Around the Web: Best Posts on Writing I've Discovered This Week

 I subscribe to and follow several authors, blogs, and writing sources throughout the week.

Each Friday, I include links to FIVE sources to improve your writing that I found useful.

Here are my offerings for this week. Hope they inspire you to start writing and continue writing!

So many things to learn in publishing and here are some tips to walk you through the process.  

https://blog.bookbaby.com/2019/08/metadata-optimization-for-your-book-my-self-publishing-experience-part-5/

I'm currently reading a murder mystery thriller that is great at ratcheting tension with a wronged suspect. I can't wait to see the final results. That's the kind of tension you want in your books for your readers.

 https://writersrelief.com/2022/01/20/how-to-build-tension-and-suspense-in-your-writing-writers-relief/

Kids books that are hot sellers at schools and with publishers are those that deal with STEM concepts. Read this post for ideas how to incorporate them in your story.
https://www.highlightsfoundation.org/21409/writing-stem-with-a-twist/

Ever thought of releasing a chapter of your book at a time to build readership?Are you ready to give it a try? Review these resources and how it works. https://fundsforwriters.com/serialized-fiction/

Get motivated to start writing and finish the book!Plus there's a free download on marketing! 

https://blog.bookbaby.com/2022/04/reaching-the-end-of-your-story/

Writing into the Shadows: Interview with Mystery Author Laura Griffin

Today's interview is with a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author who started her career in journalism before venturing into the world of writing romantic suspense. Her books have won numerous awards, including two RITA Awards and a Daphne du Maurier Award. Impressive!

Let's go back to the beginning. What made you decide to write suspense? Was there an author who made you think, "I could write a book like that?'

I’ve been a fan of suspense ever since I read my first Nancy Drew mystery as a child. I think the first author who made me think about writing suspense was Stephen King, who has such an amazing talent for pulling you into the story right away.

Aa an established author, can you tell me about the process of getting an agent?
Everyone’s process is so different. I’ve been working with the same agent, Kevan Lyon, since the very beginning of my career. For writers seeking a literary agent, it’s important to find someone who believes in your work and is a strong and diplomatic communicator.

What's the best encouragement you've had in your writing?
For me, the best encouragement always comes from readers. I love hearing from readers, especially when they have a strong emotional response to a story or a character. And I always like to know which characters they focus on and want to read more about.

We have all experienced rejection. Give me an example of one you've had, and how you learned to write past it. 
I certainly had plenty of rejections when I was first starting out. The key is to shake it off and keep working. If you believe in yourself and your story, hang in there. Perseverance is so important in this business.

What's the hardest part about writing for you? Starting? Creating a scene? Dialog? Tension, etc?
I love writing dialogue. I hear the characters talking together in my head, and it’s my job to get it all down, including the unspoken communication. I would say a challenge for me is sorting out the mystery side of the story, especially if it’s got a lot of twists and turns.

Besides writing your own book, you've collaborated with another author> Tell me about that process. 
Allison Brennan and I became friends years ago and always talked about how fun it would be to work together. We decided to team up of for a suspense series called Moreno & Hart, based on a private detective agency in Southern California. Allison writes from the point of view of Scarlet Moreno, while I write from the point of view Krista Hart, so each book features both of our voices. We've done three Moreno & Hart books, plus a novella, and the collaboration has been a lot of fun!

What type of publicity does your publisher expect you to do in promoting your book?
With every release, the publisher wants to see the author getting out there to talk about the book. Social media has made outreach easier than ever before, but it’s a lot to juggle. I use my personal newsletter, as well as Facebook and Twitter, to stay in touch with my readers. And I always enjoy book events where I get to meet people face to face.

What did you learn in publishing your first book that helped you in your writing?
I learned the importance of the revision process. Every book, no matter how wonderful you think it is, can be improved. I think sometimes beginning authors feel defensive about taking suggestions, but a good editor can add so much if you are willing to listen.

What has surprised you the most in writing/publishing?
There is a comradery among writers that I didn’t expect. I was surprised how many established authors were generous enough to encourage me as I was starting out. I think about them all the time and try to pay it forward.

What frustrated you the most?
The publishing business can be frustrating because so many factors that directly affect your book are beyond your control. But the important thing is to keep doing your best work, keep creating your best stories, and not get distracted by the ever-changing market forces.

