Creative Writing Archives - Page 18 of 56 - Trisha Sugarek, Author, Playwright & Poet

Book Review ~~ The Last Mrs. Summers

5 out of 5 quills ~~ Book Review

This series, A Royal Spyness Mystery has entertained fans for years and I never missed a’one. Lady Georgiana began with not two pennies to rub together in the first book. Every job she got she either hated or the royal family got wind of it and forced her to leave (being the King’s cousin and thirteenth in the line of succession). In The Last Mrs. Summers, she surprisingly finds herself a sudden heir to a comfortable fortune, newly married, and rattling around alone in an inherited mansion, without her husband. When one of her best friends, Belinda, invites Georgie on a jaunt into Cornwall, she eagerly agrees. Anything to break the monotony of being left alone with just the servants; her husband gone off on one of his mysterious assignments for the English government.

The thing I really enjoy best about this series is the deftness in which Rhys Bowen drops the reader into Georgie’s life. We were last glam-camping with Georgie and Darcy (her husband) in Kenya listening to the lions roar twenty feet from the tent. Now, we are clumping up and down the streets in London, with Georgie, trying to find a friend who’s at home and wants to help Georgie break her boredom. I am immediately picked up out of my boredom (Covid-19) sitting at home and racing into Cornwall in Belinda’s sportscar. She’s a terrible driver, by the way.

Rhys Bowen has a deft way of showing the reader (rather than telling) who is in Georgie’s world, love life, relationship to the crown, and other murders she’s helped solve. ‘Showing rather than telling’ is a very familiar term to us writers and it takes real talent to keep the ‘telling’ to a minimum.

This is a wonderful series and it will be well worth it for new readers to begin with book one. However The Last Mrs. Summers stands alone and is a wonderful read.

Did you miss my Interview with Rhys Bowen?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! October: George Scott, December: Lauren Willig, February: Mike Lupica
To receive my weekly posts sign up for my

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

Book Review ~~ Fool’s Paradise

5 out of 5 quills ~~ Book Review

Delicious! My favorite to date in the Jesse Stone series. The story intertwines all of the characters in Chief Jesse Stone’s orbit and most of the characters in PI Spenser’s world in Boston. Suitcase, Molly, Jesse, Sunny, Spenser, Spike, and Vinnie Morris. PI Sunny Randall (another series Robert B. Parker created) and Jesse have danced around each other for years but never have their stars aligned until now. This is a fascinating love/attraction sub-plot wrapped up neatly in a multi-murder plot.

Jesse Stone is back ‘on the wagon’ while he tracks down what appears to be a random homicide. AA’s motto, ‘One Day at a Time’ is particularly poignant for Jesse as he readily admits that he wants a drink every day and it’s only by sheer will power that he stays sober and makes meetings. In the Alcoholics Anonymous world we call Jesse a ‘dry drunk’. Sober but not working the steps. A recipe for failure.

Mike Lupica, one of the most prominent sports writers in America (huh?) writes flawlessly with Robert B. Parker’s voice. To have his stories continue posthumously is a gift. These authors, Mike Lupica, Ace Atkins, Reed Farrel Coleman, et al, have written more stories impeccably in his voice.

I’m thrilled to announce that I will be interviewing Mr. Lupica in February!

To Purchase
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! October: George Scott, December: Lauren Willig, February: Mike Lupica
To receive my posts sign up for my

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

How To Format a Novel

The readability of a book depends entirely on how your manuscript is formatted. Something with poor readability probably won’t sell. So if you want to go toe-to-toe with traditionally published titles, your product needs to look its best, inside and out. While cover design is critical for the reader’s first impression, interior design can’t be overlooked.

Here are 12 tips on how your self-published novel should appear. I have recently come across a few new authors who have published new fiction and their book ended up looking very amateurish and hard to read.

Tip #1. Beginning Pages. The important pages such as title page, dedication, and tags extracted from reviews of the book, should be assigned an ‘odd‘ numbered page. The less important content, such as Copyright Notice, a list of the author’s other books and Acknowledgements should appear on’ even‘ numbered pages. Not to worry if you have a ‘blank’ page on the left (even numbered) opposite the title page, for example. Once your book is built, it will look normal.

Sample. Title Page: (text centered and nicely spaced on page).

