Review: Raptor 6

One of my all-time favorite authors has another series and another layer to her expertise.

Captain Dean Watters has been the operations leader for several missions during the Breed Apart series. Now we get his story in this, the first book of The Quiet Professionals series.

New Review up at Suspense Sisters!

I’m so excited to be a reviewer for Suspense Sisters. Today’s book is Raptor 6 by Ronie Kendig. I haven’t read all of her previous books, but I have experience with many of them. This one has a totally different feel.

Reader Rejectables: Episodes

Some of my favorite books are parts of series. I have indulged in posting covers here.

Lynette Eason’s Deadly Reunions

Review: Talon by Ronie Kendig

I’ve been evaluating things in books that I don’t like, so allow me to share a book I LOVED! Talon, by award winning novelist, Ronie Kendig is the middle book in her series about Military Working Dogs. But unlike some middle episodes in series (ahem*Star Wars*cough) this story grips the reader at the beginning and holds a powerful ending.

Top 20 To-Read in Christian Fiction for 2014

I’m so excited about my list of to-reads this year. My first “writing” year, I concentrated on debut authors, enjoying their excitement – living vicariously. Last year, I tried to read books by friends and connections through the various conferences I visited. This year, I’m focusing on authors that I’ve already liked. I’m honing in on my own voice and style, so relishing potential new favorites will give me the opportunity to analyze why I like the books as I read them. I hope that I can not only encourage these wonderful novelists, but get more than enjoyment from the time I spend with their books.

Review: Beowulf by Ronie Kendig

Book #3 of A Breed Apart series

I have come to count on Ronie Kendig for intense action, fierce romance, realistic characters, and honor to our military through her novels. But Beowulf took my expectations to a new level.

Content Matters – Three Ways to Hone Your Blog

When I started blogging, I got the idea that my blog consisted of an online journal. Whatever stimulated my imagination went onto the web. Yikes! And that’s how I feel when I look back at some of my posts from last year at this time.

Meanwhile, all of the social media articles I read clamored that I should have a focus to my blog. A platform. It took awhile for me to get the point. My blog needs to be an extension on my writing in such a way that the people who read my blog might also be interested in my books.

Not so hard for non-fiction writers since their main topics would obviously make up the perfect environment for their blogs. Anyone interested in the articles they write would easily be interested in their books. But I write fiction.

Being a novelist makes the exercise tricky. Some folks have a settled focus, like Ronie Kendig and her Discarded Heroes series about military suspense. With military being the main setting of her novels, it makes a great base for her blog. (No pun intended!)

Keli Gwyn‘s blog is another good example. Her romance novels exist in the Victorian age so her blog also details articles about romance and about the historical era she loves.

It’s quite a challenge to compile a platform. But there are some steps you can take to discover your own unique place on the World Wide Web.

1. Connect with your books.

Now I’m currently unpublished, but I still have two books completed. A third book planned and a supporting short story that goes along with the others. I may not have anything to sell right now, but blogging before publishing builds a base of folks who might be interested in my fiction when my books do hit print.

The more people who enjoy your online writing, the more chances for your books to sell.

So how can you hook your books to your blog? Do you write about children or animals? Do the main characters have a unique occupation? Do they come from an interesting place? Maybe their hobbies can stimulate your content? Anything that can connect your story to your articles is a major plus.

2. Know your audience

In order to provide information that will meet the folks you want to meet, you need to do your homework. Start out by discovering the genre in which you normally write. Not all writing fits in perfect little boxes, but you can tell the difference between historical and steam punk, right? Get close to the appropriate genre and then do some research. What type of people normally like that genre?

This is important because you don’t want to write blog content that will be wasted on folks who couldn’t care less about your book. Just because you might like dirt biking or mountain climbing doesn’t mean that the majority of people who read cozy mysteries will like the same thing. Get the picture?

Your facts don’t have to be scientific surveys. You can look through pics of Facebook folks who like your genre, or search the category on a Twitter hashtag. Get a feel for it beyond yourself. What ages, races, genders will go for your book? And what types of things would those ages, races, genders like to read about?

3. Unless you’re an expert, don’t only write for other writers.

This is a hard lesson for me. I call myself a jack of all trades, master of none. I know a little bit about a lot of things, but it’s easy to write about writing, because that’s what I’m doing right now. And in truth, MANY writers devote their entire blog to the journey of publishing —- and successfully! But for me, settling into that easier comfort zone limits my audience. Besides, the authors writing about the world of publishing know a heck of a lot more about it than I do.

So I have to pursue other things that future readers of my Christian Romantic Suspense stories will like.

Armed with my knowledge that I’m smack-dab in the middle of the age group for romance readers, I can look to myself and my friends for things that they are interested in. Some things that come to mind: Homeschooling, craft fairs, church activities, kid activities, art, history, travel, event-planning, interior decorating, weddings, grandchildren.

None of those topics have much to do with my books, but these gals (for the most part) read my genre. I need to delve into things that are interesting to them. (Thankfully they are also interesting to me!)

My stories don’t really have a great hook like a historical premise or a specific population of folks. Set in a fictional small town in Texas, their location also doesn’t draw curiosity or a wealth of topics. So I’ll focus on the fact that they are first – Christian. Thursdays is my posting day for inspiration and devotion.

Tuesdays I’ll hit one of the topics that interest Christian romantic suspense readers. Shouldn’t be too hard since I’m a homeschooling, event-planning, craft fair goer, and scrap-booker with kids nearing the wedding stages of their lives.

That leaves my Wednesdays open for offering helpful information to other writers. As I’m learning, I’d like to share to make someone else’s road easier.

Your turn: Help other writers get a feel for this! What is your favorite genre, your age, and your primary hobby? And while you’re at it, what types of blog posts do you most like to read?

Choosing Characters

I love plotting. And I can see a murder scene almost anywhere I go. I know, gruesome! My Precious Redhead and I make a game of it. Should have heard our conversation as we waited in a fast food line next to a car wash. After sunset, the flashing blue lights inside the glassed-in building looked more like a house of horror than a car wash.

But I digress.

My biggest challenge, and my critique partners will back me up on this, is developing deep characters. But I’ve heard some excellent advice on this.

First, from Susan May Warren, I learned to ask my characters what their greatest fear is. Actually, it never occurred to me to actually ask them until I read Shame and Redemption by Bethany Quinn (a character created by Katie Ganshert).

But I have to describe the depth of my greenness. So I jotted down the greatest fears of my characters, and stopped. The thought never occurred to me that I should actually take my characters through their greatest fear. No. I can’t do that to them!

At a DFW Ready Writer meeting (a chapter of ACFW in Dallas/Ft. Worth) Ronie Kendig argued my point. By all means take your characters to those dark places. I got the feeling that unless things hurt, I didn’t go deep enough.

I’m also inspired by some of the terrific stories I’ve read from all three of these authors and the way their characters have unique personalities with things that I like about them and things that I don’t like. (See Reviews on My Foolish Heart, Wildflowers from Winter, and Firethorn)

So I’ve got a place to start with my character development. Only a starting place, though.

What tricks to do you have for peopling your stories? How do you make them all distinct?