Are You Worrying About Reaching Readers?

By Susan Reichert, Editor-in-Chief for Southern Writers Magazine 

Some authors are starting their new year off worrying about how they are going to reach readers. 

They are aware of all the books being published –since it is so easy now for independent writers to self-publish.

Instead of fretting, here is something for you to remember.

Even though there are a lot of people publishing many of those writers (if I were a betting man I would say 80% of those writers) do not spend the money required to hire editors to edit their work and help them with the flow of their writing. Hence, their writing leaves a lot to be desired especially when readers are falling over all the misspelled words, wrong punctuation or very little punctuation and literally there is no flow to the story.

Readers don’t like this. They may buy one of those books, but they won’t buy that author again. And they will be more cautious on buying an unknown author again.

This means they will look for authors who spend the time, and effort to hone their craft and hire that editor to polish their manuscripts before they are published.

Word of mouth is wonderful for an author, it can also be deadly. Every time a reader picks up a book from one of those authors, you can bet they will be spreading the word to people they know.

So don’t fret about reaching those next readers, concentrate on writing the best book you can and making sure it stands out with good editing and a great cover.

What I Wish I Knew Before…

By Marianne Spitzer

Recently, a young woman asked me what I wish I knew before I began writing and what I learned about writing and self-publishing. It’s not a difficult question. Writing the book is the easy part, but there are lessons to be learned. I read and heard more often than I can count to write what you know. It is good advice, but for many of us, that limits our genre base. I am not a big fan of sci-fi and would never attempt to write in that genre. I imagine writing an alien battle would be a disaster.

I prefer a bit of advice I received from a fellow indie author: write what you love and what you think people will read. For me, that was easy. Mystery. My first love were Nancy Drew books and other mysteries followed. I also love the paranormal. Combining the two was easy for me. My first book was in the paranormal mystery genre. I also enjoy cozy mysteries and Western historical romance. I wrote books in both genres. I admit I did not know much about the Western settlement of this country, but I loved reading about mail-order brides. When you research a subject you love, it becomes enjoyable and not tedious.

I think it boils down to one piece of advice I can share. Write from your heart. Embrace the subject of your story, write with emotions you feel, and build characters that step out of the book into the minds of your readers.

The hardest part is after the book is written. You have two decisions to make. Do you try to find an agent and publisher, or do you self-publish?

For me, that was self-publication. I did submit to a few publishing companies and received kind rejections, but they were still rejections. I chose self-publishing and have yet to regret my choice. I would advise any new author to begin building a reader base as soon as possible. Social media is the least expensive way to start. Let people know about your book before you publish it. Start a blog and share a few lines from each chapter as you finish. It will help you to move forward, and the feedback will allow you to gauge feedback. Readers will let you know if they enjoy how your story is progressing or not. Their opinions are invaluable.

One last thing I needed to learn was how to accept rejection gracefully. That includes rejection from family, strangers, friends and myself. If you read a scene you wrote and wonder how you managed to blunder badly, do not be afraid to delete or rewrite it. Our first ideas are not always our best. Rejection from others is hard, but remember not everyone likes the same thing. Do not take it personally even if the review or comment attacks your ability to write.

One last bit of advice, keep writing for as long as it brings you joy.

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Marianne Spitzer says “my passion is writing. When I am not writing, I am reading or watching sunsets. I have been writing short stories since I was in elementary school. Most were in the form of essays relating real-life events. Many were purely imaginary trips to magical places and times. I enjoy making up stories about people I meet or see on the street. My imagination runs wild and free. Besides my fifteen self-published novels, I have two paranormal short story collections and a children’s book. I’ve read and love supernatural stories and mysteries since I picked up my first Nancy Drew book. I also read all the Hardy Boys books I could find. I am a fan of Stephen King, Wendy Corsi Staub, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Agatha Christie. Poe and H.P. Lovecraft are also two of my favorite authors.  I write fiction and supernatural mystery is my genre of choice. I also write cozy mysteries, Western historical fiction, and a thriller. I love spring, summer, and starlight, but snow and ice make my dislike list. I am a chocoholic. I have two children and two grandchildren who are the joys of my life.  For more information on all my books, please visit my website Marianne Spitzer, Author, Amazon site Marianne Spitzer on Amazon,  my blog Musings Under the Willow Tree., Facebook page Marianne-Spitzer, Author or follow me on Twitter @MarianneSpitzer

