Seven + Villager Success Stories

Janet  here. Since Seekerville's inception seven years ago, one by one all the Seekers set sail from Unpubbed Island to the Mainland of Published Fiction. Our goal for Seekerville was to help others do the same by emphasizing the value of contests and sharing craft and inspiring posts. In those early days, 30 comments delighted us, and most of those were ours. LOL Now the blog has over 11,000 followers and almost a million and a half page reviews. God has grown Seekerville and all of us as we share the ups and downs of the writers’ journey. 

   

To celebrate Seekerville’s 7^th Birthday, I asked seven + Villagers, if they'd like to share how Seekerville helped them achieve their dream of publication. I got a resounding yes! So grab a cup of Helen's coffee and let's party with these lovely ladies!  

Keli Gwyn, Family of her Dreams, Love Inspired Historical, June 2015. A Bride Opens Shop in El Dorado, California

Keli Gwyn and Janet

When I dusted off my four-decade-long dream of being a writer, I had no idea what I was doing. I sat holed up in my office cranking out five lackluster stories in two years. Although my joy was abundant, my knowledge of craft was abysmal. All that changed when I finaled in the 2008 Golden Heart®. A wonderful woman named Tina Radcliffe found me and asked me to be a blog guest at Seekerville. Because I was a florescent green newbie writer and a technophobe, I had several questions for Tina. The first was, "what is a blog?" She answered that question and has answered many more since. I was warmly welcomed by all the Seekers and Seekervillagers and have learned oodles from you talented people. Ruthy was my Lighten Up 101 instructor and taught me how to make this writing gig a lot more fun. Missy, one of my contest judges, gave me a great idea on how to improve the story that became my debut novel. I won a critique from Julie, and she gave me awesome pointers on that same story's opening. I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. Seekerville rocks! Happy seventh birthday! Here's to another great year to come.

Virginia Carmichael, A Home for her Family. Love Inspired, October 2014

I've always loved Seekerville for introducing me to great new authors, but as someone who just started writing, every day seems like an intensive writing course. I've learned so much in Seekerville! As for tangible help, I won a fancy printer during The New Year’s party one year. This was back when it seemed like most agents still wanted paper submissions. I had a terrible old printer that mostly ate paper and never printed anything legibly, so I was THRILLED to win. I sent out hundreds of queries and lots of partials with that printer! Then, I finaled in the Seekerville Query Contest with Melissa Endlich, and she requested full manuscripts from all of us winners. She called to say they wanted to acquire it in Nov 2011. I signed my first contract through Seekerville!

Sue Mason, Healing the Widower’s Heart, Love Inspired, February 2015

Ruth Tredway, Helen Gray, Sue Mason, Janet

I most definitely credit the fabulous ladies of Seekerville with my success as a writer! It all started when I became a Golden Heart finalist in 2008. Tina Radcliffe tracked me down and invited me to share a little about my story on her blog. I had no idea who she was or even what a blog was, but I jumped on board. From then on, I became a faithful follower of Seekerville. Not only do they provide fantastic information about the craft of writing, they often feature agents and editors, and host contests. This was the case back in October 2012 when Love Inspired editor, Elizabeth Mazer, was featured in a post which included a First Page contest. I didn't plan to participate since my contemporary trilogy was on submission at White Rose Publishing, and my other stand-alone romance, Wyndermere House, (ironically my 2008 GH entry) had already been rejected by a different LI editor. Then Tina sent me an email pretty much ordering me to get something in to the contest! So I took another look at Wyndermere House, made a few adjustments, and sent it in! To make a long story short, I received a request from Elizabeth, and now 2 years later, my manuscript is being released as Healing the Widower’s Heart (February 2015). Without Tina (as well as all the encouragement and prayers from the wonderful women at Seekerville), I wouldn't be able to call myself a Love Inspired author! Thank you SO MUCH Seekerville!

Jessica Nelson, Family on the Range, Love Inspired Historical, June 2014

In 2007 I started my first manuscript with the intent of publication. As soon as I waded into the cyberworld of writers, I discovered Seekerville. A blog dedicated to helping writers on the path and a home for those who didn't know what they were doing (me!), the Seekers' posts on craft, contests, submission etiquette and encouragement soon had me hooked! Many of the Seekers still resided on Unpubbed Island. Thanks to their intelligent posts and loving personalities, I gained confidence in my ability to seek publication and to actually achieve it. They made traditional publication seem possible when many others said it was impossible.

I am so thankful I stumbled across the Seekerville years ago. Long Live the Seekers!

