Tag Archives: self-publishing

Jerks & Irks XXXIX: My Death is Surely in the Details

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With my novella, Blood in the Past off to the editor for the next few days, I’ve had a lot to think about…Like the most annoying part of the writing process (at least for this series): RESEARCH.

I had to research all sorts of little details that I didn’t think would really make a real difference, but that I wanted to get right nonetheless. What sort of hours do police officers work? When do their shifts begin and end? Was the Franklin Institute (a Philadelphia Museum) around in 2002? When was it last renovated? How are law enforcement funerals handled? What songs are usually played? Can a person shoot themselves in the head and have the bullet circumvent their actual brain? What kind of minimal damage would still occur? How does a hospital’s pharmacy department operate?

Blah, blah, blah.

The most irksome part though? My sources ending their very detailed answers and explanations with “But every precinct/hospital/case is different.”

UGH!!!

My Blood for Blood Series takes place in a real city, Philadelphia, and many scenes took place in a real hospital, University of Pennsylvania Hospital. My sources’ information, however useful, was more generalized. So what’s an author to do?

Well, there’s not much I could do about the Philadelphia police department. It is what it is, ya know. (But I definitely plan on befriending a Philly cop during the revisions of Blood in the Paint.) The hospital, however, I could do something about. I changed it to a fictitious one. New name: West Philadelphia General Hospital. West Philly Gen, for short. The changes weren’t too extensive, so I was able to do them at the last minute before Blood in the Past went to the editor. Luckily for me, when I googled “West Philly Gen” I found that there was a “Philadelphia General” from 1919-1977 in virtually the SAME area as present-day UPENN Hospital! So, of course, I threw that in the narrative, to add a touch of realism to the setting. ;-)

Problem solved!

So what do you guys think? Is a fictitious hospital (or any organization) the way to go over a real-life one? Weigh-in in the comments section!

Oh, and one more thing! Those that are signed up for my mailing list will receive an exclusive peek at the first chapter of Blood in the Past, as soon as it’s edited! If you haven’t joined yet, what are you waiting for? Click Here!

 

 

It’s HERE! Blood in the Past COVER REVEAL!

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Squeeee!

I have waited a long time for this. A lot of days, weeks, and months have gone by while I whipped my novella into tip-top shape. And now it’s finally close enough to being released that I can reveal the beautiful cover Kit Foster of www.kitfosterdesign.com has created for me.

I know you can’t wait any longer, so here it is:

Blood in the Past 2

BLURB: Jllian Atford falls for an older man, a handsome Philadelphia cop, whose mystery is that he’s married, a reality Jillian refuses to accept. Lyla Kyle finds her mother dead on the floor from an apparent suicide. She blames her philandering father and wastes no time taking her revenge. Detective Jason Brighthouse Sr. is in the wrong place at the right time to attempt to save a colleague from his burning home. When neither of them make it out alive, his teenage son can only harp on their last argument. He shoots himself in the head…with his father’s gun.

Three lives. Three deaths. One story.

To understand the future, you must visit the past.

The Blood in the Past.

Coming this June from Blood Read Press.

The Lifeblood of the Supporting Cast

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Throughout the month of April I boasted posted about the main characters in Blood in the Past, Jillian, Brighthouse, and Lyla. But what’s a story without its supporting cast? What’s Lord of the Rings without Meriadoc and Pippin? Not that Blood in the Past is on the scale of Lord of the Rings, but still. Take a look at my supporting cast:

  • Mel. Jillian Atford’s roommate. Short black hair in a funky, angular cut across her eyes. Dark eye makeup. Tough attitude. But really she’s from a small town in Ohio. And when she and Jillian are victimized, Mel’s vulnerability is apparent. Jillian and Mel were never really close, other than living in close quarters, but after the incident a budding friendship forms. And since Jillian has no one else, she turns to Mel when she has to.
  • Susannah. Lyla’s mother. Beautiful nordic features. Long, golden hair. She’s sick of her husband’s infidelity, but she deals with it. Until she doesn’t.
  • LeeAnn. Lyla’s aunt on her father’s side. LeeAnn is an Associate Medical Examiner. Petite, pale, dry demeanor. The opposite of her charming, charismatic brother. And very suspicious of Lyla. But there’s nothing she can do about it. Her boss is retiring and refuses to hear any of her theories. So she waits. (Blood in the Paint, anyone?)
  • CJ. Lyla’s friend at UPENN hospital. They shared classes as undergrads and after she became a resident physician, he took a position in the pharmacy department. He longs for her in a way Lyla can’t ignore, but does.

