Grace's Mosaic Moments


Sunday, February 2, 2025

Need a Good Insult?

 

No Caption Needed

The absolutely brilliant photo below was taken in Pensacola by Dan Dunn during the record-setting snowfall in Florida's Panhandle (10"). Previous record:  4"
 




~ * ~

While searching through my personal files for a Choir file that needed updating, I ran across a title that made my eyes pop. It is likely something that turned up on Facebook, but so long ago I forgot I saved it. And as far as I can remember, I have never used it. But in these times when practically everyone I know is grinding his/her teeth—when it looks as if Democracy has been replaced by Dictatorship in less than ten days—we need a more unique way to express our displeasure. Well, here are some ways to do just that. (Sorry, no attribution given.)

INSULTS WORTH READING

                                  

These  insults are from an era “before” the English language got boiled down to 4-letter words.

 1. "He had delusions of adequacy ” Walter Kerr
 2. "He has all the virtues I dislike and none of the vices I admire.”- Winston Churchill
3. "I have never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure. - Clarence Darrow
4. "He has never been known to use a word that might send a reader to the dictionary.”-William Faulkner (about Ernest Hemingway)
5. "Poor Faulkner. Does he really think big emotions come from big words?"- Ernest Hemingway (about William Faulkner)
6. "Thank you for sending me a copy of your book; I'll waste no time reading it.” - Moses Hadas
7. "I didn't attend the funeral, but I sent a nice letter saying I approved of it.” - Mark Twain
8. "He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends.” - Oscar Wilde
 9. "I am enclosing two tickets to the first night of my new play; bring a friend, if you have one.”   -George Bernard Shaw to Winston Churchill
10. "Cannot possibly attend first night, will attend second... if there is one.” - Winston Churchill, in response
11. "I feel so miserable without you; it's almost like having you here” - Stephen Bishop
12. "He is a self-made man and worships his creator.” - John Bright
13. "I've just learned about his illness. Let's hope it's nothing trivial.” - Irvin S. Cobb
 14. "He is not only dull himself; he is the cause of dullness in others.” - Samuel Johnson
 15. "He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up. -  Paul Keating
16. "He loves nature in spite of what it did to him.” - Forrest Tucker
17.  "Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it?” - Mark Twain
18. "His mother should have thrown him away and kept the stork.” - Mae West
19. "Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.” - Oscar Wilde
20. "He uses statistics as a drunken man uses lamp-posts... for support rather than illumination.” - Andrew Lang (1844-1912)
21. "He has Van Gogh's ear for music.” - Billy Wilder
22. "I've had a perfectly wonderful evening. But I'm afraid this wasn't it.” - Groucho Marx
23. The exchange between Winston Churchill & Lady Astor: She said, "If you were my husband I'd give you poison." He said, "If you were my wife, I'd drink it."
24. "He can compress the most words into the smallest idea of any man I know." - Abraham Lincoln
25. "There's nothing wrong with you that reincarnation won't cure." -- Jack E.  Leonard
26. "They never open their mouths without subtracting from the sum of human knowledge." --  Thomas Brackett Reed
27. "He inherited some good instincts from his Quaker forebears, but by diligent hard work, he overcame them." -- James Reston (about Richard Nixon)

~ * ~

Inside Info on Grace's (Blair Bancroft's)s latest book. 

As anyone who has read The Abandoned Daughter may have guessed, I grew very fond of the major who suffered from what we now call PTSD. So much so that I built on that character to create the hero of my next book. I was planning on another Gothic with multiple phantoms; in fact, my book sections are headed, Phantom 1, Phantom 2 . . . Except my reincarnation of Major Benedict Hawley refused to take back seat to a bunch of ethereal characters, no matter how long they might have been lurking in Lark House, Wiltshire, not far from Stonehenge. New title: The Stone Soldier and the Lady. (Nor is the lady a shy miss who kowtows to either ghosts or hardened spies.)

So, if you haven't yet read The Abandoned Daughter, a Mystery/Adventure/Romance set in Bath, you might want to check it out so you can appreciate the transformation of Major Benedict Hawley to British spy, Captain Hugh Fox.
 


