Writing A Novel, Fast or Slow

Writing A Novel, Fast or Slow


 Each writer is different. There is no right or wrong way to write a great novel. Some writers have written their first novel in a week and others took over ten years to get it finished. The road to success comes in all shapes and sizes. When I sat down to write my first published fiction novel Calling Vicki, I thought that it would take six weeks. It ended up taking me almost eight months. I have two unpublished novels that took me less that two months and my next novel looks like it will come in at about the two months mark. You may be totally different. You have your own internal timer that paces your writing. We write best when we are enjoying the process. We should never force ourselves to do something that we love to do.


 

You may approach the novel with no more than a blank page. Writing the novel as you go. Then again you may write down a lengthy outline and follow that outline like the blueprint for a building or a GPS map. Do what works for you and never let how others walked the path to influence you. You may be a sprinter or you may be a long distance runner. You will find out which you are by showing up each day and getting to work. My way is to visit the blank screen off and on for two or three hours and then get my really writing done during hours four and five. I need five hours a day to really get that two hours worth of work done. During that two hours I am good for six to eight pages. You may need only ninety minutes each day to do all of your writing. Just remember that what ever gets pages done is okay. 

Thank you for visiting my blog and please take a moment to like this post on Stumbleupon and to check out a chapter from my book Calling Vicki. The first five are available above this post. Good luck with your novel and have fun writing. 

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Calling Vicki, Suspense Needs a Bad Guy

 When writing a suspense novel you must realize that your book will only be as good as your villain is bad. The stronger the villain the stronger the story will end up being. You love your hero and you want them to be successful. This love sometimes leads to us watering down the forces that will rage against him or in the case of my novel Calling Vicki her. I love my character Victoria Winters, but I do not fully understand her. Part of the way in which I learn about her is to see how she operates during times of crisis. 

 I needed to provide both internal and external demons to push her to and sometimes beyond her limits. This is done expertly in the novel Silence of the Lambs. Agent Starling grows and reveals things about herself through conflict with Dr. Lecter and with her own past.


 

The strange thing that may happen as you do this is that you may grow to like your villains as much as your heroes. In my suspense novel Calling Vicki I never grew to like Carlos the lead villain in my novel. He is a vicious evil man who I understood in the end, but would not want to work with again. While two of the characters that aid him in his quest for revenge, a man who calls himself Riddle and his woman Jackie, I enjoyed dealing with so much that they have earned a novel of their own. I want to know their human story and the only way to learn that story is to write it down.


 

 Thank you for visiting my blog, please take a moment to share this post and if you use stumbleupon could you take a moment to like this site. If a thousand readers did just that one thing I would become a very popular novelist.

Calling Vicki, Writing The Page Turner

Calling Vicki, Writing The Page Turner

 The secrets to writing what is called a page turner is not that many. 

 The first thing that you need to do is learn who to write reasonably well. You will do this by first reading a lot. You learn how to form proper sentences by seeing how others have done it. Secondly you will write a great deal. Write everyday. 

Look at it as if it was any other exercise. You are building your writing muscles rather than arm or leg muscles. Do not worry about how good or bad it is as long as you are writing every single day. Now let’s get to the page turner. Look at the most popular writers that write what are referred to as page turners and they all have one thing in common. They all write short and sweet chapter. From Dean Koontz to James Patterson they keep it short. Under eight pages would be a start. Most of the chapters in my novel calling Vicki are under six pages long. That length is natural to me. I populate my novel with characters who have strong points of view and I live to see the story move along through their eyes.


   

 I believe that this way of writing will only grow in popularity over time due to the fact that we live in the information age. With texting and twitter we are growing accustom to getting information in short quick burst. Consider this when writing and or rewriting your novel. 


Thank you for visiting my blog and please take a moment to add me to your google plus and to share this post with a friend.

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Free Book Week, Calling Vicki

                Free Book Week, Calling Vicki

    To promote my suspense novel Calling Vicki as we approach the holiday season I have decided to offer my novel for one week absolute free at a few of the major ebook distributors.

    If you would like to take advantage of this offer all you have to do is to click here to visit Smashwords. It will available soon at Sony,itunes and Scribd.





    Free book giveaways were invented by authors as a way of getting the book reading public to be the best advertising for their books. Many of those who read the book and like it are happy to give it a quick positive review ad a few reviews can super charge the sales of a book.  I believe that the more people read my book the more popular it will become and getting people interested in it as the holidays approach is going to be very important to me. I have the out line for book two and the only two things holding me up from writing it is the book that I am in the middle of at the moment and the need to get a little more feed back. I need to know what readers like, hate and love about the first book so I can improve upon those points.

    Writing a novel is hard work and sometime that work is made easier by the readers. With the giveaway of my first published novel over the next few days  

I would love to get to know some of these readers. Perhaps even you.     Have a nice day and again please take the time to check out my book Calling Vicki.

The First Novel, The Right Instrument

The First Novel, The Instrument

The hardest part of writing any novel is the blank page puzzle. 

To get past this you first need to pick the tool that you will be composing your novel on. This sounds easy, but no two writers are the same and what works for one writer is poison for others. 

Some of you will want to do your first draft by hand. Almost all of us wrote our first stories this way. The greatest writing in the history of the English language was done this way. Shakespeare and Dickens wrote this way. I understand that the most successful writer in history J. K. Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter book on legal pads.

 

  There is the old school typewriter. I have a pair of them in my basement. I wrote my first unpublished book on one of these almost twenty years ago. I have to admit that there is something reassuring about the sound of the type hitting the paper. If you got one of them laying around and can still find the ink for it then go for it.

 Next up is the wordprocessor or computer. Most of us will end up in front of one of these whether it is the first draft or the one that we will send off to be published. I find the key to this is finding the program that works best for you. You could go simple notepad. You could use word perfect or office. You could use a universal program like Open office. My go to program is word perfect. 

I am comfortable with it and I love the editing features. I am writing this post using word perfect. You could use one of the expensive software programs designed for authors or you could you a speech program to dictate your novel. 

The only tool that you must show up with is your imagination. Writing a novel is about the willingness to work hard and to allow your imagination to be the star. As you write you will find your characters become more and more real to you. They will become over time as real as friends and family.

