Julie Daines

It Started in Budapest

2020-07-16T13:06:00.003-06:00

Early reviews from readers:

"Fresh, original, intriguing, and romantic. It Started in Budapest is quite the adventure to read." -Mandy

"I love a great Gothic romance and this one did not disappoint! The location, the setting, and the ambiance were just perfect."

-Lucinda

"Julie Daines tells a masterful story."

-Emily

"A pleasing read about hope, faith, darkness, and light."

-The Starry Library

Amazon blurb:

Molly Cooper is haunted by one simple fact: it is her fault her twin brother, Matthew, has spent his life trapped in a frail body while she has thrived. Deep in her heart, she knows he can’t hold on much longer . . .

In her desperation to save her brother, Molly finds inspiration in an unlikely source: the newly published novel Dracula. When her family embarks on the Orient Express to seek treatment for Matthew in Bulgaria, Molly is prepared to set her plan in motion: she will sneak away from her parents and journey alone to Transylvania, where she will seek a vampire, whose blood can make her brother immortal. Molly’s rash plan is going flawlessly—until she encounters Percy Hunt, a handsome American traveler running from the shadows of his own past. When he discovers Molly’s plan, Percy’s concern for the naive young woman leaves him no choice but to accompany her on her strange quest. But neither Percy nor Molly is prepared for the feelings that quickly grow between them or for the death-defying escapade that awaits.

I really enjoyed writing this book. I have always loved Dracula and when I got the chance to bring some of the beautiful wisdom from Dracula into this story, I couldn't wait to write it. Molly has lived a sheltered yet difficult life, so while she understands hardship and suffering, she is extremely naive to the ways of the world. I loved taking her on this journey where she gets a chance to experience things, to grow up, and to see the good and bad the world has to offer. It is a story about letting go of things you cannot control and finding peace in the worst situations.

It Started in Budapest is the first book in the "Romance on the Orient Express" series. This is a set of four books, each written by a different, amazing author, and each book about a different young woman who finds her chance at love on the Orient Express.

The next book in the series is Wrong Train to Paris by my dear friend and talented author, Jennifer Moore. Look forward to it in December!

From Ash and Stone

2019-01-22T11:13:00.000-07:00

Purchase on Amazon

"I love love LOVE From Ash and Stone! If you are looking for a book that will make you cry, will make you sigh, will give you hope and healing then this is the book for you!!"

-Kindle and Me Book Reviews.

Lady Margaret Grey of Hartfell wants for nothing. The daughter of a knight, she has a loving family, wealth, and even a secret romance with the blacksmith’s son. But all that is torn from her one fateful night when her home is attacked and her family killed. She is left with nothing but bitterness, an unwavering mistrust of men, and a strange and mysterious curse that allows her to feel the thoughts of anyone who touches her.

Now, after six years away, Margaret is returning home for one reason: revenge. She hopes that by avenging her family’s deaths, she will somehow be freed from her curse. But it won’t be easy. The identities of the raiders are still unknown, she has little left to her name, and traveling alone in the Northumbrian hills during the border wars is dangerous. Matters are further complicated by handsome Angus Robson, a Scotsman whose charm threatens to distract her from her plans. But the raiders are closer than she knows, and Margaret soon realizes that what she believed to be a curse may be the key to finding those she seeks. One touch will reveal the truth . . .

Havencross

2019-01-22T11:05:00.000-07:00

Buy on Amazon

"Captivating. A solid 5 across the board."

"A cross-genre story that could serve as a haven for anyone."

-Foreword Reviews Magazine

When a shocking scandal involving her father spreads through London society, Elaine Cardinham and her parents are forced to retreat to their country home in Cornwall for refuge. But Havencross is no sanctuary for Elaine. She is haunted by the mysterious disappearance of her brother—and the heartbreak she left in her wake all those years ago.

It has been five long years since Gareth Kemp last saw Elaine—when she rejected his marriage proposal. Her reappearance convinces him of one thing: he has never stopped loving her. To put his feelings for her aside, he focuses his attention on the dangerous smuggling plaguing the Cornish coast. As Elaine attempts to run from her past, she ventures ever closer to a dangerous truth—and Gareth may be the only one who can save her from a deadly finish.

