Thursday, December 17, 2015
The Trouble with Charisma
Please repost: Available now: http://www.amazon.com/Trouble-Charisma-Tarentino-Brothers-Trilogy-ebook/dp/B019HEJ8QQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450380003&sr=8-1&keywords=rebecca+draco
The Trouble with Charisma
Release Date: December 20, 2015
Grace spent time in prison for a crime she did not commit.
Her now-ex fiance framed her and hired a
corrupt attorney to see to it she went to jail in his stead. Now she is out and
wants to clear her name and get her life back, if she can escape the clutches
of the stalker her ex has set on a path to keep her from doing that. Love is
not on her agenda.
Sal is an attorney, rising to the top of his firm and trying
to make partner, but when he meets Grace, all he wants to do is help her find
justice and end the sadness and mistrust he reads in her eyes toward him as a
man and a lawyer. Then he falls in love...
Wednesday, December 2, 2015
I'd Rather be Writing
Most days I’d rather be writing, but these darn editors, and
life, keep getting in the way.
A month ago and a bit I attempted to fly down a flight of
stairs without a parachute and wound up slowed down by one leg. This means my physiotherapist
sees more of me lately than my wife does.
Then, when I sit down to write something new and brilliant, my editor sends back a
manuscript loaded with comments and deadlines. Volume two of the Queen’s Pawn (working
title today: The Queen’s Man) is under final massaging and smoothing out. This
should keep me off the streets for another couple of weeks.
I have other things I’d much rather be doing.
I’m working on the final polishing of Queen’s Pawn 3 (Today’s
working title: The Queen’s Game). I also have a couple of Housetrap Chronicles
tales just screaming to be let loose. I think I’ve finally figured out how I’m
going to work a kitchen sink into one. (You know, “everything but…”). But, brand
new scribbling will have to wait.
One thing I have found consistently, in getting ready for the editors,
and later working with them, it is amazing how many errors remain in that
perfect manuscript I have already read over a dozen times. I shudder to think
what would come out in print if it were not for the firm glove and large stick carried
by my editor. I obviously cannot be trusted on my own.
Threw away my cane last week. Still have more tests on the
leg. Gives me plenty of time to stare at the computer and write, or re-write, I
suppose.
However, as the lakes are freezing over, is there anything we'd rather do?
R.J.Hore
www.ronaldhore.comwww.facebook.com/RonaldJHore
The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)
The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1 - with 2 & 3 coming)The Housetrap Chronicles (Volume 1 to 7)
Alex in Wanderland,
Knight’s Bridge
Monday, November 2, 2015
Where Do These Weird Ideas Come From? Part Three
Plotting in Reverse
My last essay on the idea topic comes from something that
works well for me but it is a bit off-the-wall.
I write a series of fantasy detective novellas under The Housetrap
Chronicles. Seven published so far including two collections.
First I come up with a title, usually a mash-up of a
well-known mystery story. My first title I mangled was based on Agatha Christie’s
“The Mousetrap.” That is where I came up with “Housetrap.” Once I have the
title, I create a plot and write a story that will fit the title and has no
bearing on the original title at all. My detective is set in a world of elves
and goblins and mongrels and whatever else I throw into the mix. Someday the
kitchen sink will make an appearance.
To give you examples of some of the other titles in the series:
“Dial M for Mudder,” or “The Hounds of Basalt Ville,” or “Murder in the Rouge
Mort,” or “The Treasure of Sarah Madder.” You get the idea.
I have a lot of fun writing these things and they give me a
break from being serious. The only time I ran into a problem, is once after I
came up with a plot the normal way and discovered I had a terrible time finding
a title to fit.
Anyway, the bottom line is, a writer can find an idea for a
story anywhere. Just grab it and run with it!
R.J.Hore
www.ronaldhore.com
www.facebook.com/RonaldJHore
The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)
The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1)
The Housetrap Chronicles (Volume 1 to 7)
Alex in Wanderland,
Knight’s Bridge
Friday, October 2, 2015
Where Do These Weird Ideas Come From? - Part Two
People
often ask me where the ideas come from for my novels. Some days they just seem
to drop into my lap. I usually have more plot ideas than I will ever be able to
use.
For
example, take the plot for my second published novel, The Queen’s Pawn. I can’t
remember how it first began, but for some reason I was thinking about the fall of Troy. I
might have recently read a book or saw a documentary. I started thinking about how it
would feel to be trapped in a burning city that has fallen to the enemy. It
would be quite unpleasant. I decided to write a story based around that opening.
I needed a main character, so I came up with a poor seminary student in a panic
with chaos all around him. What happens next?