 I wish you luck and I hope that you will respond to this post by like it on stumbleupon and take the time to read a chapter from my novel Calling Vicki. 

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First Novel and Writing Software

First Novel and Writing Software

You are about to start work on what will be your first novel. You may have started this process before, but this time you are determined to finish what you start. If this is the case then you will want to find the perfect software for the job. 

 Why does software matter? 

 Can’t I just open notepad and get going? 

Sure you can and if that works best for you then do so and do not worry about what other writers are using. I believe that the majority of writers get caught up in the quest for the next big thing. Finding a writing software that will practically do it all for you. This software does not exist. You are the writer and you are going to have to work hard on your novel no matter what anyone advertises. 

To be fair to all involved I am not going to try to sell you on any one program. I use the one that came with my computer and my backup program that millions of people use. The three programs that I am going to look at today are three of the most popular, but there are dozens more out there and all you have to do is a quick google search to find them. 

 First up is a program named Open Office. It is free. 

 

 The second program is Microsoft Office, although I find that Word perfect is nearly as good. 

 The last one I want to look at is the very popular Scrivener. 

 Good luck writing your first novel no matter what program you select. Just remember to have fun. Now if you have a free moment please share this post with a friend and like us on Stumbleupon. Thank you and remember if you want to write well you need to read a lot. Read every day. 

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Fiction, Novel or Short Story, Calling Vicki

                    There is not that much difference between writing a short story and writing a novel. For those that have a problem imagining that they will ever be able to pull together a story that is fifty to a hundred thousand words long I can offer some advice.

    First the major difference between the novel and the short story is point of view. A short story rarely has more than one point of view on display. The focus is on one character and a single plot point. The novel can be looked at as a series of stories that are sometimes strung together or interconnected. Most novels feature a central character, but the novel usually features secondary characters, both protagonist and antagonist that get to shine in chapters of their own. In my suspense novel Calling Vicki I decided that it would be best to give almost a third of the novel to the antagonist or villain so that the readers, by the climatic chapters of the novel, would be in a state of dread. They would be wonder how Vicki and her loved ones are going to survive yet alone win against such overwhelming odds.

  

I suppose the key to the novel is that everything is raised to a higher level beginning with character development. The novel allows you as the writer to fill in unlimited back story. In my novel Calling Vicki I get to revisit the most memorable moments in Vicki’s life. The back story that made Vicki into the person she is at the beginning of my novel. The murders of her parents and the attempt to follow somewhat in their footsteps.  Being separated from her first love by circumstances beyond her control. All of these things I can cover in a novel with no problem, while in a short story it would have to be summed up in no more than a paragraph.

    Secondly the novel is about change, very little is as it was when the novel began while a short is more about a single event. Your characters will grow and change over the length of the novel or you have not done a good job. What happens to them and those around them will alter them in some way. In my novel Calling Vicki the lead character and her closest family member goes through a great deal of change as they maneuver through the dangerous world they have been throw into. If your novel is stuck I suggest that you go back and investigate if your lead character is growing and changing or the same as he or she was at the very beginning of the novel.

    Thank you for visiting my blog, please take a moment to share this post with a friend and to bookmark this site.

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Calling Vicki, At Two Months

                Calling Vicki, At Two Months

I did not think that it would be easy to market this book or get it to reach the top of the best sellers list, but some days I have to admit I have my doubts that it will ever reach the level of sales that I expect. Many writers have gone through this before. The ones that made it kept going. The ones that did not gave up and stopped trying.

    I know that Calling Vicki is good.

    I know that over time I will be proven right or wrong by the only people that matter, the readers.

    If you have not read Calling Vicki yet I am about to do a week of the book being available for free at most major ebook retailers. I cannot do this for the paperback version and I cannot do this at Amazon, but most other retail outlets will have the book for free. I hope that you will take this time to read the book and to share your feeling about it whether they be positive or negative with others.

    I know that overall I have written a quality novel. I may have many more novels in me. I have three other complete novels, but this one feels special. Maybe when I sit down to write the ten months into this journey post I will look back on this moment to read how I was feeling about the progress of my sales.

    Thank you and have a nice day.

Becoming A Name, Calling Vicki

 The name game is an important part of being a successful author. There are two parts of this equation. As your book becomes a familiar name so will you and as your name becomes more familiar to the book buying public so will the titles of your books.




 Look at it this way. When you hear the name Carrie you automatically think Stephen King. Thomas Harris and you think about his character Hannibal Lecter. Oliver Twist and David Cooperfield instantly connects to Charles Dickens. J.K. Rawlings and Harry Potter will always be connected at the hip. We, as writers, enter into a bargain with our lead characters. It is almost like a marriage. We are going to spend the rest of our lives together and it is truly going to be for better or worst. If readers do not connect to my lead character Victoria Winters then she will haunt me forever. I am okay with this. I love Vicki and I look forward to spending more time with her through the good times and the bad.
 
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Being s fiction writer is not easy. I write both fiction and non-fiction and without a doubt non-fiction is easier. In fiction you are creating something that did not exist before you came along. The characters that we create can help us along the way. I believe that no great or even quality work of fiction has ever been written without a strong set of characters moving the story along. When I got stuck in the middle of the novel quicksand Vicki showed up to pick the book up and move it forward. She had a story that she wanted told and I would not have been able to cross the finish line without her. The antagonist was important in this regard as well, but my lead character did what she was born to do and that was lead me along the way. I will write other novels. Right now I am in the middle of an epic fantasy novel and the lead characters are the ones that keep the story going. If that series of novels becomes popular one day then people will mention their names and then my name in connection. When George R.R. Martin is mentioned Game of Thrones comes up usually in the same sentence and When his fantastic characters, Daenerys, Tyrion, Cersei and Arya Stark are mentioned then comes the name of their creator.

 As a writer you are going to be linked to your character if you are lucky. Just make sure that they are interesting and memorable.

Good luck with you writing. Please take a moment to read a few chapters of my book. The first five are available by clicking the links above this post. Thank you and please bookmark this site. 

