novels

Meet Author TC Michael

Aug 1, 2014 | Authors

Author TC Michael describes himself as being “an epic daydreamer with a wild imagination”, and nothing could better prove this description than his first full-length novel, Secret of the Last Born. The first in the Dark Rising series, Michael mixes common fables and folklore with his own complex fantasy world in a unique, action-packed book of mystery, romance, and self-discovery. Proof Positive is excited to share our interview with this burgeoning young author.

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Is this your first book? How long did it take you to plan it before you began writing it?

Yes and no. This is my first full-length book, but I have had a few short pieces published in the past. With this being my first novel I realized after I wrote the book that there is no “too much” or “too long” on planning. I spent roughly two months in the planning phase before I started the first rough draft.

Is this book part of a series? If so, when can we look forward to the next book being published?

Yes! Secret of the Last Born is book 1 in the Dark Rising series. Book two will be out no later than the end of February, but there isn’t an official release date yet.

Do you mostly write in this particular genre or do you dabble in other genres? If so, which ones?

So far I have only written in the fantasy genre, but I definitely have plans in the future to expand that reach.

What do you think makes your work stand apart from other works in your genre?

Secret of the Last Born is a story about magic, love, and loss. It’s full of twists, turns, and conflicts. But I think the main reason that it stands out from the rest is because it has a good sense of realism. Not in a direct way, but in a way where magic doesn’t take over and the reader forgets about the real world that the characters live in. You will always be able to find a sense of connection with the characters because they are like you, and probably in more than one way.

Are any of the characters in your book based on people you know or have seen/talked to in real life?

I would say most of the characters seen in Secret of the Last Born are based upon multiple characteristics from multiple people. I definitely like to base fictional characters on people in real life, but in this book that isn’t the case. As planning continued I decided the characters would just slowly come together, and that’s what happened.

Do your friends and family know you’re a writer? Were they surprised when you told them?

Most know that I am a writer. There are still a few who don’t know, but all of those close to me know that I’m a writer, and that’s what I love doing. I would say “surprised” would describe maybe a quarter of them. Most of them expected it because I’ve always loved writing. I have had a really supportive family to keep me going.

What inspires you to write? Music? Other books? Real life events? Just an incredible imagination?

Many things! Other books, wonderful authors, mostly life events – both bad and good, and a very good imagination. Throughout my younger years I used to spend countless hours every day imagining different worlds, and imagining our world if things had gone differently in the past.

Are you part of any writers’ groups? If so, what do you like about them? How do they help you or inspire you? If not, why not?

I am not part of any writers’ groups…yet. But I will be soon!

Do you plan your writing out with outlines, character development exercises, and other pre-writing activities? Or do you just write as it comes to you?

I think many authors have one set routine, and some authors just go with whatever they think will work for that specific story they want to tell. In a sense, I’m the type that will go with whatever they think will help the situation the best, but I am beginning to form my own routine. With Secret of the Last Born, I realized the method that works very well is as follows: Get idea>brainstorm details>list details>character ideas>form characters and character backgrounds>outline (at least two drafts)>ask others what they think about the idea. This is the basic structure of preparing; there are several smaller details that I didn’t add, but you get the point.

Did you do any research for this book?

Yes, and research is harder work than most think! You have to search for long periods of time until you find exactly what you’re looking for. Even if it’s only a minor detail. With this being my first full-length book I feel like I could’ve done a bit more research, but hey, it takes practice to become a great writer. Research is very important for all books, and I think without it you would have a story that no one is interested in.

Do you read the kinds of books you like to write? Do you watch movies similar to or the same genre as your writing?

Oh you better believe it. I read all kinds of books, but probably 85% of them are in the same genre I’m writing. Movies are a little different; I’m a huge move fanatic, I love watching movies of all kinds. I certainly watch a lot of movies in the same genre though!

If you could write anywhere in the world – in a fictional or non-fictional place – where would you write?

1. At home 2. At any huge, quiet, shady park 3. On the mountains. There are too many fictional places to count, but I would write at all of those places too!

