The Next Big Thing

My writer friend, Stephanie Neighbour, gave me the job... er, challenge... er honor of participating in a game of virtual tag. Stephanie asked me to participate in The Next Big Thing where I will answer ten questions about my work in progress and choose five other writers/bloggers/authors who will be tagged at the end of this post. Stephanie really  had fun with her post, so I thought I would give it a whirl.

1. What is the working title of your book? My current WIP, which has all of 5,000 words written is the third book in the Seasons Series and is titled Out Of Season. While there is plenty of room to change the storyline in the next 75,000 words, I think the title will stay. (OMG, why did I have to remind myself of how much more I have yet to write?)


2. Where did the idea come from for the book? When I first started the mystery series, many moons ago, I did all the things a writer is supposed to do to try to market a series. I wrote the first book, Open Season. Did a detailed synopsis of the second book, Stalking Season, and did an overview of the whole series with short synopsis of story ideas for several more books. The idea for Out of Season was one of those story ideas that came to me when I imagined what kind of grisly cases a pair of homicide detectives in Dallas might face. Little did I know it would take a hundred years for the series to get published.

3. What genre does your book fall under? This is a police procedural mystery.

4. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition? I have a good friend here in my neck of the woods who is a terrific actress and I think she could bring Sarah to life on screen. Not only that, she keeps asking when auditions are. For Angel, I would love Halle Barry to consider the role.

5. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book? ACK! I'd rather stand on my head for an hour - if I could - than figure out a logline. I usually can't do that until I am at least halfway into a book, and even then the logline basically sucks.

6. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?Actually, neither, although I would love to have an agent. (hint, hint) Hopefully, the book will be accepted by Five Star Cengage, the company that published the first two books in the series. Since Stalking Season got a starred review from Publishers Weekly , I think my chances of acceptance is pretty good. Unless I totally bomb with the writing. Please tell me I won't bomb.

7. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript? This first 5,000 words took three days. For previous books, it took the better part of a year to do the first draft, then almost another year to do rewrites. If I was a more disciplined writer, I would probably turn out books faster, but I get sidetracked with the business of promoting, doing some editing or other freelance work to pad my bank account, or taking time out to play on stage.

8. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre? My books are similar to the 87th Precinct Series by Ed McBain (Evan Hunter). In fact, his books are what inspired me to write police procedurals.

9.Who or what inspired you to write the book?  Do I repeat myself or just say "see above?" (smile)

10. What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest? The Seasons Series has been described as "Lethal Weapon" set in Dallas with female leads. Readers who enjoy a bit of humor with a gritty mystery might like the books.

I love to promote my friends and am happy to introduce you to Stephanie and her terrific blog. She is a comedian and there is lots to smile about in her posts. However, I do hesitate to ask some of my other friends to add one more thing to their to-do list, so I will only tag a couple of folks. If anyone else would like to join in the fun, just let me know in the comments and send me a link to you blog that I will promote next week.

My tags are:   Terry Odell, Laura Eno, and Morgan Mandel

I Need a Leash

To understand the title of this blog post, I have to fill you in on my morning. My plan was to finish up some interview questions for Martha Alderson, The Plot Whisperer, who is going to be a guest at The Blood Red pencil later this month. Yes, you read that right, The Plot Whisperer, like The Horse Whiperer, only for writers. 

Seriously, it is going to be an interesting interview, so I will remind you again closer to the date in case you would like to see what she has to say.

Next on my to-do list was to update my blog. But, lo and behold, when I came to the blog, I saw that I had some comments that I had not responded to. I also saw some new friends, so I had to go visit their blogs. Yesterday I was off line most of the day, so I had not seen the comments.

When I saw Helen Ginger's name, I remembered that she had a good blog yesterday about publicists. I had received a note about that in e-mail, but did not have time to go over yesterday, so I had to go check it out. Business, right?

