Fun Friday–Book Cover-Palooza!
Yesterday, those who subscribe to my newsletter got an early look at the cover for Ransome’s Quest, Book 3 of The Ransome Trilogy.
Now, as a reminder, here are the covers of Books 1 & 2:
From these covers, it’s pretty obvious in which era these books are set, right?
I have to hand it to Harvest House—they’ve been so patient with me this autumn and winter. They’ve initiated a new cover-art worksheet, which they sent me back in the fall to fill out to give them some direction for the cover of Ransome’s Quest. At that time, I was in the throes of trying to figure out the story of The Art of Romance which was already past deadline and I wasn’t even halfway finished. And then, as we all know, this happened:
Which has been followed by a temporary move to Arkansas, surgery, recovery, healing, doctor visits, holidays, trying to finish The Art of Romance, freelance editing, bills, more doctor visits, applying for financial assistance, more holidays, finishing The Art of Romance, more freelance editing, more bill issues, a fantastic weekend trip back to Nashville and a book signing event, even more doctor visits, edits and revisions and new scenes/chapters for The Art of Romance, and more surgery (next week).
All that to say, I never sent them the cover information they requested. And I felt horrible about it. Especially once I received this sample cover on Tuesday this week, to show me what direction they were going in:
No, this is not the final cover, keep reading!
I loved everything about it. It’s PURPLE!!! (My favorite color, in case you didn’t already know that.) I love the tropical feel with the greenery—and especially the ships in the background (who doesn’t want a ship with a pirate flag on the front cover of her novel with pirates in it???). And “Charlotte” even has short hair! But there’s just one little problem . . . even with as much as I love it, the dress is about 40 or 50 years out of date, and nothing like the clothing she wears that’s described in the book. So even with as much as I hate making extra work for people, and feeling even more guilty that I never made the time to send in that worksheet, I sent an e-mail back, asking if they could Photoshop in a new body in an era appropriate dress. I was prepared to be disappointed, to be told there was nothing I could do.
And then on Wednesday, I received an e-mail with not one, but TWO new covers to choose from, with “Charlotte” in two distinctly different, yet both era-appropriate gowns. I loved BOTH of them. I couldn’t decide. So I sent both out to a key group of writers and readers to get them to help me decide. And—wouldn’t you know it?—about five minutes after sending the e-mail, I decided which one I liked best. But I’d told Kim I would let her know the next day (Thursday). So I waited for my “focus group” to respond—and checked every five minutes to see if new e-mails had come in. (Good thing we went out for dinner that night. It would have been horrible if I’d been at the computer all night.)
By the time I got up around my normal crack of noon on Thursday, almost all the “votes” had come in. And not only were the opinions unanimous, but they all picked the one I’d decided I liked best, too.
So, now I proudly present . . .
Ransome’s Quest
Book Three of the Ransome Trilogy
ISBN-13: 978-0-7369-2755-0
Harvest House Publishers, Inc.
The pirate El Salvador has haunted the waters of the Caribbean for almost ten years. When he snatched Charlotte Ransome, it was a case of mistaken identity. Now Charlotte’s brother, whose reputation in battle is the stuff of legend, is searching for him with a dogged determination. But another rumor has reached El Salvador’s ears: Julia Ransome has been kidnapped by the man feared by all other pirates—the pirate known only as Shaw. The violent and blood-thirsty savage from whom El Salvador was trying to protect her.
When word reaches William of Julia’s disappearance, his heart is torn—he cannot abandon the search for his sister, yet he must also rescue Julia. Ned Cochrane offers a solution: Ned will continue the search for Charlotte while William goes after Julia. William’s quest will lead him to a greater understanding of faith and love as he must accept help from sworn enemy and have faith that Julia’s life is in God’s hands.
Coming August 2011
And here’s the second cover they did, which I didn’t choose, but which I liked almost as much.
Oh, and just in case you missed it last week, I also unveiled the cover of Turnabout’s Fair Play, Book 3 of the Matchmakers series.
Thursday Thought Provoker
Debunking Myths: “First Person POV is the easiest to write.”
I’m going to write my story in first person, because first-person point of view is the easiest to write.
.
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First-person POV may seem to be easier, but it’s actually just as hard to do as any other POV—sometimes harder.