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Connect with TC Michael:
Twitter
Amazon
Goodreads
Facebook

Check out Secret of the Last Born:
Amazon US
Amazon UK

Intention vs. Reality in Writing

Jul 17, 2014 | Writing

“But Your Honor, I intended to help that little old lady across the street. Her purse handle just happened to loop over my arm, and I didn’t realize it was there until I was several blocks away and that cop tackled me!”

Do you think any judge in the world would believe that statement? More importantly, do you think he even cares about the thought process or supposed intention the defendant had? No? Well, the same thing goes for writing – readers are your judges, and they don’t know or care about your intentions, they only know and care about what’s actually written on the page.

And since the only reality your readers know is what they read, you have to make your intentions perfectly clear in the written word. Readers can’t stop to think about what you Question_Guy may have intended when a scene or sentence doesn’t quite make sense or fit with a character’s personality or situation. Nor should they have to. And they’re not mind readers either.

Sometimes when we’re writing, we’re so in touch with our characters and their situations that we don’t clarify our intentions in a scene well enough.

Have you ever had a teacher whose lectures could only be understood by someone already knowledgeable in the field, while those of us on the “outside” couldn’t grasp their meaning? Or read instructions that skipped over the details and assumed the user would just “get it”? I think we’ve all experienced at least one of these things; personally, I’ve been on the receiving end of both. And it’s very frustrating.

Writers hire editors to take an objective look at their work before it’s published – at that point, the editor is one of your first readers, so if something is unclear or confusing to her/him, it will most likely be unclear to your future readers as well.

An editor’s job is to point out these problems within a story and suggest a better way.
A writer’s job is to take that point constructively and seriously consider the possibility that it needs modification in order to be easily understood or fit with the rest of the story.

But sometimes a writer is so married to their work that they become defensive about every line, even saying that they think readers will understand their intentions that aren’t written or just allow for incongruous scenes. If you, as a writer, hear yourself saying that, STOP. While the final decision always belongs to the writer as to how the book is written, it serves your book – and your readers – best if you consider the possibility that your intentions are not coming across in your writing.

The upshot: unless you’re writing experimental literature in which readers expect and want to spend time figuring things out, your words need to clearly convey your intentions, not suggest or skirt them.

Calling All Critiques: Second Week Wrap-Up

Jun 5, 2014 | Offers

Thank you to everyone who has participated so far in Calling All Critiques, whether you were a submitting author or a critiquer or just stopped by the blogs to see what was going on. The second week’s Rafflecopter random giveaway of two eBooks and a $10 Amazon gift certificate ends on Sunday at midnight, so give some feedback on one of the earlier posts and maybe win some prizes:

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/6928ae4/

First Week Visiting Winner

The first week’s visiting winner who either commented or followed one of the participating bloggers on Twitter is:

Entry #49
Elliot W.

Elliot, you should have received an email yesterday. You have until Thursday to respond with further information for us to send you your prize. If we don’t hear from you by then, a runner-up will be chosen.

Cover Art Random Winner

As a thank you to all the authors who submitted their work to be critiqued, we’ve randomly chosen one lucky winner who has a choice of the following prizes:

20-page professional edit/critique by Proof Positive OR
An author interview on the Proof Positive blog AND an author WIP Q&A on MM Jaye Writes OR
An honest review of his or her book (no horror/hardcore erotica) on MM Jaye Writes AND, if it’s speculative or dark fiction, Magic & Mayhem Book Reviews, with corresponding Amazon and Goodreads reviews.

This week’s winner is:

Entrant #9
Bob Cradock

Bob, look for an email in your inbox later today. You have until Friday to respond as to which of the three prizes you want. If we don’t hear from you by then, a runner-up will be chosen. Once you choose your prize, we will provide you and the blogger with each other’s contact information to coordinate timing.

Next Week: Query Letter or Book Blurb Critique

Starting Saturday, June 7, 2014, at 6 a.m. Eastern and ending Monday, June 9, 2014, at 8 p.m. Eastern, submit your query letter or book blurb to Critiques@Saboviec.com. Cut and paste the following template into your email and fill it in.

The name you want to be known by:
Your website (optional):
Title:
Genre (include audience, such as YA/Adult, and category):
Entry:

We’re not imposing a word limit for this critique; however, you already know that too long isn’t going to get you an agent or interest in your novel, right?

This week’s deadline: Monday, June 9, 2014, at 8 p.m.