 Isabelle Bainbridge—abandoned by her gamester father, leery of the young lord who claims he is rescuing her—is more than a little surprised to find herself employed as companion to his grandmother in Bath, who treats her more like a ward than an employee. A near idyllic situation, until Isabelle discovers a young woman's body floating in the Kennet & Avon canal—an alleged suicide—soon followed by a series of murders that shake the tranquility of the beautiful city known as a refuge for the elderly and infirm.
Although Isabelle is determined to despise her rescuer—the viscount who won her home in a game of cards—she is forced to rely on him as she is stalked and it becomes apparent she may be next on the killer's list. There are several surprises, as well as moments of terror, before this Gothic adventure finds its happy ending.

~ * ~

For a link to Blair's websiteclick here. 

For Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*
 

For recent blogs, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)  

Saturday, January 25, 2025

WRITING - Getting Started

 With all the negatives in the world lately, "fun" photos have been few and far between—so a few diverse choices from the "My Pictures" file . . .

From a birthday party in 2016, for which I made all the burlap bags of classic "bag races."


The reason my daughter hired an exterminator each time before they used their cottage along the Suwanee River. (I wonder what the new owners think of the resident wildlife—this was just one of many!) That web stretches between tree trunks; not branches, TRUNKS. Please note the trunks this web spans are not in the photo.

 

 

The remarkable things one can find when researching . . .

Map of the maze in Sydney Gardens, Bath (early 19th c.)

 ~ * ~


Below, one of the very first bits of advice on Writing, written "way back when" and available with a quantity of others on Writing & Editing in the Archives or organized and indexed in Making Magic With Words.

 

WRITING WORKSHOP 1 - Getting Started

 

"Where do you get your ideas?"

 How many times have you been asked that question? The answer is: "Everywhere." Ideas are all around you. Personal experiences, television, newspapers, movies, people on the street, a chance remark, a character or situation in a book that sets you to asking, "What if . . .?" Or perhaps you're building a whole new world from scratch. Let's face it, if you didn't have ideas, you wouldn't be attempting to write a book. BUT developing these ideas into a 400-page book is something else again.

 

Fresh Twist.

So what do you do with that germ of an idea? To sell in today's tough market, give it a fresh twist, something that will keep the reader turning pages instead of groaning over yet another version of same old-same old. Be innovative, not cookie-cutter. Grab that idea, find a way to make it fresh. For example, in Grave Intentions, Lori Sjoberg makes a hero of the Grim Reaper, going on to develop other male and female reapers in a series for Kensington.

 

Research.

At least three-quarters of you are groaning, thinking: "But I write Contemporary . . ." Nonetheless, you have research to do. You need to find out how to make your hero and heroine, the setting, and general ambiance of your book sound authentic. Whether it's Renaissance, Regency, police procedure, arson investigation, high finance, medical, or whatever—make sure you know what you're talking about.

 For example, what did I know about "the British Electoral System prior to the reforms of 1832" when I began the book now titled, A Gamble on Love? Absolutely nothing, of course. It took some heavy reading of books acquired for me by the Sarasota Library system via Interlibrary loan, but in the end I picked up some gems, tidbits that greatly enhanced the tale of a "cit" (a  man who works for a living) who horrifies his aristocratic bride when he runs for Parliament.

 But don't panic. Research doesn't have to be all "up front." You can dredge it up as you go along. (I certainly didn't read all those heavy tomes on the British Electoral system before I began to write.) But you absolutely must have enough knowledge by the time you do your final edit so that people who are experts on your book's subject don't throw your book against the wall by the end of the first chapter.

As an example of how easy it is to slip up, no matter how careful you think you're being:  when I was writing, The Harem Bride for Signet, I had the hero and heroine meet in Constantinople, at the home of the British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. I paused long enough to think about the problem of reality but considered it so unlikely I could discover the name of the actual ambassador at that time that I simply made up a name for this character and continued on.

 But in final editing before submitting the manuscript, I scowled at the name I'd invented and decided, well maybe, after all, I should check Google. To my shock, when I entered "British Ambassador, Ottoman Empire, 1803," page after page after page came scrolling up. Oops! It seems the ambassador was Lord Elgin, famed for boxing up many of the statues on the Acropolis, even to the extent of chipping off the friezes from the Parthenon, and shipping them back to England, where, some years later, they ended up in the British Museum. (I've seen them—they have a whole hall of their own.) To this day, Greece is trying to get them back.

After I finished gulping at how close I'd come to a major faux pas, I revised not only that scene but added references to Lord Elgin's struggles in getting the British Museum to buy his marbles. Moral of this story: check your facts. Don't end up with egg on your face.