There are a few other characters, but they don’t stick around very long, if you know what I mean. One day down the line I plan on writing individual short stories for these sub-characters. They will only be available to those on my mailing list. That’s just one of the perks to signing up, so make sure you add your email address soon! (Don’t worry, I won’t bombard you with crap. You’ll probably receive half a dozen emails a year at most.)

And now for my BIG announcement!

The date of my COVER REVEAL for Blood in the Past is almost upon us!

Check in on MAY 8th, 2013 to get the first peek! (And if anyone would like to help spread the word, please contact me. I’ll be scheduling interviews and guest posts throughout the month of May.)

Jason Brighthouse & Me

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Yesterday I posted the second in a series of character profiles from my upcoming novella, Blood in the Past. This week’s focus is on Jason Brighthouse Jr, a grief-stricken young man and soon-to-be-cop trying to fill his father’s shoes. I like to think as authors we all give our characters snippets of our own personalities. I’m not saying I’m an over-ambitious cop, but there are a few similarities.

  • Brighthouse lost his father and almost couldn’t put the pieces of his life back together. The situations between his loss and my own are different, of course, but I’m sure the grief is pretty similar.
  • In his youth, Brighthouse makes rash decisions. Don’t worry, he outgrows this in the full-length novel, Blood in the Paint, and I’ve already outgrown it. Well, we’ve sort of outgrown it…
  • Sometimes his rash decisions are just a product of his good instincts. When Hubby-pants and I watch TV and movies and I say right off the bat that I don’t like a character, 9 times out of 10, that character is the bad guy. We joke that in an end-of-the-world situation, I’m allowed to shoot anyone I don’t like. We’ll save ourselves a lot of trouble that way. For the most part, Brighthouse doesn’t go around shooting people without evidence later in the series. But nobody said anything about arresting them…
  • Brighthouse overcomes a great moment of weakness, the ramifications of which he’ll deal with for the rest of his life, in secret. Again, different situations, same emotions.

Ready for a smidgen of Brighthouse-ness? Here ya go:

He turned to leave, but a sharp thwack startled him, followed by the scattering of broken glass. Jason knew the source without turning around; next to the wedding picture his mother stared at stood another framed photo of a recent family camping trip. In the photo his father tended to a roaring, red fire. Jason turned to find the picture gone from the mantle, as he expected. He shifted his gaze to his mother. The image had overwhelmed her. He understood. Even the mere memory of the photo stirred emotions within him, as he was unwilling to associate his father with any kind of fire anymore. Despite empathizing with his mother, he resisted the urge to support her and left, trekking upstairs and harping on the last conversation he and his father had.

Jerks & Irks XXXV: Puntastic Titles

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Last week I listed a bunch of jerky quirks of mine that may keep me from reading a book. Turns out they weren’t so jerky. At least not in the eyes of the commenters on that post. But during the course of the week, I realized I forgot one. A big one.

Puntastic titles. You know what I’m talking about.

  • Between a Glock and a Hard Place
  • A Nerd in the Hand
  • Two Birds with One Bone
  • Fight the Bullet
  • Stud is Quicker Than Water
  • Break the Vice
  • Fought Red-Handed
  • Give the Bold Shoulder
  • Teased as Punch
  • Rule of Numb

You get the picture, right? Why do I hate puns? Ironically I don’t. I like puns. I named my personal publishing company Blood Read Press, (pronounced “Blood Red”), for heaven’s sake. Maybe it’s because porn titles are usually some cheesy pun or another (Arma-get-it On, anyone?). If you read over the above list with a gutter-friendly-mentality, some of them even sound like porn titles.

