The Book Stacks

I started out keeping a journal. I was on my fourth year with this journal when I decided to make it a memoir. It wasn’t really my decision to write a book; it was a message from the other side. I had been ill and one evening while I was in bed, I was trying to finish my journals for my children. I wasn’t sure if I would be around much longer.

I had a visit from my grandmother on the other side; she told me I was going to write a book. She told me to put my life stories along with hers and mom’s in a book. She said it would not only help my children, but it would help a lot of people understand what forgiveness really means. She said I was meant to do this and I needed to just believe in the message.

My journals were much more personal and detailed then the book and they were also addressed to my children. So when I started to feel better I began the process of putting my words into a book. The chapters about my childhood were the most difficult part to write about. It is a part of my life that I am not fond of reliving and to write about it you relive it. This was never in detail in my journals and I ended up hiring a ghostwriter to interview me and help me transform my memories into words on paper.

My journal entries about my adult life were in detail and it was not difficult to transform them into the book. It was actually healing to watch the book take form and realize with clarity what an incredible life I had. The gifts that I had been given I could now share with people and hope that the message of forgiveness would be understood. The dream of writing “Stand” was always about the message of forgiveness.

It took me a long time to convince my mother to help me with her part of the book. She wasn’t ready to share her personal life with the world and she had not even begun to heal from the abuse she had lived with. I told her about grandma coming to see me and it was months after that she told me she had prayed about the book and the answers she received were, to just do it. She finally agreed to write the book with me.

We were going to interview her about her childhood because the memories were so very hurtful and this process helped me get through them. When it came time to start that process she passed away and left me with her journals. She also made me promise her that I would finish the book and not give up. She said she believed in my visit from grandma and she knew how important this book would be. I kept my promise and started the process of reading all her journals.

She had always kept journals and they were in meticulous detail. She had about sixty journals that I read through looking for the information I needed. It was not an easy task for me, reading about my mother’s childhood horrors nearly took its toll on me. I came very close to giving up several times.

I kept a clear focus on the message I had to share and when the first draft was done I sat alone in my office, and the impact of missing her finally set in. I was glad I kept my promise to her; somehow she knew that her journals would be devastating for me to read. The book was compiled from mine, my mother’s and a few of my grandmother’s journals. I have often thought about those journals and what to do with them. I decided to leave them for my grandchildren, and although some of them are heartbreaking, there is a lot of history in them.

The message of forgiveness has been misunderstood in the past and the impact it could have on our world is important.

I never understood how profound the meaning of forgiveness was until I went through it. Forgiveness can change the cycle of abuse and stop it from passing to future generations. I believe this with all my heart and I am proof that you can change your family and stop abuse from continuing on in its vicious cycle.

Healing yourself through forgiveness will change our world!

More about the author and her virtual tour can be found here.

by LaConnie Taylor-Jones

It’s been six months since my debut novel hit bookshelves and I’ve run out of fingers and toes trying to count the number of times someone has posed this question to me.
My response has been and will continue to be the same. Why not?

I love romance! Plain and simple. Based on the 2006 report from Simba Information, revenue from romance fiction was estimated at 1.37 billion dollars. With the exception of religion/inspirational books, romance fiction outsold every market category with a whopping twenty-six percent. So, there are a lot of authors and readers who love my addiction to the genre, too.

Romance first captivated my attention when I was a junior in college. As a matter of fact, I flunked an organic chemistry mid-term after staying up the entire night reading my first romance novel, The Flame and the Flower by the late Kathleen Woodiwiss.

That night, I knew then and there, I was hooked on romance for life, but not necessarily as a writer. Twenty-five years came and I was content to be an avid reader. Then I tossed my hat in the literary ring in August 2003, after fifteen years as a technical writer. There was no doubt whatsoever that the final product would be categorized as a romance.

Simply because I love romance doesn’t mean everyone does and that’s okay. A romance novel has the same characteristics as any other novel, except it centers on the love between two people, and provides an optimistic ending. The read is fresh, smart, and diverse.

Regardless of the genre an author pens, I’m willing to bet they write for the passion and sheer enjoyment of telling a good story, period. Frankly, that’s the way it should be.

Will I ever consider writing in another genre? Absolutely! As long it offers the same zeal, if not more than romance, I’m game!

By R. Leigh, author of The Winds of Asharra

For some, it’s the allure of futuristic cityscapes and complicated technological whatzits that cause their pulse to race. They have their eyes set ahead towards the future. Others, however, prefer to glance over their shoulders at the bygone eras which evoke nostalgia, simplicity and maybe a more familiar style of excitement, perhaps warmer, more familiar and devoid of so many gadgets and gizmos.

I’m apparently yet a different creature entirely. Instead of looking forward or backward, I gaze within and somehow, that enables me to look everywhere. For me, that’s the reason why I now write exclusively in the Fantasy genre.

Asharra, the land of the twin suns, under the purple sky, is a far cry from the day to day routine of American life. Devoid of modern technology, highly sensual in nature and utilizing unusual materials such as crystals and “zim” for daily needs, the world described The Winds of Asharra, is where I spend most of my time. It’s my second home and where I spend most of my time.

The Winds of Asharra, my latest novel, coming in at over 600 pages, can easily be called a fantasy. While the setting doesn’t contain anything resembling a wizard, witch or orc, it has more than enough elements to qualify for that designation. The musical dragons and dreegins, the telepathic trees and the evolved felines make Asharra a fantasical place, the true essence of the fantasy definition.

