Electronic Edits

Sorry to anyone who anticipated that I would blog about something deep and thought-provoking today, but my mind has been focused on proofreading the typeset pages for my next Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery, FELINE FATALE--a July 2010 release. (Had to get the plug in for it!)

This is the first time that both the typeset pages and the copyedited version, which I need to refer to as I proofread, are electronic. Since I’m techie challenged, I’ve wound up with two computers side-by-side so I can compare the text of the two versions most easily. I started out in my writing career by proofreading typeset pages by comparing two paper versions, and, later, one paper and one electronic.

For the most part, I appreciate our new electronic edits, the paper and trees they save, and the ease of working. Even so, I’m still getting used to it.

Which means that my blog today is somewhat short.

What’s your opinion of going green, electronic and techie?

Those Misplaced Modifiers Dangle, Too!

When I chose my topic for this week, I thought I’d only be talking about misplaced modifiers. That was the term I’d learned years ago for one of my pet peeves of grammar--and I’ve got a lot of those. It turns out that my major peeve is more about dangling modifiers, the term I learned as I started researching the topic.

Interestingly, I happened upon a dangling modifier almost the moment I took on this topic. It was right in the middle of a best-selling novelist’s thriller, and the editors hadn’t caught it. I won’t name the book or author, but here’s most of the sentence: “At twelve years her junior, she felt like she’d be robbing the cradle.” The reference was to the subject’s attraction to a guy who was twelve years younger than she is. However, the way this reads, she is, herself, twelve years younger than herself! In other words, the modifying phrase “at twelve years her junior” refers to the subject of the rest of the sentence, which is “she.” Definitely an impossibility.

So how should this read to be correct? How about something like, “Since he was twelve years her junior, she felt like she’d be robbing the cradle.” That’s an easy fix, right?

I’m a believer in synchronicity, and, not unexpectedly, I ran into another example of a dangling modifier while I was pondering this blog post. One of my sons had to send a letter to a credit card company explaining a complaint against a retailer. It was an excellent letter but, smart guy that he is, he asked his mom to look at it. One of the sentences read more or less as follows: “After questioning the capacity of this subwoofer, the salesman assured me it was a great woofer that would have no problem handling the power.” Of course the salesman wasn’t questioning the capacity; my son was. However, the initial phrase appeared to be referring to the subject of the sentence, the salesman. The fix I suggested? “After I questioned the capacity of this subwoofer, the salesman assured me it was a great woofer that would have no problem handling the power.”

This kind of language issue can happen a lot. Is it the end of the world if you use one? Of course not, but a reader can be knocked out of the story for a minute if the incorrect usage is odd enough to make that reader start pondering what the sentence really means. Better to avoid the problem in the first place.

Now, to my other topic: misplaced modifiers.

What do you think when you read the following sentence:
The crying woman visited a shrink with extreme emotional issues.
Who appears to have the issues? The shrink, of course. If the modifier was in the correct place, the sentence would instead read, “The crying woman with extreme emotional issues visited a shrink.” The first way was an example of a misplaced modifier.

Where a modifier is placed makes a big difference in the interpretation of a sentence--even a small modifier! For example, look at how moving the word “just” changes the meaning of each of the following:
Andrea was just designated to be the hostess on the reality TV show.
Andrea was designated to just be the hostess on the reality TV show.
Andrea was designated to be the hostess on just the reality TV show.

Hopefully, those examples give you enough information to remind you to watch where you place your modifiers.

Have you ever come across dangling or misplaced modifiers that caught your attention while reading?

Platforms and Themes: Typecast and Loving It!

I write mysteries. I write romances. My mysteries always have some romance in them. My romances always have some mystery or suspense in them.

As I mentioned in a post several weeks ago, I seem to be getting known for the combo. Last weekend at Left Coast Crime I enjoyed being on the panel From Romance to Murder: Love and Death. Not all of the panelists wrote romantic mysteries. In fact, some were more inclined to have love interests murdered. Me? I love writing genre fiction, partly because you know you have to have a satisfying, and perhaps happy, ending.

My romances always end on a happily ever after, and the suspense or mystery is resolved, too. Even if they’re part of a mini-series, the romances need to be able to stand alone, so a satisfying wrap-up is necessary.

In my mystery novels, all murders are solved by the end, although the relationships don’t necessarily get resolved. But hopefully the endings entice readers to look into the next story to see what’s happening on the romance side.