As far as I know, these aren’t actual book titles. I just made them up for the purposes of this post. (See, I’m even good at puns. I guess that’s why I can always come up with a good fantasy football team name.)

But, if your book title is punny, I really hope the blurb is outstanding.

Because otherwise I won’t read it.

Because I’m a jerk.

 

What I Learned From The Editor: Round 1

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I received my novella, Blood in the Past, back from the editor weeks ago. I’ve been working on rewrites feverishly since then to add stuff. That’s right. Add. Stuff. I’m the only writer in the history of the world whose editor requested they add stuff. But more on that later. Here’s what I learned during this first round of edits.

  • I’m wordy. Now, as a reader, I hate description overkill. I don’t need a paragraph to explain how green the grass is or a page to show how mangy a stray cat is. I also don’t need to know what everyone is wearing. In fact, details like that pull me from the story. She’s wearing a purple sweater? Hmm, I pictured her wearing a red sweater. I guess that’s because red is my favorite color. I wish I had a red sweater. Wait, I do! Is that clean? Where is that sweater? See what I mean? Anyway, the point is that I tried to avoid that in my own writing. However, I often add sentence fragments of description. For effect. My editor left the ones that actually were effective. But there were many, many redundant ones. Yikes.
  • I don’t tell enough. You know how you’re not supposed to write as though the reader is dumb? Well apparently I take it a step further and write as though the reader is telepathically connected to me. I assume they know things I know and see things I see. Dammit.
  • I tell too much. In contrast to the bullet point above, sometimes I skip having information come out in conversation or thought and just tell the reader stuff. Tsk, tsk.

And this is where the adding of stuff comes in. I’ve been adding extra scenes and dialogue sequences like a mad woman. Still hoping for an end of March release, but we’ll see. Wish me luck.

What Do YOU Call “Homemade?”

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People post pictures of their meals and desserts on Facebook, Instagram, and heaven knows where else. And that’s fine. I’ve been known to do it once or twice when I make a fancy batch of cookies or cutesy football Sunday snacks. What bugs me is when someone claims their image is of a ”homemade” quality, when it’s clearly not by virtue of appearance or their own bone-headed description of the meal and/or recipe. Just because you poured some canned apples into a pre-made crust and tossed it in the oven, instead of stopping by the bakery, doesn’t mean you’ve presented a homemade apple pie. (Again, nothing wrong with making a pie this way. It’s just not homemade.)

My favorite example of this is my sister. I love my sister, but she’s not the cook in the family. I won’t say who is, but let’s just say she’s a beautiful blogger with a novella entitled Blood in the Past coming out late next month. Anyway, back to my sister. Months ago she invited me and Hubby-pants over for dinner. She poured a jar of sauce into a pot and seasoned it. All the while she stirred and tasted. Held the wooden spoon to my mouth so I could sample her masterpiece. Honest to God she bragged about how pasta sauce is her specialty. And she was serious. She thought she was making sauce. Our grandmother was Italian. I wouldn’t be surprised if the ground above her grave was disturbed from all the turning that went on below it. Personally, it was all I could do to keep my brain from leaking out of my ears.

The reason why I offer up this little anecdote is because of people who claim to do their own editing. Just because you combed your book for errant quotations marks and the-random-misspelled-word-that’s-still-actually-a-word-so-spell-check-missed-it, doesn’t mean it’s edited. Trust me. Do your readers a favor: Save up for an editor. Just because it looks perfect to you, an apt reader would be able to taste, I mean tell, the difference.

Now hire that editor, for the love of homemade apple pie!

applepie1

Jerks & Irks XXXI: I’m Writing a Book, Not Baking a Cake

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I just finished the first drafts of Blood in the Past and Blood in the Paint.

Hold your applause.

So now whenever anyone asks “How’s the book coming?” I tell them the phenomenal news…And they promptly ask me how they can buy it (when they’re not clamoring for a free copy).

That’s actually pretty awesome. Until I tell them that neither title is available for purchase yet. You see, people don’t seem to understand that I’m not baking a cake over here. I don’t mix my beginning, middle, and end; add a few dashes of plot and characterization; throw it in the oven; and immediately start handing out slices 35-40 minutes later after sticking a toothpick in the middle.

