WOW Wednesday ~ Digitus 233

When Zeph, the adventurous son of a millionaire hid in the cargo hold of the Learjet carrying his brother Zander to camp he had no idea there was anything dark or ominous going on. That was until he watched Zander ejected from the plane onto a barren arctic island and Zeph, trapped on the plane, found himself headed for South America. Will he be able to expose the truth behind Digitus, the world's dominant corporation, or will they succeed in their sinister plan to control his brother and destroy the world?

This is more than an action packed book series; it's a wakeup call to the world. Will we allow ourselves to go blindly into slavery or will we stand up and fight for freedom and our basic human rights before it's too late?

Amazon

My take: you have to check out this YA story, it grabs you from page one. 

Kim Emerson isn't just a great author, she's a great motivator and friend. She runs one of the most helpful writers groups on Facebook... MasterKoda.com... she's a publisher... running Master Koda Select Publishing. Please check out her book Digitus 233 you won't be sorry you did.

Coming Soon ~ Senior Snoops

Coming June 16, 2013

True to his words, Sheriff Clem Peterson sends Agnes Barton and Eleanor Mason packing to Florida via a Cessna, but things go haywire when during a fuel stop, two men shoot the pilot. Agnes springs into action slamming the door just as shots are fired while Frank Alton jumps into the cockpit flying them out of there.

When they land in Florida, they’re asked tough questions by Putner and Palmer from Homeland Security. They keep asking if they found a packet on board the plane, a packet that Agnes has tucked in her purse, but they never mention what’s in the packet. She decides to hold onto it; after all it contains twenty-five thousand in cash.

Sheriff Calvin Peterson, Sheriff Clem Peterson’s brother, picks them up from the airport in Florida, but tells them the bad news. His brother Clem made arrangements for them to stay at Sunny Brooke Retirement Village and work as the hired help to pay for their room and board. They go unwillingly, but discover in town that two maids have disappeared at Sunny Brooke.

It’s a race against the clock; will Agnes and Eleanor solve the case of the missing maids and finally figure out what happened to their pilot before they also show up on a milk jug?

Check out Madison Johns' Amazon page for her other books in the series.

Mystery Writes

When it comes to mystery I think about great plots that leave the reader guessing to the end. This is in fact hard to do. I never outline so I never know what's going to happen until I write it. It's important to always leave a cast of characters that all look guilty to a point. I'm careful not to make them look too guilty, otherwise I have no room to wiggle. 

Red Herring: it's good to have one and it's good to kill one. You must make someone look dreadfully guilty and then turn it all around. It's a struggle because in my latest sequel it looks too clear cut. It's my job as a writer to mold that into what will be a tighter plot. More possible suspects and more possible plot points. For instance in Armed and Outrageous, Agnes Barton and Sheriff Peterson don't get along at all. She wonders why he isn't taking the disappearance of a tourist seriously, but does that make him guilty of a crime, no. It makes for an interesting subplot.

Guest post Rachel Rossana ~ Editing

Today Rachel Rossano is stopping by and talking editing. 

Editing Checklist

Editing is the necessary evil every good writer endures in the journey to publication. I used to hate editing so much that I refused to edit until months (sometimes years) after I finished a manuscript. Now I am wading through those old manuscripts, bringing them up to date, polishing the writing style, correcting the cliches, fixing typos, and eradicating my bad writing habits of the years past.

Here are some items from my editing checklist.

