First Page Friday

I am excited it's Friday because I have some great plans for the weekend AND because we get another First Page Friday!  Today Ms. Shreditor talks about scene flow and tension, something I can always work on.

As always, thank you to the author and our editor for their efforts.  If you would like your first page critiqued, send your double-spaced 12 pt. font first page to juliecoulterbellon@gmail.com We still have one opening for August.

See you next week!

The Entry
The Cove
by Julie Spencer

“Why did you do that?” she demanded, standing in his lit doorway, dripping wet in her custom-made designer swimsuit. He stood with the screen door still closed between them, a look of confusion and anger across his face. Gail pushed the door opened and stomped into his house, not really caring that she was leaving water all across his linoleum floor. He silently grabbed the kitchen towel from the handle on the stove and stooped down to wipe up the mess. Out of spite, she grabbed her long hair in her hands and wrung the water from it so that it left an even bigger pool of water beside her. He just took a deep breath, as if to calm himself into not getting angry, and wiped up that mess as well. When he stood up, he tossed the towel at her chest.

“Dry yourself off,” Todd snapped at her. “You’re making a mess in my kitchen.” He walked back over to the counter where he had been making himself a sandwich. The thought occurred to her that she didn’t know how he could possibly be hungry after the huge buffet he’d had access to for the last few hours. It passed quickly when she reminded herself how angry she was with him.

“Why did you have to show up there anyway?” she asked, a little less fiercely but still with intended bitterness.

“I was invited!” He turned back to her with fierceness in his eyes. “By your fiancé!” He spat the words at her and she flinched back from his accusing eyes. He stepped away from the counter and crossed the room to her. She was kind of glad that he had put down the knife he had been using to cut the salami for his sandwich. Not that she thought he would ever really get that mad that he might hurt her, it just would have felt a little more threatening. “Do you have any idea how much Patrick loves you? How much it’s going to hurt him when he finds out that you’re engaged to someone else?”

Ms. Shreditor Comments

This story certainly cranks up the drama. There’s a strong undercurrent of anger and resentment between Gail and Todd as she drips water on his floor and he slices his sandwich meat. I’m a bit confused about the sequence of events here, though. If I’ve read correctly, Gail has been swimming while Todd was at some sort of event with Gail’s fiancé, Patrick. Gail comes charging in, asking why he’s done something, but it’s unclear how we’ve gotten to this point, with the two of them facing off at his door. Did she hear Todd’s car drive up while she was swimming and approach the house? If Todd is her man on the side, why is she at his house swimming while he’s not home? Or is Patrick the man on the side?

This first page leaves me with a lot of unanswered questions. How did Gail end up engaged to two men at once? There are plenty of stories involving characters who are involved with two people at once, but having this character be engaged to both of them ups the ante quite a bit. How do Todd and Patrick know one another? Which one did Gail get engaged to first? (If she accepted Patrick’s proposal after she got engaged to Todd, it seems odd that Todd would have stayed with her. If she got engaged to Patrick first, why would Todd have gone so far as to propose to her when she was already engaged? That’s a huge leap.)

There are a lot of effective devices at work in this scene—the way the dripping water heightens the tension, Todd’s very palpable anger, and the love triangle already in motion. I’ve mentioned in past columns that the first page should leave the reader with questions that propel them to the next page, and the next. However, I feel like we’ve stumbled into the middle of a story without enough context to make sense of what’s happening.

So what’s the solution? It’s a tough call. I like so much about how this scene flows, so I wouldn’t want to reinvent the wheel if I were editing this. I would, however, want to drop a few more details to ground the reader and provide some much-needed context. In reading this story, we’re signing on for what promises to be a juicy love triangle (a plot that will sell books until the end of time), but if we’re going to stick with it, we need to understand a few key details about the two relationships in question.

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Three Tips for Writing A Plot Twist

I was sitting on my bed a few weeks back, thinking about my manuscript.  I liked the plot, I liked the characters, but something was missing.  I felt the plot and the conclusion were a bit too obvious and had been done before.  

I jotted down a few ideas for different conclusions to my plot, even some crazy stuff, but nothing was jumping out at me that I could really work with until right before I went to sleep that night.  Then the perfect plot twist hit me.

I quickly wrote it down before the idea slipped away and as I've been researching and writing it in, I can't tell you how excited I am getting about this book.  That plot twist added a whole new dimension to the book, the story, and my characters and I love it.

The thing about plot twists, though, is that you have to make it believable.  You can just pull it out of nowhere or your readers will shake their head and say, yeah, that didn't work for me.  

It is important to make sure there are subtle clues leading up to the plot twist that your reader can go back and say, oh yeah, now I see why that was important.

So, to sum up, in writing plot twists:

1.  Brainstorm different conclusions to the plot---even jot down the crazy ideas.  Your brain will start working on it and before you know it, the perfect plot twist will hit you.

2.  Make it believable.  Don't pull it out of the hat because you lose your readers' trust if you do.  Doing it for shock and effect rarely works unless you've put in the planning and effort.  Readers aren't dumb and will see it for what it is---lazy writing.

3.  Always plan subtle clues leading up to the plot twist so your reader can be surprised, enjoy the unexpected, and still feel satisfied in the story.

Can you think of any favorite book/movie plot twists off the top of your head?

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I'm Sprinting, Come Join Me!

Okay, you know the drill.  Start at 8:00 p.m. and check in every fifteen minutes with your word count.  We go until 9:00 p.m.

See you in fifteen!

Ready, Set, GO!

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Word Count Wednesday

It has been another great week for my word count---just over 4200 words.  I'm so excited about this manuscript and the direction it's going in.  I just put in a great plot twist that makes me smile every time I think about it.

How did you do this week?

And yes, I will be sprinting tonight at 8 p.m. MST as usual.  I hope someone can join me tonight!  See you then.

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Writing Time: Snatches or Block?

I was reading another writer's blog yesterday and I was disheartened to read their thoughts that you can't get quality writing done in snatches of time.  Quality writing is achieved when you have a minimum two hour block of time per day to write.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not dissing what they said or their thoughts on the subject, but that hasn't been my experience at all.  I can't recall ever having two hours per day of writing time.  Ever.  I have eight children and a life that intrudes upon my writing all the time.  All I have been able to do is write in snatches of time.

I have had this argument with writers before, that quality writing deserves quality time and if you're only writing in snatches then it's a hobby not a business.  I've heard those arguments.  And I argue against them because my perspective and my experience has been different.  I have published nine books since 2004 and I've done it only writing in snatches of time with some hours on weekends when my husband or older children have taken the younger ones for a time so I could write.  But that doesn't happen every day.  And yet I still look upon my writing as something I love, a way for me to share my talent, and yes, to earn money.

I'm not negating anyone's experience because I believe writing is personal.  Everyone's journey is different, everyone's way of doing things is different. But we all have one common goal---to share our stories with readers who will appreciate them.  If my situation requires that I prepare my scenes and dialogue while I'm changing messy diapers and playing Barbies and then writing as fast as I can while Barney is on, then so be it.  If you need two hours per day to write your book, then that's great, too.  But is it fair to say that someone's writing isn't quality unless they have written it in a block of time vs. snatches of time?