I’ve finished the first manuscript for my new spin-off mystery series about Lauren Vancouver, Pet Rescuer. Yes, she has a love interest--at least a potential one. We’ll see where she wants to go with it...

This coming Sunday is when I appear on a cross genre panel for Mystery Writers of America, Southern California chapter. With me will be a sci-fi mystery writer and a writer of mystery graphic novels. I, again, will represent combining mystery and romance.

My Story Stew University on-line class Blending Romance and Suspense begins on April 19. I’m really looking forward to it. Once again, here’s the link to Story Stew U: www.storystewuniversity.com Join me there! I’d love your input on combining the genres that are so much a part of my life. I’ll, of course, be teaching what I know, or think I know, and giving my suggestions and opinions there, too.

And... this just in! I’ll be presenting a morning workshop at the September meeting of the Orange County Chapter of Romance Writers of America. The topic? Looks as if it, too, will be about combining romance and suspense!

Am I being typecast? Maybe, at least to some extent. But I also have a panel on the paranormal coming up, as well as some for which I don’t yet have a topic. Plus, I’m working on other ideas that don’t fit smack into a romance or mystery.

But if I do turn out to be typecast to some extent, at least it’s for something I really enjoy!

Are you typecast in anything? And do you enjoy the combo of mystery and romance?

Anticipation

Left Coast Crime starts today--Thursday! (That’s if you don’t count the Crime Lab tour that occurred yesterday, which I didn’t attend since I was delighted to tour the lab a few years ago soon after it opened.)

I’m really looking forward to LCC, especially since it’s here in L.A. I get to take the subway there. (Yes, L.A. has a subway.) There are lots of fun sounding panels scheduled, plus parties and other get-togethers. It should be fun!

I know some of my fellow Killer Hobbyists will be there, too: Camille Minichino and Betty Hechtman. If any of the rest of you will be there as well, please let me know!!

I’ll be on two panels:
“Cozy Up,” on Friday afternoon at 3:45, and “From Romance to Murder: Love and Death” on Saturday morning at 8:30.

I’ll also be staffing the Mystery Writers of America table tomorrow morning from 9 - 10 AM.

If you’re at LCC, please be sure to stop by at any or all of the above and say hi!

In case I don’t get the opportunity to respond to your comments for a while today, you’ll know why--but please do give your opinions on Left Coast Crime and other writers’ conferences!

Unusual and Inspirational

I saw something very cute yesterday. Unusual, too. It’s something I think I may have to use on one of my stories—either a Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery, or a Lauren Vancouver, Pet Rescuer mystery.

What was it? Well, I was visiting a place where a dog and cat were best friends! The dog was black and moderate in size. The cat was calico, although mostly white, and also looked middle-sized for a kitty. The dog was standing by himself when the cat approached. I expected fireworks, or for the cat to change her mind and bolt. Neither occurred. Instead, they stayed close to one another, even nuzzling each other, until the dog walked away. The cat followed. Soon, they were near each other again, and again acting very friendly.

Someone who knew them well said that this was their normal treatment of each other. I thought it was adorable. Animals that are generally considered sort-of enemies, or at least incompatible, were buddies.

Friends of mine who have both dogs and cats have told me that they often get along together—a quiet truce--but I’ve never heard of any being that friendly.

What about you? Do you have pets that are different but nevertheless become close friends?

Do things that seem unusual to you ever inspire your writing or reading?

Themes

As a Killer Hobbyist, I’ve made pets the main theme in many of my posts. I write about pets in my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series, and will also write about pets in my upcoming Kendra spinoff about Lauren Vancouver, Pet Rescuer.

In addition, I write a paranormal romance mini-series for Silhouette Nocturne about Alpha Force, a secret military group of shapeshifters. More animals! I’ve also written one Nocturne about a woman with Valkyrie powers, but so far there aren’t any sequels in sight. My next Alpha Force story will be a January 2011 release: Alaskan Wolf. Yes, a werewolf!

So, pets are definitely a theme in my writing. But they’re not the only one. Just recently, I’ve had that made very clear by three separate opportunities that were, coincidentally, thematically related!

Monica posted a really great KillerHobbies blog entry recently about how, to be a published author, you also need to go out there and promote yourself and your stories. Definitely true.

When I was contacted about possibly giving an on-line class at the new Story Stew University, I suggested that I present one about blending romance and suspense, since I write... romances and suspense! My mystery protagonists all have some romantic interests, and my romances all contain suspense, so this seemed like a good topic for me.