Maybe I should write a book called Blood in the Cake. JK. Gross.

Maybe I should write a book called Blood in the Cake. JK. Gross.

It doesn’t work that way. I may have finished the drafts, but now I have rewrites and revisions. Then beta readers. Then more rewrites and revisions. Then the drafts get sent to the editor. Then–you guessed it–more rewrites and revisions. Probably a few more after that. Then formatting. THEN RELEASE. So, take a chill people!

Just kidding, I love the anticipation. Most days. When I’m not stressing over the rewrites and revisions.

But I can’t be too hard on my friends and family. It’s not like I knew anything about the writing world when I started this whole shabang a year ago.

Gosh, I wish I had a slice of cake now, though…

Also, now that I’m done writing my drafts, I need help naming my series. I’m asking you guys to weigh in on the titles I have it narrowed down to. Visit the Name My Series giveaway today. Right now. Put down that cake!

In Case I Wasn’t Clear About the Contest

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Yesterday I posted a contest to help me name my book series. I’ve received several responses, yet, still things aren’t going exactly as planned. It’s not your collective faults, it’s mine. I’m new at this. But, just to be clear, if you want to participate, please read the following:

  1. In order to have your name considered for the prize, you have to click on the Rafflecopter link. Just commenting doesn’t do it. (If you already commented, make sure you visit the link so your comment counts!) I’m sorry.
  2. If you click I Commented on the Rafflecopter link and don’t actually comment, you are a bad person. Not only that, but if Rafflecopter chooses your name and I don’t see a relevent, corresponding comment in your name, I will pick another winner. I’m sorry.
  3. If you don’t know what my books are about, visit the My Books page where you’ll find blurbs for both titles, Blood in the Past and Blood in the Paint. (On a side note, they are Psychological Thrillers. If you read the blurb and gather another impression–one person said they sounded gory, another asked if I wrote romance–please let me know, so I can revise the blurbs.)

So, to recap: Click this link for a Rafflecopter giveaway. See the examples of suitable series choices. Click I Commented to enter the contest. Return to my blog and comment with your series title choice. If you need more info, go to the My Books page. Bite your nails until February 9th when a winner will be selected to win a Jordanna East ‘Tote Bag Full of Swag’ (Journals, pens, a calendar magnet, a tshirt, and CHOCOLATE!).

Name My Series! Win Stuff!

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In January 2012 I picked up writing my unfinished novel again. I gave myself a self-imposed deadline to have it finished by the end of the year. I know what you’re thinking: A whole year? To finish a novel you already had nine chapters of? What are you, chiseling it into a cave wall?

Gimme a break, guys. I was a newbie. Still am. Didn’t know how long it would take. Regardless, I still didn’t finish. I have a problem with over-editing before moving on. I might seek professional help as one of my New Year’s Resolutions. We’ll see.

Anyway, I’m FINISHED NOW!!!!!

The aforementioned novel, Blood in the Paint, is done. First draft, at least. The prequel, Blood in the Past, is all typed up and ready for the first round of revisions before it goes to the editor. Eeek!

So, this is a series, guys. I’ll be needing a series name. I can’t decide so I’m asking you all to help me pick one. The winner recieves a swag bag. (I probably shouldn’t call it a swag bag because swag stands for Stuff We All Get and, well, frankly, you all can’t be winners. But I’m going to continue to call it a swag bag because swag bag is fun to say and it rhymes and stuff.) Specifically, the winner will receive a Jordanna East tote bag with all kinds of goodies inside based on the suggestions you provided last week. Journals. Pens. A calendar magnet. A T-shirt. Chocolate! Goodies galore! Enter the contest below!

So, to recap: Click this link for a Rafflecopter giveaway. See the examples of suitable series choices. Click I Commented to enter the contest. Return to my blog and comment with your series title choice. If you need more info, go to the My Books page. Bite your nails until February 9th when a winner will be selected to win a Jordanna East ‘Tote Bag Full of Swag’ (Journals, pens, a calendar magnet, a tshirt, and CHOCOLATE!).