Free Book

2017-02-13T09:37:00.000-07:00

Something exciting is coming in May! I'm thrilled to be part of a Regency Romance anthology with two other amazing authors: Jaima Fixsen and Caroline Warfield.

If you want something fun and romantic for the Valentine"s Day week, Jaima Fixsen is offering her book Fair Child for FREE until February 16th.

Here is the link on Amazon.

http://amzn.to/2l7Fz76

Cover Reveal: Willowkeep

2016-05-21T11:09:00.001-06:00

Coming in June! I can't wait for this book to come out!

"This is truly one of my favorite manuscripts I have ever read."

Words of praise from a professional reviewer.

Click here to buy on Amazon

Here's the blurb from Goodreads:

Charlotte Darby’s ship is sinking. Penniless and alone, she is struggling to care for herself and her young sister in the harsh seaport town of Kingston upon Hull. When a solicitor from London brings news that she is the heir to a vast estate in Kent, it seems her days of rough seas are over. Willowkeep is prosperous and grand, far too much for a shipping merchant’s daughter to manage, and she quickly comes to rely on the help of Henry Morland, the estate’s kind and handsome steward.

Henry has worked hard his entire life, but all the money he’s saved won’t be enough to get his father out of debtor’s prison. Henry’s fondness for Charlotte and her sister is only another reminder of his low status and lack of money. Though he is willing to do whatever it takes to keep Charlotte happy and looked after, as the county’s wealthiest lady, she can never be his.

Courted by a charming man of the ton, threatened by those desperate to get their hands on her money, and determined to keep her sister safe from the same fate that cost her the rest of her family, Charlotte turns to the ghost of the beheaded queen, Anne Boleyn, for help. But no matter the size of the fortune, life—and love—are never smooth sailing.

Find out more about Willowkeep on my Pinterest board: www.pinterest.com/juliedaines

Follow me on Facebook for giveaways and prizes: https://www.facebook.com/authorJulieDaines/

Cover Reveal: Eleanor and the Iron King

2015-05-10T22:37:00.000-06:00

I'm so excited about this book! It has all the things I love: cool setting, hunky dude, intrigue, a bit of romance, and even a ghost.

Here's a little blurb to whet your appetite.

Eleanor de Lacy is forced into an arranged marriage with her father’s greatest enemy, Brac Goch, the Welsh king. All Eleanor knows of Brac is that he is a ruthless, war hungry man.

Eleanor arrives at the Welsh castle expecting the worst. When the ghost of Brac Goch’s first wife appears and warns her that the Welsh king is not to be trusted, all of Eleanor’s fears are confirmed.

As the countdown to her wedding day approaches, Eleanor must figure out who is lying, who is telling the truth, who is loyal, and who is the traitor--and most of all, if she can love an enemy king.

Here is the beautiful cover!

Coming August 2015!

See more about Eleanor's story on my Pinterest board: Eleanor and the Iron King.

Published by Covenant Communications, Inc.

Description is also Voice

2014-12-08T09:42:00.000-07:00

I keep hearing people talk about descriptive narrative as though it's something different from internal dialogue. I suppose if you're writing some kind of literary fiction from an omniscient POV, it might be. But for the most part--especially in children's and YA fiction--it is the same thing.

Interiority and description are the same. It's all in the POV voice. It's all about what the POV character is thinking. Sometimes they're thinking about their feelings and motivations, sometimes they're thinking about what they're seeing/hearing etc.

All of it needs to be written from the mindset of the POV character.

Remember this poem by Wordsworth?

I wandered lonely as a cloud

That floats on high o'er vales and hills,

When all at once I saw a crowd,

A host, of golden daffodils;

This is good practice to think about description in your own writing. Imagine a huge field of daffodils. Now ask yourself, how would a lonely or depressed person see that field verses an angry person, a betrayed person, or a happy-go-lucky person. Then write the description through their eyes and in their voice.

It's easy to try too hard to write a snarky narrative voice, but then when it comes time for description, wax into an eloquent Dickensesque voice.

It should be all the same voice.

All writers struggle with this, so practice and always keep it in mind.