What do you know now about writing that you wished you had known sooner?
I think it’s so critically important to protect your writing time. If you don’t, it will get gobbled up by everyone around you.

What is the best book you've ever read about the craft of writing?
There are so many! I love Stephen King’s ON WRITING. His tenacity is so inspiring.

What is the best advice you've been given about writing or that you've learned that you would like to pass along? 

Develop a thick skin and don’t give up.

Do you have any other works in the process?

At the moment, I’m working on two books—the next addition to my bestselling Tracers series, which focuses on a team of forensics experts in Texas who help detectives crack their toughest cases. And then I’m starting a new series about an elite firm of personal security specialists called Wolfe Security. Both series combine my two favorite genres: romance and suspense.

Any other tips or words you'd like to share about writing?
Don’t get caught up in what the market is doing. Write the story that is in your heart.

That's all for today's interview. Laura just released her newest Tracers book earlier this year, AT CLOSE RANGE. Each book features a stand-alone mystery and focuses on a different romantic couple, so people can pick up any book in the series and dive right it. For details about AT CLOSE RANGE: http://lauragriffin.com/books/atclose...
You can also visit with her at www.lauragriffin.com or www.Facebook.com/LauraGriffinAuthor

Guest Blog with Angela Ackerman: Emotional Showing: 3 Tips For Writing Fresh Body Language

One of the biggest universal struggles writers have is repeat gesturing. This is when those shrugs, frowns, feet shuffling and smiles sprinkle themselves liberally across a manuscript because they are the obvious choices to show a character’s emotions. (The most common gestures involve the eyes, face and hands, as well as internal ‘tells’ such as a heartbeat or breathing changes.)

The big problem with choosing a well known gesture to describe character emotion is that it often comes across as tired and overused, or worse, cliché. This is usually because we don't just use it once, we use it multiple times throughout the manuscript because it is the first thing to come to mind when we set out to describe a feeling.

If the character is scared, they shiver. If they are nervous, they bite their lip. If they are excited, their heart races. Each of these responses to an emotion is realistic, but if every time the character is nervous she's biting her lip, the reader will not be pulled into the story.

Settling for phrasing that’s been done to death can not only make a character’s actions and emotions seem a bit hollow, it can also impact the empathy link between reader and character. For readers to fully immerse themselves in the story and character’s plight, they need to invest themselves emotionally. This means not only creating compelling circumstances that allow for rich, emotional interaction between characters, it means bringing the reader up close and letting them experience what the character is feeling.

Fresh writing is the key to emotional showing, and this means thinking beyond the basics of body language. It also means understanding the body’s instinctive responses (known as internal visceral reactions) and the thought process that accompanies each emotional experience. Drawing on all three of these as you describe will bright about a rich, layered description that will captivate readers.

Here are three tips to put the fresh back into your expressions.

1) Mine Your Memories

Sit back from the keyboard for a moment and think about what emotion your character is feeling. There may be several, but one will be the root cause of the others.

When you find it, think about a time where you felt the same emotion. Then, recreate that moment and allow your body to take over. What is it doing?

Let’s pretend it’s guilt. Is there a sour taste in your mouth? Does your stomach bunch up? Does your throat feel painful?

Act out the feeling and move around. Do you hold your arms close to the body? Is your posture slumped? Are your eyes closed, or open? Are you thinking about how awful it would be if others knew about your secret?

Keep mining until you find a movement, thought  and/or expression that is fresh and unique and fits your character's personality and emotional range.

2) Use the Setting

Setting is so much more than a backdrop, so have your character interact with it. Touching is intimate. What objects within the setting trigger feelings of safety or strife? Build these into the scene and show your character react to them.

Body language will also shift depending on how a person can express themselves. Confined to a chair, a character may show emotion differently than he would standing around a campfire, or in an elevator full of people.

Personality and comfort level will also affect body language, because people act differently alone versus in a group. Think about whether your character feels safe to express emotion in this setting. Are they open about it, or do they try to hide what they feel from others?

3) Watch People (But Don’t Be Creepy About It)

I know, this one seems a bit basic, but it’s something all writers should be doing. And don’t shy away from locations that provide high emotion either--people who are visibly upset, excited or frustrated are treasure troves of unique body movements!