Writing in the World of Magical Realism

By Vickie Carroll

I've always been interested in "the other"--the things, people, and places, just slightly out of the ordinary.  My grandmother used to say, "She’s just one step up and to the side" when referring to her cousin, who she claimed was a bit fey. I like people who are a bit fey but that could be because I am one. This is all part of what led me to write my book, The Witches of Half-Moon Island.

I was ten when I discovered two gravestones on the property connecting our land with the neighbors. A husband and wife had rested there for over eighty year before I stumbled upon them.  I amused myself for years wondering about that couple--what they looked like, where they had lived on the land and how did they die? Did I walk over land they had walked on? I wanted to push back that veil and step back in time to see for myself. Writers file away these incidents in that special brain-drawer and they floats to the surface when needed. Okay, maybe we are a little fey. I hasten to add I'm using the definition of fey as whimsical, other worldly and mysterious, not the Scots and British slant...being in high spirits preceding death. Though I've seen that with my own eyes too. That's another story.

Some years ago I lived in Charleston, South Carolina for about six months.  It's a town so steeped in history and romance that one must be devoid of imagination to resist its charm and not feel and hear the spirit of the place. I fell in love with Charleston for the same reasons that I love Savannah. I was and still am, enchanted by all those outer islands from Charleston to Savannah that sit out there in the ocean, near but apart, kind of the same but different.  While my friends wondered about the people lucky enough to live on those islands in the present, I wondered about those who had settled there long ago. That wondering led me to my book.

My imagination allowed me access to a mythical island off the coast of Savannah. I populated the island with Native Americans who were struggling to control their rogue medicine man who was getting too acquainted with the dark arts. I added a community of witches who had escaped persecution in England. Yes, I was asking for trouble. The medicine man's fear and hatred of the witches became so strong (you'll have to read my book to find out why) that as he lay dying he cursed the witches and their descendants yet to be and vowed to return and destroy them.

When the story picks up in modern day we find the witches, all but one, have let their powers go stale as they tried to fit in with modern times and the people who had come to the island over the years. It is up to this modern day group of women to contend with the spirit of this medicine man when he returns. The fight for their island and their very lives, brings a family back together, and brings Anna, my main character, some enormous challenges.

I've been asked several times why I wrote about these people and this place. I never know exactly where an idea comes from but suddenly it is there in my head.  I wrote about these people dealing with age-old themes but overlaid with a touch of magic. At its core it's about how much we will sacrifice for those we love; good versus evil; and the destructive power of hate. Every person and every generation deals with these same themes.  I will continue to write magical realism in some form because I can't help trying to peek behind that veil. Something is always there for us to find.

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Vickie Carroll is a published author of short stories, essays and articles who lives in an Atlanta suburb. Her recent book-length fiction efforts produced two books. The Witches of Half Moon Island will be released via The Wild Rose Press in late spring or early summer if all goes well. Her next book, The Ghost of Kathleen Murphy, has been submitted and she has high hopes some editor will love it. While both books are various stages of being born, she is back to the computer and working on Murder at the Peach Blossom Inn. Alas, no ghosts or witches, just a murder or two.  She reports being called Mrs. King now and then due to her dark subject matter. She does not mind at all.

One of Our 1,032 Authors Attended the Golden Globes!

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

As of the Jan/Feb 2017 issue 1,032 are the number of Authors we have promoted in Southern Writers Magazine since we began in 2011. You may be one of the 1,032 and if so you are in good company. Many of our authors have done well. Many have been recognized for their abilities with acknowledgements from their peers, publishers and institutions.

While watching the Golden Globes on Jan 8^th, 2017 I noticed one of our 1,032 authors in the crowd of celebrities. Later I found that he was also a nominee in the Best Actor in a Drama category for Captain Fantastic! Yes, there sat Viggo Mortensen, the poet. Mortensen graced our Issue #6 in 2012. The article was titled On the Poet’s Road and was written by Sherry Perkins as a fantastic insight to the actors handling of rejection. I offered a Suite T post on this in May 2012 you can read. Better yet you can order a back copy of issue #6 and read the magazine article on Viggo Mortensen. It will be well worth your time.