No changes for the rest of this from last week: Your entry will be assigned a number in the order in which it is received. Our cutoff is 30 entries. Entries 1-6 will be posted on our blogs Monday morning, entries 7-12 will be posted on our blogs Tuesday morning, etc.

Your email will be kept confidential. What you submit is what will be posted, so double- and triple-check your spelling and grammar. (We may correct crazy formatting errors as a result of email quirks, but still, make sure it’s clean before you press send.) You may resubmit an entry, but it goes to the end of the queue: if you submit it past the 30-entry cutoff, you’ll have lost your spot.

All 30 accepted entrants will be entered into the prize drawing, and the winner will be chosen by their assigned number through Random.org.

As always, if you don’t want both positive and negative feedback, please don’t enter. This event is for us to help one another grow as authors and maybe to make some friends in the process.

Some fine print: Entries that don’t include the above information will be discarded. At our sole discretion, we may also discard other posts for reasons such as offensive/distasteful material. Erotica may be confined only to certain blogs, and we may put an adult content warning on it.

If You Enter, Please …

Critique other entrants. The sky’s the limit on how many other entries you critique, but we ask that you at least provide feedback to two other participants.

Also, when you receive feedback on your entry, be gracious if you decide to respond. We would highly suggest not responding except for perhaps a “thank you,” but you’re going to do what you’re going to do, aren’t you? Don’t be defensive or explanatory; these critiques are for you to improve your writing. Take what you want and leave the rest behind.

And If You Critique, Please …

Be nice. Be constructive. Be specific. Be polite.

Mean-spirited or spam posts will be deleted. General “I love everything about it and I think you’re the next J.K. Rowling, ZOMG!” obviously-written-about-your-best-friend comments won’t be deleted, but that’s tacky. Don’t be tacky.

Join us for more fun next week!

While you wait, check out all the participating blogs and bloggers:

Official Blog of Brian Basham – Brian Basham (Twitter / Wattpad / Facebook)
MM Jaye Writes – MM Jaye (Twitter / Facebook)
Quanie Talks Writing – Quanie Miller
Proof Positive – Christie Stratos (Twitter / Facebook / Google+)
Before Ink Dries – Mike Verbickas
Magic & Mayhem Book Reviews – S. L. Saboviec

We look forward to seeing you back here soon.

Any questions? Leave them in the comments!

Calling All Critiques: Cover Art Entry #7

Jun 3, 2014 | Offers

We’ve had a lot of amazing book covers in our cover art edition of Calling All Critiques! It’s been wonderful to see so much effort put into great design work to fit the storyline and genre. Speaking of which, our final cover is ready to be critiqued!

Author: Lucy Beebe Tobias
Website: http://www.LucyTobias.com
Title: Mary Margaret Manatee: the adventures of a young Florida manatee
Genre: picture book, grandparents, children ages 5-10

Thanks to everyone who participated in the cover art event, and thank you to all the wonderful authors who submitted their covers! We hope you’ve had plenty of useful feedback.

Don’t forget to enter our Rafflecopter giveaway whether you’ve critiqued a cover or submitted one.

Calling All Critiques: Submit Your Cover Art

May 31, 2014 | Offers

Starting now, Calling All Critiques is accepting entries for your cover art.

How to Enter

Submit your entry to Critiques@Saboviec.com. Cut and paste the following template into your email and fill it in.

Your name/pseudonym:
Your website (optional):
Title:
Genre (include audience, such as YA/Adult, and category):

Attach your cover art to the email in a standard format (.jpg, .gif, .png preferred). Make sure it’s big enough to be legible when viewed at full-size on a standard web browser.

This week, we will keep accepting entries through Monday or Tuesday, depending on interest. If you get them in before 8 p.m. EDT and spots are open, you will go into the next day’s round.

More Details

Questions? Check out some of the earlier blog posts or leave a comment below:

After You Submit…

After you submit, check out all the participating blogs and bloggers:

Quanie Talks Writing – Quanie Miller
Proof Positive – Christie Stratos (Twitter / Facebook / Google+)
Official Blog of Brian Basham – Brian Basham (Twitter / Wattpad / Facebook)
MM Jaye Writes – MM Jaye (Twitter / Facebook)
Magic & Mayhem Book Reviews – S. L. Saboviec
Before Ink Dries – Mike Verbickas

Thanks for being part of Calling All Critiques!