I don't think so.  What do you think?

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Book Review: Longing For Home

Today I am THRILLED to be part of the blog tour for Sarah Eden's new book Longing for Home because I love all of Sarah's books.  There is just something about her characters and style of writing that strikes a chord with me.  This book was no different.

We are introduced to Katie MacCauley who is traveling to the Wyoming territory to accept a job as a housekeeper.  She is traveling in the back of a family wagon, uncomfortable around children because of what happened to her sister.  The first line of the book is, "Eighteen years had passed since Katie Macauley killed her sister."  If that doesn't make you want to keep reading and find out more, I don't know what will.  And yes, what happened to her sister is a big part of the book and who Katie is today.

She makes it to her new employer's house who fires her as soon as she opens her mouth and he realizes she is Irish.  You see, the town is divided between the Irish and the Americans of the town and Katie tips the balance.  Her employer, Joseph Archer, is trying to remain neutral and if he keeps her on, the other people in the town might get upset.

Katie needs the promised employment so she can return to Ireland and make amends to her family so she forces his hand. It's so incredible to me how the author is able to write someone so tenacious and vulnerable at the same time.  I loved Katie and her personality.  She was true to herself, worried about the people around her, and yet battling her own demons at the same time.  The author creates a town filled with people that are endearing, horrible, annoying, and compassionate, but always believable. Some of the things the Irish suffer through made my fingers turn pages faster so I could see how the town/Irish would deal with it.  I have Irish ancestors of my own who suffered during the famine and came to Canada, so I really felt connected to these people.

The best part of the book for me, besides Katie as a character, was the love triangle.  I love Tavish and all his humor on the outside and real depth on the inside.  The other part of the triangle was a bit of a surprise and I don't know how I feel about that part yet.  I think I'm firmly Team Tavish right now.

I realized that there is a sequel to the book and was worried that this would be a cliffhanger ending (I hate those) but I should have known Sarah Eden wouldn't do that to her readers.  The ending was great and I honestly can't wait for the sequel and to find out what happens next for Katie.

This book is a definite five stars from me.  Every historical fiction fan should read this book and put it on your Christmas and birthday lists.  Completely loved it.

Here's the back copy:

Though she was only a child during the darkest days of Ireland’s Great Famine, Katie Macauley feels responsible for the loss of her family’s land and the death of her sister. Now a woman grown, Katie has left Ireland for America and the promise of earning money enough to return home again and plead for her family’s forgiveness. She arrives in Hope Springs, Wyoming Territory, a town sharply divided between the Americans who have settled there, with their deep hatred of the Irish, and the Irish immigrants who have come searching for a place to call home. Her arrival tips the precarious balance, and the feud erupts anew. Even in the midst of hatred and violence, however, Katie finds reason to hope. Two men, as different as they are intriguing, vie for her heart, turning her thoughts for the first time toward a future away from Ireland. Katie must now make the hardest decision of her life: stay and give her heart a chance at love, or return home and give her soul the possibility of peace.

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First Page Friday

This was a fun First Page Friday because I really wanted to read more of this story!  Ms. Shreditor has some great points, and I'm wondering now what the answers are to her questions.  These are the kind of First Page Fridays that I really learn from.

As always, thank you to our author and editor for their effort.  You are so appreciated!

If you would like to have your first page critiqued by a national editor, submit your double-spaced 12 pt. font first page to juliecoulterbellon@gmail.com with First Page Friday in the subject line.  We have one opening left in August.

See you next week!


The Entry
Better Than Fiction
by Emily Clawson

Isabella raised a hand to her forehead and sighed. How could he say such things to her? Wasn't it enough that her uncle was forcing her into this marriage against her will? Against her heart. She had suffered enough. Frederick's words only confused her more.

        "Say you will be mine. My dear Isabella, I can't live without you." He held his hands out in a silent plea. Isabella could only stare at him - so strong, so handsome in his black, silk tails and creamy satin cravat. For just a moment she wanted to reach for his hands, to let him take her away from her Uncle's cruel control. But she was too afraid he would hurt her.

        "I can't Frederick. I must be true to my heart." She blinked, a single tear falling from her lavender eyes. 

        "So must I”, he replied, pulling her roughly into his arms. "And you, my darling, are my heart. You are my soul and my very reason for living." 

        Isabella sighed again, this time in defeat. How could she resist any longer? With a groan of delight, Frederick bent his head to steal a kiss.

My iPod reached the end of the playlist and the music disappeared, pulling me away from the words on the computer screen. Wasn't that playlist three hours long? A quick glance at the clock sent me scurrying to get dressed for work.

Whisker Face brushed against my leg, nearly tripping me as I tried to pull off my pajamas.

"Not now, sweetie. I spent too much time writing and I'm late." He slunk away to curl up on my chair, enjoying the warmth I'd left behind. 

How I envied him. Staying home and spending my day with Isabella and Frederick was much more inviting than the Java Stop. Eight hours of dispensing and mixing lattes for the same crowd, always rushing in and rushing out. I was pretty sure I was the only Mormon girl who constantly smelled like coffee.

Ms. Shreditor's Comments

I’m sensing a trend! The structure of this sample reminds me very much of the one I critiqued a few weeks ago. It starts with a passage from the protagonist’s work in progress and then flips to the protagonist’s perspective. I do tend to enjoy this tactic because, really, who doesn’t like a good literary fakeout? I particularly liked that the author italicized the font in the excerpt from narrator’s manuscript. The slight variation in typography makes it clear that the opening paragraphs are an entity separate from the regular roman text that follows.

I want to be sensitive as I critique the excerpt from the heroine’s novel in progress, because I’m not entirely certain my reaction was the intended one. The thing is, it amused me. It’s a hotbed of romance clichés, from the hand to the forehead to the theatrical sighing, from the emotionally overwrought dialogue to the forced marriage setup, from Frederick’s rough handling of Isabella to his groan of delight, from Isabelle’s lavender eyes to Frederick’s stolen kiss. It was good, campy fun, and if it was written to be just that, the author of this week’s first page fired on all cylinders. Working that many romance writing tics into half a page indicates a really sophisticated understanding of what does and doesn’t work in a story.

After I read the protagonist’s narrative in the second half, I went back and re-read the Isabella/Frederick scene through new goggles. It reads a lot like wish fulfillment fiction (i.e., the author writes herself, thinly disguised as the heroine, into a fantasy scenario to live out her unfulfilled desires). Is this the case here? If so, the work in progress acts as an unconventional vehicle for characterization. We learn more about the narrator through that scrap of writing than we might from a few lines of straight biography. Perhaps our narrator is feeling unfulfilled in her love life. Perhaps she has been treated cruelly by someone in her past, much like Isabella has been mistreated by her uncle. Perhaps her own life is so unexciting that she escapes to fictional realms to spice things up.

Ultimately, I choose to believe that the author wrote Isabella’s part of the story with the intention to violate as many tenets of good romance writing as possible, that this story reflects a certain romantic immaturity on the protagonist’s part that will develop as the story progresses. If I’m right, I think we have a pretty good first page here!

