Grace's Mosaic Moments


Saturday, August 25, 2018

More on Point of View

This week I acquired two new additions to my "Why We Should Proofread" files:







More on Point of View

There are times when we all have to laugh at ourselves, and as I read over my rant of August 4, 2018, I found the humor in it. Although I stick by everything I said about that particular book, I realized that what I wrote could easily give the wrong impression to those who are not long-time readers of Mosaic Moments. I was so caught up in an author shooting herself in the foot by using too many Points of View that I failed to point out that I've been an advocate of multiple points of view since it was Anathema in New York Romance Publishing. As far as the major print publishers of Romance were concerned, the only allowable POVs were Hero, Heroine, maybe the Villain. Anything more, and forgetaboutit! Yet on August 4, I found myself advocating the old ways because the book that set me off simply could not hold my attention as it leapfrogged from one couple to the next, from city to country and back again—enough to make a reader's head swim. (And never allowing the reader to identify with any of the couples.)

But I never intended to be an advocate of simplicity or moderation. (That could make our work agonizingly dull!) There's no doubt each author has to go with his or her individual flow, but I'm BEGGING you to think about what you're doing when you move away from your two main characters. Are you adding depth and/or additional perspective to your story? Or are you distancing readers from the primary couple? From murder? Or from the space adventures that are central to your story? Are you enhancing the plot or confusing the issues to the point of incomprehension? Or worse, losing readers' interest entirely? (As happened with me while plowing my way through the book I ranted about on August 4.)

Just because we have reached an age of more tolerance to multiple POV does not mean you should employ that device to the detriment of common sense. In Romance, it is essential that readers CARE about the main characters. Do not throw that all-important emotion away by branching off in too many different directions. Remember that classic expression: KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE GOAL. Kicking, dribbling, or hitting the ball to the sidelines gets you nowhere.

If you use those extra Points of View judiciously, they can most certainly add to your book. But make every effort not to go POV-happy, scattering POVs from Great-gramma Jones to Aunt Tilly, Cousin Will, the vicar, the dogcatcher, the doctor, the dentist, little Johnny's third-grade teacher, the chief of police, and ???, all in one book, leaving your readers shaking their heads, confused and unsatisfied.

Basically, THINK before you leap. Just because it's no longer Anathema to write Muitiple POVs doesn't mean you should do it.


~ * ~
 
The Art of Evil came out in hardcover some years ago, but it's still my personal favorite among my mysteries. It's set on grounds remarkably similar to the John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota, Florida, where I was a volunteer tram driver for many years. The multi-limbed trees on the cover are banyans, which abound on Ringling's sixty-six waterfront acres in Sarasota, Florida.


 
After an apparent suicide on the grounds of the Bellman Art Museum, other deaths occur in rapid succession, each staged as a work of art. When a friend comes under suspicion, Rory Travis, an FBI agent on medical leave, involves herself in the investigation, meeting two intriguing men, and in the end conquering her greatest terror as she confronts the villain one on one.


For The Art of Evil on Amazon, click here.

For The Art of Evil on Smashwords (20% free read),  click here.

~ * ~

Next week: Creating Secondary Characters


~ * ~
 For a link to Blair Bancroft's web site, click here.

For a link to Blair's Facebook Author page, click here.

A new brochure for Grace's Editing Service, Best Foot Forward,
 is now available. Email: editsbyBFF@aol.com 


Thanks for stopping by,
Grace  
  

Saturday, August 18, 2018

Cuba Photos - 2

Special Note:

On Wednesday night I saw The Darkest Hour. Although I am familiar with most of Winston Churchill's great speeches, there was a line in the movie I had never heard before. Allegedly, it was made directly after Churchill delivered his most famous "fight on the beaches" speech in the midst of the evacuation of the British army at Dunkirk and the threat of imminent invasion. As everyone around cheers Churchill's fiery speech, one stunned gentleman asks another: "What just happened?" The answer: "He mobilized the English language and sent it into battle." An inspiration for the terrible times of 1940 and for all those who write as well. Not that we can aspire to the heights of a Churchill, but we can always put that shining goal in front of us and aim to raise ourselves to a higher standard.

~ * ~ 

Cuba Photos - Round 2 

A new "country" popped up on my Blog Stats this week: "Unknown Region." I wonder if that means some Cubans found a way to access Mosaic Moments. Definitely a first. So if you're reading this in Cuba, know that my family thoroughly enjoyed their visit and very much appreciated the efforts everyone made to help them find the Havana off the narrow tourist path.

