Using Small Conflicts To Move a Story Along
August 18, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Ages 2 Perfection Online Class, Online Classes tagged as Aged to Perfection Online Class, Mary Marvella, pantsers, plotters, Sagging Middles
Presented by: Mary Marvella
Date: September 1 – 30, 2021
Pricing: A2P Member fee: $15
Non-A2P Member fee: $30
About the Workshop:
“Using Small Conflicts To Move a Story Along” will involve ways to cure sagging middles in any story.
Writers who don’t plot can find themselves painted into a corner or wondering what to do next. Even plotters sometimes find a story seems to be going nowhere. Sometimes the problems are solved, but the book needs to be longer. OOPS!
So what can we do about that? Students and I will share ways to make scenes more meaningful and give characters problems that fit the situation and make those characters stronger for the new problems.
I will give lessons/lectures about why stories need conflicts, small and large, internal and external, to keep excitement going and readers reading.
Students will select slow scenes from their projects or create them so we can pump life into them with small or large rocks. I will give examples of problems based on the stories. We will brainstorm and share scenes on the loop each week.
About the Presenter:
Mary Marvella has been a storyteller for as long as she can remember. The arrival of the book mobile was as exciting as hearing the music of the ice cream truck. As a child of the South, she inherited the storytelling gene from her parents and her grandmamas.
Retired from teaching classic works of the masters, Mary plays let’s pretend with her characters. She has published 10 novels, 1 book on editing, and a collection of Christmas stories.
Mary tutors, and coaches writers when she isn’t working on projects as a freelance editor. She has always been a grammar geek who loved soaking up new knowledge and reading everything, including labels on cereal boxes.
1 0 Read moreYankee Thunder: The Legendary Life of Davy Crockett
August 17, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley tagged as Davy Crockett, Legends, lessons
Today is Davy Crockett’s birthday.
Almost everyone over a certain age will now start singing the Disney Theme song and imagining Fess Parker in a coonskin cap, but not me. Oh, I pass the age test, but I have a book that belonged to my mother, titled YANKEE THUNDER: The Legendary Life of Davy Crockett. That depiction of Davy Crockett wins out over the TV show for me, but not without a bit of sadness.
Written by Irwin Shapiro with pictures by James Daugherty, it was a fixture of my childhood. In the book Davy is born man-sized, weighing in at two hundred pounds and fourteen ounces. To feed him, his parents plant him in the ground and water him with wild buffalo’s milk mixed with boiled corn cobs and tobacco leaves.
He grows so big that by chapter four his family must whittle him down to man-size. Out on adventures, Davy finds two unusual pets, a bear named Death Hug, and a buffalo called Mississip.
As much fun as all this is, unfortunately, I would never recommend the book today, especially not for children. While the book shows Davy Crockett as sympathetic towards native people, native people themselves are characterized in the most bigoted and stereotypical way.
I hope we have learned in the 78 years since Yankee Thunder was published not to use negative and hurtful stereotypes in our writing. I’d like to think our stories can be recommended without reservation.
Whittling down to man-size 
Be sure you’re right, then go ahead. 
Title page
Trapped in Sin Book Blitz and Giveaway
August 16, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as #LyndellWilliams, #RABTBookTours, #RomanticSuspense, #TrappedinSin, @RABTBookTours
Romantic Suspense
Date Published: August 7, 2021
Whoever tore him from her is dead!
Baaz Hamdi might be a criminal, but nothing means more to him than his wife Rahmah. So when someone sets him up, and he lands in jail, his top priority is getting out and having her back in his arms. But he can’t tell anyone where he is – not even his beloved. Both their families already think he’s a thug. He can’t afford to confirm their suspicions, and there are too many people on the inside who would use his family against him.
Alone, with no money and an inconsolable baby, Rahmah agonizes over Baaz’s disappearance. All seems lost, until she meets a handsome stranger, who helps her get her life in order and convinces her to think about divorce. Without a clue if Baaz is dead, alive, or ever coming back, she decides to end her marriage and move on with her life.
Then Baaz returns . . .
Excerpt
Baaz slammed the door before Saeed could finish his sentence and stormed through the house. Saeed was hanging around Rahmah? Some strange stuff went on while he was away. He had to find out what.
He stood in the entryway between the dining room and kitchen, clenching his teeth and waiting for the fury inside his freezing body to calm. It didn’t. “You know Saeed Mendez?”
Rahmah held a scoop of coffee grounds over the maker and met his gaze. “Oh, was that Saeed?” She smiled and dropped them into the machine.
Every nerve fired through him. He got into her face. “Yes, and I asked you how the fuck you know him?”
Rahmah backed up, her eyes wide. “I—I work for him.”
He grabbed her arm. “You work for him?! Doing what?” He squeezed.
She squirmed. “Why are you so upset?”
