Who Was the Winner of Your Reading Derby This Week?

    Ended up hosting a reading derby this past week--with two books instead of seventeen. Started reading one book by a favorite author but ended up skimming it more than reading because the book emphasized action rather than character development. Maybe that's one problem for long running series--readers become more interested more in what's happening to the people in the book rather than sis-boom-bah action scenes running one after the other--and they fizzle? At least it was for me. [I did finish and enjoy the book, but it was an also ran.]

   The winner was Kay Hooper's  A Deadly Web , part of her new Bishop Files series. The story's a nice, tight thriller with Bishop trying to find out why psychics are going missing. The plot pits him against a deadly web of psychics preying upon psychics. I get a little tired of conspiracy theories in real life, but where would genre fiction be without them?

   I don't think the people in peril plot line ever gets tiresome once a writer sets up a likable set of characters. In A Deadly Web, you have an attractive main character who needs saving from a fate worse than death, which is more nefarious than the cliche. Since the book fits in the romance-suspense-thriller category, there's a caring male to anchor the MC, a character who is working with another psychic group than Bishop's to save psychics. Even the members of the cabal of villains are interesting and well drawn .

   Problem. Too much talking. Hooper weighed this book down with too much character and not enough action. Worse, the ending seems to dangle without a real resolution. Another way of putting it, the characters didn't seem to grow from their experiences. Granted Hooper needs some loopholes to hook readers for the next book in the series. But to me, the book felt 3/4s baked. Only the end sank rather than the middle.

   The multiple changes in viewpoint also bothered me. Even the secondary characters got their place in the sun. Often felt like Hooper was head-hopping. Thrillers need to get into the perps' minds to create suspense, but this story seemed to be spending as much time on the villains as the heroes. If I counted the pages, I'm sure this wasn't true, but it still felt like it.

   That said, let's talk about the pluses. Hooper's a master at creating a spine-crawling sense of dread in the reader. She sets up a menacing situation and then squeezes it dry. And, Hooper knows how to convey psychic sensibilities so they seem possible even to non-believers.

Recommend in spite of reservations. The book kept me reading well beyond my bed time so I guess it means the book is better than most. But the book definitely isn't Hooper's best.

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Did you hear my scream: "Finally, *#(&%"?

    GoDaddy's advanced tech support finally fixed my webbuilder so it stayed fixed. The new excerpt of my working draft of On the Run is now up. Now I have to start thinking about longlines. All of this is subject to change of course because Pillar may surprise me against with an insight I never dreamed of when I started the story. For once my reviewers might be happy. The story is threatening to be longer than my other self-published pieces, thus taking care of my biggest criticism in my reviews. My stories should be longer.

   Did get a nice review for The Ghostcrow at TMBA Corbett. I always find it interesting when others find my fantasy realistic. Oh, you have to scroll down through all the book promo stuff to get to the review since it's part of a blog tour.

Now all I have to do is get writing on my new stuff.

Does that sound familiar?

Writers: Do Your Characters Nurture Your Writing?

  Most of the guru-speak I've read/heard talks about what writers must do for their characters. Recently, I began to wonder about what our characters should do for us. Lots of kids eventually take care of their parents as they get older.Why can't characters help writers as their series age?

  One book's a cinch...if you've got the writing chops. At the start of the series, the characters present a new land to be explored, complete with new concepts and problems. I recently exchanged reviews with a writer who came up with an intriguing new take on angel-human relationships--at least it was new to me, Amy Vansant's Angeli -- The Pirate, the Angel and the Irishman.

  The storyline traces the progress of Anne Bonney, the pirate of renown, as she becomes a Sentinel, a policeman for angels gone so bad they drain people of their energy. Yeah, she's as much of a rule breaker as a Sentinel as she was as was as an 18th century woman. 

  But there's more to like with the book: a love triangle that's announced in the title, but the book is more than a common chick-lit romance. Vansant has a rollicking sense of humor that turns the entire read into a smile-fest, even though the heros are chasing an evil bad guy or guys. I imagine sequels will have problems avoiding reruns of the same old motives, but for now the story line is a fresh as the morning sunshine after a rain. May Vansant prove me wrong. 
5*****

  Then, there's the other end of a writing career. I read several authors automatically when I find their new mass paperback editions. And sometimes, I re-read previous titles if a new one doesn't come out quickly enough. When you've written many books about the same characters, It takes true creativity to keep from recycling the same ideas over and over. Granted there has to be some overlap if a bunch of books are to be a series. The trick is in keeping the books exploring new territory.

