Check out THE ARTISANS by @JulieAReece

Here is another amazing read to add to your YA collection.  It is fantastic and I’m so excited for Julie. She’s one of my favorite YA authors and deserves to be on top of every chart there is!!  Review coming soon!!

M9B Friday Reveal: Author Spotlight with Julie Reece with Giveaway #M9BFridayReveals

Welcome to this week’s M9B Friday Reveal!

This week, we are spotlighting Julie Reece, author of

The Artisans

presented by Month9Books!

Be sure to enter the giveaway found at the end of the post!

Get to Know Julie Reece in 10 Questions or Less!

Twitter or Facebook? -Both

Favorite Superhero? –One hero to rule them all: Thor

Favorite TV show? -Sherlock (British)

Sweet or Salty? -Ice cream is a food group.

Coke or Pepsi? -Tea (I’m a rebel)

Any Phobias? –Sharks and, ew, spiders … oh and drowning.

Song you can’t get enough of right now? –Caroline (or anything) by Kill It Kid *dies*

Who is your ultimate Book Boyfriend? ‘Weaver’ from May Webb’s, Precious Bane *swoons*

What are you reading right now or what’s on your TBR? -Saving Francesca , by Melina Marchetta

Fall Movie you’re most looking forward to? –OMG! Crimson Peak and Mad Max:Fury Road

BIO

Born in Ohio, I lived next to my grandfather’s horse farm until the fourth grade. Summers were about riding, fishing and make-believe, while winter brought sledding and ice-skating on frozen ponds. Most of life was magical, but not all.

I struggled with multiple learning disabilities, did not excel in school. I spent much of my time looking out windows and daydreaming. In the fourth grade (with the help of one very nice teacher) I fought dyslexia for my right to read, like a prince fights a dragon in order to free the princess locked in a tower, and I won.

Afterwards, I read like a fiend. I invented stories where I could be the princess… or a gifted heroine from another world who kicked bad guy butt to win the heart of a charismatic hero. Who wouldn’t want to be a part of that? Later, I moved to Florida where I continued to fantasize about superpowers and monsters, fabricating stories (my mother called it lying) and sharing them with my friends.

Then I thought I’d write one down…

Hooked, I’ve been writing ever since. I write historical, contemporary, urban fantasy, adventure, and young adult romances. I love strong heroines, sweeping tales of mystery and epic adventure… which must include a really hot guy. My writing is proof you can work hard to overcome any obstacle. Don’t give up. I say, if you write, write on!

Connect with the Author: Website | Twitter | Facebook |Goodreads

They say death can be beautiful. But after the death of her mother, seventeen-year-old RAVEN WEATHERSBY gives up her dream of becoming a fashion designer, barely surviving life in the South Carolina lowlands.

To make ends meet, Raven works after school as a seamstress creating stunning works of fashion that often rival the great names of the day.

Instead of making things easier on the high school senior, her stepdad’s drinking leads to a run in with the highly reclusive heir to the Maddox family fortune, Gideon Maddox.

But Raven’s stepdad’s drying out and in no condition to attend the meeting with Maddox. So Raven volunteers to take his place and offers to repay the debt in order to keep the only father she’s ever known out of jail, or worse.

Gideon Maddox agrees, outlining an outrageous demand: Raven must live in his home for a year while she designs for Maddox Industries’ clothing line, signing over her creative rights.

Her handsome young captor is arrogant and infuriating to the nth degree, and Raven can’t imagine working for him, let alone sharing the same space for more than five minutes.

But nothing is ever as it seems. Is Gideon Maddox the monster the world believes him to be? And can he stand to let the young seamstress see him as he really is?

The Artisans is a delectably rich, layered and dark YA Southern Gothic inspired by Jeanne Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s classic Beauty and the Beast.

“The Artisans has all the elements I love – spooky intrigue, strong friendships, and a romantic tension to be savored.” ~ Wendy Higgins, New York Times bestselling author of the Sweet Evil trilogy.

Title: The Artisans
Publication date: May 2015
Publisher: Month9Books, LLC.
Author: Julie Reece

Complete the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win!