I’m also attending Left Coast Crime this year. Why not? It’s in Los Angeles. I recently received my panel assignments. I’m on one about cozy mysteries, also featuring our very own Betty Hechtman. The other one? It’s about combining romance and mysteries.

Also, just this week, I was contacted about participating on a panel about cross-genre writing, sponsored by the local chapter of Mystery Writers of America. One panelist combines horror and mystery. Another combines sci-fi and mystery. I was invited to participate because I combine... what else? Romance and mystery!

So, it looks as if combining mysteries and romance is my current theme, even though I didn’t sit down and make a concerted plan to obtain publicity from it.

What’s your theme? Does it involve your hobby? Crafts? Types of writing or reading?

BTW, please check out my Story Stew University online class, to begin on April 19: Blending Romance and Suspense. Here’s the link to Story Stew U: www.storystewuniversity.com You’re all welcome to take the class! (Although I know that a lot of you know much of what I’ll be discussing. But you never know what secrets you might learn...!)

Writing Companions

I have to admit--as if I haven’t done so zillions of times before--that my Cavalier King Charles Spaniels Lexie and Mystie are my writing inspirations, especially since a lot of what I write incorporates dogs. Not always Cavaliers, though. I’m working on the manuscript for the first story in my new Lauren Vancouver, Pet Rescuer series, and not a single Cavalier appears in it. They may in future stories. But it does contain a lot of dogs, both purebreds and mixes.

I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about when I sat at the computer to work on today’s Killer Hobbies post, but when I looked down, I knew. Both of my dogs were on the floor at my feet, sleeping. Keeping me company. Keeping me inspired.

While editing my Pet Rescuer manuscript, I’ve been sitting at my kitchen table a lot. That’s Lexie’s spot. She knows that, when I’m sitting there and not eating, she’s always invited to lie on my lap. She gives me kisses on the chin when she first arrives on my lap, then settles down to sleep while I read and make notes on the page. Sometimes I sit on my sofa, and then she always snuggles beside me.

Mystie likes to leap up onto my lap when I’m working at the computer. I know that, if she doesn’t snuggle down right away, and instead hugs my face, she needs to go outside. Woe is me if I need to finish a thought first and not take her out immediately. By then, she’s really serious!

Then there are the sounds they make as if responding to my talking to them. Mystie sometimes heaves big sighs. Lexie will make an affirmative noise at times, or a sarcastic snort at others.

If this is repetitious, then I apologize. But I love to talk about my canine inspirations!

What are your greatest inspirations to writing and otherwise?

By the way, my thoughts are with those of you who’ve been pelted by yet another snow storm. I grew up in Pittsburgh and empathize--although I finally put down roots in Los Angeles. We had more thunderstorms and sleet in L.A. a couple of days ago. Our latest storms ended with two gorgeous rainbows--one brilliant and an entire arc, and the other parallel and misty. We also could see snow on the mountains beyond the San Fernando Valley but didn’t have to deal with any related difficulties. How are you dealing with the snow?

And an earthquake in Chicago?? Fortunately, my older son, who grew up in L.A., pretty much slept through it.

Short Stories

In addition to finishing a novel under deadline and working on several proposals, including one nonfiction one, I’m now working on an idea for a short story. I’d love to submit an entry to the Mystery Writers of America for an upcoming anthology, as a blind submission which may or may not be chosen for inclusion. I had a blind submission included in an anthology hosted by the Sisters in Crime, Los Angeles Chapter, a few years ago, and that was a lot of fun.

I started my fiction career with short stories. My first short story “Different Drummers” was published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine many years ago, and it won the Robert L. Fish Memorial Award for best first mystery short story of the year. I’ll never forget when the legendary Ed Hoch called to ask if he could include “Different Drummers” in his annual anthology, The Year’s Best Mystery and Suspense Stories, and how flattered I was. He said, “You don’t know, do you?” That was how I learned I’d won the Fish Award!

These days I don’t write as many short stories as I used to, although I certainly enjoy them. But in some ways, it’s harder to write short stories, since you have to get points across faster then in full length books.

My blog sisters and I have been working on a progressive short story starring our mystery protagonists, and hopefully we’ll be able to post it soon.

For my MWA entry, I know some general stuff about where I want to go with it, but I haven’t come up with enough details to feel comfortable that I’ll be able to submit it in time. The deadline is March 15--and my deadline for my first Pet Rescue mystery is March 1. Plus, I have some interim travel plans.

