Is it Too Soon for Eggnog Latte? by Connie Vines

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Is it too soon for Eggnog Latte? I asked myself while driving to the gym, the Hallmark station jingling joyful Christmas songs via Sirius Radio.

I recalled a tweet and chuckled.  “The eggnog latte was the only thing keeping me from beating people during the holidays. Please bring it back!” tweeted GeekyLady. In 2014.

While I am not now, nor have I ever been so inclined—even when I was a fragrance consultant (think: test PH levels and find perfect signature fragrances; not the spray unsuspecting clients upon entrance to the shop). Not when the shop stayed open until 12:30 am and staff custom wrapped each gift with hand-fashioned bows and designer gift paper in a back room about the size of a side-by-side refrigerator.

However, I love my eggnog latte and gingerbread latte (no whip on both) from Starbucks and Christmas music.

So, when do our readers like to snuggle under a quilt, or here in SoCal, or under a light-weight throw and read a holiday romance?

Is November too soon? 

Is January too late?

Writers, when plotting your holiday romance novel, to you begin in the middle of summer with the a/c blasting or do you wait until Fall?

I write my holiday novels during the season.  Yep, Christmas novels now.

I bake. I shop. I indulge in assorted crafts.  And yes, I drive to Starbucks—but not daily, for heaven sake.  I am thrifty-- I’m saving for Christmas gifts after all; and must watch the calories too.

Confession:  I have been known to fake my Eggnog latte.  I purchase the low-fat eggnog and add it warmed up a bit into my home brewed coffee.  My copy-cat gingerbread latte includes gingerbread seasoning and a trickle or two of molasses and creamer into my coffee.

Obviously, I have a great deal of distractions 😊. 

To get me started I will often journal with a few writing prompts (yes, pen to paper because it activates a part of the brain where creativity resides).

·         Pretend you have been given a baby reindeer to raise. Write about what you will do to take care of it. What challenges will you have to overcome?

• Write about the perfect Christmas Day. Include plenty of details.
• Character A vows to do something nice for a stranger during the Christmas time. Character B is that stranger.

Since I write n multiple genres and cross-genres, my stories will often include a holiday without the holiday being the primary theme of the story.

Both “Brede” and “Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow” include the Christmas season without holiday being the theme of the entire storyline.

What is your favorite holiday setting?  What is there about a holiday romance that makes it special for you?

Share your favorite holiday memory with me.  Or your favorite holiday cookie recipe.

If you have young children/grandchildren you might like to share a joke or two.

Here are a few of my holiday favorites  🎅  🎄

Q: What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
A: Frostbite. 

Q: What do snowmen like to eat for breakfast?

A: Frosted Flakes!

Q: What did the gingerbread man put on his bed?

A:  A cookie sheet.   

If you are looking for a few new holiday recipes to bake and share, you may wish to visit my Pinterest account:  novelsbyconniev . I have a wonderful recipe for eggnog Bundt cake and gingerbread recipes galore!

Visit my website: www.novelsbyconnievines.com  for links, book trailers, and more.  Don’t forget to enter the contests and giveaways here at the BWL website!

Wishing you a joyous Holiday Season filled with BWL ebooks!

Connie

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Writing Styles by J. S. Marlo

J. S. Marlo BWL Author Page

Planner vs Pantser. These two different types of writers are more than likely familiar to you. A planner is a writer who plans her entire story from start to end—the key plot, the subplots, the characters, the settings, etc—before writing the first word. At the other end of the writing spectrum is the pantser who develops her story as she writes—she flies by the seat of her pants, therefore pantser. I'll admit I started as a true pantser, but after writing myself in a corner on one too many occasions,  I
began thinking ahead. I grew into an hybrid. A Plantser. Before I start writing a new novel, I plan my key plot and major characters, then the magic of writing takes over. These characters introduce me to my minor characters and create their own subplots. I know what you're thinking. They are all figments of my imagination, except they are not. As the story progresses, these characters take a mind of their own.  After 15,000 words or so, they stop dancing to my tune. They will object if I make them do something that is out of character. Very frustrating!

Regardless of how much planning you did, or didn't do, you will eventually start writing. Most writers will write following some sort of chronological order—first scene first, second scene second...last scene last—while others may decide to write farther or random scenes when creativity strikes them. I did that once. I wrote a scene that was stuck in my head but wouldn't occur until two chapters later. Well, by the time I arrive at that part of the story, my characters had taken a left turn and the pre-written scene no longer fitted the story. From then on, I kept things linear, though I found myself going back and adding in-between scenes.

