Survivng Reading Doldrums

Yay! I finished a book I started -- E. J. Cooperman's Spouse on Haunted Hill. As always, the humor kept the mayhem churning even though the body remains off scene. Can't have a murder mystery without the body, even in a cozy.

Allison, the owner of a haunted guesthouse, must rescue her ex-husband's [The Swine] from gang-like collectors who are unhappy with an iffy investment deal. They want their money back or maybe an implied pound of flesh. While Allison would prefer to let The Swine reap his just desserts, the needs of her daughter for her father trumps her druthers. Of course, the resident ghosts help solve the mystery with their many talents. Sounds cut and dried, but Cooperman's a master of characterization and plot twists.

I've read many books in this series and was sort of dismayed when so many loose ends were neatly tied up at the end. Maxie, the truculent ghost, even got married to her ghostly boyfriend. Then, read that there are two more books in the series when I when looking for the links. With Maxie's off on her honeymoon, I'm wondering who'll provide the vinegar to counter the cozy sweetness in the next book.

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Am wondering why why I didn't laugh out loud when reading Berk Breathed's new Bloom County comic on Facebook. Am sure laughing while I read my Christmas present, a compilation of the strips. I snort and snurggle so much my old man keeps asking what's wrong with me.

If you missed the new series and/or miss the gang after a 25 year absence you can try this Facebook link.

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Writerly Stuff

Like covers? The Literary Hub just did a blog on the best book covers chosen by professional designers. If you write, you should take a look so see what professionals think. 

Personally, I thought some were "busy" and "hard to read". If I have time, I might go to Amazon and see what the sales figures were.  After all, "they" say: the quality of your cover influences your sales.

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Haven't been pushing on my writing. My critique group isn't going to meet until mid-month so Pissing at the Green Onion is sitting. Did get some 2000+ words on another Andor story started ... two disjointed segments in the computer and lots of sticky notes. Not going to worry about them until tomorrow.

Pssst! Want the Secret to Writing Success?

Now that I have your attention, Chuck Sambuchino does indeed offer the four keys to the kingdom of writing success. There's one caveat, I think. You must have a finished story to work on. I think these tips will help you revise your stories structure. Of course he talks about middle grade fiction. But, a good story is a good story is a good story.

Of course, all this comes with a disclaimer. If you checked the link above, you'll note that he lists a number of craft skills a writer must master. That's why writing is hard, time consuming work ... once you want to be published ... even if you publish yourself. Go back to Mac's guest post and count how many ways/times he edits.

If you need more detailed instructions for getting your story going, Margo Berendsen has an awesome list on getting started and keeping a reader reading. A real nice compilation of 17 tips to check for your revision. Berendsen has some other useful lists in her archives if you want to hone your craft skills.

After you've revised your story into a galloping read, you have to draw a reader's attention to it. That means you need a good cover -- even for ebooks, maybe especially for ebooks. What's a good cover? Here's a link to Yasmine Galenorn's blog where she reveals the new cover of her latest Otherworld novel, Haunted Moon.  -- I dare you not to pick up this book and not read the blurb, if you're a fantasy reader. Note how easy it is to read the copy on the cover.

Last but not least, if your cover is attention getting, you have to publicize your book -- because chances are you won't have a publicity department with deep pockets behind you. Katie Salidas in her 4 July 2012 blog at Written in Blood, gives writers some criteria to judge blog tour services. You better believe I printed Let's Talk About Blog Tours out for future reference.

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So, after I given all that advice, I can just hear you asking how my own writing's going. Slow but sure. I seem to be getting my grove back ... in that my to-do list gets crossed off into oblivion until the next day. The secret to that? 

I'm getting better at writing things before doing social media things.

Where are your priorities?

PS: Maybe some of you clicked an empty blog with a similar title. This blog gives you the content.