A different kind of public transport






















I think that's our Riley on the right.
 






































Cassidy, Hailey & Riley - somewhere in Havana























Mayo for the bread as butter was scarce

















A live band for lunch - a real plus!




 
No matter where, no matter when . . . teens will be teens.
 

At the mouth of Havana Harbor

































 
And a fond farewell to Cuba . . .
 ~ * ~


Hidden Danger, Hidden Heart
Shadowed Paradise
Paradise Burning
Limbo Man
The Art of Evil
Death by Marriage
Orange Blossoms & Mayhem
 
  Available from Amazon Kindle, Smashwords, & other online vendors

~ * ~

 For a link to Blair Bancroft's web site, click here.

For a link to Blair's Facebook Author page, click here.

A new brochure for Grace's Editing Service, Best Foot Forward,
 is now available. Email: editsbyBFF@aol.com 


Thanks for stopping by,
Grace  

Saturday, August 11, 2018

Cuba Photos

Special Bulletin: Sunday, August 12, 2018:

In the wee hours of this morning a Delta IV Heavy launched from Cape Canveral, its payload the Parker Solar Probe, on a 7-year mission to explore closer to the sun than any device has been able to go before. For a link to the launch - which is always breathtaking, even though I knew it had finally succeeded after numerous "technical" delays - click here.


 ~ * ~

As promised, my daughter sent me some of the photos she took in Havana on our cruise in July. Because my son-in-law speaks Spanish (he was born in Argentina), they were able to go out and explore on their own instead of taking a cruise-sponsored tour. They started out on a local bus but it broke down with no replacement in sight, so they hired one of the "taxi" cars Havana is famous for—brightly painted (and carefully tended) American cars from the 1950s—and off they went, getting an up close and personal view of the city. For lunch the taxi driver took them to a second floor restaurant, up a set of steep, narrow stairs, where they ate ropa vieja, and were entertained by a live band. They also went to a beach so Susie could add to her shell collection, but that part of the trip was not as successful. Evidently, the beach was strewn with debris rather than shells.

In the photos below you will see everything from street scenes to the restaurant to a bored teen. (Later: Restaurant and teen saved 'til next week.) Susie reports that scaffolding was everywhere as Cuba seems to be in a building boom. And, oh yes, a number of the photos were taken by Riley.

Enjoy this rare peek at life in Cuba in July 2018.






















Cat on the Hat?

























Do-it-yourself scaffolding






















 
Some of the wonderful old cars repurposed as taxis.


















































One willing to pose, the other not so much, Susie reports





A glance at My Pictures shows I'm only half way through the photos Susie sent, so I'll save the rest for next week. But the lovely building above is a good way to close out this week's Cuba pics.

~ * ~



For a link to Rebel Princessclick here.

For a link to Blair Bancroft's web site (updated 7/28/18), click here.

For a link to Blair's Facebook Author page, click here.

Thanks for stopping by,
Grace  

Saturday, August 4, 2018

Multiple POVs & REBEL PRINCESS

New Cover

Rebel Princess has just moved from Kindle Scout to Kindle Direct Publishing, making all four books of the Blue Moon Rising available from KDP for the first time. In honor of the occasion, I did  a line by line re-edit and ordered a new cover. I LOVE it & hope you do too. Hopefully, this move will make it possible to bring out all four books in a boxed set in the not-too-distant future.



The people of the pacifist planet Psyclid have spent a millennium cultivating skills of the mind, while the people of the planet Regula Prime spent an equal amount of time developing their military might. Kass Kiolani, a Psyclid princess in disguise, is the first of her kind to attend the Regulon Space Academy. But when her new “friends” invade her homeworld, she is rescued from rape and possible medical experimentation only by the swift action of Tal Rigel, an honorable (and admiring) captain in the Regulon fleet. She spends the next four years in solitary confinement, where she dreams of her rescuer but has no idea she has inadvertently sparked a rebellion against the Regulon Empire.

When Kass is freed at last, she finds herself in the midst of a fight against the Empire, and thoroughly disoriented by the contrast between her fantasies and the actual Tal Rigel. She also must contend with Regulon rebels who fear her psychic powers, her fey younger brother who speaks only through illusions, her parents who believe in non-violence, and a fiancé who happens to be sorcerer. The hope of toppling the Empire is a dim light at the end of a very long tunnel.
 


