How Small Promo Efforts Lead to Big Things! #writingtips #amwriting

Making time for promotion, and then actually finding effective ways to get your name out there, can be a real challenge for authors—especially when we’re deeply involved in a story and we’d prefer to stay in our fictional world and write.  But putting yourself out there can really pay off as well, and I’m sharing today how doing local events and getting my name in the paper led to a dream-come-true opportunity—signing books beside the “Queen of Suspense”, Mary Higgins Clark, as well as many other very well-known authors whose books I have enjoyed.  This post originally appeared as an "Authors Boosting Authors" (ABA) installment in an ongoing series organized by an author friend who also writes for my publisher--check out other posts for more insights and ideas on writing and promo here!

Last spring, I received an email asking if I would be interested in participating in an author panel and book signing event at the end of the summer, with no details other than the proceeds would benefit Dream Day on Cape Cod, an organization bringing children with life-threatening illnesses to Cape Cod for relaxation and vacation time with family.  I had no idea who the other authors on the panel would be, but I immediately said yes—a chance to help children and gain visibility for my novels in a win/win.  I didn’t learn the identity of the author panel until a few weeks prior to the event, and you should have seen my expression when I opened the promotional flier and saw “Mary Higgins Clark” next to my name.  Then I saw other very well-known names such as Hank Phillipi Ryan, Sally Cabot Gunning, and Jacquelyn Mitchard and nearly fell off my stool at the kitchen island.

A dream come true!  Signing books alongside Mary Higgins Clark

A little background into what this meant to me.  I’ve always been a voracious reader, and throughout my childhood, my father would bring home stacks of library books each week, selected with the help of the local librarian.  That’s how I discovered a ghost story/sweet romance entitled Jane-Emily, a novel which inspired my own books many years later.  But when I would inevitably finish all the library books in a few days, I’d turn to raiding my mother’s bookcase.  And that’s how I first found Mary Higgins Clark’s debut novel, Where Are The Children?

I can still remember my pulse racing as I tore through the pages.  I quickly hunted down the two other paperbacks we owned, A Stranger is Watching and The Cradle Will Fall.  Over the years, I read all three again many times in between waiting for new releases.  And before I began writing my debut novel, Silver Lake, I re-read Where Are The Children? as a lesson on building tension and suspense.  I was surprised to discover the book was set on Cape Cod, a place which meant little to me as a child, but has now become my home for the last 18 years. 

What a great night the event was!  It was held at the Cape Cod Museum of Art, and it was entitled Art, Word, and Wine, organized by and benefiting Dream Day on Cape Cod.  There were nine authors in total, each with a large table displaying our books, bios, and cards, and while we signed books there, Brewster Book Store employees took care of the sales.  Local shops offered wine tasting and appetizers, and there was a large raffle table as well.  We had a 45 minute author panel with a quick Q&A session; for the most part, we signed books at our tables and chatted with attendees.

My table at Art, Word, and Wine

I was able to chat quite a bit with Mary Higgins Clark and Hank Phillipi Ryan, whose tables were near mine.  What an honor!  Mary Higgins Clark signed my author panel name card on request, and was so very gracious about it, and Hank Phillipi Ryan suggested I Facebook friend her.  Done!  Quite a few of my friends came to the event, as well as a number of members of the gym where I work.  I met a lot of new people as well, including the County Administrator of Barnstable, who works right near the Old Haunted Jail from my novel Haunted Souls (which he purchased and said he enjoyed very much in follow-up emails!).  Since the building in that area (Barnstable Village) are so old and filled with history—and possibly ghosts, per our local paranormal society—he offered to give me a tour of some areas “off limits” to the general public, which was a fabulous experience.  The pictures and notes can be found in this post; and for a taste of some Cape Cod spooky suspense mixed with steamy romance, give my latest release, Haunted Souls, a try!

Haunted Souls was one of the Top 3 Books of 2016 at Read Free.ly!
A damaged soldier, a secret baby, and a haunting mystery...
Coming to Audible Dec. 2017!

**If you're in the Cape Cod area, I'll be participating in another author panel this Friday--this one is comprised specifically of Authors of Young Adult fiction, and again, I'm thrilled to be participating with some very famous authors!  More info on that event can be found here.

In the ABA series, posts end with a specific writing tip and a specific promo tip, so here are mine...please share yours in the comments below! 

Writing Tip:  This goes along with trying to balance time between writing, promo, and life in general, and it speaks to me because I’m not a speedy writer.  It’s advice from Chris Bohjalian, an author I enjoy, who writes in several genres.  “Write one terrific sentence. Don’t worry about anything else – not where the story is going, not where it should end. Don’t pressure yourself to write 500 or 1,000 words this morning. Just write 10 or 15 ones that are very, very sound.” – Chris Bohjalian, from his Goodreads author page Q & A.

