Four Tricks to Improve Your Fiction in Ten Minutes

I didn't intend for this to be Mass-Blogging Wednesday, but I'm finding so many great things to share! Victoria Mixon posted this blog two days ago, and I'm so far behind in my blog reading that I just got to it this morning. It's four tricks to improve your fiction in one day, but I think it really should be "Four Tricks to Improving Your Fiction in Ten Minutes" - because that's how long it'll take you to read the blog and figure out how to implement it in your Work-in-Progress. Check it out.

-Sonja

Malicious Mischief (Mischief and Mayhem #1) by Marianne Harden

My friend Marianne Harden has a book coming out on October 22, 2013. Not only am I pitching the book to you today, but I'm also revealing the cover art for this new masterpiece! So without further words from me, here's everything you need to know about Malicious Mischief:

Book Summary:

Career chameleon Rylie Keyes must keep her current job. If not, the tax assessor will evict her ailing grandfather and auction off their ancestral home. When a senior she shuttles for a Bellevue, Washington retirement home winds up dead in her minibus, sticky with a half-eaten s'more, head clad in a cellophane bag, and a pocketed complain letter accusing her of driving by Braille, her goal to keep her job hits a road bump.

The deceased was thought to be a penniless Nazi concentration camp survivor with a silly grudge against Rylie. However, the victim has enemies who will stop at nothing to keep their part in the murder a secret.

Forced to dust off the PI training she's kept hidden from her ex-detective grandfather, Rylie must align with a circus-bike-wheeling Samoan to solve the murder, all the while juggling the attentions of two very hot police officers.

 

About Marianne Harden:

Marianne loves a good laugh. So much so, she cannot stop humor from spilling into her books. Over the years she has backpacked through the wilds of Australia, explored the exotics of Asia, soaked up the sun in the Caribbean, and delighted in the historic riches of Europe. Her goals in life are simple: do more good than harm and someday master the do-not-mess-wiht-me look. She divides her time between Switzerland and Washington State where she lives with her husband and two children.

Find Marianne Harden: 

Website  Twitter  Facebook  Goodreads

Book Links:

Goodreads  Amazon  Barnes&Noble

 

Gift Card Prize:

Marianne is giving away a $25 gift card to the book retailer of the winner's choice, but being the tech-moron that I am, I can't figure out how to include the link for it here. However, some other tech-savvy blogger (Aileen Fish) figured it out just fine, so I'll send you to her link if you want to enter for the prize. You'll also find an except from Malicious Mischief at Aileen's site, so head on over and check it out. I'll use that time to play with my newest blogging tool and figure out how to use it properly for next time.

-Sonja

You're Not Alone

Kristen Lamb posted this brilliant message on her blog yesterday, and it's a must read for any author who has a life outside of writing. Check it out. It'll  inspire you and remind you that you're not the only one out there trying to juggle kids and house and job and laundry and everything else that makes life meaningful. 

-Sonja

Writing Advice

I came across this writing advice and knew I had to share it:

"Substitute 'damn' every time you're inclined to write 'very;' your editor will delete it and the writing will be just as it should be."

– Mark Twain

Cat Literature

Henri the Angst-Ridden Cat has written a book. While this has nothing to do with profiling, I give it five stars for the brilliant use of the word "ennui." Go on, watch it. You'll be inspired to open your work-in-progress and do something with it.

-Sonja 

Creating a Victim

I'm studying the book The Anatomy of Motive by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker about profiling in an effort to create believable antagonists. Today's chapter led me in a slightly different direction. I found a brief section in chapter six about victims that I'd like to share.

 (The "Cross Country Killer" Glen Rogers)

Most of this chapter details real-life crimes, and in the midst of a section about Glen Rogers (a sexual murderer), Douglas mentions briefly why one woman who was connected to Rogers was not victimized by him. The woman in question managed a bar. She knew how to take care of herself, she had contact with lots of people, and she didn't let anyone walk over her. She stood up for herself. Because of these traits, Rogers was unable to dominate her, thus she was not an attractive target to him. He wanted people he could control, who were vulnerable, who had little self-esteem, who were in the midst of a major life trauma. Because he was good at reading people, he could look around a crowded bar and spot those women who met his criteria.

While this is sick and twisted for real life, it paints a fabulous picture for writers. If your victim is assertive, self-assured, and confrontational, that will speak volumes to detectives when profiling her killer. However, if your killer goes after a victim who is quiet, non-confrontational, shy, feels low self-worth, and is going through a nasty divorce, that points to a totally different personality type. Keep both victim and perpetrator in mind when building crimes and crime scenes. Nothing's more unbelievable than mismatching victims and perps.

-Sonja

When People Snap

In my on-going study to create more believable antagonists, I'm studying the book The Anatomy of Motive by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. The chapter I'm in now deals with people in the workplace who, for no apparent reason, snap and kill their co-workers, bosses, even themselves. It also applies to students who enter their school campus and go on killing rampages. A large portion of this chapter is case studies, but I found a section that's useful for writing purposes.

Douglas says that most people don't snap. It's not a common occurrence. So when it does happen in your novel, it needs to be as realistic as possible. To figure out if the antagonist is going to snap, you can't have your protagonist sit down and interview him. Most people won't open up about personal problems to anyone, not even close friends, so it won't be realistic. Instead, have your protagonist analyze the antagonist's behavior.

"What is this person's normal behavior? Is that what we're seeing? Have there been changes? Is he suddenly becoming obsessively religious after having been unobservant in the past? Was he a social drinker who is now either displaying signs of inebriation or, alternately, criticizing others who are droning and not going to church? Is he complaining about others in a way he never did before? Is he obviously eating more or eating less? Is there a change of pattern?"

You're looking for someone who's life is no longer in balance. If you're creating this character, you'll need to be subtle enough that tons of people don't notice and get scared, but not so subtle that no one notices. Most of the time, motive in these cases is anger and revenge. They are always quick to blame someone else for the tragedy, and are usually organized. They plan their killing sprees, as opposed to one day rising from their chair and grabbing a weapon of opportunity. 

This chapter didn't help me much in my writing, as I'm not planning to have a character snap in any of my books. But some of the information can easily be applied. Behavior watching nets a ton of useful information about a person. I image the normal everyday behavior of a serial killer is vastly different from a soccer-mom housewife. Or maybe it isn't. That's the scary part.

-Sonja