NaNoWriMo Tips

2014-10-13T09:15:00.002-06:00

With NaNoWriMo looming in the very near future, I thought I'd share a few tips that have helped me. If you know me at all, you know I'm a huge NaNo fan. All of my published books are NaNo projects. When I NaNo, I'm in it to win it.

So this Monday and on my next post--on the 27th, I'll put some quick NaNo tips on the blog.

1) Make it work for you. Advice on how to succeed at NaNoWriMo is flooding the internet this time of year. Sift through it all and find what works for you. If you try to force yourself into a method that doesn't work for you, you will have a hard time succeeding.

2) Plan ahead - even if it's just getting to know your characters. If you're an outliner, great, outline as much as you can, even if most of it doesn't end up in the book. (During Nano you have to keep your mind open and not get stuck trying to stick to an outline that's not working.)

If you're not an outliner, at the very least, do some serious preparation in getting to know your characters. The better you know your characters, the faster you can write because you will know what they would do in every situation. You will know their desires and objectives. You will know how to raise conflict and create story by denying them those desire and objectives. It will help with character arc.

Get your research done ahead of time. Research is a great way to generate ideas for your story, so do as much ahead of time as possible.

3) Be accountable. Tell everyone you are doing NaNoWriMo in November. That way they'll ask how it's going and you'll have to answer. Give them an opportunity to cheer you on. Join online or local groups of NaNoers that have places to post your word count. Do word sprints with friends online. Go to NaNo write-ins. Let your competitive nature give you a motivational edge.

4) Adopt a new mindset. It's easy to spend years writing a novel, so for many, the thought of writing one in 30 days is an insuperable barrier. But not if you change your mindset. It's been said that writing a first draft is like shoveling sand into a sandbox that you will use later to build a sandcastle.

So it is with NaNoWriMo. Don't expect anything but a very rough, very detailed outline by the time it's over. But once you get your butt in the chair and write without any inhibition, you will be amazed at what you can do. It's easier to keep track of plot, easier to delve deep into your characters because you spend so much time with them. No editing. No fear.

5) Just do it. Excitement and passion will get you started, but you'll quickly find that it is discipline and determination that carry you to the end. Don't get behind. Try to get ahead in word count as quickly as possible. Have a cushion. Kick spelling, grammar, finding the perfect word or the perfect metaphor out the door. Dedicate yourself to getting the backbone plot out in those 50K words. Then look forward to January to start making it perfect.

Do you have any tips you'd like to share or questions about NaNoWriMo?

My Novel on Pintrest

2014-07-28T18:02:00.002-06:00

The other day I had the most wonderful surprise. A reader read my book, Unraveled, and loved it so much she created a Pinterest board for it with a few pictures that sparked her imagination about certain elements of the story.

I can't believe I didn't think of that. What a great way to share fun visuals with readers. I started thinking how Pinterest could be used as a promotional tool, as a forum to draw readers together to share something they love, or as an idea generator while drafting.

Here is a link to her awesome Pinterest board. It's only got seven pictures, but it captures the novel perfectly.

I'm not always the best at using all the tools at hand when it comes to writing and promoting.

I'd love to hear ideas from all of you on ways you've seen Pinterest--or any of the social media platforms--used in any part of the writing process.

My Dream Home Checklist

2014-05-15T15:07:00.001-06:00

For some reason, I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want my dream home to have. Besides the basics--running water and a modern kitchen--I've compiled a list of things I really want in my next house.

If you know any realtors out there who can rustle me up a property that meets these criteria, send them my way.

If you think I'm kidding (especially about the graveyard) I'm not. Ask my husband.

What are the specifications of your dream home?

What Would You Re-read for the First Time?

2014-03-24T13:23:00.002-06:00

I've been thinking recently about all the books I love. I re-read books a lot. A LOT. And there's something different I get out of each re-read. Some books never get old to me.

But at the same time, there are certain books I wish I could go back in time an re-read for the first time. If that makes sense.

Wouldn't it be wonderful to get sucked in to the world of Harry Potter all over again.

And what I wouldn't give to be able to experience The Road again for the first time.

To discover Jane Austen or Charlotte Brontë for the first time.