Calling All Critiques: Entry #14

May 28, 2014 | Offers

This is the final day of 500 word excerpts for Calling All Critiques! Thank you to all who participated – we hope you found the critiques you received useful. Next week we’ll have book covers in need of critiques, so stay tuned!

Don’t forget to enter our raffle to win a $10 Amazon gift card, an eCopy of It Ain’t Easy Being Jazzy by Quanie Miller, and an eCopy of Guarding Angel by S. L. Saboviec. This is your last chance!

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/6928ae2/

And now, on to the final critique.

Author: Robert L. Slater
Website: www.desertedlands.com
Genre: YA/Adult Science Fiction
Entry:

*STRAIGHT INTO DARKNESS*
A Deserted Lands novel*.*

LIZZIE SLUNK BETWEEN THE CIRCLES of lights on the snow-scattered streets. The night’s cold bit at her through the layers of clothing she’d added after escaping. Her second day of freedom—slept away in an uncollected house—faded into the past. Happy Belated-f___ing Birthday, Lizzie. Now someone followed her. Or maybe paranoia lied to her again.

Her pace quickened, the baby in her belly kept her core warm, but her fear sent her running. She jogged down the center of the street away from the drifting snow that would give her path away.

Like her feared pursuer, the houses watched her; like hollow ghouls they represented the human deaths, the costs of the pandemic. Her heart twisted at the thought of her own dead. Mama, keep me safe. Jayce, help Mama not be too lonely. Lizzie wished she could hear their voices, see their pictures and videos. But that cell phone had died in the burning car. Stupid. Months later she still kicked herself for her forgetfulness and lack of focus.

A car engine hummed down a nearby street. She slid behind a wooden fence and found a knothole she could use to spy on the car. Good thing she’d hidden—one of The City’s finest. He looked like a cop, not just someone who had become one since the Quieting. That might make him better at his job.

He couldn’t be looking for her. No one should even know she was gone until she didn’t show up for Monday morning chores, cleaning up after breakfast in the cafeteria. Somebody might notice she didn’t show up for breakfast, but breakfast wasn’t mandatory for the preggers. They’d assume she’d prioritized sleep or felt nauseous. She should have had another day. She needed that day. Dammit. The cop stopped at the next intersection and turned a circle inside it, then another and stopped. Was he bored?

The patrol car sat idling. The door opened. Lizzie scanned behind herself, she needed to move. She slipped against the house and worked her way around, eyes peeled and ears open to anything. The car door closed. The engine revved and moved away from her. At the edge of the street, she waited behind another parked car until it turned onto a side street. Then she raced across.

This mission wasn’t what she’d imagined. It should have been easy. The night curfew meant no one on the streets. That was the mistake. No one except her. She needed to get out of the central district and into the suburbs. The viaduct cut across her path. She lowered herself down its incline on her butt. Ice covered the bottom, but she’d be more hidden. Unless, of course, someone had seen her go down and then there was no escape.

She slid along the ice for several blocks, but it slowed her down. She crawled out to streets blown clean of snow. Anger fueled her feet on the bare pavement, she ran, ignoring the mild stitch in her side and the uncomfortable bounce from the extra fat her body was piling up.

Liked critiquing this piece? There’s more to critique!

Or critique another piece on Proof Positive’s blog:

Calling All Critiques: Entry #8

May 27, 2014 | Offers, Uncategorized

Thank you to everyone who has shared their work for us to critique! We hope that our feedback is useful.

Also, please note that we still have spots open. Submit your first 500 words to Critiques@Saboviec.com for inclusion in this week’s blog posts. We need it by tonight at 8 p.m. if you want to be included tomorrow and spots are still open.