But I’ve put my subconscious to work on plotting it out. Wish me luck in getting it done in time to submit it! After that, I’ll worry about whether it’s selected. I’m sure there will be a lot of excellent competition. Since it’s a blind selection, where the identities of the submitters are kept secret until the selection is made, I’ve no idea whether my story will be accepted even if I write one!

Do you have any stories or plots you’re puzzling out at the moment? How’s it going?

Best In Show

I’m proud and delighted to say that I was asked to present the Best In Show trophy last Sunday at the Ventura County Dog Fanciers Association show--thanks to my being a writer of pet-related mysteries!

One of the show’s organizers sent me an e-mail some time ago telling me that I hadn’t gotten something exactly right regarding shows in one of my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries. I thanked her, then asked her advice about a situation that I was pondering for an upcoming story, which she very graciously gave. When she asked me to be the presenter, I agreed.

My husband and I arrived at the show grounds in time to meet a really smart Border collie in the parking lot. His owner--servant?--put him through some of his paces, doing everything from turning in the direction indicated to waving. Of course he was there for Obedience trials.

We went to meet my contact in person, and she was delightful! She took us to lunch and introduced us to other show officials and judges. I was thrilled at how friendly everyone was. Some of them knew of my writing, and others didn’t. I enjoyed passing out bookmarks and talking about my writing as well as about the show and all the work involved with putting it together.

Then on to part of the reason I was there: watching the Cavalier King Charles Spaniels being shown! It was so much fun watching members of the breed I’ve owned for years strutting in the show ring. There were so many gorgeous pups that I was glad I wasn’t a judge.

I did ask a judge later, BTW, how she makes her decisions, especially when the winners of the breed shows compete in their group categories. Presumably, each of them is pretty close to their own breed standard. Which one is best? She told me that some of it is, again, looking for the breed standard, and some of it is personal preference. I couldn’t argue with that. How could it be otherwise?

I checked out some of the vendors’ booths, then went back inside to watch the group competitions. Once again, I’d have had a terrible time deciding.

I enjoyed checking out the dogs all over the show. It was fun to see, while the smallest Chihuahua was being shown, there was a huge Great Dane being walked nearby. It was also fun to check out the old, but true, cliché that people often choose dogs that look like them.

Near where I sat, the announcer had his own dog nearby, on a bed on a tall table: a sweet, calm Brussels Griffon, who only got excited when his master took a walk to the far side of the building.

Eventually, each group’s best had been chosen. The Cavalier, unfortunately, wasn’t among them, although she’d placed in the top four in Toys.

Then... the competition for Best In Show! The winner? The Herding Breed group winner--an absolutely adorable Pembroke Welsh Corgi!

And, yes, I was introduced by the show announcer, who gave a wonderful description of my background. Then I got to present the Best In Show trophy, a lovely bowl, and got my picture taken with the pup, the handler, the owners and the judge.

In all, it was a delightful day--especially because of all the really nice, friendly, helpful and instructive people who took part on the show. Thanks to all of you!

Have you ever attended dog shows or other similar kinds of events? Did you enjoy them?

Protective Pets

The news about earthquakes this week has been horrible, especially in Haiti. But one story that sticks with me because of its positive message is one about a dog in Northern California.

I first saw the story on TV, and then looked it up on the Internet. A lab mix hanging out at a newsroom where her owner works sensed the earthquake before any people did. The area was being filmed by a camera, so viewers can see the dog just lying there, then looking startled and dashing off just moments before the chaos of an earthquake begins. The written part of the story goes on to say that the dog wasn’t running away, but went dashing off to find her owner, then herded her owner out of the building.

Amazing, how the differences in dogs’ senses from ours allows them to appear almost psychic sometimes! I’d imagine that this particular dog must have heard the tremor’s rumbling with her keener sense of hearing before the chaos reached the earth’s surface. Or perhaps she also felt it, since she was lying on the floor.

It was also very sweet, and a tribute to the relationship between the owner and her dog that the pup acted protectively, rather than running away.

There are, of course, a lot of animals that are trained to help their owners with various health issues--sensing seizures, helping disabled people reach things, whatever. I was also intrigued recently to see a news story about an organization that takes in disabled dogs and helps to fit them with prosthetic and other devices to help them walk, then finds them new homes.

I love the idea of a symbiotic relationship between people and their pets, each helping the other. I’ll probably use some of these ideas in a new Lauren Vancouver, Pet Rescue mystery. What’s your favorite story of pets helping people, or vice versa?

Technology!

I’m currently going over the copy edits on my next Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery.

