Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Midnight Fire Book Blitz Giveaway:Midnight Fire Series by Kaitlyn Davis

Wow! My Distractions are on fire today!  This is really awesome! I've been  looking forward to participating in this blitz as the Midnight Fire Series is in my top-five list of best paranormal series. Only a year ago I came across 'Ignite' and I was hooked from page one. A dedicated member of team Tristan myself ever since... Because she made that bad-boy, hot vampire hero so scorchingly adorable... 
I will read everything Kaitlyn writes because her words have found the way to my heart. 
So here we go: scroll down to read about Kaitlyn and her story. Don't miss the amazing excerpts  and, of course,  the giveaway I know you are all expecting.
Enjoy! 

The Complete
Midnight Fire Series (Midnight Fire)
Release Date:
10/31/13

Summary from
Goodreads:
**Get the first two books FREE when you buy the
entire series at once!**



From bestselling author Kaitlyn Davis comes a paranormal romance perfect for
fans of Twilight, The Vampire Diaries, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer.





"With one last look, one final search of the lines of his face for some
sign, Kira turned and ran away from the sound of the man she loved laughing in
the face of her death."



When Kira
Dawson moves to South Carolina, she meets Luke, a blond goofball who quickly
becomes her best friend, and Tristan, a mysterious bad boy who sends shivers
down her spine. Kira knows they're keeping secrets, but when she discovers
Tristan's lust for blood and her own dormant mystical powers, Kira is forced to
fight for her life and make the heartbreaking decision between the familiar
comfort of friendship and the fiery passion of love.

Available from:
 photo B6096376-6C81-4465-8935-CE890C777EB9-1855-000001A1E900B890_zps5affbed6.jpg  photo 111AD205-AA04-4F9E-A0F4-C1264C4E9F30-1855-000001A1E8CEB6D7_zps9b730b94.jpg  photo smashwordsicon_zps931b0409.jpg




RAVE REVIEWS for the
Midnight Fire Series!
 
"The writing is
effortlessly mind blowing. I could not put this entire series down. Once you're
hooked, you won't either because it'll eat you up not knowing what happened!
And then you'll pick a team like I did and you'll fall in love with all the
characters and you'll want all the bad guys to die horribly! Just trust me when
I say it really is your loss to miss out on this series! It's a blaze of
glory!" - Happy Tales and Tails Blog

"Kaitlyn Davis writes
some of the best action scenes I have come across in a young adult book; they
are fast paced and so well delivered making this more than just a silly
romance." - Reflections of a Bookworm

"The only downside to
this series, is that it ended. But the ending was beautiful." - My
Seryniti

"Kira isn't a human
girl who is one dimensional and in love with a vampire. She's a well-thought
out character who comes to life from the pages and steals into your heart. Read
the books. Do it." - Urban Girl Reader

"I love and hate how
fast of a read this was! I love it because I couldn't get enough of it and hate
it because once I finished I wanted more!" - I Just Wanna Sit Here And
Read

"I really enjoyed Ms
Davis's writing, I was riveted throughout and was eager to see what would
happen - there was drama, danger, action and romance that was wonderfully
detailed and described." - Obsession With Books




"You'll make friends
with Kira, choose sides with Tristan and Luke, and fall in love with the story
at heart about a girl with so bright a future....even shades aren't gonna cut
it." - Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers

About the
Author
I've always
been a writer. I grew up duct taping my novels together, started writing
complete manuscripts in high school and studied creative writing at Johns
Hopkins University. Upon graduating, I decided it was finally time to actually
give my dream career a chance. So, of course, I started writing a young adult
paranormal romance series -- and no, I'm not jumping on the bandwagon. I've
been a true paranormal supporter for my entire life! I blame my obsession
almost completely on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, my all-time favorite
television show. And, before you ask: Yes, I own every season... even the post
WB ones! I especially challenge anyone to watch the first three seasons and not
fall in love with Angel, securing a lifelong love of vampires! Other culprits
of my paranormal obsession are some of my favorite authors: JK Rowling, Raymond
Feist, Meg Cabot, Richelle Mead, Lynne Ewing and Tamora Pierce.

