Tag: drama

Blog Hop! The Writer’s Process

bloggersHi Everyone!  This is a wonderful traveling Blog every Monday where authors answer four questions and thenbunny pass it off to other authors to share their views on the writing process.

I want to thank Katie Beitz, a teacher from Australia and author of ‘The Shadow Miner’ http://katiebeitz.weebly.com/  for inviting me to participate!

Q. What am I working on?

I have several projects going at the time of this writing.  I’m finishing up with the graphic designer on my newest effort: “The Creative Writer’s Journal and Handbook” and it will be released soon.   With all my work, I revise, rewrite, edit and then rewrite more.

I’m also about half finished with Book 5 in The World of Murder series.  “The Taste of Murder” takes place in the Food Network world of television and cooking shows. Detectives O’Roarke and Garcia have a cold case dumped on their desk. Despite their objections that they ‘don’t do cold cases’ their Commander tells them that they do now since the new Mayor has specifically asked for them. Three years earlier a relative of the mayor’s was murdered and the case was never solved.

On the back burner is my historic novel, “Song of the Yukon” which has been side-tracked by the murder mystery series. Continue reading “Blog Hop! The Writer’s Process”

Kurt Vonnegut had a Few Rules….

Vintg.2            I am in the middle of creating a Journal – Workbook for Creative Writing.   There are six sections, ‘How to Begin’, ‘How to Write Fiction’, How to Write a Stage Play’ and more.  I also included inspiring quotes from famous authors and playwrights as well as poets.  It’s more than a journal, although the owner of the book will have well over 260 blank pages in which to create and write.

While I do not profess to be the ‘expert’ when it comes to writing I did want to share with you, in this Journal, some tools that you can use when you sit down to write. I don’t know about you, but I am so inspired when reading the work of another author that I admire, that I also included many fascinating quotes.

“I learned never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something there in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it.” Ernest Hemingway Continue reading “Kurt Vonnegut had a Few Rules….”

What Inspired Me to Write a Play? part 2

Let’s see, where did we leave off?  As you can see by now truth is sometimes stranger than fiction….why make stuff up when the true stories are just standing there in front of you…waiting for you to write a play about them?  Or not….because about this time Cheets, the effervescent elf came into my life! 

greed, ecology, elves, warlords, love, friendship‘The Fabled Forest Series‘ was brought to me by my friend, Cheets, about three in the morning to be exact.  He put his over-sized elf feet in the middle of my back and pushed.  Yelling in my ear,  ‘Cheets has a story….write about Cheets!’
By the time I crawled out of bed, made a cup of tea and stumbled to my keyboard he was skipping along beside me, telling me about his friends in the fabled forest and about the unicorn that they must save.  No, I’m not crazy  (or if I am, I’m in very good company)  and yes I do hear voices (again, good company).  A few years and four children’s plays later ‘Emma and the Lost Unicorn‘ was produced outside of Boston.  The little actors in the show pleaded with me to write them story books based upon the plays.  That was my launch from playwright to author.

Two summers ago I was talking with some teachers and they were bemoaning the fact that ‘the arts’ budget was non-existent at theirteen run aways, running away, teenagers, classroom, short plays schools; anything that they wanted to do in that area; paints, music, scripts,  was out of  their own pocket I thought, what if I wrote several 10 minute plays for the class room, made them affordable, no sets, no costumes, no props?  Twenty-six scripts later and it’s definitely been a hit. While I did write some fun ones, I quickly learned that I needed to write about teen issues in real life.  Bullying, mean girls, dating violence, divorce, drugs, running away, cyber-bullies…the list goes on and on.

And as I am not a mystery writer but do love to stretch my creative wings, I thought I’d throw in a murder mystery play into the collection.  I knew the kids in the classroom would love it.   “The Art of Murder” was born.  Then some well meaning friends told me, after reading the play, “But what happened to Monty?” and “Who killed her?”  “You have got to tell us the rest of the story!”

