Thursday Writing Quote ~ Stephen King

Little by little, writers develop their own styles, each as unique as a fingerprint. Traces of the writers one reads in one’s formative years remain, but the rhythm of each writer’s thoughts – an expression of his or her very brain waves, I think – eventually becomes dominant. ~ Stephen King

Tuesday Teaser/Opening ~ House to House

I've always considered it an obligation of the civilian to look unflinchingly at what our soldiers go through. Reading books like House to House: An Epic Memoir of War by SSG David Bellavia (w/ John R. Bruning) is a way of doing that, a way of understanding what we're asking of them. If it's too much for us to watch from the sidelines, then we shouldn't be asking it.

Blurb:
"Blood flows over my left hand and I lose my grip on his hair. His head snaps back against the floor. In an instant, his fists are pummeling me. I rock from his counterblows. He lands one on my injured jaw and the pain nearly blinds me. He connects with my nose, and blood and snot pour down my throat. I spit blood between my teeth and scream with him. The two of us sound like caged dogs locked in a death match. We are."

On the night of November 10, 2004, a U.S. Army infantry squad under Staff Sergeant David Bellavia entered the heart of the city of Fallujah and plunged into one of the most sustained and savage urban battles in the history of American men at arms.

With Third Platoon, Alpha Company, part of the Army's Task Force 2/2, Bellavia and his men confronted an enemy who had had weeks to prepare, booby-trapping houses, arranging ambushes, rigging entire city blocks as explosives-laden kill zones, and even stocking up on atropine, a steroid that pumps up fighters in the equivalent of a long-lasting crack high. Entering one house, alone, Bellavia faced the fight of his life against six insurgents, using every weapon at his disposal, including a knife. It is the stuff of legend and the chief reason he is one of the great heroes of the Iraq War.

Bringing to searing life the terrifying intimacy of hand-to-hand infantry combat, House to House is far more than just another war story. Populated by an indelibly drawn cast of characters, from a fearless corporal who happens to be a Bush-hating liberal to an inspirational sergeant-major who became the author's own lost father figure, it develops the intensely close relationships that form between soldiers under fire. Their friendships, tested in brutal combat, would never be quite the same. Not all of them would make it out of the city alive. What happened to them in their bloody embrace with America's most implacable enemy is a harrowing, unforgettable story of triumph, tragedy, and the resiliency of the human spirit.

A timeless portrait of the U.S. infantryman's courage, House to House is a soldier's memoir that is destined to rank with the finest personal accounts of men at war.

Opening (Prologue):
 April 9, 2004
Diyala Providence, Iraq
Dust cakes our faces, invades our sinuses, and stings our eyes. The heat bakes the moisture from us with utter relentlessness. Our body temperatures hover at a hundred and three. Our ears ring. On the edge of heat ehaustion, we get dizzy as our stomachs heave.
  We have the spastic shit, with stabs of pain as our guts liquefy thanks to the menagerie of local bacteria. Inside our base's filty outhouses, swarms of flies crawl over us. Without ventilation, those outhouses are furnaces, pungent with the acrid smell of well-cooked urine.
  All this, and we get shot at, too.
  Welcome to the infantry. This is our day, our job. It sucks, and we hate it, but we endure for two reasons. First, there is nobility and purpose in our lives. We are America's warrior class. We protect; we avenge. Second, every moment in the infantry is a test. If we measure up to the worst days, such as this one, it proves we stand a breed apart from all other men.

That's a little more than one paragraph. (Thanks to our lovely sponsor for being flexible on that point.) I wanted to include the others because, as a writer myself, I'm fascinated with the differences between the way men and women think, and I think this need to prove oneself in this way and to take pride in it is pretty uniquely male.

Teaser:
The nature of soldiering brings ultra-intensity to every emotion, especially in combat. We love, hate, and respect one another all at the same time, because the alternative is the bland oblivion of death.


