Whistlecreig, Shakespeare, and Bludgeoning

I love you so much, I wish this for you.

Yesterday was Sunday, and thus a terribly busy day for me. As you know, I've gone down to North Carolina to stay with my brother's fiance till the wedding on Saturday. Since getting down here yesterday afternoon, I have had all sorts of excitement:
I stopped in Wake Forest and got coffee and explored artists' lofts. Then my phone died so I had to run on a wing and a prayer and hope I remembered the way I'd wended so I could get back to the house at which I had dropped off Mama for an event. Nothing like exercising one's brain. When I finally got to my STBSIL's house (Soon-to-be-sister-in-law), we found out her brother had caught a bobcat in a trap--the gorgeous creature had eaten twenty chickens over the past six months. This meant I tramped out several times to the back pasture (in the dark with a rake over my shoulder, or in the daylight to avoid cow pies) to see it. The brother decided not to shoot it because it was so pitifully not in the act of catching a hen, so he called an old wildlife rehabilitation fella to come get it. The man came and took the yowling, hissing, clawing bobcat in the cage without using so much as a pair of gloves and hefted the cage into the back of his pick-up beside two road-killed deer he meant to feed his wolves and his bald eagle, and took it to a distant river to have a new purchase on life. That cat was so angry. And she was not a bit like a house-cat...far more like a pint-sized lion. That roar!

Isn't she a beauty?

Anyway. Between church and bobcats and scouting for greenery for wedding decor and doing exercises to insure the bridesmaid's dress fits and all that sort of business, there was no time to sit down and write a blog post. Thus, I'm giving you yesterday's links with today's and hope you will enjoy all of them. :)

I sit down for an Interview at Whistlecreig with Esther Smith at The Pen of a Ready Writer.

Then I go bludgeon some inspiration at The Destiny of One.

Next, I get to talk Shakespeare with Elizabeth Rose on Literary Lane, about which I am super excited.

Fourth, trot over to Fullness of Joy for the first half of an interview which will continue here on the Inkpen Authoress tomorrow.

And fifth of all, the author of My Lady Bibliophile weighs in on some of her favorite aspects of Anon, Sir, Anon. She got to be an advance-reader so you ought to hear some...interesting things. ;)

Thanks so much for reading! I know your lives are busy and I treasure your time. (Psssst. Only a couple more days till we discover who wins the awesome Cozy Quagmire Party Pack.) If you don't win, don't worry! You can always purchase your own copy here. As usual, keep your heads high, your hats clean, and an umbrella under you arm so you can rescue someone in a distress during a rain-shower. Hey, it worked for Psmith--why not the rest of us?

Day Four: Geckos and Mysteries and a Hoar-Frost

Dear Folk:
    Saturday in my corner of Southern Virginia has dawned brighter than bright with a deal of sunlight and a hard hard frost. So festive it seems with the silver filigree of a hoar-frost that I have almost forgotten the dubious fact that I am to wear a sleeveless chiffon dress in an outdoor wedding a week from today. Frost, on such occasions, is a dreadful event. I should very much like to not be freezing up there in the bridesmaid line. We shall see. For today, I am wonderfully glad for the cheery morning and the prospect of a week spent down North Carolina-way as I stay with my almost new-sister-in-law. Nothing--absolutely nothing--like weddings to get one "brisked round and brisked about." I will be able to continue this lovely blog party, which you have been so good as to join me in, from there.

I finally got my copy of Plenilune yesterday. It's massive.

Today, Ness Kingsley--my British contact, who critiqued Anon, Sir, Anon from the British-y standpoint--interviews me about plotting, geckos, and writers block. Not necessarily in that order. If you'd like to read this conversation with my favorite Brit besides Tom Hiddleston, you ought to head thisaway.
Later, I shall be dropping by Charity Klicka's blog to discuss the alchemy of words. Things like this:

Words give birth to communities. I can take your heart and make it mine with a clever rearrangement of a few meager words. You never know what I’ll say, but I’ll mean every syllable, for I’ll have arranged every syllable. It is craftsmanship that must be learned. Everyone uses words; everyday; everywhere. Words aren’t special in the way most people mean special. Words are…common. But their very normalcy makes them the perfect in-road to the element of surprise. If you know how.

 If you want to read up on such things, head thataway.

And, as usual, please don't forget to enter the giveaway for your chance to win a lot of prizes and Anon, Sir, Anon! The prize is totally worth the little while it takes to enter, and if I wasn't the author and organizer of said book and giveaway, I would most definitely be entering. But I am, and I have to fit into this bridesmaid's dress so sourdough toast is a little out of the question at present. Better luck for you lot. I hope you have a bright and beautiful day, and that if you find yourself in need of a cozy read for a nippy November day, you might choose to spend it with Vivi & Farnham.

Those Frenchies Seek Him Everywhere

A few weeks ago, Anne Elisabeth Stengl (my publisher for The Windy Side of Care in Five Glass Slippers ) inquired as to whether I might be willing to ask a question of her mother, author Jill Stengl, and participate in an internet-wide blog tour for the release of her novel, Until That Distant Day. Being the obliging creature that I am, I said yes. Being the prompt creature that she is, Anne Elisabeth soon sent me an email with all the bits and pieces I'd need to host Jill on The Inkpen Authoress. And that, my dears, is the story of today's post. But first, let us hear about the book!

Colette and her brother Pascoe are two sides of the same coin, dependent upon one another in the tumultuous world of the new Republic. Together they labor with other leaders of the sans-culottes to ensure freedom for all the downtrodden men and women of France.

But then the popular uprisings turn bloody and the rhetoric proves false. Suddenly, Colette finds herself at odds with Pascoe and struggling to unite her fractured family against the lure of violence. Charged with protecting an innocent young woman and desperately afraid of losing one of her beloved brothers, Colette doesn’t know where to turn or whom to trust as the bloodshed creeps ever closer to home.

Until that distant day when peace returns to France, can she find the strength to defend her loved ones . . . even from one another?