Now, let's get down to writing a scene. Some write by layers. First, they put the skeleton of the scene down on paper (or computer)—basic dialogues and basic descriptions. Once they finish, they go back, extend the dialogue and added more physical details—"I visited my grandmother." becomes "I visited my grandmother Edna. She's eight-five years old but doesn't look a day older than sixty-five".—They  sat in a coffee shop. becomes Seated on plastic yellow chairs at the local coffee shop, they sipped on their latte while catching up. Once they finished writing that second layer, they go back at the beginning again and add a third layer (like what or how the characters feel), and a fourth layer (like what their other senses pick up...a smell, an unusual sound...), until the scene is complete. Some writers extend the layer technique to the story, not just the scene. They write the skeleton of the entire story first. Go back and write the first layer until they reach the end. Go back again and add another layer...They don't waste time trying to pack everything in and everything right at the same time.

Some argue that writing in layers is more efficient than trying to write full sentence packed with all the details on the first attempt. They may have a point, but some writers need the full weight of the previous scenes in order to move to the next one. I'm one of them. I visualize each scene, so everything I see in my mind must be included in my scene before I can write the next one. I need to know the house is red, and not a TBD (To Be Determined) color. It also means I can stay stuck on a single sentence for half an hour if i don't feel I got it right. The advantage of packing everything in one shot is that my first draft will closely resemble my finish product. I will still make some changes as I reread it a second, fourth, and fifth time, but those changes will be minor.
 As you can see, there are no magical formulas when it comes to writing. Every writer has her/his unique way of writing. There are no wrong ways, just many different ways. The trick is to find the one that is right for you.

Happy plotting & writing!

JS

 J. S. Marlo's Website

Flash Fiction/ Story Bites by Connie Vines

What exactly is Flash Fiction?  What the heck are story bites?

Flash Fiction: Stories under 2,000 words. ... Part poetry, part narrative, flash fiction–also known as sudden fiction, micro fiction, short-short stories, and quick fiction—is a genre that is deceptively complex. At the same time, writing these short shorts can be incredibly rewarding.

Why my sudden interests in Flash Fiction?

My writing career began in monthly publications.  I wrote children’s and YA fiction for the magazine market.  I also wrote a monthly column about the budding tech industry and nonfiction articles on various subjects.  This is why Flash Fiction intrigued me.  I knew I could use my Flash Fiction stories to tease my readers, much like my book trailers.  I also knew it would be a simple way for me to keep me from developing writer’s block.

Also, I knew I would be able to write in a new genre, or write about a subject which might not hold my interest long enough to write 60,000+ words.

Here are a few specific tricks (yes, it’s almost Halloween) and also a writing exercise about how to write flash fiction.

1. Take out all unnecessary words.

Practice on Twitter.  I speak from experience. Nothing shows you how to whittle down a sentence to the key elements better than Twitter. Pretend you only get one single solitary tweet to get the idea across. Can you do it?

Try this writing exercise and redo this sentence:

• Pretend you only get one single solitary tweet to get the idea across convey your idea.
• Pretend you only get one tweet to convey your idea.
Look, I just saved 3 words by editing that sentence. That’s GOLD in flash!

2. You don’t need all those adjectives and adverbs.

Use stronger nouns and verbs to do all the heavy lifting. For example, don’t say ‘walk leisurely’ when you can say ‘saunter’. Don’t say ‘small dog’ when you can say ‘Chihuahua’. Your specificity will build a better story with a smaller word count. The exception is for dialogue tags. You’re better off just using “said”, as other verbs related to speech tend to be distracting.

3. Pick a key emotion to color the story.

Readers love it when they feel something.

4. Pick a strong image.

Give us a meaningful and memorable visual. You want a movie example? Indiana Jones shoots the fancy swordsman in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”.

Or come up with your own favorite.  “Bell, Book, and Candle” when Kim Novak (a witch) falls in love with James Steward (a mortal) and becomes a mortal herself.

Now do that with words.

5. Limit your number of scenes.

Honestly, one scene might be best. Though I usually have two or three scenes. The key is choosing a small but powerful moment in a character’s life and placing your story there.

It’s the anti-epic story.

6. No more than one or two characters.
More than that and it gets difficult. Too much dialogue; too many interactions.
While twelve dancing princesses is suitable for a short story or novel.

One dancing princess is suitable for flash fiction.