Author Links:
 photo iconwebsite-32x32_zps1f477f69.png    photo iconfacebook-32x32_zps64a79d4a.png  photo iconpinterest_zps6fcf02a7.png


Excerpts:
1) Ignite Prologue:

Kira watched as he languidly stood up, flexing his muscles as though he had just awakened from a long dream. He stretched his arms over his head and cracked the bones in his neck before finally settling his gaze on her. She hardly recognized him, the boy she had fallen in love with. Where minutes before there had been light and emotion in his eyes, there was only a black hole, a seemingly endless abyss. Kira had never seen him look at her that way, like less than food, like vermin, even since the first time they had met.
"Aren’t you going to run?" He asked with sinister humor coloring his words. The smirk on his face may as well have been a knife cutting through her heart. The darkness had always called him, but Kira had always thought that being with her would be enough to keep him from crossing over. She saw now that he had surrendered to his nature and for the first time she felt real fear when he looked at her.
Kira stepped backwards on shaky feet, trying to digest the question. She didn’t have an answer. How could she turn her back on him and run away? The man she loved was trying to kill her. There were no options. Could she forget it allall the nights they had shared kissing and swapping secretsand fight to kill? Or, would she run and admit that there was no hope that he would return to her?
Kira said his name and reached out her hand, searching one last time for the man she had lost.
"Yes, honey." The word hit her like a slap in the face as it rolled off of his tongue drenched in sarcasm.
Kira looked up at the sun, still hidden behind the shadow of the moon, and sprinted into the tree line behind her. She couldn’t give up on him now. But, when the eclipse was over, maybe she would finally find the strength to fight.

2) Ignite Excerpt – Chapter 1
Luke took a strand of her hair and wrapped the natural curl around his pointer finger. He stared at it intently, almost as if he were in a trance, and Kira stared at him, stuck.
"Luke, creepy much?" Emma chimed in. Luke dropped the curl immediately, and he and Kira both turned towards Emma. "Whoa, Luke, Kira has your psycho eyes."
"Really? Look at me," Miles asked with a curious expression. "Whoa," was all he said when they looked over at him.
"Let me see," Luke gently held Kira’s chin so she looked into his eyes. She realized why they were comforting before: she had never seen anyone with eyes quite like hers. They were barely green on the outer rim of the iris, but that hue was quickly overtaken by a yellow tint with red and orange specks that almost looked like fire. Most people were weirded out by it, but she liked that she wouldn’t be alone in that, at least for a year. "I didn’t think they’d look the same," Luke said softly. Kira paused at the words Luke clearly had not meant to say out loud.
"Well, obviously you wouldn’t think a complete stranger has the same eyes as you. What’s up with you today, Luke? You’re acting all mysterious." Kira silently thanked Emma for commenting. She was still trying to figure out what he was talking about.
The lunch bell rang and they all stood up. Kira had English with Luke, so he grabbed her arm and started pulling her through the all too confusing hallways she feared she would never figure out. After a few minutes, they arrived at the far side of the building and slid into their seats. More students began trickling in as the bell rang, but no teacher showed up.
"Mr. Bell is notorious for being late to class," Luke leaned over and whispered to Kira.
"Oh, really? How is he still-"
"Lukey," the girl Luke had labeled as a misfit plopped down on top of his desk. She had waist-length, stick-straight black hair and her eyes were impossibly blue, almost like ice. "Hitting on the new girl already? Tsk tsk, you should let her get to know everyone before she’s forced to settle on you." 
"Diana," Luke said tersely. "I thought you graduated." She laughed and her eyes flashed almost white as she stared at Luke.
"No, no. I’m quite content to stay in high school forever. And, I had to wait for my boys." At their mention, the three boys who had been with Diana outside now walked into the classroom. Instantly Kira felt on edge, like there was something else going on here that she was not privy to but was somehow part of. The look on Luke’s face was strained. There was something happening between him and the others that no one else in the classroom but her could feel. She heard laughter and saw students hugging friends they hadn’t seen in a while, but in the back of the classroom there remained only the tension of a rubber band about to snap.
"Jerome, Tristan, John." Luke said each name with a stiff nod. They circled around him. Kira lost interest in the strained conversation and instead studied the newcomers. Jerome had black skin that miraculously seemed pale and the same steel blue eyes. He was built like a football player, like a running back who was speedy yet surprisingly strong. John had sandy blond hair, shaved close to his head, with a thin and streamlined build. Finally, she looked at the guy Luke had called Tristan. He seemed different to her somehow, with jet-black hair that hung over his eyes a little, and barely visible dimples that played on his cheeks. His eyes were also an icy blue, but they seemed deeper to her, like steep ravines she could fall into. He stayed out of the conversation, she noticed, as if lost in his own thoughts—ones that seemed more troublesome than the cutting remarks being doled out by his friends. He had a rebel without a cause look that made him perilous for a girl’s heart.
Suddenly, he turned to Kira and his eyes seemed to brighten a shade when they landed on hers. He stared, and Kira, who was never one to back down, returned his look with interest.
"Who are you?" He asked in a barely audible voice filled with surprise, one just loud enough to attract the attention of his friends and Luke. Kira melted at the sound. He was dangerous she knew, but something about him made her feel safe and afraid at the same time.
"Kira," was all she could respond with.


3) Ignite Excerpt (my personal fave!) – Chapter Five
"But soft what light through yonder window breaks. It is the east and Juliet is the sun. Arise fair sun and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief that thou her maid art far more fair than she." Kira couldn’t help but laugh at Tristan as he speedily grumbled out the lines without even an ounce of passion.
"You know this is supposed to be a love scene, right?" He looked up at her with contempt while she tried to swallow her smile.
"Oh, really? I hadn’t noticed." He looked back down at the page and continued to read aloud in his monotone voice, totally ignoring her, which just prompted her to continue.
"Look, Tristan, there’s no point hiding the fact that you like me, from me I mean. I flipped through your notebook again after I saw that you’d left it behind. I saw the drawings you made of me." He looked up at her then, and Kira handed his small moleskin back to him, happy to at least have that out of the way. For some reason, she thought he was looking at her like she was an unruly child who wouldn't follow instructions. Where he got that from, she had no idea, but he continued with his speech so she continued talking over him.
"They were really great actually, pretty flattering," she smiled, hoping he would look at her again but he didn’t. "Anyway, I think we should talk about what happened, not here obviously, but somewhere where we can meet in private." They both chose that moment to look around, and Kira saw they had the attention of both Luke and Tristan’s friends. Yeah, she thought, the classroom was definitely not the right place to have this conversation, and she kind of hoped talking would lead to other things like it had last time…
He finished reading his lines. "Hey Juliet, it’s your turn." He smirked.
"Oh, right," she looked down at her book. "O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art though Romeo," she tried to copy his apathetic style of reading and was secretly overjoyed when he laughed at her.
"I get it, I sounded like an idiot." She just continued on, giving him the same silent treatment he had given her. "Okay, here’s the truth Kira. We can’t talk here and we shouldn’t even be talking now or maybe ever."
"You told me that already." She stopped reading.
"Yet, you seem to have trouble understanding it. English is your first language, right?" She rolled her eyes at the joke. "Like I said before, we just can’t ever be."
"I understand what you’re saying, but I also know you don’t mean it." She leaned closer to him to prevent being overheard.
"I do," he forced the point.
"Oh really," she tried to push him now. "It didn’t seem that way when you kissed me."
"Kira, forget that ever happened, okay?"
"Or what? You don’t scare me."
"I should," he said and shot Kira a lethal look. His eyes changed color to the lightest blue she could imagine and they held her captive, not in the romantic way, but as though she were a prisoner held paralyzed. His eyes were cold and made her shiver like she had been dropped in an arctic pool, and slowly his pupils began to expand, overtaking his eyeballs.
Kira was scared, and more than that, she felt like he knew it and didn’t care. Her fear at not being able to move was slowly surpassed by a swell of power that stirred within her as a feeling of warmth spread to her hands. Kira broke free from him and looked at the floor. Her fingertips still tingled with whatever had coursed through her and allowed her to break his gaze. Kira leaned back against her chair and away from him. She touched her fingers to her cheek and felt them burn into her skin.
"What the hell was that?" She asked unsteadily, still not looking up. The heat emanating from her hand absorbed all of Kira’s thoughts.
"Me," he said with the venom gone from his voice. She looked at him again and caught the unbearably sad expression in his eyes before he looked away from her.
Or me? She thought to herself feeling the heat finally ebb.






GIVEAWAY:
3
Digital sets of The Complete Midnight
Fire Series
. Each copy includes all FOUR books in the series – Ignite,
Simmer, Blaze & Scorch (INT)
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Keep being distracted by reading,
Urania




Book Blitz hosted by:

Book tour giveaway:Destiny Sets by Karen Fainges

Hello my amazingly distracted readers!
Another post today on a book I'm certain you will all enjoy.
Destiny Sets, Shayton Chronicles Book 1, by Karen Fainges. I've included everything today; not just a presentation of the book and its author but also my own review and a guest post that the author has written especially for YOU! And of course, there is always a giveaway in the end.
Enjoy!

Karen-Faignes-Banner
Shaytonian Chronicles – Book 1: Destiny Sets
Karen Fainges

downloadAuthor Bio: http://shayton.net/Author.htm
Karen Fainges works as a trainer in business and computing. A wife and mother, she started thinking up sci-fi stories at the age of 10. Editor of the K-tips business and computing ezine, she longed to present her fiction to the world. So she took those long ago stories, a love of the absurd and wrote about beings that were not humans. Sometimes you see a lot more about humanity and yourself when you are looking at someone else.

Author Links 
Website http://shayton.net/
Facebook Author page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Karen-Fainges/83671225033
Facebook Series page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Shaytonian-Vampire-Fiction/88608175544
Twitter https://twitter.com/annalisamara
Linkedin http://au.linkedin.com/pub/karen-fainges/a/b99/424/
Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/10612018
Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Karen-Fainges/e/B0050KEU3S/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_3?qid=1382177091&sr=8-3 


About The Book

Book Genre: Scifi/Fantasy Vampire
Publisher: Writers Exchange
Release Date:


destiny-sets-mediumBook Description:

Destiny Sets is the first novel in the Shaytonian Chronicles.

Lightning sears a scene against the eye. Trapped between reality and death, every scrap of life is fighting for existence. To stop fighting is to die.
Some precious moments of peace can be stolen from small pockets of calm. Life can take a breath and wonder at the harsh beauty. But only for a moment, then struggle resumes. And others watch.
 The Shayton Chronicles begins in Destiny Sets, the story of one man. He is that drop of chaos that can spell success or failure.
Born from a vampiric race of slaves, genetically moulded to provide comfort for their masters, he alone decides to be truly free. Irreverent humour and a fierce need to know 'why', war within him and entire worlds are changed.
 "The Stainless Steel Rat with fangs."


Excerpt

Painting the mythic vampire

The deep royal blue sky of the Italian Riviera provided the perfect backdrop to the posed woman. She was an otherworldly figure set amongst the ancient columns. Her softly accented voice broke the stillness. "Are you sure about this?"
She watched as he added a daub more paint, "I am sure. You said it yourself, the best way to deny something it is to say it is true."
"And what if the Council finds out?"
Alfredo dabbed on a different colour. Going by the look on his face, he still did not have the skin colour the exactly right colour of purple. It had been frustrating him all evening. There was a timeline that neither one of them had mentioned, but it loomed in their thoughts. He was getting older, and no one lived forever. His words dragged her out of the wave of sadness that swept through her. "This mythical Council of yours, what if they do notice the paintings? They are just paintings."
"The Council is no myth. They rule our world."
"I thought the King ruled your homeworld?"
Lisa started to shrug but remembered in time not to move from the pose. "His rule is absolute, so long as he leaves all the day to day decisions, like whether to exile his daughter to Earth, to the Council."
"And you, as this poor exiled waif are concerned that one of those 'day to day' decisions may be objecting to this painting?"
Lisa snorted at the sarcasm in his voice, knowing it was meant more to chide her out of the doldrums than anything else. "They defend of the safety of Shayton. They hold dear her anonymity. It keeps her from being destroyed by those that fear the different, which, my dear, you must agree describes most humans remarkably well."
Alfredo nodded, "And trust me, the picture of a masked dancer with obviously fake wings..." Lisa snorted again at this description of her body, "will ensure that any little slip ups like the one in Venice, will be seen as a publicity stunt and nothing else. Your Council will thank us."


Karen-Faignes-Long

Guest Post
Wondering what a gorgeous vampire would like to say to you, readers of Urania's Distractions? Read Talkar's letter TO YOU below!

To the readers of Urania's Distractions,

May I begin by complimenting you on the name of your missive. I am a big believer in distractions, specifically of the feminine kind. Yes, I know, it is a source of constant concern to my mother that I limit my affections to a single gender, but there you are, I must be myself. Due to that self-belief, it was so flattering to be asked to correspond with you all about one of my favourite topics. Physically, I am all a Shaytonian male should be, well-muscled, toned and fit. I have my dark hair unbound and long to the middle of my back as befits a full and named male, one of the few that can breed. My naming blade normally goes hidden at my hip, though these day I may wear a sword at my side. Normally I fight with the weapons I was born with, claw and fang, but there are times you wish to keep the enemy at a distance. On Home, clothing varies depending on how you feel, or who you are feeling. Whilst on your lovely planet, I find I wear rather more as I am still not used to your sun however long I have lived amongst your people. Shaytonian colouring is so pale that I find I am often taken as a goth on your fine planet, though I find their fascination with vampires amusing. I often wonder what would happen if I did "fang out"as my eldest calls it. He was raised on Earth and so speaks a great deal more comfortably the slang and idiom of the modern day. Raised myself on Shayton, I find it difficult to drop the cadence and tone of my speech into your more relaxed mode, though I try. Still, many seem to like the air of the exotic, so unless someone is trying to hunt me, I must admit, I do not try too hard. I use a fine covering on my face and hands that shades my skin from its more normal slightly purplish tone to the closest human shade of pinkish white. Keeping the secret of my people's existence a secret is paramount as humans have shown a disturbing tendency over the centuries to kill what they do not understand. I myself am still quite young, being barely more than 200 though  I have done so much in that short time. Saving worlds, creating a new one for my people to live on in safety, destroying want to be gods and introducing myself to a fair number of quite fascinating ladies along the way. Karen Fainges has been kind enough to pen a few words on my travels, and those of my close family, and she and I were quite charmed to be invited to your blog to discuss her books. We look forward to the time we may get to know you all a great deal better.

Kind RegardsTalkar Mara

Review

(after receiving a pdf review copy by the author)

 Destiny Sets is a story that fans of the paranormal genre will most definitely enjoy. Why? Because it’s got everything you guys will be looking for: shape-shifting, vampires, otherworldly creatures, aliens, and sensual scenes.
What makes this story different from other stories on the same shelf?
Two things in my opinion:
First, in Destiny Sets vampires are nothing like the scary, bloodsuckers that threaten and intimidate humans or even aspire to turn them (for their own reasons of course!). Shaytonians are a new species in the mythical vampiric universe: they come form another planet and their struggle for survival has brought them to Earth demanding their “mingling” with humans. Even more, they are superior, wise and cultivated beings entangled in their own spiritual pursuit. More often than not, they resemble ethereal creatures you’d find in fantasy books.
Second, Karen Fainges’ language is teeming with lyricism as she handles speech skillfully and includes elements that reminded me of classic literature.
My favorite scene: the enticing, sensual, vampire dance while on a legendary train like Orient Express...
Would I change anything?
I found that the easiness of vampire acceptance by humans has taken away from the story any last sense of realism. But of course, one might argue here; why would I be looking for realism in a paranormal story?
  4 out of 5 hearts to Destiny Sets!



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a Rafflecopter giveaway

                Keep being distracted by reading,

              Urania

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Book Tour Giveaway and Guest Post: Mystical High by Lisette Brodey

Hi there my faithful partners in Distraction!
You are all going to looove my latest one. Because today I intend to take you High...
Like... Mystical High.
Have a taste...

Let's start with the cover. This one was designed by the author especially for the tour. 


Wonder who the mystery boy walking off is? You can find out all about the story in the synopsis that follows and then you get to meet the writer. Lisette has joined Urania's Distractions with a guest post that all of you who are into writing will find really useful. I know I did!
Scroll down to read an excerpt of Mystical High and, of course, don't miss the amazing Giveaway!
·         $35 Amazon Gift Card (INT)
·         Print copy of Molly Hacker Is Too Picky! (US only)
·         Print copy of Squalor, New Mexico (US only)
·         Print copy of Mystical High (US only)
·         Tote bag (US and CAN only)


ENJOY!


Title:  Mystical HighAuthor:  Lisette BrodeyPublished: October 7th, 2013Publisher: Saberlee Books
Word Count:  72,700Genre:  YA ParanormalContent Warning:  Mild sexual content and non-gratuitous profanityRecommended Age:  14+Synopsis:In Mystekal, a small, dying town in the Southern California desert, only 75 students attend the old, sometimes creepy high school dubbed “Mystical High,” where strange things have been known to happen. Jessie Dalworth and Jinxsy Patterson are juniors and lifelong best friends. At home, Jessie deals with the pain of an absentee mother who has abandoned the family for the lure of Hollywood; Jinxsy contends with a 17th “birthday present” she never wanted or expected.

Meanwhile, at school, the unexplained activity begins to escalate when Jinxsy keeps seeing a long-haired guy in the hallway checking her out. Jessie can’t see him, but her younger brother, River, can.

Then, in English class, a stapler mysteriously flies off teacher Eve Carrow’s desk, hitting a student in the face who has just mouthed off to her. The beloved teacher is in the unenviable position of having her brute of a father as principal, so she hates sending any student to his office. As Principal Ernest Carrow begins to terrorize Eve and others more openly, something or someone unseen decides that it’s payback time.
School is getting stranger, and Jinxsy and Jessie are faced with mind-boggling changes in their home lives that complicate everything. When a string of shocking events expose explosive secrets, decades-long mysteries are finally revealed.
Amazon | Amazon UK | Barnes & Noble | GoodReads


About the Author:Lisette Brodey was born and raised in Pennsylvania. After high school, she moved to New York City where she attended Pace University and studied drama. After ten years in New York, several of them working in the radio industry, she moved to Los Angeles, where she held various positions at Paramount Studios in Hollywood and CBS Studio Center in Studio City, CA.
Back on the East Coast, she worked for many years as a freelance writer, specializing in PR and the entertainment industry. In 2010, she returned permanently to the Los Angeles area.
Her first-published book, CROOKED MOON (General Fiction) was published in both the trade paperback and Kindle editions in 2008. Her first-written, second-published book, SQUALOR, NEW MEXICO (Young Adult/General Fiction) was published in the Kindle and trade paperback versions in 2009.
Her third novel, MOLLY HACKER IS TOO PICKY!, a romantic comedy, was published December 1, 2011. The author blogged as her character, Molly Hacker, for over a year. All blogs can be found at www.mollyhacker.com.
In January 2013, the author edited and published a book of her mother's poetry (written 50 years earlier) called MY WAY TO ANYWHERE by Jean Lisette Brodey.

Lisette's fourth novel, MYSTICAL HIGH, is the first book in her YA Paranormal Desert Series trilogy.Amazon Author Page | Facebook | Twitter | GoodReads | Website


Guest post

4 Tips to Writing a Better Novel

by Lisette Brodey


Tip #1


KEEP A TIME CHART: Even if you never mention particular dates in your novels, it’s important that you know the day and date of every scene. You may ask, “Why do I need to know that if it’s not part of my novel?” I’ll tell you why.

When you’re in the thick of writing your book, it’s very easy to lose track of how much time has elapsed between events. In some of my novels, my characters have had such long, complicated days that it’s taken me chapters to describe the action. Conversely, I may skip ahead two weeks, a month, or even years. It all depends on the story.

Every time I begin a novel, I pull out a calendar, and I choose a date. Sometimes it has everything to do with the story and what time of year it is, sometimes it doesn’t, but it’s still important. Let’s say your character is an unhappy wife who is keeping tabs on her husband’s whereabouts because she is convinced he’s cheating. In Chapter 7, she’s having lunch with her best friend and telling her everything that she has just found out. Can you accurately have your character tell her friend what happened five days ago, what happened three days ago, and what happened two weeks ago if you don’t have it noted? I sure can’t.