He flees,
of course. By this time I suspected I might be about to treat the topic
lightly. Who does he meet? How about a dying prince, a wizard, and the usual
opportunity for the old mistaken identity theme, with a twist? So what will I
do with these characters? Let’s rescue the beautiful queen of the city, and
give her a bratty daughter to drive my hero mad. Let’s make him an inept hero
that gets by more through luck than skill. To torture him further, let’s throw
a lot of lustful females in his way, and have him with no idea of what to do
about them.
The plot
then, hero reluctantly has to rescue the royal family from a burning city and
get them to safety a long way away. And I’m off to the races with no idea of
who the villains are, why the city is burning, or a reason the princess acts
the way she does. Backstories fill in as I go along and get to know the
characters better.
One
character who surprised me was the queen. When I first met her I thought she
was a bit dizzy, she soon set me straight. I like surprises when I’m writing.
Which just goes to show why my writing style is “pantser” (I write by the seat
of my pants) as opposed to “plotter” (or plodder?) where you must lay out every
minute detail before you can begin writing the tale.
The bottom
line is, you write the way that works best for you. I notice when I got into
writing a second and third book for each of my first two novels, I had to do a
wee bit of plotting to make sure I would end up where I thought I was going.
The second
volume in the Queen’s Pawn Trilogy (I didn’t realize I was writing one) is in
editing now, still without a title, and the third (and final?) tale in the
series is about ¾ finished and at least I know what the ending will be.
Have fun
writing, or reading, and don’t be afraid to reach outside of your normal comfort
zone.
www.ronaldhore.comwww.facebook.com/RonaldJHore
The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)
The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1)The Housetrap Chronicles (Volume 1 to 7)
Alex in Wanderland,
Knight’s Bridge
Wednesday, September 2, 2015
Where Do These Weird Ideas Come From? (Part One)
People
often ask me where the ideas come from for my novels. Some days they just seem
to drop into my lap. I usually have more plot ideas than I will ever be able to
use.
For
example, take the plot for my first published novel, The Dark Lady.
I was
watching TV one night, or I might have just been passing through the room, when
I noticed a head and shoulders shot of an actress. The first thing that popped
into my head was: she would be an excellent choice to play the part of an evil
queen. That generated another random thought: I wonder how evil queens get
their bad reputations. This was before Wicked.
Naturally I
started kicking around ideas. On my daily morning walks before breakfast I had already
dreamed up a setting that I might use someday and one that would be suitable for
any number of situations, a grim ancient castle that was the seat of a
once-mighty empire. It was built on an island in the center of a lake. That
sounded an excellent location for this project.
I started
off with the idea of let’s have a young girl who wakes up one morning to find
her parents dead and everyone wants to control her and the kingdom. Before I
got too far into the story I was thinking of another somewhat parallel situation,
that of the young Queen Elizabeth the First and how she was surrounded by
plotting nobles and how she had to struggle, and be quick-witted in order to
survive. I think that changed the direction of the story slightly.
Although I
liked the background idea of the evil queen theme, that became more of a
secondary feature. Eventually my heroine might not be all that evil; however
that was how some people, including her grasping neighbors, saw her. Some of
that was also defensive propaganda and I made her headstrong with a bit of a
temper to fortify her reputation.
Once I
became familiar with the heroine and the main characters surrounding her I had
enough on which to build my tale. When we decided to turn The Dark Lady into a
trilogy I had a firm base on which to continue: my heroine was still young,
while things had stabilized somewhat she was constantly in peril, and that gave
me the basis for the next two books, Dark Days and Dark Knights. By the end she
was old enough for me to add more than a hint of romance to the mix.
Am I
satisfied with how it turned out? Yes. While I drifted a bit from my original
question, my main character still retained enough backbone and determination
that if those around her were not careful she could still turn out someday to
be an evil queen, or a dark lady, whatever that might be.
One of the
main reasons I write is to find out how the story will end. Sometimes even I’m
surprised.
R.J.Horewww.facebook.com/RonaldJHore
The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)
The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1)The Housetrap Chronicles (Volume 1 to 7)
Alex in Wanderland,
Knight’s Bridge
Tuesday, August 4, 2015
Charlotte Boyett-Compo’s magically woven tale of Dargue Phantasy speaks to the reader
through emotion and truth, spinning a web and catching us up in the magic of
the heroine as she falls in love with the hero. Aisling is a good witch, and
Darque is a werewolf, but never was there a better match made in Heaven than
the two characters who brought peace to their lands, even though they have both
seen sorrow and pain in their past. They have survived, and they’ll now thrive,
and they’ll be better for all they have endured as they lead their people from
the throne of their kingdoms, united as one. But first, many trials and
tribulations must be endured, for Aisling, for Darque, and for their respective
families and friends trying to tear them apart. Read Darque Phantasy, a story
set in medieval times, and live the tale as it spins out. Charlotte
Boyett-Compo won’t fail you. She’ll give you a ride through times past, or time
future, a ride you won’t soon forget.