7. You’re better off using a 1st person or 3rd person limited points of view which stick tightly to the protagonist.

Pick just one point of view for a short story and utilize that throughout. Head hopping and third person omniscient is too jarring in flash fiction.

8. Use a small idea.

Big ideas belong in BIG stories.

9. The same goes for a short story theme: you only have room for one.

10. Focus on one main conflict.

11. Start in the middle of the story, at the beginning of the conflict.

12. Yes, you must still have a character arc.

13. Choose an effective title.

Just like on a date, or job interview--First Impressions Count.

Don’t forget, writing in a new medium takes practice!

Let’s take this new genre for a Halloween Test Drive.  Let’s use six words or less to describe a picture.


But I’m scared of the dark

Can you feel the music?

Happy Halloween Everyone!

For a little not too scary Halloween Fun, download my novella, “Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow”.

Visit my personal blog site on 10/27/2018 for Halloween party treat recipes  and story teasers!

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Hello from Snowy Alberta Canada by Nancy M Bell

WIld Horse Rescue is the first in The Alberta Adventures Series featuring the same characters from The Cornwall Adventures. I hope you enjoy Laurel's latest adventure. For more info and buy links please click here.

But now, back to snowy Alberta! This is only the middle of October and already we've had more snow that is necessary. I mean really Universe... Although the ski hills in the mountains are celebrating those of us prairie dwellers are not. Crops are still in the fields, some swathed and some still standing. Canola, barley and wheat stretch for hectares under overcast skies and highlighted by a frosting of snow. It's been a crazy year, we went from winter to summer with no spring to speak of and then from summer to winter with no fall to speak of. Usually, we take a drive through Kananakis Country west of Calgary to enjoy the golden leaves and blue skies, but not this year.

On another note, it's been a busy summer promoting the Canadian Historical Brides series of which I have two titles. His Brother's Bride representing Ontario and Landmark Roses representing Manitoba. I also did research for the New Brunswick title On A Stormy Primeval Shore. Then I had a deadline to finish Wild Horse Rescue and I'm happy to say it released September 30th of this year. I was privileged to present at When Words Collide in Calgary in August. On the 14th of October a panel of the Brides authors hosted an event at the Carstairs Museum and on the 20th we will be at the Strathmore Library. Busy busy.

I'm also very excited to be involved with the Alexandria Writers Centre Story Coach program. Story Makers were chosen by the Centre and they in turn chose who they would like to work with from a list of Story Coaches. I'm happy to say I was picked and I absolutely love the writer I'm paired with. Her steam punky magic filled story shows great promise and I look forward to working with her. The program runs from October to end of April when there will be celebration of work well done. If you live in the Calgary area and are interested in learning more about the Alexandria Writers Centre you can click here.


For now I leave you with some snowy Alberta pictures. So those of you who are enjoying Indian Summer, don't blink, it's coming your way. LOL Until next time stay well, stay healthy and happy.

How to Design a Fictional Town or City by Connie Vines

Why would a writer design a fictional town or city?

Many writers use actual towns and cities in their fiction, but there are some writers who opt to create their own towns and cities. Stephen King is known for the fictional Maine towns he creates in his fiction. There are various reasons a writer might choose to create a fictional town or city rather than use a real location. The primary reason may be because the content of the story might not be flattering, and the writer, out of respect for the real communities, may create a fictional location to set the story. Fictional settings also require less research. If you're writing about a real place, readers familiar with that town or city will be critical of details that aren't exactly right. Creating a fictional town or city allows you a wider range of flexibility.

So, how does a writer create a fictional town or city that will convince readers they are visiting a real place?

The first step is obvious.  Find a name for your town or city. Come up with a name that sounds like the name of a town or city. Check maps to ensure the town doesn't exist in the state where you will set the story. If it does, your readers will assume you're writing about the actual town. You can use the name of a real town, just locate the town in a state other than where it exists. Consider names for your fictional setting that are similar in sound or spelling to real places.

I created Running Springs, Montana in my first Rodeo Romance in this manner.  Running Springs is a city in the mountains of southern California.  I placed my town in the Bitter Route Valley of Montana.  The larger towns were towns I visited so those details were familiar to anyone living Missoula.

Draw a map of your town or city. It doesn't have to be detailed, but a map will help you write about your town or city as if it's real. You will know what happens if you head east on Main Street or west on Third Avenue. You will know where your residential sections are, where the dangerous part of town is and what businesses are in town. These are details that will help you bring your fictional setting to life for your readers. 

