Living the Dream

Welcome to April! Mother Nature is being a touch kinder to us, but anything weather-wise is possible at this time of year. While I long for warmer sunny days, I’m grateful for anything that isn’t snow and freezing temperatures now.

This month’s question is a quick one for me. April 6 question – Have any of your books been made into audio books? If so, what is the main challenge in producing an audiobook?

The answer is simple. One of my books is supposed to have been put into audio format by the publisher, but if it has been, I’ve yet to be informed of its publication.

As far as putting other books of mine into audio format, the answer is no. The reason is simple. It’s too expensive and there is no guarantee that any of the costs will be recovered.

have a nice month. Looking forward to a better May.

Check out the other answers here: https://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/p/iwsg-sign-up.html

We have another sunny day today, not a warm one, but things look promising later. April is the month of surprises here in Eastern Ontario. The snow melts revealing all the rubbish tossed out and buried during the winter months as well as grass damaged by moles etc. It’s one of the ugliest months of the starts out as one of the ugliest months of the year, but by the end, flowers start to bloom, the trees bud, and the promise of spring is fulfilled–but we are a long way from there yet still wearing winter coats around here.

Today’s letter is the letter E for editing. Every writer knows that editing is a lengthy process that involves preparing a manuscript for publication by checking its mechanics such as grammar, spelling, and word choices, as well as its flow, and its adherence to the rules of skillful writing as they apply to point of view, characterization, and plot. The editing process involves correction, condensation, organisation, and other modifications necessary to produce a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete piece of work.

Ask any writing guru, and they will tell you that editing should begin only after the first draft is written in its entirety, following your outline, if you use one, or writing whatever pops into your mind if you’re a pantser, like me. Try as I might, I can’t do it. I edit my work as I write it. If I had to describe my personal writing style, I could compare myself to a brick layer. I place the first brick, then the second, then the third and so on until the first row is complete–or in my case the page. Then, like that mason, I go back and check that each brick is straight, undamaged, or otherwise marred. If he’s satisfied, he adds mortar to the top and moves on, just as I do, knowing he may have to go back again before he’s ready to add more layers. Is it time consuming? Yes, but for me, it’s the only way I can write.

Check out the other blogs here. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nuoAOJ-BUAXE1Yl2yIArhUHInj902PHVX6_gL4oKiSo/edit#gid=1195767304

Welcome to a sunny Tuesday morning. It’s so good to be able to see the sun and feel the warmth on your face. So many are deprived of the pleasure, and while I may complain and moan and groan in the morning, I’m still on the right side of the grass.

Today’s letter is D and I’ve chosen to talk about dramatic irony. Dramatic Irony is found essentially when the audience of a movie, play, etc. or the reader of a book understands something about a character’s actions, motives, or an event that the characters are not aware of. In my writing, dramatic irony can be found across the spectrum of my work. For example, in Royal Flush, my latest All for Love Series novel, the heroine has a secret shared with the reader, but not the hero. In Fire Angel, one of the books in my Vengeance is Mine Series, I added a third character POV, so the reader knows what motivates the crimes but not the sleuths trying to solve it.

When it comes right down to it, dramatic irony helps the reader understand what makes a particular situation more important to one character than another. In Sea Breeze, the Cocktails for You Series book I’ve just completed and that will be released in paperback later this week, there is dramatic irony in that everyone involved except the heroine knows what Uncle Seamus really wanted. How she reacts to the discovery moves the story along.

The best example of dramatic irony that I can give you comes from Just for the Weekend, another of the All for Love Series, since the entire book is based on just that. According to the blurb,

School’s out and it’s time to play with the grown-ups. Kindergarten teacher Cleo James is in a rut and needs a change. For the last three years, she’s been at her widowed dad’s beck and call, but enough is enough. When her best friend suggests a weekend in Vegas at a sci-fi convention, she sets aside some of her inhibitions, and agrees to visit Sin City. After all, it’s just for the weekend. What could possibly go wrong?