If you could go back in time, what books would you want to read again for the first time?

What Is the Inciting Incident?

2014-01-27T11:58:00.002-07:00

As I've been doing various research for presentations on how to write a first chapter, I'm finding a lot of confusion about the term Inciting Incident.

So, because I want to, let's discuss terminology. I'm not saying that I'm the final source of truth in this--we've all heard it different ways--I'm just going to say what I've found in my research to be the most common use of the term.

Inciting Incident: This is the event that makes this day (where your story begins) different than any other day. The event that changes your MC's life, even though they may not know it yet.

Quick movie reference: Tangled, inciting incident is when Flynn Ryder shows up in Rapunzel's tower.

Key Event: This is when the MC begins to actively participate by making a choice that thrusts him/her into the action. When the MC becomes engaged in the story, usually because of the inciting incident.

The key event is often called the inciting incident, along with various other names. This is why there is so much confusion.

Quick movie reference: Tangled, key event is when Rapunzel decides to leave the tower and forces Flynn to help her.

Can the inciting incident and key event be the same? Yes, occasionally they can.

Does it really matter what term I use for them? No, but it's important to understand that both are an important part of story telling.

UNRAVELED Cover Reveal!

2014-01-02T10:02:00.000-07:00

Hooray for a new year and a new book!

Here is the awesome cover for UNRAVELED coming in February. I'm so excited.

When sickness swept through Bronwen’s family, it took the life of her father, brother, and sister, and left her permanently crippled. On the stormy eve of her sixteenth birthday, a faerie-witch gifts her a pair of enchanted shoes. Bronwen slips them on and is healed--but only when the shoes are on her feet. Her grace and beauty catches the eye of the king’s son--Urien, a handsome young man who prides himself on having everything perfect.

When Rhys, an old acquaintance and Captain of the Guard, recognizes Bronwen, he threatens to tell Urien her secret. Desperate to keep her deformity hidden and not to lose the love of handsome Urien, Bronwen quickly finds herself tangled in a web of lies and deceit. But there's even a bigger problem--she can't wear the shoes forever.

Head on over to Goodreads and mark it to read. Thanks!!

The Effects of NaNoWriMo on the Brain

2013-11-11T08:00:00.000-07:00

This is your brain:

This is your brain during NaNoWriMo:

These middle weeks of NaNo are the hardest. You've gotten off to a great start, but now you're bogged down in the middle, not sure what should happen next. Or maybe you've got it all outlined but suddenly the outline isn't working and you have to rethink the plot. Or maybe your fingers are just itching to go back and start revising that first chapter, but you must be strong and resist.

If you're behind, don't give up, there's plenty of time to catch up. If you're like my crazy friend Taffy and you've already written the full 50,000 words, just keep it to yourself. We don't want to hear about it.

I've been reading some of the pep talks, and the one thing that really hit me--because I identified with it--was a something that James Patterson said.

Think it’s hard to write every day during NaNo? Most professional writers keep this kind of pace all year round. Holidays, birthdays, vacations—you name it, we’re writing. The trick is making writing into a daily habit. Same time. Same place. Same hot beverage of choice. Every. Single. Day. Again. And. Again.

NaNo can seem like an impossible task, but the reality is, if you want to get published and succeed in the business, writing like this must become routine. And if it's not writing, it's editing, or revising, or plotting, or filling out forms for your publisher. It is like a full time job that you have to squeeze into the non-existent cracks of spare time between all your other responsibilities that you actually get paid for.

Now get off the web and get back to your novel.

Go!

NoNoWriMo Success Tip for the Desperate

2013-10-28T08:00:00.000-06:00

We are in the final countdown to NaNoWriMo. If you don't have your story mapped out in a 25,000 word detailed outline--it's probably too late now. Never fear! I'm going to give you a trick on how to succeed at NaNo anyway.

Daily Five Minute Plotting
As you sit down to begin your daily writing session, take a minimum of five minutes to jot down the basics of whatever needs to come next. Maybe it's a new scene, or some dialogue, or some character development, whatever. Just brain storm and let your creative juices flow.

