Showing posts with label ahoy gum drop. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ahoy gum drop. Show all posts

Thursday, October 9, 2014

Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing: Miss Mae, Dialogue, Settings, and Editing, Giveaways


Hello and welcome to our series, Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing. Our "tipster" author today is Miss Mae.  She is giving away of three downloads/ gift coupons of her mystery, It’s Elementary, My Dear Winifred. Enjoy an excerpt and please leave a comment to be eligible for the drawing on Sunday at 9 p.m.


DIALOGUE:


Make it believable. I still have a hard time with this one, though, especially if I’ve included a set of characters from different regions of the globe. I’m wondering, ‘am I writing this right? Is this what they’d say?’ However, for my Victorian books set in London, I’ve had a wonderful critique partner who lives in England. She’s set me right on the many different accents. So I advise finding someone who lives where your character does, if that’s possible. 

SETTINGS: 

I like to have my characters all in one area where I can control them. For instance, I mean, if I should place my story in France, then I’d need to describe the landscape, the sight, the smells of the area. To be realistic, I should have at least visited there so I could get everything correct. Well, I’ve not been there. So, to get beyond that hurdle, I’ll create something to where I don’t have to write that. I’ll set all my characters trapped in a snowstorm, a basement, a closet - anywhere! So that I’m able to “show” my readers the setting through my main character’s senses without actually having set my physical foot anywhere but outside my front door.

1.      EDITING: 

      Get another good pair of eyes. Eek, I still find errors even after three people have read the finished work. LOL


Miss Mae, what was your light bulb moment about your writing experience?  When I decided to self-publish. After having signed with three traditional publishers, then discovering that I was still expected to promote/market as hard as if I were self-published -- well, why not self-pub? I get a bigger pie piece of the royalties this way. 


Back of the book:
 Do bizarre and unusual mysteries only occur in imaginary tales? 
Amateur sleuth Winifred Merryweather, along with dashing newspaper hound Remington Hawthorne, find themselves in the throes of a real life mystery when they’re plunged in the bowels of a dark and ancient castle. Booby-traps abound with disappearing floors, hidden sliding panels, and spider-webbed shadowy corridors.
Danger threatens to steal Winifred’s very breath -- or is that the annoying allure of Remington’s flirtatious charms?

AMAZON BUY LINK: (print copy):  AMAZON

About Miss Mae
Miss Mae is all about romantic mysteries. Said the Spider to the Fly, When the Bough Breaks, Dove Island, It’s Elementary, My Dear Winifred and See No Evil, My Pretty Lady 
are award winning best sellers. Her latest, Catch Me If You Can, and the novellas, Miss Penelope’s Letters and Through a Glass Darkly, have already received top rated five-star reviews. Tantalizing trailers and more information are readily available at Miss Mae's website


Miss Mae also enjoys writing humor and non-fiction articles. Some of her publications can be found in The Front Porch Magazine, Good Old Days, and WritersWeekly.
Her alter ego, M.M.,  has her first children’s/humor book, Ahoy Gum Drop! In this slightly cracked tale, readers are introduced to I.B. Nosey, the ‘official unofficial’ reporter. To learn more about cyberspace’s only Pukelitzer Award winning interviewer, visit ‘Feeling Nosey?’ 

  


Monday, October 6, 2014

Artprize 2014, This Week, Giveaways

How I wish I could capture in photos the most amazing works of art presented at Artprize this year in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  This international art competition is the biggest in the world with artists competing for $560,000 in prizes in various categories. Winners are determined by the public vote and a juried group of professionals. This experience is like no other and free to the public!  I am sharing some of the amazing entries we encountered out of the 1537 pieces entered. The competition is open to any artist 18 and older. Please take a peek at the photos for a taste of the 19 day festival held every fall in Grand Rapids. 

This installation is made up of living plants. A great reminder to just step away, enjoy the festival's unique works of art, and breathe.


The author framed by flowers

These little colored pencil drawn ladies made me chuckle.

Brilliant lighted art piece of blown glass.

A 23 foot long panel of galloping mustangs created from all kinds of wood.

The "Chihuly-inspired" hanging is actually made of plastic bottles, not blown glass, painted by elementary students and put together by the art teachers. I appreciated its beauty even more after learning about the creation of this masterpiece.

A whimsical family of turtles. Smile...

The title of this piece is "Wind."

Grand Rapids Petroglyph--Fish carved and painted in stones 
that line the banks of the Grand River.
This river runs through the downtown area of the city.

A horse made of junk. Lots of car parts. Art fashioned from trash.


This Week

Monday, October 6--All week at the Girls Succeed Blog, I read an excerpt from the chapter in Girls Succeed! about Angela Ruggiero, Olympic Gold Medalist in Women's Ice Hockey. Okay, I may be driving you crazy with these audio recordings and sharing them on my blogs.  It's a lot of fun to make the words on the page come alive by recording them for listeners. But please be honest, and let me know if it is annoying. Thanks.

Wednesday, October 8--Author Miss Mae celebrates the launch of her new audio book, Ahoy Gum Drop, October 7 and 8 on Facebook. The invitation to join this zany gang of characters and the link to the party are below. I'll be a guest from 2:00 pm-3:00 pm on October 8. The narrator Owen, will be there too. He does an amazing job with all the voices of Miss Mae's entertaining cast. Come on over for fun and prizes with the gang from Gum Drop Island.




https://www.facebook.com/events/689129674506574/




Thursday, October 9--Miss Mae shares writing tips on dialogue, setting, and editing at the Romance and Mystery Authors On Writing Event. Giveaways too!

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