WRITERS’ AID

This week I had to edit a 10 page synopsis down to a 5 page or less synopsis.   I am not one who has too little story to tell.  I usually have more than I need–just in case I run short.   This story was no exception.   I could not wrap my brain around how to cut it down and still make sense.  But, of course, I gave it my best shot.

My agent wrote back after reading the revised version and suggested I could do better.  Concentrate on pace and tension and feelings, more than description, she advised.

Having already thought this first edit was a great, I didn’t know what needed changed.   I went first to the synopsis I’d written for the second book in this trilogy as I knew it was about 5 pages.    I was surprised to discover, I nailed that synopsis.   Hmmm.   What was different about this one than the other?   Not just length.   This one focused on the feelings, action and pacing.

I was getting lost in the original synopsis and needed fresh perspective.   I decided to go back to something I rely on for plotting internal/external conflicts and story goals.  Those are what should be in the synopsis.   Once I filled out the sheet, the new, tighter, faster, more emotionally satisfying synopsis all but wrote itself.

If you want to try it, I’m going to post it here.  It’s pretty self explanatory.

                          SAMPLE — CONFLICT PLOT PLAN*

 BOOK  TITLE:

GOALS IN OPPOSITION

 HEROINE’S GOAL:

 HERO’S GOAL:

ANTAGONIST’S GOAL**:

CONFLICT — INTERNAL:

HEROINE’S:

HERO’S:

CONFLICT — EXTERNAL:

 HEROINE’S:

 HERO’S:

* From a talk by Betty Ann Patterson AKA Vickie York)

** For Romantic/Suspense

In two or three sentences, write down your hero’s and heroine’s goals in opposition.  The more opposing they are, the stronger your story conflict will be.   You don’t have to get this right the first try or even your second or third.  Just keep at it until the opposing goals jumps off the page.   Then do the same with the internal and external conflicts.  Once you have the reasons why the strongest possible conflicts and goals, you should find the start your synopsis.  This really works for me.  My hope is that it will also work for you.

A BOOK BUY ITS COVER?

Recently a friend showed off her cover for a new e-book.   It’s not a genre I normally read, but her title really intrigues me.   I expected the cover to depict the title because the potential is definitely there.  In my opinion, it missed.   That got me to thinking about electronic books and their covers.    Since writers, not marketing departments, are now selecting most e-book covers, I wonder whether or not covers still matter in the decision of which books readers buy.

 For example:   This is the original cover for DENIM DETECTIVE. 

Though I did not choose it nor have any real input into its design, I love this cover.   (funny aside–I discovered, two years after the fact, that some website voted this one of the ten worst covers of the year.)   According to sales figures, they were wrong.  Readers liked the cover as much as I do.

This is also a favorite book of mine, btw.  My working title was Daddy, Cowboy, Cop, which kind of says it all.

I had reached Chapter 13 when I discovered I had the wrong character in mind as the killer.   I spent two whole weeks rewriting three chapters,  only to discover two chapters  more into the book, that I still had the wrong character in mind for the killer.  At that point I had to sit down and read the book from the start to see where I fell off track.

  I hate being late to anything for any reason, but I had to get two deadline extensions.  Fortunately, the read through put me on track fast.

DENIM DETECTIVE  is about to be released for Kindle, Nook, etc.  Coming in March, available for pre-order right now:  tinyurl.com/863o8rg

What do you think?  Would either cover tempt you?

How much does a cover figure in your decision to buy an e-book?  (I’m not talking about buying friends’ books or favorite author books as the cover or title isn’t likely as important to you in that decision.)   But when you’re on the hunt for something new to read, are you drawn to some e-books more than others because of the title or cover?

Or both?

Or something else?

FEBRUARY ~ MONTH OF LOVE

February is a month of celebrations and sadness in my family, but always a month of love.

February has been a special month to me my whole life since it’s the month I was born.   Forget about asking my age.   I won’t tell.   Well, actually I will, but just not here.  :)

February has also always been special to me because it was my father’s birthday month.  He was a Leap Year baby, born on the 29th.   What I miss most about him in February is his calling me to sing me Happy Birthday.   When I was growing up, he was my Valentine.

I don’t know about you, but I used to LOVE Valentine’s Day.   I so looked forward to those little boxes of Valentine’s, reading them and figuring out which one of my classmates would get the cute one with the puppy and which would get the mushy one.

As I grew older, I dreamed of beaus who would remember me on Valentine’s Day with flowers or candy or both.   The fantasy never matched the reality, but my mom always made the day special for my sister and me.  She would take us to lunch, wish us happy VD–yes, she was a fun and funny–and give us some inexpensive trinket to commemorate our special afternoon together.

In 2009, February became the month we lost our first born daughter, Kim, to cervical cancer that was discovered too late.   She was 45 and gone too soon.   She loved Valentine’s Day.  She got the guy who always remembered with flowers and candy.    Just thinking about her fills me with love and missing her and a craving for chocolate.