Jan Drexler, A Mother for His Children, Love Inspired Historical, August 2014

What can I say about Seekerville? Four years ago, my journey to publication started with a vague idea of a story, a thirty-year-old bachelor’s degree in Creative Writing, and twenty-some years of homeschooling and raising children under my belt. Then I stumbled upon Seekerville while looking for tips on how to write. Well, I say I “stumbled upon” this blog, but I know God led me here. From the beginning I knew I was facing a huge learning curve, but the gracious ladies on Unpubbed Island made gentle suggestions and offered enthusiastic encouragement. I entered contests, developed writing goals and discipline, and watched my word count grow. I entered more contests – including the great ones here on Seekerville that led to my first book landing on a Love Inspired editor’s desk and led to signing with an agent. And the Seekers cheered every step of the way. I listened to their advice, learned from their blog posts, and kept working. I signed my first contract with Love Inspired in April, 2012, and this summer signed a three book contract with Revell. My publication journey may have been possible without the Seekers, but I can’t imagine how long I would have struggled in my writing cave without their wisdom and encouragement opening doors I didn’t even know existed. I look forward to many, many more years of being a Seekervillager. Happy Birthday, Seekerville!

Helen Gray, OzarkWedding, Heartsong Presents, September, 2014

My profile says I've been hanging around Seekerville since November, 2009, but I was “Anonymous” for a few months before that, until I learned how to set up an account. During those years I have printed and utilized a lot of How-To craft tips, and I've never been allowed to feel lonely at ACFW conferences. I've also benefited from Seeker critiques. Of the series I had release this year, Mary critiqued the first chapter of book one, Tina critiqued the first chapter of book two, and Grammar Queen edited the first chapter of book three. And I lived to tell about it! In addition to all that, they drink my virtual coffee, even though I have no idea how to make the stuff in reality.

Christina Rich, The Warrior's Vow, Love Inspired Historical, July 2014

SEEKERVILLE, first, happy birthday!

Second, I wouldn't be where I am today without you. It was during your birthday in 2011 I received a request from Emily Rodmell at Love Inspired. In 2012 I received the call! I can't say thank you enough for the continued support and encouragement as I travel beyond the island.

Mary Curry, writing as Cate Nolan, will debut her Christmas book in October, 2015,

identified seven reasons she’s thankful for having the Seekers in my life.

Friends - Some of my dearest writing friends are people I've met through Seekerville. We all know how lonely a writer's life can be, but the Seekers bring a light of friendship into that loneliness. I thank them for their friendship.

Faith - Through word, deed and prayer, the Seekers live their faith and inspire us to be the best we can be. Through prayers I've requested and prayers I didn't know about until afterward, I've been lifted so often by these lovely women. I thank them for their shared faith.

Craft - Seekerville is like one endless graduate course on how to write a book. It's the university from which we never want to graduate. The shared wisdom of the Seekers and their friends helps us strive and never settle for average. I thank them for sharing their knowledge.

Fun - It's not all serious! The one thing you know you can count on is that a day spent in Seekerville will be a day of happiness. From the New Year's Eve bash to the month long birthday party, Seekerville is a cheerful refuge. I thank the Seekers for the joy they bring each day.

Lynette Eason, Patty Smith Hall, Debby, Missy, Jessica Nelson

Family or Community -  I remember the first time I visited Seekerville. I feared it was some "in club" that I would forever watch from the outskirts. Little did I know that Seekerville is chock full of warmth and legendary hospitality. There are no strangers in Seekerville, only the friends we haven't gotten to know yet. I thank the Seekers for inviting us in and making us feel welcome.

Prizes - Not to seem mercenary, ;) but seriously! The Seekers are so generous with prizes offering so many free books, gift cards, and treats. I still drink my tea from the mug Tina sent as my very first newbie villager prize. I thank you for your generosity.

Hope and Support - "And the greatest of these is love."  Through their love for God, each other, and the villagers, the Seekers show by example how to be a love-driven, faith-based community. They never stint on time or effort, advice or prizes ;) Whether it's brandishing a whip or offering candy, the Seekers have our backs and I hope they know we have theirs. They make this journey seem possible and when you reach your goal, there's no better place to celebrate than Seekerville!  I thank the Seekers for years of support and celebration and for being the best kind of community a writer could yearn for.

Nancy Kimball, Chasing the Lion

Years ago, before all the Seekers had made it off unpubbed island, I'd written this "book" and had no idea what I was supposed to do next. Praise the Lord for Google and Seekerville. From the first post I read there, I felt like I'd come home to a place I'd never been before. I jumped in right away and soaked up information like a Persian rug does spilled wine. There was so much to learn but when I began commenting, these "real authors" took an interest in the "new person" and were so welcoming. Encouraging. That sense of home and belonging deepened as I continued to make my daily Seekerville stop for the next two years. I say with honesty Seekerville is where I learned about half of what I know about the craft of fiction and marketing. I made so many friends there and am blessed to have maintained those friendships even though life as a published author no longer affords me the time to spend in Seekerville I once did. I will always be grateful for the Seekers, and their continuing mission to support and encourage the up and coming author as much as the multi-published. I am published today with a very successful Indie debut, and mentoring an up-and-coming author, thanks largely to that early learning and shared community here in Seekerville. Thank you Seekers, for seven years and counting.