  One of the writers who amazes me with her consistency and her inventiveness is Kay Hooper. I think I started reading her titles back in the 1990s. I'm still reading them even though she's basically a romance writer, and most romances bore me. 

  Her psychic F.B.I. agents, led by Noah Bishop, and their civilian counterpart [Haven] are a different story. I like the way Hooper plays with the supernatural even if her books tend to get repetitive. I've recently read Hostage and Haven. They are set in a new trilogy, as usual with her writing pattern, and deal with a new enemy who plots to destroy Bishop. At least that what previous nemesises have threatened to do. Hooper's achievement? She puts together a good thriller with a well-fleshed killer, usually with strong, realistic psychic abilities. 

One device Hooper uses to keep her books fresh is a romance as a sub-plot. Each book presents a new psychic couple discovering each other as they hunt down a killer. Yeah, the premise is used in hundreds of books each year. Hooper does it without putting you to sleep.

  One of the problems with a long running series is that sameness does creep in. Another negative, Bishop too often plays the role of puppet master to his investigators. Granted Hooper delivers a fun, fast paced read with lots of chills, but her ideas are starting to feel a little shop worn.
4**** for both books.

<<>> 

  Have been having fun with Crossings. Spent huge amounts of time submitting it to promo sites when I'd rather be writing. Truth be told. I'm still doing it. My big achievement. Crossings is up on Amazon for free at the moment.

  The results? Crossings has ranked at high as #3 in this obscure Kindle category.

• #9 in Kindle Store > Kindle Short Reads > 90 minutes (44-64 pages) > Science Fiction & Fantasy

When I copied it from my listings, it was #9. Surprise. Surprise. It even looks like there might be a couple sales on the chart for The Ghost in the Closet, but I doubt if they amount to a cup of coffee.

  Oh, and I even have some 5***** reviews of my own.

  Don't think I'm resting on my "best-selling" laurels though. The Ghost Crow is progressing. I'm taking my own advice and recycling Dumdie Swartz of The Ghost in the Closet. This time with a story set during her teen years -- though I don't think of it as YA. I'm maybe halfway through the first draft, and I know where I'm going.

  My Far Isles Half-Elven? They're are resting in obscurity though they sometimes appear on the first page in Goggle and Bing under the search term "Half-Elven". People even click through. How do I know? My website links are the only places where I promote The Foiling of Gorsfeld, a story set during Mariah's teen years, and it gets downloaded regularly.

Care to share how you've recycled some of your characters?

Do You Think a Villain Has to Be the Slitheriest? No,I'm Not Talking About Voldemort.

I'd like to nominate Kay Hooper's Bishop Files novels for creating great villains. Just finished Hooper's The First Prophet, recently published in mass paperback ... a year behind the hardback. Believe me it's as good a thriller as comes off the shelves. 

What's not to like? Hooper delivers a fast-paced story line with lots of twists and turns that lures you into turning the pages as fast as you can read. Most important she delivers another great villain who's manages to keep one step away from the fleeing protagonists. Short summary: the main character, trying to avoid her new found psychic powers, is pursued by an organization who seeks to control her while Bishop's team tries to save her.

While Hooper's villains in her previous Bishop novels tend to be slimy egomaniacs, the adversaries in this book have their own point of view and show inklings of honor within their confrontations with Bishop's side. So what if they are killing psychics? This a a good read to study for presenting ambiguous villains who aren't over the top ... yet... -- Who knows what'll happen later in the series.

Five Stars -- A fast moving multi-genre tale with a stable full of well drawn characters. It even has a believable romance. Would that I could keep so many people straight in my own writing. I can't even keep real people straight in a crowd.

===

Must confess. I've been goofing off ... reading blogs [and tweets and Facebook posts] instead of playing spider solitaire. Seems there's quite of bit about how not to piss agents off. Then I read Janet Reid, of the Chum Bucket and agent extraordinaire, comments about some things that must of appeared in the queries she received.