The book will be sent upon the titles release.

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Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

OMGosh, I hit 100,000 views on my blog today!

I can’t believe it!  This is big!  It’s a milestone.  It’s taken several long years to get here but, it’s not how long it takes, it’s the journey that matters, right?

When I started this blog in 2008 I had no idea what I was doing.  I still don’t know what I’m doing, but don’t tell anyone. Appearances are everything.

At the time I started, I only had one short story published in a book put out by a writer’s group I was in.  It was a ‘vanity publishing’ kind of a thing, a perk I got from “editing” the book.  Since then, I’ve had two short stories traditionally published, the third, previously published piece will be traditionally published very soon (more details to come). I have a publisher interested in a NA novel, and my YA trilogy is soon to be subbed.

It’s been a long journey, one fraught with ups and downs.  Pain and sorrow.  Happy times.  Fun times.  I’ve shared many of those times with you through my blog.

I don’t really have a brand.  How does one brand themselves?  I’m all over the place.  One day I might post a review of a book.  The next, I might share with you my triumphs in growing a lemon tree.  Yes, I may be an author, but I’m also a mom to four kids and furbabies.  I’m a wife.  I’m a person without a job struggling to survive.  I’m strong, but I’m not made of steel. I’m opinionated and I frequently bite my tongue.  How does one brand that? I’ve placed myself in categories my whole life. I didn’t want my blog to be another box I put myself in. I wanted it to be a place where I could be free.

Maybe that’s why I don’t have a gazillion followers.  I do have faithful and wonderful followers that have been with me since day one.

I now have over 100,000 of you who stopped by to check out my verbal farts.  Squeeee!

Beautiful people from all over the world clicked on my blog.  100,000 people have seen my name.  That makes me want to do this…

So, thank you, thank you, thank you, all of you — past, present, and future — for helping this unbranded, down-to-earth, insane author reach her first really, really big blog milestone.  I couldn’t have done it without you.

P.S.:  A feel a giveaway is in order  More details to come soon.

Oggy Doggie Wednesday

My son asked me the other day, “Who are you?”  I’d just done something rather insane and idiotic so the question wasn’t meant to be philosophical, but it got me thinking.  Who am I, really?  Deep down.  What makes me tick?  So, like any writer would do, I got out a piece of paper and I wrote down the things that make me, well, me.  The first five ‘things’ that spewed forth were:

• Mom
• Writer
• Animal lover
• Nut case
• Sentimental fool (hey, I cry over Mary Poppins and Edward Scissorhands)

That got me thinking:  if I wrote these things down in this order, is this the value I place them in my life?  Are these the primary building blocks that define me as a person?  What about being a wife?  That was like #12 on the list.  It didn’t even make the top 10.  What does that say about me?   Am I condemned to Hell because my faith didn’t top #1? What about ‘being employed’?  Am I bringing about bad financial juju because I’m content with working from home as a writer, even though I haven’t seen one cent from anything I’ve written?

Or am I over thinking?  Is the placement irrelevant so long as the ‘defining things’ made the list? Or, wait.  Here’s another question.  Do I see myself as others see me?  Would my list match my friend’s or family’s list? Better yet?  What difference does it make?  Am I defined by their list or mine?  Both?

Oh  my gosh, finding out who I am is like trying to map out a character in one of my novels…except worse.  Geez, I mean, I can create them, mold them, make them be however I want them.  I can’t do that with…

Wait.  Hold the phone. Shut the front door.  I just had a revelation.  I’m a writer.  Of course I can create me, mold me, make me however I want.  What a doofus I am.  It’s called free will, Jenny Minny.  And why do I care how I appear on anyone else’s list?  I’m not in charge of their opinions of me.  That would involve gathering an army of minions.  I don’t have the energy for that.  All that matters is my own list.  And here’s something else I learned.  It doesn’t matter where any of the ‘things’ fall on my list, because they all make me who I am, and you know what that is?  Special.  And if you disagree with me, I’ll turn you into a character in my book.  Let’s see how you like those apples.

