A THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY

Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose
by
John Singer Sargent

A thought for Thursday... and any other day you like:

I still find each day too short for all the thoughts I want to think, all the walks I want to take, all the books I want to read, and all the friends I want to see. 

             John Burroughs

DONALD MAASS WRITING TIPS FOR WRITERS OF THE 21^st CENTURY NOVEL:

2 What does your category of novel excel at?  Embrace that…then outdo it. 

                  #21stCenturyTuesday

PARANORMAL

My genre excels at adding the jam in the doughnut: the unexpected, the sweet, and the challenge.

WHICH CATEGORY OF NOVEL ARE YOU WRITING, AND WHAT DOES THAT CATEGORY EXCEL AT?

10 WAYS TO MAKE MY READING LIFE BETTER

I have decided to join and post with The Broke and the Bookish's Top Ten Tuesday.

I love a good list ;)

If you would like to join follow this link

I have been reading Holly Black: Tithe and Valiant so far. I love the summer, I finally get to read the books that have been marking time (in dust) on my TBR shelf.

August 20: Top Ten Things That Make Your Life As A Reader/Book Blogger Easier (maybe it's Goodreads or your library or different resources etc. etc.)

TOP TEN THINGS THAT MAKE/WOULD MAKE MY READING EXPERIENCE EASIER

1.         A large comfortable chair

2.         No clutter or mess (in my eye line)

3.         Reading glasses (sorry to be practical but without my glasses reading is a pain in the head ;)

4.         A range of books to choose from because sometimes the mood must be matched to the reading material

5.         A good reading light angled to perfection – bright but not glaring

6.         Soft music to add to the ambiance and drown out the more unwelcome noise distractions

7.         An electronic reader within reach just in case I HAVE to read a book - RIGHT NOW!

8.         A barista to top up my drink would be a nice addition to the reading experience

9.         I have a garden reading nook – summer house – it’s perfect except for the bugs it attracts. I can’t kill them! So I need reading assistant whose main job is to fan the air and keep the bugs moving on.

10.       The web for an endless source of advice on what I might want to read next

I have just completed an MG novel, it’s ready to query. I'm moving on to the YA idea I’ve had irritatingly clawing at me while I've been doing rounds of edits and revisions. Now, I'll find tome to let it scratch at some paper.

As always, I’ve been following Don Maass’ advice when planning my novel.

DONALD MAASS WRITE TIP FOR THE 21st CENTURY NOVEL:

1 Be honest: There’s a category cliché in your novel.  Reverse it, twist it or kill it.  #21stCenturyTuesday

Truthfully, I had trouble with this one: the loner, troubled, gifted teen has to have a feckless mother. I guess I could give her a devoted (but physically) distant dad. It seems that it’s important that she is neither overly keen nor particularly reluctant either.

WHAT OTHER MUST-HAVE WOULD MAKE MY READING LIFE EASIER?

WEEKEND WRITING WARRIORS - 8 SENTENCE SUNDAY

If you are interested in follow this link: WWW

It has been so long since I posted - after my rash of consistency - I'm right-embarrassed. ;) But, here we go -- back to the old routine:

I'm hardly back from my holiday and I'm already thinking about the end of summer and my new Y2 class: fourteen days and counting!

The highlight of my week - after getting home on Wednesday - was entering a story in the Undiscovered Voices Competition run by SCBWI BI. I have never entered before. *eep ;)

As I'm only a weekend writer of Romance, Darrah is still having trouble with Sark Hale Tarla; although, today, she is feeling a little lost.

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.

Darrah woke as a chill breeze lifted the fine hairs at her nape. She sat up and forced her senses to absorb the scene around her as she confirmed the stillness, and the scentless air.

It took moments to control her breathing. She had to calm her racing heart, and build composure at the core, to ready herself to deal with the dizzying rush of information.

Not one who expected to see the same four walls around her when she woke, Darrah took time, as she checked close, near, and more distant, that there were no apparent dangers, to recall her whereabouts and her current assignment. The foliage on the trees moved only with the wind, and the shadows conformed to the expected shapes and sizes. The high-pitched calls and other sounds were exactly as she would expect in The Forest of Drer, all species of the Outlands: peckers, blackbirds, nutscurries, and fleetdeer. Only her glance had confirmed that the other tents were empty – hide walls raised – and her bow rested on a rock a long-arm’s reach away.

DONALD MAASS Write Tip #72

Is your setting historical, exotic or invented?  Add immediately one common thing we’ll recognize from our own reality.

DID YOU FIND SOMETHING EXCITING TO DO DURING JULY AND AUGUST? HAVE YOU POSTED THIS WEEKEND? 

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?