For a link to Rebel Princessclick here.

~ * ~

A Short Rant on Overuse of Multiple Points of View

Once again, I'm basing a rant on my current reading. I'm very fussy about what Regency authors I read, but that doesn't keep me from trying new ones, always hoping for a gem. And I thought I'd found it. An author who could not only put together elegant sentences but had done her homework, not messing up the era with solecisms and anachronisms on every other page. Yay! But . . .

As I progressed through the book, I felt my attention wandering. But why? The characters were well drawn, the plot clever . . . 

And then I caught myself wincing as the story jumped from country to city for the umpteenth time . . . and finally it hit me: most books of fiction present the story from the Point of View of the Hero and Heroine. If there's a villain, he often gets a Point of View as well. In the genre I was reading (Regency) and in many so-called Mainstream novels, the author also frequently offers relatively short POVs from Secondary Characters. These range from the person about to be murdered in a Mystery to the POV of the butler in a Regency, a best friend in a Contemporary, etc.

But when I began to analyze the book I was reading, I realized it was offering - on equal footing - the Points of View of three separate romances (six different POVs), plus POVs for three of four characters in two Secondary romances. There were also, as I recall POVs for the butler and a valet. And maybe one for a maid. (That's more than ten Points of View.) Wow! No wonder I couldn't settle into enjoying the intricacies and challenges of the romance. There were just too darn many of them!

As I was grinding my teeth over this problem, my inner voice asked, But didn't you do this in Royal Rebellion (Book 4 of the Blue Moon Rising series)? So I tried to make a comparison. By Chapter One of Royal Rebellion (RR) the romances of the four royal children are a fait accompli, as are several minor romances among secondary characters—a device that made room for the characters from all four books to concentrate on the final push against the Empire. (The "new" romances among the next generation in RR are, hopefully, just enough to give us a peek at an optimistic future.)

Enough self-justification. I can only hope my readers don't find the multiple POVs in RR as teeth-gnashing as I found the bouncing POVs in the Regency story mentioned above. 

SUMMARY.  When writing multiple Points of View, ask yourself: 

1.     "Am I adding or detracting from my story when I stray beyond 3 or 4 POVs?"

2.      "Am I enhancing my characterizations by giving everybody and his dog a POV, or am I muddying the waters, making it difficult for readers to identify with the central characters?"

3.     "Is it really necessary to have five romances in one book, all of them new (as opposed to couples already joined in previous books in the series)?"

4.      "If I must have more than 3 or 4 POVs, is it wise to also offer POVs from minor characters (such as butler, footman, maid) to add even further to the feeling the story is more like a ball in the midst of a hotly contested basketball game than a smooth and well-laid-out tale of romance, suspense, mystery, or whatever?"

5.      "Is there a way I can present the information offered by the butler and valet (for example) through the POV of one of the main characters, avoiding the feeling of constantly being jerked away from the people we care about most?"

***

 In short, if you must have multiple Points of View, try not to get carried away. Don't jump "all over Creation and Robin Hood's barn," as my mother used to say. Readers don't want to hear from the Cook, the Upstairs Maid, the Stableboy, the Dressmaker. Yes, they can be great Secondary characters, but they don't need their own POV. Readers want to wallow in the agonies of the Hero and Heroine, hiss the villain . . . and maybe, just maybe, laugh at the Point of View of a friend or relative. That's it. I've judged contests where the entire first scene of a book is in the POV of a family friend, providing an information dump about the Hero and Heroine . . . Aargh! Believe me, that absolutely, positively does not work. As I have written on countless contest entries over the years: Readers want to get right inside the heads of the Hero and Heroine, see what they see, hear what they hear, feel what they feel. When you scatter this sense of intimacy into, say, ten different Points of View, you've lost the impetus. Lost your readers. Unless you are very, very careful, you simply will not have room enough to make readers care about the most important characters in your story.

So stop, think. Ask yourself the questions listed above. And . . . Do you really need that POV from Aunt Fannie's pet poodle?

~ * ~

For a link to Blair Bancroft's web site (updated 7/28/18), click here.

For a link to Blair's New Facebook Author post, click here.

Thanks for stopping by,
Grace