Promo Tip:  Again, relating to this post…get your name out there!  Every time I do an event, whether it’s a book signing, a reading, a class, etc., I make sure the event is listed on the online events calendars of all the local publications.  It’s something you can easily do yourself, and it’s free promotion, and it also leads to bigger things.  Aside from the book signing I discussed above, I’ve been contacted and asked to display my books at a local bank, appear at a salon open house, talk to a high school creative writing class…so many opportunities pop up just from letting people in the community know that I write novels!

Happy Writing!

Adding Tension + #Suspense to Fiction #amwriting

I infuse a lot of suspense into my novels, since in addition to romance, each of my books also involves some type of paranormal mystery: either spooky hauntings that need to be unraveled, or supernatural secrets that pose a dangerous threat.  Recently, I was invited to meet with a local writing group as a consultant, and one of the topics they asked to cover was methods of injecting suspense and tension into a story.  Here are some of the tips we discussed:

*Conflict is key.  There should be conflict in every genre of commercial fiction.  To increase tension, load on the conflict, both internal and external, to keep characters from their goals.

*Escalation of story problems, which add new questions beyond the hook (ex: the mystery of Brandy’s disappearance in Silver Lake—questions move from “Could be ghosts be real?” to “Is Brandy’s ghost really trying to communicate?” to “How can we help her communicate?” to “What really happened to her five years ago?” etc.).

*Stack the odds against the protagonist.  People love to root for the underdog (ex: In The Hunger Games, Katniss is from a very poor district and goes into the games with inadequate training from her mentor and little support from sponsors).

*Make the stakes high.  This does not necessarily mean the entire world will end if the character does not meet his or her goal, but the consequences of not meeting a goal should be extremely negative or even disastrous for the character.

*Give characters impossible choices (ex: Katniss in The Hunger Games—she either must kill other kids (both morally reprehensible and potentially difficult) OR be killed herself.  Neither is a good choice, but she could decide morals take precedence over her own life.  However, her family’s existence depends on her survival, as she provides the source of food.  Plus, she’s promised her sister she’ll survive.  So now we have a truly impossible choice: Kill other kids, who are trying to survive themselves and kill her, including the friendly boy from her district, OR be killed herself, break her promise to her sister, and possibly condemn her family to death.)

*Have some plans fail (ex: In The Martian, the abandoned astronaut’s first attempt at creating a water source fails spectacularly, decreasing his odds at survival).

*Create urgency.  A time constraint is useful for this (ex: The Finest Hours—the Coast Guard rescuers will have to reach the foundering tanker before it sinks into the stormy ocean, or everyone on board will die.)

*Use foreshadowing.  Foreshadowing is used to both build suspense and prepare reader for an event or scenario that otherwise might come out of nowhere.  There are many methods of foreshadowing, from blatant to extremely subtle.

*Make readers care about the protagonist.  Again, there are many ways to do this, including using deep POV to connect reader to character, creating engaging characters with realistic flaws, and avoiding “Mary Sues”.

*Use dramatic irony to create apprehension.  This can be employed when writing from multiple POVs.  (ex: In Gull Harbor, the reader sees what the bad guy has planned for Claire from his Point-of-View chapters.  However, neither Claire nor Max know—this knowledge is only between the reader and the villain.)  

Happy Writing!

Creating Tension + Suspense in Fiction #amwriting #writingtips

I infuse a lot of suspense into my novels, since in addition to romance, each of my books also involves some type of paranormal mystery: either spooky hauntings that need to be unraveled, or supernatural secrets that pose a dangerous threat.  Recently, I was invited to meet with a local writing group as a consultant, and one of the topics they asked to cover was methods of injecting suspense and tension into a story.  While these two things work together and are even listed as synonyms for each other in dictionary definitions, they are not exactly the same (although the definitions are pretty close).  Suspense is "a state or feeling of excited or anxious uncertainty about what may happen" (source link).  In fiction, it's that growing desire to keep turning the pages to find out what happens next.  Tension is "a feeling of nervousness, excitement, or fear" (source link).  In fiction, this is driven by emotions and is the element which causes us to worry about the characters.  It can ebb and flow based on the situation.  To try to give a simple example, in Silver Lake, my ghost story/romance, part of the suspense comes from wondering what happened to Brandy.  Tension comes from the dangerous situations Brandy's ghost's best friend, Rain, finds herself in as she tries to answer this question...assuming, of course, the reader has come to care about this character.  A novel doesn't need to be labeled "suspense" or "thriller" to have these elements, either.  Romance involves suspense and tension in terms of the fate of the couple and the obstacles they must overcome, and so I use the following techniques in both aspects of my novels.