Words that usually need to be removed:

that

-        had (frequently not necessary)

-        said (or other dialogue tags when it is clear who is saying what)

-        was/were/is (can usually be easily replaced by an active verb)

Words that usually need to be changed for something else or deleted entirely because I use them too frequently (They are allowed in extremely small quantities.):

-        look, looked, noticed

-        felt, feel

-        could, would

Things to watch for:

-        

Head hopping (switching POV without a break)

-        

Poetic or high description from a character that isn't a writer or inclined that way

-        Pace (Is the story moving forward at an appropriate pace)

-        Sentence structure (too many long sentences, too many short, too many of the same kind, or an inappropriate one for the pace, e.g., a long complex sentence at a point of high action in the story)

-        Guys talking like girls (for example, about their feelings)

-        Too much crying

-        Conversations that are realistic (sort of) and dialogue where characters sound like themselves (good thing)

-        Phrases that pull the reader out of the story or draw unnecessary attention to the POV character. For example, "I looked up. His face tightened with grief." Deleting the first sentence would actually make the second stronger by focusing the reader's attention on the person being observed, not the observer (the POV character). I hope this makes sense. It tends to be tricky to explain.

-        Telling when I should be showing and the opposite, showing when I should be telling. The reader doesn't need to know the minute movements necessary to fix tea. But, she/he would probably be interested in the physical response of everyone in the room when the hero drops a plot bomb in the middle of the tea party conversation.

-        Cliches

So, what items are on your editing checklist? I might have missed something.

Book Plug

Brielle Solarius struggles to keep her village from starvation. The men rode off to war and never returned. The remaining women and children face a winter of starvation if they do not find a solution soon.

Tomas Dyrease, the newly made Earl of Irvaine and the village of Wisenvale, owes his good fortune to his king. When that same king demands Tomas marry the impoverished daughter of the late Lord Wisten, he obeys. However, no one warned him that she wasn’t a typical noblewoman.

Duty: a novel of Rhynan follows their journey from strangers to friends as they face complications from their pasts and the shaky politics of a changing regime. Then Brielle is implicated in her cousin’s treasonous activities. Can a marriage of duty survive treason?

Author Bio

Author of a growing stack of novels, novellas, and short stories, Rachel Rossano balances her time between the chaos of raising and homeschooling her three children and the world of drama and high adventure in her head. With her faithful husband and chief consulting editor by her side, she dreams of many more adventures to come in both of her double lives. Check out her work at http://Rachel-rossano.blogspot.com.

Buy Links

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Duty-novel-Rhynan-ebook/dp/B00BAI41RO

Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/281699

Thank you,

Rachel Rossano

Blog ~ http://rachel-rossano.blogspot.com/

Website ~ http://anavrea.webs.com/

Twitter ~ http://twitter.com/#!/RachelRossano

Facebook ~ http://www.facebook.com/RachelRossanoRambles

YouTube ~ http://www.youtube.com/anavrea

Sequel to Armed and Outrageous Now Available

Senior snoop, Agnes Barton, has taken up residence in a Winnebago at a campground in East Tawas, Michigan. It’s not the ideal place for a woman of seventy-two to live, but she’s making do. She had planned to start a detective agency with partner in crime, Eleanor Mason, but a snag with the license has them free wheeling it, not that it matters because they are the ones folks call when dead bodies turn up.

A frantic phone call has Agnes and Eleanor racing to the scene of yet another crime scene. Herman Butler has fallen to his death from a third story window, and the widow, Betty Lou, is beside herself with either grief or competing for the Oscars, and it’s up to Agnes and Eleanor to unravel the mystery, which gets more interesting when a ghost is listed as a possible suspect.

This time around, Agnes and Sheriff Peterson can agree, the widow is nuts, but wait, a few days later the ghost ship, Erie Board of Trades, was spotted off the shores of Lake Huron. Ghost hunters, G.A.S.P., hightail it into town, and East Tawas is overrun with ghost sightings.

Agnes and Eleanor must sort fact from fantasy before another body is found or a curse is realized.

Now available on Amazon and Smashwords. 

Pretty and Pregnant release party

Today March 14, 2013 at 7 p.m. EDT — I'm hosting a book release party for my novella — Pretty and Pregnant on Facebook. I have a series of games planned with prizes. Milk is the central theme as the main character in Pretty and Pregnant is pregnant, so a milk mustache is optional. 

Have your email address ready because I'm giving away books and giftcards from Amazon. If you have a nook you'll need to tell me that so I can make sure you receive a gift from Barnes and Noble.