What about you?  Do you let others define you or do you define yourself?  Do you have an army of minions I can borrow?

That’s ok…blame it on Mom

Today, the lovely and talented Danielle Shipley, author of many tales, is visiting my blog and is going to talk to you about the most influential person who helped her stay true herself, her dreams and her writing.  Danielle, we’re all ears (and eyes).

***

We can blame a good percentage of what I’ve become on my mother.

It was she who first got me hooked on books by reading aloud and letting me loose in the library. She who taught me how to arrange letters into words, and set me up with computer programs (and piano lessons) that trained my fingers to type like the wind. She who was always cool with me spending my free time on fictional character development and stories without a point. She who exposed me to the timelessness of fairytales, the allure of mystery, the thrill of heroic adventure, and the zany humor of my early mentors, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.

And she didn’t limit my artistic freedom to my childhood. When I gradually came to realize that, more than a hobby only, authorship was what I wanted to do with my rest of my life, she never once told me to wake up, leave my imaginary friends behind, and go be a normal adult. Quite the contrary! She picked up books from the library about querying literary agents for me. She sat with me when I moped after yet another rejection came in, and squealed with me when the inbox actually contained good news. She brings me a cup of tasty grapes when I’m typing up a guest post about all the stuff she does for me. (Seriously. She just now walked in here and handed me a snack.) She lets me rant to her about everything I find irritating in the world of writing or the world in general, helps me brainstorm when I’m all tangled up in plot ideas, stays up hours past her bedtime to scrounge for votes when I’ve entered a contest to turn my fairytale tailor into a pony doll… I’ve little doubt I owe that victory to her.

She’s more than just a momma. She’s an intern in my self-publishing house and half of its marketing team. She’s one of my most enthusiastic cheerleaders, which is saying a lot, considering the squad also includes my ALL CAPS-happy writing besties and Will Scarlet. (If you’ve met the man, ‘nough said.)  She’s a solid line of defense between me and accidental starvation. Once I finally stopped being shy and let her read what I wrote, she became a fan of my writing. Naturally, she was a fan of the writer all along.

I’m not much of a rebel. If my mom had voted “nay” against the pursuit of my authorial dream, I may well have set that dream aside and gone searching for a new one, writing relegated to the realm of “hobby only” once again. Happily for me (and, I would suggest, for all of you), Mrs. Shipley’s got my back. I don’t expect you to love her for it quite as much as I do, but you can give it a go.

***

Ahh, to have such a person on our side is truly a blessing.  Thank you for stopping by, Danielle.  It was an extreme pleasure.

Want to know more about Danielle?  Keep reading.

 Danielle E. Shipley’s first novelettes told the everyday misadventures of wacky kids like herself. …Or so she thought. Unbeknownst to them all, half of her characters were actually closeted elves, dwarves, fairies, or some combination thereof. When it all came to light, Danielle did the sensible thing: Packed up and moved to Fantasy Land, where daily rent is the low, low price of her heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, firstborn child, sanity, and words; lots of them. She’s also been known to spend short bursts of time in the real-life Chicago area with the parents who home schooled her and the two little sisters who keep her humble. When she’s not living the highs and lows of writing young adult novels, she’s probably blogging about it at www.EverOnWord.wordpress.com.

Books by Danielle:

      

Be sure to pop by Danielle’s other locations on the web, take a look around and say hi.

Website ~ Blog ~ Facebook ~ Twitter

And don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for your chance to win a copy of One More Day.

 

“Wow, who are you, really?”

Today, the lovely and talented, Erika Beebe, author of the short story, Stage Fright, which appears in the ONE MORE DAY anthology, is guest hosting on my blog today.  Please give her a round of applause as she discusses the Mind of A Writer, Character Development, and Who Are We Really?

***

The mind of a writer is a funny thing. I can invent the most twisted story, shake it off to make dinner, at least mostly, and then I catch my husband leaning over a printed copy of my latest and greatest chapter as the words escape his lips, “Wow, who are you, really?”