When we tell someone a story about something that happened to us, we’re automatically crafting it in first person. So we should all be experts in this point of view and find it easy to write in, right? However, telling someone a five-minute-long story and writing a three hundred–page novel are two beasts entirely.
Just like a third-person viewpoint character, a first-person viewpoint character has to have something to reveal to the reader, a little at a time; have an interesting and dynamic character arc; and be able to build suspense by not revealing important information to the reader.
One of the best ways to keep a reader hooked into the story in a multiple-viewpoint book is by dropping a “bomb” or ending a chapter with a cliffhanger and then breaking away to another character’s viewpoint. In a true first person–viewpoint book (as in, there’s only one character who’s telling this story in first person), you can’t do this. Some authors have started getting around this by writing in more than one character’s first-person viewpoint—something that’s even harder to do and do well than just one first-person viewpoint.
In first person, it’s harder to keep important information from the reader until the end of the story without the reader feeling cheated.
First person does lend itself well to suspense/gothic romances—because the whole purpose of those is to keep the reader from knowing what’s going on in the heads of the characters surrounding the main character, to make the reader feel only what that one character is feeling.
One of the pitfalls of first-person POV is the tendency to “tell” too much of the story—and to reveal more to the reader than the POV character would actually know at that point in the story. This is something that can be done in Omniscient POV, but not first-person POV, unless you’re specifically writing the story with a retrospective tone—as if the character is reminiscing about this series of events long after they occurred.
It also seems that there’s a very natural inclination when writing in first-person to go on and on and on for paragraphs and pages of narrative—basically getting the character’s entire life story or thoughts about a particular matter as introspection—without any action or interaction with other characters. It’s also easier to lapse into passive language (I was going…, I had finished the meal…, I’m about to enter the building, I’ve picked up the kids…). It’s also a temptation to start every sentence, every paragraph with the same word: I.
Another pitfall to first person is when something happens “off stage” (to another character) which is important to the resolution of the story—and then someone has to tell your first-person character what happened. (Or you have to figure out some convoluted/coincidental way for your character to be there to experience it for him/herself.) Of course, then there’s always the “accidental eavesdrop” so that your first-person character hears something the reader needs to know which the main character either doesn’t need to know or shouldn’t know at that point in the story.
But probably the biggest danger/temptation with writing in first-person POV: The author hijacks the story from the character because the first-person character’s voice isn’t strong enough or well developed enough. Since first-person has been on the rise over the last decade or so, I’ve read (at least partially) a few books in which the author totally steals the narrative from the character to go off on a diatribe about a social or religious topic, to air some grievance about a past relationship, or to meander through her own metaphysical musings. Or because of writing with I’s and me’s, the author loses the character’s voice and writes only in her own. It’s much harder to hold on to a unique character voice when you’re writing in the viewpoint you use every single day in every single conversation you have. It’s also hard to keep one first-person character’s voice from sounding just like every other writer’s first-person character’s voice. So you have to make sure your first-person character is strong and unique and easily differentiated from everyone else’s characters. (Think of Jane Eyre’s voice or Stephanie Plum’s.)
Which do you prefer reading and/or writing: first or third person? Which do you find easier or more difficult?
Writer’s Window–Elizabeth Goddard
Joining us today for Writer’s Window is mystery- and romance-author Elizabeth Goddard.
One lucky commenter* will win a signed copy of The Camera Never Lies, part of the Hometown Mystery series from Barbour. Deadline for leaving a comment to enter the drawing is Friday. To enter the drawing, you must answer the question posed by Beth at the end of the interview. Only one comment per person will count toward the drawing. You do not need to include your e-mail address in the body of your comment—just make sure it’s correct when you sign in to leave your comment. Congratulations to Mary-Louise Johnson who won last week’s drawing for Annalisa Daughety’s book Love Is Grand.
- *U.S. residents only, void where prohibited. If you win the drawing, you will be ineligible for the next three drawings, though hopefully you will still come back and join in the discussion.
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The Camera Never Lies
Crash the wedding and meet photographer Polly Perkins who zooms in on a murder victim. As she studies an endless line of potential suspects from safely behind her camera, Polly finds love staring back at her. Will her uncanny ability to read emotions through a camera lens help prevent another murder—while exploring her own potential for romance?
Welcome, Beth!
What do you like best about being a writer?
