Historical Research

By Donna Schlachter

Researching any topic in the past can be a fun and exciting adventure. Sometimes, however, it can also be a series of frustrating dead ends. You can even compile a history for places you make up. Simply base it on another town or area nearby.

Here’s my process:

Decide on the setting and the year for the story. Look for something interesting that happened during that time in that area. Begin with the internet, but look for several articles that agree.

Once you have the nugget of a story, locate newspaper stories, books, journals, and diaries to give you more background.

If possible, visit the setting before you start to write. See what the lay of the land is like. How would that impact the story and the characters?

Read books and watch movies set during that time, but don’t believe everything you read and see unless it was written/filmed contemporaneously. Sometimes authors and producers tend to don rose-colored glasses when looking back.

Keep notes. Print everything, especially web pages. Photocopy everything. Record movies and other references you used. You might be asked by an editor to validate a fact that’s crucial to your storyline.

Once you start writing, don’t let research distract you from writing. If you arrive at a point where you don’t know a particular fact, insert a symbol (I use @@) in the manuscript, and carry on. Go back and look it up later.

In Double Jeopardy, because I wanted to include mining in the story line, I researched and found that the Colorado Gold Rush ended around the late 1870s, and the Silver Rush began in 1879. This was perfect for the backstory of how Becky’s father went to Colorado a year before the story began.

I’d visited the Durango area, and loved the landscape. I’d talked with people who lived there, went up some of the canyons, saw old mines, some ghost towns, and decided I wanted to set a story there. I created the fictional town and valley of Silver Valley, and I visited some museums in Colorado where I learned about sheriffs and law enforcement in the 1880s.

For specific details such as silver mining, I did online research then visited a mining museum. For minutiae such as when women began wearing dungarees (not until about 10 years later), when fountain pens came into common use (around that time, but they were still expensive and a luxury item), and Fourth of July celebrations and Indian relations, I relied on various articles from Wikipedia and history books.

So you can that much of your research can be done online from the comfort of your home, but don’t rely on any one online source.

Leave a comment to enter a random drawing for a free ebook copy of Double Jeopardy.

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Donna Schlachter lives in Denver with husband Patrick. As a hybrid author, she writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, and has been published more than 30 times in novellas and full-length novels. She is a member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, Sisters In Crime, and Christian Authors Network; facilitates a critique group; and teaches writing classes online and in person. Donna also ghostwrites, edits, and judges in writing contests. She loves history and research, and travels extensively for both. Donna is represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary Management.

www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com

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Writing a Writing Synopsis – with a Giveaway

By Leeann Betts

A good writing synopsis will take you scene by scene, chapter by chapter, act by act through the story. It will prompt your dialogue, talk about the motivations, and highlight the conflicts that should exist between your characters.

Here’s how to write a good synopsis that will speed your writing to the successful completion of a first draft:

1.      Start with the tagline of the book. One or two sentences that encapsulate what the book will be about. For Missing Deposits, mine is: When a rancher discovers copper on his property, he learns that mining can be dangerous business. Can Mike and Carly figure out who the killer is, or will they end up buried in an unmarked grave in western Colorado?

2.      Come up with the short blurb. This could be three to five sentences that give a little more information. Think of it as “back cover copy”—what would entice you to buy and read this book? Again, using my most recent release as an example: Carly looks forward to a vacation when Mike is hired to assist a rancher family in western Colorado catalogue their various mineral rights following the discovery of a large copper field on their property. However, Carly soon learns that the real wealth—and the real danger—aren’t below ground. Someone is out to keep a secret bigger and more profitable than copper. And they’re willing to kill for it.

3.      Start at the beginning of the story. Refer to your tagline and your blurb to keep you on track. This isn’t intended to stifle your creativity, but rather to deliver on the promise you made to your reader through your book description/back cover copy. Drop the reader into the action right away. Then transcribe the movie playing in your head. I format the synopsis so that each scene is a single paragraph. Sometimes I include dialogue. And if there’s something I need to research, I don’t stop and do it then. I put in @@ so I can search the document later and pop those little tidbits in.

4.      End every scene and every chapter with a problem, a question, or a revelation. This keeps the reader reading.

5.      Add notes as you write the book and make changes as your characters lead you.

6.      When you’re done, add in the timeline of when the scene is set in the story as well as in time. I use a free online printable calendar to keep the days straight in my head and in my story.