"Jill Stengl is one of the rare authors with the ability to transport the reader to another world--a delightfully rich world of scent and sight and sound.” – Kim Vogel Sawyer, bestselling author of Echoes of Mercy

“Award-winning author Jill Stengl has created her greatest work yet in the inspiring and moving Until That Distant Day.” Jill Eileen Smith, bestselling author of the Wives of King David series.

And now that we have hurled formalities at one another, I will let Jill answer the question I fed her! I asked Ms. Stengl:

"Have you ever begun a story and realized someone else has already done something quite similar and you had no idea? If so, how have you worked to make yours different?"

Yes, I have, but my discovery came too late for revision! Heartsong Presents books, at that time, were mailed out to subscribers, four each month. One month after one of my stories released, a historical by a better-known author came out, another western with a main character whose history was nearly identical to my hero’s history. Naturally, the two books blended together in readers’ minds. The short-romance genre offers little scope for originality. I always struggled to find ways to make my work stand out in the crowd. Occasionally I was successful; more often I was not.

After many years of writing, reading, and observation, I believe that characters make the difference. I can invent a great plot, a fabulous setting, and even a strong story outline; but if my characters are cookie-cutter, my story will sound exactly like dozens of other books out there. Readers might enjoy it at the moment, but they will forget it entirely within days. After all these years I am finally learning how to write characters that think, speak, act, and react like real people instead of behaving like puppets acting out my plot. It is much harder to write a novel than it used to be, but I am far more satisfied with the result. There is always more to learn, and of course I’m hoping the next book will be even better!

Great question, Rachel! Thank you so much for joining my blog tour.

Jill Stengl is the author of numerous romance novels including Inspirational Reader's Choice Award- and Carol Award-winning Faithful Traitor, and the bestselling novella, Fresh Highland Heir. She lives with her husband in the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin, where she enjoys her three cats, teaching a high school English Lit. class, playing keyboard for her church family, and sipping coffee on the deck as she brainstorms for her next novel.

She blogs at Books, Cats, and Whimsy. Do stop by and follow her to keep up with all her writing and reading-related activities!

And, dear readers, until May 12th, the Kindle version of Until That Distant Day is only .99 so if you are fond of reading on Kindles (as I know many of you are), do drop us a line!

There is a lovely giveaway going on as well, so please rummage about the Rafflecopter below to see the many ways you could win. French Revolution books always give me a thrill--ever since The Scarlet Pimpernel--so I would be quite anxious to win a copy myself. Also, Harney & Sons tea is spectacular.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And just so you don't miss any of the other stops on this tour, I am posting the tour schedule below. Find a stop near you! Bus Fare only .50 a pop. ;)

Until That Distant Day

Launch Tour Schedule

May 5

Tales of Goldstone Wood

Edgy Inspirational Romance

Fullness of Joy

The Inkpen Authoress

Covers and Ink

May 6

Blooming with Books

Quoth the Girl

The Wonderings of One Person

May 7

The Writer’s Window

Jill Eileen Smith

The Writer of Dream Things

May 8

Letters from Annie Douglas Lima

Rina’s Reading

To Find a Castle

May 9

JLMbewe.com

To Be a Person

Writings of Rosie

May 10

Seasons of Humility

Notes by Oywen

The Overweight Bookshelf

May 11

Too Read or Not Too Read

Fictionally

Bluerose’s Heart

May 12

Mel’s Shelves

Labor Not in Vain

Creative Madness Mama

May 13 – Giveaway Winner Announced

Tales of Goldstone Wood

Elisabeth G. Foley: Eight Little Known Mysteries

Elisabeth Foley and I have a long-standing blogging relationship. I can't really remember exactly when it began, because it began on her end. For a long time, she would be a faithful commenter on The Inkpen Authoress, and finally I began to reciprocate the favor on her blog, The Second Sentence. From there, she became an invaluable source of knowledge on independent publishing and mystery-writing, which is why she is now The One on whom I am going to rely much while editing and polishing Anon, Sir, Anon. Elisabeth has released three of her Mrs. Meade Mysteries as e-books and now we non-Kindle-ers (that is a word of my own fabrication) have the chance to own all three in one lovely paperback volume!

Meet Mrs. Meade, a gentle but shrewd widow lady with keen insight into human nature and a knack for solving mysteries. Problems both quaint and dramatic find her in Sour Springs, a small town in Colorado at the turn of the twentieth century. Here in Volume One are her first three adventures, novelette-length mysteries previously published individually. In The Silver Shawl, a young woman has disappeared from the boarding-house where she lives—was she kidnapped, or did she have a reason to flee? In The Parting Glass, Mrs. Meade puzzles over the case of a respectable young man accused of drunkenly assaulting a woman. And in The Oldest Flame, Mrs. Meade’s visit with old friends turns to disaster with a house fire that may have been deliberately set. Quick and entertaining forays into mystery and times past, each story is just the perfect length to accompany a cup of tea or coffee for a cozy afternoon.

You can purchase said paperback version from Amazon and Createspace! 

Today, I've had Elisabeth drop by to recommend some lesser-known mysteries because, while Sayers, Christie, and Conan Doyle are all masters of the craft, there are other authors who know how to spin a whodunnit! And as I mentioned before, Elisabeth is rather an aficionado of the mystery trade. Let us welcome Miss Foley:

Eight Mysteries of Which You May Never Have Heard

By Elisabeth Grace Foley

Before I began writing mysteries, I read mysteries. I started very early with the Boxcar Children series—all nineteen of the original books. From there I progressed to Nancy Drew, then Sherlock Holmes, and really made the break into classic mystery when I read Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express. Though, as you can see, I’m very fond of the acknowledged classics, I’ve also found great pleasure in stumbling upon some rare or obscure mysteries which turned out to be hidden gems.

So here, for your enjoyment, is a list of my favorites in this category. Some of them are chiefly remarkable for their unique setting or style, but many are fantastic mysteries in their own right. A couple of them have made scholarly lists of the greatest mysteries, but they seem to be much lesser-known in a popular sense. I know I’d never heard of any of them before I stumbled across them in the last year or two. Have you?