The important thing to note about Mortensen and the other 1,031 authors is they all have shared with us what their thoughts are on writing and the way they have found to be the best for them to do so. In business it is said the “Sin of the Desert” is to know where the water is and not share it. These authors know where the water is and they are more than willing to share that with each of us that want to know. You can only imagine how invaluable the knowledge shared by these thousand plus authors can be to the new, the published or the established author.

If you haven’t had an opportunity to gain some of this knowledge you can begin today. Don’t let another issue go out without your name on it. 

Also read our blog site Suite T every day. It too has a lot to offer from our authors. Become knowledgeable and once you do you too can share with others where the water is. Go to our Home Page and click on Subscribe today! 

Who knows, we may even see you at the Globes!     

Honoring a Series Premise: Keeping it (Sur) Real

By Lisa Ricard Claro

Writing a series is an adventure with challenges abounding. One of those is maintaining the overarching theme and premise for each book in the series.

In my Fireflies series the theme “love finds a way” and premise “a dead man’s spirit helps his loved ones find true love,” were the elements to be honored while the plots and main characters had to vastly differ. The biggest challenge was incorporating the premise, because I made the decision to write the novels so readers might decide for themselves whether certain events are coincidental or supernatural. Far easier would have been to create a full-fledged ghost. Doing so would have opened doors. Instead, I had to be more creative in my choices, devise circumstances offering evidence enough for believers but not for skeptics. This was never more difficult than in book three of the series, the most recently released, Love to Win.

The main characters in Love to Win, Dante and Brenna, are secondary characters in the first two books, and readers are treated to their considerable chemistry from the start of the series. Dante and Brenna have a contentious past wrought with competition. By virtue of mutual friendships, they mix at social functions where they mostly play nice for the benefit of others. The difficulty in writing their story was honoring the series premise because in this third novel the help provided by the dead man, Jack, is retroactive, occurring before his death rather than after, as in the first two books. Nonetheless, his involvement still had to be current for the characters while straddling the line between supernatural and coincidental.

We writers are our own worst enemies, aren’t we? We choose substance over simplicity, which sounds great until it’s time to sit at the keyboard and make it happen. This dilemma—Jack being present without being present—kept me up nights. How to make the dead man more of an entity in Love to Win without creating an actual spirit or changing the untimely method of his intervention?

In the end, the answer came from the same source that brought me the series premise: my parents, dead nearly twenty years.

Here’s the thing. I talk to them all the time. Unlike the heroine of the first Fireflies novel, I don’t expect an answer, it just makes me feel better to run things by them—you know, in case they’re hanging out watching over things down here. You never know, right? And sometimes—not always, but sometimes—I fancy their voices in my head offering sage advice. I know, I know. You skeptics are thinking, “Your own brain is fabricating their voices.” You believers, though, are nodding and musing, “Love transcends dimensions we don’t even know exist. It is possible. Who’s to say?”

Who’s to say, indeed?

And therein was the solution to my problem. You see, in book one, Love Built to Last, the heroine is Jack’s widow, Maddie. She is certain he communicates with her, but not through conversations in her head. In book two, Love to Believe, the heroine, Rebecca, falls for Jack’s brother, Sean. Rebecca never knew Jack personally, though she knows of him, so his involvement with her is limited and pointed, but still within the realm of coincidence. But in Love to Win, after Mama and Daddy whispered in my ear, I realized I was free to open it up to something more. Jack was Brenna’s brother, and she talks to him as I do my parents. She hears his voice in her mind, imaginary, of course. Like my conversations with my parents, Brenna’s internal dialogue with Jack is no more than a product of her own desire to hear his voice . . . or is it? Well, that’s for the reader to decide. But as a writer, bringing that conversational component into the story solved my dilemma.