Patty Smith Hall, "Christmas Lessons," Christmas Traditions, October, 2014.     
                 .
Many will talk about how Seekerville has helped them to realize their dream of being a published writer, and they'd be correct. Cheryl Wyatt's post on scene development back in 2008 changed the way I wrote, and gave me the push I needed to finish my first published novel, Hearts in Flight. 

But it is the kindness of the Seekers that has touched my heart and made Seekerville feel like a second home. In early 2012, the doctors told me my spine could no longer support me and I would need surgery. The recovery period was anywhere from six months to a year, most which would be spent in a brace and on my back. Within days of my hospital release, I received my first card from one of the Seekers, then another and another. Every couple of days for the next few months, there would be a card or two waiting in my mailbox, encouraging me, letting know they were praying for my recovery. Those cards, and the notes written within, helped me through those first hard days of my recovery, and encouraged me to lean on God and to keep writing. A small kindness that still touches me today.

Thank you, ladies--and Happy Birthday, Seekerville!

Janet again. Thanks, ladies! Your sweet words bless and encourage us. Your success is such fun to celebrate! And offers hope to those working hard, who haven't yet received The Call. 

For breakfast I brought orange juice, crisp bacon and crunchy French toast dusted with powdered sugar and warm maple syrup. And of course there's birthday cakes with layers of chocolate, strawberry and yellow to nibble on all day. Leave a comment for a chance to win one of these author's books in either eBook or hard copy, author’s choice (we'll discuss your options) and a $10 Amazon gift card. 

Guest Blogger Patty Smith Hall: EVERYTHING BUT THE KITCHEN SINK: Building Conflict in Our Stories (and giveaway!!)

When Julie asked me about writing a blog today, I was knee-high in entries from the ACFW Genesis contest. I’ve got to say that the manuscripts I had the pleasure of reading were impressive! The thought-provoking ideas, the new voices, an exciting twist on an old theme—all of these excited me about the direction Christian Fiction is heading while reminding me how far we’ve come since the days of Catherine Marshall’s Christy or Janette Oake’s Love Comes Softly. But even in my excitement, I noticed a problem that ran through most of the manuscripts I read.

Little to no internal conflict.

I can only speak for myself but personally, I don’t like conflict in my daily life. The thought of working through a problem, agonizing over making the right choices, sometimes patterns that you’ve been living for a lifetime are, at least to me, EXHAUSTING. But in writing fiction, internal conflict is a necessary evil.

Why do we need internal conflict in our stories?

My husband claims that he fell in love with me one Sunday evening. I was asked to come forward and sing a request during evening service and as I made my way up the aisle closest to the wall, my stiletto got caught in the heating duct. With everyone in church watching, I pulled the duct out of the floor and placed it in a pew along with my other shoe then proceeded to the front of the church, laughing at myself. Dan said that in that moment, he knew that he wanted to spend his life with someone who could so easily laugh at herself.

It’s a cute story but in reading it, it’s just that—cute. But what if you knew the struggle going on inside me at this time? What if I had been trying to prove to this strapping young man that I was an elegant woman; that just speaking to him made me tongue-tied, that I had already lost one boyfriend who thought I was too goofy and clumsy? Then it makes the whole episode seem like a horrible experience, something that would send me running from the sanctuary in embarrassment, thinking my klutziness had once again lost the man I loved.

Now it’s a story loaded with internal conflict!

Internal conflict usually comes from our hero/heroine’s deep desire for that elusive something they think they NEED in order to be happy. So how do you do that? How do you get your characters to spit out what their deep, dark needs are?

Get in Touch with Your Inner Two-Year-Old!

The other night, Dan and I were sitting in a pizza parlor when this man comes in with this adorable little girl. Sunshiny blonde hair with the perfect button of a nose, she spent the next fifteen minutes, pointing her pink-tipped finger here and there, and asking the age-old questions of every two year old on the planet.

Who? What? Where? When? Why? How?

When developing our characters, we need to ask the tough questions. While finding out what your character looks like or how they came to be in this place in their lives, the questions most readers are interested in having answered are the motivations behind the hero/heroine’s actions. As writers, we seem to run away from digging into these motivations and shying away from conflict. Is it because deep down, we hate the idea of conflict in our own lives so much, we can’t stand the thought of finding out the problems of our fictional characters, fearful they might mirror our own?

In my book, Hearts in Flight, Maggie Daniels is determined to do her patriotic duty and fly B-29s as part of the Women’s Army Service Pilots. Sounds like a great thing for her to do, doesn’t it? But when I dug deeper, I discovered her reasons were very personal and not nearly as noble as I had thought—that she was intent on proving herself to a family who never really believed in her. She was dealing with a respect problem and to a lesser degree, a pride problem that was keeping her from what could truly make her happy.

If you’re looking for more direction in this department, I recommend Laurie Schnebly’s Plot Via Motivation class Plot Via Motivation that’s she’s teaching the month of June. It is a phenomenal class, and one that changed my whole way of plotting conflict and helped me get sold.

Don’t’ be afraid of throwing the kitchen sink at your characters.