Use at least five minutes, but you can keep going longer if you're on a roll. This exercise gives you enough direction to make decent progress until your next writing session. It doesn't matter if you end up using what you brainstormed or if your story veers in another direction. Either way, it will help you get going and make better use of your time in the long run.

I'm a pantser. I mean yes, I have a very basic outline (in my head) with the beginning and end and a few pivotal scenes. I know my characters and their ultimate goals and their character arc, but that's about it.

Taking the time at the beginning of each writing session to analyze where I am in the story and what needs to come next really helps me get going.

Good luck NaNoers!

NaNoWriMo--An Exercise in Demon Fighting

2013-10-15T08:03:00.000-06:00

NaNoWriMo may not be for everyone, but personally, I love it. All my published novels are the result of NaNoWriMo disasters.

It's one long month of painful, obsessive, and horrific writing. But in the end, I've got more than just the backbone of a story, I've got a whole manuscript. Then I spend the next year revising and sending it through my crit croup.

Writing a manuscript so quickly allows me to keep the characters consistent and the story more cohesive. It's like total story immersion.

It's an exercise in creativity. You sit. You write. You don't go back and delete. You wear a silver cross and garlic strands to keep that editing demon at bay. Revision comes later--after you've vomited your story onto the page in such a jumbled mess that it looks like this:

or this:

or even this:

Just keep that pinky off the delete key. If you write something you KNOW you won't keep, use strikethrough. You never know. I've changed my mind later, in January or even June, and kept whole paragraphs that I'd blocked out with strikethrough.

NaNo is about word count. So keep all the words because they count. No one else will see the disaster that is unfolding on your computer screen, so don't worry about perfection. Just get the words out however you can.

If you don't know what to write next, keep extending the scene you're in. Eventually your mind will catch up with your fingers and transition to the next scene. Sure you've got a page of extremely boring conversation at a restaurant where they debate the merits of Mary Ann versus Ginger. That's what the delete key is for, AFTER you finish NaNo.

Then, after lots of tender loving care and nursing your story back to health, you get something that looks like this:

or this:

or best of all, this!:

If you haven't tried it--or if you tried but failed for whatever reason--try again. It's oh so hard, but in the end worth it.

If you do NaNo this year, find me there and we can be buddys!

Five Diseases All Writers Should Be Aware Of

2013-09-09T09:11:00.000-06:00

Writing is generally considered a low risk profession. But there are several serious--and even terminal--diseases to be on the lookout for. Here are a few that affect me.

1. Obsessive Compulsive Editing Disorder (OCED). I edit everything from the back of cereal boxes to notes from my kids to whatever novel I'm reading. I wish I could turn it off, but there doesn't seem to be a switch. It's almost impossible for me to read a book without a pencil in hand to add a comma here or delete a word there. I hate it. I just want to enjoy the story.

2. Unintentional Analytical Plot Predicting Syndrome. (Also known as Beat Beating.) I can't watch a movie or TV show without analyzing the plot and trying to predict the ending. My husband asks me why I even bother watching any more because I always know what's going to happen.

3. Author Attention Distraction Disorder (AADD, also frequently referred to as "crazy"). I'm constantly distracted. Not by shiny toys and squirrels, but by everything inside my head. "Mom, this is really important. I have to have one hundred..." One hundred. Yes! That's it! What if my main character lives a hundred miles away? That would put enough strain on the relationship to make the scene work better and lead right into the climax. But then the villain... "Mom? Did you hear me?" "What? Is someone talking to me?"

4. Blood Shot Twitchy Eye Syndrome. Some call it insomnia, when you wake up in the middle of the night because you just had this great idea and you can't go back to sleep because scenes and dialogue keep playing out over and over in your mind. Please just make it stop!

5. Acute Hyper-Friendlessness Complex (AKA: Loner's Disease). I've always been an introvert, but since I started writing, it's blossomed into an epidemic. A single person epidemic. How can I have time for friends when I have scenes to write, edits to make, and research to do. I've already got hoards of voices in my mind, why do I need more? Come on people! What's more important here? Real life or the fictional world I've created in my head?

What diseases do you suffer for the sake of your art?

Your Personality Revealed through Twitter

2013-07-23T08:35:00.003-06:00

I just read an article about some research they've been doing on social networks--specifically Twitter.