The fact that I’ve also filled Asharra with great sensuality and a complex positive culture and philosophy also serves to add a sort of virtual tasty dessert to the overall dish that has been prepared for the readers to eagerly gobble up.

It takes the fantasy wishes of our childhood and updates them for an adult palette. While our taste buds might have evolved since childhood, however, our desire for delicious adventure has remained true. So, the Winds of Asharra, for me, appeals to my inner child as well as my more complicated (and sensual) adult nature.

Why Asharra, you ask? And why am I writing fantasy rather than science fiction or historical novels? Well, I actually did dabble in science fiction. writing a novel (now out of print) called 3 Passports to Paradise, ten years ago. It had all of the classic science fiction elements but even then, there was more than a dash of the mystical, the wonderful and the possible.

It was fun, but it wasn’t Asharra. It didn’t contain the unspoiled adventure or the pristine possibilities that can exist in the fantasy genre, when all of the scientific whatzits and gadgets are packed away by the logical side of my brain. Science fiction made me think but Asharra caused me to feel things and care about them.

The concepts of naturalness, balance and harmony are all interwoven into the complicated plot threads of fantasy, romance and adventure, so evident in the 600+ pages of The Winds of Asharra.

The book is not just a story of an epic adventure or a otherworldly romance. It is a journey of self discovery not only for the characters but for the author as well (and hopefull for the readers). That is why I write fantasy. It can be uplifting as well as entertaining, alluring as well as entertaining. Fantasy is the perfume on the air that makes you inhale deeply once you catch the scent, and teases you to track down the source.

The creation of Asharran culture, so rich and complete including language, rituals and worldview, enabled me to create this place that is my fantasy universe. This mystical world of the purple sky, under twin suns, is the backdrop for an exploration of what it means to change one’s way of looking at oneself and the universe.

As a fantasy, the reader can soar or even sing like the dreegins, suspending their disbelief at the details surrounding the creation and purpose of the Asharra-dobar, the strange mystical artifact that unexpectedly brings Victor and Zoe, two American teenagers to the strange world of Asharra.

The term “Asharra” to the native Asharrans means “the home around us” and applies to their planet and every living thing on it. They believe you don’t even have to be born there to be Asharran, so long as you are natural and “true” (in their terms). Thus, when one native Asharran tells the two main characters (from Earth), “welcome home”, it is because Asharra is simply the home they have never seen yet.

By writing The Winds of Asharra, I invite the readers to come along with Victor, Zoe, Ionera and all of the fantastical creatures and co-experience their adventure, their feelings and their world. Unlike science fiction, which allows us to imagine our tomorrows through logical assumptions, or historical fiction, which at its best, permits us to re-examine the memories of our past, the fantasy genre in general, and the Winds of Asharra, in particular (for me) does much more than that. It awakens our Inner Child.

Since the world of Asharra is such a natural and sensual place, it also allows of Inner Adult to still feel the same sense of wonder as we experience the fantasical adventures but now with the appreciation and sensuality that our grown-up experiences can add to the mix.

The land of the twin suns, located under the purple sky is ultimately both the destination of my fantasies and the reason for them.

I don’t remember when my love affair with books began—I only know that I can’t remember a single moment of my life when I was not madly, passionately in love with the written word. I’ve spent some of the happiest hours of my life curled up on my bed, reading, my glasses being bent horribly out of shape from laying on the side of them, but I didn’t care. I was Anne of Green Gables, I was Elnora from “The Girl of the Limberlost,” I was Jo March. I can recall the feelings I had when Mac and Rose finally recognized their love for each other (“Rose in Bloom”) and how I thrilled when Esther walked into the king’s court (“Behold, Your Queen”). That was my world as a child. It was all the world I needed.

Now that I’m supposedly an adult, you’d think I would have moved on. But no. Books call to me like a siren, luring me in with promises of love stories, adventure, drama. I feed on good plots. I breathe in good dialogue. A well-crafted phrase makes my heart beat. I can’t function if I’m not reading. It’s oxygen, it’s plasma.

I guess it’s only natural that with this fascination with books would come the desire to write them. I think I was about seven or eight when I wrote my first poem. And you remember that scene in “The Music Man,” when the boys’ band finally gives a show and the mother in the audience stands up and yells, “Play for me, Linus!” – well, that was the reaction my mother had. She took one look at that first poem and decreed that I was going to be a writer. I think the poor thing got a little jaded from that point—anything I wrote was good in her eyes, even the misguided poem I wrote about bread. Yeah, that’s right, bread. But the point is, she supported me, and I grew up feeling that I could someday become a writer.

Stories speak to me. I see a newspaper and read the headlines, and suddenly I’m crafting a whole world to go around those words. I was at Wendy’s last night and saw two girls eating with their mother, and found myself inventing their dialogue. When I wrote my first two books, it was history speaking to me, the desire to be known and understood, and I just wrote it down.

My latest and most personal release was much the same way. As I sat down to write “Season of Sacrifice,” the words just flooded my mind. The experiences of the people who lived the story I was writing became a part of me and I was merely the conduit. It was a melding together of mind and heart and spirit, all coming together in the same place at the same time. I spent so much time writing that I got sick and didn’t care. All that mattered was the project, was giving honor to the words.