As mentioned, suspension and tension work together, and below is the list I came up with for my class on ways to create these two elements in a novel.  I originally posted this as a feature of Writing Tip Tuesday on The Pearls of Writing Wisdom blog, and I'm sharing it this week on my own blog with a few examples.

*Conflict is key.  There should be conflict in any type of commercial fiction.  To increase tension, load on the conflict, both internal and external, to keep characters from their goals.  (See my post of Goal, Motivation, and Conflict here).

*Escalation of story problems, which add new questions beyond the hook (ex: the mystery of Brandy’s disappearance in Silver Lake—questions move from “Could ghosts be real?” to “Is Brandy’s ghost really trying to communicate?” to “How can we help her communicate?” to “What really happened to her five years ago?” to "How far will this desperate spirit go to expose the truth?", ect.).

*Stack the odds against the protagonist. (ex: In the movie MacFarland, USA, a coach new to a predominantly Latino high school in a very low-income area starts up a track team, recruiting boys with speed and endurance from working in the fields...but they have less time and energy to practice, due to field work, less support from their families, since earning extra income is the priority as opposed to sports, and no money for appropriate shoes and uniforms.  All these disadvantages make us anxious to see these underdogs prevail.)

*Make the stakes high.  This does not necessarily mean the entire world will end if the character does not meet his or her goal, but the consequences of not meeting a goal should be extremely negative or even disastrous for the character.

*Give characters impossible choices (ex: Katniss in The Hunger Games—she either must kill other kids (both morally reprehensible and potentially difficult) OR be killed herself.  Neither is a good choice, but she could decide morals take precedence over her own life.  However, her family’s existence depends on her survival, as she provides the source of food.  Plus, she’s promised her sister she’ll survive.  So now we have a truly impossible choice: Kill other kids, who are trying to survive themselves and kill her, including the friendly boy from her district, OR be killed herself, break her promise to her sister, and possibly condemn her family to death.)

*Have some plans fail. (ex: in the movie The Martian, the character's first attempt to rig a system to create water fails...now we are even more worried for his long-term survival.)

*Create urgency.  A time constraint is useful for this (ex: The Finest Hours movie—the Coast Guard rescuers will have to reach the foundering tanker before it sinks into the stormy ocean, or everyone on board will die.)

*Use foreshadowing.  Foreshadowing is used to both build suspense and prepare reader for an event or scenario that otherwise might come out of nowhere.  There are many methods of foreshadowing, from blatant to extremely subtle.

*Make readers care about the protagonist.  Again, there are many ways to do this, including using deep POV to connect reader to character, creating engaging characters with realistic flaws, and avoiding Mary Sues.

*Use dramatic irony to create apprehension.  This can be employed when writing from multiple POVs.  (ex: In Gull Harbor, the reader sees what the bad guy has planned for Claire from his POV chapters.  However, neither Claire nor Max know—this knowledge is only between the reader and the villain.)

These are some of the methods I use...please add your tips for creating suspense and tension! Happy writing!

Just Do It! #amwriting Inspiration #writingtips

"The only way to do a thing is to do it" ~ William Painter

This is the quote I used for my contribution to the Friday Writing Inspiration feature over at The Pearls of Writing Wisdom, a blog offering writing tips and inspiration from ten published authors.  I tore this out of my daily paper because it struck a chord with me.  Many people have the dream of writing a novel.  Many people have an idea in their head, complete with nagging characters who want their story told.  "This would make a great novel," you think...and maybe it will, but you have to write it first.  The only way to do a thing is to do it.

And yes, it's scary.  I had the entire plot, beginning to end, of SILVER LAKE in my mind for years.  I already knew the characters intimately...in fact, I would imagine conversations between them each night as I drifted off to sleep.  My husband encouraged me to start writing it down, but I resisted...how could I do that?  It's such a huge endeavor.  And what if it never panned out?  All those hours--years--would be wasted.

Which is what I told a good friend, at a party.  And he shook his head and told me I had to try. "What if it doesn't get published?" I said.

"What if it does?" he countered.  And he met every one of my arguments with a similar rebuke, finally pointing out that at the very least, I will have finished a novel, published or not, and that is no small thing.

I started the next day.  And now my fourth novel is awaiting a release date.

These days, I teach a class on writing fiction to aspiring authors.  And the biggest hurdle is usually convincing them to start.  It's the only way to get it done.  So don't wait for some magic guarantee of success--it won't come.  Just write.