Growing up, I didn’t like creepy. I remember being eight-years-old and watching A Nightmare on Elm Street at a slumber party … further back at five when I’d caught Jaws on the television and was unable to walk across the basement floor without dreading the image of a great white beast living a hidden existence under the couch. I’d leap from furniture to furniture in the basement until I made it to the stairs. Now here I am. I write YA creepy. :o)

And then I dream how to tame it.

So how do we go to sleep at night with all of these creepy plots and words floating through our thoughts?

Writing is a profession. When you love it, you know when to turn it on, and sometimes, when you absolutely need to turn it off. Sure, I’ll have ideas slip into my head in the middle of the night, or while I’m going about my day, but that’s why I always carry a notebook. I can scratch down a really great thought, tuck it back in my purse and finish wherever I am in the moment. But just like a counselor, or an architect, or a doctor, you know you could work all the time, every minute of your life if you let it consume you. So you learn how to stop, make a few notes if they absolutely won’t let you move on, and you go back to what you were doing in the present moment.

How do we write about fictional characters and plots we don’t actually live?

Research. For me as a writer, solving a character is much like solving an algebra equation or creating a chemical reaction in a laboratory. I read everything. I look at pictures and study people. I document facts and details with pictures and words, journaling down what I feel and think in a moment. Recently I wrote a chapter where my two main characters were boogie boarding in the ocean. I’ve been to the ocean many times, but the past doesn’t always help an immediate physical moment. Especially if I need to feel, taste or sense a particular detail in a scene. So what did I do? Today, writers are lucky. We have YouTube, Google Maps, and the ability to type in and search for anything. I can watch a how-to video and be in someone’s moment on the beach. I can’t always smell what I need to smell, but that’s where memory helps. If I’m setting my book in a particular physical location, I go to that location.  I need to see the community, feel the ground, and smell the air. Last point to make, lots of what I’ve lived slips into my words. If you know a writer, there’s never a guarantee you won’t be somewhere in a plot or a character. My ideas come from my life. My creativity takes them in new and strange directions.

So who I am?

Am I the girl you see when you meet me? Am I character in my book? Am I a mother, a wife, a career woman, a yoga instructor? My answer is yes. Life is a complicated mess, and no matter what profession we choose, parts of us come out in everything we do.

Related articles

• How to Make a Character Sympathetic in 15 Seconds (insideliamsbrain.wordpress.com)
• Look Ma – no writer’s block! (anaspoke.com)

“Life is a complicated mess.”

Today, I have the lovely and talented Erika Beebe guest hosting my blog.  Erika is the author of Stage Fright, one of seven short stories in the ONE MORE DAY anthology.  She’s going to chat with you about the mind of a writer, character development and the great question, who are we, really?  Be sure to ask questions and don’t forget to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for your chance to win a copy of ONE MORE DAY.

Please give it up for one of the loveliest ladies I’ve ever encountered.

***

The mind of a writer is a funny thing. I can invent the most twisted story, shake it off to make dinner, at least mostly, and then I catch my husband leaning over a printed copy of my latest and greatest chapter as the words escape his lips, “Wow, who are you, really?”

Growing up, I didn’t like creepy. I remember being eight-years-old and watching A Nightmare on Elm Street at a slumber party … further back at five when I’d caught Jaws on the television and was unable to walk across the basement floor without dreading the image of a great white beast living a hidden existence under the couch. I’d leap from furniture to furniture in the basement until I made it to the stairs. Now here I am. I write YA creepy. :o)

And then I dream how to tame it.

So how do we go to sleep at night with all of these creepy plots and words floating through our thoughts?

Writing is a profession. When you love it, you know when to turn it on, and sometimes, when you absolutely need to turn it off. Sure, I’ll have ideas slip into my head in the middle of the night, or while I’m going about my day, but that’s why I always carry a notebook. I can scratch down a really great thought, tuck it back in my purse and finish wherever I am in the moment. But just like a counselor, or an architect, or a doctor, you know you could work all the time, every minute of your life if you let it consume you. So you learn how to stop, make a few notes if they absolutely won’t let you move on, and you go back to what you were doing in the present moment.