Would you keep reading?

Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at: http://adailyrhythm.com/




Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea

Nuggets for April

Writing a book blurb is always challenging. Here's some help.
http://www.thefussylibrarian.com/blog/how-to-write-the-irresistible-book-blurb/?mc_cid=55d4b1bfe8&mc_eid=712a83f075

If you're starting a story or looking to build a story premise, this article will help you think about the things you need to wow the reader
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/find-overlooked-ingredient-successfully-marketing-book/

Now and then Jennifer Cruise posts a blog that is so on the money, I want to frame it by my computer. This one about how to use visceral reactions to show emotions is on of those.
http://www.arghink.com/2015/02/27/questionable-emotional-shorthand/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ArghInk+%28Argh+Ink%29

Don't know the difference between murder and homicide? Or scene of the crime and crime scene? Find out at http://www.leelofland.com/wordpress/murder-really-bugs-me-and-so-do-stories-that-get-it-wrong/

In defense of passive voice and to-be verbs
http://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/to-be-or-not-to-be-in-defense-of-the-passive-voice/#comment-1073227

If you're self publishing and thinking about doing your own covers, fonts are important. Here's a great post on the subject of fonts.
http://www.creativindie.com/300-fool-proof-fonts-to-use-for-your-book-cover-design-an-epic-list-of-best-fonts-per-genre/ 

All I have to say about this post is: WOW! This is a must read and should probably be reviewed repeatedly as one writes to be sure you're fully exploiting your story's suspense.
http://www.ian-irvine.com/suspense.html

We all get stuck in ruts when trying to describe characters, places, or things. This collection of thesauruses is worth exploring to get us out of those ruts.
http://writershelpingwriters.net/thesaurus-collections/ 

I don't know too many writers who aren't a little insecure when it come to writing fights or love scenes. These two posts could help.
http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2015/03/23/how-to-write-a-fight-or-love-scene/
http://www.indiesunlimited.com/2015/04/14/how-to-write-a-fight-or-love-scene-part-2/

Thursday Writing Quote ~ Donald Maass

Advancing plot and moving hearts are not the same thing.  While it is of course essential for story to unfold, it’s just as important for readers’ emotions to be stirred. ~ Donald Maass

Tuesday Teaser/Opening ~ Infidel


This week, I'm reading Infidel by Ayaan Kirsi Ali. I'm finding this both enlightening and disturbing, but already I know this is something everyone should read.

Blurb:
In this profoundly affecting memoir from the internationally renowned author of The Caged Virgin, Ayaan Hirsi Ali tells her astonishing life story, from her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, to her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.

One of today's most admired and controversial political figures, Ayaan Hirsi Ali burst into international headlines following an Islamist's murder of her colleague, Theo van Gogh, with whom she made the movie Submission.

Infidel is the eagerly awaited story of the coming of age of this elegant, distinguished--and sometimes reviled--political superstar and champion of free speech. With a gimlet eye and measured, often ironic, voice, Hirsi Ali recounts the evolution of her beliefs, her ironclad will, and her extraordinary resolve to fight injustice done in the name of religion. Raised in a strict Muslim family and extended clan, Hirsi Ali survived civil war, female mutilation, brutal beatings, adolescence as a devout believer during the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood, and life in four troubled, unstable countries largely ruled by despots. In her early twenties, she escaped from a forced marriage and sought asylum in the Netherlands, where she earned a college degree in political science, tried to help her tragically depressed sister adjust to the West, and fought for the rights of Muslim immigrant women and the reform of Islam as a member of Parliament. Even though she is under constant threat--demonized by reactionary Islamists and politicians, disowned by her father, and expelled from her family and clan--she refuses to be silenced.

Ultimately a celebration of triumph over adversity, Hirsi Ali's story tells how a bright little girl evolved out of dutiful obedience to become an outspoken, pioneering freedom fighter. As Western governments struggle to balance democratic ideals with religious pressures, no story could be timelier or more significant.