The fun begins once you know what your character’s deep dark desire is. I call it the kitchen-sink phase because this is where I look at my historical data I’m using as a setting and figure out what will cause my characters the most problems. This use of external conflict can rev up the internal conflict to the next level..

For example, the heroine/hero from my second World War II novel have two very different desires. My heroine, a 3^rd generation American, is running away from a shameful secret—her brother enlisted in the German army. Now after I ask her why she ran and got down to the bare bones of her deepest desire, I discovered she seeks self-preservation, just to get through the war unnoticed, almost invisible. My hero (who is probably my favorite character of all times!) was a bad boy who found God in a POW camp and has returned home to prove to everyone that he’s not the man he use to be. By now, you’ve probably guessed that his deepest desire is to find acceptance from the family and friends he left behind.

So what kind of real life history would pump up the internal conflict in my fictional characters? When I started planning out this book, I found so much local history (a natural suspicion of outsiders and the fear of German spying, a hospital that only had four beds for black patients, a polio outbreak that shut down schools) that would challenge my hero/heroine’s long- term desires, throwing the kitchen sink at them came easily. Use external problem to heighten your characters’ discomfort over their internal conflict/deepest desire.

Conflict (in a story) is your friend.

In closing, don’t run from injecting conflict in your stories. That’s what makes a reader pick a book and read it—to see how a character works through a problem they themselves might be going through. Conflict makes your characters believable and compelling while giving hope to those of us who love to read Christian fiction.

How do you build conflict in your stories? Leave a comment to enter a drawing for a copy of Patty’s debut novel, Hearts in Flight.

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The only girl in a family of military men, Maggie Daniels knows what it's like to deal with a brood of overprotective males. But with all her cousins on the front, she's finally free to go after her dream--ferrying bombers for the newly formed Women's Army, Service Pilots. And no one, not even Captain Wesley Hicks can keep her out of the cockpit.

After the loss of his sister over the skies of London, Wesley has one battle plan--to captain the Flying Fortress into the Pacific Theatre. Training WASP Maggie Daniels wasn‘t in his sights. But when hostilities are fired at the spirited yet tender-hearted woman, he finds himself focused on a new objective--winning Maggie's love.

ABOUT PATTY:

A romantic at heart, Patty Smith Hall is an award winning, multi-published author. Her stories of encouragement and hope can be found in Guideposts, Journey and Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul. Her Genesis award winning manuscript, Hearts in Flight, will be released by Love Inspired Historical in July, 2011. Patty resides in her home state of Georgia along with Dan, her husband of 28 years. You can visit Patty’s blog at: Patty Smith Hall.

The Call ... the One You DON'T Want to Miss (and Giveaway!!)

Happy Birthday,

Seekerville!!!!!!

Hi ... Patty Smith Hall here, and when Julie first asked me to write the blog post today, I had just received THE CALL from Love Inspired Historicals about my debut release, Hearts in Flight. I was floating on air (cliché, I know but so true!), and I thought that the story behind my contract would make for a feel-good post. While that may be the case, the closer it came time for me to actually write the article, I felt God leading me toward a different subject. So I hope that Julie and the other Seekers don’t mind if I share the story of a different call.

‘Be strong and courageous; Do not be afraid or terrified for the LORD your God goes with you; He will never leave you or forsake you.’ — Deuteronomy 31:6

The gold and orange flowers around the altar reflected the dismal emotions I felt as I walked down the aisle of the chapel. I took a seat alongside Dan and the girls, far enough back to allow my dad and his siblings room close to the front of the church, but close enough to be included with my cousins. There weren’t many people there, but then most of the folks Granddaddy had known in his ninety-six years had come and gone, like a vapor. My granddaddy had died three days earlier without ever answering my only question to him.

Do you know the Lord as your Savior?

Now, Granddaddy and I were never close. While I was a thoroughly modern girl in my thinking, he was a throwback to a simpler time, a true son of the South. He wasn’t the sort to say ‘I love you.’ He lived with the knowledge that you did what you had to do to get through another day.

But we did have two things in common—a shared birthday and a passion for words. He loved newspapers as much as I do and always saved me his Atlanta Journal after he was finished with it, even if it was a week old. I loved poring over those papers so much so, I always took notes, scribbling along the fringes of anything I thought interesting. He caught me one day and from then on, he made sure there was always a fresh supply of paper and sharpened pencils whenever I came to visit.

The distance between us widened as I grew up. While my life got busy with college and career, marriage and children, his started to fade. In the summer of 1999, we learned Granddaddy had inoperable cancer. I was having a tough time then too. My maternal grandfather had died the year before as well as my great aunt who had led me to the Lord. I couldn’t stand the thought of losing someone else, even an old man who I didn’t have much of a relationship with. So I decided that once a week, I would spend my morning with Granddaddy.