For Missing Deposits, my synopsis came in at just about 11,000 words. I hear what you’re thinking, and I see the eye rolls. “Why would you waste all that time doing a synopsis when you could be writing the book?” I asked that same question the first few times I wrote a synopsis. And honestly, this one was way more detailed than I usually do. But it’s been a treasure. Sometimes, I just rehash the synopsis directly in the book. And, with this level of detail, I reduce the risk of leaving a gaping hole in the plot lines.

Leave a comment, and I will draw one name randomly to receive a free print copy (US only) or ebook of Missing Deposits.

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Leeann Betts writes contemporary romantic suspense, while her real-life persona, Donna Schlachter, pens historical romantic suspense. In the Money is the tenth title in her cozy mystery series, and together she and Donna have published more than 30 novellas and full-length novels. They ghostwrite, judge writing contests, edit, facilitate a critique group, and are members of American Christian Fiction Writers, Writers on the Rock, and Sisters in Crime. Leeann travels extensively to research her stories, and is proud to be represented by Terrie Wolf of AKA Literary LLC.Website: www.LeeannBetts.com Receive a free ebook just for signing up for our quarterly newsletter. Blog: www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com Facebook: http://bit.ly/1pQSOqV  Twitter: http://bit.ly/1qmqvB6 Books: Amazon http://amzn.to/2dHfgCE  and Smashwords: http://bit.ly/2z5ecP8

A New Reality -- From a Memory to a Memoir

By Donna Schlachter

Two years ago, my father called me with an interesting proposition: write his life story, keep all the profits, and share the movie rights.

Now, right off the bat, he acknowledged that his story wasn’t unique: a boy adopted by grandparents who didn’t know his “sister” was really his mother until he was thirteen years old.

However, he felt the circumstances, the time period, and the setting would make the book unique. I thought it was high time somebody documented the events, since everybody involved was either really old or dead, and because I felt his family--my siblings--should know where we came from.

Over the next six months we met a couple of times. I recorded the time we spent discussing the book. He gave me contemporaneous documents in the form of cash books from his father’s store and letters between his birth mother and his father. I researched what I could, got in touch with the town historian when necessary, and made up the rest.

That’s right. A memoir, and I made stuff up.

Because the truth is, nobody knows everything that happened, or what was said, or even who was involved. So many times I asked my dad who was with him, and he couldn’t remember everybody.

The first edits were interesting. I’d send it to him, and he’d send it back, “I don’t think I said this” or “I don’t think it happened like that”. I’d ask, “Do you remember what did happen?” “No.” “Then my version stands.”

He finally came to terms with the fact that creative non-fiction is exactly that: creative.

We used the names of the original people, because this was going to be a family-only version. But he said he wanted the book published in the general market, so we agreed to change the names and a few other details so nobody knew for certain who was being talked about.

My dad held “his” book in his hands three weeks before he passed. He was as pleased as punch to see his name on the cover, to read his stories, his past.

And then he looked at me and said, “We need another book.”

Except this time we didn’t have two years. This time we had three weeks. 

I wish I’d asked more questions. I pray he’d be as pleased to hold this new book in his hands. Once again, we published a family-only version first. And The Physics of Love releases October 31st, 2016.

Hollywood, here we come!

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Donna lives in Denver with her husband Patrick, who is her first-line editor and biggest fan. She writes historical suspense under her own name, and contemporary suspense under her alter ego of Leeann Betts, who Donna says is cute and perky and everything she isn’t. She has ghostwritten several projects, but still gets a thrill out of seeing her own name on the cover. Physics of Love, her father’s memoir-turned-novel, releases October 2016. You can follow her and Leeann on Facebook and Twitter, and on their blogs at: www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com and www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com . Her websites are www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com and www.LeeannBetts.com . Their books are available at Amazon.com in digital and print, and at Smashwords.com in digital. Donna travels every chance she gets, and looks forward to making things up as she goes along.

Why Digital First?

By Leeann Betts

There is much discussion in the publishing world about whether e-Publishing is “real publishing” or not. And it seems that the answer to that question depends on which side of the publishing desk one is sitting.

With the marked growth in Amazon, Nook, Smashwords, and other e-publishers, “digital first” has become a way for independent authors to publish their books, get their names in front of readers, and create a selling history in the hopes of attracting a traditional publisher.

Here are the steps I took to e-publish my first two books.

1.     Polish the book—regardless whether the book is available in print or digitally, put your best foot forward. Readers know bad writing, and they won’t buy another book with your name on it, even if they only have to pay 99 cents for it. And they’ll tell all their friends not to buy.

