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Funny sweet, and quirky, Vicki Batman’s stories are full of her hallmark humor, romance, and will delight all readers. She has sold many award-winning and bestselling romantic comedy works to magazines and most recently, three humorous romantic mysteries. An avid Jazzerciser. Handbag lover. Mahjong player. Yoga practitioner. Movie fan. Book devourer. Cat fancier. Best Mom ever. And adores Handsome Hubby. 2021 Character Interview Beverley: What’s your name? Harriette: (Hattie) Lee Cooks. Harriette is my grandmother’s name and rather old-fashioned; so, I like Hattie. Hattie says sassy and fun. Beverley:Where did you grow up? Harriette:In Sommerville. It’s located between two metroplexes. Lots of small-town amenities with access to the nearby big cities. Beverley:During what time period does your story take place? Harriette:Present time Beverley: What’s your story/back story? Why would someone come up with a story about you? Harriette:I had the best job evah right out of college working for Tucker’s Department Store. I started managing different departments in their stores, then moved to opening new stores, and finally landed my dream job up the corporate ladder as an assistant buyer in men’s sportswear. After a couple of years paying those dues, I thought I was being promoted to handbag buyer (Did I say how much I adore handbags???!!!) when I was laid off due to corporate cut-backs in an economic downturn. Out of a job, lots of bills to pay, especially the one for my cool ride, a brand-spanking-new white Jeep Wrangler. Buying jobs weren’t coming...
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Crutch Words Writers often use crutch words in their writing. Words they think add to the story or words that have becomes a habit. Or maybe they’re filler words to increase the total word count in their novel. In writing sometimes, they can be words or phrases the writer has used for a particular reason or for a particular novel. Then they end up overusing them. Crutch words can actually make your writing weaker, not strengthen it. To tighten a story and keep a better flow, writers need to edit out those crutch words. You can use the edit on Word. Programs like Grammarly and Autocrit can help you catch these words when you edit. Not all crutch words need to be eliminated. Search your writing, find the crutch word. Then see how many times you use it. Look at the sentence. Is it needed? If it’s in dialogue it might be appropriate. People do use crutch words in their dialogue. Does it improve the sentence? If it’s eliminated does it read better or worse? If it doesn’t add anything or there’s a purpose to using it, then delete it. Probably delete most of that word. Then move on to the next crutch word. Here are some of the more common crutch words. Often, they end in “ly”. Actually Honestly, Obviously, Like, Basically, Literally, S, Well, Look,...
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It’s time for a monthly group blog. Thanks, Rhobin for pulling this together every month. This one looks like a fun one. Where do you get your ideas for stories? It’s also a little difficult. I write romantic suspense and ideas come from all over. I may hear about a mystery or crime. Or a character comes to me with a history. For example, cloning was big at one time and there was a lot of discussion on allowing it pro and against. That got me thinking about possibilities and I did some research and By Design became a book. I attended a conference in Reno, and we visited the Sheriff’s department. One of the female officers worked the Cyber Crimes Against Children Unit in internet chat rooms. She tracked down and caught pedophiles trying to lure young people into sexual situations. Don’t Go became a book. I was at another conference. This one was held in the Empress Hotel in Victoria, BC. There’s a balcony overlooking the grand lobby and registration area. I was looking down on it and I imagined a cowboy, with spurs, striding across the marble floor in the lobby. A total contrast. He became the hero, and I wrote the book Hunted. It was the first in the series and the next books build on it. After visiting New Orleans, and seeing a ghost (but that's another story), I decided It was a perfect spot for a murder and a mystery with a touch of...
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Brenda Whiteside is the author of suspenseful, action-adventure stories with a touch of romance. Mostly. She and her husband are gypsies at heart having lived in six states and two countries. For now they’ve settled in Central Arizona, but won’t discount the possibility of another move in their future. They share their home with a rescue dog named Amigo. While FDW is fishing, Brenda writes. 2020 Character Interview Beverley: What’s your name? Magpie: Magpie Muse MacKenzie Beverley: Where did you grow up? Magpie: I was born and raised in Joshua, Arizona, a mining town of the late 1880s and early 1900s. When mining died, Joshua turned into a ghost town then a hippie haven, and now a tourist town hanging on the side of Spirit Mountain. Beverley: During what time period does your story take place? Magpie: The story takes place in modern day Joshua, but there is a 1960s story within the story that helps to solve the mystery. Beverley: What’s your story/back story? Why would someone come up with a story about you? Magpie: My parents came to Joshua with the first wave of hippie and artist settlers. My mother was well-known for her mystic talents. She died when I was twelve. My father mourned deeply, wallowing in alcohol. When I was fifteen, his relationship with a woman ended with her murder. My seventeen-year-old boyfriend disappeared the same day. No one was ever charged. A doppelganger for my missing boyfriend walks into my mercantile the same...
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I had two guest bloggers scheduled this week. Unfortunately, they both bailed on me. So… I thought I’d talk about Marketing. Marketing is not my strong point. And not only that, if I blog and post to loops, I find it interferes with my writing. My marketing includes my blog and my website, and I send out a newsletter four times a year. I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Triberr, Pinterest and Instagram. I haven’t figured out how to use Instagram so I don’t use it. I retweet other authors. I do guest blogs, and group blogs, on other blog sites. I join NN Light and other writing promos and contests. They all take time. I do Amazon ads but I should be spending more time looking for categories. I also put my last book in Kindle Select. I try to write reviews when I read a book, but I find that also takes time away from my writing. I’m not sure any of it makes a significant difference. It takes a fair amount of time and that time comes from my writing. It takes me longer to write a book. After working on marketing when I switch to writing my muse says sorry, not today. I may write one hundred words or so, but it doesn’t flow. If I skip marketing and just write I do much better. And even with Covid I have a bit of a life, walking my dog at least twice a day, grocery shopping, cooking meals,...
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Hello, I’m Shari. By day, I crawl out of bed, mainline coffee, walk the dog, get my kid to class, and save cities within the four walls of my office. Usually by email. At night, the other Shari emerges. With a glass of wine by side, I curl up on the couch with my computer nestled in my lap and let my imagination play until stories take shape. I also periodically check on my teen-ager, hiding out in the bedroom. Once I’ve reassured myself she’s not plotting world domination, I pull out my alter ego, who definitely is. As my alter ego, I save cities in a cape and spangled tights, wander space and time on a surfboard, fly over the Himalayas on feathered wings, make six-toed footprints in indigo talc snow on the sixth planet in the Andromeda galaxy or eavesdrop on Olympian gods while pretending to whip up a bowl of ambrosia. In all these wondrous worlds, romance and passion blossom. I can't resist a happy ending. And I am particularly prone to writing happy endings for those who have given up on ever getting one. Character Interview Beverley: What’s your name? Marisol: My name Marisol Martinez. Beverley: Where did you grow up? Marisol: I grew up on the planet Nordika, one of the first planets colonized by Terrans after the great environmental devastation that destroyed most of Earth. Nordika follows an elliptical orbit so its winters are particularly long and cold. We have a tundra-like terrain with...