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Writing Great Back Cover Copy

Lately, I've been helping authors write or revamp their back cover copy and I even taught a class on it at a indie publishing conference.  It always amazes me how little time authors seem to spend on the second most important thing in selling and marketing their book---the back cover copy.  Besides the cover, the first interaction your reader will have with your book is the back cover copy and it can make or break your book sales.

So, let's look at some tips for writing great back cover copy.

First of all, NEVER summarize your book.  The back copy is not where you do a synopsis at all.  The back cover is where you entice and intrigue your readers to pick up your book.

Now that the NEVER DO is out of the way, what do you do?

The Legwork

1.  Figure out the stakes.  Will someone die?  Will the world end?  Will she get the guy?  What are the stakes of the book?  This will play a big role in your back copy.

2.  Work up a thirty second elevator pitch of your book.  If you can describe your book in thirty seconds, you've got a head start on your back copy.

Now you have somewhere to start. What's next?

1. Take your stakes and figure out a tagline.  One sentence that encapsulates your stakes.  My new novel's tagline is "Are you ever really innocent until proven guilty?"  I just helped another author with her tagline and it ended up being. "On their world, being an elemental means you will be hunted for your skin."  So, you see a tagline is something that hints at the stakes in your book.  Make it catchy and memorable.  Don't bog it down.  Too many times I've seen, "This is a book about love and betrayal."  BORING.  Use your creativity.

2.  Use your thirty second elevator pitch to pull out the important events in your book.  Most times great back copy just covers the inciting incident in your book.  My new novel, Ashes Ashes, has back copy that is mainly centered around my hero's bad day at work, and since he's in hostage negotiation, that means someone usually dies.  He comes home, sees smoke coming out of his neighbor's house and so he goes to help.  But the beautiful and mysterious house guest doesn't want his help---because she's in trouble herself. Usually if you can use your inciting incident, you can hook your audience, hint at the big plot, and write some great back copy.

3.  Use compelling language with a splash of hyperbole.  It's okay to grab your readers with "unimaginable consequences," "a decision that will change mankind forever" or "can he trust anyone around him, including the woman at the center of it all."  Leave your reader feeling like this is a story they definitely have to read.

4. Great back cover copy is generally not over 200 words long.  You have to be concise and really sell the book without being verbose.  Cut out the fatty details, it only bogs down your back cover copy.  Get to the meat of it and entice and intrigue your readers.  This is your chance to sell yourself and you don't want to blow it.

5.  Research how other authors have done it.  If you are still at a loss, go look at the back cover copy of famous authors in your genre.  That can spark ideas and creativity for your own work and help you see the pattern of how to intrigue and entice your readers.

6.  Don't forget to proofread.  There's nothing that will make me pass on a book faster than seeing grammar and spelling errors in the back copy.  If the author can't spell it right there, chances are the book isn't that great either.  The back copy is the reader's first interaction with you.  Make it great!

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We're Sprinting!!

I'm here, I'm here!  Is anyone else?

You know the drill, check back here every fifteen minutes.

Ready, set GO!!

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Word Count Wednesday

Okay I am jumping up and down with excitement this week.  But first . . . remember when I had the first page of All Fall Down critiqued on First Page Friday?  Angela Eschler, one of our amazing editors for First Page Friday, has a new feature on her blog where she has the original submission, her critique, then the changes that were made. I also offered my thoughts on how the critiqued helped me.  You can see it all here  Great stuff, my friends.

I also got another review of Ashes Ashes today.  The reviewer from Books are Sanity said she was on the edge of her proverbial chair throughout the book.  You can read the whole thing here

But today, I am happy to share that I got almost 8000 words on my manuscript this week.  I know, right?! Something for me to cheer for sure. I am getting so close to being done with this draft and that excites me. I've also been editing the first half of my book that's coming out on October 1st, and that half will be going to my critique group tomorrow.  *bites nails*  I'm excited/terrified for them to read it.

How did you do this week?  And will you be joining us at the sprint tonight at 8 p.m. MST?  (We'd love to see you back here sprinting with us!  Just do it. You won't be sorry.)

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Double Book Review

Today I have two books to tell you about.  The first one is a regency romance by G.G. Vandagriff called Lord Trowbridge's Angel.

In this book we meet Viscount Frank Trowbridge who agrees to escort Miss Sophie Edwards to a ball.  Sophie isn't able to dance because of a childhood injury, so when he finds out she plays the violin, he introduces her to the musical people he knows.

Pretty soon he finds himself utterly entranced with the woman at his side and how she seems to light up the room when she's speaking about music and an upcoming performance.  Unfortunately, his mistress also sees his interest in Miss Sophie, there's illness, society expectations and that isn't even all the twists and turns for our hero and heroine with many more misunderstandings and obstacles to their newfound love.

I thought the setting was well done, but there were times when the viscount seemed a little naive in his actions and what society expected.  I liked Miss Sophie and was happy to catch up with her sisters who were heroines in previous books.  Ms. Vandagriff does not disappoint her historical fiction fans and this is another gem in her series.  (Currently on Kindle for .99 cents! Click here) (And no, I don't receive any compensation for providing that link, I just want to make things easy for my blog friends.)

Here is the back copy:

When the very bored and very handsome Viscount Trowbridge agrees to escort Miss Sophie Edwards to her first ball, his life is upended. Because a childhood injury left her unable to dance, Sophie is new to the ton and not terribly interested in it. But our heroine has a secret weapon: she has mastered the violin.

The viscount, aka Gorgeous Frank, is unexpectedly and powerfully smitten the first time he hears her perform. Recognizing in Sophie a person more complex and passionate than any ton beauty, he launches a courtship calculated to win her in ways as original as she is.


Sophie is nearly bowled over, but a native disinclination to trust proves a serious challenge, as does Frank’s former mistress. At times, Frank is his own worst enemy. As he wades through a sea of misunderstandings, will his “angel” have the insight to believe that he is a changed man? Will Sophie avail herself of her sisters’ help, lower the barriers of a lifetime to trust him, and allow herself to fall in love?

The second book I want to tell you about today is Motive for Murder by Marlene Bateman.  It is an Erica Coleman mystery, the first in that series.  Erica is a quirky former police officer and a current private investigator.  When she goes to Florida to visit her needy friend Wendy, she literally stumbles over a murder scene.  Her friend is very shaken and asks Erica to stay and investigate the murder, especially since it looks like her boyfriend may be involved since he knew the victim.

Erica agrees to stay, even though she has a husband and kids at home waiting for her, and starts delving into the murder.  Erica has OCD issues and sometimes comes across stilted in her conversation, but she is good at trying to observe clues that others have missed.  It quickly becomes clear to her that almost everyone who had been at Wendy's house that night had a motive to murder the victim and I was led on a merry chase trying to follow all the clues and figure out who did it before I turned the last page.  There were some pacing and editing issues that were hard to overlook, but the desire to know who did it in the end kept me coming back.  Definitely a mystery that kept me guessing.

Here's the back copy:

Meet Erica Coleman—a gifted and quirky private investigator with an OCD-like passion for neatness and symmetry, a penchant for cooking, (ten terrific recipes are included), and a weakness for chocolate.