For critiquers (and if you’re an entrant and you critique, you’re a critiquer), feel free to enter our Rafflecopter giveaway. One lucky person will win a $10 Amazon gift card, an eCopy of It Ain’t Easy Being Jazzy by Quanie Miller, and an eCopy of Guarding Angel by S. L. Saboviec.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/6928ae2/

Entry #8

*Author: Kim Johnson*
*Website:* http://kimcjohnson.wordpress.com/
*Title: Her Only Escape*
*Genre: YA Suspense*

The last place a senior wants to be cooped up is the career counseling office. But I like the quiet. I like the college posters filled with smiling faces. The stacks of possibilities filed in the cabinets. Even the obsolete typewriter. But most of all, hearing the tick, tick, tick, of the clock. A sound to drift to if I can stay undetected in the far corner.

Hunched over, my long hair drapes my face on my desk and I let my glasses dangle at the tip of my fingers.

*My legs flutter above ground, whipping high in the sky. I land. Move my feet sharply like scissors to complete an arabesque, dangerously close to the edge of the stage. With my feet perfectly on pointe, I arch my back, keeping the length of my arms straight. I’m dancing like my life is on the line – reckless chances. Maybe it’s because I know he’s watching me from the back corner. I dance faster so he doesn’t disappear, but my body is tiring. I stumble glancing in the shadows. He is gone. *

The bell rings and I jolt my head up. It takes a second to place myself. I wipe the drool from my mouth, and throw my bag over my shoulder. Adrenaline charges up my body, raising my energy beyond containment. I refuse to let anything stop me from dancing again. I swallow the pain choking up to my neck thinking about Michael. About his warnings. About him being gone.

I practically skip to the doors adjacent to the indoor weight facility at Eugene Highland high school. We use it as our makeshift studio. The first time I found out it, I stalked the dance practice through the window for weeks before I brought the subject up at home.

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” Mom said after I mentioned wanting to take up dance again. I did a double take, to make sure I heard her right. She repeated once more. Hearing it a second time, it stung like she slapped my face. Dad left the room to refrain from yelling at the top of his lungs.

I wanted him to. Just once lose it, in front of me. But he didn’t.

Mom continued, “I only mean, you should try something new, Samantha.”
My mouth still hung open a bit. What she won’t say is, *do something else*. *Anything else.* As long as it doesn’t remind her of Michael.

Mom is all about forgetting.

Shoving it down.

Burying it.

Dad usually gives in to Mom, but this was one thing he wouldn’t let be taken away from me. I found him upstairs, unpacking my dance boxes.

“For when you’re ready,” he said, before kissing my forehead goodnight.

And dance began burning in my heart again. Calling me to the floor. Gripping me until I couldn’t breathe. Till the only thing left for me to do was dance.

There’s more to critique!

After leaving your comments, you can head over to one or more of these blogs to see some more great entries:

Thank you to the entrants and the participants!

Calling All Critiques: A Cross-Blog Event

May 12, 2014 | Offers

We can all use a little help once in a while, can’t we? I’m excited to announce that my blog will be part of an upcoming event, Calling All Critiques, a cross-blog critique event open to self-published, traditionally published, and unpublished authors (that would be everyone!). The event will start the weekend of May 24 and run until June 13, adding up to three weeks of critiques of different aspects of novel writing and marketing.

Three weeks of critiques

The schedule for the weekly critiques is as follows:

Week of May 26: First 500 word critique
Week of June 2: Cover art critique
Week of June 9: Book blurb or query letter critique

Entries will be accepted the weekend before the week’s critiques, with a cutoff of 5 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday. We have a total of 35 slots, 5 on each of the 7 participating blogs, and the entries will be accepted in the order they were received. The posts will go up throughout the week, 7 each Monday through Friday, one on each blog each day, for a total of 5 per blog. All blogs will link to each other so that critters can easily find the other entries.

There will be prizes

What’s an event without prizes? We have two categories of prizes: One lucky winner each week from the entrants and one lucky winner from a Rafflecopter giveaway, chosen by random draw. Each winning entrant will have his or her choice of the following prizes:

20-page professional edit/critique by Proof Positive OR
An author interview on the Proof Positive blog AND an author WIP Q&A on MM Jaye Writes OR
An honest review of his or her book (no horror/hardcore erotica) on MM Jaye Writes AND, if it’s speculative or dark fiction, Magic & Mayhem Book Reviews, with corresponding Amazon and Goodreads reviews.