Ready to Write? Fiction Class #Plymouth #CapeCod #amwriting #NaNoWriMo

My "Fiction Writing and Publication" course is coming to Plymouth, MA, this fall!  In this 6-week class, we'll meet on Tuesday evenings beginning September 29th, from 6-8 pm, and we'll cover a multitude of topics related to writing fiction and getting it published.

There's something for writers at every stage in this class.  We'll go over some of the basics, such as identifying genres in commercial fiction (necessary for meeting reader expectations, writing query letters, submitting to small or digital presses, and/or listing your book in Amazon categories), idea inspiration, staying on track and word count goals.  Once we've covered the basics, we'll move on to showing vs. telling, Goal-Motivation-Conflict charts, character development, and the hook. Common pitfalls will be covered, such as info dumps, cliches, Mary Sues, and POV (Point of View) issues/head hopping.

Finally, we'll get to querying agents or presses and writing the dreaded blurbs and synopsis. We'll go over all the different publishing options available as well as promotion and marketing.  And if you're considering trying NaNoWriMo, we'll finish up right in time!  Follow the link for registration info: Cape Cod Community College Plymouth Schedule.

The Pearls of Writing Wisdom #writingtips #amwriting

I'm part of a great new blog dedicated to providing writing tips and inspiration twice a week!  Nine authors from my agency take turns posting - on "Writing Tip Tuesday" and "Friday Inspiration". We write in a variety of genres, so there is something for everyone here - please join us by following our blog, The Pearls of Writing Wisdom, and Like our Facebook page too!

Today's post is by yours truly, on Goal, Motivation, and Conflict charts (GMC).  The green bolded title is the link to the post, so please stop by an comment...I'd love to hear from you! Happy Writing.

Ready to Write? Fiction + Publishing Class on #CapeCod #amwriting #Hyannis

New dates being added!

Update: new dates and locations for this class are in the works! Next class begins Jan. 26 in Falmouth, and another Hyannis class will be scheduled for spring 2016. Follow my FB page for details:
https://www.facebook.com/KathrynKnightbooks

My "Fiction Writing and Publication" course is coming to Main Street, Hyannis for the summer!  In this condensed version, we'll meet for three Thursdays in July, from 9:00 a.m. to noon, and we'll cover a multitude of topics related to writing fiction and getting it published.

There's something for writers at every stage in this class.  We'll go over some of the basics, such as identifying genres in commercial fiction (necessary for meeting reader expectations, writing query letters, submitting to small or digital presses, and/or listing your book in Amazon categories), idea inspiration, staying on track and word count goals.  Once we've covered the basics, we'll move on to showing vs. telling, Goal-Motivation-Conflict charts, character development, and the hook. Common pitfalls will be covered, such as info dumps, cliches, Mary Sues, and POV (Point of View) issues/head hopping.

Finally, we'll get to querying agents or presses and writing the dreaded blurbs and synopsis. We'll go over all the different publishing options available as well as promotion and marketing. How will I fit it all into 9 hours?

If you're anywhere near the Cape, check out this link at Cape Cod Community College's WERC site for more info: Fiction Writing and Publication.  Even if you're not exactly local, a little trip to Cape Cod a few times this summer for a class gives you the perfect chance to enjoy some of our lovely beaches and attractions!  Happy summer and happy writing :)

Cape Cod National Seashore - setting for my ghost story +
romance GULL HARBOR

Teaching Creative Writing! #amwriting #CapeCod #Plymouth

This has been a whirlwind month.  Finished my fourth manuscript, sent out initial queries, and signed with an agent!  I am now a "hybrid" author in every sense--I've been published by a small press (SILVER LAKE and GULL HARBOR), I've published independently (DIVINE FALL), and now I've signed with a literary agency, which will begin the submission process for my new novel HAUNTED SOULS very soon.  So exciting!

With all this first-hand experience with different avenues to publishing, I'm confident I can share helpful knowledge as I embark on my first creative writing class.  I'll be teaching "Fiction Writing and Publication" for the local community college beginning the first week in March, and in six weeks, we'll cover a multitude of topics, including the various ways to publish in this rapidly changing industry.  But we'll save that for the last few weeks, focusing first on the basics--identifying genres, Goal-Motivation-Conflict charts, character development, POV (point of view), common pitfalls, and idea inspiration.  Then we'll move on to getting started...and staying on track.  Finally, querying agents or presses, writing blurbs and synopsis, publishing, and marketing.  How will I fit it all into 12 hours?