It wasn’t easy. Although he knew his death was coming sooner rather than later, he was ninety-six years old and fixed in his ways which, good for me, still included a morning edition of the Atlanta Journal. So we talked about articles we found in the newspaper, what he thought about state politics, what was his favorite comic strip? A month after I started visiting, two papers began to show up, one for me, the other for him. I had just begun writing then, still too terrified to share anything with anyone else. But as he grew weaker, I took to reading him some of my devotionals along with the news.

A few days before the end, I finally got up the courage to ask him the question that had been troubling me. Leaning over his bed, I whispered,

“Granddaddy, do you know the Lord as your Savior?”

He didn’t answer, just stared at me until a dull ache gripped me around my chest. His silence couldn’t be a denial, could it? I wanted to know, had to know the truth.

“Granddaddy?”

He reached out for my hand and patted it. “You’re always sharing your stories with me. You’re just going to have to wait with the rest of the family to hear mine at my funeral.”

I was stunned. Not know until his funeral whether he was saved or not? But it would be too late! Over the next half hour, I tried to convince him to talk to me about it but each time, he told me I had to wait for his story. Troubled, I finally rose to my feet to leave. He tightened his hold on my hand.

“I love you,” he whispered.

A few days later, he was gone.

So as I sat, waiting for the final notes of music to drift away, one thought held me captive. What was Granddaddy’s story?

My cousin walked to the pulpit, a yellow folder tucked under his arm. When he finally stood before us, he opened the folder and lifted a handful of yellowed papers up for us to see. “Several years ago, I asked Papaw if he knew Jesus as his Lord and Savior. He didn’t say anything, just stood up and walked over to his dresser. He pulled out these papers and handed them to me. He said they were his testimony and he wanted me to read it to you today.”

For the next half hour, I listened to Granddaddy’s story; how he met Jesus in the back of an old work wagon when he was sixteen years old; how the Lord had helped him through the loss of his young wife and their two babies. On and on it went, and though I was relieved, a part of me didn’t understand. My granddaddy had a wonderful testimony; why had he kept it from us?

My cousin soon gave an answer. “He chose not to speak about it for fear we wouldn’t understand.”

Fear! What did Granddaddy have to be afraid of?

What do you have to be afraid of?

In an instant, dozens of notebooks and floppy discs with all my devotionals and stories came to mind. But that was different, I reasoned. Granddaddy was afraid to share his testimony.

Aren’t those stories your testimony?

Just like my grandfather, I was afraid. But if his story taught me anything, it was that I didn’t want to be. If I wanted to follow the plan God had for my life, I had to be brave enough to let go of my stories, to learn from rejection, to face the possibilities that my writing would never be published. And I had to learn to cling to Him when I am afraid. Something I’m still doing as I prepare for my first book to be published.

So there you have it—that’s my story. Yes, the "call" to write, certainly, and the "call" to be published if and when it comes as well, but most important of all -- the "call" to write for Him, a call you definitely don't want to miss ...

TODAY’S GIVEAWAY!!! Patty Smith Hall has been writing and studying the craft for over ten years and was a professional reader for Harlequin. Her articles of encouragement and hope can be found in Guideposts, Journey and Chicken Soup for the Nurse’s Soul. Patty’s debut novel, Hearts in Flight, will be released by Love Inspired Historical in July, 2011. Leave a comment or question for Patty today, and you will be entered into a drawing for a copy of her new book when it comes out and a one-chapter critique. And to whet your appetite for Patty’s book, here’s a sneak peek:

Hearts in Flight

The only girl in a family of military men, Maggie Daniels has had a lifetime of dealing with overprotective males. With her five cousins on the war front, she's finally free to go after her dream—ferrying bombers for the newly formed Women's Army, Special Pilots. And no one, not even Captain Wesley Hicks, can keep her out of the cockpit.

Grounded after the loss of his RAF sister over the skies of London, Wesley has one battle plant—to prove the B-29 Super Fortress is ready for the Pacific Theatre. Training pilot Maggie Daniels wasn’t on his radar. But when the spirited yet tender-hearted woman is the target of friendly fire, he finds himself focused on a new objective—winning Maggie's love.

Mining Through History to Find a Gem of a Story ... and Critique Giveaway!

Patty Hall, here, and I’d like to thank Julie and the gang for inviting me back to Seekerville. It’s always a joy to be here, though if anyone offered me a boat ride off unpubbed island, it wouldn’t hurt my feelings at all!

As some of you know, I am a writer who works as a first reader for Harlequin (you know, the one that gets to wade through those infamous slush piles?) and while I haven’t yet received THE CALL myself, I have been told by quite a few writing friends and editors alike that I have a knack for finding unique settings and historical events in which to set my stories. I blame my Granddaddy Smith for that. At an early age, he spun stories of family history and books that ignited my imagination as we rode home in the backseat of my Dad’s Comet. Thus, my love of history began.

Now before all you contemporary writers check out for the day, history can play an important aspect in giving your stories colors and texture. For example, my hometown welcomed the state fair every September with a loud, huge parade. School was dismissed an hour early so that all the moms could get a good parking place along the parade route. It was a big deal in our neck of the woods.