In between blog-hopping, I remembered I had to do some laundry, so I took a quick break to throw shirts in the washing machine. The thrilling life of a writer.

I came back to my blog and saw Morgan Mandel's comment. That reminded me that she has a new book out, Her Handyman. I haven't read it yet, but it is on my Kindle. It sounds like a fun, light romance, which is always a nice diversion from real life.

Thinking about my writer friends, I remembered that Marian Allen has a book contracted with Hydra Publications, The Fall of Onagros, and she shares how the story came to be on the  Literary Lunes blog. 

Another interruption to take care of an issue at the local art center, then I was hoping to get back to this, when I saw my horse had pulled the rope loose from where I had tied him to munch on some green grass. He helps me not to have to mow so often.

Maybe I should ask Martha to talk to him about staying put?

I ran outside, got him tied again, threw the ball for the dog a few times, then came back inside to another phone call. Just when I thought I was ready to come back to the blog, then get on with the rest of my plan for the day, I heard the washing machine stop. Do I just let the wet clothes stay there and get lots of wrinkles, or do I get up and throw them into the dryer?

Perhaps I should call this post, Friday's Follies.

Courtesty of Classroomclipart.com

 How do you handle days that go awry like this? Do you try to get back to your plan, or just say, to heck with it. I think I'll go read a book?

Book Blog Tours

 

First I want to remind everyone about the new book, 
The Corner Cafe: A Tasty Collection of Short Stories, prepared by the BBT Cafe Authors, an online group of which I'm happy to be a member. This month, our group is on tour, promoting The Corner Cafe, and a full list of blog stops can be found by clicking the link.

I have a short story in this collection and tomorrow I will be at Pat Bean's blog, introducing the central character in my story. Actually, the central character will be introducing himself. Cheeky fellow, Frank is.

If you don't have a kindle, go to http://amzn.to/CCKindleApps
for free apps to download this book.

 

Next, I want to mention that Stephen Tremp is hosting a Breakthrough Breakout Party this week.

Today and tomorrow, June 18th and 19th, his thriller

Breakthrough: The Adventures of Chase Manhatten 

will be available as a free download from Amazon. 

Stop by his blog, say hi, and tell him thanks for your free copy.

 

Now I want to thank my blogging friend, LD Masterson, for giving me the Lucky Seven Meme. This is a bit different from other blog awards in that it asks the blogger to share from a story they are currently working on. It was fun to read LD's excerpt, and I hope you will go by her blog and read it. 

Here are the rules for the meme:

1. Go to page 77 of your current manuscript

2. Go down to line 7.

3. Copy down the next 7 lines.

4. Tag 7 others. 

 

Okay, here is the excerpt from the book I just finished writing and am doing a final revision on. It is titled, Boxes for Beds. 

 

'"Heck! They don't want me. They only take babies." Mandy patted Leslie's hand and Leslie almost laughed at the motherly gesture. "Come on. Help me with my English paper."

Leslie was grateful for the diversion that ate up a couple of empty hours. But after Mandy went to bed, the loneliness and discontent settled back in like an unwelcome guest.

In those empty hours of late evening, Leslie recognized her need for someone to talk to. Being afraid and uncertain was bad enough, but having no one to share it with made it harder to bear.  There was too much silence, during which her mind was busy playing frightening games with her.

I hope Lucky Seven does not turn into bad luck, but I may not tag seven people. I know how busy everyone is, and not everyone has time to play, but here are just a few of my cyber buddies.

Morgan Mandel - who always makes time to play

Ginger Simpson - who may have time

 

Patricia Stoltey - who will probably make time to play

Come Visit me on Another Blog

Today I am a guest at Morgan Mandel's Sweet Not Spicy blog where I am sharing the story of my father's late-in-life marriage. He married for a third time at the age of 81 after losing his second wife, and proved that love has no age limit. A story I wrote about a couple much like my father and his third wife was published in a sweet romance Anthology, One Touch One Glance, and I was thrilled to be included in the collection.

