Listen To Your Words! by DL Larson

I'm a music nut. I might not always know the performer's name, I may not know all the words to any particular song, but I do love a good melody. Readers do the same with the written word. They may pick up a book that visually intrigues them, but after a few sentences, they place it back on the shelf. Why? Usually, the reason is the words on the page didn't intrigue them as they hoped. I'm talking about style.

The way we, as writers, put our words together is important. I've attended many workshops on writing style and it always comes down to a few basic rules. Words need to create an image or impression to the reader in order to capture their attention. Then words must continue to enrapture the reader to keep them reading.

How does a writer accomplish such a monumental task? Work, work, work! Actually, the repeated word 'work' has a hint of style in it. It lends itself to not giving up, to keep on with the task at hand, to continue on, no matter what! Yet, all I wrote was, 'work, work, work.'

Also the word, 'work,' has a nice crunch to it. It gives the reader that grrrr feeling. It's a basic, elemental, primal urge to hear more strong sounding words. It's an action word over a passive one. Action creates movement in a reader's mind.

If you have a passage that lags, undoubtedly your style is lagging too. You may read it out loud and think it sounds okay, you're saying what you meant to say. But does it have flavor? Does it conjure up a particular image, or pull at some emotion? I tell my chess players, "find a good move, then discover a better one before you actually make a move." What you have written may not be wrong, it simply lacks luster and imagination.

Another simple way to work on style is to read your passage aloud. I know, you've been told this over and over. But listen as a musician listens to his orchestra. Is one word a little too sharp for the content of the sentence? Or fall flat? Is something missing? An unsung note perhaps that needs filling in. Is something out of tune with the rest of the paragraph or story? Is it too abrupt? Or not enough contrast? Is the balance in perfect pitch with the surrounding sentences?

I sing alto with our church choir and there are times when my friend and I will know automatically one of us was not on the correct note. No matter who was right on or off, we both knew it didn't sound the way it was supposed to sound. The result ended in discord. The wrong note had been sung just as times the wrong word is typed out and left to dangle like a broken reed.

If your story ebbs and flows like a symphony, then you have found your style. If it bleeps and spits and sounds more like a monkey banging away on his symbols, you need to work on your style. The sound of words give strength to your writing, if you put them in the correct order!

Let your words sing!

Til next time ~

DL Larson
www.DLLARSON.com

Fun and Games at Tax Time!

I've been trying to get my tax stuff together for the accountant, so haven't had time to do much else. Every year, I promise myself to be more organized. I thought I'd done better this year, but discovered I still had tons of stuff to get ready. It's almost all together now.

Yesterday, I had one drawback. I list various categories on Excel spreadsheets each year and save the file with the year name and the category. I'd pulled up the prior year's spreadsheet in one category and made a number of entries into it and saved it. Then, I realized I'd automatically saved it under the old name, which meant I'd lost the version from last year on my computer. Yes, I have a printed copy, but it's still not the same.

Fortunately, my subscription to Carbonite came in handy. At first, I looked and couldn't find the prior version before I'd made the changes, but then I read their instructions again, and found the one saved last year, and was able to recover it.

So, it does pay to have a backup system!

Today, I'm going to wrestle with why Amazon sent me two statements for receipts, and neither matches what they deposited into my writing account.

So, my advise is you can never be too organized when it comes to taxes. Also, get a backup system if you don't have one!

Find Morgan Mandel's
Romances, Mysteries & Thrillers
at http://amazon.com/author/MorganMandel

Excerpts at: http://morgansbooklinks.blogspot.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/morgan.mandel

Twitter: @MorganMandel

A Visit to the Panama Canal! by DL Larson

We had the great fortune to take a trip to the Panama Canal this winter. I remember learning about the building of the canal back in school, but I was surprised to learn the canal celebrated 100 years in 2014. The only changes made in that time are dredging the river and canal to keep it deep enough for ships and changing the locks from mechanical gear drives to hydraulics. The American Army Corp of Engineers had a grand vision and thousands of people from many nations worked to make the Panama Canal a reality.

Some ships are too large to fit through the locks and another canal is nearly built to accommodate their size. They expect the new locks to be completed by 2016. But this has been a problem for many years and even before the canal was completed in 1914, trains hauled cargo and people from the Atlantic to the Pacific and vice versa. That still goes on today. The Panama Canal is a busy, international port.

This is our ferry entering the first stretch of the lock. There are three sets of locks. The small rail tracks on the right are for the electric mules that once hitched to the ship, help guide the ship into the locks.

This picture shows the walls of the canal lock. The water will rise using gravity. Some ships have only a foot of space on each side. This picture, we are probably about 6 feet away from the canal wall.

Here we are ready to pass through the second set of locks. The water has risen to the same level as the lake. The third set of locks is further down and out of view. Every ship that travels through the canal must have a Canal pilot on board to direct them through the canal. We waited about twenty minutes for our pilot to arrive before we could enter the channel. As a sign of respect, we were asked to applaud when he stepped on board.