Multimillionaire Sam Mason is sick of gold diggers. He’s looking for someone who’ll fall for him, not his wallet. The opportunity to disguise himself and mingle might just be the distraction he needs before embarking on his next big job. And, what harm can come from playing make-believe for a few days? When he meets a gorgeous redhead dressed to resemble a green-skinned slave girl, he’s entranced, and it gets even better when he realizes she’s mistaken him for a Chippendale. Between the sexual attraction and too much alcohol, he wakes up two days later married to his redheaded beauty. Sam’s head over heels in love with his bride, but she’s vanished. Finding her will be a lot harder than he thinks, especially when she’s played the name game, too.

You can find this and all my other books at https://www.amazon.com/Susanne-Matthews/e/B00DJCKRP4

There you have it. D is for dramatic irony. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Please check out other bloggers here. https://tinyurl.com/AtoZ22 

Welcome to this week’s Tuesday Tales, the weekly blog where a select group of authors share their work in progress with you. This will be my last post from Sea Breeze since the book is finished and will be posted in paperback format later this week. Our word is CAREFUL.

“Before Seamus could sign the papers,” Sean continued, “he worsened and had to be too heavily sedated to legally sign anything … He’d hoped to stop the pain medication long enough to be able to, but he worsened and died. Before he did, he made me promise to bring this matter to your attention. You’re under no legal obligation to offer Cal the same deal.”

“Is Cal still interested in investing in the resort?” I asked, my heart landing square in my stomach. Was he being nice to me only to secure this investment?

Sean nodded. “He is. We discussed it just before I sent you the notification of inheritance. In fact, if you’d decided you didn’t want the resort and wanted to sell it, he would’ve made you an offer for it.”

“Where would he have gotten the money? You said the resort is worth twenty million dollars.”

“Cal has some money, including the hundred thousand currently in an escrow account, the boat, the tour company, the building, and the potential income he gets from his paintings. He spoke to the rest of us, and we were all willing to put up whatever we could for collateral to help him secure the mortgage.” He shrugged. “The bank manager had agreed to advance him the money since keeping the Sea Breeze in local hands means a great deal to everyone. But now that you aren’t going to sell, it’s a moot point. You should know that Cal has already invested a significant amount of time and his own money in the kitchen renovations, but as I said, you’re under no obligation to honor what your uncle wanted. What’s in the will is all that matters. A contract that was never signed is worth less than the paper it’s printed on, but I had a moral obligation to your uncle to at least mention this to you.”

“I see. Does Cal know about the insurance policy and the bank account?”

Sean shook his head. “To my knowledge, no. He might assume a careful man like Seamus would’ve had life insurance … but Seamus was closemouthed about his personal life and finances.” He reached for a box beside his desk. “This contains all the condolences we received from former regulars at the resort. When you reopen, you’ll have no problem filling the place.” He placed the box beside me. “What do you want to do about Cal?”

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales

Happy Monday! When I was working, I dreaded Mondays, not because i didn’t want to work, but because the students tended to be sleepier and less alert Monday mornings, especially the older ones. Now that I’m retired, there isn’t a great deal of difference on any day of the week.

Today, our letter is C. Today the letter stands for the word characterization which, for my purpose, means the creation or construction of a fictional character. The way this is achieved is best explained using the acronym, PAIRS: physical description, action, inner thoughts, reactions, and speech.

Let’s start with physical description. Some authors find online images of a person who best describes the character they have in mind. I don’t usually do that, but when I’m writing a contemporary romance where the hero and heroine or heroine alone with be featured on the cover, it helps. For example, let’s look at the cover of one of my contemporary romantic comedies, Make Mine a Manhattan, a book in my Cocktails for You series.

Here’s the blurb:

What’s an author to do when, thanks to writer’s block, she’s hopelessly stuck?

With only eight weeks left to finish her newest novel, bestselling author Sydney Sanders, aka Robin Langford, is stumped. On impulse, the thirty-three-year-old introvert decides to take her agent’s advice and shift gears, but instead of going on a short vacation, she decides on hands-on research. Immersing herself in her story and assuming her heroine’s identity, she heads to Manhattan to live out the plot. What could possibly go wrong?
As Savanna Long, she boards the train, expecting a quiet ride and time to refresh her muse for the chore ahead. But a lot can happen during the thirty-eight-hour trip, especially with her imagination and the drop-dead gorgeous passenger in the next car.

