March 2012 Blog Posts (9)

As a book reviewer, one of the areas of the book I analyze is writing style. I try to inform the potential reader about what type of book I’ve read.

Think about the different authors you’ve read. Besides the different genres having, or sometimes requiring, different styles, consider the multitude of authors in only one genre.

Horror – H.P. Lovecraft wrote lengthy sentences with details galore.

Stephen King writes flashback scenes with a lot of detail.…

I conduct several self defense seminars for high school students and women, as well as the various techniques shown in my regular classes. One of the things I teach those who participate in self defense courses is to have options available to immediately utilize.

For example, let me keep it simple and discuss a basic wrist grab. After determining the level of threat indicated, the person would pull his/her wrist against the opponent’s thumb, that finger being the weakest part…

FREE FOR AMAZON PRIME MEMBERS.  The Surreal Killer, the third Roger Bowman-Suzanne Foster South American mystery novel in the series, is now available as a Kindle E-Book from Amazon (+Amazon UK and DE) for $2.99; the novel is free for Amazon Prime members at…

I'm ready to post my weekly blog when suddenly James Baroni, author of The Legend of Rachel Petersen (see Brayton's Book Buzz from this previous Monday) storms into my apartment, grabs me by the collar and throws me into the transporter. Before I can recover, he flicks the switch and we're off…

Pontiac, MI-The all age comic book series starring a super genius kid with a blockish hairdo returns in The Kid With The Cubed Fro #2

“The first issue was just an introduction to the Kid With The Cubed Fro and some of the other characters.  But it’s the second issue where the story kicks loose and goes high octane crazy fun.” Says series creator Martin Jackson.

The Kid With the Cubed Fro’s first day of school continues as the alien O’Zha Mutana Razbin returns to seek revenge on…

The next post in my series about "The Great Seducers" This week: The Charmer. http://graceelliot-author.blogspot.com/2012/03/great-seducers-charmer.html

What does it take to be a charmer? What rules do they work by? Who is our famous charmer from history?

Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser your story, from the moment you have an idea, your book will go through several evolutionary changes. Make note of those changes because they will help you in subsequent endeavors.

I’d like to discuss the evolutionary stages of my book, Beta, and perhaps looking at the process, you may find something to help you with your stories.

Beta was supposed to be the sequel. The first, Alpha, I wrote in the…

Opening a new book is like unwrapping a present on Christmas morning. You see a pretty dust cover over the formed cardboard like shell and you wonder what’s inside. Will it be a story to excite you or make you laugh? Will the hero be fearless and the bad guys extra evil?

Many times, the book ends up being the annual Father’s Day tie. Nothing special, same unexciting characters, standard plot with a few new twists. Once in awhile, however, you do get something shiny and fresh…

The writer’s  jungle

I spent hours sweating blood over my first novel, colligating stories from my grandparents and searching the net and libraries for archived articles of a bygone age.  I wrote, re-wrote, edited, changed and finally produced the finished article.  After entering it for a Scottish Writer’s Association general novel competition and winning second place along with a glowing crit, I mistakenly believed I was on my way. Now, thinks me, all I have to do…