Erica imagined that her trip to Florida would be a slice of heaven—a chance to get away from it all and catch up with her best friend, Wendy. But one day into her vacation, all hope of fun in the sun is dashed when she stumbles, literally, over a dead man on Wendy’s driveway. With police closing in on her friend as their main suspect, Erica must find the real killer before Wendy ends up behind bars.

With Erica’s skill, solving the mystery should be a piece of cake but then a second homicide-attempt hits close to home and generates a whole new list of suspects. There’s no way to sugarcoat it, a murderer is on the prowl, and no one is above suspicion.

As the plot thickens, it appears Erica may have bitten off more than she can chew, but she forges on, sifting through mounting evidence until she hones in on the killer who has a surprising motive for murder. With a dash of romance and some surprising twists, this thrilling mystery will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page.

Motive for Murder is available at all LDS bookstores and is also available on CD. Here are 3 links where Motive for Murder can be purchased online:  

Seagull Book  Amazon  Deseret Book or visit Marlene's website here 

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Joss Whedon's Character Writing Advice

Everyone knows Joss Whedon, right? He's a writer, producer, director, script doctor, and executive producer to name a few of the hats he wears.  He is an amazingly talented man.  Some of his writing credits include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Toy Story, Firefly, Titan A.E., Alien Resurrection, Angel, and The Avengers.  Can you imagine the things going on in this man's head?  Does he ever sleep with that kind of imagination?  And while I know none of those things I listed are novel writing, he gave some advice that I've really been thinking about as I write my new novel.

He said:

"Everybody has a perspective. Everybody in your scene, including the thug flanking your bad guy, has a reason. They have their own voice, their own identity, their own history. If anyone speaks in such a way that they’re just setting up the next person’s lines, then you don’t get dialogue: you get soundbites. Not everybody has to be funny; not everybody has to be cute; not everybody has to be delightful, and not everybody has to speak, but if you don’t know who everybody is and why they’re there, why they’re feeling what they’re feeling and why they’re doing what they’re doing, then you’re in trouble."

I have a minor character in Pocket Full of Posies that has really been clamoring to be more of a major character and I've been fleshing him out.  This "thug flanking my bad guy" has a history and an identity and even though he started out non-speaking, he's now becoming an integral part of my book.  And as I was doing that, I read what Mr. Whedon said and it resonated with me.  I started looking at my other non-speaking people.  What's their story?  Why are they there and what's their reason?

Doing that has helped me to know my story better.  I didn't think I could know it any better than I did, but it added a whole other dimension to it.  I can tell you the reason for a lot of actions now, where previously it was just setting up the next character arc.  It's been a great exercise for me and advice I will definitely use in my future novels.

What do you think?  Is it valuable for you to know the whys and wherefores for each character both minor, major, and the ones who are firmly in the background?

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First Page Friday

Can you believe it's Friday already? This week has flown by.  I'm so excited about today's First Page Friday critique because it's on memoir.  Someday I'll write my own memoirs and hopefully have this post bookmarked!

If you would like your first page critiqued by a national editor, submit your double-spaced 12 pt. font first page to juliecoulterbellon@gmail.com with First Page Friday in the subject line.  We still have two openings in August.

As always, thank you to our editor and author for their time and effort.

See you next week!

The Entry
Dreamed I Could Fly
by Lee Hinkle

In college, I was a cheap date. If a guy asked me what I’d like to do, I’d often suggest a drive out to the end of Imperial Boulevard1, which runs parallel to the south side of Los Angeles International Airport to watch airplanes take off and land. If he didn’t know me very well, the guy inevitably interpreted my response as a come-on and would happily, eagerly agree to the excursion. However, by the third date, he would likely sigh and say something like “Not again.” If our relationship made it as far as a fourth date he knew better than to ask.

Why do I feel this weird cosmic link to airplanes? I wish I knew. It has been there inside me for as long as I can remember. I’m just fascinated by those sleek, metal birds that soar high above all that is mundane and earthbound. Oddly enough, my fascination and passion for them have never translated to wanting to actually pilot one. Mostly, I just want to look at them, experience their kingly presence, delight in their amazing ability to whisk me away to anywhere else, watch and listen to their splendid roar as they climb into the sky, and breathe in the heavenly scent of jet fuel left trailing in their wake.

My love for airplanes is best illustrated by my choice of apartments when I went to work for Continental Airlines at in Los Angeles back in 1977. I rented an efficiency apartment at the end of Imperial Avenue in El Segundo, CA, which was located directly across the street from one of the runways at LAX. My new address blessed me daily with the opportunity to hear the roar of jets taking-off and landing practically in my own front yard. It was music to my ears, though visitors to my apartment often were jarred by what they described as noise.

1 Imperial Boulevard parallels the south side of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). It ends at Pershing Drive, which runs parallel to the Pacific Ocean.

Heidi From Eschler Editing Comments

Every life is a story, and every person’s story is worth telling. The trick is in telling it properly, so that it has maximum impact.

There are as many reasons for writing a memoir as there are people. Memoirs can be fancy or fussy, complex or simple, full of whimsy or gravitas. They can be broad and expansive, covering a long life, or short and focused. They can explore one season in your life, one experience, one angle, or they may try to tie up the myriad of experiences that define you as a person into an overarching whole. A memoir is an invitation to the world to share in your life’s journey, whether it’s for the space of a year in Provence, the span of a wild childhood, the length of a war, or the sum of an entire life with the marrow fully extracted.

You can write at the start of your journey, the middle, or the end, from the perspective of childhood or the wisdom of age. Still, so much choice can leave you feeling indecisive and unsure of where to start.

What I like:

The narrative is a little quirky and off-kilter. I’m left with the impression that the person I’m accompanying on this journey has a sense of humor – always a positive thing in a traveling companion.

The first line really is great, setting up a fun and interesting premise. It would be a good hook if you are sure that’s what your story is about. Although it has potential, you want to be sure it is the right one for the story you want to tell. Below are some thoughts on creating a strong opening for your story.

Are you starting in the right place? 

Every beginning of a story has an inherent promise in it. The words, the events, you choose to talk about in the opening paragraph and first few pages are an indication to the reader that those are important and hold weight. Therefore, if you start your story with a puzzle, an enigma (why this “weird cosmic link” to planes?) you must be prepared to follow through and explain it over the course of the story, or at least by the resolution. Right off, as a reader I’m already a little doubtful that I will be satisfied, since I’ve already been informed that the storyteller doesn’t know why she feels such a magnetic pull to these magnificent carriages of the sky. That’s not necessarily the strongest starting position.

How you position the events, what weight you give them, what interpretation, what order you relate them in, will all impact the effectiveness of your tale.

Although a memoir is non-fiction, it can benefit from many of the same guidelines that inform fiction writing. So your opening, your hook, your first five pages, all these are prime real estate. Every word counts, and you want to maximize their impact. Just as you want to start with a story-worthy problem in fiction, in a memoir, a great place to start is a life-changing event.

What is your inciting incident?

The inciting incident in fiction is the event that brings the main character to a realization of the main problem that is going to propel the plot forward. In a memoir, a life-changing event can fill this role.

