Author: Marcia Meara

#FirstLineFriday #GiveawayContest #FreeDownloads

/ Marcia Meara / 18 Comments

It’s Friday again, and though I’m not yet back to my normal weekly schedule, today has worked well for me to present you with another #FirstLineFriday quiz. As you know, this quiz is designed to help us appreciate some of the best opening lines in literary history. From the classics of long ago to the latest best-sellers, no matter how old or how recent, everything is fair game on #FirstLineFriday. Let’s see how many of you recognize (or can guess at) this one.  

As always, the rules are simple:

  1. Be one of the first five people to email me before the game ends at 4:00pm, with the title and author of the correct book. 
  2. Do not reply here on the blog. Email only: marciameara16@gmail.com
  3. Honor System applies. No Googling, please.
  4. Submissions end at 4:00 P.M. EST, or when I receive 5 correct answers, whichever comes first.
  5. Winners who live in the U.S. may request a free download of any one of my books for themselves, or for someone of their choice. OR, if they’ve read all of the offered books, they may request a free download of my next publication.
  6. Winners who live elsewhere may request a mobi or PDF file of the same books, since, sadly, Amazon won’t let me gift you from the site.

Remember, guesses are free and I am the only one who’ll know if you guess incorrectly, so go for it! And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for! Put on your thinking caps, because here is today’s opening line:

“The stranger came early in February, one wintry day, through a biting wind and a driving snow, the last snowfall of the year, over the down, walking as it seemed from Bramblehurst railway station, and carrying a little black portmanteau in his thickly gloved hand.” 

Remember, email answers only, please. Thanks! And now off I go to await your guesses. 

A Boy Named Rabbit (Wake-Robin Ridge #2) by Marcia Meara #bookreview #suspense #supernatural

/ Marcia Meara / 11 Comments

Today started off on a super good note with a wonderful review of A Boy Named Rabbit by Teri Polen. Hope you’ll stop by her blog and check it out, and will consider passing it along, so others might learn more about this book, too. Rabbit will thank you, and so will I! And my heartfelt thanks to Teri for such a great review! 🙂 ❤

Teri Polen's avatarBooks and Such

“Evil’s comin’, boy…comin’ fast. Look for the man with eyes like winter skies, and hair like a crow’s wing. He’s the one you gotta find.”

The remote mountain wilderness of North Carolina swallowed up the ten-year-old boy as he made his way down from the primitive camp where his grandparents had kept him hidden all his life. His dying grandmother, gifted with The Sight, set him on a quest to find the Good People, and though he is filled with fear and wary of civilization, Rabbit is determined to keep his promise to her. When he crosses paths with Sarah and MacKenzie Cole, neither their lives nor his, are ever the same again.

The extraordinary little boy called Rabbit has the power to change the world for everyone he meets, and the resourcefulness to save himself from the one person his grandparents had hoped would never find him. His dangerous…

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The Building Blocks of Story: Scenes

/ Marcia Meara / 3 Comments

Another thought-provoking Building Blocks of Story post from Staci Troilo over on Story Empire today. This time, it covers the three basic elements each scene should have. Check it out and see if you’ve been using all three elements, or if you need to work on it a bit (like me). Super information here, so be sure to pass it along so others can learn, too. Thanks, and thanks to Staci for making me think! 😀 ❤

Staci Troilo's avatarStory Empire

Ciao, SEers. Last time, we discussed Dwight Swain’s concepts of scenes and sequels. (If you missed that post, you can find it here.) Remember, a chapter’s scenes can be one of two things, a scene or a sequel. Today, we’re going to go deeper into the concept of scenes.

What are scenes?

Scenes are the “proactive” units of a story. They introduce and advance goals, conflicts, and disasters. Scenes should have all three items before advancing to the following sequel. Why must they include all three? Because all three are necessary for tension. And without tension, there’s no reason for a reader to turn the page.

Goals:

A goal is simply what your POV character desires. It could be:

  • an object (the Holy Grail)
  • a position (POTUS)
  • a state of being (overcome an injury)
  • a change in status (going from captive to freedom)

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Hooray for SINGLE Digits! Only 9 More Weeks Until #PeaceTalks #DresdenFiles #HarryDresden #JimButcher

/ Marcia Meara / 22 Comments

 
Harry and Thomas Ready to Do Battle With Fiends & Villains Everywhere!
(I believe this is another great piece done by Mika Blackfield)

Wizard Alert! Harry Dresden’s latest adventure is looming on the horizon! Yes, only 9 more weeks until the arrival of #PeaceTalks. That may seem like a long time, but after waiting more than SIX YEARS–did I mention that before?–a mere 9 weeks sounds like an instant. A long, drawn-out instant for sure, but still an instant. Everything is relative, after all. 😉

Cover of the Week


Another Chris McGrath Beauty

Last week, I promised to share a bit more about other characters in the Dresden books. I think I’ll start with one of my personal favorites, Bob the Skull. 

 

Bob resides on a bookshelf at Harry’s place, and gives out advice, liberally mixed with snarky comments. Of course, it isn’t really the skull, itself, chatting with (at?) Harry. It’s a vastly old spirit that has taken up residence in the empty cranium, as evidenced by the light glowing from the eye sockets. It can (and does) vacate the skull from time to time, swooshing out the door on errands for Harry, or whenever Harry rewards him by letting him visit places where he can read adult novels of dubious literary value.