 

Calling Vicki, an Eye Catching Cover

Calling Vicki, an Eye Catching Cover

Selecting a cover for your novel is both one of the hardest things and most important thing when it comes to marketing your novel. Your cover is the first thing that a customer is going to see. It will either intrigue them or cause them to move on to the next book.

I have to say that I like the original cover for my book Calling Vicki. I like it so much that I will keep it for the paper back version of the book, but I did need a more eye catching cover for the ebook. Something that captured the spirit of the character and made, you, the reader want to dive in. I look at the new cover as being the soul of the lead character Victoria Winters. When I saw the picture I knew that it would fit this character perfectly. Here is the new cover.

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This takes me to another important part of marketing a novel. Social media. The cover of your novel can be promoted on Pinterest. You can do this, but it is better to enlist the aid of others. I would like you to pin my cover if you like it. Secondly I would like to add that you can market via Facebook. Facebook is another important part of the marketing campaign that you will build around your book. I have a facebook fan page for Calling Vicki. Also I have one that is dedicated to my Empires Falling dark fantasy series. Remember every reader can become a fan of your work and fans are the best friends that you will ever have. They will tell others about your work and how go a writer that you are. Whether you write fantasy, suspense, thrillers, romance or horror you should take the time to build a fan page and if you do not have the time visit Fiverr and hire someone to do it for you. Over time it will be of value to both you and your fans.


Okay that is it for today. I would like to thank you for visiting and if you have found this post interesting then please stumble it on stumble upon or share it on your facebook.



 

New Cover Update, Calling Vicki

This is going to be quick post about changes for my book and the reason why.

Covers sell Ebooks as much as the content. I like my existing cover, but it was thought that a more intense ebook cover would do better. This in the end is about getting people to read Calling Vicki my
first Suspense novel. 

Soon I will do a post on how to choice a quality cover. Right now I would like for your guys to take a look at the new cover for Calling Vicki and let me know what you think. 

Thank you for visiting and if you like the new cover please take a moment to Pin the new cover on Pinterest.

Calling Vicki, About Outlining

Calling Vicki, About Outlining

When sitting down to write a novel the first time writer usually does just that. They sit down and let the story flow. Many of the world’s greatest writers have gone their entire careers without ever having used an outline while there are writers like James Patterson who swear by them.

 Your jobs is to figure out what works best for you. I have never outlined any of my novels, but since Calling Vicki is part of a series of novels I had to do a basic outline of the next two books. I did this because along the way there must be seeds planted that will grow into events and revelations further down the road. In the case of Victoria Winters her past is where most of the revelations are to spring from. The plot of the second book in the series is mostly about things that happened during Vicki’s time after her military service while she worked for the state department. Also the second book is my chance to give readers an understanding of how the characters of Riddle and Jackie got together and decided to form their partnership as assassins.




 The outline can be a very useful tool in the hands of a writer willing to follow it. The outline keeps you focused. The outline takes away the pressure to come up with an ending for your novel. You have an ending. The ending is in the outline. You get to work out the plot holes before they form. The outline allows you to write faster. The outline also allows you to work with another writer on your project. You cannot collaborate on a novel without outlining the duties of each writer involved.

How do you write an outline?

 

 There is no absolute answer to this. Some writers type up a chapter by chapter and scene by scene breakdown, while others do it with a notebook. I write down the major events to come and work my way toward them without the restrictions of a formal outline.

 You will find what works best for you over time. I wish you the best of luck. Now please take a moment to like this post on Stumbleupon and maybe add me to your google plus. Marketing a book is a tough job and it cannot be done without help. Social media is a huge tool in the toolbox of the modern fiction writer. It allows us to reach thousands of possible customers. Today, by pushing a button you help me to expand the reach of this blog by a multiple of ten.

Note, there are seven days left in my FREE book giveaway. You can geta copy of Calling Vicki at smashwords by clicking here.

Thank you for visiting. Have a great day. 

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Calling Vicki, Promoting your Book

(At the End of this Post, there is a Free Copy of the Novel offer.)

The promotion of an ebook or actual paperback novel is not an easy thing. Writers who are employed by publishing houses do not have to engage in the moment by moment promotion that those of use who are self published must do.

The self published author must over time become the master or mistress of his or her own trade. If you are going to earn a living at this then you are going to have to learn how to market your work and the sooner, the better. What I mean by sooner is before your novel is released to the general public. “I am a writer. I do not know a thing about selling.”You say. “If you do not wish to be a starving artist then I suggest that you learn.”I say. Being a self published writer offers you’re the freedom to place any and all of your work before the public. It also forces you to become a business person. Your business is writing. You have probably learned early on in the process that you should write every day. Now you must learn to market your work every day. As you learn how to blog about your work and to use social media to promote it you will become a better manager of your time. Twenty to forty minutes a day will be enough to get the word out about your work.




 What every you can do to promote the presence and availability of your book is a positive action. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Google plus and so many other social media outlets are important in getting the word out. Also once your book is out there reviews are very important and that takes me to an offer that I am willing to make. If you are willing to review my novel on Amazon or goodreads or B&N or any of the other sites where it is available then I am offering a free copy to the first twenty readers of this who respond by sending an email to cannon1275@gmail.com with the mail heading Copy for Review. That is a free copy of the full novel, Calling Vicki, in exchange for a review. 

 Thank you visiting my blog. Good luck with your work and please take a moment to add me to your google plus.

Calling Vicki, The first Month

Although sales of my first novel Calling Vicki have gone as expected for the first month I have to admit that in the back of my mind I was hoping for blockbuster numbers. Getting the word out about the existence of my suspense novel has not been easy. I used this blog along with some paid advertisement to spread the word, but since this is my first full length work of fiction I have to sell people not only on my book, but on my ability to write it. 

With this blog I have tried and will continue to share with you all that went into the crafting of my novel. I would like to thank you guys for visiting the site and sharing this post on stumbleupon. 

Today I will offer some trial and error information I picked up during the last month. 

 First, I believe that Wattpad is good for some types of fiction. If I wrote teen romance or horror then it would be the perfect place to share my work. It does okay for my Fantasy short fiction, but for a thriller or suspense novel it is hard to find an audience there. 