The Bellamy Trial by Frances Noyes Hart

This 1927 mystery novel is just brilliantly constructed. Told from the perspective of two young reporters, a girl and a man, covering a sensational murder trial, the whole book takes place in and around the courtroom. The case is gradually unfolded, layer by layer, through the interrogation of witnesses and presentation of new evidence. You won’t be able to put it down once you start!

Uncle Abner, Master of Mysteries by Melville Davisson Post

This collection of short stories has been compared to Chesterton’s Father Brown mysteries, and I think the comparison is apt, even though on the surface the detectives are polar opposites: Father Brown is a small, mild, English Catholic priest; Uncle Abner a big, stalwart American Protestant, a landowner in rural Virginia of the early 1800s. Yet as in Chesterton, Abner's Christian faith is at the root of his strong belief in justice, which drives him to find the correct solutions to crimes. Post’s writing is just beautiful, and the stories gripping and unique. Highly recommended.

Green For Danger by Christianna Brand

Not only a great mystery, but one of the best WWII novels I’ve read. The setting is a hospital in the English countryside, the victim an air-raid casualty, the suspects the attending doctors and nurses—both clues and motives are detailed and complicated. The vivid evocation of wartime conditions may be owing to the fact that Brand wrote it in the thick of the Blitz, living near the real hospital where her doctor husband worked and sharing the nurses’ bomb shelter. (Also highly worth watching is the 1946 film version, which presents a boiled-down but intact version of the plot, and a hilariously brilliant performance by Alastair Sim as Inspector Cockrill.)

The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne

One can only wish that Milne had written more mysteries! This one is very much in the classic English-country-house mold, quite decently puzzling and told with all of Milne’s signature sprightly wit and humor. For me, that’s an irresistible combination. (My favorite line: “When a gentleman goes to Australia, he has his reasons.”)

The Golden Cat by Max Brand

I was tickled to discover that Brand, known as the king of Western pulp magazine writers, had actually written a locked-room murder mystery set in the West—in a ruined hacienda complete with ghostly legend, with a half-dozen likely suspects and a shrewd sheriff for detective (whom the narrator both aids and tries to mislead). Those not familiar with Brand might take some time getting used to his style (the book originated as a magazine serial, which might account for the plot veering off in different directions now and then), but it’s a very creditable attempt at a whodunit for a non-mystery author, with the Western setting making it fun.

Was it Murder? (a.k.a. Murder at School) by James Hilton

Hilton, best known as the author of such novels as Random Harvest, Lost Horizon and Goodbye, Mr. Chips, took a stab at writing a detective novel too—his only mystery, I believe, published under a pseudonym. It takes place in a setting that Hilton and readers of Mr. Chips would know well: a boys’ boarding-school. After two students, brothers, perish in suspicious “accidents,” leaving an inheritance to one of the faculty, an amateur-detective alumni steps in to investigate. Experienced mystery-readers might guess at the solution, but it’s a charmingly written take on the classic English murder mystery.

The Golden Slipper and Other Problems for Violet Strange by Anna Katharine Green

This collection of loosely connected short stories has a clever premise: Violet Strange, a wealthy young woman of Edwardian high society, secretly assists a professional detective with delicate cases—investigating where class barriers prevent a detective from going, or in cases involving only women, where a man cannot go. There’s also the lingering question all through the stories, which is resolved in the final one: Why does a high-class, wealthy young woman need to earn money by doing detective work in secret?

Chronicles of Joe Müller, Detective by Auguste Groner

Just when I thought I was running out of old-time mysteries to read, I discovered this collection. These short mysteries (about the length of my own Mrs. Meade adventures) were originally written in German. Joe Müller is a member of the Imperial Austrian Police, an unassuming and diffident man but a brilliant detective. The characters and mystery plots are very well done, and the setting of pre-WWI Vienna hooked me from the first paragraph.

But wait, what am I doing? If you go and read all of these, when will you ever have time to read the Mrs. Meade Mysteries? Ah, but that’s the thing about mystery readers—we can never get enough. I’ve read through the complete Sherlock Holmes and Father Brown and almost everything Agatha Christie wrote, and I’m still as eagerly on the lookout as ever for another good mystery. If you’re anything like me, I’m sure you feel the same way.

 (Rachel's Note: I, for one, wish  I had access to all these mysteries. I have read The Red House Mystery and loved it. But the others sound so good and have interesting backgrounds. For instance, did you know that Christianna Brand is the author of the children's book, Nurse Matilda, on which the film Nanny McPhee was based? These all sound so good!)

 Also, Elisabeth is giving away a copy of her collection and a set of Mrs. Meade bookmakers so please enter the giveaway below. :)

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{Fly Away Home Cover Reveal} A Glimpse at Cover Design by Rachel Rossano

Hey guys!

Today I'm presenting to you an awesome blog post by my cover-designer, Rachel Rossano! She was the hands the creation of Fly Away Home's gorgeous cover! After a wee bit of coaxing she agreed to write a post about cover design and what it entails--I figured those of us who are authors could use a reminder of all the work our "makeup artists" do to bring our precious books to life! What she came up with was an entertaining and enlightening tour through the process. May I present to you:

Cover Design: From Concept to Creation

by Rachel Rossano

Rachel Heffington invited me to come and chat with all of you about a favorite topic of mine, book covers.

Almost everyone knows the old adage “Never judge a book by its cover.” Everyone just as universally ignores its wise advice. Because of that many books go unread that could have been enjoyed and loved. I feel for those poor books and their authors who labored over each and every word within the cover. That's why I do what I do, design book covers.

A good book cover must do at least three things: accurately represent the story within, catch the reader's eye, and appear professional. There are myriads of other rules, but these three are right up at the top.

When I approach a new project, my first request of the author is: Tell me about your book. I want to know about the genre, characters, setting, and anything else that the author feels is important about their story.