My Robin was a shy woman with a secret. I didn’t want to make her drop-dead gorgeous, but I needed to transform her from the way she saw herself into the heroine she wanted to emulate. So, the first step on her journey is a makeover–we all know how much fun those can be.

The second letter in PAIRS stands for action. The character must do something that creates the circumstances of the story. In this case, Robin decides to go to New York City as her fictional character to see if she can unblock her muse with hands-on experience.

The I in PAIRS stands for inner thoughts. What’s she thinking? How does what she’s thinking reveal her character? Is she confident? Is she worried? Is she convinced she’s going to fail? All these aspects together slowly build the character. Robin is an introvert. How do her inner thoughts get her to act like a risktaker rather than the shy, reserved person she is?

The R in PAIRS stands for reactions. In science we learned Newton’s third law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.  When building character, the author has to add how the character will react in a particular situation. For example, in the story Robin bumps into a stranger in a coffee shop, dumping her ice capp all over him, most of it landing on his abdomen and lower and the chest of her shirt. How does she react? Because her reactions can and will set a vital aspect of the story in motion.

The last letter in PAIRS is speech. It’s more than what a character says, it’s how they say it. For example, a highly educated author isn’t going to say, “ya wanna eat?” She’ll enunciate and use her grammar properly. “Would you like to get something to eat?” Sometimes, tossing in foreign words is necessary to make a character more realistic, too, especially if that aspect of the character is what makes him or her different.

There you have it. C is for Characterization. I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Please check out other bloggers here. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1nuoAOJ-BUAXE1Yl2yIArhUHInj902PHVX6_gL4oKiSo/edit#gid=1195767304

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Welcome to this year’s A to Z challenge. I will be posting on various aspects of my writing, and I’m a day late starting–not the most auspicious way to begin the challenge. Unfortunately, life catches up with all of us.

If you’ve read any of my books, you’ll know that I thrive on description. Most editors will tell you to avoid using figurative language–just the facts, ma’am-but I thrive on it. Why? Because it is part and parcel of my daily speech. It’s what makes me, me. Even now, the online editor is telling me to change ‘part and parcel’ to ‘part,’ but to me that takes away from what I want to say.

So, let’s get going, shall we?

Today’s letter is A for adage. An adage is a proverb or short statement that expresses a general truth. In this case, today’s adage is a day late and a dollar short. When a person is a day late and a dollar short, he or she hasn’t only missed a chance to do something because they were late or remiss, they’ve also failed to put the necessary effort into it.

I fully intended to start my posts yesterday, but time wasn’t on my side. I got caught up in personal stuff and missed the opportunity. In my stories, it sometimes happens that one of my characters will do the same. Have you ever been a day late and a dollar short?

A second thing that is part and parcel (there it is again) of my writing is the use of a beta reader. A beta reader is a person who reads a manuscript either during its creation or after and does so with a critical eye, looking for plot holes, examining grammar, spelling, characterization, and suggesting improvements to the story before it’s published. In at least one case, a beta reader was instrumental in changing the starting point of a story. In another, she pointed out that words, common in Canada, might be confusing to readers from other countries. For example, every Canadian knows what a tuque, sometimes spelled toque is a warm knitted cap, traditionally made of wool and usually worn in winter. Some people claim it’s a synonym for a beanie, but it really isn’t. It’s pulled down over the ears and often has a pompom on top. Another example was the use of gator. The beta reader came from an urban area in the Southern US and the only gator she was familiar with was the one in the top picture, whereas what I meant the second one, a small, all-terrain utility vehicle produced by the John Deere Corporation. Gators typically feature a box bed, similar in function to a pickup truck, and can be used to pull small trailers loaded with goods such as a couple of bales of hay, etc. In my case, the gator was moving drugs from a boat and carrying bodies to the lake to dump them!

Beta readers can be useful in many ways!

Now, please check out other posts in the challenge. The OFFICIAL MASTER LIST: https://tinyurl.com/AtoZ22 

Wow! The last week of March is upon us. While we’ve had a few mild days, it doesn’t look as if Old Man Winter is ready to release us just yet. This week’s scene takes on an ominous note as Eva learns a bit more about herself and her early years. Our word prompt is LEAF. Enjoy.