Researchers have developed special software that does personality-profiling and then categorizes the user into one of five "dimensions of personality" as recognized by modern psychology.

Those categories are: extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness to experience. Research has already proven that extroverts prefer Coca-Cola over Pepsi, and Agreeable people prefer Pepsi.

By analyzing specific words in our Tweets, they can determine our personality type. This profiling software can draw a reasonably accurate personality profile from just 50 tweets, and very accurate from 200.

What is all this personality information good for? Advertising of course.

Advertisers currently try to understand their customers through basic demographics and existing buying habits. But with this new software, the researchers believe, they would have a better approach to advertising by discovering our deep psychological profiles.

Hmmm. Interesting.

How do you feel about this?

[Information from The Economist, May 25-31st 2013; "No Hiding Place"]

[graphic from google images]

The Trouble with Juliet

2013-07-16T12:00:00.000-06:00

I love Shakespeare. Anyone who knows me knows that.

I'm sorry to say, Romeo and Juliet is one of my least favorites. Partly because it's been done so many times, but mostly because Romeo and Juliet always seem a little insane. Maybe that's Shakespeare's point: Combine teenage mentality and true love and well, it's not going to run smooth.

Which is why I find this so hilarious.

What are your thoughts on Romeo and Juliet?
Which Shakespeare is you favorite?

Why Do We Read?

2013-07-08T08:43:00.000-06:00

I recently read a book that asks the question Why do we read?

The author--through the voice of one of the characters--suggests that in literature, everything has a meaning. But it is the experiences in our own lives that shape what the meaning is and how it affects us.

Reading causes us to ask deep questions. Like what is the meaning of my life? Why am I where I am in life? Where will this path lead me? What is good and what is evil? What is love? What is my role in my life's story?

He suggests that as we read, we relate to the characters in such a way that we find the part of our lives or personality that parallels them, and we become them.

He says, "If we take these stories too literally, if we expect our personal lives to always end with a handsome prince, most of us will close our books with shattered dreams. Yet, on the other hand...if we don't take the meaning of those stories literally, if we treat these tales as simply entertainment, we miss the deepest, most life-shanging aspects of the stories. We miss the entire reason they exist." (The Rent Collector by Camron Wright)

I've always believed that reading is more than just entertainment. That by picking up a good book, I'm learning something about life, and more importantly, learning something about myself.

So that's the question. Why do we read?

Hiatus: AKA Vacation in Paradise

2013-06-09T23:36:00.001-06:00

I'm on vacation this week in Hawaii. It's my first time here--and we stay till the end of the week. We've rented a beach house in Laie.

I'm open for suggestions on the things we should do, places we have to see, or restaurants we can't miss.

Here are a few pics of our first two days:

My hubby and kids at the birthing stones of the kings.

The view from our beach house!

BEST BURGERS AND SHRIMP PLATES EVER!

Pineapple.

Sunset from our deck.

A Change of Plans

2013-06-03T07:00:00.000-06:00

Congratulations to my friend and fellow author Donna K. Weaver! Her new novel, A Change of Plans, is all shiny and new and out now.

When Lyn sets off on her supposedly uncomplicated and unromantic cruise, she never dreams it will include pirates. All the 25-year-old, Colorado high school teacher wants to do is forget that her dead fiancé was a cheating scumbag. Lyn plans a vacation diversion; fate provides Braedon, an intriguing surgeon. She finds herself drawn to him: his gentle humor, his love of music, and even his willingness to let her take him down during morning karate practices. Against the backdrop of the ship’s make-believe world and temporary friendships, her emotions come alive.

However, fear is an emotion, too. Unaware of the sensitive waters he's navigating, Braedon moves to take their relationship beyond friendship--on the very anniversary Lyn is on the cruise to forget. Lyn's painful memories are too powerful, and she runs from Braedon and what he has to offer.

Their confusing relationship is bad enough, but when the pair finds themselves on one of the cruise's snorkeling excursions in American Samoa things get worse. Paradise turns to piracy when their party is kidnapped and Lyn's fear of a fairytale turns grim. Now she must fight alongside the man she rejected, first for their freedom and then against storms, sharks, and shipwreck.