Of course, I never do dumb things like saying "fiction novel" in my queries, but I do plenty of other ding-bat stuff. Like spent most of the afternoon chasing the publication date of a sale I made back in 2010[?] -- "Night for the Gargoyles" to Spectra Magazine in Great Britain. 

Yeah, I know it's 2013, and I took my own sweet time to get my arse in gear.  Anyway: if you look up volume 5, you'll see my name on top of the author list on the cover. 

Why go look for it now? Well, I have a contract from Grumpy Dragon for "There Be Demons", the novel that grew out of that short story. Am thinking I'll put it up on my website -- for free -- since rights have reverted to me.

Cliches Uber Alles -- But Still, A Hook?

Wasn't I the person who pronounced that she only skimmed books that didn't hook me because they were filled with cliches? Guess what happened on the next book I read.

At the grocery store, I caught a book by Kay Hooper I hadn't seen before: Unmasking Kelsey. The book's a suspense/romance first published in 1988. Yeah, 20 years ago, and how publishing has changed! 

But, if you're a best-selling author, you get you old stuff republished -- even if it doesn't meet today's conventions. While I didn't count or try to estimate the words, I suspect the book qualifies as a short novella made to look like a novel by using double spacing. -- Hey, I looked at the book before I bought it so I knew I was paying $7 bucks up front.

So, the cliches:

What could be more of a cliche than an enigmatic alpha male and a damsel in distress falling in lust/love at first sight? Kelsey is the emotionally suppressed male who gets his chain yanked by said damsel whose sister has been kidnapped by the bad guys. Hooper uses this premise to base a solid puzzle piece using private super-competent agents for law and order. I enjoyed it more because you can see where her Bishop FBI series incubated. 

In short, good ideas trump cliches.   

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Useful Information

Some surprising stuff falls out of my stat listings. [You do look at your blog stats, don't you? What has surprised you when you look at them?] While checking "More" on my stats, I sometimes click on the more unusual urls who checked out the blog. Recently found a blog on some basic boxing moves that can help your/my characters in a street fight: "Three Basic Boxing Combos that You can Use in a Street Fight". It's on a Mixed Martial Arts blog where I couldn't find any name attached.

Also, liked Scott Bury's take on keeping your writing simple -- stupid. Though he doesn't put it that way. Just had to show my age, I guess. Anyway, Scott blogged at "Written Words" about some Writing Tips: Don't try to be a Writer. 

His blog reminded me when I was in college when a couple of friends of mine and I tried to surpass the others in writing term papers in the most ponderous German academic style. Once I wrote a sentence over 100 words long ... and it sort of made sense.

Avoiding Series Traps

First, a Warning ...

I picked up a virus on Sunday night.  As soon as the little shield on my bottom tool-bar popped up, I shut the computer off -- so I don't think I infected anyone.  But, if you visit a lot of the stuff I do, you probably already know you've been infected.  Whatever, it took two days to get the computer guru here to remove the stuff.

Seems to be a lot of the stuff going around from the stories the guru told me.  So, if you haven't updated your security lately ... you should look into it.  I've added two new security systems.  A Windows Security thing and some anti-Malware stuff.  Don't ask this computer idiot anything more.

The Read ...

Kay Hooper is an author I look for, but I almost missed her new book -- Blood Ties -- because of the similarities in the title with others in this trilogy (Blood Dreams and Blood Sins).  My momentary lapse in judgment ... or was it because I haven't visited B&N recently and the book was buried at the bottom of the supermarket shelves.  Unless you shop a lot on line, readers as much as authors are at the mercy of book placement on the shelves.

A structural tidbit:  Within 25 pages there are two murders with similarities to other murders in the region.  Halfway through the book, the FBI Special Crimes Unit realizes they aren't dealing with a  garden variety serial killer, but one that's targeting the unit for some not so obvious reasons.

That said, it was comforting to sit into a comfortable read by an author who avoided the common series traps.  The characters I have known and enjoyed continue to grow as people while in the middle of life and death situations with truly sinister opponents.  Yes, Hooper's plotting is masterful and suspenseful ... making me want to get up and take a break from reading to relieve the tension in my mind as well as my back.  She gives just enough setting to picture the Southern background of poor county sheriff departments that can't afford all the forensic bells and whistles.  [Yeah, I know other parts of the country can't afford them either.]  The villains, of course are satisfying as well as not the usual suspects.