How do we write about fictional characters and plots we don’t actually live?

Research. For me as a writer, solving a character is much like solving an algebra equation or creating a chemical reaction in a laboratory. I read everything. I look at pictures and study people. I document facts and details with pictures and words, journaling down what I feel and think in a moment. Recently I wrote a chapter where my two main characters were boogie boarding in the ocean. I’ve been to the ocean many times, but the past doesn’t always help an immediate physical moment. Especially if I need to feel, taste or sense a particular detail in a scene. So what did I do? Today, writers are lucky. We have YouTube, Google Maps, and the ability to type in and search for anything. I can watch a how-to video and be in someone’s moment on the beach. I can’t always smell what I need to smell, but that’s where memory helps. If I’m setting my book in a particular physical location, I go to that location.  I need to see the community, feel the ground, and smell the air. Last point to make, lots of what I’ve lived slips into my words. If you know a writer, there’s never a guarantee you won’t be somewhere in a plot or a character. My ideas come from my life. My creativity takes them in new and strange directions.

So who I am?

Am I the girl you see when you meet me? Am I character in my book? Am I a mother, a wife, a career woman, a yoga instructor? My answer is yes. Life is a complicated mess, and no matter what profession we choose, parts of us come out in everything we do.

***

 If you have to have your copy of ONE MORE DAY right now, please click on any of the links below.

AMAZON – PAPERBACK     AMAZON – KINDLE     BARNES & NOBLE 

KOBO

7 Elements for the perfect plot

You want to write a short story and/or a novel.  What’s the first thing you need?  You’re right…an idea, but what comes after that?

A plot.  Some people think a plot line is easy, but it’s a little bit more than boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy gets girl.  So boring.  What you need is meat, substance, and that comes in the form of the following, pretty much in this order:

• Aspiration/goal – What does your MC want?
• Game plan – how does your MC devise to get what (s)he wants?
• Weakness – what are the flaws and/or obstacles that will keep the MC from getting what s(he) wants?
• 1st, maybe 2nd and 3rd defeat – Choose how many times the MC must fall and get back up.  Torture him/her.
• Final showdown – The battle of all battles where the MC shines and kicks some serious butt
• Self-revelation – What does the MC learn about him/her self?
• Resolution – Wrap it up.  Show the MC’s strength and resolve and most of all, how (s)he changed/grew from the beginning to the end of the story.  Does the MC get what (s)he wanted or did the goal change?

Plot it out in your head or on paper, then write your heart out.  Good luck to your MC, and may (s)he get what (s)he desires.

Happy writing.

Related articles

• Teaching Plot to 7th graders (kvanmeerbeke.wordpress.com)
• How To Write Short Stories – Part Four – Plotting Your Short Story (sophiechekruga.wordpress.com)
• Justine: Whoever Said Writing is Easy Hasn’t Tried to Write (eightladieswriting.com)

Paper Wishes – How to get your heart’s desire the 21st century way

Ever wish upon a star only to have it not come true?  Well, listen up, friends, because the lovely and talented author,  Jennifer M. Eaton, is going to share a new trick that makes all of her characters’ most anticipated wishes come true.  Read all about it in her guest post below.  Maybe if you try it, your wishes will come true, too.  Give it a whirl.

***

Twinkle twinkle little star – How do you make a wish?

What do you wish for? More importantly, how do you make that wish?

Wishing is something that goes back into history, and so many people and cultures have tried and true methods of making their wishes become a reality.

Cultural diversification like this fascinates me.  After all, we are all people.  We all have hopes and dreams, but we come up with different ways of giving our dreams a little “boost” to make that dream come true.

While writing my book “Paper Wishes” I came up with a new idea for making a wish.  Well, it may not be completely new. I have not researched EVERYWHERE, but it’s a new idea to me.

I decided to have my characters write their wishes down on a sheet of paper, and fold them into origami stars.  Their wishes were then “locked” not to be opened for a set amount of time before being revealed to see if they came true.

Neat, huh? It’s kind of like a time capsule for wishes.