I’m not sure how all this started or if my desire to write will ever be quenched. I do know that I’d write even if no one ever read a single word. I’d write if all I had to write on was the back of a grocery receipt. And I don’t know if I ever will try to define it or understand it—there’s something fun about being mystical.

TristiPinkston.com

By Heidi Saxton, author of Behold Your Mother: Mary Stories and Reflections from a Catholic Convert

This week I’ve encountered two other books – one by a priest, the other by a popular Catholic apologist – that have either released or are about to come out. The same in YouTube: a half-dozen clips have titles very similar to the spectacular video my online publicist “Pump Up Your Books” did for my book: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zR0003wTzQ&feature=related

So … what’s an author to do when there’s so much competition? The first thing … Don’t panic! See this as a sign that there is a very real “felt need” for the subject. People must be thinking about the subject you are writing about. The question is: How is your approach fresh, unique, worth considering over the other books, blogs, videos, and articles on the subject?

Going back to Behold Your Mother…

• The fact that I am an adoptive mother naturally gives me a leg up on books written by men on the same subject. My own motherhood gives me a more intimate perspective on what Mary might have thought, felt, and experienced as the mother of Jesus.

• The fact that I’m a convert to Catholicism who struggled to reconcile what I had been raised to believe about Mary and prayer, and what I had encountered in my new church home, puts me in a position to be able to help others who are going through the same struggle.

• The fact that I spent the first thirty years of my life in a variety of Evangelical denominations enables me to “speak their language” and connect with them about a subject that is close to my heart: how the mother of Jesus never hogs the limelight, but always draws us closer to herself in order to lead us closer to Jesus.

That’s not to say that this is enough, in and of itself, to guarantee that my little book will hit the bestseller list. Marketing a book is in many respects even more difficult than writing it in the first place. But then, I figure if I do my part … I can trust God to do His. I figure the Creator of the universe won’t mind giving me a hand up, when I wrote the book in the first place to honor His mother!

Send your mother (or yourself) “Tea with Mary” for her birthday or Mother’s Day! For details, go to http://beholdyourmotherbook.blogspot.com.

by Jean Hackensmith

I have been asked by a number of people why I strayed from my normal genre (time travel and historical romance) when I wrote “Checkmate.” Frankly, I was getting burned out on the “same old, same old”. It just wasn’t fun anymore. I also felt that I was limiting myself by being known strictly as a “romance author”. I wanted to write something new. Something different. At least for me.

As it turned out, the romance writer in me refused to die. While working on the book, the “strong, sexy hero” and the “vulnerable yet spunky heroine” fought their way to the surface. Hence the reason the book was classified as a “romantic thriller” by my publisher. It’s more thriller than romance, though. Readers won’t find even one love scene in the book. Those steamy liaisons have been replaced by suspense and terror. After all, when you’re being stalked by a homicidal maniac, who has time for sex?

A virtually new genre, the “Romantic Thriller” takes Romantic Suspense up a notch and combines romance with an edge of your seat thriller. The “happy ending” still applies, but the main couple must overcome seemingly insurmountable and dangerous odds to get there. In a strict romance, the main conflict is generally between the hero and heroine. In a Romantic Suspense, the things that could destroy them come from outside of their relationship.

The same holds true in a Romantic Thriller, but where a Romantic Suspense would receive a rating of “PG”, a Romantic Thriller is definitely rated “R”. The Romantic Thriller pulls out all the stops. Even good characters can use bad words and the villain is generally sadistic, sexually motivated, and downright mean.

Hence comes, Dan, the “stalker” in “Checkmate.” He almost beat his wife, Caryn, to death a dozen times. He tied her up, along with their children, locked them in the bathroom, and set the house on fire. They survived, he went to prison and, eighteen years later, he’s back and determined to finish the job. His twisted game consists of thirteen “moves”, each more violent than the last. Now Caryn and her new boyfriend must beat the odds and survive until…Checkmate.

I’ve always been a bit smitten by the tropics. As far back as I can remember I wanted to write and be near the ocean. I should expand on that a bit: I wanted to be near, in, or beneath the ocean’s surface. By the time I was in my early thirties, I had a decade of working on dive boats, jumping around the Caribbean and writing for scuba and travel magazines under my belt.

Those years were priceless, not only in terms of the environments and cultures I was lucky enough to experience, but for the opportunity to write about them. My writing teeth were cut on sailboats, beaches, and port town taverns and for that I consider myself fortunate.

It goes without saying that when I decided to cross over into publishing fiction, the stories would take place someplace tropical. West Across the Board is set in one of my favorite locations: The Florida Keys. I fell in love with the island chain years ago, not only for its stunning scenery, collage of cultures, and pristine waters, but for its fascinating history.

Closer to Cuba than the U.S. mainland, Key West was more accessible by boat than car until the mid 1930s. It was during the 1930s that I chose to set my novel. This gave me a great opportunity to research an era in the southern keys that I’ve always been interested in and an excuse to spend more time on Key West.

I’ve been a professional archaeologist for most of my adult life. Consequently, conducting historical research is nothing new to me and with hindsight may have been why I chose to write a historical novel. Although writing non-fiction articles or papers and tackling a novel are two fundamentally different endeavors, I found the research aspect of writing historical fiction to be a safe, familiar place to start.