Dress, your attire is completely up to you as this is an online party, but if you want to share, that's fine with me.

Prizes: gift cards... books...

Indie Book of the Day Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out the giveaway from Indie Book of the Day. Take part for a chance at winning a Kindle Fire.

Six Sentence Sunday

I started a new romance and it's currently my new WIP. I thought I'd share six sentences for Six Sentence Sunday for your enjoyment.

Pretty and Pregnant

Sunlight streamed through the kitchen window and right into Kimberly Steele’s blue eyes. She wrinkled her nose and sneezed into a nearby tissue.

“God bless you,” a male voice called from the doorway. “You might want to have that cold checked out,” he said.

Her eyes narrowed into slits, “And why is that Jeremy?” she snapped.

Jeremy Preston leaned against the door frame that led into his law office. “Because you’re preggars.”

Writing goals

Wow, it's 2013 already? I have my foot firmly in the publishing door now and I'm so thankful for all the readers who reached out to me. I love the emails, keep 'em coming. Here are my top ten goals for 2013 writing wise.

1. Finish what I start.
I have one book that is screaming "finish me!"

2. Publish four books.
I have a sequel with the editor and another book nearly finished. I also plan to write another sequel before the year is up.

3. Write more and chat less.
I love my friends on Facebook, but I need to learn how to pull myself away sometimes.

4. When writing always put a unique spin on it.
It's hard to be totally unique, but do your best. It's what sets you apart from the pack.

5. Try and teach writers how to engage their readers on their own Facebook page.
I do this well, but I know many who struggle with this. BE YOURSELF!

6. Be myself and stay positive.
It's not a goal but a lifestyle.

7. Step out of my comfort zone.
I'd love to stretch myself as a writer.

8. Worry less.
Writing is not a numbers games, it's pure enjoyment. If you don't love what you write, it will show.

9. Find more ways to market my books.
I'm looking into some paid ads to try it out. My books are not being seen my the masses just yet, but with more effort this could change.

10. Be a full time writer by years end.
This will be a hard stretch, but it's what I really want to be able to do, and with enough hard work, it can become a reality. Absolutely nothing in life just happens without plenty of hard work.

Armed and Outrageous free on Amazon Dec 20-24th

Armed and Outrageous free run on Amazon

I have jumped through hoops and nearly broke an ankle while doing so. Agnes and Eleanor are pissed. I mean they don't want it spread around Tadim or Tawas, MI, that they give it away for free, they do have some morals. Armed and Outrageous will be free on Amazon Dec 20-24th. As an added bonus Coffin Tales Season of Death is also free thru the 24th.

US http://tiny.cc/vly4jw http://tiny.cc/zjy4jw

Book synopsis:
Senior sleuth — Grandma Mazur meets Murder She Wrote — cozy mystery.

Agnes Barton is not your typical senior citizen living in Tadium, MI, on the shores of Lake Huron. She drives a red hot Mustang, shops at Victoria's Secret, rankles local police officials, and has a knack for sticking her nose where it doesn't belong.

What does a murder that happened forty-three years ago have to do with missing tourist Jennifer Martin? Agnes makes it her personal mission to find out, and she's not letting the fact she's seventy-two get in the way. Butting heads with Sheriff Clem Peterson is something she's accustomed to, but lately Clem seems to be acting even more strange, making Agnes wonder what he may be hiding ala the Martin disappearance.

Agnes’ partner in crime, Eleanor Mason tags along, Watson to her Holmes.
Together, they unearth clues. If only Eleanor would behave, as although lovable, she has a knack for getting into trouble by tangling with her rival, Dorothy Alton, or flirting with anyone—male or female—and gossiping! She's incorrigible, but she does carry a Pink Lady revolver in her purse, one that has proved useful at times.

Life for Agnes and Eleanor is shaken up when Agnes' former boss and secret crush comes to Tadium. Before long, the lady sleuths have more on their hands to contend with as goons roll into town and bullets begin to fly

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