Take that information and think of it in terms of a story. Let’s say we have a heroine who grew up in this town but left under a cloud of heartache the day before graduation. Now a developer, she’s back and ready to tear down the town she grew up in. The hero is her best friend from high school, the boy who loved her and doesn’t understand why she suddenly left. To add to the conflict, let’s make him the mayor of this town who is determined to keep it as a historical site. How would you use the town’s parade in a scene to reveal the character’s motivations or internal conflicts? Here’s my try at it—forgive me for its imperfections:

Marley walked alongside him, a wave of reddish blonde hair falling to her shoulders as she tipped her head back. Her gaze moved over the crumbled brick and cracked mortar of what use to be Goldman’s department store. Was she remembering the last time they’d walked this sidewalk, talking about school and dreaming of the day they would return and make a life here in Marietta?

A life, he had hoped, they would build together.

“It wouldn’t take much to take this place down,” she said, her lips thinning into a straight line.

Matt’s stomach tightened. When had she become this consummated professional, bound and determined to change the homey feel of the town they had both grown up in? Had Marley forgotten all the good times they shared here? Maybe all she needed was a little reminder.
He pointed to a row of store fronts across the street. “Remember Eddie’s.”

She turned sharply, her gaze following the length of his arm to the familiar set of pane glass windows filled with various wares for the amateur magician. “Eddie’s is still up and running?”

“Don’t you think every town needs a magic shop?

Marley laughed, a rich throaty sound that warmed his heart like a summer day in July. She glanced at him, her eyes wide and full of unrestricted happiness. “Do you remember the first time you took me there?”

Matt nodded. “We skipped sixth period so we could get a good seat in front of the Strand so that we could see the fair parade.”

“And you dragged me into Eddie’s to get those fake cigarettes.”

“Hey, I didn’t hear you complain,” he answered, laughing down at her. “I seem to remember you were always up for a good joke.”

She punched him gently on his arm. “Until Mrs. Davis saw us and told my dad we were smoking the real things.”

“I thought it was that tattletale cousin of yours that ratted us out.”

“Taylor.” Marley’s face went blank, all the happiness from just moments ago replaced by the cool determination of the professional she had become. Her cell phone rang. She pulled her cell phone from her purse. “I’ve got to take this call if I want the demolition crew here Monday morning.”

Matt grimaced as he watched her walk away, clearly lost in the details of destroying their hometown. Had something happened between Marley and her cousin, something big enough to drive Marley out of his life? But what?

That’s what he intended to find out.

See how just a bit of history can layer your story and work to bring out a character’s internal conflict and set up the next scene?

So where are the best places to find those little bits of information that makes our stories shine like jewels?

Your Local Library:
Don’t get me wrong—I LOVE the Internet. Knowledge at your fingertips is awesome. But the first place I start my search for a new idea is in the children’s section of the library. While the adult selection of autobiographies and history books have a ton of information and can be a great resource later in the plotting process, children’s books are laid out more like bullet points, fast and to the point. Those short blurbs can fuel some fascinating ideals.

For example, years ago, my daughters were totally into the movie Pearl Harbor and made a point of reading everything they could get their hands on about World War II. So when I was standing at the checkout, a stack of books piled high in front of me, I flipped open a book my oldest had picked out. It was a book about women serving in the war. It had the usual suspects—nurses, reporters—but on the last two pages, I came across a piece of history I’d never heard before—women pilots. A few years later, the intrigue I felt over these great women garnered me the Genesis Award in Historical Romance for my manuscript, Flights of Freedom.

Another wonderful item most libraries offer are the stacks—newspapers from the area that date back over a hundred years in some cases. If you’re unsure of what historical event you’d like to center your plot around, the newspaper collection is the place for you. And if you’re a contemporary writer, you can get a feel for the setting by reading the town’s newspaper—it may even offer you a state fair or parade. Yes, the Internet offers this option too, but without the freedom of endless searching and usually at a hefty cost.

Audio/Video Histories:
When I was in college, I was assigned a term paper on World War II, a subject I found as dry as a Georgia July. That was until my father introduced me to my Uncle Sam. At 92, my uncle not only knew about WWI, he had lived as a doughboy in the trenches in France. One afternoon, tape recorder in hand, I listened for three enthralling hours as Uncle Sam relived the horrors of mustard gas, the delusion of a country promised peace and thrust into war, the memories of a country boy who traveled halfway around the world to fight a war.

I got an A+ on that paper, but more importantly, that tape become one of the first entries into the vast audio/video history at my college. Most universities collect these about the areas around them and make them available on the Internet for free. All you have to do is enter the subject you’re looking for into the Google search engine and let the Web do the rest.

And while we’re on the subject, don’t forget those wonderful gems of information that are our elderly family members. In a society where youth and technology are prized, it’s a crime to ignore the wealth of information these wise people have to offer. And I want to give a shout out to my grandma right here—without her stories about an antebellum house we were visiting for a wedding reception, I never would have found the main setting for one of my manuscripts.