~ * ~

For a link to Blair's websiteclick here. 

For Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*
 

For recent blogs, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)  

 

 


Saturday, January 18, 2025

Writing - "Prosy" is a No-no.

 The article below, found on Facebook, is so close to the description of the world I knew growing up that I had to copy it and share with the many to whom it will sound like fiction.

MY GENERATION


If you were born between 1930 and 1946, you belong to an incredibly rare group: only 1% of your generation is still alive today. At ages ranging from 77 to 93, your era is a unique time capsule in human history.
Here’s why:
You were born into hardship. Your generation climbed out of the Great Depression and bore witness to a world at war. You lived through ration books, saved tin foil, and reused everything—nothing was wasted.
You remember the milkman. Fresh milk was delivered to your door. Life was simpler and centered around the basics. Discipline came from both parents and teachers, with no room for excuses.
Your imagination was your playground. Without TVs, you played outside and created entire worlds in your mind from what you heard on the radio. The family gathered around the radio for news or entertainment.
Technology was in its infancy. Phones were communal, calculators were hand-cranked, and newspapers were the primary source of information. Typewriters, not computers, recorded thoughts.
Your childhood was secure. Post-WWII brought a bright future—no terrorism, no internet, no global warming debates. It was a golden era of optimism, innovation, and growth.
You are the last generation to live through a time when:
Black-and-white TVs were cutting-edge.
Highways weren’t motorways.
Shopping meant visiting downtown stores.
Polio was a feared disease.
While your parents worked hard to rebuild their lives, you grew up in a world of endless possibilities. You thrived in a time of peace, progress, and security that the world may never see again.
If you’re over 77 years old, take pride in having lived through these extraordinary times. You are one of the lucky 1% who can say, "I lived through the best of times."
Credit goes to the original author ✍  Respect   

~ * ~

Grace note:  How I wish I knew the author of the above, so I could say "Thank you" for putting it so well.

 

The Problem with Being Prosy

Grace note:   Avoiding being Prosy is a totally new topic, one not covered in the Archives or in Making Magic With Words.  It came up totally out of the blue as I read an "older" Regency series I seem to have missed in the past.  In "Regency speak" prosy refers to characters who drone on and on, ad infinitum, evidently oblivious to the fact that their words are not precious gems, fascinating to all. Mr. Collins in Pride and Prejudice is an excellent example. 

So, how does this apply to writing Fiction?

Though I am, perhaps, skewing the definition of "prosy" a bit, that was the best word I could come up to define the exquisitely crafted but totally unbelievable prose in the series mentioned above. Not only did the dialogue read like two academicians attempting to outdo each other in a debate, but the characters' introspection read like the thesis of a candidate for PhD!

The words were beautifully put together, no question about that, but the classic phrase "suspended disbelief" refused to kick in. There was no way I could accept that people—even well-educated nobles of the Regency era—would ever speak to each other in such exquisitely crafted phrases. Or think in language it would take even an English professor weeks, if not months, to craft . . . ? No way, no how. 

I kept reading, admiring the word structure, even as I wrinkled my nose at the believability of anyone actually talking or thinking with such perfection.

So . . . am I actually saying beautifully crafted prose is BAD?

If it is so perfect as to be unbelievable, yes. Ah . . . I hear the arguments sputtering on your tongues, so here is my rebuttal:

Yes, it is vitally important that authors of books set in the Regency get the flavor of the language of the Regency correct, as well as the "cant" of the period. Yes, most nobles of the period were well-educated, and even though the females had far less "book learning," they were brought up to speak the flawless English common to their class. They were not, however—male or female—taught to speak or think like a university textbook! More likely, they would have been shunned for such abnormally academic behavior. 

Therefore, authors beware! Particularly those not long out of college. DO NOT MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS ERUDITE! Or, even worse, "prosy" (droning on about nothing) unless, as with Mr. Collins, "prosy" is an important part of their characterization.

DO NOT put  academically elite prose into your characters' mouths (again, unless it is a necessary part of a single character's portrayal).

And, worst of all, DO NOT have your characters thinking in sentences that only a university professor might write for an academic paper.

In short, tell your story in words and phrases that might actually have been spoken or thought by people of the time; NOT in words crafted with all the complexity of a gifted poet.

Grace note: If all else fails, re-read Jane Austen for the speech of the gentry and Georgette Heyer for the likely speech of the nobles of the time.  