Take, for example, the first three paragraphs of The Glass Castleby Jeannette Walls. The author relates how she is in a cab on the way to a party, and looking out the window, she spots her homeless mother going through the dumpster, and the author is panicked at the thought of her mother recognizing her and greeting her, and of other people seeing them together. This would be gripping if it were fiction. Knowing that it’s real makes it even more intense.

What is your beginning doing to pull people into the story? 

People that love planes may be intrigued (or they may be confused as to why someone that is so fascinated with planes has no desire to fly one). People whose interests lie elsewhere may not be as hooked. And what is the problem or life-changing event? Of course, there’s always the possibility that your story is not really about how your fascination for planes has shaped and molded your life. But in that case, a different opening anecdote may be a stronger pick.

The other possibility is that this is an examination of your relationship experiences. That’s what your first sentence and paragraph focus on: your dating patterns and attitudes. But that theory runs into a conflict when the love of planes is brought on stage. The reader may wonder: is your love of planes interfering with your love life? If that’s your intended message, all’s well. If not, you may want to re-imagine your beginning.

What belongs on the first page?

I mentioned earlier that your first page is prime real-estate. You don’t want to waste a millimeter of space. But your first three paragraphs mention Imperial Boulevard and its location three times with slight variations. Unless this location is where a life shattering event is going to occur, once is enough (and even in that case, once is enough). There is also no need to put that information into a footnote, especially since it’s been adequately explained within the body of the text. Be sure that you don’t get side-tracked by tangents in this vital opening section.

Taking a page from someone else’s story

The Glass Castletraces Jeannette’s journey through childhood with parents that are little better than children themselves. In the face of her father’s gambling and alcoholism, and her mother’s erratic behavior, Jeannette and her siblings face poverty, danger, and instability, moving precipitously from one town to another. Eventually, the Walls children must forge their own lives. Jeannette writes honestly but without self-pity or a feeling of victimization. Surprisingly, there is love and affection and charming memories mixed into the harsh realities of her life, such as the night her father takes the children outside one at a time and lets them pick out a star for their Christmas gift. The structure that Jeannette uses for her story starts with a moment of painful clarity and then loops the readers back to the beginning of her childhood, so that they can experience it chronologically along with the author. The resolution comes as she reminisces about her life after her father’s death.

Like a snowflake, no two life experiences are the same (not even within the same family). But that doesn’t mean you can’t borrow structure from other memoirs to enhance your own story, just as multiple poets can use the same structure (say a sonnet) to achieve vastly different results.

Your to-do list:

Be sure you can answer the following questions: What message do you want to convey to your audience? What life-changing event best propels your story forward? At what point does your journey reach a resolution? (This will be the logical end point of your story.) This will not only help launch your story, it will keep your narrative focused and bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. It takes courage and passion and integrity to bare your soul and reveal a part of your innermost self to the world, but it can be a deeply rewarding and uplifting experience. Best of luck on your journey.

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Getting Back Into the Swing of Things

Well, my sister is gone now, but I'm having a hard time getting back into my writing rhythm.  Which is bad news because I'm supposed to have my first ten chapters ready for my critique group in six days.  Yikes.

I did have one wonderful writing thing happen to me this week. I got a fan letter from someone who had simply loved Ashes Ashes and wrote to tell me about it.  It truly made my day.  I love fan mail and I answer all the letters I get.  It is such a bright spot for me as an author and I truly appreciate everyone who takes the time to write me.

So, maybe I will take that excitement from the fan letter and use it to get my fanny in gear and get these chapters ready.

Right after a snack and maybe a nap . . .

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We're Sprinting!

I'm not as prepared as I was last week, but I'm motivated!  *cracks knuckles*  Let's get this done!

You know the drill---come back at check in at the blog at 8:15, 8:30, 8:45 and finish up at 9:00 p.m.

See you guys in fifteen minutes!!  Ready, set, GO!

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Word Count Wednesday

Well, my sister is visiting me from Canada this week, so my word count was zero.  But if we were doing a laugh count I would have gotten into the thousands!  We're having a fun time.  How did you do this week?

I'm still planning on doing a sprint tonight at our regular time 8 p.m. MST  I hope you can all come!

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Stephen King Discusses Opening Sentences

I read an article today by Stephen King on why he spends months and even years writing his opening sentence.  (He does make it clear he doesn't do that, however, until after he's done drafting.)

But some of the things he said made me think.  For example, as the article goes on, he discusses how an opening line invites a reader to come here, to listen to this.  It made me go back and look at some of the opening lines of my books.  I think Ashes Ashes did great since the first line was "It was gut-check time."  All Fall Down's first line was "Something was wrong."  So maybe I've already been inviting my readers to "come here, listen to this."  That made me feel good.

Then he talks about how the opening sentences should pull you right inside the story and make you curious---maybe without you even realizing it.  I checked that one off, too.  Whew.

But then he talked about something that I have been working on.  Voice.  Which he says that a lot of people mistake for style.  He compares voice to singer Mick Jagger, for example, and that when you buy a Rolling Stones album, you know the voice and something in us will connect with that.  It's recognizable.

He gives us writing examples of writers we would know like that because they are distinctive and then says it's the same with a book, that the writer's "voice" will create an intimate connection with the reader. There are a few books and authors that do that for me, but I know it's an area I can work on in my books. Although I do know that when people pick up my books they will expect a lot of suspense and a little romance because that's my style.  But still, I want each of my readers to be able to experience the characters and stories in a way that will connect them and be intimately memorable through voice.  Maybe someday Mr. King will be using me as an example of distinctive voice and say, "If you pick up a Julie Coulter Bellon book you'll see what I'm talking about."  (Or maybe not.  The man might be dead before I get it right!)

One of the last things he talks about is how he composes in bed, right before he goes to sleep, just lying there in the dark, thinking.  If nothing else, that made me happy because I do that, too.  It's one of my best creative times, right before sleep, composing a scene in my head.  It always flows then, and I always struggle whether I should actually turn the light back on and write it down, or try to remember it in the morning.  (I have learned over and over that I need to get up and write it down.  This old brain doesn't remember a lot in the morning.  But, at least Mr. King and I have something in common with composing right before bed.)

If you want to read the whole article you can see it here (Warning, there is language).  I found his thoughts fascinating and even more so when I stacked my work against his advice.  What do you think about opening sentences?  Do they represent an invitation to you? Do they really hold that much weight for the reader in voice, style, and pulling you in?  Or is it the first few pages?

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Book Review: Just Like Elizabeth Taylor

This book was unexpected for me.  It's called Just Like Elizabeth Taylor by LuAnn Staheli and it wasn't at all what I thought it would be.

This is the first book I've ever read by this author and I was impressed with her style and flow.  The story is about twelve-year-old Elizabeth who has a single mother and is dealing with watching her mother be physically abused by her boyfriend while Elizabeth is also being abused by the boyfriend's son.  Hard stuff to read for sure.  This is a sensitive and timely subject in today's world and this book could definitely be a conversation starter with parents and children.