Populate your fictional town with people that give the town character. Create the types of businesses you'd expect to find in a town of the same size and in the same part of the country as your fictional town. If your town is in a state like Wyoming or Montana, chances are good there will be a farm supply store, if not in your town, then at least a nearby town.

Base your fictional town or city on real places to help you gain your bearings and structure, but avoid using specific landmarks that will give away your model town or city. If a landmark is important to the plot of the story, create a similar fictional landmark.

Locate your fictional town or city near a recognizable real-life city to help give your readers an anchor that will make your fictional town or city seem more real to them. In my Fun & Sassy Fantasy Series my anchor cities are in southern California.  Each city is easily recognizable to my readers.
Sensory details are a must.  What flowers grow on the hillsides of the Montana mountains in the spring?  What does a tack and saddle shop smell like?  The sound of cowboy boots clicking on a weather-beaten stair case?  What does a belting hail storm feel like?

Don’t forget the regional foods and everyday expressions. 

Does you heroine reach for a can of soda, coke, or pop?  Sweetened or unsweetened ice tea?

Details count. 

After all your fictional town is a living element in your story.  Your fictional town has played a part in defining your hero or you heroine.

If the author is very skillful the reader will feel as if she/he has visited this fictional town, or believes this town is a real town. . .somewhere.

What is your take on fictional cities?

Happy Reading,

Connie


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Exercising You Literary Muscles Through Free Writing by Connie Vines

Free writing—Improvisation, or raw writing – is a good way to loosen up, to renew or maintain a writing practice.  One writes without a particular plan.  Free writing encourages a pouring out of ideas or ways of expressing them that one may not have produced before.

If one theme keeps surfacing, in free writing that theme can be developed further.  Of course, to improve the craft, writers need to read and study the craft of writing by enrolling in workshops, writers’ groups, and receive input from other writers.

This can also be practiced in your plotting group, or critique group.  When I was a new writer I attending monthly workshops and met weekly with a critique group at a local coffee shop.  Often, we practice free writing and would look over each other’s work and give feedback.  I can’t say that these sessions resulted in finished pieces.  I did begin a short story that was later published and I began a number of projects that I was able to incorporate in later novels.

I still have several folders with my free writing papers.  When I pull out my folders and begin reading, more than a few surprised me with word play, sharp descriptions, or a twist and edge to some ideas. 

These are my rules for free writing:

Write whatever comes to mind without censoring, and keep the pen moving (pens let you write more quickly than pencils). One may use a keyboard; however, studies show that the pen to paper stimulates creatively in a different manner—which is true for me.

If prompts help, many books offer them, although I’ve found that when given too many choices I cannot settle on any. 

Often my free writing seems bland.  Then I remind myself that I had to get those works down in order to think and write my way to something more promising.

How to Improv Your Short Story

• Start with a black paper/ screen and start writing the first story idea you get, and then keep going. Don’t edit in your head; don’t block your creativity. Where will your story go if you let it develop naturally? Will you have a badminton racket in your story? A flying cat?  Or are you clinging to a run-away horse?

• “The key to great story, as with great improv, is to take the ideas that are there and build upon them rather than thinking the ideas won’t work.

• If you prefer to plot your story before you write, use the same approach to your plot outline. Allow your creativity to flourish and see where your story leads you. (Notice I said where your story leads you, not where you lead your story.)

Have fun!  Enjoy the ride.  This is how I work out my Fantasy novellas. 

“Here Today, Zombie Tomorrow” Sassy & Fun Fantasy

Chapter One

“You and Elvis have done a great job on this home,” Meredith said as her older sister led the way down stairs toward the kitchen where the tour began. “Sorry I couldn’t get over until now, but…well, I’ve been sort of. . .well, busy.” Slipping her Juicy Couture tortoise-shell framed sunglasses into a bright pink case, Meredith crammed them into her black Coach handbag.  She hoped her sister didn’t ask her to define busy.  Becoming a zombie, and dealing with the entire raised-from-the-dead issue over the past six months, was not a topic easily plunked into a casual conversation.

I hope you have enjoyed my blog post and the snippet from my novella :-).

Happy Reading & Writing,

Connie


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20th Century Events by Katherine Pym

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~*~*~*~

20^th century carried a lot of weight. Prior to the 1920’s when my parents were born, the century suffered from a polio epidemic, the San Francisco Earthquake, WW-1 and the Bolshevik movement. The Czar & his family’s execution.