Genre is important because it defines the approach I take to the cover. A romance cover usually has a couple on the front, unless the story is from one character's perspective or revolves heavily around one of the characters. A mystery requires tension and a totally different feel and visual goal than women's fiction or science fiction. The genre defines the general approach.

Characters are very important to me. As a writer and as a reader, my first interest is in the characters. They drive my plots and frequently are integral to my designs. I try to match the character the author describes to an image that we can use. Sometimes compromises have to be made, but usually good matches can be found. Thankfully eye color and hair color are tweak-able.

If there's a setting or scene that's crucial to the story, I try to get that on the cover. For Rachel Heffington's book, Fly Away Home, setting and time period were very important to the design. Set in 50s New York City, the setting needed to be clear in the images, the clothing, the coloring, and the font choices.

The process of creating a cover that catches the eye is a bit hard to explain. Placement of the elements, coloring, font choices, and other style choices all factor into the final product. In this day of electronic devices and purchasing ebooks on Amazon and iTunes, making sure a cover looks good in color, black and white, thumbnail size, and full print size becomes part of the job as well.

What makes a cover appear professional is another tough one to quantify. There are so many factors. The final cover should look finished, not slapped together. The individual parts should work together as a whole image, not jump out to the observer as pieces. Coloring and lighting also play a big role. Garishly colored typography or oddly stretched pictures rarely appear professional. Picking out what works and doesn't sometimes takes an experienced eye. As someone once pointed out to me about writing, in the end cover designing is very subjective.

Each designer has a different process and a different style. My designing projects usually follow four steps: discussion, designing, finalizing, and tweaking.

Rachel Heffington came to me with a clear idea of what she wanted in her cover design. This cut down on the discussion phase considerably. Based on her blurb, mock up, and our conversations about the styles of covers she liked on other books, I went hunting for images that might work for her main character and a few other elements that we might want to use. I emailed her links to a selection of possibilities. She chose the one she thought best captured Callie.

The next step, designing, is where I put together a mock of how I think the elements could go together using comp images, which are low quality resolution watermarked images from the royalty-free website. I don't purchase the images until the composition of the cover has been finalized. Creating a mock cover lets the author and I work through the layout designing aspects of the cover like where the title will go, where each image will be used. Edges remain raw and watermarks mar the pictures. Fonts (kind of lettering) are rarely finalized, and small details like the blurb and tagline will come later. Mocks aren't particularly pretty but they serve a purpose. Once we have a very clear overall picture of which images we need and their placement, we move to the finalizing stage.

Finalizing is when I purchase the images, put them together, finish edges, and work to make the cover feel like a single image. The font choices are selected. The blurb, bio, and tagline add another layer. After receiving approval from the author comes, I prepare the final cover files. Payment happens and the author gets the product.

I always hope the tweaking phase won't be necessary, but even if it is, I try to make it painless. Not every system is perfect and sometimes images need to be adjusted a millimeter here or there. With print covers sometimes colors need to be adjusted so the hard copy looks like it should. Just small things. We go through the process of proofing and checking until the the proof copy arrives at the author's door and it is perfect.

It is done! Finally ready for sharing with the world.

I know from publishing my own books, the feeling of holding the finished product in your hands is worth all the hard work.

(Examples of the many beautiful covers Rachel has created!)

    

 

Rachel Rossano is a happily married homeschooling mom of three kids. Mid the chaos, she thinks about characters, plots, and book cover ideas. The ideas percolate in her head until she can give them form during nap times and after the little ones go to bed. Beyond writing and book covers, she enjoys spending time with her husband, watching movies, teaching her kids, and reading good books. Above all, she seeks to glorify her Savior in all she does. You can visit her over on her blog at http://rachel-rossano.blogspot.com/ or check out her design website at http://rossanodesigns.weebly.com/.

As a sort of add-on to Rachel's post, I have the tag questions ready for you! Just go ahead and fill out the questions on your blog and add your link to this post. Also, don't forget that filling out this tag gives you more entries in the Coziness Package Giveaway! All right:

1.) What is the most important thing about a cover?
2.) Are covers even that important?
3.) If you could choose one actor (living or dead) to play each of your leads, who would that list include?
4.) In what genres do you prefer to work?
5.) Which book on the shelf closest to you has the prettiest cover?
6.) If you could have any famous author judge your work, who would you choose and why?
7.) What is one thing you must have near you in order to write?
8.) If you are independently published, which cover designer did you choose?
9.) What is your worst writing habit?
10.) Do you have a favorite literary-inclined character from a book or movie?

There you go! Remember, the time is short in which to enter for a chance to win the awesome Coziness Package so get your entries in so you'll be in the running. :)

Many Happy Returns

"So Owl wrote . . . and this is what he wrote:
HIPY PAPY BTHUTHDTH THUTHDA BTHUTHDY. Pooh looked on admiringly.
"I'm just saying 'A Happy Birthday'," said Owl carelessly.
"It's a nice long one," said Pooh, very much impressed by it.
"Well, actually, of course, I'm saying 'A Very Happy Birthday with love from Pooh.' Naturally it takes a good deal of pencil to say a long thing like that."
"Oh, I see," said Pooh."

She can fabricate wonderful stories out of a blank piece of paper.

She has style that's both vintage and pop.

She loves Jesus and is a light to all around her.

She's a connoisseur of all things Broadway.

She can whip up all sorts of foods as quick as you can say "bob's your uncle."

She can be found laughing at all hours of the day.

She happens to be my sister.

She happens to be turning 21 today.....

And she has just been hacked.

happy 21st birthday, rach!
love,
Sarah

What the Dickens...?

I’m going to take a stand and proclaim what I have learned as one of {perhaps the} the single most important keys to becoming a great writer. Ready? All right...

