Day: June 10, 2012

Why Did the Author Cross the Aisle? Some thoughts on Genre-Hopping by Special Guest, Author Fred Limberg

Author Fred Limberg

[This is a golden oldie—it ran on Indies Unlimited back on October 11, 2011.]

I guess that’s what it’s called—genre hopping—when a writer doesn’t stick to one single category. Apparently we’re not supposed to do this. I can’t refer to the exact blog posts or writerly advice articles that caution against it, but they seem quite adamant that as you build your platform and bolster your brand, you will confuse people if you don’t stick to one aisle of the virtual bookstore.

Now, I don’t pretend to be anything other than an indie author with one book out and a number of others in the pipeline, and am no sort of expert on the inner-workings of the publishing industry. Nor do I have any pretense of being either media savvy or adept at anything technological other than banging out a yarn on my keyboard.

I’m an author—not an authority. Continue reading “Why Did the Author Cross the Aisle? Some thoughts on Genre-Hopping by Special Guest, Author Fred Limberg”

Elisabeth Grace Foley Announces New Release

Author Elisabeth Grace Foley is pleased to announce the release of her latest short story, War Memorial:

At the bottom of an old trinket-box lies a misshapen bit of lead—a bullet from the Civil War, an old family keepsake preserved, but mostly forgotten, by later generations. And behind it lies a story—the story of a young girl’s experiences in the days surrounding the fateful battle of Gettysburg, which force her to examine her own heart and show her the face of war in a way she could not have understood before.

War Memorial is available from Amazon.

Sneak Peek: Shepherd’s Moon by Stacy Mantle

Today we have a sneak peek of Stacy Mantle’s  book, Shepherd’s Moon.

Shepherds-MoonIt’s taken twelve years for Alex to earn the official title of Shepherd but she’s now mostly trained, fairly effective, and the first female in over two centuries to hold the position as protector of animals. All animals…

Everything changes when a chance encounter with a genetically modified Shifter leaves Alex shaken and initiates a quest to locate its maker. In a desperate bid to save her pack, Alex must infiltrate the Parallax Corporation – an international organization with their hands in everything from biomedical engineering to publishing. They have now expanded their efforts to include terrorism and are attempting to breed the perfect weapon.

Despite years of training and enough money from her live-in pack of misfits to finance a small country, Alex finds herself woefully unprepared to tackle the new threat. To make matters worse, Alex must work with a mysterious man who’s been trying to kill her since the day they met. Together with her pack, Alex must learn how to stop the biological cloning and find those responsible for the plan before it really does become a global threat.

Shepherd’s Moon is available from Amazon in print or Kindle format and from Barnes & Noble. Continue reading “Sneak Peek: Shepherd’s Moon by Stacy Mantle”

Too improbable? A Writing Tip from Arline Chase

Fall Wedding by Arline ChaseQuestion: You always advised your students to join writers’ groups as if they could give no other good advice they would, at least, ask “What have you written this week?” But I’m starting to think I ought to search for a new group. They all agree that my work is, “Too hard to believe” and all my plot twists are either “impossible” or “improbable.” Okay, my stuff “pushes the envelope.” But I have avidly read books with weirder plots than mine…any ideas?

Answer: Thinking back to my own writer’s group days (with many thanks to the critique sessions at IWWG) my best guess is that it’s either a lack of foreshadowing, or a failure to write the action convincingly. Knowing your work from your student days, my guess is foreshadowing.

It is important to foreshadow and many writers fear to do it, in case they give too much away. FORESHADOWING is a technique that leads the reader smoothly along, hinting at what is coming next. Foreshadowing makes future action more believable. Most of us don’t notice it, but when it’s not there, crises seem too precipitate, changes too sudden, surprises are — well, too much of a shock not to overcome some readers’ “Willing suspension of disbelief.” Continue reading “Too improbable? A Writing Tip from Arline Chase”