genre, email address and a short synopsis.
Chapter not to exceed 2,500 words.
One chapter per writer/author, please.
I am excited about offering this and can hardly wait to see what kind of response I get on July 22nd. I hope that you are excited too!
I’m honored to have the very talented Ishabelle Torry on my blog today discussing plotting and giving us a peak at her new release To Wish Upon a Roman.
Coming Up with a Plot
I’m often asked how I come up with a plot, especially a paranormal plot that interlaces with modern times as seen in my latest novella To Wish Upon a Roman. Like seriously? What made me think about an Average Modern Jane meeting an ancient hunky Roman nearly two millennia old? And I always reply “mythology!”
Mythology is a wonderful introduction to early man’s beliefs, superstitions, fears, and even social behavior. Plus, it’s just really freaking cool! I mean come on, three headed dogs, glamourous gods, and heroes galore! Really, nothing beats a good ol’ tale of the past. The ancient peoples really knew how to weave an adventure, tragedy, moral lesson, and love story, often all in one epic account. This uberness has fascinated me throughout my life, and guided me in the direction to write Hadrian and Lucy’s story. And thanks to Breathless Press, my wonderful editor Kristen, and the amazing cover artist Victoria, their tale can be shared!
Blurb:
When Lucy received the locket from the estate of her aunt, it came with a warning to never speak his name…but where’s the fun in that?
Trapped for seventeen hundred years, General Hadrian Marias awaits his release from a crystal prison and a chance to find the reincarnated soul of his wife, Lucia. Instead, upon being summoned into the modern world, he finds Lucy—the descendant of Genevieve, the Celtic witch responsible for his entrapment. Everything he knows about Lucy stems from his experience with Genevieve, but he soon discovers the only thing Lucy shares with her ancient ancestor is an uncanny resemblance. He quickly finds himself drawn to the feisty vixen. But can he ever forgive himself for losing Lucia of the past, and move forward with Lucy?
Lucy Brady was devastated to receive word of her aunt’s death. Her only joy, a family heirloom passed down from generation to generation. Inside the golden locket hides a crystal containing the essence of Hadrian. Even though warned to never say his name, she chalks it up to superstition and inadvertently summons an ancient Roman general who demands his freedom from her tyrannical bloodline. Deeming the general’s appearance a prank, Lucy agrees to grant his freedom—in lieu of sex for a fortnight. Will the next fortnight of passion be enough to keep Hadrian at Lucy’s side? Or will he choose absolute freedom from her bloodline?
Buy Links:
http://www.breathlesspress.com/index.php?main_page=product_free_shipping_info&cPath=13&products_id=576&zenid=1151e12d25d7ff30ce15a546bcf1b535
http://www.amazon.com/Wish-Upon-Roman-Ishabelle-Torry-ebook/dp/B00KTEGPCY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405038669&sr=8-1&keywords=to+wish+upon+a+roman
http://www.bookstrand.com/to-wish-upon-a-roman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/IshabelleTorry?focus_composer=true&ref_type=bookmark
Follow on Twitter @ishabelletorry
Thank you for stopping by Ishabelle Torry! It was a pleasure having you on my blog.
Today I have the pleasure of having Dawn Brower on my blog. Her first book, A Flawed Jewel, released on April 4th, everyone will get the opportunity to win a copy of the book. Details are at the end of the blog post.
Tell us what inspired you to write your first book?
I was talking to my step sister on the phone and she told me I should try to write one. To make a long story short she had read a few subpar ones and believed I could do a better job. I had a rough plot in my head before I ended the call. After I finished my conversation with her I started working, creating characters, and making rough notes. In less than twenty-four hours I had an extremely rough draft written. After a few beta reads and a lot of revisions I sent it into Breathless Press.
You wrote your first book what’s next?
A can of worms was ripped open by writing the first book. I never intended to write. Now I can’t seem to stop. I started working on another book and researching ideas after I wrote A Flawed Jewel.
Can you tell us about them?
I have a book coming out on September 4th, Cowgirl Fever. It is a little different than A Flawed Jewel. It’s contemporary where A Flawed Jewel has pirates and is historical. A Treasured Lily is coming out in January, and continues on in the world of A Flawed Jewel.
How is writing a historical different than a contemporary?
No matter what, research needs to be done. Some people may not realize it, but a lot of research needs to go into writing a book. It could be a little line, but it needs to be double checked. I searched for hours just to see how long it would take a ship to cross the Atlantic on wind speed. There was no definitive answer so I had to do math. *shudders* Nautical miles are different than regular miles, which meant I had to convert the distance in miles to nautical miles. Once I had that answer I had to divide that by how many nautical miles they traveled an hour and so forth to get a rough estimate. In Cowgirl Fever I had to research wild life on the west side of the country because I am not familiar with what is out there. The only thing I can say for sure is it’s easier with contemporary only because I don’t have to think about my word choices as much. Sometimes a word or phrase can be too modern for a historical novel.
