Sour Cherry Cover Art!

 

Absolutely love my new cover! What do you think?

Merry Christmas!

Here's wishing you and all of yours a happy holiday!

The End

It takes a while for me to finish a novel. Let Me Out took three years. Not just a draft, but revision after revision after revision. Three years. When I finally finished it, content with the way my characters developed and the plot progressed, I was the happiest person in the world.

With Die For Me, the same thing occurred. However, I spent 2011 rewriting the entire novel from beginning to end. 10x better, by the way.

Working on Mortal Eclipse though, a book I started three years ago, I'm finally coming close to the end. A half chapter left. Half a chapter! But as I seemingly do, I can't get myself to end it.

Perhaps it's because the muse isn't motivated. I could be tired. Or hungry. These last few months I've been busy with school, editing and work and I might not exactly be looking forward to putting another book out to query as I have two on submission already.

Or maybe, I just can't let go. Maybe I don't want the story to end or the characters to disappear. I didn't used to consider myself a sentimental writer, but now I'm not so sure.

Does this happen to you? Are you able to write THE END without problems?

Books Up For Grabs!

It's time to clean off my shelf of physical books while I start replacing them with e-books. So, I'm not holding a contest, I'm not limiting one per person. If you want any of these books, let me know. I can ship them to you as long as it's within the continental US.

Harry Potter, Books 1-7 by JK Rowling: All paperback except Book 7
New Moon, Eclipse and Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer: All hardcover
Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card: Paperback
The Princess Bride by William Goldman: Paperback

Scandal, My Wicked Enemy, My Dangerous Pleasure, My Forbidden Desire, My Immortal Assassin by Carolyn Jewel: All Paperback

A Great and Terrible Beauty, Rebel Angels, The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray: Paperback
Eve by Iris Johansen: Paperback
Stephanie Plum Series, Books 1-17, All Paperback except Books 16 and 17
Fallen by Lauren Kate, Hardback

Like I said, you want them, you can have them. Let me know!

Sour Cherry is Contracted!

The Wild Rose Press has agreed to publish Sour Cherry!

The contract is sent. The blurbs, cover preferences and excerpts are in. Just waiting for edits at this point.

I have to tell you; this comes at the perfect time. I've released two books this year already, but not being able to write as much lately with working two full time jobs has taken a toll. I almost gave up writing completely to focus on things that will pay my bills, but there are miracles and people actually do seem to like what I write.

Maybe it's a sign I need to get my priorities straightened out :)

Here's a little bit about my newest book, Sour Cherry.

About

Cherish “Cherry” Williams has been betrayed by her own motorcycle club. The Outriggers, and its president, want her dead. In an attempt to save her life for an exchange gone wrong, she seeks help from the last place her club would look for her: behind enemy lines.

Only Cherry suspects her president’s corruption, but as she investigates him further, she finds the exchange was a set up from the beginning and war between clubs is inevitable with the CIA involved.

Cooper Nolan is Cherry’s only chance of survival, but as Vice President of the Outriggers’ rival club and an undercover CIA agent, he’s not exactly keen on risking his life for a woman who was supposed to be a one-night stand.

Without the CIA’s help, both the Outriggers and its rivals will see to Cherry fulfilling her “to the death” oath, but even more daunting is the fact she’s losing her heart to a man who isn’t willing to choose her over drugs, guns and blood.

 Look for Sour Cherry soon from the Wild Rose Press!

Let Me Out FREE on Oct 1-5

For a limited time you can download the Amazon Bestseller for FREE on October 1st through the 5th!

About

For a psychopath, murder is addictive.

With every remorseful drop of blood spilled, the violent whispers in her head are silenced, but to Adelaide Banvard’s disappointment, only for a short amount of time. Used as an assassin, the schizophrenic monster inside her head grows stronger the longer Christian Wren takes advantage of her demons. Knowing this life will have her behind bars or six feet under, Adelaide wants out by any means necessary in order to save her sanity and her life.

For a federal agent, revenge is even sweeter.

ATF Agent Marcus Grant has declared war on Wren after the death of a fellow agent and forces his way into the weapon manufacturer’s entourage to seek his revenge as an undercover bodyguard. Fully aware that men like Wren never risk getting their hands dirty, Marcus sets his sights on the first woman who has captivated him in a long time, Wren’s personal bodyguard, Adelaide Banvard.

Adelaide realizes the man who can put her behind bars for life is the opportunity she needs to overcome her bloodthirsty desires, but can she convince Marcus she’s not the killer he’s after?

Where to buy

Amazon - Kindle Version

What They’re Saying

“A heart-pounding ride of intrigue and betrayal. Not your ordinary suspense.” – Siobhan Muir, Author of Her Devoted Vampire

"Will knock your socks off!” – Midwest Book Review.

“A truly remarkable tale.” – Night Owl Reviews, Reviewer’s Top Pick.

