Sneak Peek: R.E. Donald’s Ice on the Grapevine

Today we have a sneak peek of author R. E. Donald’s second book in the Hunter Rayne highway mystery series, Ice on the Grapevine:

Ice on the Grapevine CoverIce on the Grapevine is a traditional mystery featuring Hunter Rayne, a retired homicide detective turned long haul truck driver. The story opens on a July morning with the discovery of a frozen corpse at a brake check just south of the Grapevine Pass in L.A. County. Hunter is persuaded by his irascible dispatcher, Elspeth Watson, to help clear two fellow truck drivers who are arrested for the murder. His job is made more difficult by the fact that the suspects, a newlywed couple, won’t speak up in their own defense.

The circumstantial evidence is strong, and a rookie detective from the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department is eager to score a win. The investigation crosses the Canada-U.S. border when the victim is identified as a second rate musician from Vancouver, and it turns out there were more than a few desperate people happy to see him dead, including the accused couple. Hunter has to use all his investigative skills to uncover the truth.

Ice on the Grapevine is available at Amazon.com, Smashwords, and at ibooks and Kobobooks. Continue reading “Sneak Peek: R.E. Donald’s Ice on the Grapevine”

Meet the Author: Boyd Lemon

Author Boyd Lemon

Author Boyd lemon is a retired lawyer, living in Ventura, California near his four children and four (soon to be five) grandchildren. His passion is writing, and he loves to travel and sample food and wine of the world.

Boyd says the discipline to write every day is his greatest strength. “As a result, I write a lot of garbage, but enough of it is decent enough to make something out of it. I sometimes go back to old notebooks, read what I have written and find a few gems that relate to a story or book I am writing.” As far as areas in which he wishes to strengthen his writing, Boyd says he is working on improving scene building and descriptions, as well as the building of tension in a story. Continue reading “Meet the Author: Boyd Lemon”

The Influence of Personality on Authorial Style

Part of the allure of being a writer is the ability to create another whole (albeit fictional) world. We might have very little control over events in the real world, but we can play God in the ones we invent. We choose what happens to whom, who lives and dies, every twist and turn, and we alone decide how it all shall end.

I wondered to what extent those decisions we make as the supreme beings of our story-worlds are influenced by our own personality type.  There are many formal ways to categorize personality types but, as with most things, I have my own way. I classify personalities as: Optimist, Pessimist, Skeptic, and Cynic. Continue reading “The Influence of Personality on Authorial Style”

Basics of Viewpoint by Arline Chase

Out of Control by Arline ChaseThe best way to choose viewpoint is to ask yourself whose story or scene it is. Once you know who the story is about it’s safe to assume that most of the story will be told from that character’s viewpoint, either in first person “I” narrator, or third person “she or he” narrator.

There are several kinds of viewpoint. “First Person” is written with an “I” narrator, as if the story happened to you. “Third Person” limited is written in third person, but limited to a single point of view. This is the viewpoint chosen for most short stories. Most girl-in-danger stories are written in first person limited, while Harlequin and most genre romances are written in third person limited. In either case “limited” means limited only to the main character’s viewpoint. The reader cannot know anything the main character doesn’t see, think, or feel. Continue reading “Basics of Viewpoint by Arline Chase”