Wednesday Spotlight: Toni Noel

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Editing to Eliminate All Passive Writing 

Today we’re taking a look at what makes writing passive and ways to eliminate passive words from your writing.

When a critique partner points out a passive passage I cringe, but there is no getting around it. Passivity exists. Wases and weres are like worms in an apple. No one notices the worm going in, but it’s impossible to overlook once the worm is inside.

I consider passivity an insidious writing bugaboo worth eliminating.

I’ll never forget my first exposure to this writing pitfall. While pointing out ways to improve one page openings submitted by RWA members, the speaker at one of the first chapter meetings I attended said, “Never use the word was in your manuscript.”

My ears perked up. What could the speaker have against was? I must have heard her wrong. 

To my sorrow, I hadn’t. Using was and were in your writing makes the writing passive, but editors want manuscripts written in an active voice. 

As soon as I returned home from that meeting I began revising my passive, first manuscript. The wases and weres, haves and hases, and any other form of the verb be have a way of creeping into even the most conscientious writer’s work. Your job: To weed out as many of these as you can before submitting the manuscript. 

Miriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary’s Eleventh Edition definition of passive is enough to convince me to avoid being passive at all costs. (Oops, there goes the be word slipping into my writing.)

Webster’s definition of passive: 

… acted upon by an external agency, as in passive exercise.
… receptive of outside impressions or influences.
… asserting that the grammatical subject of a verb is subjected to or affected by the action represented by that verb.
… latent, inert, submissive

That last definition is enough to give any author pause. 

No writer starts out to write about inert places, people or events. Readers want to read about lively, fun-filled events, so strive to avoid all forms of the word be. You may not be able to totally avoid it, but your editor will note you tried.

To identify passive words in my manuscripts I use the FIND command in WORD and search for places I’ve used was, then for were. Wherever possible replace with active words. 

Passive example: Ellen patted the mare’s soft nose and was rewarded with a muffled wicker.
An active fix: Ellen patted the mare’s soft nose. A muffled wicker rewarded her.
And avoid writing in passive voice.
Example: She was talking to Henry while brushing her hair.
An active fix: While talking to Henry, she brushed her hair.
Another: She began to weep.      
Instead simply write: She wept. It’s more active.

Here’s how to get a list of Toni’s Search Words:

Go to http://www.toninoelauthor.com/contact.html

Send an e-mail from there and I’ll attach my list to my reply. And while you’re there, check out my latest release, Law Breakers and Love Makers, a romantic suspense available now for download from Desert Breeze Publishing.

Tuesday Spotlight: Kate Hill

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Mood Music

Though it’s not always noticeable, music often has a great impact on day to day life. What you listen to on your way to work in the morning helps to put you in a positive state of mind to make interactions with coworkers and clients pleasant. When you’re sad music can help you release your emotions. Music is the final touch that helps make a romantic evening memorable. At the movies, underscores and soundtracks emphasize the emotions in certain scenes. Songs stir memories and feelings, both happy and sad.

When I’m writing I enjoy listening to music. It helps me settle into certain time periods and creates a barrier between fantasy and the real world. I clearly recall the first time I realized how important it is to listen to the right kind of music for each story. My brother and I were in our teens and while I locked myself in my room writing a medieval fantasy story, he was across the hall playing hard rock music on his guitar. It didn’t take long for me to realize that my magic-wielding knight couldn’t live up to his potential with electric guitar screaming in the background.

Hard rock is perfect accompaniment for some of my vampire books in a modern setting, but it nearly killed the medieval fantasy I was working on at that time.

It’s many years later, but playing the right mood music when I’m writing is just as important now as it was then. Certain songs and styles of music fit certain characters and stories. When I’m working on the first draft of a book, I almost always listen to music. However when I’m polishing a story or working on edits I prefer quiet.

How do you feel about music, not only if you’re writing a story, but throughout the day? Does it inspire you or influence your moods? What do you enjoy listening to?