Up The Stakes

Want to keep your readers drooling for more? Then you need suspense and conflict. Doesn’t matter if you write thrillers or suspense, romance or fantasy, these two elements are the heart of your book. According to Debra Dixon, author of Goals, Motivations and Conflict, “Your book is only as good as your villain”. So let’s break it down. What can you do to up the stakes in your novel?

1.      Kick up the suspense. In this step, external conflict is king. This is where something physical prevents your character from achieving their goal(s). Author Avery Flynn says it best in her blog post, What Are You Looking At—Writing Conflict: “It’s the big, bad thing forcing the hero into action.” This is the guy who wants to stop your hero or make them pay, but is he really doing everything possible?  

Let’s say the bad guy has kidnapped the hero’s mother and won’t free her until the hero robs a bank for him. Only problem is, if caught, he’s going to prison and the hero’s family would suffer. If the hero doesn’t do what he’s told, things could get ugly. That’s suspenseful, but we’re missing out on some bigger opportunities by leaving it at that. So let’s see how you can make a bad situation worse.

What if the bad guy decides not to wait for the hero to make up his mind and decides to kill his mother anyway? The bad guy has won. The hero is distraught and now his mother’s death is on his hands. Now what is he going to do about it?

By making bad situations worse, we’re taking the suspense just a little bit further for the reader. These are the types of situations that will keep them turning the pages and since we’re writing fictions, you can make the impossible believable.

2.      Make it personal. Use internal conflict to make your readers care about your characters. They want to be personally invested, they want to root for the good guy. Develop those inner conflicts and emotional issues.

So when we have a bad guy holding the hero’s mother hostage, of course the hero will be distraught. But what if we change out his mother for his wife or son (or romantic interest in romance)? If your hero/heroine has a fear of heights, guess where they’re going to end up—on a cliff or a really tall building. By challenging your character to face their fears, you’re keeping the suspense continuous and upping the stakes.

3.      Keep it short. Use short sentences to make your reader not only see the suspense, but feel it as well. Let’s take the following passage as an example:

A set of knuckles connected with his jaw.

The punch to his face forced him back into the wall.

This last sentence reads almost passively, with a slow narrative feel to it. Now to “keep it short”, we’re going to change it to make us feel the suspense.

                        A set of knuckles connected with his jaw.

He slammed into the wall. Hard.

Not only have we cut five words while giving the same information, we’ve intensified them to deliver just the right amount of suspense and life.

4.      Give your characters a deadline. Consider Patrick Lee’s novel, Deep Sky. Lee’s main characters, Travis Chase and Paige Campbell, have only 24 hours to decipher a message to save the world. Doesn’t that alone make your character’s heart race? From this deadline, you can imagine just how many obstacles are going to work against them and how on edge your readers will be.

5.      Have bad guys worth rooting against. Not every novel has a bad guy. Situations are used as conflict too. However, if your conflict takes the form of a person or a group, consider Tami Cowden’s Villain Archetypes.

In order to make the ultimate villain, however, your bad guy needs to have believable motivations. Dennis Palumbo’s article, [title] in this month’s The March of Crime newsletter, explains readers are less likely to believe your bad guy is psychopathic “just because” than they will when they discover he’s been abused, his loved one was murdered or he wants power and money.
For suspense, use psychological aspects alongside the violence. Your antagonist can kill a lot of people, he can torture and maim, but psychological attacks have a lasting impression.

By integrating these five elements into your manuscript, you’ll keep readers drooling for more and leave a lasting impression with the heros and heroine who overcome such obstacles.

The High-Concept Pitch Line

A lot of thrillers deal with a "high-concept" pitch line and while I'm revising my second suspense novel, I wanted to know what exactly makes a thriller/suspense high-concept. First, from what I understand, high-concept deals with a short and exciting one line pitch.



Here are a few examples I've found:

Michael Critchton - "Killer disease from space!" to "An island of dinosaurs reconstituted from fossil DNA!" to "Killer nanorobots!"

The Hunger Games - "Teenagers fight to the death on TV!"



With my goal to find an agent with Bleed For Me, I decided to take the high-concept pitch into consideration. How could my novel be summed up in a one line, exciting and encompassing pitch? Like a hook, it needs to catch readers/agents/publishers off guard, but at the same time tell them what my book addresses.

One line... 

"A former hitman must prevent bloodshed!"

What do you think? Does the line tell you what Bleed For Me is about? Does it make you want to read more? Is it different enough from other books you've read?

The entire novel must be understood from a high-concept pitch. It has to be loud. So I gave this one a shot:

"A hitman and convict must save lives!"

Better? I found it interesting that the entire time I worked on my high-concept pitch, it was a lot easier to get through my revisions. Even if your book isn't high-concept (understood in one short sentence) you can still apply this same concept to make sure your writing is focused. 

Obviously I'm still working on it, but what are some of your ideas for high-concept pitch line?

Great Reviews for Let Me Out!

SQUUUEEEE!

