Notions of Promotions

 

A lovely promotion for Seven Aprils!

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A writer acquaintance of mine once achieved her lifelong goal...to have one of her books reach New York Times best seller list. This was a great promotion in her mind. She said, "Now I know how my obituary will start-- 'New York Times best-selling author...'"

In life as well as art, we receive many promotions. My dad served in the United States military (National Guard and Army) for much of his long life. He first achieved the rank of Sergeant. His men loved the way he looked after them and called him "dad" even though he was in his twenties. While in Europe during World War II, his superiors thought him officer material. They sent him for a crash course in recently liberated Paris, after which he became a lieutenant and back into the field of war with new duties. So, as he often laughed about later, a scrappy son of Irish and French Canadian immigrants from Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, who dreamed of going to West Point, became a commissioned officer and a gentleman by way of the Sorbonne, Paris. What a promotion!

Sgt. Charbonneau

I love my promotion to mother. For the rest of my life, I will be known as the mother of three wonderful human beings, Abby, Marya, and Lawrence.

More recently, daughter Marya's decision to become a mother gave me another promotion...to grandmother. Wow, this one is totally undeserved and great fun! 

Desmond and his grandma up to no good together

In my work life, I was so pleased to be asked to become a co-author with Jude Pittman of the Canadian Historical Mystery Series. I've long been a reader and admirer of the series of novels based in the Canadian provinces that BWL publishes. So to be asked to contribute to it? A great honor and promotion!

What are the promotions of your life, dear readers? I hope you've had many and that they've brought you joy.

1692 And All That...

 

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I'm so happy that my new novel in the Canadian Mystery series with my co-author Jude Pittman is coming out next month! What do you think of the cover? I think this series is a fine way to learn more about Canadian history, province by province, while engaging in great stories and tacky mysteries to solve, along with resourceful amateur and professional detectives.

Our assignment was Newfoundland-- an island I've admired since seeing the enchanting musical "Come From Away." Since I'm a New Englander, a place with historic ties to Newfoundland in the colonial period, Jude and I decided to link the province's vibrant cod fishing trade to that of Salem, Massachusetts. And what was happening in 1692-93 Salem? You know it-- a witch hunt.

That got our creative juices flowing! 

Then of course, came research and lots of it. I have not set a novel this far back in time, so I thought I share some of our research that I found fascinating...

Did you know....

* That most witch hunts took place, not in the so called "Dark Ages" or medieval times, but in the period of the Renaissance?

*That there was a secret alliance between England and France that left Newfoundland's settlements vulnerable to attack during King William's War?

*That the delightful puffins of Newfoundland did not get their name until 1760? So in Spectral Evidence we needed Newfoundlanders to call them sea parrots!  

Puffin (Sea Parrot)

*That the First Peoples of Newfoundland, the Beothuk, were declared "extinct" by the 1820s, but their friends the Mi'kmaq disputed the claim. Genetic evidence have proven them right.

The Beothuk of Newfoundland

*That there are "easter eggs" in Spectral Evidence that fans of Star Trek might enjoy?

What??? Oh, yes, make it so!

 

Are There Rule For Writing by Joan Donaldson-Yarmey

 

 https://books2read.com/Sleuthing-the-Klondike

https://bwlpublishing.ca/donaldson-yarmey-joan/

 

Are There Rules to Writing?

Some new writers believe there is a formula for writing, that something should happen by a certain page in the manuscript and another thing so many pages further. In some genres, like romance, that may be the case but for most it isn’t. And even some of those who write romance say they just present the story. For mystery stories, some believe it should start out with the murder, or disappearance, or some sort of mysterious or secretive action while others begin their story with the characters and setting. And remember there are all sorts of sub-genres with every genre and for each one of them the story can be started according to the author’s taste.

So, if there are no rules for writing are there rules for being a writer? Maybe. It depends on who you listen to. Some writers follow a set pattern of writing, such as outlining, using a certain software, or doing their first draft with pen and paper. But there are more dimensions to writing other than putting words on paper.

Don’t try to write like a famous author you admire. You have your own way of writing that is your style and voice. Stay with it.

Before a manuscript is sent to an editor, agent, publisher, or beta reader, it should be free of mistakes in spelling, punctuation, and in the story line—make sure there is no change to a character’s hair colour or what a character did when in the story. Don’t have a character talk about something before they’ve even experience it or witnessed it.

Once their manuscript is complete some writers look for beta readers to give them feedback on the story. It is important to remember that not everyone will like the same story. Even famous writers can’t please their readers all of the time. So don’t be angry or hurt if someone doesn’t like yours. Take what they have to say about your manuscript and see if it needs changing. Bottom line, though, is that it is your work so your opinion comes first. And to add further, there are a lot of people who will resent your success. Ignore their cutting remarks.

Don’t sit back after you’ve sent your manuscript away. Start your next book, compose a short story, keep writing. And if you find that the writing of a story isn’t going well, feel free to set the manuscript aside and start another. You can pick the first one up again at a later time.

And after having said all that, here are some of my quirks about my writing. I have a set way of developing the story before I start to write it depending of the genre. If it’s historical I will do a lot of research to get to know the era, the clothing, the hairdos, etc, before starting and continue researching as the story advances to make sure I get all the facts right. If it’s a mystery then I decide on the death or disappearance then add the characters and let them tell the story. A lot of the time I don’t know who did it until part way through or even at the end of the manuscript. If it’s a romance, then I start with the characters and the setting and see what happens.

I say that I am a pantser writer in that I don’t use an outline but once the story progresses then I will plot out scenes that will be coming next so I do a bit of outlining.

Bottom line about writing: do what works best for you and ignore the rest.