Each Rafflecopter winner will win this package:

An electronic copy of Guarding Angel by S. L. Saboviec
An electronic copy of It Ain’t Easy Being Jazzy by Quanie Miller
$10 gift certificate from Amazon

Interested in having your work critiqued?

Each week, entrants will have two days to submit their work for critique. When the submission window opens, you (that’s right, you) may submit to an email address that will be provided. You will need to provide the following information: Your name/pseudonym: Title: Genre (include audience, such as YA/Adult, and category): Entry: Your email will be kept confidential. What you submit is what will be posted, so double- and triple-check your spelling and grammar. (We may correct crazy formatting errors as a result of email quirks, but still, make sure it’s clean before you press send.) You may resubmit an entry, but it goes to the end of the queue: if you submit it past the 35 entry cutoff, you’ll have lost your spot. If you’re nervous about participating because you aren’t sure what comments you’re going to get, rest assured that we bloggers are committed to making this a positive event for everyone. Mean-spirited or trolling comments will be deleted. We’ve participated in these events in the past, and for the most part, everyone is helpful and kind. That being said, if you don’t want feedback on your entry, don’t submit. Critiques are provided to help you improve your writing. Along with “this worked great for me,” you will get “this didn’t work so great for me” comments. If you don’t want that kind of feedback, please don’t participate.

Interested in critiquing?

Yay! Critters are the lifeblood of this event. As the posts go live, one each weekday over the three weeks of the event, please feel free to critique as many or as few as you want. You may want to follow all the participating blogs to get up-to-the-minute information, or we will be tweeting under the hashtag #CACrits. The only rule we have is to be constructive. You can say you dislike something, but give reasons why. In fact, you can say you like something, but give reasons why for that, too. Although it’s ultimately up to the author to determine whether to take feedback or not, we grow the most when we understand why something does or doesn’t work. Posts will go up in the morning at each of our blogs. We’d love it if you could visit all of us throughout the week:

(Website not yet live) Before Ink Dries – Mike Verbickas
M.G.’s Fantasy Blog – M.G. Silverstein
Magic & Mayhem Book Reviews – S. L. Saboviec
MM Jaye Writes – MM Jaye (Twitter / Facebook)
Official Blog of Brian Basham – Brian Basham (Twitter / Wattpad / Facebook)
Proof Positive – Christie Stratos
Quanie Talks Writing – Quanie Miller

Thanks for stopping by!

We look forward to seeing you back here in a couple weeks. Any questions? Leave them in the comments!

Author Chat: Why I Like Historicals

Nov 23, 2013 | Authors

By now, you’re probably familiar with Donna Hatch’s historical romance novels. If not, check out her Amazon page for a listing of her published books.

I had the chance to catch up with Donna, who is always in the midst of working on her next novel. I asked her why historical fiction appeals to her as an author and what about it stands out to her as a great genre. Here’s her perspective on why historical fiction is so appealing to readers and writers alike.

~~~

I love many things about historical fiction—both as a reader and as an author. When life gets stressful, the first thing many readers do is pick up a novel. Historical novels provide the perfect escape from reality. Total escapism can and does happen with modern-day novels, but the more a book differs from the present-day world with its present-day cares, the better an escape it provides. Historical novels transport readers to another place and time completely different from reality. Another draw of historical fiction for many people is that it typically has more lyrical writing or “voice” than other genres.

Like most Regency romance authors who pride themselves on historical accuracy, I extensively research British history, particularly the Regency Era, which is the early 1800’s. This is how I create a virtual trip through time. Having my facts straight is not just a pretty backdrop for my stories; the manners and mores of society helped shape people who lived in that time, both those who embraced customs of the time and those who challenged them.

But if I had to pick one reason why I love historical romance, it’s the people. Call me a romantic, but people from the past seemed to be more concerned with honor. In Regency England, duty and honor meant everything. If a man said he’d do something, especially if he gave his word, he meant it, and others could count him to follow through, even at great personal cost.

I love the way people in Regency England spoke so eloquently. The upper classes didn’t maul the language—they used correct grammar and had an enormous vocabulary. They also prized wit and excelled in using the understatement. If you read books by authors of that day such as Jane Austen, you’ll see that their writing is almost poetic, each word chosen for its wording, imagery, and rhythm.

By the Georgian and Regency Eras, men and women alike were educated and could read, compute complex mathematics, speak multiple languages—French and Latin in particular—and loved philosophical debates. They were also very cultured. From a young age they were taught to dance, play music, sing, and recite poetry.

Men in many historical eras were civilized and treated women with courtesy by standing up when a lady entered the room, doffing their hats, curtailing their language, offering an arm, bowing, and a hundred other little things I wish men still did today. But they were also very athletic; they hunted, raced, fenced, boxed, rode horses. They were manly. Strong. Noble. Resolute. Honorable. I love that about them! And that makes them perfect heroes for both historical fiction and historical romance novels.