Second, Facebook. I have built a facebook page for the novel and posted there, but so far it had not gotten much attention. I believe that facebook requires a great deal of attention to work and maybe after I use my facebook ads the visitors will increase. 

  

 Third, Competitions. In business I knew that I was always competing, but with the novel I thought at first that there was enough attention for everyone to go around. That is not true. You can write a great novel and it could go unnoticed for years. My favorite novel of all time is a Ray Bradbury book and that book took over a decade to catch on with readers.

 Forth, Take Marketing seriously. I spent five as a successful internet marketer. Selling the work of others paid the bills, but when it comes to selling my own work I have been a bit shy. That is the one major change I am going to make for the next thirty days. Marketing this novel at every venue and in every possible way is going to be raised to a new level. Writing is only a small part of earning a living. Writing is the most important part, but marketing has to come a close second.

Fifth, Reviews. Books that have reviews are more respected than those that do not. I have never taken review seriously, but it seems that millions of readers do. I am going to give away a few copies on smashwords to see if I can get some reviews there. 

Thank you for visiting. Please take a moment to read a chapter of the book and to share this post on stumbleupon. 

Final note, there is a half price promotion on the book at smashwords right now. Please take a moment to check it out.

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Calling Vicki, How to Craft a Villain

 Nobody is a villain in their own story. We're all the heroes of our own stories.- George R. R. Martin

 I believe that the most important character in any suspense novel or thriller is the villain. I believe that it was Arnold Schwarzenegger who said that the bigger the obstacle the bigger the hero must be. The villain or antagonist is the one who will make or break your novel. In Calling Vicki I sort of doubled down by including two powerful and very different types of villains in the novel. One of the men is named Carlos, he is all emotion, rage, lust, anger and hate. He dominated through fear and intimidation. The other villain is named Riddle and he is cerebral. He is a thinking man who takes an ordered and logical approach to the task at hand. Even when he is killing he does it with all the emotion of someone who is washing their hands.


   

When crafting the villain for your novel you need to decide on what traits will drive your characters. Villains are usually driven by a mania, something that drives them beyond the point of reason. When crafting my lead villains I knew that needed one of them to balance out the other. Carlos needed someone like Riddle to keep him focused on the task at hand and Riddle, a hired killer, needed someone to give him a target and push to make decisions that he would not normally make. I needed characters who would conflict with each other as much as they would the world around them.

 

  When sitting down to write Calling Vicki I knew that I had to introduce the villain as soon as possible. The villain is the force of conflict and conflict is the best way to drive a story. When ever I got stuck for a way to go I would come back to the lead villain and he would be able to give me clues on which way I should go next with my story. The cool thing about villains is that they are decisive. 

 Okay that will be it for today. If you wish to meet my villains then take a few minutes to read chapter two of my novel Calling Vicki by clicking here. I wish you good luck with your project and do not forget to share this post and to add me to your google plus.


 

Becoming a Novelist

 I really never set out to become a novelist. I started writing when I was twelve. I knew that someday I would probably write books, but had no idea of when or how. I have to say that it took ten years before I wrote my first novel. So we all understand what a novel is, it is a story written in prose form that runs over two hundred double spaced pages and or at least fifty thousand words.

 How long does it take to write a novel? 

Well the math says that if you write two pages a day, each day for an entire year you will finish that year with over seven hundred pages and about three novels in the bank. If your novels are long then two can be written in that time or if you are writing something like epic fantasy then one Game of Thrones sized book. Writing is mostly about the allocation of time and effort. The novels that get finished are not finished because of inspiration, but perspiration. While I was writing Calling Vicki there were days that I could manage only a sentence and other days when I could write ten pages in one sitting. Just keep going back to the page each and every day. Sitting down and reading that page to the point where you left off is usually enough to get at least another page out of you. While writing your first novel you will find that the writing itself is not the hardest part, it is just sitting down in front of that screen and putting your fingers on the keyboard. 

There are a few of you who do not have the patients to invest a year or even months into writing your novel. There are those who believe that it can been done in thirty days. I am not going to say that no it cannot be done. Stephen King said that he wrote an entire novel over a weekend.




 Now the actual time table that you set for yourself is up to you. Do not be disappointed if you go overtime. In the end it is about getting it right. When I sat down to write Calling Vicki I thought that it was a six week project. In the end it took eight months to complete and looking back on it that was the perfect amount of time for me to get it right. Also in defense of that eight month time table I did publish a non fiction book that took a great deal of time and effort to put together. Some of us like to work on multiple projects at the same time. Do what feels right for you. After all writing is suppose to be fun. If writing suspense or mystery is not fun then switch to fantasy or horror novels. If that does not work for you there is humor or even non-fiction. What ever gets you to the keyboard each day is the only thing that matters.

 

 Good luck and please take a moment to share this post on stumbleupon and to read one of the sample chapters of my book. If you like the chapter feel free to share it with a friend. Thanks you and good luck.

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Calling Vicki, Characters, The Main, The Lead

            Calling Vicki, Characters, The Main, The Lead

    There is a theory in screen writing that I would like for you to consider when it comes to writing your novel. The theory is that your lead character and your main character do not have to be the same person.
   
    Look at the film Terminator. The lead character is Sarah Connor.  The main character is the Terminator. The lead character occupies most of the story. They are on the screen or in our case the page more often than any other character. While the main character drives the story. They make things happen. In book terms look at the novel Silence of the Lambs. Starling in the lead character and Lecter is the main character. He drives the story. When ever he shows up there is something like electricity in the air.


    There are many great books where the lead and the main character are one and the same. This is the case in Cold Mountain and Gone With the Wind and Great Expectations and the Harry Potter series. This is also the case with my suspense novel Calling Vicki. Victoria is both main character and the lead. As we get to know about her past and life as lived we grow to understand what motives her. I hope that readers will empathize with her and want her to be successful.

    Thank you for dropping in and checking out my blog. I hope that you will have a look at my book and recommend this blog to others via facebook and stumbleupon.

Writing is a lonely business. Even writing a blog can be lonely. There are long stretches of time where I get little to no feedback.