Cal and I paged through the book, stopping to admire the various pictures of me as a newborn with a ginger fuzz for hair. There were some with my father, a couple with my mother, and several with Uncle Seamus, including one of the four of us, not unlike the framed picture Molly had given me. While both men were proud and happy, Mom looked haunted, her eyes fixed in that blank stare I knew all too well.

Here and there, Mom had added notes, in French, most of them clinical, devoid of emotion. Eva drank six ounces of formula at each of her feedings today. Others sparkled with joy. Eva smiled at me today. Ray claims it’s just gas, but I know better. Ray must’ve been Raymonde, my godmother. She was only mentioned that one time, and there were no pictures of us—no pictures from my Baptism, simply the date it had happened and who’d been there, with a notation. Michel couldn’t come. I think he’s angry with me. Ryan says I’m being ridiculous, but his brother was there—he’s always here. Why had she underlined the word always? It sounded as if she resented her brother-in-law. I would ask Aunt Lucie why she and Uncle Michel hadn’t attended.

The red-gold curls, the color of an oak leaf in autumn, replaced the orange fuzz, and the entries changed, becoming more like a diary than a book of baby milestones. The last one made me shiver. Ryan wasn’t here again tonight. He claims he needs to be at the resort. Has he replaced me? Eva could’ve died tonight. My hands were soapy. She slipped through my fingers and banged her head in the tub. I can’t do this. God knows I can’t do this. Were these early signs of the paranoia to come?

There were no more entries, no pictures even though the book had space for each of my next ten birthdays and my first day of school. Had she wanted to fill it in, she couldn’t have since she’d left it here, along with everything else that could’ve reminded her of her husband, everything except me.

I closed the book and set it on the coffee table, reaching for my beer.

“Not what you’d hoped for, was it?”

“Not really, but it’s still more than what I knew.”

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales

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Happy spring! Welcome to this week’s Tuedsay Tales. This week we have another word prompt. NAIL. I used a from of the word, FINGERNAIL. I’m continuing with Sea Breeze. Enjoy.

I followed Cal toward the front of the store, almost bumping into him when he stopped before another door. He unlocked it and turned on the light.

There were a dozen stairs disappearing into the darkness.

“The second light switch is right here,” he said, flicking it. “Feel free to come down here any time you want to. Supplies for the store and the boat are on the left. The stuff I took out of the storage on the third floor of the main house is over there. There are a few pieces of child-sized furniture that must’ve been yours. Seamus went through it all, tossed some stuff away, but what he kept are in those twelve storage bins. Unfortunately, he didn’t mark any of them, so you’ll have to open them up and look inside.”

I nodded.

“I won’t be long. Are you sure you’ll be okay? I can promise that while there may be a bug or two, there aren’t any mice.”

“Good to know.” If I saw a mouse, I would be hanging by my fingernails from the rafters when he came back to find me.

“Alexa, play my rainy-day playlist,” Cal said.

“Playing Cal’s rainy day play list,” the mechanical voice answered. The sounds of a guitar filled the room.

At my shocked face, Cal smiled. “It’s a collection of folk tunes I enjoy. If you would like to hear something different, just tell her. I won’t be long.”

With that he left, and I walked over to the pile of bins with “The Leader of the Band” playing softly in the background.

The bins were stacked two high and six across. The first one was too heavy for me to lift down, but the second one was lighter. I pulled it off the other and removed the lid. I sneezed. The bin was filled with clothes, and someone had added pepper to it to keep the bugs out. I reached inside and removed women’s clothes in a size much smaller than what I wore. These must’ve been the garments my mother left behind. Who had folded them so carefully? Halfway to the bottom, I found a child’s clothes. Mine? Most likely. Most likely, these could go to the local thrift store. At the bottom of the bin, I found a knitted baby bonnet, sweater, and booties. These I would keep. Setting them aside, I refilled the bin.

That’s it. Stay safe and don’t forget to check out the other Tuesday Tales