Angel of Murder (minimum of 20 pt. font)

(4-5 spaces between)

by (10 pt. font)

Trisha Sugarek (12 pt. font)

Book #4 in the World of Murder series (12 pt. font)

Tip #2. Many new authors (as I spoke of above) have neglected to have a ‘Copyright Notice’ page. This is what it looks like. It is very important as it puts all plagiarists on notice that this content is owned by you, the author. Note: If you quote anyone in your book you should give them a line of credit.
Sample: (Text should be centered on the page).

Notice (double space)
Copyright (c) 2020 Trisha Sugarek. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the Author. Printed in the United States of America. For information contact author at www.writeratplay.com. The Library of Congress has catalogued the soft cover edition of this book as follows: Sugarek, Trisha, The Writer’s Journal/Trisha Sugarek – This is a journal/handbook. The suggestions and tips are solely the opinion of the author. The quotes were taken from various publications and the author takes no responsibility for the accuracy.

Made in the USA ISBN-13: 9798669379384

Poetry and ink drawings by Trisha Sugarek

Cover and Layout Design by David White

To view all of the author’s fiction and play scripts go to:
www.writeratplay.com

Tip #3. Layout of first few pages: A quick way to see what I am describing is to pick up any novel by a known, published author and see the layout of the first few pages. For the most part Publishers use the same order and layout. ‘Acknowledgements’ (odd numbered page) can be placed in the front pages or at the end, in the back. This is a list of people or organizations that have assisted you.

Sample: (centered text)

Acknowledgments

My friend and beta reader, Doug Johnson, whose insights, feedback and encouragement made this a better story.
My wonderful narrator/producer, Daniel Dorse, who helps me take these stories to Audio Books.
The Chatham County Coroner’s office.
And the many police and crime scene experts who share their time and knowledge so generously with me while writing this series.

Tip #4. Each chapter should be on an odd numbered page. The word ‘Chapter‘ can be used, however I’ve noticed that more and more authors are just using the number of the chapter or spelling out the number (One, Two, Three, etc). Placement is arbitrary; I like to space down 5-7 spaces. I use a 16-18 size font, and it should be centered. I often times use a different font style for chapter headings. Text should follow after a double space, when beginning new paragraphs. Paragraphs shouldn’t be too long. 8,10, maximum of 12 lines is when you should begin a new paragraph. I’ve seen authors go up to as many as 22. Of course, content and a natural break also dictates a new paragraph.

Tip #5: Your contact information should never appear on the interior except if you are submitting it to a agent, publisher, etc. (That’s a whole different subject; submitting your ms.) You can list your website address and/or your email address.

Tip #6: Pages should be numbered and numbering should begin with the first chapter page. Pages preceding this should not be numbered. Page numbers can be created automatically by using your header or footer feature. Your name, as author, should be on each even numbered page and the title of the book should be on odd numbered pages, in the header.

Tip #7: Separation between sentences: Single space. For submission, read their guidelines; they require 1.5 to double spaced (for easier reading) but never single spaced.

Tip #8: Indentation of paragraphs: You can set this up using: Home, the ‘Paragraph’ tab; the arrow to the right: will open the menu. Alignment: Justified. Do not choose ‘left’ or ‘right’ but rather, Choose ‘Special’. Set it at ‘First line‘ 0.3 or 0.5. Click on ‘Set As Default’ and then ‘This Document only?’ Yes.

Tip #9: When to Start a New Chapter: Simply put a new chapter is usually begun when the physical location has changed or when the POV (point of view) has changed. Almost never start a new chapter between sentences between the same characters. It breaks the flow of the story and interrupts the reader’s concentration. I recently read a new author’s self published book that 323 pages and 111 chapters. ONE HUNDRED-ELEVEN chapters!

Tip #10: Word count: A full length novel is 80,000 words and up. A novella or cozy is approximately 37 to 40,000. A short story is about 5,000-10,000 words.

Tip #11: If your page arrangement causes you to have a blank odd numbered page that seems awkward: Put another title page on it. I just finished reading a Robert B. Parker mystery where they use 3 title pages before I got to the first chapter. So as you can see, there is no hard and fast rule.

Tip #12: Use 12 point, New Times Roman as the font. Single space the entire chapter. There are no double spacing between paragraphs.-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! October: George Scott, December: Lauren Willig, February: Mike Lupica
To receive my posts sign up for my

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

My Momma always said Life is like a box of chocolates…

We all remember this famous quote from Forest Gump……my box of chocolates is words…NEW words which I have never heard before. Words that roll around on my tongue like a chocolate cherry cream out of my box of sweets. For example here are some words I recently discovered …..