As writers, we derive ideas and solutions to problems from myriad sources. The best ones, I believe, are those we draw from inside of us. We pry free those intricate pieces of ourselves and cobble them into stories—our own hopes and dreams, our spirits, woven in secret amidst the web of words in our fictional worlds.

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Lisa Ricard Claro, author of the book Love to Win, released July 2016. This is the third book released in her Fireflies Series. She is also professional editor and award-winning author with published articles and stories spanning multiple media. She resides in Georgia with her husband, is mother to three (a ruggedly handsome son and two stunningly beautiful daughters—Lisa might be a little biased), and dreams of living at the beach. In addition to an array of sand dollars and seashells, a sign in her office promises Sandy Toes and Salty Kisses Welcome Here.Lisa has a heart for rescued pets, and you’ll find one in all of her books. Sometimes their rescue is part of the story (Pirate the dog, in Love Built to Last), and sometimes they’re already ensconced in their forever home (Pavarotti the cat, in Love to Win). As you read Lisa’s novels, watch for the rescues. A fan of every genre, Romance is one of Lisa’s favorites because she believes in love and happily-ever-after—but she’s a mystery buff too, and a whodunit is coming soon. Website:  http://www.lisaricardclaro.com/ Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Lisa-Ricard-Claro/e/B00MUYB8IW Goodreads Author Page:  https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4560037.Lisa_Ricard_Claro Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/LisaRicardClaroAuthor/  Twitter:  https://twitter.com/lisaricardclaro

Causing Trouble

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine

Most sane people don't go around looking for trouble.  In fact, they do their best to avoid it. More often than not, trouble finds them instead. A flat tire, a power outage, a computer crash — no one anticipates calamity, much less extends an invitation to it.

But when conjuring up a story, mayhem can be our best friend.

Since conflict gives fiction its fire, we do well to put our natural human instinct for self-preservation aside and actively invoke troubled times, at least for our main character. The better the obstacles between them and their goal, the more compelling the story.

Since trouble comes in many different flavors, the genre will often dictate the appropriate realm of ruin to choose from. A lover's quarrel that would send Bridget Jones running to her diary is unlikely to hound Sherlock Holmes while investigating a Baskerville murder. Deciphering whether alien messages are friendly or declarations of war would probably be too out of this world for a child's book.

Indeed, the age and life circumstances of the intended reader is a ready yardstick for measuring the severity of impending doom. Dealing with a school bully is sufficient drama for a student reader, while a mature audience is capable of pondering the end of mankind. If your protagonist is the approximate age of your typical reader, it's easy to throw the appropriate curveballs their way and have them struggle authentically.

The most tried-and-true obstacle is another character who seeks the opposite outcome. The murderer will do everything in his power to prevent being captured. The handsome rancher has vowed never to fall in love again. A cut-throat coworker connives to get the big promotion instead of our hero.

As we know, making trouble for our protagonists is simply a matter of giving them a goal and then putting roadblocks in their way. We can think of our storyline as a maze, where the hero/heroine knows where they need to go, but getting there is just one problem after another thanks to all the obstacles in the way.

"The trouble with trouble," it's been said, "is that it always starts out as fun."  Have fun being the real troublemaker in your story.  It's the one time you don't have to worry about getting punished.

It All Counts

By Mell Corcoran

So, as I am writing this I am watching game seven of the World Series with the sound off. No, I am not a huge baseball fan but I am a huge fan of long shots, underdogs and lost causes so, naturally, I am rooting for the Cubs. The game has been awesome. The Cubs all but had it sewn up in the 7^th with a three run lead until the Indians broke out the bad boys and now the game is tied as they head in for the tenth inning. But wait! Hold your breath a little longer. As if by some big-budget blockbuster director's cue, let there be rain! They are rolling the tarps out. Game delay.  Ain't that just a kicker? Adding insult to injury, a little notice pops up on my screen telling me my television has to change the channel in order to record my favorite shows coming on now.

“Ahhhh!” She shouts, shaking a fist towards the heavens.

If you wrote this stuff, no one would believe it for a moment. It's just too much. Too over the top. The rain delay is simply pushing the envelope too far. It's the Cubs for pity's sake!  If you were writing this you would have lost the audience at “the Cubs”.  Over one hundred years tells us the implausibility of the scenario, right?