Let Me Out was chosen as Reviewer's Top Pick over ar Night Owl Reviews! Here's what they had to say:

"There is only one word to describe a novel of this caliber: wow. Let Me Out tells the story of Adelaide Banvard, and her trials and tribulations with both Dissociative Personality Disorder and Schizophrenia and her time with two very different but equally sinister monsters. It also tells the story of Marcus Grant, an ATF agent with a heart of gold searching for his partner’s killer. He suspects local business magnate Christian Wren as the mastermind of his partner’s death, but still was not sure about who actually killed him. When Marcus goes undercover in Wren’s organization to solve Scott’s murder, little does he know that the beautiful little spitfire he has fallen hard for is not only a ruthless, brutal killer but also a little girl lost in a big bad world.

The story is nearly epic in its scope, showing how families and lives can be torn apart by not only crime but also murder, kidnapping, and the trials of mental illness. It starts fast and never slows down. I honestly could not put down this novel, easily reading two thirds of it in one day. It is that good. This is a novel for anyone who wants a good adventure, and also a story of love and learning to cope with the unbearable. A truly remarkable tale."

A NIGHT OWL REVIEWS BOOK REVIEW * Reviewed by: Hitherandthee

Thank you to everyone who believed in me and helped me through this journey. Come back for more good news!

Guest Post by BC Brown!

"As an indie author, it's hard to get people to review your book."  This is one of the most reiterated statements I hear from other authors.  And it Simply. Isn't. True.

The self-pubbed world of literature has literally EXPLODED in the last one- to two-years thanks to success stories like Amanda Hocking.  What used to be a phrase ("self-pubbed") that was more whispered than spoken, being an indie author has put the power of the written word back into the hands of those who count - we who hold the pens/laptops! 

But, despite this shift of power, there are still daunting tasks for any author going the self-pub route.  If writing, editing, formatting, cover art, promotion and sales weren't enough to make most people want to run for the hills. As authors, we also have the overwhelming tasks of garnering -yipes!- REVIEWS for our books.

What used to be a difficult thing to do without the backing of a powerful agent or publishing house, indie reviews have gotten so easy to come by it's almost too easy.  The big thing is getting your new writing out there for book bloggers, voracious readers, and sometimes-only readers.

Um, how? Well, you utilize every tool you have in your arsenal. Book blogging sites are numerous; almost everywhere you look online, there is a link to this book blogger's site or that one's.  We simply have to do the small amount of research required by clicking over to their blog, actually reading it (highly suggested if you don't want to just be a "solicitor"), and finding out what their submission requirements are.  Then you email, DM, submit the form, do whatever is required of you to submit to this book blogger and, well, wait.  Most book bloggers do what they do for the love of reading; and in part, I'm sure, for free reading material.  What do you have to lose by it? Nothing.

"But I've lost a sale."  Whenever I mention this to people, this is what I hear. And the truth of the matter is that this statement couldn't be less true than someone saying the world is flat. This book blogger you've given a free PDF to wasn't in your fan base and probably didn't even know you existed. If they never knew you existed, then they were never a potential sale, were they? So we haven't lost a sale; we've gained a review, a (hopefully) fan, and the notice of that particular blogger's following.  Think we might get at least one sale out of that free read? You bet your sweet tuckus!

But book bloggers aren't the only place to seek reviews for indie authors. There are thousands of full time book review sites embracing their love of indie skill and creativity. And, yet, there are still old standbys like your friends, family, and acquaintances on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.  Make an event and send it out to select individuals you think would like a free copy of one of your books; you can even make this fun and maybe toss in a contest. Who wouldn't want a free PDF of a book and the possibility to win an autographed print copy? Sure, they may already have it but an autograph is an autograph (they'll want it when one of us becomes the next J.K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyers). Plus, they don't necessarily have to get it signed to them; maybe they liked it and want to give it as a gift? Who knows!

Does all of this take a little time out of our day to accomplish? Sure. An author might have to send out 200 review events to get even 5 back. But who cares? That's 5 more reviews we didn't have before. Does it take time to read and research book bloggers and review sites out there? Yep, sure does. But would any one of us want to pass up the chance a book blogger with 10k followers loves our book and suggests it as a 'Must Read' to their fans? Um, probably not.

Remember: yes, you are giving away free copies of your book, but you can't look at it like that.  You have to think of it as part of your marketing strategy, part of generating BUZZ. As people we look at the reviews an item has to determine if it is "worth" the money or time we'll be spending. It would be just plain silly to let the idea of a loss that was never a loss in the first place keep us from gaining more than we ever could have thought possible. It's one thing to think outside the box, but sometimes you also have to think outside the straight jacket. ;)

Any other indie or traditional house authors out there want to chime in? Did I forget to mention something here - another circle or type of review-getter?

Also, if you're interested in picking my brain over the matter, feel free to come meet me in person at the Vincennes, Indiana Farmer's Market Book Fair on June 9^th from 8-Noon. There will be a free door prize given away during the day – presence not required to win.

You can find BC's books and follow BC here:

Amazon: www.amazon.com/author/bcbrown

Facebook: www.facebook.com/BCBrownWrites

Goodreads: www.goodreads.com/BCBrown

Twitter: @BCBrownBooks