Tantalus: a Phrygian king who, for his crimes, was forced to stand hungry and thirsty surrounded by sweet water and fruit laden branches. I’ve seen it used loosely as an adjective: being tantalized without fulfillment.

Muniment: a document, a title deed or charter

Muniment room: a storage or display room in a castle, church or university where pertinent historical documents or records are kept.

Entresol: a lower floor between two higher floors, between floors, mezzanine.

Cuckoo: a common enough European bird but noted for its habit of laying its eggs in another bird’s nest which then hatched and raised the young cuckoos. The mother cuckoo never returns. Which leads to the off-shoot of this word and description: Usually referring to the husband of an unfaithful wife. To make a cuckold of (a husband) and it could follow that the unfaithful wife is impregnated by the lover and (like the birds) the cuckolded husband and wife raise the child of another man. Hence the use of the word.

When you write, never dumb it down for your readers. Remember you are writing prose. It’s okay to challenge your readers….it’s even preferred.

As a writer, I hope that You love the flavor of words as much as I do….

(Recycled from the 2012 blog post.)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! October: George Scott, December: Lauren Willig, February: Mike Lupica

To receive my posts sign up for my

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

Storytelling…across Generations

It occurred to me the other day that storytelling in my family didn’t begin with my mother. I come from a long line of strong women, story tellers all. Since the beginning of time griots have passed down our history in oral form from generation to generation. Griot: (/ˈɡriːoʊ/; French. Mandinka. A West African historian, storyteller, praise singer, poet, or musician.) My grandmother and mother were no different.

Yes, I was told fairytales, as a very young child, but somewhere along the way my mother switched over to true stories about when she was a child (early 1900’s) living in a logging town in western Washington. The family tales of thirteen kids, roaming the woods, swimming in the rivers and tipping over outhouses. The stories never ended and, like any child, I requested my favorites to be told over and over. My mother considered the telling of

tales very natural. She and her siblings had grown up listening to their mother telling stories about how she and her new husband (my grandfather) fled France, migrated to America, and then trekked across the country to settle in the Northwest. They boarded a ‘flatboat’ in St. Louis, Missouri and traveled on great rivers until they reached Great Falls, Montana. They finally debarked and joined wagon trains going further west. My mother told me the story of my auntie (her sister) who, at the age of seventeen, ran away from home and worked her way aboard a freighter to Anchorage, Alaska. She homesteaded in the Tanana Valley for over twenty years. (Song of the Yukon)

Since I was born long after my brother and sister, I do not know if my mother had the time to spend on telling them stories. She was a single mom who worked long hours building a bar and grill business. She frequently ‘farmed out’ my siblings for long periods of time. It wasn’t for financial reasons and so was always unclear why . (Wild Violets) By the time I discovered this appalling fact, my mother was gone and there was no one left to ask. And those were stories she certainly never told.

She was very vain and perhaps didn’t want the men in her life to know she had two children. Anyway that’s what my sister thought. She was eleven when my mother began sending them away.

And so here I am, the next generation of storytellers….Would my mother be surprised?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! June: Mike Maden writing for TOM CLANCY. July: Guest Blogger Desiree Villena, August: Carolyn Brown
To receive my posts sign up for my

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

NEW Haiku Journal

Just published. A NEW journal for your Haiku poetry. Some instruction and tips to help get you started. 190 lined, blank pages for YOUR poetry. Poetry is imbedded in the margins of the pages to inspire your writing.

An old silent pond
A frog jumps into the pond,
splash! Silence again.
Matsuo Basho

morning sun dapples
trees in a polka-dot dress
shines soft green and light
~ T. Sugarek

Light of the moon
Moves west, flowers’ shadows
Creep eastward.
Yosa Buson

Black, gnarled branch
green leaves blush
droop in autumn rain
~ Unknown

angle of fall’s sun
so different from spring’s rays
dapples the sun porch

end of hot summer
the crisp, sharp tang of fall’s breath
smokes the air about

a waiting for sleep
under the blanket of snow
until spring sun beams ~ T. Sugarek

Whether one passes on
or remains is all the same.
That you can take no one with you
is the only difference.

Ah, how pleasant!
Two awakenings and one sleep.