In the pause I took from writing this article to watch history being made, it took on a whole new luster. As important as the finished product is, the true journey starts at the first pitch. For us writers, the first sentence. Write it. Who cares if you don't know exactly where you story is going to go straight away. Just like the 108 years it took for the Cubs to get here, it may take fifty re-writes, a decade or two. The pages may never see the light of day, but that's not the point. With every letter we write, we learn, grow, and evolve. That, my friends, is the journey. Don't be in such a rush to get from point A to point Z. Enjoy each key-stroke, or swipe of the pen. Own it and relish it because once you put down that last period, it's a whole new ball game. Some will make it to the big leagues, while others will have to be content with a career in the minors. That's okay! The critical part is that each swing, each font, are creations from your own heart and soul. Don't take that for granted.

For organic writers, like me, the bases are not neatly spaced in perfect diamond symmetry from the start. The creative process is not in any way linear or mapped out like it is for many writers. I tried that once and it was disastrous. For me, my story process is about as organic as the Amazon rain forest. It's easy to lose sight of the forest through the trees and vines while trying to reach the clear objective. That gut wrenching, tear jerking or awe inspiring end to our story.

When I begin, I am just as guilty as anyone of getting too wrapped up planning a clear path from A to Z. Which is why I felt it was important to write this. Don't be in such a rush to get to the business end of the road. The creative process is a soul feeding experience that we need to enjoy. Be in the moment as it's happening! Because once that final chapter is finished, that experience is over. The lights in the stadium go out and we all go home. For a non-sports related metaphor, let me try this one. The first kiss only happens once. Can you remember what you wore that day? How you felt leading up to it? As cliche as it sounds, the journey is just as important as the destination.

When I headed for a rarely used room to watch the final moments of the World Series on another television, it was then that this article became more profound to me. The camera panned across the faces of the fans gnashing at their fingernails, gazes rapt on the field, praying, waiting for that last out to define history, I saw him. A sweet old man dressed in a three piece suit that looked like he had been wearing it since the last time the Cubs won in 1908. This aged cherubic face stood among the hoard proudly holding up a ratty piece of cardboard. The homemade banner bore the words “It's Happening” scrawled in childlike block letters. His eyes were wide and you could clearly see he was holding his breath. Montgomery made the pitch. Martinez took the hit, the ball stuttered down the infield. Bryant scooped it up and passed it to Rizzo. That was it. The third out. It was over and as the realization washed over the players and they all converge on one another for hugs and chest bumps. But all I could see was the sweet old man in the background. Frantically messing with his cardboard sign. Then he raised it to the heavens as tears poured down from his eyes and it looked like his cheeks might explode, his smile was so enormous.

Then I realized what he had done. Reading his redraft. I could see he scratched out certain letters and was now proudly waving his new edit which now read… “It Happened”. Yeah, it sure did.

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Mell Corcoran is author of the critically acclaimed Series of Shadows, including Shadows of Doubt. Shadows of Deceit, and Shadows May Fall. After nearly two decades working in the legal profession Mell made a major career shift to pursue her passion and found her bliss as a mystery-thriller writer. A native Southern Californian, Mell is an avid animal lover, hockey fan, would-be golfer and aspiring tech geek. She resides with her family just outside Los Angeles. Mell adores her fans and loves speaking at venues from the Annual International Thriller Writer's Convention, known as ThrillerFest, to local libraries and even small neighborhood book clubs across the country. Mell is extremely active in social media and can be found on Facebook and Twitter among others. Her books can be found on Amazon, Barnes and Noble or wherever books are sold. You can visit her website at www.MellCorcoran.com for links and more information.

Back to Basics

By Morgen Bailey

Are you new to writing or want a refresh? Here are some tools to keep with you as you write, edit, or re-read your masterpiece before you release it out to the world.

1. Show don’t tell

The golden nugget in a writer’s armoury. Readers love characters, and by ‘showing’ what the characters are doing rather than have the narrator ‘tell’ the reader the plot will make the story come alive. If Andy is angry it will seem two-dimensional to tell us how he feels, but have him slam his fist on the table or shout “Get out!” you are showing his emotions.