Monday Spotlight: Kaily Hart

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  Dedications. Who reads them anyway?
I never much thought about dedications. I’d flip through the front of a book, eager to get to page one and if I saw one, I might scan it and flip on past. I never gave much consideration about what they contained or why an author might go to the trouble to create one. That was until I was asked by my editor what I wanted to include for the dedication in my first book. Honestly, I kind of blew it off. I wrote right back with something meaningful, but kinda generic. It was my editor (in that way she has) who asked if there was anyone special I wanted to acknowledge, would anyone be disappointed if I didn’t mention them and reminded me I’ll only ever have one first book. Huh. It gave me pause and it got me thinking. Perhaps these dedications were more purposeful that I’d thought. Perhaps there really were people out there who took note of them, found them interesting, actually read them! And she was right about something. There was only one first book. So I immediately got to work and wrote my first dedication and here it is:
I’d like to dedicate my debut book to all the aspiring authors out there. Every. Single. One of you. Don’t give up, just don’t, because all of you deserve to have people read the stories of your heart.  
I’d also like to thank Rula Sinara. Whether you know it or not, you’ve been my rock. I guess it was fate, my friend.
To Cari Quinn. You’re an awesome writer and have been so generous and supportive. I appreciate everything you’ve done.
And to D. See? I told you so.
I wanted to acknowledge the aspiring author first and foremost. I’ll never forget what it’s like to be there, how difficult it is, how much effort it takes just to continue to write each day. There were two writer colleagues I was especially thankful for and I wanted to acknowledge them specifically. And D? Well, that would be hubby…🙂
I’ll include a dedication for each of my books moving forward, I think. And if no-one reads it? Well, that’s OK because I know it’s there and it’s the special something I wanted to say at the time.
So…do YOU read dedications?

Wednesday Spotlight: Malalia Levey

Getting The Call

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Writing wasn’t ever a planned goal for me. I found a loop on Yahoo where individuals either co-wrote together or wrote alone. After a few weeks of lurking, I decided to try my hand at creating storylines. I attempted fan fic and found that my characters refused to be penned after someone else’s work. So I sat down and began researching and plotting my own stories.
Eventually I wrote with a few other writers. It wasn’t until someone contacted me and asked me why I was giving plots away for free, and was asked to challenge myself to attempt writing for a publisher.
At first I laughed. I had no intentions of turning my hobby into a career. However, I thrive on challenges. I did what she asked, penned a story and sent it in for submission. That led me to my first of six publishers. It’s been a little over a year for me and my growth has exceeded where I thought I’d be. 
I’ve found three different genres to write in and am fairly comfortable with being a multi genre author. I found Beautiful Trouble Publishing by joining their Yahoo loop and meeting the authors and readers there. I hadn’t written much interracial or BW/BM stories and thought it’d be a great challenge to work with them and create a series of shorts I wanted to do. I also wanted to be part of an advancing business that’s black owned and has the black female readers’ interests at heart. I plan on expanding there from short stories to novellas and novels that bring out what it means to me to belong to two diverse heritages by bringing vivid characters and real life issues.
Show Me Your Gun and Flaws and All were great to write and are just the beginning of what I have in mind. I find I like linking secondary characters and giving them a story too.  I may not have had the call but I have the hunger to grow and explore just how far my imagination will take me. Join me for the ride…I’m anything but…boring!

Monday Spotlight: Amy Corwin

The Paranormal In Our Lives

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First, I’d like to express my thanks to be at Long and Short Reviews and have the opportunity to write this blog. It’s a privilege and I’m grateful.
I’m here to celebrate the publication of my first paranormal romance, Vampire Protector, published by The Wild Rose Press. My previous books are historical romances/mysteries, and while my newest book is a contemporary paranormal, it continues my interest in history and mysteries. When you are writing about long-lived entities such as vampires, it’s inevitable that historical elements will creep in, so perhaps it’s not too outrageous that I should find my interest in the past leading to the paranormal genre.
As a reader and writer, I’ve always been interested in paranormal/horror. In fact, some of my favorite authors include Shirley Jackson—The Haunting of Hill House, Barbara Michaels—Ammie Come Home, and Stephen King—The Shining. But in most scary books, there was always something lacking, from my perspective, and that was: the romance. Some of Barbara Michaels’s books included a romance, which made them just about perfect. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when other authors started writing books that combined both paranormal elements and romance! Heaven at last!
And our love affair with the paranormal isn’t all that difficult to explain. We all need a touch of mystery in our lives—and perhaps a way to explain that icy sensation shivering down our spine when we walk through the woods at night. Night terrors. Inexplicable events. To a large degree, I believe that’s why the paranormal fascinates us—it allows us to give a name—and perhaps understand and control, that feeling of dread we get when we jerk up in bed, heart pounding, in the middle of the night. Was it something real or a figment of our imagination? A dream or reality? Or…both?
Can science account for everything? Or is there an unseen world around us that we’ve chosen to ignore? 
Or…do we need to have an unseen world around us, regardless of the scientific evidence to the contrary, because of our very human, deep-seated need for…mystery? Perhaps we ache for something bigger, badder, and more mysterious than the mundane world we see every day when the alarm clock goes off and we slog our way through our commute to our grinding, mind-numbing jobs.
The more controlled, logical, and explained the world becomes, the more we need that feeling of the mysterious hovering out there at the very edge of our senses.
So…speaking of the mysterious, here is a short excerpt from Vampire Protector where Gwen, the heroine, feels the presence of tatters—ghosts trapped within the walls of her childhood home.
Book: Vampire Protector
Trailer: 
Vampire Protector Trailer
Author: Amy Corwin
Author’s website:
http://www.amycorwin.com
Published: Nov 12, 2010, (e-book/paperback: Nov 12, 2010)
Publisher Line: Black Rose
Publisher:
The Wild Rose Press