This dream of a fleeing world!
The roseate hues of early dawn!
Tokugawa Ieyasu

Perfect size to fit into backpack, handbag, tote or briefcase.
Available NOW. Purchase. Click here
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

How To Format a Novel

My helping you with formatting a novel is long over due…. It was a light bulb moment recently when I was reading a nice little story, self published (poorly) by its author, with hardly any formatting. The story wasn’t much to write home about (too predictable with poorly drawn characters.) but the lack of formatting only made it worse and an amateur effort at best. So here are some tips about formatting your novel, before you even begin to write the story.

Blank Templates: Most self publishing platforms have FREE blank templates for you to begin writing on. You just pick the desired ‘size’ of your book and you can download the template to your document writing site in your computer. Most of us use Microsoft Word for all our writings. Here is an example of how I start with a blank template. (Why is this important? Believe me when I say at the end it will make your life so much simpler when you begin to ‘build’ your book.)

To begin: I use Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP https://kdp.amazon.com/en_US/ ) Don’t be put off by the word ‘kindle’ in the name. I build and publish all of my paperbacks here. If you don’t have an account, sign up for a FREE one. Then click on ‘HELP’. In the search bar, I enter ‘paperback templates’. Choose #1 ‘Paperback Manuscript Templates. Follow the directions on this page. After picking the size of your book and downloading it, your Word program should open with the blank template staring back at you. Write a few lines (the template message will disappear) and save it as your new novel. If you are using a different manuscript platform, I feel pretty confident that they also offer blank templates to get you started. Now you’re ready to write your story.

Formatting: It goes without saying you want a professional looking book. Readers unconsciously expect a certain look/layout. Bad or nonexistent formatting can detract from the reader’s enjoyment of your book.

But, you ask…‘I’ve already written five chapters of my novel on 8.5 x 11 paper. Can I move it?’ Easy, peasy. Use your copy and paste option (I recommend saving your original copy of the manuscript). Copy the five chapters, go over to your template and ‘paste’ the chapters in. This will mess up the formatting because your original manuscript is probably written on a larger sized paper than what your blank template is for your book. But it only takes a little time to re-format what you’ve already written. Trying to get the formatting perfect can be a form of procrastination if you’re not careful. Don’t get off into the weeds. Be certain that you are writing your story every day. Now that your novel is placed on your template, you can continue writing from where you left off.

First Page: When you open your cover, the first page (odd numbered page) can have excerpts of reviews that you have received. Just a sentence or two, not the whole review. If you don’t have any then the first page should be the title and author name.

Second page: (Even numbered page) This is your copyright page, entitled ‘Notice’. It can also include your ISBN number, your logo, and credits for the artwork. (See sample; All centered and a smaller font; a 9 or 10.)

Notice

Copyright (c) 2016 Trisha Sugarek. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the Author. Printed in the United States of America. For information contact author at www.writeratplay.com. The Library of Congress has cataloged the soft cover edition of this book as follows: Sugarek, Trisha, Song of the Yukon, Trisha Sugarek – This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales in entirely coincidental.

ISBN 978-1489558206

Cover Design by David White, clenbuterol on reddit Illustrator

Song, ‘Swiftly I Go’ by Gary Swindell, Composer
Additional lyrics and poetry by Trisha Sugarek

To view all of the author’s play scripts and fiction go to: www.writeratplay.com

Quotes: The Best of Robert Service, Copyright 1940 by Robert Service. Publishers: Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc.
************************************************

Third page: (Odd numbered) A dedication or a list of the other books you have written. (See samples) It doesn’t matter which goes first but it should be on an odd numbered page.

Also by Trisha Sugarek

Fiction

Women Outside the Walls
Wild Violets

The World of Murder
Art of Murder
Dance of Murder
Act of Murder
Angel of Murder
Taste of Murder
Beneath the Bridge of Murder
Video of Murder
Shadow of Murder

Poetry
Butterflies and Bullets
The World of Haiku with Sumi-E Artwork
Haiku Journal — a companion book
Moths and Machetes

Available at all fine book stores.

Dedication

To a hundred years of Guyer girls….
still going strong.

***********************************************************************

Headers: Should begin after these pages of notices, titles, credits, etc. On the first page of Chapter One. More later about headers.

Each chapter: Should always begin on an odd numbered page. Note: It’s perfectly acceptable for the even numbered page, opposite these odd numbered pages (that always appear on the right side) to be blank. Most common and expected font is: 12 point Times New Roman. Spacing of lines should be 1.0 to 1.25. Indent all paragraphs by .5 inches. There are no spaces between paragraphs which should be indented 3″ to 5″ inches.