Opening:
  "Who are you?"
  "I am Ayaan, the daughter of Hirsi, the son of Magan."
  I am sitting with my grandmother on a grass mat under the talal tree. Behind us is our house, and the branches of the talal tree are all that shield us from the sun blazing down on the whide sand. "Go on," my grandmother says, glaring at me.
  "And Magan was the son of Isse."
  "And then?"
  "Isse was son of Guleid, was the son of Ali. Was the son of Wai'ays. Was the son of Muhammed. Ali. Umar." I hesitate for a moment. "Osman. Mahammad." I catch my breath, proud of myself."
  "Bah?" asks my grandmother. "Which consort?"
  "Bah Ya'qub, Grarab-Sare." I name the most powerful of Osman Mahamud's wives: daughter of Ya'qub, she of the highest shoulder.
  My grandmother nods, grudgingly. I have done well, for a five-year-old. I have managed to count my forefathers back for three hundred years--the part that is crucially important. Osman Mahamud is the name of my father's subclan, and thus my own. It is where I belong, who I am.

Teaser:
If you are a Muslim girl, you disappear, until there is almost no you inside you. In Islam, becoming an individual is not a necessary development; many people, especially women, never develop a clear individual will.


Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at: http://adailyrhythm.com/




Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea

Etiquette Just for Men

If you're a writer, you need to be aware that there are things that have an etiquette that's uniquely male. So I suppose this post is for the women out there, but honestly, guys, I'd love to hear your views on these "manly" things.

I recently became aware of the phrase "man sitting."


Here's a different perspective on man sitting. You can skip the first 45 seconds because it's all sales pitch.


This video wanders a bit but there's a moment around 4:10 that left me laughing out loud because you would never see this in a woman's locker room.


Another thing women don't think about much: Urinal etiquette


Apparently, there is some variance to the rules.


So if you've stopped laughing, tell me what you think.

Thursday Writing Quote ~ Philip Gerard

Anytime you are writing about sex, violence, war, torture, genocide, child molestation, nuclear annihilation, any subject that carries great weight and is loaded with emotion, stay away from lurid language. Plain language and dramatic restraint will allow the action to claim its own importance--not because the adjectives and adverbs are shouting for attention, but because what is going on in the piece is profound and moving. You are removing the narrative personality and the high-profile language that might obstruct the reader's view of the story. ~ Philip Gerard

Tuesday Teaser/Opening ~ The Survivor's Club


I'm currently reading The Survivors Club: The Secrets and Science that Could Save Your Life by Ben Sherwood.

Blurb: 
Which is the safest seat on an airplane? Where is the best place to have a heart attack? Why does religious observance add years to your life? How can birthdays be hazardous to your health?

Each second of the day, someone in America faces a crisis, whether it's a car accident, violent crime, serious illness, or financial trouble. Given the inevitability of adversity, we all wonder: Who beats the odds and who surrenders? Why do some people bound back and others give up? How can I become the kind of person who survives and thrives?

The fascinating, hopeful answers to these questions are found in THE SURVIVORS CLUB. In the tradition of Freakonomics and The Tipping Point, this book reveals the hidden side of survival by combining astonishing true stories, gripping scientific research, and the author's adventures inside the U.S. military's elite survival schools and the government's airplane crash evacuation course.

There is no escaping life's inevitable struggles. But THE SURVIVORS CLUB can give you an edge when adversity strikes.

Opening:
First they tell you not to panic then they try to drown you.

(That may be the best first line of any non-fiction book ever.)

Teaser:
He discovered that survivors usually move an average of five rows before they escape a burning aircraft. That's the typical "cutoff," he tells me, even though some survivors have managed to scamper as many as nineteen rows.

Would you read this?


Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at: http://adailyrhythm.com/






Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea

Thursday Writing Quotes ~ George R R Martin

In order to get inside their skin, I have to identify with them. That includes even the ones who are complete bastards, nasty, twisted, deeply flawed human beings with serious psychological problems. Even them. When I get inside their skin and look out through their eyes, I have to feel a certain – if not sympathy, certainly empathy for them. I have to try to perceive the world as they do, and that creates a certain amount of affection. ~ George R R Martin

Tuesday Teaser/Opening ~ Working Stiff


I'll admit it. I have odd reading tastes. This was on my wishlist, so when I found Working Stiff: Two Years, 262 Bodies, and the Making of a Medical Examiner by Judy Melinek, M.D. and T.J. Mitchell at the library (in ebook format), I glommed onto it. If you like the scientific aspect of the TV show Bones, you may well enjoy this.

Blurb:
The fearless memoir of a young forensic pathologist’s “rookie season” as a NYC medical examiner, and the cases—hair-raising and heartbreaking and impossibly complex—that shaped her as both a physician and a mother.

Just two months before the September 11 terrorist attacks, Dr. Judy Melinek began her training as a New York City forensic pathologist. With her husband T.J. and their toddler Daniel holding down the home front, Judy threw herself into the fascinating world of death investigation—performing autopsies, investigating death scenes, counseling grieving relatives. Working Stiff chronicles Judy’s two years of training, taking readers behind the police tape of some of the most harrowing deaths in the Big Apple, including a firsthand account of the events of September 11, the subsequent anthrax bio-terrorism attack, and the disastrous crash of American Airlines flight 587.

Lively, action-packed, and loaded with mordant wit, Working Stiff offers a firsthand account of daily life in one of America’s most arduous professions, and the unexpected challenges of shuttling between the domains of the living and the dead. The body never lies—and through the murders, accidents, and suicides that land on her table, Dr. Melinek lays bare the truth behind the glamorized depictions of autopsy work on shows like CSI and Law & Order to reveal the secret story of the real morgue.


Opening:
"Remember: This can only end badly." That's what my husband says anytime I start a story. He's right.

Teaser:
Quite a number of people have two or three accessory spleens, like bright red mushrooms. Others have no spleen at all. Sometimes patients who had spleens removed due to trauma will have sprouted lots of little accessory spleens all over the abdominal cavity. The spleen is a weird organ.

Would you read this?





Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following: Grab your current readOpen to a random pageShare two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page. BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers! To see what others are sharing on the Teaser Tuesdays, check the comments at: http://adailyrhythm.com/






Share the first paragraph (or a few) from a book you are reading. Here's the link: Bibliophile By The Sea

Catch and Release Storytelling

We writers talk all the time about setting a story hook. You see analogies that are reminiscent of fishing for good reason. Because it is like fishing. More specifically, like deep sea fishing where you hook that fish/reader and then play them in a long protracted battle. At the end you want to land that fish/reader but not until the end of the story. The difference is that you want the reader happy they got landed.

And yet, so often in my critique group, I see writers playing catch-and-release.

Recently, for instance, I looked at a first chapter. In the first couple of paragraphs, it came out that the MC's husband had been killed several years before but the murder had never been solved.

I'm immediately thinking, "Great hook" because I want to know what happened. And then the writer went into backstory and told me the details. Guess what? That's catch-and-release storytelling. Because there is no other hook to keep me reading. I had a question. The author answered the question. End of hook.

The author should have made me wait at least until she had me invested in her main character. That's how you play your fish. Er... I mean reader. You set the hook on the first page. Sometimes it's enough to carry the story until the end. Most of the time, it's not, so you have to set a second hook before you relieve the pressure on the first, then set a third before you let go of the second, and so on until the end of the story. Even better, set more than one. Never, ever give your reader a moment when there's no hook pulling them onto the next page.

Thursday Writing Quote ~ John Long

Expect, allow and accept that every first draft will represent your lowest standard. And have at it. ~ John Long