Because of the subject matter and storyline, I thought Elizabeth would be a bit older, and was surprised to find out she's only twelve.  She was a complex character, but there were a few times during the story when her voice/thoughts/conversation were a little above her age. That being said, though, I loved the way Elizabeth interacted with people and how she tried to deal with the adult issues surrounding her.  There was one character that I would have liked to know more about her situation, she seemed so interesting and in somewhat of the same boat as Elizabeth, but it isn't told.  (Maybe I'm just nosy like that.)  Of course, that speaks to the skill of an author and a great cast of characters when you want to know more about them.

This book is full of some very real-life situations and reactions and if I let my pre-teen read it, I would definitely want to read it with them or have several discussions before, during, and after.  All in all, I think this author has a lot of talent and I am interested in reading more from her.

Here is the back copy:

Twelve-year-old Liz Taylor has known for a long time that she would escape—escape the abuse against herself, and against her mother. She just didn’t know how or when.

Then the perfect opportunity comes—money left of the table by her mother’s abuser—and Liz is on the run. But a girl her age doesn’t have many options when it comes to hideouts, making a K.O. A. Kampground and a nearby middle school her perfect choices.

If only she can keep to herself, Liz, now using the name Beth, knows she can make it on her own, until things change, and she realizes she must face her situation head on if she is to save herself and her mom.

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First Page Friday

Today's First Page Friday sample was so interesting to me and Ms. Shreditor's remarks made it doubly so. I can't wait to hear what you think of it.

If you would like your first page critiqued by a national editor, please submit your double-spaced 12 pt. font first page to juliecoulterbellon@gmail.com with First Page Friday in the subject line.  There are two openings for August.

As always, thank you to Ms. Shreditor and to our authors for their time and effort.  See you next week!


The Entry
An Uncommon Blue
by Ryan Hancock

There are three unspoken rules in high school rugby.

1. Your team members are family.

2. You support your family.

3. This support must be shown periodically with an affectionate slap on the backside.

After four years as the starting right winger, I had almost gotten used to this.

Almost. At least I no longer felt the urge to bloody my teammates' noses when they tried it. But in the middle of the hall? No way. During school hours my glutes were off limits.

I whirled around to explain this to whichever of my idiotic team members was behind me.

Instead, I found myself face to face with an attractive redhead.

“Hey, Bruno,” Drea said with a smirk. “Ready for the test?”

I opened my mouth but no sound came out.

Even with her super-short hair, Drea was stunning. Before last summer she’d often been mistaken for a boy. But that all ended when puberty hit. With both fists.

I recovered from my embarrassment enough to nod.

She leaned against the lockers. Her face reflected the light from her blue palm as she twisted an earring. “History should be a breeze compared to pre-calc. I wanted to stab myself in the eye when I got to that section on antiderivatives.”

I grunted and fumbled with my combination.

Without warning she came up close and spoke in a half-whisper. Her hair smelled like coconut. “I know someone that likes you. If you hurry up with that lock, we might have time to talk before the final.”

Ms. Shreditor's Comments

I’ve read this first page several times to collect my thoughts. At first glance, it looks great because it’s clean as a whistle. I might tweak the punctuation here and there, but there aren’t any egregious proofreading errors. The author clearly took the time to proofread this before submitting, a vital step in the submission process.

When I read through the second time, my inner developmental editor awoke and started evaluating the structure of the sample. Before long, I was mentally rearranging various components of the story to create a stronger opening. The issue here is that the first page throws two hefty plot points at us without lingering on either one for long: rugby and Drea.

Starting the story with the three rules of high school rugby suggests to the reader that this is the master plot in this book. Is this correct? If not, if Bruno’s relationship with Drea (and the unnamed girl who has a crush on him) is actually the main event, then you might consider opening with that and weaving in the rugby later. As is, we get only the briefest of primers on the narrator’s status as a rugby player before the story rapidly diverts into Drea’s orbit. This makes the rules of rugby at the beginning feel a bit gratuitous—more like an attempt to engage the reader with a Fight Club–esque breakdown of rules than an actual gateway into the story.

I tend to be a character-driven reader, and I don’t feel like I really connected with Bruno. If we clear away the rugby and his crush on Drea, what do we know about him? This is actually a good gauge for all writers of fiction. If you strip the story of its external plot points, what is left of your protagonist? Is there some meaty internal conflict? Where does this person’s humanity lie? His weaknesses? These are seeds you want to plant from the very beginning to give the reader an immediate understanding of the person driving this narrative bus. Right now, Bruno is somewhat of a blank slate.

At the line editing level: Be careful not to develop what I call the “one-liner” tic. I counted ten one-sentence paragraphs on this page. This can be a hard habit to break. You’re trying to build up the level of suspense, and paragraph breaks can certainly punctuate the story at key moments. But you should rely on this tactic sparingly. The mounting suspense has to come from more than just strategically placed paragraph breaks.

I’d recommend revisiting this first page and thinking about the most important things your reader needs to know from the outset. I’ve been tough on this week’s sample because I want to coax it out of its YA romance boilerplate and into something that will stand out on a shelf. This author writes well, so it’s a matter of turning this into a rich, fully realized first-person story. 

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Two Writing Tips That Will Help You Draft Your Novel

Well, today is the last day of my blog tour.  Today's reviewer loved the suspense of Ashes Ashes but had a few things to say about the romance.  Want to read what she thought?  Click here

I'd really like to thank everyone who participated.  I loved meeting new friends and reading the reviews.

Last night I was getting ready to sprint and I realized there are two things that are really helping me sit down and breeze through this first draft.

First of all, like I talked about last week, I have a loose outline.  I had someone ask me what my loose outline looks like, so here's the one I used for last night's sprint.

• Bart is observing Lucy's questioning.  Brings her water.
• Confrontation with James.
• Questions from Colby
• Bart scene with Attorney/Lucy
• Bart goes to his mother's condo, Lucy's words in his ears
• His mother reveals the secret.
• He makes security arrangements for her.
• He's having a hard time processing what he's just heard and everything that happened that day.

So, that's what I went off of as I was sprinting and laying down the foundation of the chapter.  As I mentioned last week, sprinting is where I can write the first layer, then go back and add more to it later.  I usually am dialogue-heavy at first, and when I revise I add in more description, body language, and setting.

Second, I did have a little personal revelation last night.  Last week, I talked about knowing where the chapter is going before you start drafting, but one thing I noticed that is really helping me with my chapter goals is to ask myself why?  Why is the character doing/acting/thinking this way?  Why does he view the world this way?  Why is this event important?  It's sort of like a little mental checklist of character motivation, and making sure each event is relevant and important in moving the story forward and carrying me to the end.  It made me write little notes in the corner to make sure I'm meeting my character goals and answering those 'why' questions for my readers---which will add to my word count and has already given me ideas for future chapters.  Win/win!

Both of these tips are helping me get through my first draft in record time.  What helps you draft?

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We're Sprinting Come Join the Fun!

Okay, people, you know the drill.  Come back in fifteen minutes and check in with your word count.

Ready, set, GO!!