Left margin versus Justified margin: On the home page of Word I am certain you are familiar with the ‘alignment’ options; left, center, right, and justified. Control (key) and the letter ‘A’ will highlight your entire manuscript. Now go to the justified button and click it. As you continue to write, your manuscript is set to ‘justified’, now. This will space your words, across the page, so there are (for the most part) no awkward blank spaces because a word doesn’t fit. Trust me, you will want to use the justified alignment and not the ‘left’ alignment. When there is the occasional blank space, go back and hyphenate the long word to fill these spaces. Now, you not only have a nice clean margin on the left of your page but also on the right side of your page. (See sample. Note: I have drawn a line where there should be a word.) Look at the sample below under “Headers”. See the crisp margin on the right. This is the result of using the ‘justified’ option.

Proof Your manuscript. Then proof it again. Don’t leave anything to chance. The following sample is just plain sloppy proofing. The circled text should have started on the next (odd No.) page. This called for a page break.

Hard Page Breaks: On your Word Home page find “Layout”. Click. Directly below Layout is the word: Breaks. Click for the drop down menu and chose the first choice: Page. This sets the end of the page you’re on and designates a ‘page break’, beginning of a new page. This would have solved the above problem. Note: Be certain your cursor is at the end of the text where you desire a new page to begin.

Headers: Put your cursor at the top of the page of your first chapter. Double click. The page number will automatically appear. Place your cursor to the right of the page number and ‘space’ over to where you want to type. The odd page should have the title of the book. You only have to type it in once; it will appear on all odd numbered pages going forward. Now, put your cursor anywhere on the (grayed out) text of the page and click twice. Your header for odd numbered pages has been created. Now repeat the same steps for the even numbered pages: Double click at the top of an even no. page, place your cursor to the right of the page no. Space over and type in your name as the author. Wait! Before you leave this, be certain that you are not linking to the previous header. And leave the box unchecked for ‘Different First Page”. Click the boxes for “Different Odd and Even Pages” and “Show document text”.
What you want to achieve is no header on pages before the first page of the first chapter. If you find you have headers go back and make certain the “Link to Previous” is not used. You may have to delete all headers and begin again, before you finally get it right. (See sample.)

Submitting your manuscript to an Agent/Publisher: Find out what the agent or publisher recommends. Some might require double spacing, for example. They publish their specs and formatting requirements right on their websites. Checking out the specs should be your first step. Adapt your manuscript for each agent or publisher (most will be remarkably similar).

Dialogue: Is treated as a new paragraph, indented 3-5 spaces, even if only one line of dialogue. (Example to follow):

“It always ends up the same in the end; they fight every night and finally he smacks her around and she kicks ‘im to the curb. I am never gonna’ have a boy friend like that! I’ve got big plans, believe you me!”
Charlie stopped in the road and Alma walked a few steps before she realized he wasn’t beside her anymore. She stopped and looked around.
“What?” she asked.
“He’s not botherin’ you is he? Not touchin’ ya?” Charlie asked.
“Ha! That’ll be the day! Just let ‘im try somethin’ like that! I’ll kill him’!”
“You sure?” Charlie insisted.
“Whad’da you care?” she asked.
Charlie scowled at her. “I thought we were friends, Alma. Friends look out for friends.”
“Well, thanks, but you don’t need to worry. He wouldn’t dare try anything. Besides, he’s not my type.” She scoffed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve tried to think of everything you might need to format your manuscript properly. It might seem a little daunting….but it’s not…once you begin these steps it will go fast and be relatively simple. But if you get stuck, email me at trishsugar@aol.com and I’ll be happy to help.
(More) on How to Format a Novel when Self-Publishing.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS!
To receive my posts sign up for my

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

Book Review ~ Miss Janie’s Girls by Carolyn Brown

5 out of 5 quills BOOK REVIEW

Carolyn Brown has delivered again! This new release is a heart-warming story of two young girls caught up in the CPS’s foster system. They finally land with Miss Janie until the ‘system’ spits them out at age eighteen. Separated for years, they both circle back to Miss Janie. Has their animosity toward each other survived the separation?

The writing is superb and the drawing of the characters flawless. I highly recommend this book for summer, fall or winter reading!