Spanish Flu Hospital

My grandfather had the Spanish flu that killed so many. With the hospital full, they found a pallet and wedged him in a corner, hoping he would survive. He did. 😊

In the 1920’s women threw their corsets in the bin. Shedding inhibitions, men and women drank bathtub gin and danced the charleston. My dad remembered when homemade brews exploded in the basement. 

Silent films morphed into talkies and the world paused at the harsh realities of the 

Great Depression.  Dad lived in the city and experienced long soup lines, issued clothing that my grandmother dyed, trying to disguise the humiliation of government handouts. My mom lived in the farmland and had more food at her disposal. Her aunties fashioned underwear out of printed flour sacks, and very comfortable they were too, or so she said.

Soup Kitchen

My parents witnessed the build-up of Nazi Germany, the Spanish Civil War, the jitter-bug, Hollywood’s greatest days, the biggest war ever, and the atomic bomb. 

Women painted their legs to simulate silk-stockings because none were available. Dad said his Navy whites were always stained orange after a night of dancing, which did not put the men in good stead with their superior officers.

After the war, Hollywood introduced black noir movies, where the scenes always seemed to take place at night, the streets wet as if it had rained. Women’s hats got 

smaller, their hair shorter. 

Into the 2^nd half of the century, we saw the rise of Communism and as a reaction to that, McCarthyism. Remarkable scientific marvels catapulted the world from a sleepy planet to OMG, don’t press that button.

WW-2

The Korean War marched around the periphery of our cynical thoughts. Eisenhower was president. Elvis Presley had women screaming, “Kiss me. Kiss me.” Hollywood put out incredible grade B movies where couples ‘necked’ the entire film.

Everyone swing-danced; later we did the ‘twist’, causing women’s waistlines to shrink. Dr Salk found the cure for polio and mom dragged us to the school where we were first in line to eat a sugar cube saturated with the vaccine. 

The Cuban Crisis. Fathers came home early from work and informed their families we only had hours to live. The planet went silent with fear as a shaky hand hovered over the Red Button of Doom. From then on, we ducked and covered under our school desk, breathing in dirt from the playground. 

Nuclear Fallout Map

The Beatles & Rolling Stones. A bevy of unfortunate killings: JFK, Martin Luther King, Malcomb X & Bobby Kennedy’s assassination. 

The Berlin Wall.

Race for the moon. In the Apollo Program, panels 32 & 16 on the LEM (Lunar Excursion Module) were my dad’s responsibility. He was proud of his work and once asked my grandmother what she thought of his part in it. She asked, “What do you mean?” Dad huffed a breath. “My part in men going to the moon and walking on it.”  My grandmother replied it was a hoax. No one could ever fly to the moon, much less stand on it. The whole thing had been filmed on a movie set. My dad stared at her in disbelief.

The best music came during the 60’s & 70’s, mostly connected with the Vietnam War. 

Two Cold Hippies

Hippies ran amok across the country but they were especially filled with love in San Francisco. Smoking weed, downing mushrooms and peyote buttons. LSD. Dancing naked in the streets with flowers in their hair. 

Going to dances were no longer popular. Stoned to the bone, everyone sat lotus-style on the floor or the grass (Woodstock-the world’s greatest example of sex, drugs, & rock’n roll) and listened to mind-bending music.  

I suppose I should mention Nixon’s Watergate; the assassination attempt on George Wallace. Hollywood advanced into the computer era with the green screens and the amazing special effects of Star Wars. Jimmy Carter’s Iran humiliation. 

Woodstock

The Berlin Wall

President Reagan’s attempted assassination, big hair and large shoulder pads. The movie Superman. Lady Diana’s wedding. 

The Shuttle exploded over Cape Canaveral, shutting down the program for a few years until the reason was documented and nailed in cement. Michael Jackson’s breakthrough that every musician wanted to copy, the Thriller video. 

In the 90’s, our world changed with the fall of Communism, the Berlin Wall sledgehammered into chunks of concrete. 

Our planet became smaller with the advent of the computers on the business and personal level. The internet came about with primitive chatrooms and emails. At the airport, a loved one could still accompany you to the gate, and you could carry on board a bottle of wine you wanted to give Auntie at the family reunion.  

Challenger Exploding

People live longer these days. Both in their 90’s when they left, my mom and dad saw so much. What do you suppose they’ll say about the baby boomers in the 21^st century (other than we ruined the world, which we considered our own parents to have done)? 

Hopefully, they’ll say: a lot.   

~*~*~*~

Many thanks to Wikicommons Public Domain