‘Okay, okay!  I’ll write a novella for you.’   Well, it went pretty well and my friends and fans seemed to like it.  Just one problem, they came back again and told me,  “You’ve got a series here!  We want more of O’Roarke and Garcia, your murder cops!”   I objected:  ‘I’m not a mystery writer!’   Well, apparently I am since I’m currently writing the fifth in the series!Act.Murder.Cover.Book3

Book 2 takes place back stage on Broadway……so we’ve come full circle!

Want to read more?  Click here to read Part 1

 

 

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
DON’T MISS UPCOMING BLOGS featuring INTERVIEWS with  best-selling AUTHORS!

In addition to my twice weekly blog I also feature an interview with another author once a month. So come along with me; we shall sneak into these writers’ special places, be a fly on the wall and watch them create!  An Interview with Loretta Chase on May 29th.   Dean Koontz is my June author.

To receive my posts sign up for my blog, blogs, blogger, writer, author, playwright, books, plays,fiction  On the home page, enter your email address.  Thanks!

‘The Angel of Murder’, Now In Audio!

Cover.Angel - CopyJust released! Book 4 in the World of Murder series is in AUDIO now!

Murder cops, O’Roarke and Garcia have a serial killer on their hands in Book 4 of The World of Murder series. The bodies of children, dressed for communion, are turning up in all five boroughs of New York City and there are no suspects. To complicate their investigation, a private detective has been hired by one of the families to find one of the missing girls. In spite of all their efforts, O’Roarke and Garcia watch as their case goes cold. Who is this monster and when will he strike again?

Available at:  www.audible.com, www.amazon.com, and iTunes.com  AUDIO SAMPLE:angel

Audible.com is offering it FREE now with a free trial membership!

REVIEW:  ……‘what really makes this book interesting is that the author lets us see into the mind of the killer without giving away the identity. All the while you are wondering how the perpetrator can get away with it, you are seeing the world as the murderer sees it.  It’s chilling, and insightful, and a nice addition to the police work and the side stories.

Oh, and there’s a new character, a PI, that I hope we’ll see more of, either in future World of Murder books or in his own series. A good read.’

‘The World of Murder’ books are available in paperback, e-books and audio.
Narration by: Daniel Dorse, www.acx.com (the voice of Jack O’Roarke)

 

 

 

Do you have Strange Rituals When Writing? (part 2)

writing process, create, writers, grammarRemember, no ritual should ever take the place of actually getting words on the page . But they can help you shift your mindset just enough to see things in a fresh way.

In the immortal words of novelist and screenwriter Raymond Chandler:  ‘Technique alone is never enough. You have to have passion. Technique alone is just an embroidered potholder.’

‘What are your rituals, Trish?’  Oh, yes I did promise to share my rituals…..I wake up naturally (34 years of alarm clocks were more than enough, thank you!) sometime before 9AM, depending on what my body needs and how long I was up during the night, writing. Continue reading “Do you have Strange Rituals When Writing? (part 2)”

How to Write a Character Analysis for Writers & Actors!

deathsalesI sat down with some actors the other day and they asked, ‘how do I write a character analysis?‘  And as I answered them I thought how much this applies to writers as well.  If you don’t know your characters (in your story,novel) your readers will never get to know them.

After many years of writing, my characters show up in my head but it’s my job to ‘flesh them out’. Many times I will meet or see a character in real life and they inspire a character for my writing.  But, it’s still the writer’s or the actor’s job to give them a story and breathe life into them.

If you’re a new writer take the time to write it down, using some of the tools listed here.  If you’re an actor, it is imperative that you write your character analysis.  It not the same as a few random thoughts about your character.  Some intangible thing happens when you put pen to paper and get to know who your character is. Continue reading “How to Write a Character Analysis for Writers & Actors!”

Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help!

helpWriting my newest mystery has been a challenge as I found my detectives, O’Roarke and Garcia and the killer in several situations where I have Cover.Angel - Copylittle or no knowledge and the Internet produced hardly anything with regard to my research.

So, I had to ‘rely on the kindness
of strangers….’

Since my fourth murder mysteries is heavy on police procedural, forensics, and pathology, not to mention the Catholic faith, I made several cold calls to people I didn’t know.  Would they help me?
Continue reading “Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help!”

Suicide by Heroin…A Eulogy

Philip_Seymour_Hoffman_2011[1]Philip Seymour Hoffman died last week by his own hand.  Shoving a needle into his arm, one last time and making our world a little more pale and less interesting.  Why do the brilliant feel the need to destroy themselves?  The heroin was just the ‘fix’ (aptly named) dulling the pain, banishing the demons…for a little while.   ‘An accidental overdose’ you say?  What was accidental about him sticking the bloody needle into his arm?  I ask.

And what does that say about the rest of us; living and struggling on, sometimes in quiet, brave desperation.  His actions were pure selfishness and I am royally pissed off at him!

And I earned the right  to be angry with him….being a survivor of suicide and the horror and  confusion that follows.  This man was an inspiration to all artists, actors, directors, writers, painters, dancers….he made us want to be better at our chosen craft …to aspire to his brilliance.   And now he’s gone.
Continue reading “Suicide by Heroin…A Eulogy”

Where to Find a Narrator for my Audio book? (Part 2)

Part II An Interview with VO professional and actor, Daniel Dorse       (Part I, click here)

It’s Easy!  I use www.acx.com.  The platform is simple to use and they have a terrific ‘stable’ of professional narrators.  Your book is published in audio form at amazon.com/audio, audible.com and iTunes.com.  You can pay your narrator/producer a percentage of sales or a one time fee.  The one time fees are on a sliding scale depending on what the narrator requires ‘per finished hour’.  With acx.com you will know what you will be paying (it’s based on the number of words in your manuscript.) before you commit. Tip. Eliminate all extra words like copyright page, acknowledgements, title, etc. and count only the words of the manuscript.

My one and only complaint about acx.com is the length of time they take to do the final quality control bit.  Two weeks.  Now sit back and enjoy the second part of my chat with Daniel.

Daniel working in his studio
Daniel working in his studio

Q. Can you tell us about your process when you get a job to narrate a book?

A. When I’m hired to produce an audio book, I should read the entire book, making character notes, notes on pronunciation, mood, transitions, accents, etc. In fact, I like to live dangerously, reading only a few chapters ahead (to avoid too many unwelcome surprises, like , “Uh-oh! This character I’ve been voicing for 15 pages is supposed to be Irish. Now I have to re-record.”). I do this, I tell myself, because I like to retain an element of spontaneity in my read, but it’s probably also because I’m both lazy & overly cocky about my sight-reading abilities.
Continue reading “Where to Find a Narrator for my Audio book? (Part 2)”

Ready to Find that Ideal Narrator for your Audio-book??

earChoose a narrator for your audio books….sounds easy doesn’t it?  I’d like to share my hit and miss experience and some tips about finding those perfect narrators for your audio books.  The good news is that now that I’ve learned a few things I have two wonderful reliable ‘voices’ for the production of my books.   The miss (when I didn’t know what I was doing and was new to the audio book world)  was the situation where I found my first narrator wasn’t willing to collaborate and work with me. She said that she was hired and paid to narrate the book that I sent, nothing more.  Sigh!

You will find, as I did, that your book ‘sounds‘ far different than the written word on the page and how it sounds in your head.  You, the author, will need a narrator that will allow you to make changes.  You might remember my interview with my childrens’ book narrator and gifted opera singer, Carin Gilfrey.  Now I thought it would be interesting for my readers to get to know, Daniel Dorse,  the voice of Sergeant Detective Jack O’Roarke.  (The World of Murder Series). Continue reading “Ready to Find that Ideal Narrator for your Audio-book??”