Excerpt from Vampire Protector

In this excerpt, Gwen is visiting her abandoned childhood home in the company of her next door neighbor, John Write, who may be a vampire.
“The moon has already risen.” A cold swirl of air brushed the back of Gwen’s neck. Shivering, she rubbed her nape, glancing around.
Only the two of them stood in the 1950s-style living room. The shadows were empty. Nothing stirred and yet…
“What’s wrong?” John asked.
“Nothing. Let’s get going,” she replied, thinking about the graveyard next door.
All those professional groundskeepers riding around on their efficient lawn tractors, sucking up the spirit remnants of the dead, shredding them, and spewing them out. The workmen unknowingly created ghosts that drifted on every errant breeze and collected in the comforting solidity of her deserted stone house.
Remnants and tatters of lost souls.
John held out a hand to her. She ignored him and walked forward into the gloom. Involuntarily, her gaze brushed past the central stairway to the rooms on her left. The dining room lay in that direction and beyond that, the kitchen.
Cool air brushed her cheeks like a caress.
The dining room held only tatters and unwanted memories. She could feel the warmth slipping away from her, leaving her lethargic and unable to focus.
Just like the mockingbird on the porch. Too drained to escape in time.
But the present faded as she stared into the dining room, transfixed. The sound of Patsy Cline drifted through the air, the singer’s voice overlaid with the pops and scratches of her mother’s much played record.
Peaches, have you finished setting the table for dinner?” her mother’s lilting voice called, memories flaring more brightly than the shadowed present.
Through the arched doorway, she could see the big maple table in the center of the dining room.  Long, white curtains with yellow ruffles hung dejectedly from the metal valances. Gray streamers of spider webs drifted down from the hems of the curtains, swaying on errant drafts.
The memories focused sharply, scrubbing away the dust and cobwebs.
She was twelve again. Through the dining room’s wide archway, the kitchen glowed with light and heat.
Thanks,
Amy Corwin

Monday Spotlight: RaeLynn Blue

Master of My Universes

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Greetings! My name is RaeLynn Blue and I am master of my universes. Yes, you read that correctly—universes. I am a world builder and I love it. As an author, there’s nothing more wonderful then creating an entire world—government, military, currency, and people populating those worlds. I’m convinced that’s why Tolkien, Rowling and King all write multiple books in a series. Once you’ve put so much time, effort, blood and sweat into creating a world—I so understand why God rested on the seventh day—as an author I can’t walk away from it. I have to go back to it again and again.  Over time, that world becomes as comfortable to me as my own and each character’s story beckons to be told.
As a reader, I used to believe that authors kept writing stories in a certain world, a certain series, because they wanted to keep getting paid. Although as an author, I too want to receive royalties, I’ve come to understand that the reason why I (I cannot speak for other authors) continue to revisit certain worlds, is because I’ve put so much work into building it. I liken worldbuilding to building a house by hand and then refusing to live in it.
My latest release from Beautiful Trouble Publishing—Penelope’s Surrender: A Guardians of the Gate story. Most people are familiar with Greek mythology; however, I’ve taken the classic gods, goddesses, and demi-gods/demi-goddesses and modernized them. I’ve altered their purposes, changed their worlds a bit, expanding them and changing them to fit my own purposes (insert evil worldbuilder laughter here).
For an author, I’m excited to create the worlds. Of course, the building takes the longest time, but once it’s done, it’s fantastic to play and spin a yarn or two about people in that world. Don’t take my word for it. Try it out. Purchase a copy of Penelope’s Surrender from Beautiful Trouble Publishing today.
RaeLynn Blue