Here are a few memes featuring Bob’s snarky (and often corny) comments and jokes.

And one more just for PURTY! (If you have a weird sense of what purty is!)
😀

Those of you who are up to date on the series might be as worried about Bob’s welfare as I am, but I’m trusting Jim Butcher to right all wrongs and take good care of him for now. (Don’t make me come UP there, Jim!!)

~~~

Next week, we’ll focus on another of my favorite characters, Michael Carpenter. In the meantime, let’s let Harry have the last word:

Stay tuned, Folks and keep counting the weeks! And remember, when it doubt:

Pre-Order Peace Talks HERE

Pre-Order Battle Ground HERE

Character Archetypes: The Shadow

/ Marcia Meara / Leave a comment

Start the week off right with a stop by Story Empire to check out Craig Boyack’s last post in his fabulous Character Archetype series. Today, he talks about the Shadow, and it’s well worth the visit to learn more about this intriguing character. Hope you’ll enjoy the post as much as I did, and will consider passing it along far and wide, so others can find out more, too. Thanks, and thanks to Craig for this excellent post in a truly interesting series! 🙂

coldhandboyack's avatarStory Empire

They say all good things must come to an end, and here we are at #8 of the Character Archetypes. This series is (was, small tear here) a breakdown of the main Character Archetypes of basic story structure.

Our character today is a fun one, but I find them difficult to write. He’s known as The Shadow. (Dun, dun, DUNNNN!)

This is almost always your antagonist, but there’s a lot more that goes into him than simply making him thwart the hero at every turn. He’s called the shadow for a reason. He is a reflection of the weaknesses and darker parts of the hero himself. This makes the mission of your hero much more difficult.

One of the things to consider when crafting this character is that with a few different turns along the way, your hero could become the shadow himself. It’s likely that your hero might have…

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Smorgasbord Weekly Round Up – 3rd – 9th May 2020 – New York, Houston, Waterford, Sri Lanka, Asparagus, New books, Reviews, Guests and Laughter

/ Marcia Meara / 4 Comments

Time for another fabulous Weekly Round Up from Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord blog. Lots of wonderful goodies this week, including some excellent videos. Check it out, and please remember pass it along so others can as well, thanks! And thanks to Sally who, as always, ROCKS! 🙂 ❤

Book Promo – GRINDERS – by C.S. Boyack…

/ Marcia Meara / 6 Comments

Craig Boyack’s latest book, Grinders, is currently being showcased over on The Story Reading Ape’s wonderful blog. If you haven’t read Grinders, you don’t know what you’re missing. Check out the post to see for yourself, and then pass it along, if you can, so others can find and enjoy this truly imaginative, fun book. Thanks!

Book Promo – GRINDERS – BY C. S. Boyak

 

NOTE: 2020 Conversations with Colleen: Meet Author, Mae Clair, @MaeClair1

/ Marcia Meara / 8 Comments

My good friend and favorite Penderpal, author Mae Clair, is being interviewed over on Colleen Chesebro’s All The Best – Word Craft Prose and Poetry blog. Here’s a great opportunity to learn a bit more about Mae’s wonderful Hode’s Hill series, as well as some insight into how she writes. It’s a fun interview and I hope you’ll take a minute to stop by and say hello to Mae and Colleen.  Thanks! 🙂 

2020 Conversations with Colleen: Meet Author, Mae Clair

 

The Case for Chapter Titles #StoryEmpire

/ Marcia Meara / Leave a comment

Hi, folks! 

Today, I’m the featured blogger on Story Empire, and I hope you’ll stop by and check out my post on chapter titles. I’d love to hear what you think about this topic, as it’s been near and dear to my heart for my entire reading life (over 70 years, now!). Your comments over there would be most welcome, thanks, and I hope you’ll share the post far and wide, too. Here’s the link:

The Case for Chapter Titles

How to Publish with KDP: Part Eight

/ Marcia Meara / 2 Comments

Today, Harmony Kent’s post on Story Empire deals with setting up a KDP account, and I truly wish I’d had her step-by-step instructions (with screen shots) when I started out. Hope you’ll check out this excellent post, even if you aren’t new to the process, and will pass it along to others so anyone confused by it all will know just what to do. Thanks, and thanks to Harmony for this very helpful series of posts on self-publishing. 🙂

Harmony Kent's avatarStory Empire

Image courtesy of bigstock.com

Hello SErs. Harmony here.  As promised, here is  part eight in the post series dedicated to taking a step-by-step look at how to get your finished manuscript from your computer and on sale on Amazon in both ebook and paperback.

If you’d like to take a look back at the previous posts in this series, please click on the links below:

Outline: https://wp.me/p7OGru-29c

Part 1 (Software for Writing) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-29t

Part 2 (General Formatting Necessities) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-29J

Part 3 (Ebook Conversion) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2ah

Part 4 (Paperback Formatting) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2eS

Part 5 (Image Software for Making Book Covers) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2gi

Part 6 A (Using Amazon’s Cover Creator Tool for eBook) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2gQ

Part 6 B (Making your own ebook cover to upload to Amazon) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2hQ

Part 7 A (Using Amazon’s Cover Creator Tool for Paperback) : https://wp.me/p7OGru-2jY

Part 7 B (Making your own PDF book cover…

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