~ * ~

 FEATURED BOOK                                           

 I can only hope I have avoided being "prosy" during my quarter century of writing, but when looking for a book to compliment this week's article, I decided to choose my very first—all 140,000 words of it. That waterfall of words was intended to tell the story of the Peninsular War through the eyes of a young lady who was only fourteen when it began. I like to think those many words stuck to high adventure, romance, betrayal, and a Happily Ever After reached only by the skin of the teeth. But 140,000 words? Maybe I slipped into "prosy" here and there. You can decide for yourself. The Sometime Bride is available from most digital vendors.


 
A very young bride finds herself married to an enigmatic British spy "for her safety." And is plunged into a seven-year, highly personal view of the Peninsular War—ending, after years of blind devotion, in discovering a betrayal of her trust so immense she can only wonder: Is she the sometime bride of a man who never existed? A discarded mistress? Or a beloved wife whose only rival is her husband's expediency in a time of war?

Author's Note: In addition to being a saga of young lovers caught up in a war, The Sometime Bride is the history of the Peninsular War, Britain's fight against Napoleon in Portugal and Spain. The story moves from France's invasion of Portugal and British troops being driven into the sea at La Coruña to the return of British troops under General Sir Arthur Wellesley, the fortified lines at Torres Vedras, and the gradual push of French troops across Spain and back to France. Plus the chaotic times in Paris after Napoleon's surrender and the Emperor's triumph as he gathers up his old troops, only to be stopped in one of the most famous and bloody battles in history—Waterloo.

Reviews:

Reviewers Choice Award. "Sometimes a reviewer gets a book so powerful, it's hard to know where to begin to tell about it. The Sometime Bride is such a book. . . . Bride passes every criterion for a successful book that I was given as a reviewer. Ms Bancroft weaves a most unusual love story in among the threads of history that cover eight years. . . . I highly recommend both Tarleton's Wife and The Sometime Bride as companion books. They are totally independent, but together give a vastly enlightening and entertaining view of the period through use of wonderful characters and page-turner plots—definite keepers, both." Jane Bowers, Romance Communications

"The writing talent displayed by the author is wonderful . . . Ms. Bancroft's detail for historical events is phenomenal. . . ."
April Redmon, Romantic Times

Five Stars. "Set against the bloody Napoleonic wars, The Sometime Bride is ambitious, engrossing and absolutely wonderful."
Rickey R. Mallory, Affaire de Coeur

Five Stars. "The Sometime Bride by Blair Bancroft is a riveting and well-written story. . . . The tension between the hero and heroine sizzles. . . ." Janet Lane Walters, Scribes World

~ * ~

For a link to Blair's websiteclick here. 

For Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*
 

For recent blogs, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)  

 

Saturday, January 11, 2025

Sausage/onion Muffins/Gulf Coast Series

 While visiting Kansas City this past week, the Reale family was marooned by a blizzard—supposed to return on Sunday, finally making it shortly before dawn on Thursday. While killing time in KC, Susie built a snowgirl.

While on the side of my house in Longwood, Florida . . .

Blackeyed Susan vines 1/6/25


 

And for your amusement . . .

Found on Facebook
 

~ * ~


Sausage & Onion Muffins


Note: This is an excellent recipe for "singles." After the initial effort, I get eight instant meals. (This recipe can be halved for less "construction" work.)

2 pkg. Pillsbury “Grand” refrigerated biscuits (8 each, your choice of variety)
1 lb. Jimmy Dean sausage (Original or flavor of choice)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pkg. cheese slices (meunster, swiss, or cheddar)
1 cooking apple, quartered & cut in horizontal slices (approx. 3/8" thick)
Fennel seeds, to taste*
Rosemary (fresh or dry), to taste*
Fresh ground pepper, black or mixed
 
*Be generous with both fennel & rosemary.


Preheat oven to 350°. Spray skillet. Spray two muffin pans. (You will need 16 muffins holes.)

Sauté sausage on medium-high, breaking into small pieces with wooden or other large firm spoon. When almost brown, reduce heat to medium and add chopped onion. Continue to sauté until onion is translucent. Drain.** Stir in fennel, rosemary & pepper, to taste. Continue to sauté for a minute or two to develop the flavors. (The fennel is important to the taste, so don’t be stingy.) Remove from heat.