    Good luck with your work and have a nice day.

Calling Vicki, Writing the First Chapter

           

    The first chapter is like a handshake. This is how we are suppose to greet our reader and get them interested in the story as a whole. I think that this is the must nail chapter in a thriller. You have to establish a sense of tension and a basic idea of who the main characters are.



    When writing Calling Vicki I knew that I needed to introduce the sisters Elizabeth (Liz) and Victoria (Vicki) as soon as possible. I did that with a flashback in the form of a nightmare. A nightmare about a traumatic event in their lives. Next I decided to introduce Liz’s husband Daniel. To give the reader a glimpse into their lives as lived together because I knew that it would be many chapters before they would be back together again. To build suspense in a story you have to establish the connections and relationships that are going to be put in jeopardy. You do not want your book to be populated by those characters who fill so many bad horror films. A bunch of names and faces running around waiting to be killed. You only care about the characters that you know.  One of my favorite modern horror films is the Descent. We are introduced to and given time to know all six women in the film before the bad things begin to happen. The writer/filmmaker cared about those characters and it showed. You have to care about your characters even the bad guys. Many writers like to use the first chapter to introduce the villain, in future novels I may do this, but I felt that this first chapter, of what I hope will be a series of novels, had to introduce one of the two women who will carry that series. I also need you to understand that I did this on a subconscious level and only looking backwards do I fully understand that this is what I was doing and the reason why I did it was from lessons learn from all of the novels I have read throughout my life.




    Okay that will be it on my opening chapter.  I guess that the next post should be about the antagonists or as I think of them as the engine that runs the car. You need these guys to be strong if your suspense novel is going to be strong. 

    You can read the first chapter by clicking here.

    Thank you again for visiting my blog and I hope that you will take a moment to share this post with a friend and to like it on stumbleupon. Writing is a lonely business and blogs are one of the few ways that we get to interact with the public. I know that you are their because you are reposting what I write here.

Calling Vicki Notes, Advice From Others

            Calling Vicki Notes, Advice From Others

 When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature. - Ernest Hemingway

    I believe that one of the most important things that any writer can ever seek out is advice from those who have done it before. With Youtube there is a wealth of free advice out there from some of the world’s greatest writers. From those who write horror novels to those who are have mastered the suspense novel. 

    When I started my journey as an indie film maker I began it by studying the work of others and following the advice of others. I actively sought out advice from those who had made indie films before me. Now as a novelist I take time each and every week to read interviews with other writers or to watch them. Sometimes I do this for inspiration and others because they have some cool advice to offer.

    You are reading this because you are maybe interested in my suspense novel Calling Vicki and or you are interested in writing a book someday yourself.
 


 When writing Calling Vicki I tried my best to make sure that something interesting or exciting happened in every single chapter. I tried to avoid writing filler. I wrote a book that I would want to read. A book filled with action, romance and suspense that builds till the end.

 

I hope that those interviews offered you some sound advice. I hope that you will return to my website from time to time and I hope that you will check out my book.

Thank you for visiting. Please take a moment to share this post and have a nice day.

Calling Vicki, A Thrilling Paperback

            Calling Vicki, A Thrilling Paperback

    My thriller Calling Vicki is as of this moment a paperback. As a writer I have to tell you that it does not really feel like a book until you can pick it up and smell that fresh book smell.

    Although this is my second published paperback this one feels different. The first one is a nonfiction book on film making. This is one hundred percent fiction and that means that this is an actual novel. I can show it to my mother and say here it is. I am an actual published author even though I have been one in the ebook universe for almost a year.



    This is my first published book. It is a book on digital film making that features interviews with film makers who are just releasing their films as I am writing these words. I plan on doing a follow up book at least once a year to show how the world of film making is changing.  It use to cost millions of dollars to shoot a film and now with a DSLR like the Canon T series or the Panasonic Gh1- Gh3 you can shoot a feature length film for a few thousand dollars.

at amazon

    The next post on the subject of Calling Vicki will be about theme and the fact that almost all stories have a theme whether the writer is aware of it or not. For those of you who have read the novel I will say that the theme is Home. Vicki, my lead character, is completing a journey home. She is unaware of the fact, but that is the core of her human story. Home in her case is represented by family and the man that she loves.

I forgot to mention that you can find the paperback of my suspense novel Calling Vicki on Amazon for 6.99.

amazon paperback

Okay that is it for today.

Please take a few minutes to read a chapter and then to share this post with a friend. I have even installed a cool share widget to make it easier.

Calling Vicki, 10 Days, Lessons Learned

            Calling Vicki, 10 Days, Lessons Learned

    I am officially ten days into the release of the novel and during the past few days I learned a great deal about what works and so far does not work where marketing a novel is concerned.

Lesson number one:

    When I do this again I am going to start the facebook page for the book at least a month in advance. Unless you advertise it takes a long time to build facebook followers and that following is important where marketing a book is concerned. I am in luck in this one area. I have facebook ad credits left laying around and I plan on using them during the next week.


Lesson two:

    Build the website and put it on autopilot.
    What I mean by that is that I could have constructed this website with pre written post while I was writing the book and then have them set to post on certain days. By having done that I would have more free time for marketing.


Lesson Three:

    No two books are alike.

    I have written a few nonfiction books. Marketing those books were easier because I had blogged for at least a year on each subject of those books. By blogging I had a built in audience and that helped to sell those books.
    This book is suspense fiction and I am unproven as a fiction writer although I have published four short stories during the past year.  All I have to get people interested in the novel are the sample chapters. When writing a thriller, sci fi or suspense or horror you need to build a fan base. In this case I am going to have to use the novel to do that.

Lesson Four.    

    Stumbleupon and Tumblr are very important marketing tools.

    I can use them to reach people. To get them to sample my book, but getting others to share my post on Stumbleupon or Tumblr is huge. From my research I find that these two sites are much more important when it comes to marketing a novel than Twitter. Convince a reader to repost a chapter or one of my post on Tumblr is going to make things progress a lot faster. Getting others to like my pages on Stumbleupon gets my work to a huge audience.

Lesson Five.

    Ask for help.