I guest-posted over at Living on Literary Lane this morning, so if you feel like reading more about what I've determined to be the single most important thing about being a successful author, head over there!
Second, it has been long and too long since I've had myself a Dickens-dive. Honestly, I think its been since Oliver Twist which was too short. Sure I'm in the middle of reading A Voice in the Wind (but ancient Greece and Rome isn't really my thing.) and The Narnian, but I feel a need for immersion in Charles Dickens strong upon me. Which should I read? Since graduating I have the most plummy stack of his titles on my shelf:

Bleak House
Oliver Twist
Great Expectations
A Tale of Two Cities 
Nicholas Nickleby
Hard Times
The Christmas Carol
The Cricket on the Hearth
The Chimes
The Pickwick Papers

I'm in the mood for something funny and droll, so probably I'll reread Pickwick or Nickleby. I've read all those titles except for Hard Times, but I'm not in the mood for a drearier title so I'll save it for later. In addition to---AH! I had forgotten I was recently given Dombey and Son! I ought to read that!--anyhow, in addition to those titles, I've also read Little Dorrit, The Old Curiosity Shop, and Barnaby Rudge. Wow. I'm a lot closer to having read all of Dickens' novels than I thought! Exciting! That's an item on my bucket-list, you know. :)
Well, lots to do today so toodle-pip and have a nice giddy-biscuit for me if you think of it.

"Business, my darling--as usual."

Because we all need a little cat + Vivian Leigh to brighten our day.

Of course it always is business right when you were hoping for a bit of Something Else. But, my dear people, we must have business--if we didn't there would be no commerce, and if no commerce than no economy and if no economy than we'd be America and--oh dear. I had not meant to go that far.

*Ahem.*

I wanted to alert all of you to the fact that The Anne-girl is having a The First Annual Scribbles Conference on her blog and I was chosen as one of a group of writers who are "Convention Speakers." If you would like to read my post on The Vividry of Commonplace People (otherwise entitled, characterization), follow this link. And if you'd like to read my answers to some questions put to me by some of you (perhaps) you can click on the question below...

"How do you describe scenery without sounding like a travel-guide?"

Incidentally, Jenny wrote up a post that so perfectly coincided with my thoughts on A Severe Mercy that they felt one and the same, so go and read that, please. You'll not regret it.
Adieu, my friends! I am deep in the throes of historical research for Au Contraire and am finding out more and more about Corinne Garnier and Renaud Tremaine--you must forgive me my abstracted state of mind. Keep your eyes and ears peeled for a Parisian excerpt in the near future, and in the meantime I will leave you with my current favorite "toast":

"If it's half as good as the half we've known, here's Hail! to the rest of the road!"

The Mrs. Palmer Effect: a guest post by Amy

Hello everyone!  My dear blogging friend Rachel has kindly offered to let me guest post for her while she's off politicking in Georgia, and I'm so delighted to be here! Let's start off this post with a picture.  Pictures are worth a thousand words and all that, so without further ado... here's one that makes me all kinds of annoyed.

Now that I've (hopefully) got you hooked and wanting to know why that picture annoys me so badly, we may proceed.  (A hook is one of the most important things in fishing and in writing.  This is not the time to draw parallels between fishing and writing, especially since I've never done the former, but I just thought I'd throw that out there.  *bad pun alert*)
 Lately I've heard a great deal about dialogue tags in writing, and I am here today to tell you a great and important truth.  Sit up straight, take the Popsicle out of your mouth, cross your legs neatly and the ankles and listen closely.

There is nothing wrong with the word "said."

Did you get that?  

"Said" has been getting a bad rap lately.  It seems that everywhere I look, writers are advising each other not to use that word, because something bad will happen if they do.  Their books will become dry and hard to chew, the dialogue will turn clunky and the characters will be stuck in a monotone.  Or so you might think.

"Don't strain to find synonyms for 'he said,'" William Zinsser writes in his hilariously helpful book On Writing Well.  "Don't make your man assert, aver and expostulate just to avoid repeating 'he said,' and please--please!--don't write 'he smiled' or 'he grinned.'  I have never heard anybody smile.  The reader's eye skips over 'he said' anyway, so it's not worth a lot of fuss." Don't be afraid of "said."  Use it if you have to.  Don't use it if you don't have to.  If you can, leave the dialogue at bare bones (that is, without any kind of tags whatsoever, not even to distinguish who's talking) and see how it looks on the page.  If you need clarification, add some.  Even better, try using "said" as sparingly as possible and replacing the dialogue tags with action.  (See this post for ideas.)

 There's a phenomenon in writing--especially material written by young writers-- that I like to call the Mrs. Palmer effect.  Mrs. Palmer, in case you don't remember, is a character in Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility.  In the 1995 film she remarks that Marianne Dashwood will certainly be soaked to the skin after going out in the rain, to which her husband replies, "Thank you, my dear, I think we have all apprehended that much." When someone writes a sequence of dialogue like this (see below), that's what I call the Mrs. Palmer effect (because it's easier than calling it the Thank-you-my-dear-I-think-we-have-all-apprehended-that-much effect).

  "Please go with me to the party," Lisa begged.
"No, I don't want to!" Sandra yelled loudly.
"You are just so mean," Lisa insulted.
"Take that back," Sandra snapped angrily.
"Girls, stop arguing right now," their mother scolded.
"Mom, pleeeeeeease make her go to the party with me," Lisa whined. "
I'm not going and that's final!" Sandra exploded.

 Oh, cringe. Now, of course, that was an example of the worst of the worst, made up entirely by me.  I didn't copy it from a book, nor did I base it on anything I've actually read.  But believe me, there is writing--published writing--out there that sounds... well, like that.  Ugh. Here's the same conversation, reworked.
  "Please go to the party with me."  Lisa plopped on Sandra's bed and tweaked the book out of her sister's hands.
"No, I don't want to!" Sandra snatched the book back.
Lisa scowled.  "You are just so mean."
"Take that back!" Sandra snapped.
Their mother poked her head around the bedroom door frame.  "Girls, stop arguing right now." "Mom, pleeeeeeeeeease make her go to the party with me!" Lisa put on her most pitiful expression
. "I'm not going and that's final!" Sandra scooped up her book, scrambled off the bed, dove into her closet and slammed the door.

