The forces of evil: how to construct a riveting horror story.

The forces of evil: how to construct a riveting horror story.

In crafting a riveting horror story, your characters and what they go through should strive for something different. However, your writing style shouldn’t sway away from the norm. Note that I did not say couldn’t…

Read, read and read some more, that is true with any genre. But as a publisher and an editor, I must warn you that using someone else’s style of writing, although it maybe okay, is frowned upon by me. This is because it shows in your story telling that it’s not you and seeing anything other than your true voice in a manuscript is a turn off. I will put my pants back on, open the blinds and send you home. So be yourself.

The best kind of horror story entails a riveting, pull you in story with added elements of horror. Plain old hack and slash stories don’t cut it anymore. Pull me in and make me care about the character before they get sliced up. Salem’s Lot is a good example of that, so is The Shining. In short, good character building is just as essential in horror, as it is in any genre, I think even more so. If you didn’t have a chance to catch it, last week’s blog was regarding character building, I recommend reading it.

Horror stories can have a happy end—to a point. You don’t want a killer loose and everybody in the story walks away unscathed, that is not right. But your heroine can break free at the end. There are different sorts of endings and most of them are expectable, even in horror.

Be careful when tagging the genre of your story on your manuscript. We receive stories that say they are horror but—the average horror Joe would set the book on fire, and we put out eBooks. An example would be and I see this a lot, Twilight type stories or romantic suspense that are dubbed as horror. That shows that either you are not doing your research or you frighten easily. Either way most “horror” publishers won’t accept it. You need to be careful with your genre or you will get door after door closed in your face.

Please note earlier, I said read lots of books. Watching horror movies will not prepare you to write a book. Live action is written differently. Although making changes in the literary world and shaking things up can be good—be careful. Just because somewhere there is some land where vampires sparkle, and you do have some leniency in the lore of vampires, werewolves and other such creatures, you mustn’t stray too far from the lore. Again we are back to that research.

But be careful not to get so bogged down by your research that you kill your story or your drive, being well researched and knowing your facts does actually help your writing a lot.

Next week: what should I double check before I submit a story to a publisher?

Character building

What is the most important element in a story?

Well…the simple answer is character building. The more layered your characters are the more enjoyable it is for the reader and the least beating you will receive from your editor, LOL

They are many ways to do that.

Think of your characters as human beings. What do they think?  Feel? Wear? What would they do or not do? What are their opinions? Do they vote?

When someone reads your book they should be able to tell who is speaking just by how they sound and what they say. Does that sound hard, it’s really not, these are real characters in your head and they have their own feelings and opinions; you just need to take time with them. It can even be simple consistencies…

For Example:  one of my character’s in Glow in the Dark.

Molly will only drink strawberry milk, eat bacon and only plays with her cat and that is consistently mentioned throughout.

Without any other information, what does that tell you about the character?

It’s imperative in great story telling that your character changes or at least has some sort of personal growth as a result of what is happening to them. Perhaps they are no longer afraid as a result or maybe they embrace the fear.

To be a success you not only want the reader to feel they have a Birdseye view of your characters lives, but leave them actually wondering what happened to Penny and Tom and will they be back again?

Great articles on the subject.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Writing-a-Novel---For-the-Beginner---Character-Development&id=2405413

http://members.cox.net/cflynn11/articles_tips1.html

http://www.suite101.com/content/characters-in-fiction-a69536

http://www.suite101.com/content/creating-fictional-characters-a107760

Tip from me:  Too much of yourself in your characters can make them all sound alike and you should be able to tell which character is speaking just by what they say or how they sound.

Tune in next week for… The forces of evil: how to craft a riveting horror story.

Dawn Binkley
Executive editor
Hellfire Publishing
www.hellfirepublishing.webs.com/

Also known as:
Keira Kroft, Romantic Suspense

http://www.keirakroft.com/

Can your keyboard make a difference in the quality of your work?

Can your keyboard make a difference in the quality of your work?

We’ve gone Cosmo style this week, frankly because that’s what this blog is about, is us editors, coming on here and sharing what we have had to learn the hard way.

I had an ordinary, cheap keyboard at home. I was able to type pretty well on it, after I moved the cat off of it. I only had to right click on spell check a few times, but not bad.