2. Distinctive dialogue

Dialogue should play a huge part of the story (at least fifty percent), especially in fast-paced thrillers. Historical sagas, for example, will have more description than dialogue but when the characters speak, they should be realistic, although you should cut down on the ‘um’s, ‘erm’s and ‘well’s. Read it (and the description) aloud. Does it sound how you would speak or is it too fully formed? We pause, we interrupt each other. Get a second opinion; ask a friend to role-play the scene’s conversation.

3. Compelling characters

There are three elements to a story: plot, location, and characters. For many writers and readers the most important is character because you can have the most compelling plot, beautiful setting, but if they don’t warm to, or despise, the characters they won’t care what happens to them then they (the readers) are more likely to stop reading. Don’t give them any excuse. Make them want to turn the page to see what happens next. Will Shannon escape the kidnapper? Will Derek find his true love? (Now they would make an interesting story!)

4. Research and accuracy

When writing for a certain era you must do your research to ensure the terminology is accurate. With anything you write, your reader must feel confident that you know what you are talking about, and if you’ve spent the past week, month or year researching the topic don’t be tempted to throw it all in and overload the story to the point where the reader feels you are showing off. There will always be someone out there who knows more about a topic that you, as the writer, and will be only too willing to write to you to tell you where you’ve gone wrong (or leave a one-star review on Amazon sharing their opinions with would-be readers). Once they’ve found an error they will either stop or not believe anything else you’re telling them and lose interest so return the book to their shelf, the library, or the (recycling) bin!

Above all, have fun. Get bored with your writing, this will translate to the story (and even the characters) and therefore the reader. Writing is escapism for you and the person holding your book (or their Kindle), reading the words you’ve slaved over. Regardless of the genre you write, you should educate and enlighten, but most of all entertain.

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Morgen Bailey (Morgen with an E) is an author, freelance editor, tutor, reviewer, blogger, and speaker. Former Chair of three writing groups, and H.E. Bates Short Story Competition 2015 Head Judge, RONE and more recently BBC Radio 2 500-word short story competition judge. Morgen can be found on Twitter, Facebook, and many others. Her blog is http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com, email address morgen@morgenbailey.com, and her latest books are ‘After Jessica’, a mystery novella, and ‘Gun’, a collaborative crime novel in which Morgen wrote one of the ten chapters.

Links used above:

·     author = https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/books-mine

·     editor = http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/editing-and-critique

·     tutor = http://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/courses

·     reviewer = https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/reviews/book-reviews

·     blogger = https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com

·     speaker = https://morgenbailey.wordpress.com/writer-for-hire/speaking-at-your-event

·     Twitter = http://twitter.com/morgenwriteruk

·     Facebook = http://facebook.com/morgenwriteruk

·     After Jessica = https://www.amazon.com/After-Jessica-mystery-Bailey-Morgen-ebook/dp/B01LWY36LK

·     Gun = https://www.amazon.com/Gun-Collective/dp/1539382559

Light Up 2017 and Write Your Way to Success

By Annette Cole Mastron, Communications Director for Southern Writers Magazine 

Happy 2017 to one and all. Every year, I pick a few words to think about in the New Year. This year, after seeing my friend's toddler playing in the Christmas tree lights, I picked the words, "light up." I want to have the joy this toddler has in just the simplicity of playing with lights. I want to "Light Up" my writing by finishing my work in progress. 

Have you made a writing plan?  Notice I didn't say resolution. I said plan. I feel resolutions are too easily broken, so instead I'd like you to consider making a writing plan. If you participated in the NaNoWri in November, you know just how effective a writing plan can be. You can go to their website to get insight in creating a writing plan that can work for you.

Perhaps you need to inspect your lights. Author and painter, Henry Miller, in 1932 created a work plan and a list of “Commandments." His list may help you develop your writing plan. The "Commandments" are found published in the book, Henry Miller on Writing (Kindle). 

"Work on one thing at a time until finished.

Don’t be nervous. Work calmly, joyously, recklessly on whatever is in hand.

Work according to Program and not according to mood. Stop at the appointed time!

When you can’t create you can work.

Keep human! See people, go places.