Ultimately, it is and will probably always be the tropics that I write about, regardless of the genre. I plan to continue freelance article writing and my next book (which is partially completed) while still fiction, is not a historical novel. This book too takes place in the tropics. One thing I do enjoy about historical fiction is the opportunity for readers to become engaged in a compelling piece of fiction while learning something about a particular historical era–whether they intended to or not.

Thanks for having me!

I wrote my first novel with two other women, one being my sister, author Nancy Bush. That book was never sold. It was 1981. I remember there were rejection letters saying it had too much suspense in it. Ironic, I think, considering the path my career has taken.

So, when I did first get published, I wrote romance novels for Silhouette Books. Suspense was a no-no. I was told to take it out, out, OUT! Well . . . a little suspense always slipped in because I’m a suspense/mystery reader. I cut my teeth on Nancy Drew and The Black Stallion mysteries. LOVED them. Suspense came naturally

Isn’t that great. Once romantic suspense came into reading vogue again, I was all over it. Believe you me. I think it is what I was always meant to eventually write—suspense, thrillers, romantic suspense, whatever description suits doesn’t worry me. It just makes me happy writing it. I didn’t get to just leap in, of course. I studied the market. I considered the books that were being written and most of the time I thought the women authors covered the romance part of the equation pretty well, but I still wanted more straight suspense.

The reverse was true for the male writers. They left me wanting more about their characters’ relationship—ok, ok more romance. This is a pretty broad statement, and I found exceptions to my rule, of course, but my own desires as a reader ended up being what led the opportunity to write what I wanted and to bring readers something different.

I saw a path and I jumped onto it with both feet and at a dead run. I was finally able to write the kind of stories I like to read, complete with….you guessed it, HOT SEX AND COLD DEATH!

I haven’t left any of that behind, but I do have to say that my new book LOST SOULS is a bit of a departure for me. It’s got this whole vampire theme added in—are they real? are they not?—going along with a cult and some paranormal elements to heighten the thriller aspect of the books.

There’s a touch of the paranormal, too. I do love paranormal elements. Things like ESP and seeing someone die before your eyes—which actually is the paranormal element in LOST SOULS. When my character Kristi Bentz sees a person drain of color before her eyes she knows they are going to die.

Part of the excitement of writing thrillers is, for me, taking a germ of an idea and messing around with it. Think about it this way and that way, try to put a new spin on it. That’s when I start scratching notes. At this point, I always come up with the twist at the end.

I want to lead my readers on a breathless journey, but I want it be a puzzle for them, too…have them thinking of one thing when BAM!, out of left field (or right), the story turns on its ear and spins in a new direction. The “Oh, gees, I didn’t see that coming” moment.

Part of the thriller, I think, is the puzzle. “Who’s doing this and why?” The twist is the final chance for me, as the author, to say “Gotcha!” to my readers.

I’m addicted, that’s for sure, and very happy to keep on killing for the time being.

Don’t forget to play the Monday game for your chance to win!

All novels have characters, setting, and plot but only the mystery has clues. In order to make the clues more appetizing to the reader, writers need to inject a certain degree of foreshadowing and red herrings to accompany their clues.

Foreshadowing is simply the writer’s way of hinting to the reader that something usual is about to occur. The weather, time of day, character names or the decay of an object can all be used to foreshadow the events yet to come in a novel.

Red herrings are well placed distractions for the reader. In a mystery, the sleuth will often think that she has found a clue but it is in fact a red herring meant to provide misdirection.

Unlike foreshadowing and red herrings, clues are facts that will lead to the solution of the cozy mystery puzzle. Clues can come from the following sources:

• Character – The characters’ behavior, circumstances, lies and truth can all generate clues for the reader.

• People’s secret lives – Everyone has a secret in a mystery and these secrets can either individually or combined serve as a clue.

• Relationships – The origin or purpose of a particular relationship can be a clue. When deciding on which relationships to use as clues, remember that the character with the clearest motive is never the murderer and the least likely suspect is also never the murderer.

• The body – This is where the forensic information comes into play. The smallest item on the body like a speck of lint could be a clue or even how the victim was dressed when the body was discovered.

• Dialog – When characters talk to each other, sometimes what they don’t say can be a clue just a much as what they actually say. This can also take the form of a conversation being overheard.

• The scene of the crime – There may be something that the murderer takes with him or leaves behind.

• The missing item – This could be an item that would normally be there but is now missing such as a light bulb in a lamp, contact lenses solution and etc.
When deciding on your clues, remember to be selective and to be fair with your readers. You want to tease them but you don’t want to insult them or frustrate them too much.

“Fear” – it’s only a four lettered word but boy what an impact it can have on your life.

There are so many people in this world that have great stories to tell, and maybe you’re one of them. So don’t let fear hold you back. Instead, put it under the spotlight and do something about it.

Here are three of the most common fears that writers have and what you can do to overcome them.

1. “I Can’t Write”
For most of us, grammar and spelling classes are a distant memory. So when you sit down and write your first paragraphs, you suddenly start to be super self-conscious about stringing together coherent sentences. And when it doesn’t flow the first time, it’s so easy to give up. The secret of course, is to practice, practice and then practice some more. And buy a really good dictionary.

2. “I’m Not Good Enough”
We all have our own inner critic sitting on our shoulder whispering snarky comments in our ear like, “Who do you think you are?” and “Why would anyone listen to you?” It can be very debilitating, especially if deep down a part of you secretly agrees. The way to overcome this is to think like a CSI Detective and gather “evidence.” Next time your inner critic speaks, get your pen and paper and write down three reasons to prove it’s wrong.