Sunday, August 2, 2015
This is a Busy Writing Summer for me.
Let me give you a quick picture
of what I have put on my writing plate for the next few months.
My first published novel, The
Dark Lady, became a trilogy last year. Now I’m trying to get the word out,
using a virtual book tour and trying to remember to update some of my blogs.
Readers who I’ve met face-to-face are asking for volumes two and three so that
is always a good sign.
My second published novel, The
Queen’s Pawn, is undergoing the same process. I’ve written book two (untitled)
and it is now in the editing process. I’ve started book three but been
sidetracked the last couple of months. That is something I have to get back to
shortly before I lose my train of thought completely.
When I wrote both of these first
two novels I had no idea whether they would ever go beyond a single volume. I
don’t do extensive pre-plotting but fortunately had enough ideas to carry the
story forward. My advice to beginning writers who are not plotters is to make
certain you have plenty of notes as you go on to subsequent books in the series.
You don’t want to have to re-read your first book to catch up on the details
you will need for the second and third volumes.
I also write a series of fantasy
detective novellas, The Housetrap Chronicles. Number seven will be out in a few
months and last winter I started on episode eight. I haven’t touched it in
months. I suspect I will have problems getting back up to speed. The danger in
allowing a story to languish while you work on others is you may lose interest.
Already I am brewing up the plot for number nine. As a caution I’d recommend
working on one thing at a time, unless like me you are easily distracted and
thrive on confusion.
While all of this is going on I
have several manuscripts that have been accepted by publishers and now will be
going into the editing process. I’m aware that some writers view this as a form
of torture, where “other” hands tear and shred their precious work. Think of it
more as a co-operative process. Do you have a very good reason for leaving in a
particular scene? Then say so, outlining your reasons. If the editor disagrees,
accept the verdict and move on. No matter how many times I review my own work I
am always amazed about the number of my serious sins an editor will uncover.
Difficult as it may be, attempt to learn from the comments and try not to repeat
your mistakes. Each publisher may have a slightly different philosophy. Your
editor knows what these house rules are and will help you work your manuscript
into an acceptable format.
Lastly, one of the best pieces of
advice I ever received from a well-established author had to do with how well we
treat those involved in our industry: authors, publishers, editors, critics,
readers, etc. Don’t get argumentative, feud, or fight with others. The
aggravation and damage to your reputation is not worth it, demeans you, and
will ultimately hurt your reputation. This doesn’t mean you can’t have or state
an opinion, just be careful how you go about it. If you can’t take outside
criticisms, don’t read them.
Enjoy writing and reading, I
certainly do!
R.J.Hore
www.ronaldhore.comwww.facebook.com/RonaldJHore
The Dark Lady Trilogy (Volume 1,2,3)
The Queen’s Pawn (Volume 1)The Housetrap Chronicles (Volume 1 to 7)
Alex in Wanderland,
Knight’s Bridge
Wednesday, July 29, 2015
Research...skydiving style:)
Those three little words that create excitement for some, terror for others.
I'm a teacher, and I fit into both categories. I love the students, well, most of them, and I love to teach, well, most of the time, but I can't write as much during the school year, so that 's a major minus in my book of pros and cons.
Still, the summer has been great, and I had written a sky diving scene into one of my books, a year ago, and I'm in the editing process now, so - call it research - I went skydiving, and the scene is so much better now, and I literally felt the jump all over again as I wrote the scene.
Now, that doesn't mean I'd want to live out every scene in all my books, but wow, this research and living it up was very cool. I can't wait to do it again. I'm fifty, and my kids want to go with me. It's on their bucket lists. It was never one mine. I just went with my cousin one day to pick up her boyfriend that works and the airfield/sky diving business, and ...the next thing I knew was in an air plane, a perfectly good one, and jumping out of it.
So, if you gotta research, go for it, like I did...:)
http://rebeccadraco.com/
Tuesday, July 21, 2015
Book Review: Charlotte Boyett-Compo
Monday, July 20, 2015
March Morgan still believes in true love, but her faith in finding her soul mate is slowly vanishing. She’s been married but never in love. So, it is a miracle to find that fantasy exists on the last page of a glossy women’s journal. Mayfair Electronics, Ltd., in black and white, offers Love for Sale. The London firm has engineered sentient androids indistinguishable from human. She flies to England and meets the man she has been searching for her entire life.