 I'm not going to insult your intelligence by asking which paragraph sounds more natural.  Obviously the dialogue itself is cheesy and uninteresting, but I think you'd agree with me that the action surrounding the conversation in the second version is much better than the stilted synonyms for "said" in the first.  I didn't take out all the dialogue tags, however-- Sandra still "snaps" in the fourth line.  In this case, I felt that saying "snapped" was justified.  It isn't evident from her words that she was snapping, and Mr. Palmer has no reason to thank his dear and tell her that everyone has apprehended that much. Another thing I changed in the second paragraph was the use of adverbs.  In the first paragraph, Sandra yelled loudly and snapped angrily.  Well, of course she yelled loudly.  That's what yelling is: loudness.  Thank you, my dear, I think...  And since we were told that she was snapping at Lisa, we don't need to be further informed that she did it angrily.  I've never heard anyone snap sweetly. But even if you aren't being ridiculously over-redundant (see what I did there?) you can still fall into the trap of adding an adverb after every "said." I know because I used to do it all the time.  He said suavely.  She said coldly.  He said arrogantly.  She said disgustedly...  Blah-de-blah-de-blah.  "Said" is not a baby.  It can stand alone.  Really, it can.  It's been around for a while and doesn't need an adverb to hold it up.  Unless, of course, you are Agatha Christie.  In which case you are permitted to use tons of adverbs in your dialogue tags because they just seem to fit somehow, and besides, everything else you write is sheer genius anyway. But most of us aren't Agatha Christie.   (If you do happen to be Agatha Christie, please leave a comment on this post and make my day.) In conclusion (I do like saying that, it makes everything seem much more important somehow), the way you write your dialogue is completely up to you.  I am not the boss of you, nor am I the expert who knows how to fix everything that's wrong with your writing.  (If, that is, there IS anything wrong with your writing.)  I'm just a scribbler with an overcritical eye, a zest for perfection and an abhorrence of unnecessary synonyms for "said." And, too, maybe I just over-emulate those crotchety writing critics in the Anne and Emily books.  Go ahead and cut out all those flowery passages.  Skip the sunset, too.  And ditch that sap Percival who sits around mooning all the time and never lets a girl get a word in edgewise.  In real life she'd have pitched him.

In Which I Meet Brilliance Herself...

Today I am pleased as punch (and tickled pink) to have Jennifer Freitag here on The Inkpen Authoress for an interview! As suggested by the name of her blog, Jenny frequently takes the role of Penslayer. I cannot begin to tell you how many times I've become complacent and rather smug over my own writing, only to follow an innocent-looking link to one of her posts and find murder at the other end, in the form of soul-snatching beauty. :) I think it is safe to say that of all the authors I know personally, Jenny is the one who has most effected my sense of Beauty and Soul in writing. She is--to my adoring, amateur mind, at least--a modern-day, female C.S. Lewis or J.R.R. Tolkien. :)Jenny's first published book, The Shadow Things, is available for purchase on Amazon.com, (in Kindle or paperback form!) so please be sure to check it out and buy a copy! I am sure you'll love it. :) Anything Jenny writes is worth reading--even all her little snippets of "nothings" that she will (on occasion) post on her blog. I think one of my happiest blogging days was when I found a post with a "nothing" dedicated to me! My little heart with pit-a-pat. :) But you don't want to hear from me; it's Jenny's day to take the cake!

1. I am so happy to have a little while to interview you, Jenny! :) Would you mind telling us a little back-of-the-book blurb about The Shadow Things?

Indi has lived all his life accepting and rubbing elbows with his pagan environment, but as time goes on his conscience begins to question the validity of his faith.  What people have been calling good begins to look evil.  With this void of unbelief growing inside him, Indi hesitantly begins to fill it with the preaching of a Gallic monk who comes teaching a single God slain for men on a Roman cross…and the cost of taking up one’s cross oneself.

2. So it's historical fiction—how did you go about your research for the era?

Truth to tell, I had been doing my research before I knew I was going to write the book.  I’m very interested in history in general and the ancient world in particular, so it has been something I have been studying for years.  The insular nature of The Shadow Things did not allow me to show a great deal of backdrop, but I was already familiar enough with the world then so that when I went to write the book I did not have to do a lot of serious research.

3. Was there a particular dream, thought, picture, etc. that first inspired The Shadow Things?

Yes, actually: a very heart-wrenching little novel by Rosemary Sutcliff.  It gave me a vague, watercolour kind of image for The Shadow Things; additionally I was inspired by a familiar notion that men have always held, a truth we can find in Scripture, and is probably most succinctly summed up in the words of C.S. Lewis: “If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”

4. Who is your favourite character you created in this book?

Oh, Indi.  Always Indi.  The emotions in him were always so raw and near to me that the link between author and character is still very strong.

5. Which character do you think most resembles yourself in temperament/personality?

That is a difficult question.  I suppose in terms of emotion (as stated above) Indi is closest to me.  His sense of the rightness of things, his almost painful ability to feel both goodness and evil—really, how raw and sensitive he is, is also how I am.  We differ vastly in other ways, too: though we both have tender tempers, Indi holds his in check far better than I do.  In many, many way I wish I was more like him.

6. As you know, you have pen-slain me numerous times on your blog, especially with excerpts of your current works in progress (Adamantine and Plenilune).  Does The Shadow Things follow your pattern of description and emotion-rich prose, or does it have its own voice?

All three novels, I think, have the same overarching voice which is my own, but I find myself intuitively taking into account the sort of people I am writing, the atmosphere of their culture, and the nature of the plot.  Adamantine takes into account both elementally agrarian cultures and practical mindsets: that novel is a kind of blend.  Plenilune, while heavy on the practicality, is populated by a rich, almost medieval people—the writing style in that novel reflects that.  The Shadow Things itself is the most elemental of my works to date: it is a matter of intuitive colour, sharp images, and the simple magic of conjuring clear, close feeling through small things.  They are all very much in my own voice, but I believe the tone changes from story to story depending on the factors I stated.

