Trademarks & Updates

I'm finishing up 2nd edits on Chasing Shadows today and finalized my trademark term list. It's amazing how many trademarks a writer ends up using if not careful. I originally used 14 trademarked terms. Wow. I've gotten the list down to 3, although I wanted 2 more, but one of them requires permission from the owner to use and the other I just decided I didn't really need and used a substitue generic term instead. Better be safe than sorry! Anyway, my publisher is very careful about using trademarks, and lists them in the front of the book with an acknowledgement of ownership.

Chasing Shadows 2nd edits will be done and submitted to my editor by tomorrow morning! There wasn't a whole lot of things to change or fix, so I've taken my time on it this week.

Yesterday, I attended my RWA Chapter's monthly meeting. Literary Agent, Kelly Mortimer escaped the San Diego smoke and flew up to attend the meeting. She told us a bit about her, her clients and her agency. Then she went thru and critiqued a 1 pager submission from most of us, which ended up being 2 paragraphs because it was so rushed. I submitted Thirteen. Other than her not liking what she saw as a POV shift in one sentence, she didn't have much to say about it, other than it was easy to spot the fact that it was a paranormal since I mention psychic talent in the first paragraph. By the way, it's not a POV shift--it's the way my character thinks. But I did take her comment into consideration and maybe I'll make a slight adjustment to the wording. Unfortunately, Kelly's not taking new clients unless you're a referral, or she liked you in a pitch. But she was fun to get to know, and very down to earth.

Not much else going on. But I'm keeping busy.

Don't let the ghouls and ghosts get you this week! Later.

Mercury strikes again!

I knew it! Mercury's in retrograde again! That explains why a circuit in my kitchen tripped, knocking my phone out and why I spent 3 hours trying to get my desktop computer back on line Friday! There was no explanation for the computer. My laptop connected no problemo so I knew it wasn't an internet connection problem. Good thing I know something about computers and software. But I certainly didn't have 3 hours to waste.

I must tread lightly until November 17 when Mercury moves along. If you want to read more about Mercury in Retrograde whether or not you believe in astrology, check it out here:
http://www.astrologycom.com/mercret.html

Be afraid...be very afraid! But keep your cool!

Not much to report in the writing business. Things are moving along. Later!

Latest Crop of Crappy Reads

Wow, I've just read 3 crappy books in a row. The third one I couldn't even finish, mainly because I was tired of reading sucky books. So I'll just give them a short review and forego the cover picture.

First: Tall, Dark & Dead by Tate Halliway. I can forgive the author because this is her debut novel. But I didn't like her writing style and never warmed up to the characters. I may try the second book in the series later on down the road. If I get really brave.

Second: Home Fires by Luanne Rice. Can we say "show don't tell?" This book was written in 1995 and I hope to God her writing has improved. I can't say as I'll read anything more by her for a long, long time.

Third: I Hunger for You by Susan Sizemore. Hmmm...What can I say. Another vampire book in the midst of millions of them. This was NOT her first book, but I sure thought it was. Nothing special, very little emotion, convoluted, no empathy for the characters. I could not even get interested in anything about it and quit reading midway through. It takes a lot for me to stop reading a book. Not that this book was that bad, but it was the 3rd in a row and I asked myself why I was wasting my time deriving no pleasure from reading over the last few weeks. Deleted it from my PDA faster than you can say boo!

Goal, Motivation & Conflict - Review

Every story needs goals, motivations and conflicts. Without them, you don’t have a story. Without good ones, your reader will be bored stiff if you even get published. However, this can be the toughest aspect of fiction writing. GMC, if not done right will most likely get a manuscript rejected.

In Goal, Motivation & Conflict Debra Dixon does an excellent job of guiding the fiction writer through this maze. The presentation is clear and down to earth with relevant examples that you can put to work immediately. Before I read this book I thought I understood GMC. But I was wrong. This book put everything into perspective in an easily informative, enjoyable format. The book GMC belongs on every fiction writer’s bookshelf.

Goal, Motivation & Conflict rates in my top 5 writer’s reference books. Don’t write without it! Available at www.gryphonbooksforwriters.com

From the book blurb:

Goal, motivation, and conflict are the foundation of everything that happens in the story world. Using charts, examples, and movies, the author breaks these key elements down into understandable components and walks the reader through the process of laying this foundation in his or her own work.

Learn what causes sagging middles and how to fix them, which goals are important and which aren’t and why, how to get your characters to do what they need for your plot in a believable manner, and how to use conflict to create a good story. GMC can be used not only in plotting, but in character development, sharpening scenes, pitching ideas to an editor, and evaluating whether an idea will work.

• Be confident your ideas will work before you write 200 pages.


• Plan a road map to keep your story on track.


• Discovery why your scenes aren’t working and what to do about it.


• Create characters that editors and readers will care about.