I type 90 words a minute, sometimes faster when I am in the zone (blows on knuckles and pats herself on the back). Then, when I go to our comic book store and type on the laptop there, my god, it’s like a chicken pecking the ground for food. People literally stop me and say "aren’t you a writer?" it’s that bad. LOL 

Our keyboard at a home died, so I had to buy a new one, an expensive one actually. Why not? The cheap one worked so well, so a pricey one is sure to work better. Now on that one I made so many mistakes it’s like I’d typed a foreign language, it’s ridiculous, but those keys are weird. Oh I am constantly hitting the cap lock and I'm a keyboard starer, I don’t look at the screen, except occasionally.

My husband (I love him) went out and bought me laptop and made sure he bought one that had just the right keyboard and I will be damned, not one mistake. The keys are flat and not too far apart and that works best for me.

Will the fact that I have a keyboard I can actually spell on save my career? Maybe not, but it will make the work go faster and the initial quality better.

So my suggestion to you is, next time you’re out buying a laptop or keyboard, type on it a bit and find the one that is the most comfortable.  If you have a hard time on your keyboard and you have an old fashioned computer, you can always go out and buy a ten dollar keyboard that is more comfortable.

So writers, “let your fingers do the talkin” that’s what they do best 

Come back next week for tips on Character development.

Dawn Binkley

Executive editor

Hellfire Publishing

www.hellfirepublishing.webs.com/

Also known as:

Keira Kroft, Romantic Suspense

http://www.keirakroft.com/

Rerun:Writer to Writer Wednesday

Hey ya’all. I have reposted a writer to writer interview this week due to circumstances beyond my control. I couldn’t post one of these wonderful new interviews we have scheduled. But definitely come back every week day for something cool and Wednesdays for new Interviews.

Coming soon to writer to writer Wednesday.

Sharlana Williams interviews the multi-faceted Susan Helene Gottfried

Keira and Edward. Edward will be talking about his future with “Without a Hero” sequels and Hellfire Publishing.

Keira and Savannah. Keira will be drilling Savannah about the new story she is working on.

Savannah and Keira. Keira will be talking more about the new book that she will be revealing later today. That is due out before Inamorata.

More too come...

And now I give you the…snoopy dance :)

Welcome to Writer to Writer Wednesday!

Today Savannah Rayne will be interviewing
                            
                                  Robin Renee Ray

Hello everyone! I’m Savannah Rayne and I have the distinct pleasure of being able to interview the very talented Robin Renee Ray! So please give her a warm welcome! (virtual applause) Robin is a Multi-genre author and is Hellfire Publishing’s #1 bestselling author! She has two releases under her belt with HP, Bloodbreeders: Living in Darkness & After Hours.

Savannah: Hey Robin! How ya doing today?

Robin: Absolutely wonderful.

Savannah: I’d like to thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to stop by and chat with us.

Robin: You are most welcome…Thank you for this amazing invite.

Savannah: First I guess I’d like to ask, how long you have been writing and what prompted you to do so?

Robin: Well, I wasn’t one of those who had a dream, or wanted to become a writer. I pretty much didn’t write anything more than a postcard until a little over five years ago. I had truly become a fan of reading in my mid-thirties and some ten years later, my first Grand was born and that writing brick slammed me in the back of the head. So, one could say it was the birth of my Grands that prompted me into opening my mind..LOL

Savannah: As I mentioned earlier, you are a Multi-genre author. What genre is your favorite to write?

Robin: Without a doubt it would be Horror.

Savannah: Do you find one genre more difficult to write in than others?

Robin:  You have no idea…LOL Me and romance do not get along. When I can’t take one of my contemporary projects anymore, I write a short horror read to refresh my brain. Then and only then, can I jump back into the romance. It just works for me. ;)

Savannah: Can you tell us where the idea for the Bloodbreeders series came from?

Robin: It is my very first baby, so to speak. I couldn’t type, spell…didn’t have any schooling to speak of, but I had this wild story that was stuck in my head. Bloodbreeders starts in a place called Burkett Texas in the book, that is also where I go to write in this series. It all came about while I was goofing off in the little cemetery in this one horse town, the very cemetery that I grew up playing in. And to be honest, I had this type of vampire in mind that would be different than all of the many books that I had read.

Savannah: What inspired After Hours?

Robin: Hahahaha…I have found that I am very fond of two awesome sweet people that I work with and for, and the more that I got to know them, the more the story came to life. Yes, they are sexy demons and they can morph into not so nice demonic creatures, but it does not reflect how I really feel about these two gals. They inspired me with their humor and their favorite choice of scolding tools. To me, they made the perfect characters or victims to my warped world, if you will. ;)

Savannah: If Bloodbreeders were to be made into a movie, who would you like to see play the roles of Renee and Martin?