All submissions and edits used to be done strictly on paper. Now, they’re mostly electronic, which is faster and less expensive and works great! The copy edits use what used to be called “redlining” in my earlier days as an attorney. Each time a contract was changed by one negotiating side or the other, that attorney would make marks in red ink showing what was deleted or added.

Now, changes are done on computers in different colors and balloons that appear in the drafts that arrived in my e-mail. One color shows the editor’s changes and questions, another the copy editor’s, and a third shows my responses and changes. It’s really easy this way.

Mostly. I’ve found that the size of the type is small enough that even I, who can read stuff that’s quite small, have to strain to see it, and I can’t play around with it on the computer to enlarge it for easier reading. Fortunately, I have a pair of glasses that works well for this use.

I’m wondering, though, what other technological wonders I might be missing. The Consumer Electronics Show is in Las Vegas this week, and I might have been able to find some new gadgetry to look forward to there--something even more exciting than tracking changes. My husband and I have attended in the past, and it’s amazing! I’m sure it would be even more amazing to someone who actually understood what all that technology was about.

Since my passion is pets, I decided to virtually visit the CES show, so I went to its website and searched for “pet products.” What came up included iPod docking stations shaped like frogs, including a music decoding system for pet dancing (whatever that is); a number of links to different kind of virtual mouse products--and as anyone these days who uses a computer knows, that kind of mouse isn’t either a pet or any other kind of rodent; and not much else on point. A search for “animal” brought up animation, and a warning that no live animals are allowed in any of the CES exhibits. A “dog” search located lunch--lots of references to hot dogs. And “cat” is apparently an abbreviation for things I don’t purport to understand--maybe a reference to catalog numbers.

I’m sure there are oodles of things being displayed that I’d adore using... someday. Once I figure out what they are and why they’re indispensable.

Even so, it’s probably just as well that I’m at home editing now and not at CES. Is anyone out there a technology fan who’s attending, or would like to attend, the Consumer Electronics Show? What new gadget would you recommend?

New Year’s Eve Is Fun, I Believe

Two fellow bloggers began the sublime:
Filling this week’s posts with rhyme.
I’ll gladly comply
Since, happily, I
Can partake in such fun this time.

Now, tonight is New Year’s Eve.
A time to enjoy, I believe.
But don’t overdo it
Or you’ll start the year blue; it
Should be the best one we can weave.

My dogs will celebrate too
They’ll help toast the New Year, it’s true,
With water, not wine
But that’s just fine.
They’ll like helping us ring in the new.

So Happy New Year to you, everyone.
Writers, readers and all, have some fun!
Make this year the best
Outshining the rest,
With happiness and love times a zillion!

(And yes, I know I’ve stretched things. It’s pretty bad, isn’t it? Far from a perfect rhythm or rhyme, but I think it gets its message across!)

Happy New Year to each of you and your families--including your pets, of course. By the way, I read that tonight is a Blue Moon!

Holidays' Best

It’s Christmas Eve! My older son and daughter-in-law will arrive tomorrow to celebrate the holidays--for our second time. We already had one celebration with other family members who were passing through L.A. earlier.

That’s a fact of life for me. My family has always celebrated both Hanukkah and Christmas by gift-giving, so our holiday season lasts for a while.

My favorite gift, especially these days, is the ability to spend the holidays with as many beloved family members as possible. My mother-in-law is giving us the special gift of staying with us for a month. Our younger son pops in and out, since he lives in San Diego, only a two hour drive away from L.A. And of course our pups Lexie and Mystie are around to help us celebrate.

I also get a kick out of store-bought gifts. I’ve always liked collecting wristwatches, which is a bit of an anachronism in these days when people tell time by glancing at their Blackberries or cell phones. The gift I loved best as a child was a watch that had interchangeable bands and frames for the face. I begged for it, and wound up getting a band and a face for each day of Hanukkah.

The only Christmas story I’ve had published so far was a romance story in an anthology called WINTER WONDERLAND, published by Dorchester as a Love Spell book. All of the authors based their stories on a Christmas carol they chose. Mine was “Up On The Housetop.” This year is the ten-year anniversary of its publication, but it reappears on store shelves every once in a while near Christmastime.

Who is spending the holidays with you? I wish you all a wonderful Christmas!

Pet Gifts

Instead of blogging about handmade gifts last week, which was our primary topic, I sort of addressed this week’s topic: what other gifts to give.

But I didn’t delve much into what to get for our pets.