I really loved the idea, because so much can go wrong.  Your wish is sealed, so what if you forget what you wished for? What if you didn’t write down what you thought you wrote down? What if your wish contradicts someone else’s?

That’s the funny thing about wishes.  They always come true, even if it’s not quite the way that you intended the wish to play out.

What about you?  What’s your traditional or superstitious way of making a wish?

***

Jennifer M. Eaton’s new book PAPER WISHES is currently available from Astraea press.  Sit back and read a while–and dream about your own wishes coming true.

Paper Wishes: Jill has no idea what to write down for her wish, but when it looks like her best friend Jack is going to get exactly what he asks for, Jill makes a wish that will change both of their lives forever.   Click on the book cover to get your own copy of Paper Wishes.

—————————————————————————————————-

Jennifer M. Eaton is a contemporary blender of Science Fiction, Dystopian, and Romance.  Her work ranges from the sweet contemporary romances of Paper Wishes, to the dystopian society of Last Winter Red and Optimal Red, with a dusting of young adult paranormal just for fun in The First Day of the New Tomorrow.

Corporate Team Leader by day, and Ranting Writer by night. Jennifer M. Eaton calls the East Coast of the USA home, where she lives with her husband, three energetic boys, and a pepped up poodle. 

Jennifer hosts an informational blog “A Reference of Writing Rants for Writers (or Learn from My Mistakes)” aimed at helping all writers be the best they can be.  http://jennifermeaton.com/ 

Beyond writing and motivating others, she also enjoys teaching her dog to jump through hoops—literally.

Jennifer’s perfect day includes long hikes in the woods, bicycling, swimming, snorkeling, and snuggling up by the fire with a great book; but her greatest joy is using her over-active imagination constructively… creating new worlds for everyone to enjoy.

Related articles

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Top Three Writing Mistakes

When I first started writing and sending my attempts out to beta partners and critique sites, it wasn’t unusual to get a wide range of comments from “This sucks.” to “This is the best thing I’ve ever read!”  Just goes to show how different people view what you write, and it’s pointless to try to please all of them.  One thing that was consistent were the following comments:

1.  Don’t be so descriptive and technical.

A big comment I got a lot was “I love your descriptions, but they go on too long and I started skimming.”

Skimming?  Oh no.  No skimming in my books.  It’s been a hard lesson for me to learn because I am such a description hound, but there is a happy medium.  There is no need to take your reader on a tour of the room unless each of the things you point out are relevant to the story in some way.  For example:

“Above the cherry-wood mantel hung a gilded mirror.  Upon closer inspection of the frame, I noticed the handiwork revealed cherubs chasing rabbits through vines of ivy. Each cherub possessed a unique expression and varying lengths of hair, as well as age. The intricate work down to their fingernails, was exquisite.”

Now unless my main character is an art dealer and is looking for such a piece, or those cherubs are about to come to life, this information is way too much.  For most, knowing there is a gilded mirror over the mantel is enough information.

2.  Voice change.

Writing a character’s voice and keeping it consistent is difficult.  With me, my ‘adult’ voice creeps in now and then and my teens sound older than they really are.   Thank goodness I have a couple of good beta readers that are excellent at finding my ‘voice’ mistakes and offering suggestions on how to fix them. I am also thankful for my teen son who has no problem telling me he wouldn’t say something a certain way.

3.  Disembodied body parts and having eyes do strange things

All of us writers do it, and most of the time we don’t see it when we edit.  That’s why we have beta readers and critique partners.  How many times have you written something like, “His hand reached for his gun.”  Is his hand not connected to his body?  Did it wander off on its own?  Yep, funny stuff, but not as funny as what we get our eyes to do.

We’ve all seen the phrases:

• Their eyes met across the room.
• Her eyes devoured him. (wow, those are some big hungry, man-eating eyes)
• His eyes fell to the floor. (splat)
• Her eyes were glued to the book.  (ouch)

I used to roll my eyes and grimace whenever I saw comments like this because everyone knows what the author meant.  Still, eyes are not disembodied body parts that can wander around. I’ve learned to rev up the heat or the tension by showing and involving the reader in my scene.

