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Betas Keep it Real
When I wrote my first book I didn’t know about beta readers…yes, I was young and stupid. Now, the idea of not having someone read my work before I present it to the world seems as ridiculous as buying a dress without first trying it on. Authors need beta readers to ensure they don’t arrive at the party in a dress that’s two sizes too small. Betas keep it real.
If you’re already using betas, do you simply send out your draft and wait for comments or do you provide questions that will help your betas help you?Here are some questions you can ask your beta readers that will not only get them thinking about your writing in detail, it will also help determine if any editing and rewriting would be beneficial.
* Did the story pull you in from the beginning?
* Did the story hold your interest until the end?
* At any point did you lose interest or stop caring?
Was the main character relatable?
* Were the supporting characters interesting and did they add to the story?
* Did any characters seem unnecessary?
* Was the setting as interesting as the characters? Were the descriptions realistic and detailed?
What part was your favorite?
Was this a book that would keep you up at night reading?
Were there any parts that seemed like they dragged on?
Were there any aspects that seemed repetitive?
Were there any parts that didn’t provide enough detail?
Were there any inconsistencies either in the story’s timeline or in the actions of the characters that didn’t match the story plot?
Were there too many characters to keep track of or were some too similar to each other?
Was the dialogue interesting and natural?
Was the ending satisfying?
* And of course, was the book grammatically sound?
Asking your betas to weigh in with such detailed questions is no doubt opening a can of worms. Chances are, they will find some areas to criticize. But isn’t that the point of having your work read pre-publication? To present your best writing to your readers, take the time to work with your betas. Your ultimate reader will thank you for it.
Solutions for the Crazy
If I didn’t get writing accomplished during the summer I told myself it was because the kids were home. But school has started, the kids are out of the house, and I’m still a manic, disorganized mess. I broke it down and found solutions for the crazy. (Note: Crazy is a noun when referring to myself and an adjective when referring to my lifestyle.)
3 kids, 3 schools
Is it any wonder I feel overwhelmed? One in high school, one in middle school, and my youngest is in elementary school. Oh my! I might as well start chanting lines from the “Wizard of Oz.” Attempting to get everyone where they needed (preferably with breakfast in their stomach and shoes on their feet) was a daily challenge.
Meet my two new best friends: granola bars and the oven timer. We save time in the morning by planning for tomorrow. When the kids come home from school, they immediately pack up their snack for the next day. We also compile non-perishables for the next day’s sack lunch. It may sound minor, but every chore done ahead of time, saves time in the morning. We also set the oven timer as soon as we awake. It’s a constant reminder of time ticking down, but it doesn’t nag! Now we know when to get a move on and jump in the car.
Get on ‘lil doggy
I used to take one child to one school, come home, get the next, go to that school, come back for the last one and so on. Oh, and the dogs wanted a walk too. That was crazy.
The solution: The boys get in the car together. Even though my younger one has to ride along with his brother before being dropped at his own school, the time to chat helps him relax before his day. I come home only once to hustle my daughter to school and I bring the dogs along. She gets a kick out of it and they like the ride. After she jumps out, the dogs and I take our walk around the school neighborhood rather than our home. Two car trips instead of four…mission accomplished.
What’s cookin’ good lookin’?
Figuring out what to make for dinner would take as much time as making the darn thing. I turned to my Facebook friends and asked for 20 meal ideas — basically four weeks of weekday dinners. With a menu already compiled, now I take one weekend afternoon to plan the ingredients needed for that week’s meals. I’ve cut down weekday grocery shopping and discovered the added bonus of saving money since there’s less impulse buying.
But my surefire way to banish the crazy has been in keeping a schedule. After dropping off the kids, I either do yoga if I need to find a creative flow or jump into my writing. When the kids do their homework, that’s when I cook dinner. When the kids take their down time, that’s when I spend a few more minutes with my writing until it’s bed time, story time, and then husband and me time!
My day is filled with crazy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Do you have any time-saving solutions? I’d love to hear them.