I’ve been looking for a new “blue ball” for Mystie. She knows that term. Her favorite game is to get us to throw or kick small rubber balls, ones that squeak when she squishes them in her mouth. She has three, but her favorite is “blue ball” --and its rubber is starting to crack. It’s in the pattern of a soccer ball, and I can find them in white but haven’t found another blue one to replace the original. They used to say dogs are color blind, but the last I heard was a theory that they had some limited ability to see colors. It probably doesn’t matter. Whatever color it turns out to be, she’ll know it’s not the same treasured “blue ball.”

Lexie’s a little easier to buy for. When she plays, it’s with nylon bones, so I’ll get her some new ones to chew on and tease Mystie with.

We haven’t started dressing our dogs in clothes or costumes, but there are a lot of cute outfits out there, especially this time of year. I saw a lot of dressed-up pups yesterday when we went to The Grove shopping center in L.A., right next to the Farmers Market. I was surprised to see the number of dogs there, in fact, until I stopped to pet a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (I can’t resist hugging Cavaliers) and the owner told me that it was the last day to have your dog’s picture taken with Santa Claus! The line to see Santa was long--filled with both kids and dogs. We missed out, but we’ll get our photos of the dogs with family.

Do you get gifts for your pets over the holidays? What kinds?

Holiday Gifts for Writers

As I’ve said before, I’m not especially handy these days. I won’t attempt to tell you how to craft a delightful gift for your loved ones and friends.

Instead, I’ll do what I hope I’m more skilled at: ideas.

Those who read this blog tend to be writers or readers. A lot of us have friends and family who are writers, or who want to be writers. What can you give them for the holidays?

Number one for me this year is... some large capacity and attractive thumb drives! I’m always worried about disappearance of what I’m working on, so I back things up. Of course, I work on an old computer and still use the nearly obsolete small floppy disks out of habit, but I also use thumb drives. Some of those thumb drives come in decorative cases now, so I wouldn’t mind at all receiving one or more of those pretty ones or the holidays.

Then there are books. Writers love books. I certainly do. I’d enjoy receiving books by my favorite authors. Even more, I always love receiving research books. These kinds of gifts may require strong hints, so people will know what to get. Or, another alternative is to buy a gift card from a book store and let the recipient choose what presents they want.

Bookmarks are always a great gift for writers. Check out the wonderful one designed and made by my fellow Killer Hobbyist Monica Ferris, in yesterday’s post.

Another idea is a tote bag... to carry one’s books in! I seem to collect a lot at writers’ conferences, and you can always buy one these days in most stores as an alternative to paper or plastic bags. Those are not always especially attractive, but you can always purchase a pretty one.

If you get the idea that I’m a bit old fashioned and prefer printed books, you’re right. But another kind of gift is the e-reader, such as a Kindle or the Sony E-Reader, or the upcoming Nook by Barnes & Noble. If your intended recipient already has one of these, you can buy downloads... although I have to admit I’m not sure how that works as a gift.

There are, additionally, peripheral kinds of gifts. Writers love words. Words appear in crossword puzzles. I always enjoy a gift of a good book containing crosswords, or even other word games.

Finally, it never hurts, if you happen to be a published writer, to give a very special gift: a copy of one of your books, signed especially to your gift recipient.

What other ideas do you have for gifts for readers or writers?

More Pets and the Internet

Sometimes I’m unhappy about all the junk mail I get. I’m on all sorts of e-mail lists.

But then there are some communications that really make me happy. For one thing, I receive a nearly daily newsletter from Dr. Jon--a veterinarian who sells pet insurance and pet toys and other pet-related things on a website called petplace.com. I haven’t bought anything from him yet, but his newsletter is full of interesting things about pets--a lot of them holiday related these days. Recently, the posts have included warnings about bad things dogs can get into during holidays, like coffee and chocolate. They can kill dogs if ingested in sufficient quantities.

Then there are unique gifts for dogs. I expect my dogs will receive the same stuff they have before, since it works for them and I’m not overly concerned about how they might hurt themselves with them. But Dr. Jon had some suggestions--along with links to places they could be bought.

I recently received an e-mail from the Hallmark Channel, telling me that the best dog movie ever was going to be on Hallmark last Sunday. I’ve recorded it but haven’t had a chance to watch it yet, so I can’t say whether I think it’s the best ever, but I’m glad Hallmark reminded me about it. I’d seen trailers on it but wasn’t sure when it was playing. I might have missed it otherwise.

Of course I’m on the e-mail lists for Petco, PetSmart, PetRx and others, too. I’m always scanning for bargains on things I want for my pups, but seldom see anything helpful.