2.     Do the legal stuff—if you don’t have a business name, set one up. I set up a separate entity with a name that looked like a publishing company, because e-publishing is still publishing.

3.     Copyright is the right thing to do—register your book. Wait until you have the final version, because once you upload the manuscript, any change made to the title, author, or body of the book will require you to register—and pay for—another copyright. You can do this at www.Copyright.gov

4.     Buy the ISBN—this is the unique identifier for your book. Even an e-Book needs an ISBN. The good news is that you can use the same ISBN for each digital version of the book. You buy these at www.Bowker.com . I bought the (gulp) package of 100 ISBN’s. I dream big.

5.     Decide where you want to release the book—Amazon.com is the largest e-Book retailer, but there are others. Nook and Smashwords are two I chose in addition to Amazon. If you work on a Mac, you can also publish to the Apple store. Each venue has advantages and disadvantages. Smashwords lets you put out a coupon. All of these venues will allow you to upload the manuscript in advance of the actual launch date. Try different options for different books and see what works best for you.

6.     Design a cover—I made the decision early to design my own cover. I took high quality photographs, about 20 of them, from different angles, positioning the elements in the photos in different positions, then chose the one I liked best, using Photoshop to design the cover. I plan to use the same cover on the print version when that time comes.

7.     Tell everybody—create a group in your email program of everybody who might be remotely interested in your book or will tell others about your book. Then send an exciting call-to-action email to them.

Hopefully, all this hard work will result in a best seller and the phone will start ringing from publishers. But even if it doesn’t, you will have the satisfaction of answering in the affirmative when someone asks, “A writer? Are you published?”

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Leeann Betts is the alter ego of Donna Schlachter. Both live and write in Denver, Colorado. Leeann writes contemporary suspense, while Donna pens historical suspense. When they aren’t coming up with another story that involves a body in a closet or an ax murderer on the loose, they can be found at www.LeeannBetts.com, www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com, www.HistoryThruTheAges.com, or www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com. You can also follow them on Facebook and Twitter. WRITING AS LEEANN BETTS: Counting the Days: a 31-day devotional for accountants,bookkeepers, and financial folk and No Accounting for Murder, Book 1 of By the Numbers series, recently released as an eBook at Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Smashwords.com. RECENTLY RELEASED BY DONNA SCHLACHTER: Second Cups and Second Chances – sweet stories of second chances from a God of second chances. Available at Amazon.com and Kindle KDP Select.

The End – Now What?

By Leeann Betts

Great, you’ve been able to write two of the sweetest words ever an author dreamt of writing, “The End”, which means the story is done.

Well, not actually done, done. Just done with getting the story down.

Now, the work begins. I have a process I put each manuscript through to tighten the writing and make sure this is the best I can do on my own.

I like to set aside the manuscript for a month at least. This gives you a chance to step away from the characters, to focus on another project. Make the next step easier.

Because what you’re going to do next is edit, cut, revise, and change.

I have a list of “weasel” words I like to check for. Included on my list are it, almost, just, slight, all –ly adverbs, that, But, And. Be merciless and get rid of them, reword the sentences, do something to make the writing tighter.

Then I read through for things like, “nodded her head”, “shrugged his shoulders”, “sat down”, “stood up” – unnecessary words that slow the reader and irritate fellow authors who will read your book.

I like to print out the book and read through it, writing a one-sentence summary of each scene, combining each chapter into a paragraph, to produce my long synopsis. This process helps me see errors I didn’t catch on the computer screen, and developing the synopsis at this point shows me if there are unresolved threads, holes in my plots, and chapters that are the wrong length. I also make a cheat sheet of physical characteristics as I go to ensure my heroine’s eyes that were blue in the first chapter are still blue ten chapters later.

Once all of this is done, you’re ready to send the manuscript to your critique group, if you have time, or to a publisher or your agent. While you might not have caught everything, this list will pick up many common errors and make the book much better.

Question: What is your technique for revisions?

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Leeann writes contemporary romantic suspense from Denver as the alter ego of Donna Schlachter. She writes historical suspense under Donna Schlachter, and contemporary suspense under Leeann Betts. Donna describes Leeann as “cute, and perky, and all the things I’m not”. Leeann describes Donna as “too intense for her own good”. J Donna also describes Leeann as “her alter-ego.”She is an accountant by training and loves to “juggle the books”. Donna has two devotionals published, which are promoted on her blog and website.
Donna: www.HiStoryThruTheAges.com and www.HiStoryThruTheAges.wordpress.com

Leeann: www.LeeannBetts.com and www.AllBettsAreOff.wordpress.com