SECIONDARY CHARACTERS NEED ZIP - TUESDAY only not

For work, I'm writing Individual Activity Support Plans and Risk Assessments: lots and lots of them. And, in my spare time, I'm applying for jobs. You know when you see the perfect job: not a comparable job... or even a well-paid one, but the job you find totally inspirational; the job you've always wanted but didn't know exists?  I'm only allowing myself to glance over my shoulder at one of the jobs I'm applying for - I don't want it to know how much I want it. I'm working out how to sell my skilful self without resorting to grovelling or, worse still, to opting for the Oliver Twist's-eyes approach.

On the Reading front, I'm having so much fun reading Tessa Dare: yet, I rarely read Regency novels.

SHARON SHINN

On the Writing front, I'm writing the last words for Hal Longleat today. As it has been seen by Betas, this is the slightly more polished end of the first draft. I have specific revisions to do. I have been concentrating on speech patterns for Hal and the other pages. The last specific revision is to check the character development arcs for the other pages - I can't allow any saggy support characters to wobble their way around and through my MG novel ;)

DONALD MAASS: TIPS TO WRITE TO:

Secondary characters sometimes need zip.  Here’s a simple way to work on that…

71 Pick a character other than your MC.  What would your MC never, ever guess about this person?  Spring that surprise.

FIRST THOUGHTS' THURSDAY - FEELINGS THAT ARE HARD TO PUT INTO WORDS

JUNE IS HOSTED BY Hand in Hand, DONALD MAASS'  TWEETS ON CREATING THE PERFECT NOVEL ;)  and SECTIONS INSPIRED BY THESE:

Karin Tidbeck

DONALD MAASS WRITET TIP #68 What’s a feeling impossible to put into words?  Work until you have the words. Now find that feeling in your story. Add

Jude and me. It is nothing like a kind of gentle nurturing. How does that make me feel? I remember all the moments when I knew he was there even before he spoke. Jude is the crumble of tension on the surface of my pretty, serene life. I hesitate. It’s funny, when I think of Jude I find I hesitate a lot. I call to mind how it feels when his calloused fingers drag across the smooth surface of my skin. With him, I always feel I’m on the verge of some kind of beautiful. Not pruned, tamed, or even predictable, this flower is every kind of random.

Jude innervates me.

So much for my patio life. Jude found the cracks in that theory. He blew in and shattered it. Now, anything is possible. I’m more than the sum of my plan when I am in his arms.

Jude is unquantifiable.

With him, even I am wild.

What is your first thought when you hear the word IMPOSSIBLE?

TEASER TUESDAY TWICE TEMPTED BY A ROGUE by TESSA DARE

MAY IIS HOSTED BY Hand in Hand, DONALD MAASS'  TWEETS ON CREATING THE PERFECT NOVEL ;)  

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

TWICE TEMPTED BY A ROGUE by TESSA DARE ( A Rogue Regency)

When he is obliged to return to his family home in widest Devonshire, war hero, Rhys St. Maur, is certain his damnable good luck has again found a way to torment and punish him.

Believing in the importance of hard work and determination, innkeeper, widow, Meredith Maddox, is pragmatic and yet – when faced with scarred and damaged Rhys St. Maur -  she trusts everything on the outcome of the wager her heart placed long ago.

DONALD MAASS WRITE TIP #69

What’s your story type?  What in it will fans of this story type hate?  Say that louder. Make it impossible to miss.

There was no way in Creation that he meant to propose marriage to her after a single night at the Three Hounds. Her accommodations were nice, but not that nice.

I am not a regular reader of historical romance – I particularly avoid Regency titles – so this seemed like a great book choice to read and think about a story tropes, or types, and find a book that says it loudly. But does it well.

Tessa Dare has written the essence of the Regency Romance. She made the hero able and the heroine more than willing. I shivered at the burned-out shell of the old Hall and picked my way through the mists avoiding smugglers. I also came to love Rhys, he is a great character, in serious need of being made to feel he is loved and valued. And, Meredith is a strong and determined woman. Together – that is my favourite combination.

WHAT BOOK THAT YOU READ SURPRISED YOU?

MONDAY MUSIC Banshee - it's soft on the inside

JUNE IS HOSTED BY Hand in Hand, DONALD MAASS'  TWEETS ON CREATING THE PERFECT NOVEL ;)

DONALD MASS WRITE TIP # 70 (i)  GREAT CHARACTERS HAVE GREAT PASSIONS - WHAT IS YOUR BEDROCK BELIEF?