Take advantage of wherever you are--a doctor’s office waiting room, at a pub watching the game, hustling through the grocery store. Keep an eye out for that uncomfortable patient, exuberant fan, or overwrought mom with three kids bouncing all around her.

The bottom line is that each of us express ourselves in our own way, and we must strive to do this with our characters. Dig deeper and think beyond the ‘easy’ gestures. Then, using a combination of thoughts, visceral responses and body movement, create your character’s unique emotional footprint on the page.

If you get stuck, dig out your copy of The Emotion Thesaurus or visit the thesaurus' online home at One Stop For Writers. If you don't have it on your bookshelf, here's a secret...Amazon's "look inside" feature is quite generous, and chances are, the free preview will give you a ton of ideas. Happy writing!

ANGELA ACKERMAN is a writing coach, international speaker and co-author of several bestselling writing books, including The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer's Guide to Character Expression. She loves building communities, and her newest project, One Stop For Writers, is a powerhouse online library like no other, filled with description and brainstorming tools to help writers elevate their storytelling. You can also find her on Twitter and Facebook and at her website, Writers Helping Writers.

The Promise of the First Chapter, Guest Blog Post by Chris Eboch

You’ll hear it over and over again — opening lines are important. Your opening makes a promise about the rest of the story, article, or book. It tells readers what to expect, setting the stage for the rest of the story to unfold — and hopefully hooking their interest.

 What You Promise
The first scene should identify your story’s genre. This can be trickier than it sounds. Say it’s a romance, but the main character doesn’t meet the love interest until later. Can you at least suggest her loneliness or desire for romance? (And get that love interest in there as soon as possible!)

Maybe you’re writing a story involving magic, time travel, ghosts, or a step into another dimension, but you want to show the normal world before you shift into fantasy. That’s fine, but if we start reading about a realistic modern setting and then halfway through magic comes out of nowhere, you’ll surprise your reader — and not in a good way. Your story will feel like two different stories clumsily stitched together.

If you’re going to start “normal” and later introduce an element like magic or aliens, try to hint at what’s to come. Maybe the main character is wishing that magic existed — that’s enough to prepare the reader. In my novel for ages 9+, The Genie’s Gift, an early draft didn’t introduce magic until chapter 5, when the heroine is on her quest. In revisions, I introduced magic in the opening paragraph:

Anise knew the candy must be enchanted. The genie cook always put some kind of protection on the food, so no one could eat it until he said so. Would it stick her jaws together so she couldn’t speak? Turn her lips and tongue blue? Taste like camel dung? But Anise didn’t want to wait until after the wedding. She was hungry now.

For this book, the title and cover help establish the setting anyway, but I still don’t want to make readers wait, especially impatient kids. For other genres, the title and cover may not be quite as clear-cut, and people using certain e-readers might not even see the cover or remember much about a book they bought some time ago. Give them a reminder right away.

When and Where
Your opening should also identify the story’s setting. This includes when and where we are, if it’s historical or set in another country or world. Once again, you don’t want your reader to assume a modern story and then discover halfway through that it’s actually a historical setting. They’ll blame you for their confusion. In my middle grade mystery, The Eyes of Pharaoh, not only do I identify the historical setting with a tagline, but I then follow with a scene that is clearly not contemporary America:

Waset, Egypt
Year Seven, Day Five of the First Month of Summer
in the reign of Pharaoh Ramses the Third

Seshta ran. Her feet pounded the hard-packed dirt street. She lengthened her stride and raised her face to Ra, the sun god. Her ba, the spirit of her soul, sang at the feel of her legs straining, her chest thumping, her breath racing. 

In a contemporary story, you may not identify a specific city, but the reader should have a feel for whether this is inner-city, small-town, suburban, or whatever. Whispers in the Dark, a romantic suspense written as Kris Bock, features archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. The opening immediately establishes both the unusual setting, and the "fish out of water" challenge for the main character:
 What had I gotten myself into?

I closed my eyes. Yes, I was driving, but a moment of distraction seemed safe enough, since I hadn’t seen another car in half an hour. Even the jackrabbits and rattlesnakes were hiding in the shade, leaving the road clear of everything but rocks and ruts. 
 I was starting an adventure. I had to remind myself of that—an adventure. I wanted to be here. I wanted to get away from the city, the classroom and office, the people. You couldn’t get much farther away than this, a tiny cluster of seven-hundred-year-old ruins in the Four Corners area of the Southwest. I had found the middle of nowhere.