3. “What If No-One Buys It?”
So you’ve overcome the first two obstacles and you’ve finished your manuscript. The fear now becomes whether an agent or a publisher will want to publish it, or whether any customers will buy it once it’s on the shelf. The good news is that this one is easy to overcome. You have to be your book’s number one fan. If you can’t say why it’s amazing, fabulastic and the secret solution to world peace, then how can you expect anyone else to get excited about it?

And on that note, if you really want to kick your fears into touch, then “Gulp!” gives you a 7 day roadmap to show you how, plus tons of practical techniques, action plans and inspiring stories of people who’ve overcome their fear and turned their dream into a reality.

If you’d like an inspiration boost right now, then watch my “Gulp!” book trailer. It might just be the nudge you need.

By
Thomas M. MacKay
http://members.cox.net/thomas.mackay

Writing fantasy fiction, you would expect it would always be easy to think of a way to get your characters where you want them to go, but sometimes you just get stuck. You’ve introduced your (insert fantasy race here) hero to the reader, and now you want to get him/her/it into trouble so you can have fun writing a way out of it. Or even worse, you’ve gotten your character into so much trouble you can’t figure out how he could possibly get out of it. When this happens to you - and it inevitably will, if you keep writing - here are some tried and true plot devices to get things moving.

The MacGuffin

The term “MacGuffin” was made popular by Alfred Hitchcock to refer to some object that all the characters in the story value as being supremely important. This is typically an object whose importance is far beyond the value of the object itself. The microfilm in a spy story or the loot in a thriller; the key to the MacGuffin is that it doesn’t matter to the plot what the object is - in the spy story it could just as easily be secret papers, a disk, a DNA sample, or Hitler’s pen - the plot revolves around everyone wanting it, not what it is.

This is a common device in fantasy stories, typically appearing as the object of a quest which your hero must acquire to save the kingdom. Once your protagonist knows what it is and what it’s for, the plot is off and running.

I believe you’ve mistaken me for someone else…

Mistaken identity is a great way to get your character involved in situations that do not progress naturally from your protagonist’s own actions. Whether this is the evil twin, the long lost brother, the bad guy using magic to look like the protagonist, or just someone wearing the same clothes - there are a wealth of opportunities to get your character in trouble.

Another common variation on the mistaken identity device is when the protagonist herself is mistaken about her own identity. She believes that she is a simple woodcutter’s daughter, when really she is the hidden heir to the kingdom, or the prophesied heroine that will fight the dark. This is the unknowing heir variation of mistaken identity, and typically the bad guys know the truth before the protagonist herself does, which provides the initial momentum for the story.

The “get out of jail free card”

This is one to be careful with; used too much it becomes deus ex machina and robs the story of any real sense of drama. But used sparingly it can be surprisingly effective at lending a sense of mystery to the story - always a good thing in fantasy stories. There are essentially two variations of this plot device: the Rube Goldberg machine, and the prescient patron.

Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist who is famous for drawing cartoons of extremely complex and indirect machines that perform very simple tasks. The idea is to have your character do something the consequences of which are apparently insignificant, but which cascade into other consequences in a continuous chain until it comes back around at just the right time to help the character out. We’re talking mechanical, not spiritual - this is not Karma coming back to help out, but a side effect of a seemingly rational chain of events.

The protagonist knocks over a pitcher of milk that attracts a cat who is chased out by the barmaid who accidentally trips the delivery boy with the broom who stumbles against the innkeeper who drops the cask of brandy he’s manhandling right on the toe of a guardsman who jumps up with a curse and disrupts the spell of the evil wizard, allowing the protagonist to get away. This is a crude example, but when around that same number of connections is stretched across a longer work it can be an effective and humorous way to get the protagonist out of one dire situation.

Use it more than once and it quickly becomes tired, but it can be an easy device to retrofit back into a story once you’ve written your protagonist into a corner you can’t get him out of.

The prescient patron variation is much simpler; a minor character your protagonist encounters gives her a seemingly low value gift - typically as a reward for a good deed. It’s not until your protagonist finds herself in a nearly inescapable situation that she realizes that the gift is exactly what she needs for this one situation. The implication is nearly always that the giver had some foreknowledge. Again, this is a device you can typically only use once in a story without it losing its effectiveness, but the thought that there are really no coincidences is a staple in fantasy literature so don’t be shy about using the “get out of jail free” device.

The Tasks of Hercules

Literally a classic, the Tasks of Hercules are a set of quests, each building on the last, which the protagonist must complete in order to attain a single ultimate objective. The tasks are usually imposed by a single authority figure, as opposed to arising naturally from the development of the plot - this device is a plot driver, not a plot consequence.

Often the Tasks of Hercules are intended to prove the quester’s worth, though typically the authority figure assigning the quests will have a hidden agenda opposing the success of the protagonist. Your protagonist must be already skilled and knowledgeable in some arena for this plot device to work; after all, nobody would bother to assign a series of quests to the pot boy.

The nice thing about the Tasks of Hercules is that they can be used in even short works since you can jump into the story at the beginning, middle, or end of the series of tasks, depending on what you want to write – and the classic nature of this plot device requires little explanation or set up.

Out of left field

More commonly known as deus ex machina, or “god from a machine”, this plot device relies on something the author introduces suddenly without any plot setup in order to resolve a thorny plot situation – like the fairy godmother appearing just when Cinderella needs to get to the ball. Use of this plot device is generally frowned upon, as it can be jarring and will tend to disrupt the reader’s willing suspension of disbelief.