Christian requires no programming to love
March at first sight. He’s handsome,
cultured…absolutely perfect…and a little different from the other
androids. He has an unexpected
independent streak.
March signs on the dotted line, buying her
dream man. They
return to Houston, but soon her past and his future threaten their Happily Ever
After—indeed their lives.
Excerpt:
At a light touch on her shoulder,
she spun. He stood inches from her, the airspace between them electric charged.
“Liz was here, and in my bedroom! Why? Were you doing her in my bed?”
“No.” He had the decency to look
stunned, his eyes widening and darkening. “She was teaching me to dance. The
closet doors are mirrors.”
March resisted the urge to slap his
perfect face. “Why? You aren’t going to be a stripper.”
He shrugged. “You don’t trust me.”
“I don’t trust her.” March’s face
felt hard and cold. God, how she hated the emotions seething in her. She was
almost physically ill.
“She cannot tempt me.” He shook his
head slowly, his eyes glittering blue. “Don’t you understand I am attuned to
you alone?”
“You weren’t supposed to be able to
get angry.” She was unraveling, like a ball of yarn thrown across a room. “You
did.”
Her heart shattered as he turned
and walked away. Grief winded her. At the door, he glanced over his shoulder,
again shaking his head. He was stunningly handsome, looked sad and hurt, but there
was no apology in his intense gaze. Hands fisted at her sides, she tried to
control the storm of fear, anger, resentment and pain.
“Where the hell are you going?” Her
voice came brusque, short.
“For a walk to let you think and
cool down.” Light and shadow chiseled his face, and her breaking heart skipped
a beat. “I am not going to Liz. I have learned all I need to know from her. I
shall never see her again.”
“You can’t walk out. It is impossible for you. You are faulty in some
circuit somewhere. I’m going to return you.”
The most beautiful man in the world
froze with his hand on the door. “Please don’t. This is a misunderstanding.” He
blew out a long breath. “However, if that is what you want, I must advise you
that Mayfair Electronics, 21 Dover Street, London, W1S 4LT will accept return
of a flawed unit for a full refund.”
“Stop! You sound like a robot.” Her
fisted hands struck the air.
He didn’t flinch. “I am a robot. That’s
why this is an inane conversation.”
“Inane? I find you with another
woman in the bedroom, and this conversation is silly? Oh, no, Christian. Did
you invite her here?” Why couldn’t she stop hurting herself and let him go,
lock the door and email Mayfair for a courier pickup?
Folding his arms across his chest,
he leaned against the door. “She knocked. I answered and kept her outside until
it started to rain. She was talking about the club and telling me, again, that
I’d be a success as a male dancer. Being a success at something would be a
bloody miracle. At any rate, half-jokingly, I asked her to teach me to dance. The
End.”
“Not quite. Why did you slip her
out behind my back?”
“I wished to avoid a scene like
this.” His voice shaded deeper, darker. “And I didn’t want to hurt you.”
“There, it’s said. You can come
back in now and stop pretending you’re leaving.” She waved a hand,
half-heartedly beckoning. “You’ve got nowhere to go.”
He inhaled sharply as if she had
punched him in the stomach. “I’m quite aware of that fact. I do not like seeing
you this upset. Please call Mayfair tomorrow. I’ll voluntarily deactivate. They
will dispatch a FedEx pickup for me.”
She raked a hand through her hair. “Oh, my God, what have you
done and why? What have I done? Paradise Lost.”
“Why can’t you trust me?” His sad expression pierced her
heart.
Nearly human. Though he didn’t
have a heart, his emotions could be damaged.
“Because I don’t trust men.” An angry sob caught in her
throat. When she could again speak, she croaked, “In general. Well, almost. I
learned that lesson at my mother’s knee.”
“I’m not even almost
any man.” He lifted his hands in a pleading gesture. “Return me to Mayfair for
reprogramming. I don’t care. I only want to stay with you.”
“You have a funny way of showing it,” she said in a lethal
whisper, her voice then rising in outrage. “If I’d been earlier or later, would
I have found you bucking in bed?”
Looking stricken,
he stood silent and straight, a bare-chested god with ice blue eyes.
Available on Amazon in print and eBook or from The Wild Rose Press.
For a free, continuing vampire story, visit my web site at http://www.lindanightingale.com. Thanks for stopping by! Check back. I will be hosting giveaways! Linda
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