A Simple Trick to Keep a Book Series Going -- Stop Boredom

Am wondering how often your give up on a favorite author/series because the last book Bored You.

I lose interest in books I'm reading all the time. Often, I miss a following book because the I didn't finish the previous book in a series because my interest wandered, ie another book stole it.

Sometimes, I think even publishers seem to get bored with long running series and try to mix things up a bit. Think Anne Perry's Charlotte and Thomas Pitt mystery series might be an example. Or, maybe I'm just digging for an excuse why I've missed a couple books because I didn't see them in mass paperback. Still, the Pitt mysteries, totaling more than thirty, are running strong if their rankings are any measure.

Yeah, I ended up reading a trade paperback. When I sent the trade pile to the store, I stumbled over some copies of Perry's newer Victorian  mysteries while I waited for my credit. Haven't read the Monk one yet, but I rushed to read the Pitt one, Midnight at Marble Arch -- mostly because Aunt Vespasia is one of my favorite characters. I wasn't disappointed.

In Midnight at Marble Arch, Perry explores the sexual mores and the privileges of rank when several proper young ladies are raped by a rich banker's son, including the daughter of the Portuguese ambassador. Then, there's the seemingly unrelated rape/death of a society matron. Pitt is settling in with his new promotion to the Special Branch [a political arm of the government] ...and is nostalgic for the simpler days when he was solving murders and other crimes.  Charlotte is regaining her society chops but hasn't lost her fearlessness or compassion -- though she doesn't do much active sleuthing in this book. Pitt learns the identity of the privileged perp early in the book, and the problem becomes bringing him to justice, especially after an innocent man is convicted of the similar crime.

Relationships  -- both personal and societal -- are the keystones in Anne Perry's mysteries. In fact, they take the plot lines in new directions in this book. Don't think the hinted attraction between Charlotte and Narraway, Pitt former boss in the Special Branch, had much traction for others as well as me. Perry seems to opening up the story lines with the Pitts' matturing children and a romance between Vespasia and Narraway. That the latter possibility has me intrigued enough to go looking for the next in the series ... provided it isn't a hard back. [They cost too much and hurt my thumbs when reading for much longer than a chapter.]

Recommended. First, mostly because of  Perry's socio-political chops. She gives as good a feeling for the Victorian age as Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey did/does for the Edwardian period, especially the conforming mindsets of the better classes. The moralizing got a little tedious, but I skipped that. Second, because her plot lines are complex and intriguing. Plus, interesting subplots featuring ongoing characters with different problems, including boredom.

~~#~~

 My Writing Rut

Writing?

Did I hear you say writing?

My brain still hasn't pushed into gear. It's not like I've writing block. I keep acquiring sticky notes. But I don't seem to be getting words added to my new chapters. Maybe the stock market has me reading more financial newsletters than cleaning off my email? Maybe I'm just feeling lazy? S. A. D. syndrom? Quien sabe?

Whatever. I'm not promoting my aging short stories. I'm not writing new short stories. I'm not working on On the Run. I'm not editing any of the manuscripts in my computer. I am watching the birds at the feeder.

I'm also setting up my old man a computer so he can transfer the handwritten notes of his memoir into a computer. Must say Windows 10 is much easier on the eyes than 8. In fact, Windows 8 is one of the main reason after costs that I have gotten a smartphone.

Hope your new endeavors are progressing faster.

Avoiding Pitfalls: Stuff Writers Should Know

Let's talk about some pit falls of writing.

Since I'm dyslexic as a coot, I often get thrown by book cover typefaces ... most often at Smashwords where there are a lot of self-publishers. Bottom line: I can't read the type. The author loses since I don't pick up the book of the shelf or click the link unless the cover art is super-stunning. If you want to be sure your book cover is readable check out what Joel Friedlander has to say in his blog: 5 Great Fonts for Book Covers.  

 Once you have any sort of web presence, you should check what's appearing under your name -- regularly. If you come up with the shock of someone else using your name or tagging your name, you need to protect it. You do have resources. The Guns, Gams, and Gumshoes blog did a bit recently on removing internet tags from your name. Maybe a good thing to bookmark it. I did.