Don’t be a draught-horse! Work with pleasure only.

Discard the Program when you feel like it—but go back to it next day. Concentrate. Narrow down. Exclude.

Forget the books you want to write. Think only of the book you are writing.

Write first and always. Painting, music, friends, cinema, all these come afterwards."

These are timely "Commandments" for the distractions that today's technology and social media can bring. However, if you develop a writing plan and follow these "Commandments" by Christmas of 2017 you can have the joy of this toddler with your own published book under the Christmas tree. 

Will you join me and "Light Up" your writing in 2017 so you can have joy by the end of the year?

My Book Idea Grew

By Leanna Sain

The story seed for Red Curtains came from a trip to Savannah, Georgia. It was our first visit there, and a celebration of our 26^th anniversary. While we waited for a tour bus, a homeless man, wearing a long trench coat over ragged layers of clothing, and a goofy court-jester type hat with little bells on the ends of each dangly point, sauntered up to a mailbox and proceeded to sprinkle some invisible substance around the base of a mailbox while chanting some unknown language.

Boom! I had a story. Once on the bus, I jotted notes furiously, my mind going much faster than I could transfer them to paper. This character became Lily in Red Curtains.

Red Curtains is the first book of my GRITS series. (Girls-Raised-In-The-South)  It’s a different kind of “series” in that each book will be a stand-alone story with no overlapping character. They will all feature a strong, creative Southern girl and be set somewhere in the South, and will be in the romantic suspense genre.  I’ve already signed a contract for the next one (Half-Moon Lake), and have two more already completed, and two more outlined. There are many, many more in my mind.

The best part of writing for me is when the characters take over the story and carry it off in an uplanned direction. I call that the “magic.” I just hold on for the ride, typing as fast as my fingers will go. When I come to the end of that scene, I just sit back, almost out of breath, and say, “Whew! 

Didn’t see THAT coming.”

There are two “worst parts.” One… painting myself into a corner. The antedote to that usually comes while I’m in the shower. I think, maybe the steam lubricates my brain so it’s able to come up with a solution. Two…having ideas coming at me like machine-gun fire and being unable to write because I’m in the middle of one job or another. My husband and I own a Amish furniture store and it keeps us pretty darn busy, and living on a farm, like I do, there are always unplanned jobs that MUST be done first.  Very frustrating.

I write the first draft on my computer, all the way through, from beginning to end, creating what I call a “story skeleton.” Once I have the skeleton, I go back through and add l the rest of the body: muscles, heart and lungs, “plumping it up,” and making it come alive. Once that’s done, I print it off and read through, adding scenes where I feel like they’re needed. Sometimes scenes get moved around for a smoother story. There’s a lot of scribbling in the margins, circled portions with arrows pointing where things need to move, etc. Then I go back to the computer and make the necessary changes. 

After that, I have some trusted author buddies who read it and give honest evaluation and suggestions. That’s it.

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North Carolina native, Leanna Sain, earned her BA from the University of South Carolina, then moved back to her beloved mountains of western NC with her husband. Her “Gate” books have stacked up numerous awards, from Foreword Magazine’s Book-of-the-Year to the Clark Cox Historical Fiction Award from the North Carolina Society of Historians. Sain’s fourth novel, WISH, is a stand-alone, YA crossover. Her Southern romantic suspense or “GRIT-lit,” showcases her plot-driven method of writing that successfully rolls the styles of best-selling authors Mary Kay Andrews, Nicholas Sparks, and Jan Karon into a delightfully hybrid style that is all her own. Regional fiction lovers and readers who enjoy suspense with a magical twist will want her books. She loves leading discussion groups and book clubs. For more information or to contact her, visit: www.LeannaSain.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Leannasbooks

Twitter: Leanna Sain@Leannasbooks Website and blog:  http://leannasain.com Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/LeannaSain Buy link: http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/4594-red-curtains.htmlhttps://www.amazon.com/Red-Curtains-Leanna-Sain-ebook/dp/B01L5R53U8 https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/red-curtains/id1149202885?mt=11 http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/red-curtains-leanna-sain/1124412152?ean=2940156862825  https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/red-curtains