Come on over if you get a chance and read my father's story and share some of your own.

Come Visit me on Another Blog

Today I am over at Morgan Mandel's blog Spunky Seniors. She started this blog to celebrate men and women who are doing fun, exciting, adventurous or unusual things in their more advanced years. I visit when I can and it is always fun to see all the wonderful things writers have shared in previous posts.  

 

I hope you can stop by today where my post is up about taking the stage in my golden years. It begins:

"When I was a little girl, my mother, sister and I would often go to the movie theatre a few blocks from our house. That was an outing that we all enjoyed, and I will date myself by admitting that we could see a double-feature and have popcorn for a quarter. My mother loved movies, and she passed that love on to me."

Wednesday's Guest - Morgan Mandel

Please welcome Morgan Mandel to the blog today as she shares an excerpt from her latest book, as well as some background on the Fountain of Youth.Today is my day to post on The Blood Red Pencil, where I blogged about mystery book awards.

This excerpt is from Chapter Five – From the heroine, Dorrie Donato’s point of view, as she listens to Roman Remington’s spiel. 

“This time, ladies and gentlemen, I’ve discovered something far more valuable than anything I’ve offered in the past. What I have in my possession, which I’m willing to share, will make every health aid obsolete. Forget about growing old, with all its debilitations. From now on, you can possess the power to regain your lost youth and become whatever age you desire. Not only that, you’ll retain that age and never grow old.  

“You may ask, ‘How is that possible?”

He paused for effect, then whispered, “Because I’ve discovered an age-reversing drug, a veritable Fountain of Youth.”

As his words sank in, whispers began. Did the audience believe him or doubt his sanity? She’d not thought such a miracle possible either, but her own body proved otherwise. 

The Fountain of Youth Myth

The Fountain of Youth is such a popular concept I couldn’t help including it in my thriller, FOREVER YOUNG: Blessing or Curse. Although Wikipedia says such a fountain had been popular for thousands of years, I’d only heard of it in history class years ago, not quite a thousand, though sometimes it feels like it could have been.

It’s said that the Spanish explorer, Juan Ponce de Leon went in search of the fabled Fountain of Youth to partake of its restorative powers. In his travels, he ended up in St. Augustine, Florida, where now the Fountain of Youth National Archeological Park commemorates his landing. The park actually contains a fountain and tourists actually drink from it. Apparently nothing magical has happened there so far by way of turning back the participants’ aging clocks. Otherwise, I’d surmise bottles of such miracle water would have been on the market by now, selling for more than the highest priced prescription.    

Although my story takes place in Arizona and not Florida, the concept is the same: using a magical means to regain lost youth. The older I get, the more I wonder what it would be like to be young again, yet benefit from my past experience. Aging is such a universal dilemma, I can’t be the only one who envisions turning back the clock. My imagination has taken me far afield, so far I had to write a book about it.

I invite you to follow along with my heroine, Dorrie Donato, and see how she adjusts to life again at twenty-four, instead of her actual age of fifty-five.

We all know life isn’t perfect, even in the best of circumstances. Though Dorrie may have gotten her wish to be young again, she’s still haunted by past happenings, along with threats to her present survival.

If you’re curious about Dorrie’s adventures, FOREVER YOUNG: Blessing or Curse is available on Kindle, Nook, Smashwords, and other electronic venues. 

To see them all, visit http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com, where you can find every known link to this book, as well as those of my other three novels.

Look for print versions of all four books on Amazon soon.

Thanks for hosting me at your blog, Maryann.

Morgan Mandel

http://morganmandel.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel - Twitter: http://twitter.com/morganmandel

 

Monday Morning Musings

I read an interesting column by Nicholas Kristof in The New York Times about the worth of good teachers. His column was actually about great teachers and reported on a study that showed that "the difference between a strong teacher and a weak teacher lasts a lifetime."