Elodie Parkes, Love at First Sigh
BOOK INFORMATION
TITLE – Love at First Sigh
AUTHOR – Elodie Parkes
GENRE – Contemporary erotic romance
PUBLICATION DATE – August 16, 2014
LENGTH (Pages/# Words) – 45 pages, (two stories within)
PUBLISHER – Hot Ink Press
COVER ARTIST – Elodie Parkes
BOOK BLURB
Two sizzling contemporary romance stories
Handy Hubby Hire
Tired of the maintenance jobs mounting up in her house, Sara hires a handyman. She never dreams someone like Griffen Fox will show up to fix the faucets and back yard gate. Sparks fly, but will they lose their heart to each other?
Pina Colada
When Emma takes a long weekend vacation in a warm beach resort, she meets the very handsome Matt Tyler. They spend an idyllic few days together. Will this only be a holiday romance?
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AUTHOR BIO
Elodie Parkes is a British author writing romance, erotic, contemporary, and often with a twist of mystery, paranormal or suspense. Her books are always steamy — cool stories and hot love scenes.
Elodie lives in Canterbury with her two dogs. She works in an antique emporium by day and writes at night, loving the cloak of silent darkness that descends on the rural countryside around her home.
Elodie writes for, Hot Ink Press, Moon Rose Publishing, Eternal Press, Secret Cravings, Evernight, and Siren Publishing.
She has also released titles as an individual indie author.
Blitz Organized By
Lessons in Love…from My Dogs
Last week I wrote a guest blog for Huffington Post columnist Sarah Fader titled, Dogs are A**holes, a parody of her article, 3-Year-Olds are A**holes. Well, it seems my dogs are intent on having the last laugh. Feeling that I misrepresented their sensitive nature, they are insisting that I write a book that tells their opinions about love and romance. In short, a book that details lessons in love…from my dogs. The nerve.
My first reaction was to roll my eyes skyward and remind them that I’m the romance author around here. But then, I took a closer look and seeing them cuddled up against each other, their preferred sleeping position, I realized, my dogs are onto something. People could learn a thing or two from them.
My husband is used to the fact that I regularly talk to my dogs. Although occasionally he listens in on the conversation, he’s learned that the dogs are somehow more equipped to help me work through plot points and critique the dialogue in my books. They even know a surefire cure for writer’s block. Without fail, they’ll roll onto their backs and graciously allow me to scratch their tummies. Just as fast as a flea can jump, I begin to feel better about any procrastination. Yep, my dogs know where it’s at.
So I realized that perhaps it’s time that I not only talk to them, but also observe — listen, so to speak. As a romance writer, I’ve written about good relationships and bad ones, flawed heros and perfect demons. Each story and relationship stemmed from my imagination…or did it? Could it be that I’ve learned a few things about love from my dogs? After all, they never stay angry, always enjoy each other’s company, and will remain loyal until the day that they die.
Coming this fall…”What a Bitch! Lessons in Love I Learned From My Dogs.” Sign up for my newsletter to learn more.
Change It Up
This post originally appeared on the blog, “Writing on the Sunny Side,” when I was asked to guest post. I’m a regular blogger, but writing for someone else’s site…that was new to me. I realized that it’s good to change it up every once in awhile. As writers, we are always in danger of taking the comfortable route, following a format that we know, even letting our characters mirror each other from one book to the next.
It’s easy for me to create a blog for my own site. I can talk about my characters, upcoming projects, or include a recipe in my regular, “What’s Mia Making” column. But when I guest posted, I had to put extra thought into how to write for an entirely different audience. It felt scary and liberating all at once as I realized that I’m quite a creature of habit.
My writing place is my office with my dogs lying under my desk. Today, I ditched my computer and my office for an old-fashioned pen and writing pad. I said goodbye to my wi-fi and left to get my car brakes fixed. (I know, I lead an exciting life!)
I could’ve returned home, but I decided to hang out and try to write in their waiting room. Let me tell you something, in the forty-five minutes that I was there, I got more accomplished than I have in a long time. There was no incoming email to distract me, no temptation from Facebook or Twitter. Just me and a writing pad.
Was it comfortable there? Not at all. The coffee was warm at best and bland. The chairs were worn with suspicious stains. But, this waiting room also came with a new perspective and new faces. Seeing the people come and go, hearing tidbits of conversation…it sparked my imagination and I wrote in a way that I hadn’t in long time. I let the writing flow from me. I gave myself permission to break away from my outline as well as my habits.
You may relish your routine, but dare yourself to try something different. Changing it up is work and often scary, but it makes us better.