    I am a loner by nature. Most writers are. We spend more time with out characters than we do interacting with others. I do not like hiring help, yet alone asking for it. I have to get past this, because I do have a family to support. I have to do this so that I can quit my day job and become a full time writer.
    So I am going to as for help from you the reader. Take a few minutes to read a chapter of the book that has been posted here. Share that post with a friend. Tell me what you think.


    Lesson six.

    Keep writing.

    Writing takes the pressure to sell off. Writing is after all what I love to do and getting lost in the next story is good for business in the long term. With the exception of blog post I took eight days off from writing and that amount to around ten thousand words that I did not write. I am back to writing and having fun at it. I like to tell stories. I love seeing how they will turn out. I can not wait to see how this real life story of me the novelist will end up.





Lesson seven.

    Make up for lost time.

    This is time that you spent writing that you did not spend with your family or friends or even me time.  In my case I did not spend enough time with my child, she is almost three and I took six months out of our time together saying go away I am trying to finish my book. Well it is finished and today I going to play with blocks and dolls. I am a guy I love blocks, but dolls were never my thing.

    Face it, while we are working so hard to build a better life for the ones that we love we forget to do the little things. All the money and success on earth does not make up for time. Time is the one thing that we do not get more of.

    Okay that will be it for today’s post. Good luck with your writing and thank you for visiting.

40%discount

Calling Vicki, Welcome to Amazon

            Calling Vicki, Welcome to Amazon

The news for today is that my suspense novel, Calling Vicki, has just been publish on Amazon click here.   This leaves the paperback version of the novel yet to be released. You must understand that when you are self publishing a novel it does not happen all at once. You have different venues that of course have different standards that must be met before publication.
    How do I publish my first novel?
    Good question.
    There is no easy answer to this.  You can go the traditional route. This would be finish you novel. Hire someone to proof read it or do it yourself. Then you will have to find an agent. Finding an agent involves researching those who represent your kind of fiction or nonfiction. Then crafting a query. If they like your query then they will request that you submit a few sample chapters and an outline. If they like both then you book will be requested. If they like you book and agree to represent you then you will sit back and wait for them to find a publisher. They will review the offer and if it is acceptable you will have a publisher. Once this happens you will wait a few months or up to a year before publication.
    While if you self publish you decide when the book is ready and then you seek
 out the venues that you wish to publish on or you uses a company like smashwords or Draft2digital or Bookbaby to do the distribution for you and  you are published in days. How much do they cost? Well Smashwords and Draft2digital are free, while Bookbaby cost money. They say that they have a free option, but it is very complicated and their customer service on that option stinks.
    I could have taken my novel Calling Vicki to each venue separately. By doing so I do not have to share any of the revenue, but that was time consuming and some are more difficult to deal with than others. Barnes and Noble is easier than Amazon or Createspace.  I made the choice to get help to distribute my first novel. 

Trust me on this that the distribution part of the job is a lot easier than the marketing. The type of book that you have written, horror or thriller or romance will make it easier or more difficult to market the book. In another life I hope to write teen horror fiction. It is by far the easiest to market and the fan base is intensely loyal. The problem with being a writer is that we write what comes to us. We do not really have a choice of the types of stories that we end up telling. The genre finds us.
    Okay that is it for today’s post. Please take a moment to read one of the same chapters and remember that my book is now available on Amazon.

buy at amazon

Calling Vicki, Chapter Three of the Novel

I have being doing a quick review of the traffic to this blog and although I have received hundreds of visitors during the past week there has not been many views of the chapters that I have posted so I am going to repost Chapter three here.  
     The reason that I have selected chapter three is that it is the first of the early chapters that would be rated general audience. Calling Vicki is at times a violent and bloody suspense novel, also there is some sexual content so I have to be careful with a blog page that is open to everyone. The second reason is that this is the chapter where the main character, Victoria (Vicki) Winters, is introduced. I hope that you enjoy the chapter and that you will consider purchasing the novel.

  Chapter Three.