Tuesday Spotlight: Kele Moon

Two is better than one

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By Kele Moon
A rising trend in erotica is the ménage romance, where we see a heroine falling in love with two male protagonists. And why not? Two heroes can be better than one. Aside from the obvious benefits (the fantasy of having two men caring for the woman they love) there is potential for fantastic angst, conflict and sexual tension when you’ve got a built-in love triangle.
In my new book Beyond Eden three lifelong friends find themselves tangled in a web of love, pain and dangerous secrets in an erotic Garden of Eden tale. The story is a male/male/female ménage, meaning there are strong romantic elements between the two heroes. That’s always something that has appealed to me with ménage—the idea that three people could truly fall in love with each other. Writing it was a wonderful, emotional journey that I enjoyed immensely. 
I believe ménage is an interesting way to try out male/male romance that is becoming hugely popular in erotic romance. There are also many male/female/male ménage romances available where the two heroes aren’t romantically involved with each other, but are both dedicated to loving and pleasing the heroine.
I’ve been reading ménage for years, though granted it used to be much harder to get a hold of and I tended to grab whatever I could find. Now with the enormous growth of the erotic romance market the choices in ménage romance have become greater. It’s in every genre of romance from Sci-Fi to BDSM and the pairings and plot lines are often more complex and deep than they seem at first glance.
If you’ve never tried two heroes instead of one, give it a taste. . . You might just love it!

Wednesday Spotlight: Michelle Picard

Part of the Virtual Book Tour for Surviving Eden, organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Comments on this post, in addition to having the chance to win an autographed copy of Michelle’s first book in the series, Ruling Eden, will also be entered into the tour contest for a special gardening set consisting of a hummingbird feeder, nectar concentrate food for the feeder, and several packets of garden flowers. The other tour stops can be seen here. Remember, the more you comment, the better your chances of winning.

AN OLD DOG DOING NEW TRICKS

Fantasy and paranormal writers frequently try to put a fresh spin on old themes, pulling out the proverbial rabbit from their magician’s hat to find that new take on vampires or shapeshifters or demons or witches or…you get the picture. Since I fit roughly into this genre category, it struck me how easy it had been to create my own perspective on the paranormal characters in Ruling Eden, my first novel. I didn’t try to over think the issue. I simply tried to have fun. The pressure was off because the story wasn’t about any one of these races, but the complex dance between these peoples and the quirky, kick-ass woman who was destined to lead them all.

So yes I had to decide if my vampires could walk in daylight (they can), eat garlic (yes again), drink human blood (yes), be seen in mirrors (yep), were born or made (born from vamp parents) and if they can enthrall with their vampiric powers (uh huh). That part was easy. But what set my vampires apart came directly from my exploration of character. Christian is the vampire brother of the story heroine, Rachel. I knew he had a tortured past. I knew he was a good guy who loved his family. I knew he’d had tragic experiences with love. It was when I allowed his character to drive me that I discovered the twist to his race. In the world of Ruling Eden and Surviving Eden, vampires cannot kill humans. If you are not able to have pleasure free cialis with your wife, then you can communicate your feelings with your partner to get rid of male disorder with food remedies. Being a generic version of cialis 20mg , kamagra tablets contain sildenafil citrate, an active ingredient approved by FDA (Food and Drug Administration) for the treatment of erectile dysfunction in men. These have difficulty in travelling through narrow blood veins and can consequently cause blockages. generic levitra online appalachianmagazine.com Millions of people worldwide has been sildenafil generic india a satisfied consumer of this sexual drug and are content buyer of this drug.Although one needs to have knowledge about the causes and treatments of ED, we know that ED isn’t just something that you have to suffer with. They need them to feed upon, but they are genetically programmed to find it abhorrent to kill mortals. And, most tragically, they can only fall in love with humans and not with their own vampire kind with whom they procreate. Since humans cannot be “turned” and live much shorter lives this generally leads to heartbreak.

Aside from just having fun, and letting my characters drive their own species particulars, another key to letting loose my imagination is sliding my focus sideways. Sideways, away from development of specific races based on typical mythologies and instead toward a common creation myth uniting multiple species. That’s what I love. Not creating the sexiest shapeshifters, but creating yummy complex messy interrelations between multiple species. This shift in focus leads to many new ideas. For instance, my angels and demons, arch enemies, yes, but because they used to be one race involved in a civil war, split into two by a pissed off magic leader sick of their infighting.

