Add Spice to Your Writing -- Move Storylines to a Different Country

   While browsing in a different part of the bookstore, I stumbled across the first book in a new series by mystery writer, Elizabeth George, The Edge of Nowhere. Since we've traveled through Whidbey Island, where the book is set, many times, I picked it up even though trade paperbacks hurt my thumbs when I read. Yeah, George has branched on from her Inspector Lynley series to a new one featuring Becca King, a teen who hears other people's thoughts as whispers.

  Don't worry George's abilities to weave a tangled mystery plot didn't get  totally lost in her foray into the supernatural. The mystery is alive and well in The Edge of Nowhere.

  I did find a couple of road bumps that almost stopped my reading, though. I found the premise that an abandoned teen wouldn't get picked up by the local cops and taken to protective services in such a small place, especially if she landed there without an adult in hand, hard to believe -- even on an island with huge amounts of tourist traffic passing through. Also thought George tended to talk down to the kids, like thinking two syllables in stead of four. If it wasn't for the ages of the characters, I would have called this a tween or upper middle grade book, even if it's over 400 pages.

  With that said, I must say that the last couple of YA novels that have come my way were even more simplistic than George's ... and they were published in hard back by major traditional publishers. *My-hands-are-up- in-the-air* For the record, I didn't think much of the editing for The Edge of Nowhere.

  Characterization felt a little flat here. Still, the characters had just enough quirks to keep them from being predictable. For me the storyline left too many dangling threads at the end, even for the first book in a trilogy.

  But the settings. Oh, the setting. I could taste Whidbey Island and feel the ocean against my skin. Her descriptions evoked the misty closeness of walking through huge, thick growing trees which complemented the mystery well by making it feel spookier.

   Recommended with reservations. It kept me reading.  As a fan of the more intricate Lynley books, I found the book an enjoyable read, but felt it didn't have enough salt and pepper in the mix. As a fantasy reader, I didn't think George developed the paranormal angle enough.

~~#~~

  Did a little bit of this, and a little bit of that last week. Proofing my author website  continues, usually in the wee hours when I normally read. Main achievement? I'm getting an intimate understanding why the gurus say not to proof your own stuff. On the other hand, I need to get it up without embarrassing me too much so I can get it analyzed. *Snarl*

  Biggest accomplishment. I got almost 3,000 words written on Cassy Mae's new story. Have almost 10,000 words down, the beginning of the beginning and the beginning of the middle. Seems I started the story in the middle.

   Have tried something different in my writing this time around. Just wrote scenes one after another without trying to construct them into chapters. When it got near time to submit to my critique group, I went back and revised, but didn't break the piece in two and add a chapter hook. The results wasn't too bad. Can't wait until we get together to discuss the holes in the story lines. I'm deliberately not
spending time on revising this time around. So far, it looks like I'm getting more production out of my writing time.

  I'll end by mentioning my review promo for The Ghostcrow continues on Smashwords if you use the code: RP68A. As a reader of my blog, I don't really expect a review ... but it would be nice. Yeah, I'm shameless.

After NaNoWriMo

The revising. The reviving. The bells of doom are ringing, and I haven't even finished. Of course, I don't expect to finish 50,000 words in one month. I do expect to finish the novel and revise. So, revising is on my mind.

If you're still writing your NaNoWriMo effort, Terry O'Dell at The Blood Red Pencil has a suggestion for adding painless words in her guest blog on "The Rule of Three". Have your character do three things in one sentence. -- The principle has been proven in regards to military training. People remember in threes better. Also, it may explain the popularity of trilogies.

Ania Ahlborn at "Suspense Novelist" blogged about Elizabeth Georges' writing process since she loved George's craft book, Write Away, so much. Now, George is one of my favorite mystery writers. Felt warm inside when I learned that George revises on hard-copy. I do that too. Maybe I'm learning something. [Though, I'd never set a book in Britain, even if I lived in Wales a wonderful year.]

Again, what to do with your NaNoWriMo. Dean Wesley Smith, one of the self-publishing gurus, gives an interesting take on the self-publishing vs traditional publishing brouhaha. Do both. 

###

I'm no longer NaNoWriMo-ing. My thumbs went on strike. I'm limiting myself to two half-hour computer sessions a day. In the meantime, I can r e a d.

How to Write a Looooong Book...

Fiction Lessons:

Do long novels intimidate you?  I alluded to measuring the length of , Elizabeth George's This Body of Death on the store book shelves for several weeks.  I enjoy Elizabeth George's straight mystery characterizations and plotting almost as much as Laurie R. King, James Doss, and Deborah Crombie, but her 1,000 page book intimidated me.  [OK.  950 pages.  It's still looooong.]

So, how do you write a loooooong novel that's publishable?  Believe me, it's not by adding a lot of description or walking your characters step-by-step to the action.  It's by complicating your plot with potential bad guys and giving your secondary characters a life of their own.  

So, how does George write a looooong novel without padding?  With these elements:

1. a sub-plot where one villain's previous crime [a child murder than mirrors a real-life British murder] which impinges on the current London murder of a "missing person" in another part of Britain;
2. the complications of Thomas Lynley, the major detective, returning to his old crime unit while still coping with his wife's murder and a new supervisor, who's auditioning for his old temporary position;
3. a sub-plot involving his old partner, who the new supervisor is pushing to look more professional, and a change in the relationship with her ethnic neighbors.  [Dress is a point of humor for long-time readers of the series.]
4. several possible villains, including three from the previous child murder, who are investigated by various members of Lynley's old unit; and  
5. several people who add facts and observations about the murder, including several red herrings and a busybody who gums up the works.

The total gives the reader one long book without violating the various craft rules you keep reading in books and blogs. 

Other Stuff:

Rather than pull a bunch of stuff from the web together since I haven't been spending much time there, I thought I'd mention some useful articles in the May, 2011 issue of the The Writer.  Their article on 12 tips for an air tight contract hooked my attention, what with me being negotiating all sorts of stuff for the trailer.

The issue focuses on freelancing, but there are other topics of interest to fiction writers too.  Ideas on keeping your stories from bogging down, centering you story's emotional core, and creating/controlling conflict. 

I should mention that Writer's Digest did another best of the web section for 2011. 

Progress:

Yeah.  I've finished my edits of "Dark Solstice", but haven't combined the chapters yet.  I'll learn the bad news tonight.  Then, I'll slap my hands if I try to make any more changes.

I did take a detour and turned a flash fiction piece, "Devil in the Details" into a short short story, thanks to E. J. Wesley's mention of some e-pub that likes stories about bugs.  The big light bulb in the sky flashed.  I added beetles as the imminent danger.  Now, I have to smooth the edges.

Almost got the critiques done for our next session.   Oh, there's a short piece on good critiquing in The Writer too.

Trivia:

Our lawn is filled with blooming violets, both purple and white.  Must say I like them better than the grape hyacinths.  Violets are tidier.  --  And, it snowed an inch, a rarity this winter.