What does February mean to you?

E-BOOKS, THE NEW WORLD OF PUBLISHING

I’m slowly coming to terms with the newest twist in publishing, the E-Book.  I have the rights back to two of my books.  So far, only one is available  electronically.    ENDLESS FEAR.  If you have an e-reader, you may purchase it for the Kindle @  http://tinyurl.com/4k8cal5     ENDLESS FEAR is also available for the nook and other electronic readers.

I am currently working to get NIGHT TERROR available for e-readers, too, but, probably foolishly, I decided to update the original story, given the huge advancements in electronics and law enforcement procedures, etc.   This is proving a daunting task, not only in the updating, but in that I started to revise the opening.   I am not sure what I can delete without effecting something further on in the story. I also discovered I have really, super long chapters compared to what I now write.   What was I thinking back then?   I figure the end result will be a much more taut and suspenseful story.  But this is a time consuming task and I’m not sure my time isn’t better spent on new projects?   What do you think?

Also, if you do have an e-reader, Harlequin has released several of my Intrigues as e-books.    They are available on amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and elsewhere.   Just search your favorite on line seller for books by Adrianne Lee.

To Write or Not to Write

I put together a proposal for a trilogy set in Montana that I thought was perfect for Harlequin’s Intrigue line.  14 of my books have been published as Intrigues.   I loved writing those books and had my heart set on continuing to write for Intrigue.  I knew my readers would love this trilogy.  Unfortunately, HQ didn’t feel the same way.  So, I’m debating what to do with it.

My agent has sent the trilogy proposal to another editor or two, but if they reject the trilogy, should I go ahead and finish writing the stories and put them out myself as e-books?

The stories revolve around Clan Gunn siblings, two brothers and a sister, who are of Scottish and Cree descent.  These stores are packed with family dynamics, murderous suspense, and sexy titillation.  What do you think?  Should I write the series?  Would you purchase and read this trilogy? Everyone who posts a response will be entered in a contest to win a free copy of one of my backlist books.  Your choice.

So, here is the opening of the first Clan Gunn Trilogy:

 TEMPTING JUSTICE

by

ADRIANNE LEE

 

CHAPTER ONE

“Slow down or I’ll bleed out!” Justice Gunn shouted at his brother Noble.

Noble growled and punched up the speed until dust billowed behind the one-ton dually pickup as it careened down the rutted Montana road like an unhinged, three-wheeled carnival ride.

Justice considered grabbing the key.  Shutting off the motor.  Stopping the truck cold.  But likely that would further infuriate Noble.

Clan Gunn motto: aut pax aut bellum

     Either Peace or War.

     Why, Justice wondered, did he always end up with war?  Should he blame the Viking blood of his Scottish ancestors from whom he’d inherited cobalt eyes and a strong chin?  Or his Cree grandmother who’d passed to him raven hair and a tenacious spirit?

Maybe the combination makes me look like I’m itchin’ for a fight, he thought, snatching the brim of his buckskin Stetson before it flew off into the thin, crisp air and landed in the field.  This section of the 500 acre Smoking Gunn–the Gunn family’s ranch–backed up to Glacier National Park.

The seldom used road they traveled was a short cut to town, shortened more by Noble’s breakneck speeds.  Fenced, miles-wide pastures of amber hay–that stretched to distant snow-capped mountain peaks–passed in a haze of sunlight and endless blue sky.  Heaven on Earth to Justice usually, but right now pain robbed his appreciation.

“I’m bleeding all over the damned seat,” he barked.  His right hand held a bath towel pressed to four, six inch slashes on his upper thigh.  Every bump spiked his pain and cranked his temper past eruption.  “You should have stitched this leg at the house.”

It was the wrong thing to say.

“I’m a vet, not a doctor.”  Noble, a throwback to the Norse side of the family–as blond as Justice was dark–cast an ice blue glare and accelerated again.  The work-battered pickup groaned and bounced, dodged the occasional Scottish Pine, flew past a Siberian Larch.  Tires slammed uneven rock bed, each hit punishing Justice more.

“You could have been cougar lunch,” Noble ground through clenched teeth.  “What were you doing alone in the north field at dawn?”

The tips of Justice’s ears heated.  They’d reached the lower pastures, Angus cows and spring calves grazed oblivious to the drama in the pickup.  He fought the urge to touch his pocket, to feel the worn photo there.  No.  Where he’d really been, what he’d really been doing was private.  His brother didn’t believe in powers beyond this earth.  Justice did.

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Welcome to my new blog!

Welcome readers!

I am excited to announce I have finally entered into the wonderful world of blogging! I hope you visit me here often to check on new releases and re-releases of old favorites, personal notes, and other random items I hope you’ll find entertaining!

I would love to know you stopped by, so please leave a comment saying hello!

~Adrianne