Editing Your Novel Together: Dig Deep into the Chapter #4
July 3, 2022 by Janet Elizabeth Lynn and Will Zeilinger in category Editing Your Novel Together by E. J. Williams, Partners in Crime by Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger tagged as E.J. Williams, Janet Elizabeth Lynn, Self-editing, Will Zeilinger, writing, Writing with a Partner
Editing Your Novel Together
Dig Deep into the Chapters #4
by E.J. Williams
(Janet Elizabeth Lynn & Will Zeilinger)
Writing together as E. J. Williams, husband and wife, Will Zeilinger and Janet Elizabeth Lynn author the INTER-NATIONAL CRIME FILES, a hardboiled/thriller detective series that takes the reader to 1960s southern California, then on to international locales.
Even after you’ve written the best book in the world, the pesky task of editing rears its ugly head! To those of you who love editing . . . our hats are off to you. We have come up with several suggestions that may help ease the editing process, whether you are editing your book for your editor, publisher, agent, or yourself.
While you are editing, look at the arc of each chapter. Does it engage the reader? Does it make the reader want to read more? Does the reader like the good guy and hate the bad guy? Seriously focus on the way the chapter the beginning, the middle, and the end of each chapter.
Though this mind-numbing task is necessary, it can bring about a great deal of pride when the process is complete. As a couple who write together, we have found these tips work well whether you are working alone or with someone.
And yes . . . we are still married!
Website: Janet Elizabeth Lynn
Website: Will Zeilinger
Some Books by Janet and Will
Linda O. Johnston Featured Author
July 1, 2022 by Linda O. Johnston in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as cozy mysteries, Dogs!, Harlequin Romantic Suspense, Linda O Johnston, mysteries, romance'
Linda O. Johnston enjoys writing, romance, puzzles, and dogs.
A former lawyer, Linda is now a full-time writer and has published 57 books so far, including mysteries and romantic novels. She has written several cozy mystery series including the Barkery & Biscuits Mysteries and Superstition Mysteries for Midnight Ink, and the Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter Mysteries and Pet Rescue Mysteries for Berkley Prime Crime. She also writes romances for Harlequin, including Harlequin Romantic Suspense. Writing as Lark O. Jensen, her latest release is Bear Witness from Crooked Lane Books. No matter what name she uses, nearly all Linda’s current stories involve dogs!
In addition to blogging for A Slice of Orange on the 6th of every month, Linda blogs at Killer Hobbies, Killer Characters, and Writerspace. Linda was interviewed by Jann Ryan, you can read all about it in Linda O. Johnston—Mysteries, Romantic Suspense and So Much More!
Linda enjoys hearing from readers. Visit her website at www.LindaOJohnston.com or friend her on Facebook.
A Few of Linda’s Many Books
Rebecca Forster June Featured Author
June 29, 2022 by Rebecca Forster in category Featured Author of the Month tagged as Best Selling author, Finn O'Brien Thrillers, Josie Bates Thrillers, Rebecca Foster, The Witness Series, thrillers
Rebecca Forster marketed a world-class spa when it was still called a gym, did business in China before there were western toilettes at the Great Wall and mucked around with the sheep to find out exactly how her client’s fine wool clothing was manufactured. Then she wrote her first book and found her passion.
Now, over twenty-five books later, she is a USA Today and Amazon bestselling author and writes full-time, penning thrillers that explore the emotional impact of the justice system. She earned her B.A. at Loyola, Chicago and her MBA at Loyola, Los Angeles. Rebecca has taught the Business of Creativity at the University of California Long Beach Writers Certificate Program, UCLA and UC Irvine extension. Married to a Los Angeles Superior Court judge, she is the mother of two grown sons and spends her free time traveling, sewing, and playing tennis.
To learn more about Rebecca, check out her website.
The Finn O’Brien Thrillers
Rebecca’s Single Title Thrillers
The Witness Series
In Praise of Dead Authors
June 28, 2022 by Alina K. Field in category Quarter Days by Alina K. Field, Writing tagged as M.C. Beaton, Traditional RegenciesThe Regency Romances of M.C. Beaton
Welcome to my June 2022 Quarter Days’ blog.
A couple of months ago I discovered a new-to-me Regency romance author, M.C. Beaton, in a roundabout way.
My sister and I were discussing what we liked and disliked about the cozy mystery series Agatha Raisin set in the modern-day Cotswolds, and, since the books are almost always better, I bought the first book in the series, The Quiche of Death. Surprisingly, the film version followed the plot almost to a tee.
It must have been karma or those pesky algorithms when shortly after, my daily Bookkbub deal included a Regency romance by M.C. Beaton.
If you’re a long-time Regency reader you might know of her books written under her maiden name, Marion Chesney. She was incredibly prolific. In addition to her ninety-nine Regency-set romances and romantic suspense stories, and the Agatha Raisin mysteries, she’s the author of the Hamish Macbeth Mystery Series, and the Edwardian Murder Mysteries featuring Lady Rose Summer.
Did I say she was amazingly prolific? Some scoff at self-publishing authors “churning out” books, but plenty of pulp fiction authors in the golden age of traditional publishing were writing and publishing lots and lots of stories and books.
How many ways can you tell a Regency romance?
I’ve read and enjoyed several of her Regencies because I love her voice, her cheeky sense of humor, and her daringly outlandish plots. Characters of all ages find love in her stories.
In The School for Manners series, a pair of eccentric middle-aged spinsters, poor, but “high ton,” take in unruly young ladies and launch them into society in madcap fashion. In the series A House for the Season, an odd set of servants blackmailed into servitude by a corrupt property manager, deal with even odder tenants every season.
In The Regency Intrigue Series, heroines take on mystery and murder. One of Beaton’s most daring heroes in this series is the ghost of a Georgian duke who is able to materialize every night.
Immortality in the Pages
It’s pretty wonderful that even after an author passes on, the stories are there to entertain future generations.
Do you have a favorite author who’s no longer with us? Please share in the comments!
0 1 Read moreSearching for Flamenco
June 26, 2022 by Neetu Malik in category Poet's Day by Neetu Malik tagged as dancers, flamenco, guitar, Neetu, Spain
Searching for Flamenco
The streets of Seville keep
their best secrets hidden in the dark
cobbled paths wind in stillness
I wonder where all the dancers have gone
cafes and restaurants throb with the pulse
of a late night soiree
the candles have burned down to stubs
but the servers will not turn out the night
until platters of paella and pitchers of sangria last
I ask where I might find a tablao,
to be charmed and mesmerized
taking directions, I walk into the soft beam
of streetlights through the tangled sleeping town
on the other side
it is so quiet—
what is tucked behind the old buildings
in a walled courtyard I can barely glimpse?
I walk inside—
ensconced in a shell
of darkness, burns the fire
of a woman, her back finely arched
she is attired in a ruffled gypsy dress
her voice reaches
into the desert…………
the man with the guitar plucks on strings—pulling me inside
I have arrived.
© Neetu Malik
Some of Neetu’s Books
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