Photo/Story Collections:
I’m a very visual person so to me, a picture truly is worth a thousand words! Which is why I love the photo collections by Arcadia Publishing. Each book offers photos along with a short description that are set in a timeline from a town’s inception to present day. Books in the collection also cover such historical events like WWII in individual cities or pastimes like baseball and road races. For visual writers having pictures in front of me helps with descriptions, promotes ideas for new scenes and acts as a photography reference. To look over their vast selection of books, go to www.arcadiapublishing.com.

Another great resource is Reminisce magazine. Not only does it have fantastic pictures, it publishes firsthand stories from people or family members who lived through various times of history. It’s also a wonderful reference for period clothes and glimpses into daily life. Contact them at www.reminisce.com.

Ancestry.com:
In her recent article in Romantic Times, Jennifer Hudson Taylor talked about the uncanny connection between her ancestors and the characters she’d created in her books. She had researched her family tree and found that one of her Scottish grandmothers several times removed was the spitting imagine of her heroine in her novel, Highland Blessings.

As a big-family person myself, I started researching my grandparents on Ancestry.com recently and found so many wonderful documents and stories, particularly about a grandfather who traveled to the New World soon after his wife died. In researching her, I found that she passed the same day as her father. My imagination went wild! Did she die in a plague or some tragic accident alongside her father? Or was she a victim of the religious persecution that was going on in England during that time?

Other sources:
1) Historical Societies—even the smallest town has a historical society and when it comes time to plot out a book, the resident historian can be a writer’s best friend. Most large cities charge $50 or more for a yearlong membership but offer rare papers and traveling collections that you may not find anywhere else. Plus, 
the permanent collections can spark new ideas. For example, I found out recently that Sherman’s march through Atlanta was not the biggest fire to destroy the city—the Great Fire of 1917 was.

2) The Library of Congress—you may not live in Washington, DC, but the national library and its experts are available to every citizen of this country through the Internet. Simply go to their website, www.loc.gov/index.html and type in your questions. An expert in the field will get back to you with references and articles addressing your needs. And if you’re ever in DC, stop by and get your library card that gives you access to private areas of the website.

Thank you for graciously putting up with my nerdiness and love of research today. I would love to hear some of your own secrets for research, so feel free to share. Also, as a reader for Harlequin, I have a pretty good idea what to look for in a “must read” manuscript, so if you’ll leave a note and your email address, you’ll be entered into a drawing to receive a ten-page critique from an official Harlequin reader. Good luck! 


SECRETS OF THE SLUSH PILE ... and Giveaway!

Groan ... The dreaded slush pile -- that black hole in editors' offices where all the missing socks in the world can be found.

Julie here, and I ask you -- wouldn't it be wonderful if we could scale that paper mountain and get our manuscripts to the top of an editor's "to do" list?

Well ... today is your lucky day, because we have as our guest a bona fide "reader" for Harlequin who is ready and willing to let you in on a few of the secrets of that notorious slush pile.

So without further ado, please welcome my very good friend, Patty Smith Hall, a Southern gal with a riverboat-load of charm and a genuine drawl that takes me back to the Old South. Take it away, Patty ...

Thanks, ladies for having me on Seekerville today. I’ve got to tell you; I’m a little in awe of this group of talented ladies. Their morning posts always leave me thinking of how I can improve as a writer while making me grin at the start of my day.

Today, I want to share some tips I’ve learned while working as a first reader for Harlequin over the past three years. If you’re not sure what a first reader is, I’m one of the people who help editors weed through those legendary slush piles by reading a manuscript and evaluating it for further consideration.

Being a first reader is a wonderful learning opportunity, but it’s also a huge responsibility. Making the decision to reject someone’s work is extremely difficult, so I approach each manuscript I’m assigned with a prayerful heart.
So what are a few of the biggest problems in manuscripts I see as a first reader?

1) Conflict:

‘Dramatic conflict is the stuff of a good story.’
Ron Benrey, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Christian Fiction

Everyone loves a happy ending, especially in a romance. And I don’t know about you, but for me, it’s that much sweeter when the hero and heroine both go through an emotionally charged situation that tests their ideas of who they truly are. As they fall in love with each other, we, as readers, enjoy ‘falling in love’ with them. We become invested in their particular story.
In the manuscripts I’ve evaluated and had to eventually reject, the conflict hasn’t been properly developed or in a few cases, not developed at all.

The first example of this is when a story is built around an external conflict. For example, let’s take a hero from the wrong side of the railroad tracks while the heroine is a sheltered young woman from a ‘good’ family. While this is a tried and true plot line, if the only thing keeping this couple apart is the 12:30 Amtrak rolling through town, the reader is going to be yelling “MOVE THAT TRAIN!”

In cases like this, the author didn’t get to the character’s motivation or the hero/heroines ‘why’ as Laurie Schnebly calls in her class, Plot via Motivation. Why is the hero letting the train tracks keep him from the girl of his dreams? Is it because he feels inferior socially? Or does he know that his father is a member of the heroine’s social structure and is holding true to his mother’s memory by staying away from 'those people?' Or does he feel responsible for his father’s money woes because of his wild teenage ways? When a writer gets to the last 'why' question and can’t come up with an answer, that’s the beginning of understanding your character’s internal motivation that will unlock the real conflict of your story.