- Being a writer gives me a sense of accomplishment. I’ve achieved a dream and there’s no limit to how far I can go. The best thing, though, is that I get to be creative, allowing my imagination to go where it will, and then share that with others through story.
What do you like least about being a writer?
- The long hours are tough and that makes me hate opening my computer. I also have strong negative feelings about the fact that I hardly ever capture on paper my expectations for the story.
Pop, Soda, or Coke? What do you call it, and what’s your favorite variety?
- Soda—for years, though, I think I called it coke. Diet Dr. Pepper has been my favorite for decades—I won’t drink anything else, preferring water or tea if there’s no Diet Dr. Pepper. 🙂
What’s your favorite dessert?
- Today, I choose turtle cheesecake, but it’s among many other favorites.
What’s the most fun/interesting/crazy/scary/unique hands-on research you’ve done for a book?
- To date, I’ve written from previous experiences rather than doing research for the story. I visited Crater Lake National Park—one of my favorite plates and created a fictional setting based on a real place for my novel, The Camera Never Lies. That really is one of the most beautiful places.
What’s your favorite movie from childhood?
- The Wizard of Oz. Loved it as a child and now I appreciate how many times the writer was rejected for this story before someone bought it.
If you were to write a novel about what your life would have been like if you’d become what you wanted to be at eight years old, what kind of character would the story be about?
- From a very young age well into my teens I wanted to be an astronaut. My story would perhaps be about a character who wants to explore the final frontier of space, and it would definitely be science fiction because that would give the character so much more to explore!
What makes you happy?
- My kids.
What makes you nervous?
- I can’t think of anything that makes me more nervous than speaking to a group other than perhaps pitching to an editor.
What’s your biggest dream for the future?
- I have a lot of big dreams like losing fifty pounds, building a new house, and where writing is concerned, to write bigger and better books that really resonate with readers.
Tell us about your newest release and what you’re working on now.
- The Camera Never Lies is a mystery romance set at Caldera National Park—a beautiful backdrop for a photographer to discover who killed a man from her past she’d wished dead.
- Photographer extraordinaire Polly Perkins runs her family portrait business in a small town on the Oregon coast. Though it is her primary source of income, there are limits to how many mismatched jackets, earrings, and shoes she can take. Still, people fascinate her—their smiles might brighten with the flash of the camera, but their eyes never lie. When Polly is hired to photograph a friend’s wedding at Caldera National Park, she captures a murder victim instead. Will her uncanny ability to read emotions through a camera lens help her prevent another murder—and find romance for herself?
Where can people find out more about you/connect with you online?
Now it’s your turn to ask the question. What question do you want to ask the commenters to answer?
- How many books do you read in a week, and do you frequently try new authors? (I know, that was two) 🙂
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Elizabeth Goddard is the author of five contemporary romance novels and two novellas, including a romantic mystery, The Camera Never Lies. Two more novels release in 2011, including Freezing Point, a romantic suspense, and Under the Redwood Tree, a contemporary romance. Elizabeth is a member of ACFW and has served as a board member in her local RWA chapter. She is a seventh-generation Texan who lives in East Texas with her husband and four children. She and her family recently spent five years in Oregon, which serves as the setting for several of her novels, but in 2010 they returned to Texas to live near family again.
Fun Friday–What Writers Can Learn from Star Trek
In addition to geeking out when I discover that things like Monarchy—a documentary about the history of England/Britain through its succession of kings and queens—are available to watch online at Netflix, as well as over the sci-fi superstar guest stars on Chuck, y’all may have picked up that I’m a huge Star Trek fan. Not so much the original series, but pretty much everything since then. (See here, here, and here for a few examples, in case you didn’t know this about me.)
So when I followed a link on one of the Trek blogs I read and read this article, I knew I had to adapt it for writers.
What Writers Can Learn from Star Trek
Seek out new life and new civilizations.
- If you aren’t seeking out new people, new cultures, new experiences, your writing is going to get stale and you’re going to eventually run out of new story ideas.
Non-interference is the prime directive.
- Resist “author intrusion” into your story. Let your characters tell their own story.
Keep your phaser set on stun.
- Especially at the end of each chapter. Stunning your readers with a great hook keeps them reading!
Humans are highly illogical.
- Yes, they are. And characters are human. So illogical things should happen to them—and there shouldn’t always be easy, logical answers to every question.
Enemies are often invisible, like Klingons, they can be cloaked.