Robin: This is truly a hard question for me. I have no clue. Most male actors that I love would be too old. *Snicker* I’m just not up on the younger stars out there. I absolutely adore Milla Jovovich, from Resident Evil, and The Fifth Element…but even she may be too old to play Renee. I would just have to leave this up to others in the event that it were to ever happen.

Savannah: I know you’re a Grandma and you spend quite a bit of time with the Grand’s. What are their names and ages?

Robin: Akasha is the oldest and the grand we named after The Queen of the Damned…LOL She will turn 6 on her next birthday. She is just like her mommy, extremely smart and she knows it. Shya, the youngest just turned 3 and she is my little handful. She will be the one that gets sent home for telling the teacher ‘NO’ too many times…LOL They are my world and my muses.

Savannah: Can you tell us what your favorite thing to do with them is?

Robin: Anything…just watching them sleep fills my soul with a joy that can’t be explained. Our favorite all time fun thing however, is playing in the mud.

Savannah: So what do the little darling’s think of Grandma’s writing?

Robin: Shya is too young to even understand right now, but the oldest loves it. She can see one of my book covers and ever time will point at my name and say, “That’s you, huh Grandma.” It makes me so proud!

Savannah: I heard through the grape vine, that you have co-authored a very special book. Can you tell us about that?

Robin: Yes, I do have a co-author and she is outstanding. Unless she is fighting with her sister then I have to send her to the corner...LOL  Akasha L. McBee, my oldest grand is that co-author and creator of every creature in The Tale of Two Toodlgnomes, a children’s adventure series that will be coming very soon with Hellfire Publishing.

Savannah: What is the biggest challenge you face when writing?

Robin: I love my peeps more than words can say, but being interrupted at every turn is my biggest challenge. Had there been no spell-check, it would have been my number one. ;)

Savannah: What is the one thing you’d like to accomplish that you haven’t yet?

Robin: I have done more than I ever thought I would, so one could say that I have exceeded all and more of my accomplishments in life. Now it’s all about having fun and enjoying the Blessings that come my way.  

Savannah: Would you share with us one secret about yourself that most people don’t know?

Robin: I’m a pretty open book, but I don’t think that the world knows that I can laugh myself sick through a really scary movie. Where most are screaming or covering their face…I am cracking up!!!

Savannah: Is there any advice you’d like to give to the Grandma’s out there, who might be struggling with starting the game later in life, as far as writing or getting published?

Robin: Yes, I would say ‘Go For It’ and don’t let age or others stand in your way. Many things come and go with age, but our ability to create with our minds is endless…Like I said,  I didn’t even pick up my first full length novel until my mid-thirties and then waited another ten years to give writing a chance. I know many say, ‘if I can do it anyone can’…well, I mean it. If a drop-out from the 70’s, a Dyslexic, and a woman who began later in life can do this…believe me when I say…You can too!  

Savannah: And one last thing Robin, I’m just dying to know, when was the last time you cut your hair? LOL My goodness it’s so long and beautiful!

Robin: I cut about 9 inches three years ago when it got sucked up into the vaccum..LOL other than that, it’s been about 15 years. My peeps just call me Cousin Its Cousin. ;)

Savannah: Well folks. I think it’s time to let Robin get back to her day. Thank you again Robin for sharing with us a little bit about yourself and your writing. But before you go, I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind doing a little Snoopy Dancing for us?!!

Savannah: OMG! Robin that was great! Thanks for making my day!

Robin: You owe me BIG TIME Savannah! LOL

Savannah: LOL it's worth it! It has been a real pleasure chattin’ with you. You can find out more about Robin and what’s going on in her world by following the links below:

http://robinreneeray.wordpress.com/
http://twitter.com/#!/RobinReneeRay
http://www.robinreneeray.webs.com/

http://www.facebook.com/robinreneeray http://www.robinreneeray.blogspot.com/

http://romancewriterandreader.ning.com/profile/RobinReneeRay http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3055489.Robin_Renee_Ray

I’d like to whole heartedly thank everyone for stopping by….

Hugs & Nightmares,

Savannah Rayne

http://www.facebook.com/robinreneeray

http://www.facebook.com/people/Savannah-Rayne/100000962909070

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Hellfire-Publishing/156736981003841

WORDS THAT MAKE US SAY ‘HUH?’

WORDS THAT MAKE US SAY ‘HUH?’