 This is taken from our resort, a beautiful place, for sure. But if you look toward the horizon, the bumps to the left of the mountain are actually ships waiting to pass through the canal. All ships pay according to the weight of their cargo. Sometimes it's cheaper to unload at the shipyard, have the train move the cargo to the other side of the canal and load up on another ship. There are many, many options to traverse cargo and people. All financial transactions must be paid before moving through the canal. Most ships wait from 24 hours to longer for their turn to move through the canal. Approximately 30 ships pass through in one day.

So other than sharing my vacation time with you, my writer's mind was on overload thinking of images and plots for an international romance/mystery. I most wanted to ride the train, but we did not have the time to do that. But it didn't keep me from thinking of other famous stories that involved trains and fascinating people on board. Sometimes it takes a vacation to rejuvenate my imagination. I may never write a novel with the Panama Canal as a setting, but our trip intrigued me to the many possibilities available.

Til next time ~

DL Larsonwww.DLLARSON.com

Trying A New Tactic! by DL Larson

I've been working on a query letter for my sci-fi romance. I love this book, yet I've procrastinated when it comes to pursuing publication. I don't know why either - it's a fun book, different, with gutsy heroines and alpha male aliens. What's not to love, right? So why I continue to be so slow in finding a publisher baffles me.

I've inquired on-line to many publishers, several who have called me directly, interested in seeing my work. When we hang-up, I think I'll send them a full manuscript to see what happens. Then I don't.

Have I developed some fear of success? I don't know!

Last December, I entered the first 25 pages  into a contest, and 2 out of the 3 judges enjoyed my entry and offered a few suggestions. I've already finished those revisions and like my book even more than I did before. I've written three other books in my Wolf Warrior Series. So when I say, I like this book ... I really mean I LIKE THIS BOOK. So why I can't take the next logical step to pursue publication, is illogical!

Somewhere through the days and months I've developed a strange affection, maybe an affliction or aversion that I can't shake. So in order to break through this obstacle, I've decided to share bits of my query letter with you. Let me know if I've merely confused you or if you would be interested in reading my book if you were an agent or editor.

Anyway ~ here goes ...
 ... my sci-fi contemporary, The Warrior Priest, is a two-part story with approximately 125,000 words in final draft. Below are a few one-liners that best describe Part One:

• Newbie investigator discovers an eccentric, military alien who is bodyguard to his world's prince.
• Newbie investigator learns the alien's dog is the prince as well as a werewolf.
• Newbie investigator doesn't believe the werewolf is a good guy who fights evil. 
• Newbie investigator sees first hand the evil the alien and werewolf fight and destroy.
• Newbie investigator discovers her alien hunk, needs love, too.
• Newbie investigator realizes she can't have the hunk without the werewolf.
• Newbie investigator admits she will never understand the alpha male.
• None the less, newbie investigator wants alpha male. She'll deal with the werewolf later.

  Tracy Collier, newbie reporter, falls in love with Wade Axelman, an alien soldier and priest in Part One. Then in Part Two, The Werewolf Prince, their two-world romance is nearly destroyed when Wade is severely wounded and his werewolf prince, Ralph the Blessed, ponders the task of killing him to keep evil at bay, which does nothing to enhance Tracy's friendship toward him.
  Ralph must first unravel the mystery of who stole Wade and Tracy's newborn baby. He does and reveals the culprit to be a half-wolf thief with unnatural talents, basically disappearing at will, a gift the good Lordy bestowed upon her.
  Ralph believes the young thief to be in league with their worst enemy and her unintentional trap brings Ralph to death's door. She doesn't leave him to die, but whisks him to the footpaths of Heaven where she asks the good Lordy for his life back. ...

To say this is a brief synopsis is an understatement, but publishers want the basic flow of the story, not an indepth report of minor details that make a great book. And I will include my short synopsis along with my query and first chapter.

Another bit I keep noticing is publishers/agents want to feel the flavor of the book in a query. I find this difficult to accomplish in a few short lines when I've built this alien world. That may be why I'm struggling with this query. My historicals were simpler to explain and my characters not so odd.

So, my confession is complete - I'm stalled and have turned to you for inspiration.

Talk to me ~ I've got my big girl panties on ~ I can take any comments ~ good or bad ~ I just need some feedback!

Til next time ~

DL Larsonwww.DLLARSON.com

Will a Cover Help Me Finish the Book?

Since I had so much fun writing Christmas Carol, I've decided to get out an Easter book as well. For inspiration, I've devised a cover. I figure that will help me along.

So far, it seems to be working. I really am psyched to get this one finished.

Here's the cover:

Stay tuned for progress on my race toward Easter!

Find all of Morgan Mandel's romances and mysteries at
http://www.amazon.com/author/morganmandel

Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/morgan.mandel

Twitter: @MorganMandel