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Word Count Wednesday

Well, the blog tour ends tomorrow and it has been a great ride.  If you still want to enter the drawing for a $25 Amazon gift card, you can do that here

I got one review today from Love.Pray.Read and they said it was a fast-paced and engaging story. You can read the whole review here There's also a spot to enter the drawing for the Amazon gift card there, too.

So, on to word counts.  I did great this week and got 4789 words.  I added two and a half chapters and I am feeling gooooood about this book.  How did you do?

I will be sprinting tonight at 8 p.m. as usual.  I hope you can join me!  Just look for the sprint post so you can check in with us.  See you there!

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Book Review: Lifestyles of the Great and Spacious

Well, if you are as dedicated as Debra and are following my blog tour, I got two more reviews today for Ashes Ashes.

The first one was from Hershey Wishes and Kisses (isn't that a great name?) and they said that it was "filled with intense suspense, a heart-pounding plot, and great characters."  Yay!  You can read the whole review here

The second one was from Min Reads and she said it was a fast-paced thriller.  She was also happy to get an update on Rafe and Claire.  I'm glad because I really loved Rafe and Claire, too.  You can see her whole review here

And if you are interested in knowing my top ten TV shows, you can read that list here

Today I'd like to tell you about a little book by John Bytheway.  It's called Lifestyles of the Great and Spacious and while it is a small book, it is full of great concepts and things to ponder.  He goes over the thirty-two verses of Lehi's Dream in the Book of Mormon, offering insights into the metaphor and how it applies in our lives today.

At first I was thinking I would breeze through this small little book, but the more I read, the slower I went because there was a lot to think about. Bytheway presents things in a way I've never really thought of before, even though I've read that passage many times.  I enjoyed the real-life application and the way he offered his insights and observations in a very conversational tone.  I liked that there were humorous moments and serious discussion, much like Bytheway's firesides---fun and serious at the same time.  I think I will definitely read this one more than once just to really let it all sink in.  I thought it was really well done and I felt inspired.

Here is the back copy:

With every passing day, the unforgettable imagery in Lehi’s dream becomes more real and more relevant. In our modern world, we can literally hear the taunts and see the pointing fingers of people like those in the great and spacious building. We find ourselves clinging with greater energy to the rod of iron as we work through the massive mists of darkness toward the tree of life. In Lifestyles of the Great and Spacious, John Bytheway looks at Lehi’s dream, and with his characteristic humor, comments from Church leaders, scholarly insights, and personal experiences, he expands our understanding of these precious verses of scripture.

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My Character's First Interview! (And a Recipe)

The hero of my book, Ashes Ashes, had his first interview today!  Detective Colby Black tells what kind of music he likes, what book he's reading now, and how he unwinds.  Not to be missed!  You can read it here

I also had a new book review at Literary Time Out.  They said they liked my quirky characters!  You can read the entire review here

And lastly, I tell the story of how that kitchen fire in Ashes Ashes is based on a true event (a little embarrassing!) and give my Bellon Family Torte recipe away.  You won't want to miss this one.  You can read it here

I know I usually do a book review on Mondays, but I'm part of a John Bytheway blog tour, so I'll be posting my book review tomorrow.

See you then!

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How I Play/Draw "Badminton With Kids"

Just for fun, I drew pictures of how I play my favorite summer "Mommy" sport, Badminton with Kids.  It's posted over at Reading in Twilight blog today.  So click here and then scroll down.  (Disclaimer: I am definitely not an artist.  Haha!)

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First Page Friday & More Reviews!

Today I have a guest post over at Spellbindings, where I talk about how I can realistically write about snipers and law enforcement.  You can read it here

I also received two new reviews.  The first one from Why Not? Because I Said So, said the reviewer actually took her iPad to the theater so she could read a bit more of my book before the lights went out.  I loved that!  You can read what she thought of Ashes Ashes here

And this was my favorite line from the second review I got today at Sarah Aisling's blog:  "Bellon’s writing is intriguing and descriptive, and she keeps the plot moving at a rapid-fire pace with no wasted words or unnecessary scenes to bog down the story."  I definitely want to put that one in my keeper file.  You can see the whole review here.

I am really loving this blog tour.  And if you didn't know, you can enter to win a $25 Amazon gift card at any of the blog stops.  Yay!

All right, on to First Page Friday.  This one was fun because of what Ms. Shreditor thought of it.  As always, thank you to both our author and our editor for all their hard work.

See you next week!

The Entry
Relative Evil
by Jaycie Allen

It stood motionless, less than ten feet away from Ryan. The sallow, blotchy skin barely hung on its bones. The not-quite-human’s lips were gone, eaten away by the fleas that had given it the virus. Now, only broken teeth, dripping with blood, glistened in the hot sunlight, and forced an aberrant smile onto its face, like a gruesome Halloween Jack-o-lantern. The tiny bugs still feasted on what was left of its healthy membrane.


It stared at him through clouded blue eyes; the whites tainted jaundice yellow with disease. Ryan wanted to run away from it. He knew he had time, but watching it kept him riveted to where he thought was his hiding place behind a forgotten industrial garbage bin. He shivered as gooseflesh coursed over his sweaty skin. This one appeared cognitive, unlike some of the other altered creatures. When it lifted its boney left hand, something caught the sun, refracting the light into minuscule rainbows onto the broken window by its fetid arm. A diamond. Her wedding ring—their wedding ring.  

“Oh! Yuck! No, no, no! This is so stupid,” I said out loud, and I began tapping the delete key with more force than necessary to get rid of the last two disgusting paragraphs I’d just written. I glanced at Paddles, my fifteen-year-old polydactyl cat, who trilled at the noise my excessive pounding produced. “Why can’t I just be happy writing romance?” I asked him. He didn’t answer me in words, of course. But I interpreted his ears rotating backwards and half-closed his eyes as his way of saying, “You should be happy, Claire.”

Switching hands, I continued hitting the delete button, maybe not with as much enthusiasm. “At least I’ve published two in that genre. My editor probably won’t take a second look at this drivel.” I looked back at Paddles. “Would she?” I sighed. “What was I thinking? Moonwriting Publishing doesn’t even accept science fiction.”

Ms. Shreditor's Comments

Okay, I fell for it. Before I started reading, I took a cursory glance at this first page and noticed that the first half was italicized. I flexed my fingers, ready to take the text to task for mashing up a prologue and the actual beginning of the story—and a multitude of other sins, which we’ll get to in a minute. And then the italics stopped, and the evil genius of the first two paragraphs began to sink in. It was supposed to be over the top. Some of the errors in execution that activated my editorial radar might have been deliberate.

I’m going to break this week’s critique up into two sections: Ryan and Claire. Think of them as Goofus and Gallant, if you will. (If you aren’t familiar with these crazy fictional kids, you can find tons of their old comic strips from Highlights magazine on Google Images. To boil it down: Goofus bad, Gallant good.)

Ryan

In all honesty, I wasn’t really going to eviscerate Ryan’s story. It’s flawed enough to give Claire agita, but I’ve read far, far worse. So what exactly does the first part of the sample get wrong? For starters, there’s some serious excess here. We have broken teeth dripping with blood, bugs feasting on membranes, and jaundiced eyeballs. It’s funny that Claire later classifies her piece as science fiction, because it reads more like campy horror to me. There are a lot of horror clichés herein. (However, bonus points to the author for spelling “minuscule” correctly. If I had a dollar for every time I had to fix the spelling of that word, I could afford a wheel of cheddar cheese that’s been aged more than six months.)