BY CHERYL ELAINE WILLIAMS, WRITING AS SHARLANA WILLIAMS

 

I thought I found a typo on Page One of a newly-published novel. The word in question broke my concentration and made me stop reading to consider what the devil the author meant. The sentence described horses tied to a hitching post, their ‘backs FLOCKED with fluffy, white snow.’

Huh? Surely the author meant to say, FLECKED with snow. The horses had to be FLECKED with snowflakes. No, it’s correct, another writer friend assured me, “Flocking is the process of depositing many small fiber particles, called FLOCK, onto a surface.” Wikipedia said so.

A quick search of several online dictionaries produced no such definition, which reinforced my impression that this concept of flocking snow does not spring to the forefront in the general mindset of the standard reader. Birds flock, I’ve heard of flocks of sheep, a gaggle of geese, a pride of lions. But I’ve never heard of snowflakes banding together to flurry downward in a flock. In the setting of the novel in question, the American West of 1880, would a cowboy mutter, “Old Paint’s all flocked with snow today, pardner.” If I saw snow falling on my windshield, would I say, “Damn look at it flock.”

That said, that original line is a pretty phrase. Novels try to turn a sweet phrase, so I’ll be looking to see this phrase reoccur in other novels by this same publisher now that they’ve okayed the usage. New usages of words and phrases become accepted all the time. Think of ‘gone missing’ for a disappearance or kidnapping, which came into general use in the U.S. media approximately a decade ago. Before that it was always, “So and so has been reported missing”. Another change that at least one publisher pushed in the 90’s was ‘employe’ for ‘employee’, spelled with one ‘e’. U.S. News and World Report insisted on that usage at the time and I remember that it was a distraction as I read their articles. (I checked their online website today and see they’re now spelling the word with two ‘ee’s.)

Another example: the current preference for gender-neutral language which advises that an actress must be referred to as an ‘actor’. Of course it would all depend on the policy of the media in question and the editor. An interviewer would want to ask an actress how she wishes to be addressed. I as a writer would prefer to dodge the issue because someone, somewhere might object to calling Meryl Streep an ‘actor’, and someone else might object to ‘actor’ being used at all, considering the term as having the same disreputable connotation as a carnival barker or traveling medicine man. I’d prefer the term ‘performer’ or ‘artist’, even ‘artiste’, with an adjective: ‘consummate performer’ or ‘accomplished artiste’.

A thought to consider. Should a writer use a phrase that might produce confusion in the reader, when our main objective as writers is to produce clarity of thought that keeps the reader reading, that does not distract them from the story we’re trying to tell? That said, it’s time to flick off this topic.  

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From manuscript to polished book for sale

From manuscript to polished book for sale

Does it seem like it takes a long time from when you have an idea of a book, to the time it goes on sale? Well it does. Last week we talked about how long it takes for you to get a book contract. After that you wait some more. I have listed all the steps that are taken in our publishing process.

This doesn’t even take into consideration the time you waited for the publisher to read your novel before you sign a contract.

After that…

You will need to fill out all necessary paperwork, which will include a blurb for the back of your book that will also be used as the teaser and also a dedication. So if you don’t have those, you might want to get started on that.

The publisher takes your paperwork and distributes it accordingly.

The cover art is sent to an artist/art department

Your editor is selected and the work is sent to him/her. Now this gets tricky, because in most cases, you have quite a few editors and a copy editor. Each house runs their chain of editing command a little differently.

Finally the editor has your work. Our house does what’s called pre-editing. In pre-editing if you have a repetitive mistake or the novel should have some reshaping, your story is sent back to the author to make those necessary changes, before the actual editing process begins.

The editor’s first round can take a long time.

In the meantime, you are sent a mock-up of your cover art to approve. Once it’s approved and you receive your book cover then it’s time to start plugging your novel.

Your book is returned to you to follow the editor’s guidelines and make the necessary changes.

That last step will be repeated many times.

Then a copy editor will look over it too make sure it looks good. If not…guess what? J

Your novel is shaped and put into downloadable form

We look it over again

Then you get your galley to proof.

We look it over again

These are the steps that Hellfire Publishing takes. A manuscript that will be put into print book is an added process. Other bigger houses will have even more steps than that.

Please don’t forget during this process, unless your last name is King, everyone on the publishing ladder is working on more than one novel, probably more like ten…

Feel free at any time during this process to write another novel. Keep working, it will pay off J

Dawn Binkley

Executive editor

Hellfire Publishing

www.hellfirepublishing.webs.com/

Also known as:

Keira Kroft, Romantic Suspense

http://www.keirakroft.com/