He quoted some statistics that indicate a student is 1.25 percent more likely to go to college and 1.25 percent more likely not to get pregnant in high school if they have a great fourth grade teacher. While those are not huge numbers, they do represent individual students who did better because of the influence of one particular teacher. Those are students who have most likely grown up to be productive citizens and are not perpetuating an endless cycle of dropping out and either scrabbling for living or relying on government handouts for survival.

I remember that fourth grade was a pivotal year for most of my kids as they made their way through elementary school, and they did have a great teacher. She also happened to be a good friend and neighbor and to this day I thank her for being such a great influence on my kids, especially our oldest son.

David did not have a stellar academic career, in elementary school or high school, but it would have been much worse had he not had Ginger Liening as a teacher. He had a horrible time in third grade and was ready to run away from home and school both at the thought of another school year starting. Ginger, to her credit, didn't judge him on his past school experience or behavior. She encouraged him to start with a clean slate, so to speak, and I'm sure it was her mentoring that kept him from dropping out of school entirely.

So I agree with Kristof that school districts should find a way to keep those stellar teachers and weed out the weaker ones. Maybe then there would be a huge jump in the numbers of kids encouraged on to much better things.

On another note, I hope you will come back on Wednesday when Morgan Mandel is my guest. She is sharing some interesting facts about the Fountain of Youth, as well as a short excerpt from her latest book, Forever Young: Blessing or Curse

Fresh beginnings turn tragic when Dorrie Donato’s husband, Larry, is killed in a hit and run accident a few months after starting a new job at the Life is for Living Institute. Discouraged and desperate after  suffering countless setbacks, Dorie accepts an offer by  Larry’s boss, the famous Angel Man, to  be the first to test an experimental pill designed to spin its user back to a desired age and hold there, yet still retain all previous memories.  The pill seems too good to be true. Maybe it is.

Morgan Mandel is a former freelancer for the Daily Herald newspaper, prior president of Chicago-North RWA, prior Library Liaison for Midwest MWA, and belongs to Sisters in Crime and EPIC. She enjoys writing thrillers, mysteries, romances and also enjoys combining them. Her latest paranormal romantic thriller is Forever Young: Blessing or Curse, Book One of the Always Young Series, available on Kindle and Smashwords. Other novels by Morgan Mandel include the romantic suspense, Killer Career, the mystery, Two Wrongs, and the romantic comedy, Girl of My Dreams. Morgan is now working on Book Two of the Always Young Series, called Blessing or Curse: A Forever Young Anthology, where readers will learn what happens to others who have taken the Forever Young pill.  One more book will follow bringing back the original heroine to close out the series.

Book Review - Forever Young: Blessing or Curse by Morgan Mandel

Forever Young: Blessing or Curse
Morgan Mandel
e-Book
Release date: December 2011

Middle-aged Dorrie Donato, is newly widowed and realizes she has to find a way to pay outstanding bills from years her husband had been out of work. He had started a new job at the Life is for Living Institute, but he hadn't worked there long enough for them to pay off the debts from that long financial cold spell.

The book opens with a dramatic punch as Dorrie finds her husband, Larry, dying in the garage parking of the Life is for Living Institute. She calls for help, but it is too late. Larry is dead and she is faced with an uncertain future. Larry's boss, known as Angel Man, offers Dorrie a job and an opportunity to be the first person to take the Forever Young pill. This is the project her husband had been working on, and Angel Man knows Larry would approve. The pill could take her back in years and she could remain 24 forever. 

In desperation she takes the pill and agrees to be the spokeswoman for the company, telling everyone what a wonderful opportunity Life for Living is offering to people - The Fountain of Youth. 

In time, Dorrie discovers that Angel Man's interest in her is not coming purely from a good heart. She also starts to see evidence that there are problems with the pill and realizes that her husband knew about the problems. Was his death really an accident?