- Hidden enemies make for great plot twists.
Infinite Diversity and Infinite Combinations (IDIC).
- Don’t write about the same kinds of characters all the time. Diversify. Put totally different/opposite types of people together in combinations that add layers of conflict to your story.
When your logic fails, trust a hunch.
- Not even Mr. Spock had a logical answer to every problem. When a story problem faces you, sometimes you aren’t going to be able to outline it away. Sometimes, you just have to go with your gut and try something totally illogical to solve the problem.
Insufficient data does not compute.
- Do more research than you’ll ever use in your story. Readers can always tell when an author didn’t do her due diligence and doesn’t have a good background in the fact-based aspects of her fiction.
Even in our own world sometimes we are aliens.
- It’s okay to be different from the non-writers out there. It’s even okay to be different from the other writers out there. The more unique you are, the more unique your experiences, the more unique your fiction will be.
And one I’m adding . . .
When the crew works together, the problem is always resolved.
- When all the elements of your story work together, you’ll give your readers a satisfying ending
Live long and prosper!
Thursday Thought Provoker
Turnabout’s Fair Play–Cover!
I posted on Twitter and Facebook a week or so ago that Book 3 of The Matchmakers series is available for pre-order on ChristianBook.com and Amazon.com. This morning, it was brought to my attention that the cover image has gone up on Amazon. So I guess it’s gone through final approval at Barbour . . . which means I can post it here:
Jamie O’Connor knows his grandmother Maureen O’Connor has matchmaking on the mind when she starts inviting him to events where single women are present. Realizing she’s somewhat smitten with an older gentleman, Jamie decides to turn the tables on Maureen by agreeing to meet Kirby McNeill’s granddaughter at dinner—with both grandparents there. But will Jamie’s schemes go awry when he meets his match in Flannery McNeill? Flannery is thrilled that her widowed grandfather Kirby “Big Daddy” McNeill is now attending her church. So when he invites her to meet a grandson of a woman from his seniors group, she agrees to go along. Later, as Flannery conspires with Jamie to play matchmaker to Maureen and Kirby, she wonders how long she’ll be able to tolerate spending time with Jamie and his seemingly over-inflated ego. As the juniors scheme to bring their seniors together, mayhem and misconceptions ensue. Will these potential lovers walk away from what may be their last chance at true romance?
Coming November 2011!
Writer’s Window: Annalisa Daughety
Joining us today for the Writer’s Window is my fellow contemporary-romance author and Tennessean-with-Arkansas-ties Annalisa Daughety.
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One lucky commenter* will win a signed copy of Love is Grand by Annalisa Daughety. Deadline for leaving a comment to enter the drawing is Friday. To enter the drawing, you must answer the question posed by Annalisa at the end of the interview. Only one comment per person will count toward the drawing. You do not need to include your e-mail address in the body of your comment—just make sure it’s correct when you sign in to leave your comment. Congratulations to Carol Collett who won last week’s drawing for Jennie Bentley’s book Mortar and Murder.
- *U.S. residents only, void where prohibited. If you win the drawing, you will be ineligible for the next three drawings, though hopefully you will still come back and join in the discussion.
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Ainsley Davis had it all: a job she loved, a husband she adored, and a baby on the way.
But after her husband’s unexpected death, she left her job and retreated to the safety of her parents’ home. Two years later, Ainsley is still there, raising the baby alone and envisioning danger around every corner. When her position as a park ranger at the Grand Canyon reopens, she realizes God may be trying to tell her to return—if she can face the fears that hold her captive.
Fellow ranger Dustin Cooper is thrilled to have his old friend back. But Ainsley isn’t the fearless girl he remembers. Even so, Dustin pushes her to put her trust in God and jump back into her life.
Policeman Jake McGuire fled to the Grand Canyon after an on-the-job mistake. He’s determined to live a stress-free, anonymous life. Until he meets Ainsley. Suddenly he realizes he’d like to be a hero again—if only in her eyes.
Can Ainsley regain her zest for life—despite the risks—and find the right man to walk alongside her? If so, she may be surprised to find that even the second time around, Love is Grand
Welcome, Annalisa!
What do you like best about being a writer?
- Getting to create a whole world of fictional people and places. I think I was born with a story to tell—so to be able to do that and get paid for it is pretty cool.
What do you like least about being a writer?