I also received a link I had to peruse--photos of some celebrities and their dogs. I don’t pay much attention to the celebrity hype online or on TV, but it was fun to see some notables and their best friends.

BTW, one of my best friends, Mystie, acted very cute this week, showing possible canine reasoning. We have our TV pulled out from the wall for some work being done behind it. Mystie was watching a dog on the TV one day and went behind the screen to see if she could find it. Not seeing it, she returned to watch the doggy on the TV, acting interested but a little frustrated.

What are your favorite pet-related Internet sites? Your favorite non-pet-related sites?

Quiet Holiday

This is the first Thanksgiving I can remember being so quiet. We’ve usually had both of our sons around, or at least one. But our older son is now married and lives in Chicago. He and his wife will be visiting us in December (yay!) but not for Thanksgiving this year. Our younger son is traveling out of the country. So, it’s just my husband and me as far as family goes. And the dogs, of course, but they don’t get to join in the turkey dinner fun with us--just puppy snacks.

We enjoy celebrating with other people, though, so we’ve invited our next door neighbor, who had been considering plans out of town but decided to join us instead. He’s more of a gourmet cook than I and he’s bringing some stuff. I’ll stick to basics.

I’m going to be the first Killer Hobbyist to break with this week’s traditions. No recipe from me--sorry! As I said, I stick with basics, especially with so few to cook for, so I’m not pulling out my old favorite formulas, even to pass them along.

Anyone else having as quiet a holiday as I am? I wish you all a very happy one!

Lesson Four - Point of View

I chose this topic since I’m now writing concurrently in two points of view--first person for my cozy mysteries, and third person for my Silhouette Nocturnes.

Let me step back and explain point of view, just in case you don’t know or need a refresher. (And that sentence somewhat involves second person, BTW!)

What is Point of View

Point of view (POV) refers to the perspective from which a particular story is being told.

There are generally three main types of POV:

- First person, where the story is told in the narrator’s POV - “I” and “me.”

- Second person, which is told with reference to “you” - “You went to the door and opened it, and then you looked outside.”

- Third person, in which the story is told by the characters being referred to as “he” or “she.” The best third person stories (in my opinion) are generally those where the reader still gets inside the POV character’s thoughts, although there are also “omniscient” or “authorial” subcategories of POV where the reader simply watches a scene as it’s told by the author.

And of course there are combinations of the above, especially in today’s stories where so many of the old rules have often been tossed out. It used to be a no-no to change types of POV in the same book, but not any more. You can do a chapter in first person, then switch to third in the next, then back again.

How Do You Choose Point of View?

Sometimes, depending on the genre in which you’re writing, you don’t have a choice. It’s a standard, and if you’re not comfortable with it, try writing something else.

For example, I write dark and sexy paranormal romances for Silhouette Nocturne. Because they are romances, I need to get into the heads of both the hero and heroine and let the readers know what each is thinking--the attraction, their conflict, how they both deal with the issues in the book. That only works well in third person.

I also write cozy mysteries. My Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mysteries are in Kendra’s POV, and they’re written in first person. She pretty much told me, when I started the series, that she preferred it that way. Mysteries, though--whether cozy or not--can be either first or third person, whichever seems to work best for your story.

And that’s the key in most genres: whichever seems to work best for your story.

I’ve started writing a thriller, and they work best in third person, as do most suspense stories. Getting into the bad guys’ heads along with the protagonists’, and other characters’, is a great way of ramping up the suspense.

Right now, I’m working on my first story in the spin-off from my Kendra books, another cozy mystery series about Lauren Vancouver, pet rescuer. She’s introduced in HOWL DEADLY, the Kendra book that’s about to be published, in December of this year. She has a legal issue that Kendra helps to resolve. We meet her through Kendra’s POV, since Kendra books are always in first person. And when I started getting to know Lauren better while I began writing her first book, she, too, insisted that her stories be told in first person! She’s a very different character from Kendra, though. It’s been interesting writing about what “I” did, but in an entirely different voice.


How Do You Use Point of View?

Again, it’s whatever works best for you and your story.

It’s pretty simple when you’re in first person. You’re always in your protagonist’s head, and therefore constantly describe what “I’m” doing.