So are you going to write any more historical books?
Yes, actually I wrote another two books in the world of A Flawed Jewel. A Treasured Lily is contracted with Breathless Press. It is about Thor and Pia’s daughter, Lily. A Sanguine Gem is with my beta readers and is about their son Liam. My current project Perceptive Soul is set during WWII with a lot of twists and turns.
Will you write any more contemporary novels?
Yes. I have two more books planned in the world of Cowgirl Fever. I have not finished them yet, but they are next on my agenda once I finish Perceptive Soul.
Thanks for joining me on my blog today.
All right, now for how you can win a copy of A Flawed Jewel
******This contest is only for a mobi/Kindle eBook copy. If you don’t have a kindle you can always download the Kindle app for PC or the Kindle mobile app on your phone or tablet. ******
Leave a comment on my blog for a chance to win. The contest begins today, Friday, July 11th and ends at midnight (EST) on Sunday, July 13th. A winner will be picked at random and notified on Monday, July 14th.
Blurb:
Pieretta boards a ship, unaware that Thor is waiting to kidnap her for revenge against her grandfather. Will love intervene, altering both their courses?
Pieretta Carlyle experienced the loss of her father, leaving her alone in the world except for her grandpere, Comte Renard Dubois. The comte insists that she travel to France to live with him. Pieretta doesn’t want to leave Charleston and the only home she has ever known. Her grandpere is her guardian, and she must do what he says.
Thor has a score to settle, and Pieretta is the key to his revenge. He became a pirate unwillingly after his business partner tried to murder him. He must acquire Pieretta by any means necessary, and he doesn’t mind plundering a ship to obtain her.
When Pieretta and Thor meet, they are instantly attracted to each other against their better judgments. Pieretta is disgusted by the pirate’s actions. Thor knows what Pieretta believes, but proceeds with his plans anyway. She is only a tool to achieve vengeance. What happens will depend on Thor’s need for revenge and Pieretta’s ability to forgive him for his dastardly deeds.
Buy Links:
http://www.amazon.com/Flawed-Jewel-Dawn-Brower-ebook/dp/B00JGIRWU8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405042152&sr=8-1&keywords=a+flawed+jewel
http://www.breathlesspress.com/index.php?main_page=product_free_shipping_info&cPath=17&products_id=553
https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-aflawedjewel-1466206-158.html
http://www.bookstrand.com/a-flawed-jewel
For an autographed eBook visit authorgraph:
https://www.authorgraph.com/books?utf8=%E2%9C%93&search=dawn+brower&commit=Search
To contact Dawn Brower or learn more about her visit:
Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Dawn-Brower/e/B00KBBRW5E/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1405042822&sr=8-1
Website: http://www.authordawnbrower.com
Deep third POV is a big trend that both readers and publishers are actively seeking, but what is it? I have struggled with this question in the course of both my early editing experiences, and my own writing. At long last I believe that I have a solid grasp on it and would like to shed some light on the subject for others who may still be grappling to understand what deep third is.
Deep POV is third-person subjective taken a step farther. The third-person subjective shows the story through the eyes of one or more characters. Deep POV goes beyond that to take readers into the head and heart of a character, allowing the story to be seen and felt through the characters experiences. No head hopping! One character at a time please.
What first-person POV accomplishes with I narration, deep POV accomplishes with third-person he or she narration.
Therefore, readers see scenes through the viewpoint character, and feel story events as that character does.
Deep POV allows writers to do away with he thought, he felt, she wondered, she saw, those phrases that intrude into the fiction, unnecessarily encumbering a story, and that lead to telling.
With deep POV, readers are in the character’s head not on their back.
One way I have been told to practice deep third is to write a passage in first person POV then change the I’s to he/she pro nouns. Let’s give it a try!
Pouring rain coated my body as I stood frozen at the cliffs edge. My blood pounded through my veins, beating a rhythm in my head. Looking back at him sent a chill coursing through my bones. I had to get away, but how? I looked back over the cliff, took a deep breath, and propelled myself over the edge.
Now the switch:
Pouring rain coated her body as she stood frozen at the cliffs edge. Blood pounded through her veins, beating a rhythm in her head. Looking back at him sent a chill coursing through her bones. She had to get away, but how? Looking back over the cliff, she took a deep breath, and propelled herself over the edge.
Not my best writing, but you get the idea. Now go ahead and practice it for yourselves. I would love to see your results! Leave them in the comments if you want to share.
Musings by Mandy 