7. What inspires you more: people-watching out in the real world, or burying yourself in a corner of the house with your own characters?

Oh, I would definitely prefer to sit in a corner with my own characters.  I do, actually…  I know I’ve said it before, but I’m pretty poor at watching people.  I am too conscientious to want to impose and stare at them, and I am, admittedly, somewhat disinterested in them.  Because my characters are so much their own people I get more out of watching them than I do out of real people who have nothing whatsoever to do with my story. 

8. Your sister, Abigail, is a published author as well—did you publish your books at the same time?

Yes, we did!  We both submitted to Ambassador almost at the same time but, because I no longer carry my maiden name, they had no idea we were sisters.  I think they were a little nervous they we might grow jealous and have a row if one book succeeded more than the other, but we get on fine, and the two-homeschooled-sisters-get-published-together marketing pitch was something new.

9. The Shadow Things—how long did it take you to write?

I’m tempted to give a different answer to this question every time someone asks me.  I would guess around two years, give or take, mostly give.  I honestly don’t remember.  I didn’t sit down at the beginning and think, “It’s March 4^th—I’m starting my very first novel today and I’m going to keep track of how long it takes me so that, years from now, I can tell people how long the process took.”  Never occurred to me; and, technically, I was in the sixth century anyway.

10. Do you feel more in your element writing historical fiction or fantasy?

I feel most comfortable writing a sort of “historical fiction meets fantasy” style.  Both Adamantine and Plenilune are in this vein: history is always fascinating and fantasy gives me scope for the imagination.  But The Shadow Things is straight-up historical fiction, and I do find getting into the nitty-gritty of history helps bring the past to life.  When an author can make you feel as if that time is real and now, you know the goal has been reached.  That is what I strive for.

11. Which classic authors do you admire the most?

“And the three men I admire most—the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost…”  Theological issues aside, I’ll take this line by Don McLean.  No one has written a better, bigger, more glorious story than that of Man and Time.

12. Which modern authors do you admire the most?

While he deals with film and not with novels, I confess I do admire Joss Whedon’s ability to tell a story.  “I like to meet new people,” his character Kaylee Frye once said.  “They’ve all got stories.”  As a storyteller myself, I tip my hat to the man’s ability to conceive and draw together the stories of a large cast and yet never lose sight of the plot and always move toward the story’s goal.  He’s also got a fun way with words that either leaves me laughing or nodding in admiration.  Here’s to wordsmiths and storytellers.

Characters One Should Use In Writing...

Hey everyone! I want to introduce you to something amazing! To wit, a guest post by my hilarious friend, Bertie Wooster. Ahem. Sorry--pardon me. *Kicks Jeeves back into his corner* By my special friend, Miss Harriet Smith. Dear dear me. Let me try this once more. By my kindred spirit, The Anne-Girl. I asked her to write a little something to keep this writing blog from being entirely desolate while I'm away in Georgia, and so Anne rummaged up her humor (which is never far away) and wrote this merry, saucy little post for you to enjoy:

Characters One Should Use While Writing.

*disclaimer: this post is meant as a joke, I love and enjoy characters who belong to these generalizations. With that in mind go and read the post.*

In the course of my career as a writer it has come to my attention that I am not the only one striving for inky excellence{that I use keyboard and pencil more than pen is inconsequential} for the common good I have put together this list of characters to put into your books. These are not the only characters you are allowed to use.  But they are the most popular ones so read and learn peoples read and learn.

Here comes the wisdom.

The strong impassioned hero.

These are the guys who stare into the middle distance while delivering a speech on the hopeless quest that they have pledged their lives to. It helps if there is a swooning heroine{see below} gazing up at him for dramatic affect. These scenes are indispensable for insuring that your book will melt the heart of all female readers. Be sure that he saves people for breakfast and he must either have an accent or a horse. Preferably both. Also necessary for proper effect: a villain, two or three followers, and at least one scene being wounded.

The fainting heroine

Note: This kind of heroine doesn't have to actually faint, though it is helpful. Want to write a book about a hero without writing from a guys perspective? This heroine is for you! All she ever thinks about is the hero anyway so you don't have to mess up your book by telling about her story as well as his. it is obligatory that she have a sensitive mind and delicate beauty such as takes ones breath away. Phrases such as "she was in acute mental agony" and " ____ burst into an agony of tears and sobs" are useful to remember. She must be ready to die for the sake of her beloved one, or almost die so that he can either have the fun of rescuing her.  Further note: this kind of heroine must be small. If she is big you will find such stuff as "And then I took my darling in my arms and carried her insensible up the cliffs away from the certain danger though in truth she weighed no more then a child and even if she had I would have felt nothing so great was my joy at....ect. ect." {roughly paraphrased from Lorna Doone} rather hard to put in.

The tortured poet

To write one of these you must first understand that any action that does not have something to do with love will be chucked out of the window by readers as unrealistic. However these guys are so wild and mentally brilliant that you can get away with just about anything. Applesauce throwing, punching people with feet, writing reams of poetry, going off to war and getting shot, and banging their heads into trees are all things that can be put under the heading of "things done for love" as long as you make your poet tortured enough. Don't ever give them a happy ending. It would shame them and destroy their sense of the incomplete.  Besides it's mean to take people out of their comfort zones. 

The "different" girl 

The key to writing the different girl is to write her just like different girl ever written. Breaking the mold is unacceptable in this category. So listen carefully, these are the requirements of the different girl. She must live in a community where she is not understood. All {except a hero or two} must condemn her at least a little for her lone ways. She must be absolutely so beautiful that guys ask her to marry them on first meeting. But it must be a different beauty. Not the conventional beauty! On no account can this kind of character be beautiful in the common way. All the old ladies of her acquaintance must say she is "not pretty" She must be "starry" she must remind the hero of a lily or a star flower. She must have decided opinions but on no account can she know her own mind about the hero. She must repulse him at least once. Several times are effective and a refused proposal is the best way really.  She must walk by her wild lone and wave her wild tail. And she must either write or be wrapped up in stories of some kind. For further guidelines read the books of Lucy Maud Montgomery.  