**I use tongs & paper towels to soak up the extra moisture.

Remove ONE pkg of biscuits from refrigerator. (Biscuits slice better when cold.) Slice horizontally into two equal halves. Place one half biscuit in bottom of 8 muffin cups. Top with sausage mix, ¼-½ of a cheese slice & a slice of apple. Place second half of biscuit on top of each muffin, pressing sides down to meet the bottom half.

Repeat with second package of biscuits.***

Bake 13-15 minutes until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Makes 16 fat muffins.
[Although I serve my ham & cheese muffins with a sauce made of honey mustard and Saucy Susan, these sausage biscuits are best served plain. (A sauce tends to overwhelm the fennel & rosemary.)]

The muffins freeze very well. To unfreeze two: 45-50 seconds on Thaw, 45-50 seconds High. Check. Add a few more seconds as necessary.

***Leftover sausage mix can be frozen for later use in a sandwich or scrambled eggs. 

~ * ~

Featured Books 

I lived in Venice, FL, for all of a quarter century. For a long time I kept the setting of my "Golden Beach" books to myself, because the influx of snowbirds and tourists each year TRIPLED the small city's population. (Even after it was no longer the winter headquarters for Ringling Bros.) And we really didn't need any more people taking a peek!

But Venice was hit hard by hurricanes in the last few years—some beachfront houses even swallowed by sand!—so I'm letting the cat out of the bag. Venice, on Florida's Gulf Coast (c. 20 miles south of Sarasota) is one of Florida's most precious gems, with seven beaches within a 10-minute drive, a Main Street out of storybook, boutiques and restaurants galore, etc., etc.  To top that, the center of town was made an "island" when the Intracoastal Waterway was built. The only way to access that beautiful Main Street and all the shops is to cross one of three bridges over the waterway—north, south, and east. On the west, the Gulf of Mexico.

Below, a listing of all my books set in Venice.

ROMANTIC SUSPENSE/MYSTERY

Shadowed Paradise
Paradise Burning
Death by Marriage
Orange Blossoms & Mayhem
Florida Knight
The Art of Evil (Sarasota)
 
(Covers are slightly out of order as my computer was being difficult, informing me the pics were not available for download. Aargh!)

 


                   

               

All too reminiscent of the CA wildfires

          


                                                

 



No, I'm not claiming Machu Picchu is in Venice, FL, but, although Orange Blossoms begins and ends on Florida's Gulf Coast, a good portion is set in Peru.

~ * ~

For a link to Blair's websiteclick here. 

For Blair's Facebook Author Page, click here.*
 

For recent blogs, scroll down. For Archives, see the menu on the right.

 

Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)  

Saturday, December 28, 2024

Writing - Plot, Conflicts, etc.

 

Christmas 2024 - Hailey, Riley, Mike, Susie, Cassidy

 

From Facebook

Vehicle Assembly Building, Cape Canaveral

In all the years I've lived so close, even when I visited the Space Center, I never heard the statistics recently found on Facebook:  The VAB covers 8 acres. It is 525 feet tall, 518 wide. Built of 65,000 cubic yards of concrete, 100,000 tons of steel. The BLUE part of the American flag is roughly the size of an NBA basketball court. 

 

TWO ARTICLES ON WRITING

(from MAKING MAGIC WITH WORDS)

 

January 17, 2015


WRITING WORKSHOP 4 - Plot

 When I ran a search on Amazon, I discovered they offer 1,059* books on the art of plotting. (And I admit I've never read even one of them!) But the number makes it clear how important plotting is to your book. And if you want detailed help, your only problem is plowing through all the possibilities to find the books that are right for you.  I will, however, in the short space available, attempt to hit a few highlights. My experience is based not only on writing close to thirty books but my long years as an editor of both fiction and non-fiction and as the judge of more than 400 RWA chapter contest entries.

1.  Whether your plot is simple or complex, at least a hint of it should be apparent in the first chapters, Chapter 1, if possible. Example:  I once judged a contest entry which sounded like a classic category romance centered around a class reunion. But when I read the synopsis, it turned out the author intended it to be a complex romantic suspense. Yet there wasn't a hint of RS anywhere in the pages of the contest entry. This won't work with readers any more than it did with me. Know what genre you're writing and make sure the reader gets the genre he or she expected right up front.