~~~

If you’re not familiar with Donna’s latest book, A Perfect Secret, make sure you check it out.

Author: Donna Hatch
Release date: November, 2013
Genre: Historical Romance
Tour: Irresistible Reads Book Tours

Book Description:

Desperate to protect her father from trial and death, Genevieve breaks off her engagement with Christian Amesbury and marries a blackmailer. After a year of marriage, she flees her husband’s violent domination only to have fate bring her back to Christian. Just when she thinks she’s started a new life of safety and solitude, her husband tracks her down, stalks her, and threatens everyone she loves.

Still brokenhearted over Genevieve’s betrayal a year ago, Christian can’t believe she’s come back into his life–and worse, that she’s done it on the anniversary of his brother’s death, a death that haunts him. Though tempted to throw her back into the river where he found her, he can’t leave her at the mercy of the terrifying man she married.

When her husband torments Genevieve and puts his family in danger, Christian will do anything to protect those he loves…anything except give Genevieve another chance to break his heart.

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/16057884-a-perfect-secret

~~~

About the Author:

Donna Hatch author I’ve had a passion for writing since the age of eight when I wrote my first short story. During my sophomore year in high school, I wrote my first full-length novel, a science fiction romance. I wrote my second novel during my senior year, a fantasy romance. Needless to say, English and Creative Writing were always my favorite subjects. Yes, I’m a total grammar geek! In between caring for six children (7 counting my husband), I manage to carve out time to indulge in my writing obsession, with varying degrees of success, although I write most often late at night instead of sleeping. And yes, all of my heroes are patterned after my husband of 21 years, who continues to prove that there really is a happily ever after.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RomanceAuthorDonnaHatch
Official Website: http://donnahatch.com/

Tuxedoed Writing

Jul 9, 2013 | Writing

Will Rogers, Jr. once advised a fellow actor, “Don’t ever take a dramatic lesson. They will try to put your voice in a dinner jacket, and people like their hominy and grits in everyday clothes.” The actor – Dale Robertson – followed Rogers’s advice and became a highly successful television star.

This golden advice is similar for writers: don’t let writing classes, editors, or well-meaning critique groups dress your writing up so much that it’s no longer yours. Separate good advice that will benefit your story from advice that would change your voice, tone, or direction.

Without a doubt, writing classes and seminars can be beneficial, as can the opinions of friends and fellow writers. But opinions are just that – opinions. They’re not black and white formulas for writing success, they’re someone else’s personal ideas and preferences, and those may not necessarily be right for the story you had in mind.

Sometimes we writers tend to forget that helpful, well-meaning suggestions aren’t solid answers for writing a best seller, and we take them as hard facts rather than suggestions. I have a friend who belongs to an informal writing group that critiques each other’s works. She finds going to the monthly meetings helpful in keeping her on track with her writing commitment, which is great. But because there are a couple of published authors in the group, she takes their critiques as etched-in-stone fixes for her work, which they’re not. In fact, even though some of their suggestions are excellent, others were derailing her plot and changing her main character so much that she didn’t even recognize him anymore. She kept hitting walls and found that she couldn’t write about this new “stranger” in her novel. Had she tried to force her story out, it would have suffered and lost its authenticity. All those well-meant critiques would have turned her novel into everyone else’s novel. She finally realized that she had to back away from certain suggestions in order to move the story forward and keep it hers.

So weigh those well-intended suggestions and critiques objectively and see if they actually improve your story or if they’re just putting a dinner jacket on your words. Readers want authenticity – they can see right through the fake bow tie and tux; what they want is your style of everyday clothes.

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