Tag: #OpenBook

Oct 21, 2024

Stolen from a X (twitter) post: Which genre do you think ghosts prefer: mystery, thriller, horror, fairytale, or magical realism?

How about none of the above?

So, I’m a ghost. The last thing I’d want to read is most of the genres listed. Mystery and thrillers might be acceptable, but I would avoid horror. There’d be enough of that among my fellow ghosts. You know, like the guy down the hall, poisoned by his mother-in-law. The lady across the street killed in a riot. (I never have figured out which year. She doesn’t remember. She keeps mixing up three different possibilities.) The old man, a few doors down, murdered by his brother and hacked up in little pieces to be put in various garbage bins. (He still hasn’t found some parts. He’s missing three fingers on his left hand.)

I want to read biographies and autobiographies of people who were my contemporaries. Get the dirt on them. You know, which politician was having an affair with which actress. (Or actresses.) Which police chief was on the take from which Mafia boss. Get the low-down on the guy who ran the orphanage and hired the kids out as servants and pocketed all the money.

Image by Dorothe from Pixabay

Now, you’d think I’d want to read histories.

Nope. Those things are so white-washed they’re worthless. I want the dirt. All the things we gossiped about, but could never prove.

 When I get bored or run out of my primary choices of books to read, I’ll fall back on a cozy mystery or a romance. It would be fun to compare how the books written in my time are different from the modern-day ones.

I’m haunting an old house converted into apartments, where no one messes with the small attic. There’s a large collection of books there. Heck, it even hosts a stack of National Geographic. (And a few Playboys, but we won’t talk about them.) And with the folks moving in and out, I rarely run out of fresh material to read. {I’m sorry, Suzie Q, that I kept moving the bookmark in the biography of Queen Elizabeth you were reading, but I wanted to get to the good parts.) Not like poor Mabel next door. Her house was converted into offices for an accounting firm a few years back. Boring. When she has the energy, she comes and hangs out with me, even if we do nothing but read. Those days are fewer, because the accountants are sucking the life (what’s left of it) right out of her.

I’m not stuck in my house 24/7

Sometimes, when  the atmospheric conditions are favorable and the veil is thin, I make a trip to the library a few blocks away. Of course, I can’t take any books home with me, but I found a quiet little corner where no one goes where I can sit (well, float above a chair) and read. (And hide the book there so no one checks it out.) I’m only a little sorry about confusing the librarians.

What do you think ghosts love to read? Let me know in the comments. And don’t forget to check out what the other authors on this hop think by following the links to their blog.

As always, until next time, please stay safe!

P.S. It’s not a ghost story. Edwards Investigations, The Rimer File, will be released November 2nd. Check back for more info!

Oct 21, 2024

Stolen from a X (twitter) post: Which genre do you think ghosts prefer: mystery, thriller, horror, fairytale, or magical realism?

September 9, 2024

How do you keep track of your cast of characters?

You don’t want to repeat a name and confuse your readers.

And you don’t want to change their physical characteristics halfway through the story. I learned that early on, when a character started off with light brown hair and somewhere along the way it got darker. So, how do I keep track?

I know an author who covers the walls by her desk with sticky notes. Of course, she’s a plotter, and has everything mapped out before she begins telling the story. When I started writing, I wasn’t in a spot where I could do that, so I never tried. Besides, as a pantser, characters enter the scene when I least expect them.

As I worked on the fifth book in the Harmony Duprie series, I decided it was time to start a series ‘bible,’ listing every character and what they looked like, as well as their relationship to Harmony. And there were a LOT of supporting roles. I abandoned it before finishing, when I decided to end the series with the sixth book. (And set the story away from Oak Grove, where the rest of the series happened.)

I wanted to be more organized as I wrote my current work-in-progress, the Edwards Investigations.

Photo by Anna Shvets:

Since it’s semi-historical, it required more research. I wanted to get details right. Thankfully, I’d moved into my own office space when I started the story and could buy a large whiteboard to attach to the wall. As a character revealed themselves to me, I’d add them to the list. I ended up with a list of names on one side and interesting tidbits of information on the other.

But life happened, and I had to move my writing space. I didn’t want to put holes on the walls of the new spot to mount the whiteboard. Guess what happened?

As I edited, I discovered I had used two last names that were very close. Not the same, but too similar for my comfort. Thankfully, with the option of find and replace, it was a simple job to make the needed correction. Then, I bought a small whiteboard that can hang from a thumbtack nearby.

I’m hoping to make The Edwards Investigations a series, so I should start working on a book bible now. A simple spreadsheet will do the trick. Even a word document world work, but a spreadsheet will make it easier to compare characteristics. I don’t want everyone to have brown or blonde hair!

How do other authors keep track of their characters? Just follow the links to their posts to find out.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

September 9, 2024

How do you keep track of your cast of characters?