In my last blog, I mentioned that the Regency was one of my favorite time periods. My least favorite, though I've read and enjoyed many books set there, the Victorian period both early and late, is my least favorite. The hypocrisy sticks in my craw. Why? The Victorianst gives a good example why in a posting of a polemic ranting against a man marrying an irreligious woman from the period. Which makes me wonder if a writer can write in a period where they are uncomfortable.

Even though I don't particularly like the period, mystery writer Anne Perry has drawn me back again and again to her world set in the Victorian period with her Monk and Pitt series. But then, one of the main themes of those books is a strong woman fighting against convention. Of course, Perry writes great mysteries wrapped up in lush historical detail.

Perry writes in series, which is sort of a norm for mystery writers, and now, other genres seem to have followed the pattern, especially the paranormal. This makes sense to me because you have most of your characters set up before you start writing. You just have to make them grow.

Seems to me that for a character to grow, s/her must be solidly visualized. Gail Carriger posted a series of pictures on her blog of the queen of her Westminster vampire hive. Check out the Countess of Nadasdy and see if you can visualize your characters so vividly. Tumblr might help.

Can't believe I came up with another justification for spending less time with my own writing.

Mining the To-Read Pile

The Read ...

Actually, went to the to-read pile for a book to read.  I only have four piles ... at last count.  At least I took care of three dust-catchers.  Two landed on the trade-pile after a few pages because I couldn't sink into them.  The other:  Anne Perry's Long Spoon Lane.  Frankly, I can't believe it was sitting there unread.  The Charlotte and Thomas Pitt series has been one of my favorites since the Cater Street Hangman first appeared.

The book was enjoyable and competently written.  Sounds like faint praise, but when there are so many books in the series, that's a great compliment.  I was disappointed that Charlotte wasn't  featured more and that her family was almost absent.  [I like the dynamics in the juxtaposition of social class in late Victorian England.]  Still, Aunt Vespasia, one of my main ladies, got a decent role in this episode.

The book languishing on a to-read pile bothers me a bit.  I've completely missed a couple mass paperback editions somewhere I think.  Problem:  I think the lapses will continue to a greater degree since B&N has reduced their display space in favor of other peripheral merchandise.

Web Stuff ...

Have you noticed the buzz about censorship lately?  Well, lots of good people are speaking out against it.  I've read several blogs, but I think literary agent Janet Reids' "This I believe With All My Heart" blog gives you a good start with its links.  If you missed it, take the time to read it.  I know I'm a little late with the comment ... but reading is a basic right that needs to be monitored constantly.

Personally, I've always had problems with people who think childhood ... life, actually ... should have no problems.  While mine were mostly economic, others have had more shattering personal experiences.  Bottom Line:  I think books should discuss all the problems that life can present for kids ... if only to present possible solutions and examples that it is possible to survive.

Then there's the possibilities of making money blogging.  It's the secret keystone of building a platform -- you want to sell your book ... someday ... somewhere.  There's another way of making money, ProBlogger.  Along with lots of ads and information, they have a job board of people who want articles for blogs.  Didn't notice much for fantasy writers at the few listings I looked at, but if you're into memoir and personal experience -- you might find a source to increase your exposure and get paid too.  [I got the info from an article on "Buy Like Buffett" about three ways to make freelance money on the web.]

For fiction writers, Rachelle Gardner has another excellent blog; this time on selling your work.  While she's emphasizing crafting your pitch, the advise she gives also applies to writing your magnum opus.  If your story-telling doesn't cover the answers ... maybe you should go back to the revising board.

Progress ...

Wasted my writing time last night formatting Dark Solstice for submission to a small e-publisher.

Still, since I'm doing the website thing, I feel compelled to go back and market.  Ugh!  Still have some Word stuff to clean up.  More Ugh!!  

Someday, I may get the next Half-Elven story written.  In the meantime, I blogged about writing short stories.  Need to get in my noodle that the arc of a short story is like the arc in a chapter.  Anyone want to go back to writing one-oh-one with me?

Trivia ...

Time to praise asters, black-eyed susans, and fall crocus.  Without them, there'd be little color in the garden.  On the other hand, the zucchini aren't dead yet. 

Castle is back.  At first it seems like he was giving the team the brush off, but they made up in the end [no surprise since this is a television series, after all] in the process of solving a nicely complicated murder mystery.  Think it's going to be an enjoyable season if they mine the possibilities indicated in the course of the action.  Love still developing characters.