There are a couple of ways to get away with using an “out of left field” plot device.

At the very beginning of a story this can be effective to get the ball rolling, as long as you later do something to tie the divine assistance back into the plot – to explain why it happened. You can also combine this plot device with the mistaken identity device; the super-powered assistance or act of god was intended for someone else, and your protagonist just received it by mistake. The rest of the story is your protagonist trying frantically to keep up because the real hero missed the message and is off somewhere sipping margaritas and chatting up dryads.

You can actually reuse this plot device in this type of story, deriving humor out of the increasing puzzlement of the powerful messenger with long suffering questions like “Are you sure you’re a hero?” adding spice. Even with this setup, though, it’s easy to overuse this device. There just isn’t that much dramatic tension when the protagonist doesn’t have to work for his victory, and the joke will eventually get old.

The Joker’s Death Machine

Everybody is familiar with the Joker, of Batman fame. The Joker was constantly capturing poor Batman, tying him up, and unleashing some diabolical and slow acting death machine, and then going away – the better to savor the elimination of Batman over chianti and fava beans. Of course, Batman always had time to figure out a way to escape. When your protagonist is surrounded by overwhelming odds, and you don’t know what to do, let them be captured. The construct some reason why they can’t just be hacked to bits, but must be subjected to some longer, more elaborate demise.

For example, staked out alone in the holy grove beneath the light of the second moon, there to be eaten by the gnarly grue. This provides ample opportunity for the hero to figure out an escape. Then you can get back to your plot, and begin building up the suspense once again.

Snatch Defeat from the Jaws of Victory

Oops. So you got your hero to the finish line too fast. Now what do you do for the next 30 pages? No matter how sure success seems for your protagonist, the story isn’t over until the last word is written. The magic staff can be stolen, or turn out to be a fake. The princess can be kidnapped moments before the wedding. The villain can escape from the guards – they’re only henchmen, after all. How good could they be?

There are a variety of misfortunes that can befall your poor hero even after he has success within his grasp, any of which can set him dearly back – and next time, it won’t be so easy. This plot device is a great tool in the toolkit for when you’ve made your hero too good. Kick him in the shins a few times, steal his wallet, spray paint graffiti on his shield, and he won’t look so shiny.

Readers prefer a hero with a few dings, anyway. Repeated setbacks can be frustrating for the reader, so like all plot devices moderation is the watch word, but we all sympathize with the guy who loses when he thought he was winning – and we’ll cheer the more for him when he makes a come back.

Along for the Ride

Everyone is the hero of their own story. Tolkien understood this perfectly well. The hero of the Lord of the Rings is, perhaps, the least assuming person on the cast. Gentle, well mannered, anything but a fighter – quiet dignity and iron determination perhaps best characterize Frodo.

It would have been easy to cast Gandalf or Strider as the main protagonist of the trilogy, but the character that is best beloved - that captures the imagination - is Frodo. Poor Frodo, who wanted nothing more than a prosaic life in the Shire, is dragged along by Gandalf, events, and an unwanted legacy into an adventure from which he emerges changed beyond all fit with his past, but with the respect of the most powerful and wise in the land.

This plot device is based on linking your protagonist to another character or characters whose nature or position naturally leads them into an adventure, with your protagonist dragged along almost unwillingly. This allows your protagonist to be just an ordinary guy who emerges a hero through sticking to his basic principles through extraordinary circumstances. It’s much easier for readers to identify with this type of protagonist than one who is preternaturally wise, powerful, or strong – since few of us experience those qualities in our daily lives.

The Djinn’s Bargain

Sometimes your protagonist needs to accomplish an objective that is so large in scale or scope that there is no way for the character to do it by herself. You need to be able to get her some powerful help, but without detracting from the character’s own struggles. This is when you’ll use the device of the Djinn’s Bargain.

In this device, the djinn is any powerful person or being who has the power to help your protagonist, but who will do it from their own motivations and goals – and who inevitably will exact a price for the assistance. This could be a political ally or enemy, a demon, a dark wizard – generally the “djinn” in this device is someone whose natural inclinations are opposed to those of your protagonist. Then your heroine gets to deal with the consequences of her bargain, which allows you to preserve the scope of your outer conflict and add a tangible inner conflict as well. Lovely!

Wake Up Patrick Duffy! (it was all a dream)

…then she wakes up, and the whole thing was a dream. Dreams have a long and checkered history in fantasy literature – and other forms of entertainment as well. On of the most infamous uses of this device was on the TV show “Dallas”, where during the 1985 season Bobby Ewing (played by Patrick Duffy – see how this all ties together?) dies. At the start of the next season you see Bobby in the shower, and the entire previous year’s season was “just a dream”.

The uproar from the fan base was significant, but it was the only way to get Duffy back on the show, since much of the season was about the repercussions of his character’s death. That’s a bit much, though the dream device is certainly used to famous effect in Carroll’s “Alice in Wonderland”, the entirety of which is supposed to be a young girl’s dream.

You probably don’t want to go this far with your use of the dream plot device, but dreams can be useful as transmitters of information, or as transformative tools for your character; for example, one recent book uses a series of dreams to educate a young mage in her craft. Warnings and portents, wisdom and eldritch connections – all are fair game for the dream plot device. Dreams also open up the opportunity to explain something about your protagonist’s past without resorting to either exposition or flashbacks. The former can make the story drag, and the latter can be jarring as it yanks you out of the story.