AMAZON | GOODREADS

And here's the cool book trailer:

Author Bio:

I'm a Navy brat who joined the Army and has lived in Asia and Europe. Because I sailed the Pacific three times as a child, I love cruising and wish I could accrue enough vacation time to do more of it with my husband. We have six children. Our eight grandchildren live all over the world. At fifty, I decided to study karate and earned my black belt in Shorei Kempo.

After doing city council minutes for twenty years, I decided to write something a little longer and with a lot more emotion--and kissing.

Read more from Donna at Weaving a Tale or Two.

Book Series or Stand-Alone?

2013-05-20T06:00:00.000-06:00

I feel like books series are reaching epidemic proportions. It's hard to find a book that's NOT part of a series.

From a marketing standpoint, I can clearly see the advantages. Hook the reader and sell three books instead of one. More book sales equals more money. The author creates a name and a brand for themselves, and everyone's happy.

Or are they?

From a reader's standpoint, I'm not sure I'm sold on the series approach. Don't get me wrong, some series are amazing.

But in writing a series there are some inherent problems, and unless the writer is unusually skilled, these problems can lead to very disappointing books.

Here are the two issues that concern me the most:

Problem 1- Once the first book is complete, if the author has done their job well, so is the character arc. The character arc is one of the main story elements that keeps a reader hooked and reading to the end. Consequently, the next few books in the series often fall flat. How many times have you LOVED the first book in a series and the rest were only okay?

Problem 2- The first book leaves you hanging because the character arc is incomplete and the conclusion unsatisfying. This is a very popular writing trick to get readers to buy the next book. But whenever I read a story like this, I have to ask myself if the author considers me a reader or a number. Are they writing to perfect the craft or to make a sale.

This is where the tricky part comes in, because perfecting the craft and selling books are both important. It's a fine and difficult line to walk. As an author, I can relate. We all want to write the best story we can, but unless that story sells, we're just people sitting in our sweatpants at a computer all day.

Do authors who write series sell more books? It's very possible that they do.

Do authors who write stand-alone books win more awards? It seems to me they do--although I haven't done official research.

What are your thoughts? Do you prefer a series or stand-alone?

The Secret to Getting Published

2013-05-13T09:22:00.000-06:00

I just finished up three days at the Storymakers 2013 conference! It was a great event with some wonderful agents and editors, and lots of amazing authors and aspiring authors. I attended some very helpful classes--some of them taught by agents and editors.

When the agents/editors open the floor to questions, inevitably the writers start asking things like:

"What are the upcoming trends in the market?"
"What should I put in my query letter to make it stand out?"
"What genres are you looking for?"
"When is the best time of year to query?"

The agents and editors do their best to answer these questions, but they struggle. Sometimes the writers get bugged. "Why can't they just tell us what they're looking for." Even though these are all different questions, they all boil down to the same thing:

"What is that one magical thing I need to do to get published?"

The bottom line is that there is no one secret, magical, just-out-of-reach trick. They can guide you and offer suggestions on what NOT to do, but none of this is a shoo in.

The only trick that really works is to write a great story. I think is was Victoria Curran who said, after everyone kept asking for the magical secret, "Write what's in your heart, and write to the heart."

A good query is important. Not writing to the trends is important. Choosing the right agent for your genre is important. But the only sure thing that can sell your story is your story.

Write what's in your heart.
Create something that speaks to the heart of the reader.
Write it well.
When the time is right, your story will find a home. No magical tricks involved.

Music and Memories

2013-04-29T06:00:00.001-06:00

The other day as I was driving and channel surfing, a song came on I hadn't heard in years. Suddenly, I was on semester abroad in Britain, sitting in a big tour bus with my headphones on, listening to that song while parts of Scotland and northern England whizzed by.

The song: "Wrapped Around Your Finger" by The Police.

I hadn't realized that memory was so closely associated with that song--and the whole Synchronicity album. I listened to it a ton during that semester abroad because it had just been released in London. Those were the days before iTunes and even CDs. I had to flip the cassette over halfway to hear the other side.

Now I've dated myself.

What songs spark a memory for you?