 As I had wanted, I reminded myself.

Who and What’s Up
Your opening pages should focus on your main character. You may find exceptions to this rule, but your readers will assume that whoever is prominent in the opening pages is the MC. Switching can cause confusion. You should also establish your point of view early. If you’ll be switching points of view, don’t wait too long to make the first switch. In novels, typically you want to show your alternate point of view in the second chapter and then switch back and forth with some kind of regular rhythm.

And of course, you want some kind of challenge or conflict in your opening. This doesn’t have to be the main plot problem — you may need additional set up before your main character takes on that challenge or even knows about it. But try to make sure that your opening problem relates to the main problem. It may even lead to it.

In my latest Kris Bock romantic suspense, Counterfeits, the story opens with the heroine returning to the New Mexico art camp her grandmother ran. Jenny is grieving over her grandmother’s recent death and wondering how this will change her life. Two pages later, she wakes up in the night to hear people searching the house. During her escape, Jenny crashes into a sexy man, an old friend who seems to have secrets of his own. She doesn’t figure out what’s going on until much later. Still, the book opens with a character who has problems and quickly gets into greater trouble.

The Fast Start
So, an opening should introduce many elements of the story. Yet you can’t take too long to set the scene, or your readers may lose interest. You want to start in a moment of action, where something is changing, and cut the background. But don’t rush things — take a little time to set up the situation, so it makes sense and we care about the characters and what’s happening to them.

Fast, but not too fast. How do you find the balance?

You can test your opening by seeing how much you can cut. What if you delete the first sentence, the first paragraph, the first page? Does the story still make sense? Does it get off to a faster start? What if you cut the whole first chapter, or several chapters? If you can’t cut, can you condense? Another one of my romantic suspense novels, Rattled, involves a treasure hunt in the New Mexico desert. I jump into the story when the main character has found the key to the treasure, and give more detail throughout the opening chapters: 

            Erin could hardly believe what she was seeing. Could this be it? After all this time waiting, searching, had she finally, finally, found what she was looking for?

            She fumbled in her desk drawer for a magnifying glass and studied the symbols in the photo more closely. At a glance, they looked like your standard Indian petroglyphs. You could find them throughout the Southwest, tucked away in caves or scattered among boulder fields.

            But this was different.

            If she was right—and she had to be right—these symbols were a map. A map that could lead her to one of the greatest caches of buried treasure ever. 

On the other hand, if your beginning feels confusing or rushed, you might want to try starting earlier in the story. Try setting up a small problem that grabs the reader’s attention, luring them in until you can get to the main problem. In The Well of Sacrifice, another of my novels for ages 9+, the Maya are dealing with famine, disease, and marauders in the early chapters, even before the king dies and an evil high priest tries to take over. That gives readers time to understand these characters and their unusual world.

The inciting incident — the problem that gets the story going — should happen as soon as possible, but not until the moment is ripe. The reader must have enough understanding of the character and situation to make the incident meaningful. Too soon, and the reader is confused. Too late, and the reader gets bored first.

Options for Fast Starts:
· Start in the action, at a moment of change. Then work in the back story.

· Start with two people on the page.

· Start in the middle of a fight or other conflict.

· Start with a cliffhanger — something powerful about to happen.

· Start with a small problem that leads to the big problem, or is an example of the main problem.

Chris’s book Advanced Plotting is designed for the intermediate and advanced writer. If you struggle with plot or suspect your plotting needs work, this book can help. Use the Plot Outline Exercise to identify and fix plot weaknesses. Learn how to get off to a fast start, prop up a sagging middle, build to a climax, improve your pacing, and more.

Chris Eboch writes fiction and nonfiction for all ages. Her novels for ages nine and up include The Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy, The Eyes of Pharaoh, a mystery in ancient Egypt; and The Well of Sacrifice, a Mayan adventure. Learn more at www.chriseboch.com or her Amazon page.

As Kris Bock, Chris writes novels of suspense and romance for adults. Counterfeits starts a new series about art theft. Whispers in the Dark features archaeology and intrigue among ancient Southwest ruins. What We Found is a mystery with strong romantic elements about a young woman who finds a murder victim in the woods. Rattled follows the hunt for a long-lost treasure in the New Mexico desert. Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page.