Additionally, conversations with dream beings can be far more candid than conversations your character would have with other characters, and dreams offer the opportunity to use that bit of imagery you’ve been trying to find a place for.

This list is by no means comprehensive, but these ten provide a substantial tool kit to start with, with an infinite number of variations and combinations possible. So when you’re stuck, grab a plot device, wedge one end into your story, and yank. That will get things moving!

Thomas M. MacKay is an author in the Return of the Sword anthology. For more information click here.

by Robert Rhodes
http://rrhodes-writer.blogspot.com/

1. Read. Read quality speculative and non-speculative fiction to know what has and hasn’t been done, to learn from others’ craftsmanship, and to be inspired.

2. Pay attention and take notes. Ideas may strike at any time. Have quick access to a notepad and pencil, and use them before the real world intrudes. (A draft message in an email account may also work.)

3. Master the basics. Understand the rules of composition. When necessary, consult a dictionary or manual such as The Elements of Style (Strunk & White), but only dust off a thesaurus as a last resort. Remember that spell-checking software can’t, for egg sample, bee trusted.

4. Create a complete, vivid story. Almost all good stories, speculative or not, integrate these elements: (1) a compelling character (2) in a fascinating setting (3) overcoming vast difficulties (4) by his or her own efforts and (5) achieving a worthwhile goal. (This guideline is a paraphrased summary of the excellent article “What Is A Short Story?” by Marion Zimmer Bradley, found on the website of her literary works trust: http://mzbworks.home.att.net/ .)

5. Reach for the stars. Write one of the very best stories you’ve ever read. Even if the final work falls just short, it will still be outstanding (unless you just read junk).

6. Beware of infatuation. After initially completing a story, celebrate—then step away and go work on another story or in the real world. Once you stop wanting to admire your immortal prose, you may have the emotional distance needed to revise it mercilessly.

7. Be open to criticism. Identify a handful of skilled and honest proofreaders, and carefully consider their comments. At the same time, develop the craftsmanship, instinct, and confidence to be the best and final judge of your work.

8. Be—or pretend to be—a professional. Carefully identify viable markets for your story. (A good starting point is ralan.com.) Follow submission guidelines to the letter. Understand standard manuscript format or the alternative requested. Proofread any cover letter, and keep it brief. Resist the temptations to brag to or flatter the editor or make the physical manuscript “stand out” (e.g., by using colored envelopes/paper/ink/font). The story will speak for itself; everything else should be black and white and clean to the point of starkness. Never reply to a rejection notice unless it was extremely gracious or helpful, in which case you may send a brief thank-you note.

9. Reward yourself. If your purpose is simply to write for yourself or your friends, fair enough. If your purpose is to be read widely, remember that money should always flow to authors in exchange for their difficult work. Accordingly, submit your work only to markets that pay real money. (Markets that only offer “exposure” don’t even offer that, as most readers use their time to read authors who are good enough to be paid, and no one is trolling those markets to discover new talent.) Avoid vanity presses and self-proclaimed agents who want money up front. Read contracts carefully, and don’t hesitate to ask questions.

10. Never, never, never quit. The first story you write will probably not be the first story you publish. Keep reading, writing, and submitting. If you have a good story that’s “just not right” for one market, submit to another within three days. Publishers, editors, and agents don’t want to keep genius undiscovered; they want to sell as many books as possible and usually have a fair sense of what will sell. For better or worse, reading tastes are what they are, and the marketplace has never been more competitive. But if you write an incredible story, it will almost certainly sell. If it doesn’t, give the industry—not yourself—the benefit of the doubt, and keep reading, writing, and submitting until your art is too powerful to be ignored. Writing well is ridiculously difficult and demands talent and persistence. Between the two, persistence is arguably more important—and the trait everyone can have. Now go write.

Robert Rhodes is a book reviewer and author whose fiction has been accepted by markets including Black Gate and Flashing Swords Press. He is also a co-author of “The Sword in the Mirror: A Century of Sword & Sorcery”, forthcoming in The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Contemporary Popular American Literature. He can be contacted at rrhodes.writer@gmail.com or on facebook.com.

For Return of the Sword purchase info click here: http://cyberwizardproductions.googlepages.com/returnofthesword

The Truth, (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything) has so many topics imbedded into it for mothers and daughters and anyone who has walked the path of growing up as a girl that I hardly know which to pick. But since I must pick-let me pick purity of heart.

Purity of heart is in my opinion as a woman, a positive psychologist and having been a girl, a special vision that we often have in childhood. It is not just seeing with our eyes. It is a sixth sense combined with tender feelings and acute awareness of our surroundings. For example, when Laura Ingalls describes to us the way she ran through the prairie grass and looked up into the sky to follow hawks and looked at the stars at night while her father played the fiddle, her words evoke a purity of heart sensation in even adults.

She was able as a writer to create the whole atmosphere of her life on the prairie so that we feel something new and fresh and yet eternal as we read The Little House on the Prairie. In The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything) I have tried to capture the same sense of purity of heart.

When the ‘girl’ is upset when her cousin swears it isn’t because she is making a moral judgment. It is because the swear words just feel bad as they hit her across the room. And when she dances with her mother up in the bedroom to rock and roll music, the relief of connecting with her mom and the pleasure of moving, laughing and hugging together is all there is. This is the moment and it is pure.