    The kitchen and the bathrooms were stunning, but when selling a home to a family you had to get as many members of the family on board as possible. The wife was in love with the home. The husband was indifferent. Husbands were always indifferent to houses. Just pick one that they could pay off within two decades and they were pleased. The one that would tip the sale in her favor would be the child.
    The child in this case was a thirteen-year-old boy who had not been able to take his eyes off of her since him and his parents arrived to inspect the house. While the parents looked over the front garden, she sat on the front steps with the boy sitting close by. She turned her gaze on him and he quickly looked away.
    “We have not been introduced yet. My name is Victoria Winters.”She offered her hand and he shook it eagerly.
    “Trevor.”He smiled.
    “You know Trevor if your family buys this house, we are going to be almost neighbors. I live just a mile down that road over there. If you are up early in the morning, you could join me on my jogs.  Maybe this summer my nieces will be visiting. Diana is nine and Courtney is twelve. Some people thing that Courtney looks just like me.”Vicki took out her phone and found a picture of her nieces. Diana looked like her sister Liz while Courtney did look a great deal like Victoria. A beautiful dark brown-haired twelve year old with huge eyes.  “If you guys buy this house I could introduce you.”
`    Trevor was up and jogging over to join his parents, twenty minutes later.
 Vicki was driving away with a hand shake deal on the house feeling a bit guilty over the one lie that she had told the boy. She had visited her sister and her two daughters, but they had never returned home for a visit. Too many conflicting memories perhaps had kept her sister from ever returning to the only home where they had ever been a complete family.
    Despite the fact that she had one more house to show today Vicki took the turn off that led to her own home. Nothing needs to be done back at home, nothing had been left, but she did it anyway. Thirty seconds later when she saw the car parked in the drive of her home did she get the reason why. That timeless companion to all those who considered themselves survivors, instinct, had made her do it.
    There was a man sitting on the hood of that car staring up at her home.
    Vicki cruised her car to a stop about twenty feet away. Took the small snub nosed pistol from her purse and held it concealed behind her back as she got out of the car and advanced on the man who had his back to her and seemed to have not noticed the presents of her or her car yet.
    “Nice house huh?”Vicki called to him.
    The man tilted his head her way, but did not look back.
    “I knew someone who lived here.”He said.
    “Really?”She said.
    “Yeah, a girl. A long time ago.”He turned to look at her and did a quick double take. He knew her and it was the tailored beard that kept her from registering who he was for a second or two.
    “Cash?”Vicki whispered and secured the gun in the pocket of her business suit.
    “Tori?”He began to jog toward her, then slowed down not sure how she would react or if was really real after all these years.
    Vicki knew how he felt. She had not seen Cash Russell since the day after her parents were killed. One day they were best friends, then they had not been this close to each other in nineteen years.
    Vicki decided for the both of them by skipping the last few steps to him and embraced him. Nineteen years ago she had been taller than him and now despite the fact that she was five foot ten in her bare feet he was at least three inches taller than her. Cash lifted her and spun her twice before putting her down. He stepped back just far enough to take hold of her hands and to take a good look at her.
    “You are wearing a suit and tie Cash?”
    “You are wearing a suit without a tie Tori.”
    “I don’t like the beard. I bet my old friend is buried somewhere underneath it.”
    “You know what Tori?”
    “What?”
    “You grew up cute.”Cash grinned.
    “I know.”
    “Jerk.”
    “I know.”Vicki smiled and pulled her hands away.
    “Was that a gun you had?”
    “Maybe. Now why are you here?”
    “I missed you too, pal.”
    “Seriously?”
    Cash looked away to Vicki’s house and smiled.
    “I came up here to check on my parent’s house and see about arranging a sale. They are happy in Florida, but could use more money down there. I thought about you while I was over there and came here to remember a few things.”
    “You staying long?”
    Cash stared at her for a few seconds until it became awkward then said. “As long as it takes, takes to catch up on how things have been going with you.”
    “Okay, I tell you what, you can ask me one more question before I have to get back to my day job.”
    “Thank you for granting me permission oh great queen.”
    “Cash.”
    “What time should I pick you up tonight?”
    “Five o’clock. Dress casually. I pick and you pay.”She giggled like a girl and that was something she could not remember doing since she had been a girl.
    “I pay?”
    “Yes. I know what that suit you are wearing cost. Shame on you for spending that much money when there are starving Bigfoots somewhere.”
    He started back toward his car and stop himself before opening to the door.
    “God, I have missed you so much Tori.”He said.
    “Don’t call me God, it goes to my head. And I feel the same.”Vicki said. She did and needed a few hours to compose herself. Emotions made you vulnerable and she did not want to be vulnerable around a guy who was a stranger. They had been childhood friends for about eight years and had not seen each other for over twice that amount of time. Despite all the butterflies in her stomach she only knew who the kid Cash had been was. Neither of them knew the adult versions of the other. Yeah, she needed to breathe for a few hours.
    “Cool, see you here at five?”Cash said.
    “You always had to hear it three or four times didn’t you.”Vicki smiled. “Go and come back with chocolates.”
    Vicki watched him drive away and decided to hand off her last assignment for the day to another broker. She felt the overwhelming need to wash her hair until it shined golden brown. Turned out cute huh? He had not seen anything yet.

Calling Vicki, Is it Too Violent?

         

    Those who have read the entire book will have to answer that question for themselves. I understand that you have come here for my opinion and here it is.
    Calling Vicki is a book about survival.
    The antagonist is a violent criminal. Carlos solves almost all of his problems with violence. I admit that I made that I made the conscious choice to show that violence to the reader so that when Vicki response with violence you as the reader can clearly see the difference.
    There is never a moment where Carlos is engaged in violence where he is not emotional and that is where it comes from for him. Strong emotions like anger, lust, fear and rage.
    When Vicki resorts to violence it is to protect herself or those whom she loves. She is almost always thinking it through when she uses a gun. Of course this is why she does not dwell on the actions that she had taken along the way. She uses a gun for a reason. Like the soldier that she was at one time she has learned to justify it and move on.
    A few words about where I learned to write a modern thriller. There are two answers to that. My writing style comes from reading Robert B. Parker (the Spenser novels), Mickey Spillane, Dorothy L. Sayers and James Patterson. I am also influenced by movies. I am a screenwriter more so than a novelist. I do not have to struggle while writing a screenplay in the same way that someone who plays the guitar has to struggle when learning to play the bass. As a guy I hate to admit that I have watched a number of lifetime thrillers and suspense films. Most of them are terrible because they never take risk. They never break free of their basic formula. If someday I am asked to write a movie for the Lifetime network it would end up being something like the film Stoker or a lost classic like Mute Witness. 
 Here is a quick video that I found on writing suspense. If you are planning on writing your own suspense novel this quick tutorial can help you a great deal.

    I suppose the next question for me would be, do I see Calling Vicki as film material? 
    It started out as a screenplay that I could not finish.  Now looking at it finished in prose form I believe that it would make a very good movie. I believe that all three books in what will be the Victoria Winters series of novels would probably make good movies.
    Who would play Vicki or Liz or Cash in a movie version?
    That would be asking someone who is a indie film maker. If I did this book as a film rather than Hollywood who would play those parts?  Well, I would pick a few actors that most of you have never heard of, but I believe are fantastic. I will not duck the question completely. As far as Cash goes, I could see either of the guys on the show Supernatural playing that character in a movie. (Duck Alert) Who would play Liz would depend on casting Vicki first. If I say a name then you will always associate that actress and her face with Vicki, that is why I did not want to put a face on the cover of this novel. I tell you what I will do and you guys can remind me when it is released. When the second book comes out I will tell you exactly who I believe should play her in a movie if I got to pick and who would do it if Hollywood got to pick. Also I will do the same for the character of Liz.  I promise. Just don’t get upset if I suggest Joan Rivers.  (I am Joking)

Okay that is it for today. Above you will see that I have posted the next chapter in the book. I am thinking that I will go ten chapters over ten post.

