For all beginners

Tell Me a Story

First of all, I must explain that I cannot take credit for this quote, but I think it is fabulous.

I believe credit goes to Ira Glass.

Past Sins: New cover, New Genre

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - Ellie Jones
Title     - Past Sins
Stars   - 5

PAST SINS by Ellie Jones has had a bit of a revamp since it was last looked at - a book makeover.

For a start, Past Sins has been re-classified and placed under the erotica sections, as an Erotic Romance. Apparently, some people thought it a bit too steamy to be in the Contemporary Romance bracket.

Taking the bull by the horns, the Past Sins storyline has been made even more racy, which quite firmly tips it into the Erotic Romance genre. It has also had a new cover designed, to complete the makeover and enhance the new image

Past Sins – an erotic romance

 Jenny is not related to Juan Garcia. She has never heard of him, never met him, and certainly never been to his villa before... So why does she vaguely recognize certain rooms and smells...

Jenny is puzzled when Spanish artist, Juan Garcia, leaves her his enormous villa in his Last Will and Testament ... But freaks out when she discovers a painting of herself in the entrance to the villa... totally naked...

Juan’s young brother, Eduardo, believes she is a gold-digger and is out to prove it. Jenny finds herself struggling with him on several levels; his certainty that she had an affair with Juan, his own escalating attraction towards her, his belief that she may be involved with threatening letters against him, and his absolute and unjustified dislike of her new friend... but then she starts to get threatening letters too, and it all gets out of hand.

.

Lessons Learned Along the Way

Tell Me A Story

Today's blog is a guest post by Charlotte Rains Dixon copied with kind permission from her blog
Lessons Learned Along the Way

So by now everyone in the North American hemisphere knows that I've gotten an offer to have my novel published. (If they haven't, I'll do my best to make sure they do over the next couple of days.) In this issue, I'm writing about lessons learned along the way. Because, there have been many of them, starting with....

Victims

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - Jonathan Kellerman

Title     - Victims

Stars   - 4

Victims:

The grisly crime scene is reminiscent of London’s Jack the Ripper killings.

In spite of his skills, Alex is baffled when more slaughters occur in the same shocking manner yet with no obvious connection between the victims.

The only evidence left behind, a page of paper with a question mark, appears to be a intimidating sneer yet a cry for help from a killer puzzled by his own destructive impulses.

Betrayed: a love story, is Free

Tell Me a Story

BETRAYED: a love story set in the Jalon valley in Spain, written by Ellie Jones is FREE for just 24 hours on 2nd March 2012. Grab your FREE copy now whilst you still can from Amazon.com or Amazon.UK

Formula for Successful Writing

Tell Me A Story

This post was originally published on the Daily Writing Tips. I thought it so important I have re-posted it here.

The Winning Formula for Writing Success

When I wrote the heading for today’s post, I thought to myself, “I should be making infomercials and workshop presentations, offering my ‘secret’ for a thousand dollars.” A thousand dollars a head for even a few dozen participants? That’s what I call successful writing: With one phrase and a few platitudes, I could take a couple of years off from work.
Nah. I’ll give it to you free of charge:
Quality requires quantity.
Yes? And?
That’s it. Quality requires quantity.
Oh, all right. I’ll expound.

The Frozen Trail

Tell Me A Story - book review


Author - Lisa Dayley
Title     - The Frozen Trail
Stars   - 3


The Frozen Trail:

In 1856 a group of Mormons trudged across the Great Plains, in wagon trains and pulling handcarts, to discover a new home shielded from prejudice. Emma Girdlestone confronts famine, frostbite, and fatality, so she and her family can join their fellow Latter-day Saints in the Salt Lake Valley.

Tools for writers

Tell Me A Story

FREE tools for writers 
Writers need easy to use tools so they can concentrate on the real job of writing, not playing with software. I was pleased to find these gems on a blog by Gary McLaren - Publish Your Own Ebooks

Here is a shortened version of his post.

To do any job well you need to use appropriate tools… and self-publishing is no different. While there are many software applications that can assist you during the process of writing and publishing your manuscript some of the applications are expensive, costing hundreds of dollars each.
So what if you are operating on a tight budget… or you would simply like to keep your operating costs low?

Outline that Story

Tell Me A Story




To outline or not, that is the question...

There are a number of authors, who rarely use an outline – and are quite vociferous about their methods. They claim if they know what’s happening, their work won’t be natural. Instead, they start the story with an incident, and let the whole thing develop.

The method undoubtedly works for some - for experienced writers who’ve trod the long and dusty path and understand the problems.

The problem is, can YOU recognize a quality conflict that will continue unfurling for the next 80,000 words, or will yours be electrifying to begin with, only to end in a blind alley. It’s too easy to start with a bang and a flourish of bright ideas, only to wither at chapter four.

Daddy's Home

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - A.K. Alexander
Title     - Daddy's Home
Stars   - 4

Daddy's Home:

A manipulative killer stalks single mothers and their innocent children in pursuit of what he calls his perfect family. He plays the textbook father. When things are no longer perfect in his crazy, fantasy world, the family man murders.

Holly Jennings of the San Diego Police Department is single-mindedly tracking him to see justice served. His crimes become personal when a friend and her daughter become the latest victims of “The Family Man."

As Holly probes the murders, she finds she is drawn into a game played by "The Family Man," that may take her along a terrible path. One that may cost her family, her new found love, and even her life.

Unfinished Business

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - Nora Roberts
Title     - Unfinished Business
Stars   - 4

Unfinished Business:

Hyattown alters very little whilst Vanessa is away. Brady is still sinewy, sporty, and craggy; except the once careless boy has turned into a solid, reliable man.

The only trouble is Brady stood her up at the most significant point of her life; can she ever trust him again? However, she didn't know he had good grounds for not showing up twelve years ago. He isn't going to let her get away a second time.

Kill Alex Cross

Tell Me A Story - book review

Author - James Patterson
Title     - Kill Alex Cross
Stars   - 3

Kill Alex Cross:
The President's two children are snatched, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. However, someone uses the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to hold him off the case.

A toxic contamination in the water supply ravages the capital, and Alex learns someone may be about to deliver a shocking attack on the United States.

As time for solving both crimes runs out, Alex takes a decision that may alter the destiny of the entire country.

A Heartbeat Away

Tell Me A Story - Book Review

Author - Michael Palmer

Title     - A Heartbeat Away

Stars   - 3

A Heartbeat Away:

As the U.S. president, is beginning his State of the Union address, when several ampules containing a viral agent shatter and infect important members of the government in the House chamber. The Capitol must be sealed off and infected members quarantined until a cure can be found.

The conspirators behind the assault, demand, among other things, that the government abolish the Patriot Act and cease unchecked spying on ordinary Americans.

The Structure Of A Novel

Tell Me a Story

"The best part of every author is in general to be found in his book."

- Samuel Johnson -

Structure of a novel - saleable stories
To produce a saleable novel you must have

• flair,
• Imagination
• determination

...And you must be prepared to study the craft of writing. In particular you must study the structure of a novel. Swotting up on structure might not sound as fascinating as creating the world’s best protagonist or giving free rein to your creative juices, but it is something you really should get your head around.
Structure is perhaps one of the ignored elements of a novel, yet it is crucial to understand.

Yesterday

Tell Me a Story


YESTERDAY - a collection of ten heartwarming stories.


Contents:
1. The Biker
2. Take Your Partners
3. Forget-Me-Not Days
4. Ben And I
5. A Stroll In The Park
6. Seal Of Approval
7. Tomboy
8. Past Mistakes
9. The Punch And Judy Man
10. The Otter Boy