2.  Sub-plots are okay in a long book, but don't stray into sidebars that don't advance your plot. Example:  cute dialogue that doesn't move the plot forward; secondary characters who push the hero and heroine off center stage. People sitting around chatting, to no purpose, simply distract, slowing your book to a crawl.

3.  Avoid "too much plot." I've judged a number of contests where the entry read well, but the synopsis had enough plot for a 3-book series. Since "showing" a book takes up more room than "telling," a plot with a zillion twists and turns is likely to run out of room. J. K. Rowling may be able to get away with a 700-page book. The rest of us can't.

4.  Plots have "rhythm"—character introduction, personality development, action, introspection, romantic developments, action, introspection, the high point, the black moment, resolution.** Unlike, say, Vin Diesel's Fast and Furious movies, romance plots have to allow time for breathing, for getting inside the hero's and heroine's heads, time for romance to develop. And even action/adventure movies have their more quiet moments when the main characters get a chance to slow down (and maybe a wee bit more—what would James Bond be without his throng of women?)

**Under no circumstances take this sentence as a "plot arc." I do not believe in arcs or outlines set in steel. I am merely giving examples of how the rhythm of a book varies. (A terrible blow is all the more powerful for coming directly after a moment when everything seems to be going well.)

5.  You can get away with almost any plot, no matter how outrageous, if you provide an explanation good enough to coax your readers into "suspended disbelief." Conversely, your book becomes a "wall-banger" when you toss in something incredible without taking the time to justify what happens.

6.  Amendment to #5. There are certain things you must not do, things that cannot be explained away. If you want to believe your readers are dumb enough not to care, well, that's your choice. But among the accepted no-no's are such things as the laws of British inheritance:  you cannot have a bastard become a duke. You also cannot toss a murder into a book without providing strong motivation. Basically, you cannot avoid the laws of common sense without an adept set-up.

7.  Some authors plot on instinct—at least that's how I do it. They learn from the ebb and flow of the books they've read over the years. We start with no more than a basic premise and build from there. Others need to meticulously plot out every chapter. No matter which method you prefer, remember that if you need help, there are all those 1,059 "How to Plot" books on Amazon.


*Grace note update: when I googled “How to plot fiction” on August 6, 2019, Amazon informed me that there are now more than 10,000 books on this subject!

 

January 24, 2015



WRITING WORKSHOP 5 - Other “Musts”

Goal, Motivation & Conflict


Unlike the 1,059 books on "How to Plot," when it comes to GMC, one book stands out above all the rest. In fact, I suspect Deb Dixon in her book, GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict, may have invented the modern concept of GMC as vital ingredients in every book. What you see below is merely the nutshell version. If you feel you are having trouble with these concepts, don't hesitate to add Deb's book, print or e, to your library.

Goals.
Every author has a different approach to plotting—from "out of the mist" to extensive outlines, storyboards, photos, etc. But no matter which method you use, you should always have a goal in mind. A goal for the book, a goal for a chapter, a goal for a scene. Short-term and long-term goals for both hero and heroine, and for the villain (if you have one). I may be one of those people who does not sit down and make a list of any of these goals, but I could not write a good scene if I didn't have a pretty good idea of where I wanted that scene to go, what I wanted it to accomplish. Yes, sometimes the scene surprises me and goes off in a quite different direction than planned, and then I have to ask myself: did this surprise direction add to the story, or did it distract?  

There are also other questions that apply to every scene you write:  Have I moved the story forward? Have I achieved my goal for this scene? Or have I wandered off into the wilderness, giving too much emphasis to unimportant details, unimportant people and events? Have I allowed a secondary character to grab too much intention? Or perhaps you've accomplished your goal but inadvertently shot yourself in the foot by giving your hero or heroine qualities so negative there's no retreat, no redemption.

Example:  have you tossed off remarks about a main character gathering a stack of speeding tickets? Unless this personality quirk is necessary for your plot, it simply weakens your character without adding to your goal of making readers like your hero and heroine. (Risking an accident—the possibility of hurting other people—is not a sign of daring. It's sheer uncaring recklessness. Definitely not the stuff heroes or heroine are made of.)

Example:
do not have someone bump into your main character in a bar unless there is a reason for that bump. Unless the bump moves the story forward. Colorful secondary characters can enhance a plot, but extraneous characters who do not contribute to the story just get in the way.

Example:
  A group of friends enjoy a kaffeeklatch where the conversation never rises above "cute." The dialogue does not reveal character, does not move the story forward. It serves as nothing more than a "filler." (Filler = Distraction, plot coming to a screeching halt.)