Please take a moment to share this post or one of the chapters with a friend. I need your help to market this book. I need your help to complete these series of novels. If this novel becomes a best seller it is going to be due to those who read it and shared it with others. I could buy ads and hire companies to push Calling Vicki, but I believe that it would be better in the long run if fans of the book sort of pulled it along.
    Some of you guys have been great so far. I want to thank those of you who purchased the book. I want to thank all of you who have shared this blog on facebook and who have posted comments on stumbleupon. You are doing it because you like the characters and information that I am sharing with you.  Thank you.

itunes

Calling Vicki, Feedback and Price Points

                Calling Vicki, Feedback and Price Points

I have gotten my first feedback about the sample chapters from the book. The question in one form or another is about Vicki and Cash. What happened nineteen years ago to separate them? How old were they at the time? What exactly happen to Vicki and Liz’s parents? 

    The answers are. It is in the book. They were both twelve and it is in the book. I have to say that it is worth reading to find out. The things that I am willing to say is that Vicki and Cash are perhaps my favorite couple to write about. They surprise me more often than any other couple that I have ever written about. I wish in a way that I could write about them as a couple during their teenage years. I have to tell the story the way that it happened and not how I wish it had happened.  “But you are the writer, you can make it up.” It does not work like that. If you ever write a novel I believe that you will find that out. Look at it this way, that old saying is true, absence does make the heart grow fonder. Their time spent apart will over the course of their story bring them closer together. They will appreciate the love that they share more because of it.

    When I sat down to write this novel I thought that it would be a pure thriller. Somewhere along the way romance took over. Now how cool is that?

    Now some story notes.

    A big part of releasing a novel is deciding upon the price that you will charge for the book. Some of this is going to be dictated by the venue that it will be released at and another part of this is the kind of book that it will be. Ebooks cost nothing to print so the price of an ebook is dictated by the venue that it is published upon. Some places charge you more than others for the right to publish there.

    If your book is going to be a hard copy. Paperback or hardcover then there is a cost per book that has to be accounted for. The paperback version of this novel has to cost at least 7.99 for me to make any money on it at all. While I have adjusted the cost of the ebook down to 2.99 today at all venues because I needed to be competitive with other authors.  You can now purchase the book here at the cost of 2.99 by clicking the picture of the cover below.
There is also a 40% discount available.

https://payhip.com/b/saOc

Thank you for visiting my blog. Please take a moment to like my site on stumbleupon and to add me to your google plus.

Calling Vicki, Characters Can Drive

 Plot driven stories are just not my idea of fun. Plot forces you as a writer into corners that your characters at times do not find comfortable.

Plot should always be in the back ground. When I sat down to write Calling Vicki I had a basic chase plot in mind, but there was never a moment where I allowed the plot to override what my characters wanted or needed to do. I would sit back and allow Vicki or Carlos to take the wheel of my story and drive it in whatever direction that they wished. I knew that for the story to work out that these two would have to face each other, but I never pushed. I let their personalities to control their actions and the rest was easy.

 Plot tends to hold back characters from revealing who they really are. The character of Vicki is a natural hero because she is motivated by love and is willing to sacrifice herself for others. Carlos is a natural villain because he is totally self absorbed. He will sacrifice anyone for his own needs. He will do anything to satisfy his wants and desires. He does not believe that he is a villain and I find that to be very important when creating a villain. They have to believe that in their universe they are doing what is right and fair.

Here is a quick video on the subject. It is about screenwriting, but can easily be applied to prose.


  


  Okay now some news about the book. It is available at Smashwords. I am waiting on a different cover for the paper back that will be published on Amazon. Below will be a link to the Smashword’s page. At the top of the page you will find chapter three of Calling Vicki. If you would like to help with the social marketing of my book please take a moment to hit the like button on stumbleupon. I get twenty to forty visitors to this blog every time someone does this.

A few words about tomorrow’s post. It will be one the subject of publishing your own book in this digital age. There are so many ways to get your book or short stories out there to the public. Whether you want to have it read for free and to receive feedback or if you want to earn a living from your work.

Thank you for visiting. Have a nice day.

Calling Vicki, The Rejected Cover

 

    One of the most important things when trying to sell an ebook is the cover.

I wanted a very simple cover for my suspense novel, Calling Vicki. The cover I wanted had to be something like a James Patterson novel. I am not completely happy with the cover, but I do like it. Well I actually almost love it after the first cover that I commissioned.

    Let me explain what goes into purchasing a cover online for your novel. You can either allow one of the book distributors like BookBaby or Lulu to do a custom cover for you at a cost of a few hundred dollars. You can hire a freelancer to tackle the problem at a cost of about a hundred bucks or you can use one of the great online sites like Fiverr to commission someone for five to ten dollars to do the cover. If you prefer a simple cover then I would suggest Fiverr as a place to get your first cover. If you are publishing short stories then I definitely would not spend more than five dollars for the cover.
 
    There is also the option of doing it yourself. This is harder than it may seem and you just cannot go online a steal an image for your cover. You must buy one. Taking an image that does not belong to you can get you into trouble. What I would suggest is signing up on sites like Fotolia where you can pay as little as a dollar an image. They even have free photos available. Then all you have to do is use Gimp or any of the online image editors to add the title and your name along with resizing the phone for your  cover.  The good thing about this is that if you have a hosting package from a site like godaddy then you probably already have free credits for Fotolia. Check you account and you will find them with the credits for yahoo and google adwords.  

 
    A basic image on the cover of your book will always be better than something that is too over the top or has nothing whatsoever to do with the story inside of the book.

    Here is a look at the first cover I got back for this novel and once you read the book I am sure that you will have the same, what the hell, reaction that I did about the first cover.

 



Now my actual book cover.

  


A world of difference I think. In closing I would like to say that the book is available at Barnes and Noble. You will find a link in one of the photos on the right side of this post.   The next post will be tomorrow and it should be about Smashwords and the topic will most likely be about allowing characters to drive the story.

Now please take a moment to share this post on your social media. I believe that I have a quality thriller in Calling Vicki, but so far it has been difficult to get the general public to take notice. I feel like panicking and I am only three days into the release. There are at least some half dozen more venues in the states for the release of the book before I go national and international with Amazon. The paperback will come out on Amazon a few weeks before the ebook. Maybe I will do a post about why the modern author prefers ebooks to hard copies of their work.

Thank you for visiting and have a nice day.