Instead of “Her eyes devoured him.” try something like:

“Her sultry body and come-hither stare consumed him, burning him in a way he hadn’t felt since Nina died.”

Yeah, it’s a bit longer, but the picture is much clearer, don’t you think?

What are some mistakes you’ve learned as a writer you’d like to share?

Related articles

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• 8 Copy Editing Tricks to Make You Look Professional – Whiteboard Friday (seomoz.org)
• Writers write, Readers read…Can’t We Just Support Each Other? (paigematthews.com)
• Guest Post: Tips to Proofread Your Own Work (backwoodsauthor.com)
• Critiques Make Your Writing Better, So Grin and Bear Them (hunterlewand.wordpress.com)
• J.B. McGee ~ Top Ten Things I’ve Learned Being an Author (literatiliteraturelovers.com)
• Why You Need Fearless Beta Readers (descentintoslushland.wordpress.com)
• 5 Tips For New Authors (rushilgulati.wordpress.com)
• Writing’s Hard (enigmainklings.blogspot.com)
• The Bitterest Pill to Swallow? (traciewrites.wordpress.com)

Save the Cat!

M. L. Swift is hosting this monthly book club event. To learn more about it, click here. This month we’re discussing, Save The Cat! by Blake Snyder.

I heard about this book ages ago.  Someone in a long ago writer’s workshop recommended this book, but when I found out it was a book on screenwriting, I said “Eh” and didn’t pick up again.  I wish I had.

This book is not just for screenwriters.  It’s for every writer who wants to tell a story, whether it be fiction or non-fiction, novel or screenplay or memoir.  Throughout the book, Blake gives astounding information on how to create the pictures you want your audience to see, and how to do it in such a way to get attention from those with the power to get it in front of your audience.  He introduces the writer to loglines and how VERY important they are in the beginning of the writing process.  From there he leads you into test-pitching and give you five games to jump-start your idea-creating skills.

Next he discusses the 10 genres that every movie ever made can be categorized by.  Then it’s off to hero land where he gives you all the how-to’s and why’s of great heroes – what makes them, what breaks them.

One of the great tips he offers up is how to make a storyboard and how to utilize index cards – only 40 of them .  Great way to troubleshoot plots, characters, anything that doesn’t work in your story.  This is an idea I actually started using in the past couple of weeks and I have to tell you, it works!!!

He then takes us on the journey of how to decipher what is wrong with your manuscript, novel, non-fiction piece, whatever it is you’re working on, and he gives you the tried and true, proven methods on how to repair what you’ve written so it will sell.

Last but not least, he gives you the why’s and how’s of the dreaded M word – marketing.

What I liked about Save the Cat! is Blake’s enthusiasm, his love for what he does.  It comes through in every word.  I thought this was going to be a boring book.  Far from it!  He uses humor and his ‘voice’ is down to earth.  He IS the guy next door who has tons of answers, is personable and never treats you like you’re a dummy.  More than anything, he teaches authors how to write the best they can, with the best tools they have, and keep swinging.  To quote:

“They can buy your script and fire you, or rewrite it into oblivion, but they can’t take away your ability to get up off the mat and come back swinging – better and smarter than you were before.”

This book will definitely make you smarter than you were before.  I wish I’d been smarter long ago in that writer’s workshop and purchased this book then.  Oh well.  I have it now.  Trust me, it’s not just for screenwriters.  You can apply it to every aspect of whatever it is you write.  Stephen King’s On Writing is fantastic…Save the Cat! is phenomenal and a must-have.  Get out your sticky tabs and highlighters.  You’re going to need them.  It’s the best book you’ll ever read on how to write material that is enjoyable, marketable, and uniquely yours.

Related articles

• When a… 1,2,3… Hollywood… Save the Cat… Pitches for Your Book (kathytemean.wordpress.com)
• How to Use Your Logline, Tagline, and Pitch to Create a Stronger Story (writersinthestorm.wordpress.com)