And yes, Hooper has left, I think, an intriguing lead-in to the next trilogy when the evil genius of the Blood one is reincarnated.  I think it'll be a long time before Hooper stagnates.  The thought warms the cockles of my heart.

Then, there was R. L. LaFevers third Theodosia book -- Theodosia and the Eyes of Horus.  While the book was entertaining, I felt she landed two-feet-square in the writer's trap Kay Hooper avoided.  She had her structure set and filled in the blanks with new bits of information, all of which were interesting.

Problem:  Theodosia didn't grow ... just kept doing her remarkable things.  Worse, at the end, her cantankerous grandmother emerged as a deus ex machina.

Web Stuff ...

Got a big surprise last Friday (besides the one at the supermarket cash register).  Was strolling down the blogs I read, and there was Emma staring me in the face.  Ariel Emerald at Writer's Craze query critiques gave me one. :)  I had forgotten I had sent it out to be critiqued (by a publisher slush pile reader).  

The first thing I noticed was:  I didn't put the "pitch in" right after the description of the book.  Not that that would've done much good.  The critiquer said you should jump right into the premise.  My choice of vernacular (from my search for my "voice") also lead to some misunderstandings.  [Gotta tell the internal editor to keep the vernacular to the dialog and out of the exposition.]

Ahh ... another example of where you get conflicting advice.  Of course, he had a bunch of other nits to pick ... or maybe they were full grown lice.

Progress ...

Still deep into revisions of Voices of Ghost Creek, a never-ending process.  But, I don't mind I'll be doing it at least twice more after I get to the end.  I don't know about you.  Here, I'm always finding new stuff to change.  Must say, though, I feel like clapping when I get through a page without a change. 

My next Renna's tale is progressing too.  Felt good when I was able to eliminate a lot of back story.  Does anyone else see the stuff better when it's on the computer screen?

Trivia ...

The annual plum kuchen is made.  (Feeling very virtuous since I don't really like the stuff.)  More important the tree apples are gone.  Put a couple gallons of applesauce and two pies in the freezer.  The apple crisp from the pie leftovers evaporated. 

Splicing Multiple Viewpoints

The Read ...   How many viewpoints make a novel?  My unscientific guess:  two characters max plus a hint of villain in the prologue.

Finished Kay Hooper's Blood Sins, about a cult leader who misuses his talents, and I knew who he was before I was half-way through the book.  How?  Well, Hooper has this talent for giving us multiple viewpoints in each chapter -- including the villain.  Talk about talent!  Makes me wonder if the next book I read will seem shallow in comparison since I won't know ... explicitly ... what the other important characters are thinking.

Must mention that Hooper weaves the characters experiences into a linear story line that doesn't back track or repeat itself.  There was something of an info dump towards the end when the good guys were organizing to neutralize the bad guy.  Guess you can absolve it by calling the chapters a strategy session.  Hooper even added a complication in the last few pages that could have let the villain go free ... but didn't because of a great twist which came from within the motivations of the characters we met along the way.

Multiple viewpoints don't seem popular on the web.  Some even express "fear of head-hopping".  While I agree jumping from one character's viewpoint to another's within a couple paragraphs gets confusing, I really do find books with more than one viewpoint more rewarding.  What's more, I think is was more common in commercial fiction in the 70s and 80s -- when I was seriously writing -- and the change is stylistic.

Could it be that fewer viewpoints mean easier-to-write books?  Makes me wonder since my first fantasy opus of some 400,000+ words (Mariah) indulges often has two viewpoints in a chapter.

Progress ...  Emma is just sitting there because I'm trying to figure out what kind of focus to put on my agent search.  I know I have to glean agent possibilities into a pile of middle grade and young adult fantasy enthusiasts.  Simple enough to do with AgentQuery and Query Tracker ... plus the blogs I read, especially Casey McCormick and Chuck Sambuchino.