The Sidekick

One word. Weird. Make them weird. If they are not weird then people will mistake them for heroes or heroines and that we do not want. Follow these three easy steps and you are on your way to the perfect sidekick. Think up a lot of cheerful quirky ways of stating life's truths then work them into the story with your sidekick saying them. Think up a quirky weird habit and give it to your sidekick. Kick the sidekick out of all the scenes where he is wanted and have him show up when he MC wants to be left alone. There you have it! The perfect sidekick.       

Anne girl is a young writer who enjoys alternately squealing over and pocking fun at her favorite things {such as characters}.  She loves writing, plot bunnies,  blogging, and laughing. You can find her at her blog Scribblings

Revision: a timely guest-post by J. Grace Pennington

I am very pleased to be one of the stops on young, Christian author: J. Grace Pennington's blog tour for her newest book: Firmament: Radialloy! This book is the first in a series of 18 that Ms. Pennington has planned in her science-fiction series. You can read all about the book here, and even buy a signed copy! Isn't that cool? :) I know several of the stops on her blog-tour have been interviews, but I asked Ms. Pennington to write a guest post for us...it turned out to be something I really needed to hear! She tackles the great big issue of Revision. Yep. *Casts a wary glance at The Scarlet-Gypsy Song.* Read it, be changed, and let J. Grace Pennington know by leaving a comment on her blog. :) Without further ado I give to you:

Revision: A Guest Post

by J. Grace Pennington

Everyone has their own method of revising their writing.  For me, as a first-time novel-reviser, the daunting task of somehow whipping Firmament: Radialloy into shape was extremely daunting.  Not only was it my first try at such a thing, but I had absolutely no idea how to go about it.

I tried many different ways.  The first time, I just read straight through, correcting any errors that I happened to come across.  That didn’t work, because it only fixed various little issues rather than looking at the novel as a whole that needed a solid arc, plotline, and good setups and payoffs.  I got some minor problems dealt with, and lots of typos fixed, but no really significant revision happened on that first pass.

So that wasn’t the way to go about it.  I tried something else.  This time, I talked with one of my test readers and we discussed things that were weak, and brainstormed for possible solutions.  Theme was foggy?  We discussed what theme would best spring from the action.  Villain was unrealistic?  We created motivation for him.  Conflict was weak?  We figured out how to add some more antagonistic forces.

So then I carefully figured out which things needed to be changed, and went through the draft and changed them.  I wasn’t sure about this draft, but by this time it was so mixed up and I was so confused about it that I couldn’t really tell whether it was working or not.  So I gave it to another friend who printed it out, marked it up with notes, and mailed the manuscript back to me.  Thus I learned that it was full of plot holes and blatant illogic, as well as character inconsistencies and other horrors.

Clearly this whole going-through-the-book-and-fixing-things-here-and-there thing wasn’t going to work.  I had to do something more drastic.

I had to stop trying to make it work the easy, lazy way.

This time I finally got serious.  I printed out the entire book and put it in its own special binder.  Then, armed with a red pencil and some post-it-notes, I mercilessly butchered it.  Rearranging scenes, deleting scenes altogether, completely reordering plot points, adding new characters.  When I was done, there wasn’t a page that wasn’t stuck with notes or scribbled with red.

And then, I didn’t just go through and make the prescribed changes.  Nor did I paste over the good and almost-good parts and fill in the gaps.  Instead, I took the binder, set it up on my desk, opened a brand new word document, and started all the way over from the beginning.

Yes.  I did just that.  Started over almost from scratch.  I didn’t copy and paste anything that was to stay the same, I looked at the binder and retyped it.  Why?  Going straight through like that helped me to have a better sense of the story as a whole.  It gave me a smoother and more accurate idea of how everything fit together from beginning to end.  So I’d type out a scene that stayed the same, then create the new material I needed to fit it to the next remaining scene.  When I came to a scene that could stay mostly the same with some altering, I’d fix it as I typed it out.

It wasn’t as hard as I’d thought it would be, though it was still definitely a long and arduous process.  At times it would go smoothly, and at other times my brain was screaming, “I already imagined out this whole thing, and now you’re making me do it all over again?”

But every second was unquestionably worth it when I took a look at the finished project and sent it out for feedback.  The story was tighter, more fulfilling, made more sense, had a better point, was more interesting, etc., etc., etc.  I absolutely could not believe how much better it was.

My test readers got back to me, raving about how much better the book was, and with some much more minor critiques.  I realized that then I could go through the manuscript and fix things as I went.  That there was a place for that sort of revision, it just wasn’t at the beginning, when the story still needed so much remolding.

So I fixed those things, gave it to a few more readers, fixed a few more things, and then began the final passes.  I did one read through the book just looking for “ly” adverbs, to see how many were unnecessary or weak.  I searched “was” to check for instances of passive voice that I hadn’t realized I was using.  I did a punctuation check of the whole book, reviewing my commas, semi-colons, dashes, and all the rest.  I did another to make sure that each sentence was as clear and communicative as it could be.  I did about ten or twelve of these before I was finally satisfied that the book was finished.

Yes, I could have gone on tweaking forever.  Oh yes, there are still things about the book that could be much better, and more polished.  But I knew that it was the best I could get it with the knowledge and skill that I had at the time.

And then, I went to publish it.

Revision can be a scary journey, especially when you’re new to it, but really any time.  Having to operate on your child, the story you’ve labored over so long and hard.  But if you think carefully, fit you revision style to the number and size of changes your book needs, it won’t be nearly as frightening, and you’ll end up with a better book.

A story that is worth all the love and work you put into it, and that will be very much worth reading.

*     *     *

J. Grace Pennington is a homeschool graduate and oldest of nine kids, living in the beautiful Texas Hill Country with her family. She loves to write (obviously) but also enjoys a variety of other activities including reading, watching films, playing piano, (and a bit of guitar and violin) playing with her siblings, chatting with friends, and riding her horse: Pioneer.