Third person can be a little more complicated, especially when you have more than one POV character. The main thing, if there are two or more POV characters, is to be clear about whose head you’re in. That’s not to say you can’t switch POVs within one scene, but you don’t want the reader to think you’re in the heroine’s thoughts and then all of a sudden realize they’re the hero’s --likewise, the protagonist’s versus the villain’s. You can handle that the easy way by saying something like “she thought” but that gets old after a while. Instead, you can you’re your writing more interesting by starting a paragraph by, for example, describing something the character is doing to establish whose view you’re in.

But if you do this--watch out for the dreaded head-hopping! Switching each paragraph in a scene to another character’s POV, or even doing it within the same paragraph, can get confusing to readers and could even lead them to tossing your book across the room... assuming your editor even lets it stand.

What works best for me is to change scenes, or even chapters, when I’m moving from one person’s third person POV to another. It’s clear that way, and I don’t have to worry about including a lot of signals about whose thoughts I’m in--just at the beginning of the scene.


Your POV

So... what are your thoughts on POV? I’ve given you mine. And the readers of this blog posting will also be interested...

Bookmarks

Right now, I’m waiting for the bookmarks for HOWL DEADLY to be finished at the printer’s. HOWL DEADLY is the eighth in my Kendra Ballantyne, Pet-Sitter mystery series, and it will be a December release.

I’ve been doing bookmarks since the series started, and I love ‘em! I always feature the cover of the latest Kendra book, and I’ve been absolutely delighted with each of the covers. I use the bookmarks to introduce the next book and to show what stories have already been published. I leave some at book stores and libraries and wherever else seems to make sense at the time. I give them to readers, book store personnel, other writers, people I interview for research, friends, total strangers, whoever. My bookmarks tell people who I am, as well as who Kendra is.

I’ve also been pleased this year to give out bookmarks created and provided by Harlequin for Silhouette Nocturnes. Since like all series romance Nocturnes are available in bookstores only during the month of publication, I haven’t done my own because of the timing. But since this is Harlequin’s 60th birthday, they’ve put together bookmarks that promote a series on one side, and offer free downloads of stories on the other.

And I’m also happy now to be passing out KillerHobbies bookmarks, designed and obtained by my fellow blogger Joanna Campbell Slan and first distributed at Bouchercon, which I unfortunately didn’t attend this year.

BTW, I’m also proud of my fellow bloggers and their ingenuity. Next week, we’ll each be giving a lesson on some aspect of writing. Mine is on point of view. This blog entry is, obviously, in first person.

On the other hand, the wonderful, modest author Linda O. Johnston will be blogging about point of view in her writing next week. Stay tuned!

Back to my original subject and point of view. Bookmarks--I love them all!

In fact, I do a lot of traveling for fun, and I also collect bookmarks representative of all the places I’ve visited.

Since the Kendra books started being published, I’ve seen occasional blog posts and comments on groups to which I belong that criticize promotional bookmarks--for whatever reason. None of them have made sense to me.

Oh, and by the way, I do use bookmarks when I read. Although I admit that, occasionally, I slip in a notecard, or the library’s printout of borrowed books, or a grocery receipt...

How about you? Do you like bookmarks? Do you like to receive any that are distributed by an author, often as BSP (blatant self promotion)?

Travel Fun

So where was I a couple of weeks ago when I panicked about the possibility that my younger Cavalier King Charles Spaniel Mystie had disappeared while I was traveling?

New York, New York!

It was a great trip, one we attempt to do annually. Our excuse is to go to the Baron Funds Annual Meeting. We don’t own a lot of their mutual funds, but enough to get an invitation to their free event. Of course we have to pay to be in the area, but it’s worth it to see the surprise entertainment as well as hear talks from CEOs of some of the companies in which the Baron Funds have substantial investments. The surprise entertainment this year was Carole King at lunchtime, and Rod Stewart in the afternoon. Lots of fun!

Even better for me was the opportunity to meet with both of my editors, at Harlequin and at Berkley. It’s always wonderful to see them--and even better that the ideas I pitched to them were met with lots of interest!

By the way, my story in my last week’s blog about worrying whether Mystie slipped out of the house wasn’t the only scare in the family. My mother-in-law’s cat B.D., who’d gone outside in really windy weather when everyone left the house for a while, didn’t show up for dinner that night. My M-I-L looked all over, inside and out. I didn’t want to say anything, but with all the missing cats around our area--and coyote sightings--I feared the worst had also occurred in Ohio... until B.D. decided she was ready to reappear. She had somehow sneaked back in and hidden in a room upstairs where my M-I-L had looked for her with no luck. Not till B.D. chose to let everyone know she was fine!

Do you know of any sneaky kitties or doggies? And what excuses do you use to travel?