I'll offer BANSHEE episode 4 HALF DEAD IS BETTER THAN ALL DEAD as the bedrock belief we share.

This is the beautiful track, Walk Through The Fire, by Mary Gauthier that played over the credits at the end.



I love Banshee which is funny because - mostly - I find the damage served up in You've been Framed hard to stomach.
Great characters have great passions: Ana and "Lucas Hood"'s is epic.

WHAT IS YOUR BEDROCK BELIEF? 

Do you have a track to share for my MONDAY MUSIC?

8 +SENTENCES GOT ALL HAL LONGLEAT

ARGH! 

This week has been full of work related work and a very cool new summer house that we had erected at the bottom of the garden.

He-who-must-not-be-named is off on the school journey to the Isle of Wight and even that is putting a dent in my writing hours.

I loved making blogging the focus for April and May but June - apart from time spent on the novel - this month has been more Wreck-it than Write-it.

I didn't sign up for the Weekend Writing Warrior's creative extravaganza but I hope all the 8s are great ;)

Just to prove I haven't been entirely idle I am posting (a few more than 8) sentences from my MG wip:

Ex-stableboy, 10 year-old, Hal Longleat, struggles to adapt to life in a knight’s household when a vicious page's determined to force him out  

“I DON'T CARE!” William shouted, “I don’t want to get there at all. I was happy at Calchester with my uncle.” He stood on one foot, with his hand resting on his hip where his sword should be. “And, I STILL say… you don’t know where we’re going.”

“We’re going to Cawvin Castle, in Ravendale.”

If there had only been Reynold and Jack travelling with him, Hal would have gotten away with the lie. They nodded. They turned away until William growled.

“HA! And where Is Cawvin Castle?" asked William. “Where is Ravendale, precisely?”

Hal spun around, and he pointed. “THAT WAY!” he yelled. 

I plan to get back to the proper routine next Tuesday - Happy Writing.

Teaser Tuesday Ally Condie CROSSED

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read

• Open to a random page

• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page

• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)

• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I am catching up on things that have been biding their time on my TBR pile. This week I am reading CROSSED, the second book in Ally Condie’s series. I loved the first book MATCHED. It comes as no surprise to me that I am enjoying the beautifully written prose.

In Crossed, unlike everyone else, Cassia longs to be sent to the outer provinces. She believes Ky, the boy she loves, was sent there. This book was written in alternating points of view. Personally, I love knowing what is going on in the male MC’s head too. 

CROSSED

Chapter 12 page 118

“The silence stretches on as I look up and realise that even this limited bit of sky holds more stars than I was ever able to catch sight of in the Borough. For some reason, this gives me hope that there is much else I don’t see.”

I THINK THE STARS ARE A SOURCE OF ENDLESS HOPE. WHAT DO YOU THINK OF WHEN YOU LOOK AT A SKY FULL OF STARS?

WWW 8 SENTENCES The nasty truth that nobody wants to hear.

If you are interested in follow this link: WWW

As I'm only a weekend writer of Romance, Darrah is still having trouble with Sark Hale Tarla. In a time long past in our history, a Sarkisian ship is stranded on Earth. Assimilation is at an early stage but it has not proven to be an easy option for either people. Now, Hale has been assigned to Darrah and her arm of men. His role is to smooth over any diplomatic - or worse - problems that might arise in the Outlands, where the Sarkisians were allowed to settle, when they are sent to find the missing human heir to the Thorn Throne, Erishdren. Rogue Sarkisians are thought to have been behind the abduction.

When everything except his desire to dele squirmed inside him, Hale raised her hand and pressed his lips to the leather guard that covered her scarred wrist. Her scent. Colours. The vibrant warmth of her radiated across the space between them. He shifted, agitated. Her shimmering life force could not be contained by the thin barrier of her skin. And all that delicious power hummed to him. His to take if he chose.

DONALD MAASS WRITE TIP #66

What’s a nasty truth about people that nobody wants to hear?  Dramatise that strongly once in your manuscript.

Everyone struggles to put their needs aside (and consider the needs of others) it is not the easy choice.

WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IS THE NASTY TRUTH THAT NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR?

What is your WWW Sunday 8 about?