- Once you have a book published, I think there is a certain amount of pressure to make the next one better. That is probably what I like least—the fear that I will disappoint readers.
Pop, Soda, or Coke? What do you call it, and what’s your favorite variety?
- I call it “Coke” and I am a Dr. Pepper girl.
What’s your favorite dessert?
- I love dessert, so this is a tough one. Probably my favorite homemade dessert is my grandma’s apple pie. And if I have my choice of restaurant desserts, the Chocolate Molten Lava Cake at Chili’s is awesome.
What’s the most fun/interesting/crazy/scary/unique hands-on research you’ve done for a book?
- In November, I spent the night on a dairy farm in Pennsylvania. I might be from the country, but I’m not much of a farm girl, so that was an eye opening experience! It was lots of fun though, especially getting to bottle-feed a baby calf. I was in Pennsylvania researching for my next book—and one of the characters happens to work on a dairy farm.
What’s your favorite movie from childhood?
- I didn’t watch many movies when I was a child—but as a pre-teen and teenager, I loved The Breakfast Club, Sixteen Candles, and Say Anything. I still watch them whenever I get the chance.
If you were to write a novel about what your life would have been like if you’d become what you wanted to be at eight years old, what kind of character would the story be about?
- My character would be a dancing, writing archaeologist! Those were always my top three career aspirations. I dropped the dancing pretty quickly—but to this day, I am still fascinated by archaeology. I’d love to incorporate that career into a novel someday.
What makes you happy?
- My family around the same table. My dogs curled up next to me. Laughing and catching up with friends. Emails from readers. Libraries and bookstores. Gerbera daisies. Snow days. Beach days. ’80s music. The first warm day in the spring and driving with the windows rolled down. Traveling to new places. The relief of turning in a manuscript.
What makes you nervous?
- Flying. Public speaking. First dates. Job interviews. Swimming in the ocean. Book releases.
What’s your biggest dream for the future?
- I’d love to see one of my books turned into a movie someday—or at least optioned for one. And I’d also like to be able to write full time rather than spreading myself thin working a day job and writing at night.
Tell us about your newest release and what you’re working on now.
- My newest release, Love is Grand, is the third book in the Walk in the Park series. It’s set at Grand Canyon National Park. Ainsley Davis is a widowed park ranger, raising a toddler alone—and she sees danger around every corner. She’s become fearful of everything—including love.
Up next for me is Love Finds You in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It’s a contemporary Amish romance that releases in July.
Where can people find out more about you/connect with you online?
- My website: www.annalisadaughety.com
My blog: www.princessofpatience.blogspot.com
I also have an author page on Facebook and am on Twitter.
Now it’s your turn to ask the question. What question do you want to ask the commenters to answer?
- What is your favorite guilty pleasure song of all time? You know—the one you turn up and sing along to when you’re alone in the car…
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Annalisa Daughety, an Arkansas native, won first place in the Contemporary Romance category at the 2008 ACFW Genesis Awards. After graduating from Freed-Hardeman University, Annalisa worked as a park ranger for the National Park Service. This experience inspired her to write the Walk in the Park series. Each book in the series is set in a different national park. In addition to the Walk in the Park series, Annalisa also wrote Love Finds You in Charm, Ohio. She currently lives in Memphis with two spoiled dogs, Arnie and Buster.
Fun Friday–Bestsellers When You Were Born
I saw this on agent Steve Laube’s blog this week and thought it would make a fun diversion for Friday. Oh, and in case you didn’t see it on Twitter or Facebook . . . I’M HOME!!! But just for the weekend so I can participate in the Manchester/Coffee County Public Library‘s author-day event on Saturday. If you can make it to Manchester on Saturday between 10 and 2, I’d love to see you there!
So . . . what were the Best Sellers when you were born? Click the logo below, enter your birth date, and find out—then come back here and let us know! (Be sure to enter your date in the day-month-year order they ask for.)
The #1 fiction bestseller for the week I was born is one I’ve never heard of (title or author): Passions of the Mind by Irving Stone. The two on the list that I did recognize title/author were Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar and Agatha Christie’s Passenger to Frankfort.
The #1 nonfiction bestseller for the week I was born is one I’m very familiar with: Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. I’ve never read it, but I have heard of it (unlike everything else on the list).
What are yours?
Thursday Thought Provoker
KayeDacus.com 