Motivation.
As mentioned under "Plot," you can get away with almost anything, no matter how bizarre, if you give your characters proper motivation. Never forget to make it clear why they do what they do. For example, you can't have a person who seems perfectly normal suddenly grab a knife and stab someone. A reader's reaction is going to be:  "Aw, come on!" You need to establish some kind of warning, like a creepy atmosphere, or establish that the villain is insane, a drug addict, or comes from a family with mental instability. Something to account for what he/she does. Even if your plot demands the murder (or dramatic event) come as surprise, you need to get some explanation in there as soon as possible. Otherwise, your book becomes a wall-banger. I wish I had a dollar for every time I've commented in Track Changes (while wearing my editor hat): Clarify. Explain. Why on earth would he/she do that?

Amendment to the above:  I recently encountered a situation, while editing, which I felt no amount of motivation/explanation, however clever, could justify. My recommendation:  delete. Exorsize that particular bit right out of the book. I strongly felt the plot could survive without it, while readers would definitely dig in their heels and balk if that scene was allowed to stay.

The "too stupid to live" heroine has been out of favor for some time, but you can still have your heroine do something stupid—like investigate a dark cellar—if you cite her motivation:  she thinks her child might be down there and needs rescuing, or maybe her lover. She's in law enforcement and it's her duty. The house has gone dark and that's where the fuse box is. Give readers a decent "why" and they'll go along. Toss off cockamamie things without explanation, and you've lost them.


Conflict.
 Without conflict, your story is: Boy meets girl, they fall in love, get married, and live Happily Ever After. (Or Boy meets Boy, Girl meets Girl, depending on your genre.)* Your book would be four chapters, tops. Conflict is an essential ingredient in Romance. Conflict is not bickering between the hero and heroine (or the h/h with friends). It has to be much more serious. Some seemingly insurmountable object, such as the feud between the Montagues and the Capulets, incompatible backgrounds, lifestyles, jobs, medical problems, etc. Or outside influences, such as someone trying to kill the h/h or a family member; they're caught in a blizzard, a hurricane, car wreck, war zone, etc. On a more personal level, the hero and heroine live and work in two different towns, neither wants to move. Just keep in mind the Conflict has to be serious.

Then, just to make it trickier . . .

The conflicts mentioned above are External—conflicts superimposed from the outside. Internal conflict is also vital to Romance. This would include the hero's and heroine's private agonies and introspection: their reactions to the serious external problems, their feelings about their relationship; their worries about how they're going to get out of whatever mess they're in. Or is it all going to blow up in his/her face?

In Romantic Suspense and Mystery, the conflicts are frequently more External, such as escaping from a dangerous situation or finding a killer. Nonetheless, Internal conflict remains essential (and is particularly important in the development of the romance).


*When I gave this workshop at Moonlight & Magnolias in Atlanta, a young woman came up to me afterward with tears in her eyes, telling me she was so glad I had included alternative lifestyles. Truthfully, I had thought this a battle that had been fought and won. Guess not. So I hope anyone who reads this will make an effort to be more tolerant of other people's lifestyles.
 

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Featured Book

Another pitch for my latest book, which seems to go with the Plot theme above, since as an "out of the mist" author, I write from the heart rather than the head, "winging it" as I go along. And The Abandoned Daughter is a good illustration of that. I thought I was writing a Gothic set in Bath. Turned out it was more of a Mystery. And with a twist no one could anticipate as I didn't know it was going to happen until, lo and behold . . . 

 


                   

Isabelle Bainbridge—abandoned by her gamester father, leery of the young lord who claims he is rescuing her—is more than a little surprised to find herself employed as companion to his grandmother in Bath, who treats her more like a ward than an employee. A near idyllic situation, until Isabelle discovers a young woman's body floating in the Kennet & Avon canal—an alleged suicide—soon followed by a series of murders that shake the tranquility of the beautiful city known as a refuge for the elderly and infirm.


Although Isabelle is determined to despise her rescuer—the viscount who won her home in a game of cards—she is forced to rely on him as she is stalked and it becomes apparent she may be next on the killer's list. There are several surprises, as well as moments of terror, before this Gothic adventure finds its happy ending.

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For a link to Blair's websiteclick here. 

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Thanks for stopping by,

Grace (Blair Bancroft)