Purity of heart is a clean feeling and when we have purity of heart moments we can feel cleansed and delighted at the same time. Or if they are upsetting moments, as when the ‘girl’s’ cousin swore at least she knew he was not right and there was some relief just in the expression of her emotions.

I wanted to incorporate purity of heart into The Truth as we at all ages need to remember the intense pure feelings of childhood, both for ourselves and for the next generation. We need to remember them for ourselves so we can go there once again and experience the sweetness and passion that goes with really being alive, not just sleepwalking as sometimes we do as grown-ups.

And for the next generation’s sake we need to remember because we need to connect with our children and grandchildren and we need to reassure them and help validate for them that their emotions are not only pure but often more in tune with what is right that we are. Aging is not necessarily becoming emotionally more astute. Aging can sometimes just be aging.

The Truth (I’m a girl, I’m smart and I know everything) has many themes and one of them is most certainly don’t sleepwalk. Stay alive as you age and let the kids you know refresh you as well as the kid you were. After all, she is still inside of you! I promise and that’s the truth!

By Marvin L. Zimmerman
Author of The Ovum Factor

Every novel starts with an inspired writer - a person who draws from a fountainhead of emotions and feelings they have accumulated from reading the fictional works of others.

As a young boy, I was especially fascinated by tales of great adventure that took place in far off lands and overlapped with tales of tragic love - the best kind of all since it is short-lived and never withers. Books such as Knight Without Armor and Lost Horizon by James Hilton, captivated me from the moment I opened them and became immersed in their tales of people struggling against almost insurmountable obstacles.

At the time I could not realize it. But reading these masterpieces was setting the stage for my own novels some forty years later.

In The Ovum Factor, I have tried to create a story that pulsates with the same restless energy that drives its protagonist through one seemingly impossible trial after the next. The plot overlays a tale of adventure and survival with the emotional angst of an unlikely hero who becomes separated from the woman he loves just when she needs him most. His struggle to survive and find what he desperately seeks is made infinitely more complex by the fact that the person he loves depends so much on him.

From the moment the hero, David Rose, awakes in his Manhattan apartment asking himself: What am I doing with my life? until the time he finds himself alone and critically injured in the deepest Amazon jungle, there will be a steady escalation of tension. And if this were not enough, the stakes are the highest possible - maybe even the very survival of mankind in the face of ecological degradation and climate change.

The reader who gives my first novel a chance will I hope be rewarded a story that will transport them from the centers of high-finance in New York to the California Institute of Technology in beautiful Pasadena - from China to the crime-infested slums of Rio de Janeiro, and finally into the hidden depths of the Amazon jungle. In between, there will be more twists and turns than the Da Vinci Code.

By the end of his journey, David will have completed both an actual and a metaphysical journey toward his true destiny - something that should prove emotionally satisfying for the reader.

To view The Ovum Factor video trailer, please go to www.youtube.com/TheOvumFactor

To learn more about the book and the author, please go to www.theovumfactor.com

by Gary Maccagnone

There is a soccer trainer in Michigan by the name of Jordan Mitkov. As in the story, by chance, our paths crossed when my son Garrett went out for a team Jordan trained.

There was a moment early in the relationship when Mitkov explained to Garrett and I what type of individual and what type of temperament was needed to play the midfield position. He elaborated that a midfielder had to be a good person, a person who would sacrifice for the team, an individual with strong enough character to be willing to give up the ball and the glory for the sake of the team. For around ten years, that conversation burned in my mind while I wrestled with how to build a story around it.

Meanwhile, during that period of time, my son Garrett, who was considered to be an extraordinary player, had to deal with injustices based simply on the fact he was playing on a team coached by Mitkov and assisted by me. For instance, once after a game at an indoor complex, my son Garrett was approached by the Director of the boys program with the Olympic Development Program. Two other boys, who witnessed the discussion, now play for the University of Michigan varsity soccer team. The Olympic Development Program is sponsored by the national and state soccer organizations as a means to identify superior soccer talent.

In this particular case, I watched from the other side of the field as the Director put his arm around my son while talking to him as they walked. When the boys came over to my side, one of the boys, named Santos, told me the director was really hot for Garrett to play on the ODP team. “Coach,” Santos said to me. “He said if there was ever a player meant to be on ODP it was Garrett.”

Two weeks later, when I arrived at the ODP tryout, I noticed a blank stare on the Director’s face when I walked up to sign Garrett up for the team. His Adams apple plunged like a fishing lure underwater when he recognized me as Garrett’s father. Two hours later, when the names were called off from the first cut list, my son’s name was read aloud. My son, who was the leading scorer in the league, and considered to be one of the best players in the State, was cut from the ODP team on the very first cut.
It was from moments like that, and many others I could write another complete novel about, that the story of “St. John of the Midfield,” was incubated.

The book chronicles the hypocrisy, the hyper-sensitivity and the antipathy, of the soccer establishment toward an aging coach whose approach to the game is totally misunderstood. Unfortunately, in life, and in the story, those who are innocent get caught up in the destructive force such hatred brings about.

“St. John of the Midfield,” is a story that clearly defines for the reader the nature of good and evil. Though the soccer theme is only one thread of the entire story, the treatment of Jordan Mitkov and my son was the catalyst for the creation of the story.