Another problem I’ve seen in submissions is the failure to introduce any conflict until the last half of the book. In several manuscripts I evaluated, everything would be going along at a slow, sunshine and roses pace when BAM! A conflict would pop up in the last fifty pages almost like an afterthought. Sorry, but that thing doesn’t cut it with most readers(or editors for that matter). Conflict should be on that first page if possible, or at least, by the end of the first chapter.

A situation that comes up less frequently is the inclusion of several conflicts that muddy the waters of the story. In one story I read, the heroine had five competing struggles. Any one of them would have made for a compelling story, but five! Maybe I’m not that bright, but when a writer pushes five conflicts together in a 250-300 page novel, it just made me want to cry, “Pick one! Just one!”

A few other thoughts on conflict:
a) Every scene should build on the conflict to reach its satisfying ending. If it doesn’t, it’s time to consider the delete key, no matter how painful it may be.

b) The conflict in your story should last to the very last page. I’ve read several great manuscripts that I’ve had to reject because the conflict was resolved at the 2/3rd point. If the last 75-100 pages don’t build to the conflict, delete, delete, delete!

c) If a conflict can be cleared up with one conversation, then it’s not enough to carry a 250-300 page book.

Finally—never, ever, EVER end your story without resolving the conflict. I don’t know about you, but nothing frustrates me more that getting to the end of a book, waiting for that happy ending and having the author leave me hanging. When a writer leaves the conflict unresolved, they’ve broken a trust with their readers. Like most broken relationships, it takes a lot of work to build up that bond up again.

2) Characterization:
“You have one major and overriding goal when it comes to characterization: Make the reader fall in love with your hero and heroine.” Julie Beard, The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Getting Your Romance Published.

Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Jo and Laurie. Rhett and Scarlett. Timeless couples that most of us know and love. As writers, we want to create characters that stay with our readers long after they’ve finished that last page.

Characterization is a big problem in manuscripts I’ve evaluated. One of the most common situations is allowing your character to keep the reader at arms’ length. Readers have to have an emotional connection with your characters, but that’s difficult to do if the writer isn’t quite sure of what emotion their hero/heroine is feeling in any given situation. Characterization charts are great tools to use because the more you know your character, the more your reader will.

Speaking about characterization charts—it’s a good idea to do one on all the characters in your book. Secondary characters need to be fleshed out. Think of it this way—when my kids were growing up, I always knew how things were going for my girls by looking at the people they hung out with. Same thing goes for our characters. Secondary characters add flavor to a story, and you never know when one of them might yell for a plotline of their own.

Another thing—don’t make your characters too good or too bad to be believable. We’ve all got flaws, and our characters should have them too. Enough said!

3) Passive Writing:

"Active Writing minces no words. It calls attention directly to responsible agents, stating clearly what they do and how they affect their surroundings. Passive writing wastes words." Peter Denning, On Active and Passive Writing

Passive writing is a huge problem in rejected manuscripts because the writer is telling their story rather than showing it happening in real time. It’s like comparing a movie to photographs—a movie draws you into the action, gets you involved, while pictures may need an explanation. Make your story into a movie with a private showing in your reader’s head.

What are the two biggest symptoms of passive writing?

a) The use of words like was, were, had, have, is, are.

b) Adverbs that end in ly like hopefully, gracefully, peevishly, scornfully.

Strong verbs make for more active writing. A great tool for finding strong verbs is a Flip Dictionary which you can find on Amazon for as little as $3.

There is a time and place for passive writing because let’s face it, if we didn’t use it, our books would be the size of ‘War and Peace.’ But in action scenes, use active words.

4) Inconsistencies/Following Publisher Guidelines:

"Guidelines are not merely suggestions." Patty Smith Hall

Okay, so I threw in this last quote, but it’s true. Publisher’s guidelines can be found on every single publisher’s website and should be read before submitting. You can have a great manuscript, but if it’s single-spaced and written in 8 font script, the eyestrain may cause the editor or first reader to put it down. Most publishing houses require Times New Roman or Courier New in an 11 point font, double spaced. In the header, remember to put your last name, title of your manuscript and page number.

Nothing can take me out of a story quicker than an event or a plot point that I know isn’t possible. For example, if you’re writing a World War II story about female pilots, you’d better know that they were considered civilian volunteers and weren’t given military rank. Our readers come from all walks of life with experiences in everything under the sun. They KNOW when the writer gets something wrong. The Internet has made research a snap. So check your facts because if you don’t, someone else will.

I'll be happy to answer any questions you may have or just leave a comment to be entered into a drawing to win a May online class with Laurie Schnebly, Revision Heaven.

And good luck ... both in this giveaway contest AND with your escape from that pesky slush pile!