Problem?  Mariah is adult ... maybe even double if not triple "x".  Maybe the prequel/book could be turned into a young adult, but none of the others could.  Kerry (aka Austel's Idiot) may be an adolescent in the third book but she's attracting the attention of grown men because of her magical powers ... then, in the fourth book after she comes of age, she's in a threesome ... which is acceptable in her society since her grandmother (Mariah) was also in the threesome as an adolescent.  Maybe the prequel isn't a young adult after all.

Bottom line ... I think I have to find a fantasy agent who does adult, young adult, and middle grade.  Maybe I could squeak by with an adult fantasy agent and a youth one from the same agency.  Maybe I could just give up -- but that sort of isn't in my character.

I can just hear the howls.  My innocent little pitch ... about a girl [Emma] who ventures into Faery with her worse enemy to rescue a missing hobgoblin ... hooks an agent  Then, I'd throw foul-mouthed Britt at him/her, and the agent will say it needs massive revision (clean up).  Voices?  It's about ghosts, but stylistically, it's closer to literary than commercial.  Then, Mariah and Kerry?

Another problem ...  I like the books and haven't made up my mind that getting published is all that important -- even though you're watching me reach for the brass ring.

Voices ... pottering along and even have the evil/bad ghost delineated from the good ghosts.

Trivia ...  Rushed the afternoon errands because the skies turned black.  Didn't worry about snow though.  The daffodils are dead -- so the odds of a snowstorm happening would make me a millionaire.

Series Fatigue

The Read ...  Have you ever suffered from series fatigue -- as a reader ... or writer?  

There are a number of authors I gave up on when once I bought every new title.  Patricia Cornwall, the best selling mystery writer, is one that quickly comes to mind.  Thousands of people still buy her new books, but I gave up on on Kay Scarpetta several years ago as she wallowed in the same personal problems for several books.  Another example from the net: seems like a lot of Laurell K Hamilton's fans got upset when Anita Blake started "gang banging".

Readers can get tired of series for any number of reasons, but how do authors overcome fatigue with the series they write -- besides setting up another one with different characters? 

That asked, I pulled Kay Hooper's Blood Sins out of the to read pile ... where it's been sitting for awhile.  Kay Hooper books occupy a good two feet high stack on the messy bookshelf, maybe more.  Some of the later titles are stuck in just any old where.  And the book sat, partly because I was afraid to read it.  --  I'm a third of the way through and hooked.

One of the reasons I think Hooper has stayed engrossing is that she's created a world ... and then, populated it with different people.  Sort of like started a new series, but not quite.  Characters from earlier books, especially Noah Bishop of the FBI Special Crimes Unit and his wife, Miranda, keep appearing in subsequent books in roles of various sizes and importance.

Also, instead of concentrating on a long series of books featuring one character, Hooper arranges her books in a series of trilogies.  The result:  a reader returns to a familiar world but meets different people along the way.  I think the format keeps the anticipation for a new story sharp.  [Yeah, I know I let the book sit after I bought it, but I still have loads of interesting books I should read ... without buying or trading for new ones.]

Blog Notes ... Eric, a publisher salesperson at Pimp My Novel, woke me up with a blog on writing effective queries.  It's well worth the click to go there ... though it gives similar info agents repeat often on their blogs. 

I've long considered agents salespeople, so it was nice to see my prejudices reinforced.  Also, a little disheartening.  I rather avoid salespeople -- for you know, the penny pinching thing.

Incidentally, I just learned he joined Twitter (and yes, I'm following).

Progress ...  Am fighting to fill outlined chapters of Voices with scenes rather than tell the readers what should be happening.  Got a whole 500 words saved last night.  We won't mention how many I deleted.

Gave myself an exercise to see how many critique comments I could eliminate from There Be Demons ... before my critique partner for the book pointed out my blind sports.

New Book?  Had this terrific image [while providing my muse with his morning lap] of one of the characters from a short story dancing around her new apartment after she finished unpacking and setting wards ... when a spirit appeared and bitched about being sealed into the place.  Guess I'll set up a new file.  Problem:  it's an adult novel.

Trivia ...  Demonstrated my psychic abilities last night.  The old man was rumpling plastic in the next room, and I asked him for a piece of peanut brittle without looking away from the computer.