He tightened his grip. Flashes of Rahmah dancing half-naked with a bunch of men salivating below flashed through his mind and fueled his fury. Her head jerked as he shook her. “Tell me,” he seethed through clenched teeth. “If he has you on a pole or beating some loser in a fetish den, I’ll break his neck.”
About the Author
Lyndell Williams is an award-winning writer and bestselling author. She is a cultural critic with a background in literary criticism specializing in romance. She is an editor, writing coach and mentor. She has been published in peer-reviewed journals and writes for multiple online publications.
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Drōmfrangil RABT Book Blitz and Giveaway
July 29, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as #RABTBookTours, Coming Soon, Cynthia McDonald, Drōmfrangil, preorder, YA Fantasy
YA Fantasy
Date Published: 08-10-2021
Publisher: Cinnabar Moth
Though he doesn’t know it, Marcus Talent is special. Unfortunately for Marcus, he discovers this unexpectedly when he wakes up in an unfamiliar forest, has his prosthetic arm eaten by a horrifying monster, and then wakes up in his own bed, terrified and bleeding.
Marcus’s dad, Deacon, has answers. He heals Marcus’s new injuries, promising to answer all of Marcus’s questions about what happened the next day after school. But when Marcus gets home, he finds his dad missing and a ransom note appears out of a screaming hole in the sky. The only demand: travel again to get him back.
Helped by his human friends, Marcus sets out to find his dad in a world filled with creatures he couldn’t have imagined. Some of them are friendly. Some of them want to murder him. Or each other. They’re not picky. And everyone seems to know of his famous father, who has been hiding a lot more than an entire other world.
About the Author
Cynthia McDonald is the author of Life is a Terminal Illness and Drōmfrangil (Autumn 2021 from Cinnabar Moth Publishing) as well as a childhood memoir, two American history books, and the “I See Your Hearts” blog.
Cynthia was born in Richmond, Virginia in 1972. She spent her early adulthood raising two sons with her husband and then, after returning to college, enjoyed a fulfilling career as a Respiratory Therapist and a Respiratory Supervisor. This included several years of volunteer work on the Wisconsin state respiratory board, which concluded with a term as the President of the board.
She started writing in her forties, after the diagnosis of a low-grade cancerous brain tumor forced her to stop working outside of her home. Cynthia has also lived with disability throughout her adult life, as advancing degenerative disk disease and multiple surgeries have caused her to live with chronic pain and made it difficult for her to remain involved in activities outside of her home.
She and her husband recently moved to Oregon to be closer to her oldest son and his family, including her beloved grandson, whose toddler years are adding a lot of delight to her life! Her two German Shorthairs are also a big part of her family, as dogs always have been.
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The Townsbridge’s Series by Sophie Barns
July 27, 2021 by marianne h donley in category Apples & Oranges by Marianne H. Donley, Rabt Book Tours tagged as #SophieBarnes, RABTBookTours, Regency Romances, The Townsbridges Series
Release Date: July 27, 2021
Join the Townsbridge siblings as they risk scandal in the name of love.
As a bonus, find out how it all began in a special prequel featuring their parents.
If you love Regency romance, you’ll simply adore the Townsbridges…
Once Upon a Townsbridge Story
The time has come for George Townsbridge to marry. But how can he convince Margaret to give him a chance when he is rumored to be the exact sort of man she hopes to avoid?
When Love Leads to Scandal
When Charles Townsbridge meets a beguiling young woman in the park, he’s smitten. Unfortunately she’s his friend’s fiancée, so he knows she can never be his. Or can she?
Lady Abigail’s Perfect Match
James Townsbridge dislikes Lady Abigail, but circumstance forces the two into marriage. Now, as he gets to know her better, might he discover that his perception of her was wrong?
Falling for Mr. Townsbridge
When William Townsbridge returns from Portugal and meets his mother’s new cook, it’s just a matter of time before he loses his heart completely. But is a shared future possible?
A Duke for Miss Townsbridge
Sarah Townsbridge knows there’s something wrong with the duke next door, so she decides to save him. But is she prepared to fall for a man who has sworn off love forever?
An Unexpected Temptation
Athena Townsbridge ruined Robert Carlisle’s chance at marriage once. Will he keep holding a grudge when she tries to make amends, or will he start seeing her in a new light?
About the Author
Born in Denmark, USA TODAY bestselling author Sophie Barnes spent her youth traveling with her parents to wonderful places all around the world. She’s lived in five different countries, on three different continents, and speaks Danish, English, French, Spanish, and Romanian. But, most impressive of all, she’s been married to the same man three times—in three different countries and in three different dresses.
When she’s not busy dreaming up her next romance novel, Sophie enjoys spending time with her family, swimming, cooking, gardening, watching romantic comedies and, of course, reading.
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