The mystery and intrigue in the story are strongly plotted and readers will be kept guessing until the very end.  And even then, the guessing can go on beyond the story. I suspect we will be hearing more about Dorrie in the future.

The strongest writing is in the sections where the author shows the reader what is happening. That opening is one of them. The myriad of emotions that Dorrie experiences when she sees " A limp object lay sprawled in the parking lot where Dorrie was to meet her husband" are ones that any woman can relate to when something terrible happens to the person they love.

There were other places, however, where there was more telling than showing, and I would skim those sections quickly to get back to the action. I also had just a bit of a problem hanging in with Dorrie when she made some choices in her personal life. I thought the grief she would be working through after losing her husband should have had more emphasis in the story. Perhaps that is because I have worked so long as a hospital chaplain and have seen how overwhelming grief can be. Especially in a relationship as strong as the one Dorrie had with Larry.

That is purely a subjective opinion, however. I still enjoyed the story and would recommend the book to folks who like a quick, easy read with a fresh new concept and some good writing.

~~~~~~~~
FTC Disclaimer - The author sent me a copy of the book for possible review, and I told her straight up that I would only review it if I thought it was well done and worthy of a review. Not that my reviews mean anything in the great scheme of things, but I really hate to have to say too many negative things about a person's work. I also did not receive any compensation for this review, nor do I expect to, unless the New York Times would like to buy it for a filler.

NOTE: Please come back on Wednesday when Morgan Mandel will be my guest and share an excerpt from the book.

One Lovely Blog Award

My friend and fellow author, Ginger Simpson, surprised me with the One Lovely Blog Award yesterday. She made the announcement on her blog, Dishin' It Out.

I was really touched by the reason she chose me and this is what she wrote about me: A great friend and confidante, and a very smart lady. She has some amazing articles on her site. Maryann is one of those people who comes into your life for a purpose, and she's certainly served hers well in mine.

So it is with the same gratitude that I pass this award to three authors who have enriched my life with their friendship and support.

Helen Ginger -- who has a terrific blog and newsletter packed with helpful information for writers. She is so generous with her time and expertise, and I really admire her for that. She is also a terrific editor.

Dani Greer -- another lady who shares her expertise graciously and frequently. She was the founder of The Blood Red Pencil blog, and can also be found at Blog Book Tours blog. I also chose Dani because she so appreciates my humor.

Morgan Mandel -- I chose Morgan primarily because I admire her courage in publishing her own book, Killer Career. Not only did she take the publishing bull by the horn, so to speak, she did so with an attention to detail and professionalism that I respect greatly. She shares advice, resources, and book reviews on her blog.

All three of these ladies also manage to do more in 24 hours than most people I know. I stand in awe of all of them. So ladies, I pass the honor along to you.

Here are the rules:

1) Accept the award, and don’t forget to post a link back to the awarding person.
2) Pass the award on.
3) Notify the award winners.

I've been tagged

Morgan Mandel from http://morganmandel.blogspot.com/ tagged me to write six book things about myself.

I don't know where this started or where the rules are, but apparently we are to write six things about ourselves then tag some folks to do the same. Hope the folks I tag are up for the fun and not irritated at the intrustion. :-)

Anyway, here are the things that came quickly to mind for me.

1. I would be utterly lost if books were to disappear.

2. I can't decide if I want to be a mystery writer, or a romance writer, or a screenwriter. Is there time to be successful at all of them?

3. Give me a character I can relate to, and I will be your slave forever.

4. My favorite book of all time is Of Mice and Men. I can read it again and still cry. If Steinbeck were alive, I would be shining his shoes and washing his windows.

5. I have more books in my TBR pile than I probably have years left to live.

6. If my life was turned into a book the title would be "Maryann Who?"

Now I tag:

http://zensanity.blogspot.com/

http://thebookmuncher.blogspot.com/

http://terryodell.blogspot.com/

http://slingwords.blogspot.com/