Did you miss my Interview with Carolyn?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My weekly BLOG features INTERVIEWS with best-selling AUTHORS! May: Joram Piatigorsky, June: Mike Maden writing for TOM CLANCY. July: Guest Blogger Desiree Villena, August: Carolyn Brown
To receive my posts sign up for my

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

Students can now purchase essays

You can also set a flexible writemypaper delivery date for your order.

online.

Interview with Author, Carolyn Brown

Carolyn and her husband live in the small town of Davis, Oklahoma, where everyone knows everyone else, as well as what they’re doing and when—and they read the local newspaper on Wednesday to see who got caught. They have three grown children and enough grandchildren to keep them young. When she’s not writing, Carolyn likes to plot new stories in her backyard with her tom cat, Boots Randolph Terminator Outlaw, who protects the yard from all kinds of wicked varmints like crickets, locusts, and spiders. Carolyn Brown is the author of more than 100 novels. She’s a recipient of the Bookseller’s Best Award, and the prestigious Montlake Diamond Award, and also a three-time recipient of the National Reader’s Choice Award. Brown has been published for more than 20 years, and her books have been translated into 19 foreign languages. Many are available in audio format.

Q. Where do you write? Do you have a special room, shed, barn, special space for your writing? Or tell us about your ‘dream’ work space.

CB. I have my own little office in my house. I only have to walk across the hallway from my bedroom to go to work each morning. My husband, Mr. B, built a wall hung desk for me to clutter up with notebooks, calendars, etc. I try to clean it off each time I finish a book. Note that I said, “I try”…most of the time I end one book, and the very next morning I open up a file for the next one.

Q. Do you have any special rituals or quirks when you sit down to write? (a neat work space, sharpened #2 pencils, legal pad, cup of tea, glass of brandy, favorite pajamas, etc.)

CB. I do like my pajama pants, but I don’t have a favorite pair. Nothing special, really…just that I get something down on paper (computer) each day.

Q. Could you tell us something about yourself that we might not already know?

CB. I didn’t get a toe in the door of a publishing company until I was forty nine years old. I’d been trying to get someone to look at my work for twenty five years before I finally got a break. Someone asked me about that time what I wanted to be when I grew up, and I simply asked them, “Do I have to decide today?” The next week I got the call from an editor who said she wanted to buy both the books I had sent to her.

Q. What tools do you begin with? Legal pad, spiral notebook, pencils, fountain pen, or do you go right to your keyboard?

CB. I use the computer to write. My thought process goes from brain to fingertips, but I use a notebook, spiral or composition either one, to make notes. I use one of those little inexpensive recipe boxes when I’m writing series. Each character, included dogs, horses and donkeys get their own index card, so I can keep up with age, eye color, height and all the information about that character for later books in the series.

Q. Do you have a set time each day (or night) to write?

CB. I usually write from eight to fourteen hours a day, beginning in the morning and keeping at it until I finish my daily word count.

Q. What’s your best advice to other writers for overcoming procrastination?

CB. Write! Don’t Whine! Whining about my muse has left me, I have a block and I can’t write today so I’m going shopping or I’m going to lay out on the beach won’t work. If you want to be a writer, you have to be disciplined. Write something every day even if it’s crap. As Nora Roberts says, “You can fix crap. You can’t fix nothing.”

Q. Where/when do you first discover your characters?

CB. Any and everywhere. Mr. B and I were in a little café having a burger when we were on a research trip. A lady came in with a bunch of kids. They were all from a group home for foster kids, and one little guy sat over by himself and didn’t talk with the others. That little fellow became an autistic child in one of my next books.

Q. What first inspired you to write?

Tune in next Friday for the conclusion to this charming interview.
You can visit Carolyn at www.carolynbrownbooks.com.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

Book Review~~the friendship list by Susan Mallery

4 out of 5 quills ~~ Book Review

Susan Mallery has done it once again! She has woven a mundane story of a single mom, Ellen, and a young widow, Unity into a riveting journey that both women take, each in their own way. I don’t believe it would be a spoiler to reveal that the friendship list is not a list of friends. It is a bucket list that each woman (who are friends) has written out for themselves. They have decided that it will be a challenge, a contest if you will, with a reward at its end. Sharing their victories, as they check off the list, and cheering each other on when a challenge seems unsurmountable.

Susan Mallery writes wonderful stories and I know her fans agree with me when I say, Thank God she is so prolific as we all wait for the next new one. This is a great summer read and I highly recommend it!

Release date August 4th. Pre-order now

Did you miss my Interview with Susan Mallery?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On the home page, enter your email address. Thanks!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: