Montana deep woods are calling. . . .

The Last Track: A Mike Brody Novel (Kindle Edition) This is a fast paced action-thriller and Mike Brody a first-class tracker. Brooklyn born and raised, 14 year old Sean Jackson witnessed a murder near the Pine Woods Ranch in Montana and the killers want him dead. Sean is on the run and becomes lost in Montana's deep woods. Mike Brody and his family (Jessica and Andy), also guests at the dude ranch, become instrumental in searching for Sean and identifying the murdered victim. Ranch employees and/or local Police Officers do not want the Brody family to succeed and they do not want Sean Jackson found alive. Who should be trusted - Officer Dagget? Detective Lisbeth? Pine Woods Ranch owner, Erich? DEA Agent Crotty?

*a recent 5 star review on Amazon by  S. Ackerman

10 Resources and Tips for Writers - CHARACTERS

We've given you writing prompts, helped you overcome your procrastination issues, set out some great sites for research and reference, now what? Time to start writing of course! Many experts think the best place to start is with your characters. Who are they, what are they like, what do they do and how does that play a part in the story you are writing? Here's some help as you answer those questions and more about these very important people:

1. You might start by asking your main character some questions. Alicia Rasley lays out 9 great ones to start with in her article on the Writers Digest site. Her suggestions will help you understand your protagonist.
2. Elizabeth Craig has a few more questions for your characters in her article inspired by her interest in the PBS Inspector Lewis series which made her think  "So much of our energy as a writer is poured (and rightly so) into the conflict the protagonist is facing and how they handle it. How can we best fit in the tidbits about the character—the non-conflict-related stuff that makes us love them?" Check her article for some help digging out those choice bits that we might have left untapped otherwise. 
3. Maybe you need a name for that character? Try Behind the Name, a great site for noodling out the perfect name for any character.
4. Need some help figuring out your characters archetypes? Not quite sure what kind of character you're dealing with? Wikipedia to the rescue with their helpful entry on Archetypes, their origins and creation.They also have a great list of Stock Characters you might want to check while you're at it.
5. If Wikipedia is too dry for you, try TVtropes where they have a great list (with click through descriptions) of Stock Characters too. What is a Stock Character? you might ask - their definition:  A Stock Character is a one-dimensional character who is instantly recognizable to us from other stories; the gruff grandpa, the snooty cheerleader, the bratty younger sibling. 
6. Need more help getting the creative character juices flowing? Seventh Sanctum's character generators may be just what you're looking for.  There's one for every kind of character from human to Super Ninja!
7. Unsure who is running your story - you or your characters who seem to have taken on a life of their own? You should stop by Literary Agent Nathan Bransford's site  where he talks about making sense of the character's inner logic. While you're there, you might also check out his articles: What Do Your Characters Want? and Sympathetic vs. Unsympathetic Characters. 
8. Margaret Atwood provided the following tips as part of her recent keynote speech at Belmont University's Ninth Annual Humanities Symposium. To help your reader keep your characters straight, Atwood advises writers to use character names that begin with different letters of the alphabet or to at least give them a different hair color. For example, Betty is a blonde and Barbara has dark brown hair.
9. Atwood also advised that when writing about several different people, it’s important to keep their timelines straight. She suggests creating a chart for yourself with the years across the top and the months down the side. Be sure to put the characters’ birthdates in so you’ll automatically be able to determine the actual age of characters as time passes in your story.
10. You should also check the world events against those birthdays so you know what would have been going on at different ages in their lives. Atwood gave examples like the invention of pantyhose which preceded mini-skirts and made them possible. Things like the color of appliances, carpeting, etc. used in homes at that time of your story are also important to check. Some folks still vividly recall the period in the ’70s when avocado green, orange and brown were all the rage in home décor. It’s important to get the details right, she says, or someone will write you a “nah nah nah letter,” as she calls it.

So there you have it - 10 important resources and tips to help you create solid, memorable characters. Check in with us next week when we continue this series with 10 more resources for writers!
Now get writing!

Authors, be sure to check out our YA Mystery Short Story Competition - Mystery Times Ten. Happy writing!

This article may be copied and quoted as long as you include the byline below:
© 2010 by MaryChris Bradley, Publisher Buddhapuss Ink LLC, the proud publishers of The Last Track by Sam Hilliard and the upcoming Mystery Times Ten, a collection of Mystery Short Stories for the YA audience.
 

10 MORE Resources for Writers

As promised here are 10 more resources to help you in your quest for a well-written, perfectly polished manuscript.

1. Need a grammar check? Not sure you're using the right word? Have a question about punctuation or capitalization? Then hurry over to Grammar Book where they have answers to all these questions and more.
2. If Grammar Book isn't friendly enough for you, then the site you want is Grammar Girl where they promise "quick and dirty tips for better writing"!
3. Enough of the grammar you say! Agreed! You thought I was going to say all right or certainly, didn't you? If so, then you might want to check out Strunk and White's List of Misused Words and Expressions at Bartleby. Although it can't possibly cover everything, it hits the highlights from 'as good or better than' all the way to 'worth while'.
4. Need some creative help? Staring at a blank screen with no ideas at all? Get some help at Writing Fix, a site that creates writing prompts on the spot. They even have left-brained and right-brained prompts!
5. Are you a 'newbie' to writing or just have questions about agents, query letters, submissions . . . then you want to check out J.A. Konrath’s A Newbie’s Guide to Publishing blog provides great information for new (and veteran) fiction writers. He also has links to plenty of good resources and other blogs you might want to check out.
6. Speaking of agents, are you tired of trying to keep track of who you sent your query to and what agency they were with that week? Well, Query Tracker  can help you organize all that information. In addition to their method for organizing and tracking your queries, they also have an extensive database to help you find the perfect agent and useful statistical information about literary agents and publishers. While you're there you might want to join their community of writers who are also on the query track.
7. Another great free online sumissions tracker is available to registered members at duotrope's digest.  Where they also have an award-winning, free writers' resource listing over 3100 current Fiction and Poetry publications.
8. Confused about copyrights, fair use, trademarks and electronic rights? The site for you might just be The Publishing Law Center. They have all the answers and more.
9. Worried about scams, fake writing contests and other nasty stuff? Go to Writer Beware. Sponsored by the SFWA "Writer Beware’s mission is to track, expose, and raise awareness of the prevalence of fraud and other questionable activities in and around the publishing industry."
10.  Checked your grammar, no misused words or phrases, finally understand fair use and copyrights, tracked all your submissions, and anxious to tell the world you're an author? If you're looking for some good 'writer' fun, try Write Side Out where you can have t-shirts, totes and more printed up with the title of your book front and center complete with a choice of mock cover. Be your own billboard! Better yet, give some to your friends. They can say they know the author personally. Boost those presales!

Well, I hope you enjoyed this collection of sites. I'll be bringing you more as the weeks go by. Meanwhile, "sit your butt in the chair and type like crazy!"

YA authors, be sure you check out our YA Mystery Short Story Competition - Mystery Times Ten. Happy writing!

This article may be copied and quoted as long as you include the byline below:
© 2010 by MaryChris Bradley, Publisher Buddhapuss Ink LLC, the proud publishers of The Last Track by Sam Hilliard and the upcoming Mystery Times Ten, a collection of Mystery Short Stories for the YA audience.

10 Resources for Writers

Having trouble getting started? Need the perfect quote for an article or story? Just looking for a synonym? Here's a short list of sites to help you over those hurdles and more.


1) Looking for a starting point for a blog post, article or journal? Try the "of the day" entries on refdesk. This site is also great for checking facts or just satisfying your trivia cravings.

2) Long considered one of the authorities when it comes to dictionaries and thesauri, Merriam-Webster's site will help you find just the right word, and spell it correctly too!

3) Need a funny quote to get things going? My favorite source is cheekyquotes.
They have a wide variety of quotes to choose from and you can even tweet them to your followers direct from their site with just a click of your mouse.

4) Perhaps you had a more serious type of quote in mind for that story or article? Then try Brainy Quotes. They cover everything from Age and Anger to Wisdom and Work! They also have a daily list of birthdays. Did you know today was Thor Heyerdahl's birthday? You can even click on the person's name and get quotes by them.
"I also believe that when one dies, one may wake up to the reality that proves that time does not exist. "
Thor Heyerdahl

5) Looking for help from other writers? Need an opening? Researching the perfect weapon for your villain? Trying to track down some information? Try Mike's Writing Workshop.    Note - they brook no nonsense and post this warning clearly on their opening page:  NO SPAM, NO NEGATIVITY, NO EXPLICITLY SEXUAL OR EXCESSIVELY VIOLENT MATERIAL, NO VEERING FROM WRITING. Violators will be banned!

6) Whether you are a writer looking for the perfect place to store and display your masterpieces or a reader willing to offer feedback for writers and their work, Writing dot com may be the website for you.

7) Ready to just kick back and LISTEN to others talk about writing? Then tune into the online radio station writersfm. They bill themselves as Radio by writers, for writers.

8) Looking for inspiration and encouragement from published authors? Check out 18Q. A series of 18 questions that over 100 authors have answered are posted here for you to peruse. 

9) Really stuck and need a something to get you started today? Choose from over 1 BILLION (yes, I said billion!) random story starters at this appropriately named site, The Story Starter. They also have a Story Starter for kids, and a cool word maker game for those times when you just want to exercise the old gray matter.

10) Looking for the ultimate writing challenge? Then hop over to Book-in-a-Week where their motto is “butt in chair, hands on keyboard, typing away madly”—and you’ll need to adhere to it if you want to live up to the challenge. "No editing, no going back over what’s been written. Write, write, write. What is important is getting the words down, creating a first draft. Editing and revising comes later. Allow yourself to write quickly and without worry. Get your ideas down first."

So there you have it - 10 resources just waiting for you to tap into them. Now what are you waiting for? GET WRITING!

This article may be copied and quoted as long as you include the byline below:

 © 2010 by MaryChris Bradley, Publisher Buddhapuss Ink LLC, the proud publishers of The Last Track by Sam Hilliard and the upcoming Mystery Times Ten, a collection of Mystery Short Stories for the YA audience.

10) 

Are You Insatiable - Here's Something to Fill Your Craving!

Welcome back to another exciting day here at Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers!  Today we are playing host not only to a new author and their latest work (which is exciting enough as it is), but also to a publishing company's first step into the limelight of the industry with this being their first book (a great accomplishment indeed).  Without further adieu, please welcome via Pump Up Your Book Promotions and Buddhapuss Ink LLC...our book of the day, and blog tour feature.....

The Last Track

by

Sam Hilliard

 

While vacationing at a dude ranch in Montana, Mike Brody's skills as a tracker are called into action as the search for a missing boy (Danny) heats up; what he's not initially told is the reason he is being sought so urgently. Aside from the fact that he is a minor missing in a densely wooded and mountainous area, excluding the health issues he has and possible injuries he could sustain, it seems that this young man may have happened upon the scene of a grisly murder...no wait, strike that...he DID see it, as Mike's abilities afford him to confirm.  It seems that by touching the footprints, dropped items, car tracks and the like, Mike Brody can sense and read their energy left behind.  A handy tool when on this type of search for certain, unless the person's behind the murder don't want the boy found alive, and will do everything in their power to see that this comes to pass.  When a murder is committed, it's bad enough...but what if the order to commit it came from those in high places?  Who can you really trust?  The voice that calls themselves 'the Partner' and threatens you and your family?  The officers with whom you are working the investigation?  Good question....choose wisely.

The first thing I was reminded of when reading this story were a few of my old time favorite crime fiction authors...you know the ones.  Wait, you don't?  Hmmm, I could have sworn I told you all about them...cie la vie.  Patricia Cornwell and James Patterson are those writers to which I am referring.  Yep...the story telling style although not as graphic or violent as some of these established authors works, was very reminiscent of their headlining ways.  How so?  (Boy, you are full of questions today aren't you?  Just kidding...) The book opens on a rather daunting scene, immediately grabbing your attention.  Soon there after, a lead character (in this case two) is introduced full of morals, values, and ability...someone you can depend on in a time of crisis.  Add to this, a back story (revealed in time) that explains their tendencies and makes you even more invested in their fate and the cases eventual outcome.  In summary, you are drawn into the story through their heroic efforts and misadventures.  Until you reach the final page, you won't be satiated. 

As if that weren't enough to have you hooked, there's another note-worthy feature I've yet to mention.  This book...no, wait...this author has a surprise addition to the classic story telling formula used in this genre....plot twists.  Now I know what you're thinking...and don't roll your eyes about it either...how are plot twists original?  In this case, it is...let me explain.  It works some what similar to that "scary" movie classic, Scream.  Remember how (okay, if you've seen it, remember, if not, GOOGLE it for a synopsis) in the film, one key rule was observed in every installment?  That rule was....EVERYONE is a suspect.  It kept you guessing right up to the bitter end.  The clues revealed along the way poked you in one direction and prodded you in another.  Try as you might, the identity of the killers remained a mystery until the movie (well the writers and producers) were ready for the big reveal.  THAT, my friends, is the key to this book.  I mean really, character wise you've got the officers working the case, the cook with a vendetta, the overly nice ranch owner hitting on your wife, and the list goes on and on.  Try as you might...you won't figure this one out...or at least not 100%-right-on-the-money...which is a good thing.  It keeps the story fresh and leaves this reader ready for a sequel.  (Ahem...Mr. Hilliard...a sequel at your earliest convenience would be great...thanks!)

Recommended reading for fiction fans that love to watch as the story unfolds before them as opposed to having it neatly served on a platter from page one.  This book is available now for your reading pleasure, so be sure to check it out over at Amazon.  Special thanks to Jaime at Pump Up Your Book Promotions and to Mary at Buddhapress Ink for the SIGNED review copy.  (THANKS!)  For more information on their current happenings, check out their websites or follow along on Twitter (1 or 2)! 


Until next time....happy reading!

*excerpt for Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers. To read more go to: http://tinyurl.com/35nfbkl