Many paranormal romances do not do justice to explaining the origin of species. And that’s okay. There’s something to be said for a murky, mysterious past. Life’s like that, full of missing explanations. But when I write I want to write about the meat of what fascinates me most in life—how people are similar, are connected, despite their differences, despite how they struggle in conflict with one another. Why are we in this mess together and what does it mean? So I dig around my mind for new mythologies, enjoy myself in the process, and end with the boon of new, fresh ideas.

If you care to check out my world of Eden and my new look at old faces–vampires, shapeshifters, dragons, faeries, witches, angels, demons—stop by www.MichellePicard.com.

Tuesday Spotlight: Annabel Joseph

The Romance of Negotiation

One of the reasons I find BDSM romance more interesting than “vanilla” romance is that both parties have a responsibility above and beyond what usual couples deal with. A BDSM couple may move into risky or even dangerous territory, depending on how they play. There might be sadism, humiliation, emotional manipulation…of course, this is all desired by both partners, in my books anyway. But my characters never enter those kinds of emotional minefields without talking first.

[Cue trumpets] Negotiation! Okay, I will be perfectly honest here. I find this dance of negotiation very SEXY. In each of my books there is always that scene where the Dom and sub sit down across a table, or in a sitting room, or even a lawyer’s meeting, and spell out the terms of how they will relate one another in their power exchange dynamic.

Now, for someone not into BDSM, those kind of formalized negotiations probably sound terribly icky and non-romantic, but for someone who is into BDSM, it can be very sexy to listen in on partners as they negotiate their roles. It is an advanced approach that targets the cancer and works to destroy it without surgery or radiation. bought that cialis without prescription cialis professional effects The total cost spent for the publicly of the medicine is high. Instead, government loans are made based on the latest information generic cialis in australia procured from the market. Drinking discount levitra cute-n-tiny.com alcoholic products before or after taking the dose of tadalafil may require adjustment for patients with reduced kidney or liver function. There is always that subtle angling for power…What will he want to do to me? How much will she allow me to do?

Of course, there are times when, even though partners have negotiated previously, things go off the rail. Then they must go back and ask each other, What went wrong? What should we have done differently? What should we change going forward?

Of course not all negotiations go smoothly, and not all people are adept at them. In my books, the couples are never perfect, just as real people are never perfect. Things always go wrong at one point, but I think it’s important to have that, so I can show the characters pulling themselves together and rising above adversity.

When you think about it, maybe vanilla relationships would benefit from this kind of specific and ongoing negotiation too. It seems like the more a couple communicates, the better things go. Something to think about…

Monday Spotlight: Sherry Gloag

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I gave the low-slung silver sun that threatened rain on that early spring morning a cursory glance, and continued wiping down my kitchen when I was interrupted.

The sunlight caught the woman’s silvery-blonde hair making it glow. Her eyes shone, not with glee or fun, I realised with a jolt, but with anger and frustration.

“How much longer are you going to ignore me?” Her temper snapped and crackled round the room like a lightening bolt.

“Excuse me?”

O.K. I knew my characters often turned up expecting me to know all about them, but never had one been so aggressive on our first encounter. Didn’t she realize I could snuff out her chances of reaching a publisher?

Perhaps she did. After all if we worked well together she’d achieve her public acknowledgment and I’d bask in the joy of seeing my debut novel out there in print and ebook.

The woman stood there in my mind as clearly as though she stood in front of me. Her essence filled the room.

“I’m Gina Williams,” she said, and her smile challenged the reluctant spring sunlight.

I ignored her disclosure and followed my instinct. “I don’t believe Gina Williams is your full name,” I replied, and watched the heat rise up her neck and into her face. Not many thirty-something’s I knew still blushed so easily. “Why the intrigue?” I asked.

“All will be revealed.” Her smile turned feral, and I returned to wiping the kitchen surfaces.

“I have a secret,” she said, then paused. “A dark secret.”

Again I waited, but this time she remained silent.

“Most people have secrets,” I prompted. “What makes yours worthy of a full length novel?”

“It is a secret so dark that my life as it is now, and my future would be destroyed if someone unearthed it.”

“You are…” I studied her closely. “…in your mid thirties, I’d guess…”

“You don’t understand.” The ever present fury beneath her façade snapped. “Someone is stalking me.”

~~~~~

And so began my close association with Gina Williams, the heroine of my debut novel, The Brat, released on 1st October 2010 by the Wild Rose Press.