A few technical hiccups stood out to me in Ryan’s story that I suspect weren't intentional. For instance, we have “the whites tainted jaundice yellow with disease.” The syntax is a bit murky here. “Claire” could simplify this by saying “the whites jaundiced with disease.” You’ll also want to ditch the preceding semicolon and replace it with a comma. (Semicolons separate two independent clauses; we have an independent and dependent clause here.)

Claire

So what does Claire’s section of the sample get right? For starters, it’s funny. Claire has a distinctive voice. She’s self-deprecating and aware of her own flaws. Her feline sidekick, Paddles, provides comic relief in an already funny scene. There’s also something very “meta” about her commentary on book publishing. It speaks to the difficulty of the writing and submission process.

The First Page about First Page Friday

I have a feeling that the structure of this first page will garner mixed reviews. Ryan’s story sets up a pretty good fake-out. Someone reading this blind (as I did) wouldn’t know right off the bat that his story is somewhat of a farce and might deem it a cheap trick. I personally like it because of its aforementioned “meta” nature. This entire first page is like a satirical salute to the literary angst that powers First Page Friday every week—from the challenges of the writing process to the self-doubt to the agony over submission guidelines. These things are very real, and the author illustrates them in creative fashion here. Well done.

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Blog Tour & My Writing Sprint Secrets

So, if you are following my book's blog tour, you know I got two great reviews today.

First, Ronda gave me four stars and said "It's exciting, full of twists, and keeps you guessing the whole way." Loved that!  You can read her entire review here.

Second, I think this is the review I will print off and display next to my desk for when I get discouraged about writing.  Shauna said, among other things, "If Julie Bellon wrote the book you KNOW it will be GOOD!"  There were many things I liked about her review, but I think that line made my whole day.  You can read all of her review here.

So, today I saw this little gem. "Do not be afraid of going slowly; be afraid only of standing still." Chinese Proverb

Doesn't that describe the writing process sometimes?  Especially when we're sitting there staring at the cursor hoping that the words will come?  And then we're disappointed if we only get 400 new words or something?

I had one of my sprint friends ask me how I got so many words in just one hour.  Today, I thought I'd share my process/secrets with you.

First of all, I don't edit when I'm sprinting.  I just get the words out and type like a bat out of Hades.  Editing will come later.  I'm getting the skeleton of this draft down and the fleshing out is another step entirely.

Second, before I start editing I write down a loose outline of where the chapters are going.  I usually get about two chapters done per sprint, so I like to have some direction.  It helps my word count, too, because since I know where the scene/chapter is going, it makes the ideas come faster.

Third, I set aside the sprint hour so my kids know not to interrupt and to find the person in charge while I'm sprinting. Sometimes they are so fascinated by my lightning-speed typing they sit and watch.  Haha.

Fourth, I like to do the sprints on the blog so I have other people to sprint with and celebrate with and be accountable to. That's why Wednesdays are so important to me.  It motivates me to get things going whether I feel like it or not.  People are waiting for me and that's very powerful.

And the best part about sprinting is that when that hour is up, no matter how many words you wrote, it was more than you had the hour before.  Reason for celebration in my book!  (See what I did there?)

So, there you have it.  What's your sprinting process?

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We're Sprinting in ONE MINUTE!

So, here's the deal---write your fanny off for fifteen minutes, then come back here and tell me your word count in the comments section.  Then we'll check back at 8:30, 8:45 and finish up at 9:00.

Come play! It's fun and motivating.  :)

Ready, set, GO!

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Word Count Wednesday & My Blog Tour!

Well, I am FULL of good news today.

First of all, I wrote 3426 words.  It's not a huge amount, but the impact those words made on the story is immense.  So YAY!  I am also going to do another writing sprint tonight at 8 p.m. MST so if you can come, please do!  I love sprints because it is so motivating.  Thanks to everyone who comes to those.

How did you do on your word count this week?

Second in the good news department, I got another review today from Katie's Clean Book Collection.  She loved Colby and I'm glad because I loved him, too.  If you want to read what else she said, go here.

And because of my blog tour, I'm counting this as lots of good news today because that makes for a good Julie day.  :)

If you want to see all the stops on my blog tour, (I'm excited!) here is the schedule:

July 10th

I Am A Reader, Not A Writer – Interview

Mary’s Cup of Tea – Spotlight

Katie’s Clean Book Collection - Review

July 11th

readalot – Review

I Love to Read and Review Books  – Review

StoryBook Reviews – Spotlight

Writer Mike – Spotlight

July 12th

Spellbindings – Guest Post

Sarah Aisling – Review

Why Not? Because I Said So! – Review

Deal Sharing Aunt – Spotlight

July 13th

I Read, Ergo I Write – Tens List

Reading in Twilight – Spotlight

July 14th

Every Free Chance Book Reviews- Spotlight

Mythical Books – Spotlight

July 15th

Literary Time Out – Review

My Crafty Zoo – Guest Post

Sweeping Me – Spotlight

Laurie’s Thoughts and Reviews – Character Interview

July 16th

LDS & Lovin’ It – Review

Bookly Books – Spotlight

Hershey Wishes and Kisses – Review & Guest Post

My Devotional Thoughts – Tens List

July 17th

Min Reads and Reviews – Review

A Casual Reader’s Blog – Spotlight

Love. Read. Pray. – Review

July 18th

From the Bootheel Cotton Patch – Spotlight

A Blog Hop Place for Books – Spotlight

Brooklyn Berry Designs – Review

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Do You Keep a Journal?

I love keeping a journal.  It's such a part of me, it helps me sort out feelings and life in general, and keeps me writing every day even if it's not on my book.

For me, I write down everything.  My mistakes, my less than perfect feelings, the good, the bad, and the ugly.  I mostly write my journal for me, but I have let my kids read the things I wrote down when I was a teenager, newlywed and new mom because it's fun for me to reminisce and for them to see what kind of a person I was and what was important to me back then.  (All right, all right, it's a little embarrassing sometimes, but oh well.)

One of the best things about having kept a journal since I was twelve is that I can really go back and see the growth in myself.  I see what I was insecure about then, how I worked through different events in my life, my impressions of my husband when I first met him, (he was cute!) and all the ups and downs of becoming a parent.  It's eye-opening for my kids to read about the long sleepless nights when they had colic and we walked them up and down the hall for hours until we finally figured out that running the vacuum calmed them down.  Or all the fun things we did when we were a young couple and first falling in love.  I love remembering all that, and I know I wouldn't have recalled the details if I hadn't kept a journal.

A journal to me is a chronicle of my life, a remembrance of what I did while on this earth, and a record for my kids of me and my true self.  I love taking a few moments at the end of the day to think through what I did and write down my thoughts and feelings.  It doesn't take long and it's had lasting rewards for me as a person.

Do you keep a journal? Why or why not?

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