If you keep a dated time chart with a simple synopsis of what happens when, it will save you lots of headaches down the road.

Tip #2


KEEP IT TIGHT: Let’s stay with our story of the woman who thinks her husband is cheating on her. There’s a twist in this story. She finds out that he’s not cheating at all but wants her to think he is because he’s being blackmailed and is actually trying to protect her by letting her assume the lesser of two evils. Ah, the plot is thickening. Let’s say that in Chapter 10, the woman makes a major discovery that changes her perspective on what is going on. Before you create a brand-new character to deliver that information to her, make sure there are no existing characters that can do the job. Don’t introduce your reader to new people if they serve no real purpose and will do nothing more than clutter or dilute your prose. When you use established characters, you may just come up with even better plot twists than you imagined. You may very well need a new character, but take the time to think about it. Keep it tight.

Tip #3

LISTEN TO YOUR NOVEL: Most of us know that it’s very difficult to proof your own work. Your eyes tend to see what is supposed to be there, not what is there. If you have spent an hour reworking a paragraph or speech, you may have become so immersed in getting it right that when you read it back, you don’t notice that you’ve used a particular word three times in two sentences. Unless it’s intentional, it’s not good. Most computers have text-to-speech functions. To review your work, highlight the part you want to hear, place it in a new document, and highlight it again. Then, sit back and listen to your words. If there are words missing, misspelled, or repeated, you will hear them. Listening gives you a different perspective than reading.

You may wonder why I suggested putting your text into a new document. You ask, “Why can’t I just highlight it in the document I’m using?” You can, but as you know, highlighted text can disappear instantly if a wrong button is touched on your keyboard and can’t quickly hit Control Z (PCs) or Command Z (Macs) to undo. That’s all. It’s just a safety measure to protect what you’ve written.
Tip #4

USE YOUR FIND COMMAND: Do you have pet words or phrases that you tend to overuse? I know that’s always a worry for me. When I’m immersed in telling a story, my brain is focused on the action and sometimes I’m merely serving as a transcriptionist for my characters. Sometimes my editor will catch these repetitions and just as often, I’ll catch them myself. If you’re able to identify words or phrases you might overuse, use the FIND command in Word (or other software). Then, change them or rewrite sentences to avoid them. Just get ’em outta there. And remember, the more unusual the word, the more obvious the repetition.

 Excerpt from Mystical High by Lisette Brodey:

Eve Carrow, Mystekal High’s English teacher, glanced at the giant wall clock as Jessie and Jinxsy slipped into their seats seconds before the bell.
“Welcome, you two. I wasn’t sure you were going to join us today. I like to be fashionably late at parties sometimes, but school is a different story.”
The old bell sounded loudly.
Jessie opened her notebook, grabbed To Kill A Mockingbird, the current class book, from her backpack, and sat upright in her chair. “See? We’re on time. Ready to go.”
“Yes, you are.”
Jinxsy, still fumbling through her backpack, looked at her friend, then at her teacher. “Jess had a mishap with her locker. Cut her finger.”
From the back of the room, Taylor cackled. “Yeah, it took her ten minutes for Her Vampiress to suck a few drops of blood and ten more minutes for the Jinx to calm her down.”
Jessie turned abruptly in her chair. “You are so exaggerating, Taylor. Keep out of my business.”
“Your boring business.” Taylor ran her fingers through her blond and purple hair. “No wonder you don’t have a boyfriend when the biggest part of your day is a little boo boo on your finger. Waaaaaaaah!”
Eve, though usually of the sweetest demeanor, slammed a book down on her desk. “Taylor Dennison. Stop. Now. Everyone else, face front.” As she looked around the room, her angry look softened. “Okay, who wants to begin our discussion about Boo Radley?”
Sophia Chavez raised her hand. “I will.”
“Thank you, Sophia. Please go on.”
“Well, I know the kids made up a lot of stories about him, but it’s only natural, you know? I mean, he never came out of the house. There were creepy rumors, like how he stabbed his dad in the leg with scissors. If I heard that about someone, I would be thinking the same way that Scout, Jem, and Dill did.”
Eve nodded her head in agreement. “It’s very easy to assume all kinds of things when we don’t know the truth.”
“So why is that, Ms. Carrow?”
“Well, Sophia, I think it’s because as human beings, we like answers. If an answer can be looked up or found out, most of us will choose that route. But when the answer to a question isn’t readily available, we tend to make things up, to satisfy our inquiring brains. It’s not a good thing to do, but human beings engage in this practice quite liberally. What do you think of my assessment?”
Jessie, with little animation on her face, responded to her teacher’s question. “I think you’re right.”
Taylor yelled from the back of the room. “Why? Because people talk crap about your hermit crab aunt?”
Jessie turned and glared at Taylor. She bit her lip so hard it almost bled. She knew that if she responded, the words would be ugly ones she wouldn’t want to be heard saying.
Eve was furious. “Taylor, that was positively uncalled for. And just plain cruel. I’m being extraordinarily generous by not sending you to the principal’s office. But one more outburst and I won’t hesitate.”
Silence fell over the room. The principal of Mystekal High was Eve’s father, Ernest Carrow. He had been the principal since Eve herself was a student. The only person who seemed to tolerate him at all was his secretary, and he seemed to like children as much as picnic goers like ants.
Carrow was the wealthiest man in Mystekal and owned a large percentage of the real estate, both commercial and residential. He didn’t need the salary he earned as Mystekal High’s principal, but he liked to control people, and being in charge of everyone at the school helped him to do just that.
Even though she couldn’t stand sending students to her father’s office, Eve hated making empty threats even more. She despised him, and sending a student for discipline meant that she had to deal with her father as well. She would have to endure a lecture about how she wasn’t able to control her class or how she had failed to mete out proper discipline. Eve pretended not to hear Taylor’s last remark and prayed she would not step over the line again. At least for the remainder of class.
“Would you all please take out your class assignment for this week? We’re going to share.”
Cade Swift raised his hand.
“Yes, Cade?”
“Do you mean the paper you asked us to write on who we thought Boo Radley really was? The one where you wanted us to write a description of how we saw his life inside that house?”
“The one and only.”
Cade bit his lip. “Uh, would you mind calling on me last?”
“Since when are you shy?”
“I’m not. But after what you said to Sophia I’m thinking maybe I need to rewrite my paper.”
Taylor’s boyfriend, Santino Vega, laughed. “Dude, don’t you mean write it. Period.”
Cade, the dark-haired boy known for his smiling eyes was quick to respond. “No, Vega, I mean rewrite it.”
Eve Carrow was intrigued. “Why do you want to rewrite it, Cade?”
Cade looked embarrassed and responded more softly than usual. “Um, I think maybe I was too judgmental. Just want to do it over.”
Jessie looked admiringly at Cade, then at her best friend. Jinxsy knew Jessie had a crush on him but had been denying it. Jessie’s glance confirmed that she was ready to admit it. But whether or not she was ready to seek out Cade’s affections was an entirely different story.
Eve Carrow smiled. “Actually, Cade. I’d like you to read your paper as you wrote it and then tell us how you’d like to change it.”
“Oh, man. Do I have to?”
The class giggled and Jessie’s eyes grew wide with anticipation.
“As your teacher, I would truly appreciate it.”
“Read it, dude. Then tell everyone how you’ve gone soft on Radley.”
Eve looked sternly at the class loudmouth. “Mr. Vega, I can only surmise by your comments that you would prefer to lead the class into this exercise. By all means, why don’t you go first?”
Santino looked angry. “Listen, Ms. Carrow. I think it was really a stupid assignment. I mean, Harper Lee already wrote the character. There’s no point in us rewriting the dude. Sorry, didn’t do it and I’m not gonna do it. Any questions?”
As Santino’s words fell on the shocked class and the disrespected teacher, a gust of desert wind rushed through the open window, blew a small stapler off Eve Carrow’s desk, and sent it flying through the air before it landed sharply on Santino’s mouth.
“What the —?” Santino wiped the blood from his mouth.
As the class focused on the freak accident, Eve looked out the window and noticed that it was a very still day. The sagebrush was not moving. There was not even the faintest trace of wind.


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As always,
Keep being distracted by reading,
Urania