My sub-par photo of the flier -
good thing I'm not teaching photography!

If you're anywhere near Plymouth, Massachusetts, I'd love to have you in class!  If not, go on over to the right hand column of my blog and click on either the Join This Site blue button or the overlapping squares (depending on your browser) to stay connected - I'll be posting some notes from class along the way.

I'm thrilled to begin this new chapter in my writing career, and if you'd like more information, check out the registration link here: Plymouth Class Schedule - Cape Cod Community College.

Thanks for stopping by, and happy writing!

Goal, Motivation, & Conflict - #amwriting GMC

Anytime I'm asked in an interview to suggest a "must-have" tool for aspiring writers, my answer is always the same: Goal, Motivation, and Conflict, by Debra Dixon.  This book lays out the framework for commercial fiction in terms of those three building blocks, known as GMC.  Every character needs a chart, even minor characters.  Maybe their goals won't receive much time or attention in the actual novel, but if the character is in your book, he or she is there for a reason.  That character plays a part.  As writers, we need to develop every character, by giving them solid reasons for their actions and urgent goals that must be met.

As Ms. Dixon points out in her book, goals, motivations, and conflicts can shift throughout the story.  One goal may be achieved, only to set the character on a new path with a new set of GMC.  Smaller GMC scenarios may exist within the larger, overarching GMC for each character.  For maximum tension, heroes and villains should have GMC charts that directly oppose each other--if one character gets what he/she wants, the other character will fail.  Adding urgency to a goal is another way to maximize the impact.  And characters should have both external (the "outer goal" - something physical) and internal (the "inner goal" - involves emotion) goals.

I make charts for every character, using Ms. Dixon's examples as guides.  I'm sharing a few of the charts I made for Silver Lake, my debut novel, with the participants in a fiction class I'm teaching.  I've copied them below as well for reference, and I was careful to include only the major GMC arcs for the three characters I've highlighted; the smaller GMC scenarios are not revealed (no spoilers).  If you'd like to read the blurb first to get an idea of what Silver Lake is about, you can find it here.  But a simple one sentence description (it's good to have one of those too!) would be something like this: When Brandy Pierce vanished during their senior year of high school, Rain Anderson's tight-knit group of friends slowly unraveled; five years later, they agree to reunite at a lake house from their past in a final attempt to solve the mystery of her disappearance.

Each set of numbered GMC points should fit into the following sentence:  (Character) wants (Goal) because (Motivation), but (Conflict).  For example, Rain wants to find out what happened to Brandy because Brandy was her best friend, her terminally ill mother needs closure, and Rain is haunted with guilt--but the mystery is now five years old, and while Brandy's spirit seems to want help, there are barriers to communication.

A simpler, internal GMC would be: Jason wants a romantic relationship with Rain, because she's still the one he loves, but she wounded him once before, and he currently has a girlfriend.

I've bolded things within the charts that add urgency to the dynamic. 

RAIN	External	Internal
GOAL	1.      Find out what happened to Brandy	1.       Earn Jason’s forgiveness 2.       Maybe earn his love again? 3.       Renew old friendships
MOTIVATION	1.      A)  Brandy’s mom is dying and has asked for help=Closure B)  Brandy was Rain’s best friend C)  Guilt over the missed phone call D)  Disturbing dreams seemingly sent from Brandy – she’s being haunted E)  Help her friend’s spirit rest in peace	1.       She still feels guilty over the choice she made – she hurt him badly 2.       She’s still attracted to him 3.       She’s recently divorced and extremely isolated…misses her old friends
CONFLICT	1.      A)  The unsolved mystery is now 5 years old – few clues B)  Brandy is a ghost – seems she wants to communicate, but is unable	1.     Heartbreak leaves deep scars 2.       It’s unlikely he’d make the same mistake twice 3.       There are still secrets and suspicions lingering between them…and they’re not the exact same people they were in high school

JASON	External	Internal
GOAL	1.      Keep Rain Safe 2.      Spend time at the lake	1.       A romantic relationship with Rain (even though he does not want to admit it to himself)
MOTIVATION	1.      A)  He’s a black belt in Karate; owns a studio; it’s what he does=KEEPS PEOPLE SAFE B)  He still has feelings for Rain 2.      A)  He’s done nothing but work 24/7 since starting his own business after college B)  Brandy’s mother asked them all to participate in the reunion C)  He wants time away from his girlfriend	1.       He loves her – she’s still the one.
CONFLICT	1.      A)  He’s up against supernatural forces – how to fight a ghost? B)  He can’t stay at the lake house all summer – work 2.      Reuniting with former friends—especially Rain—will bring up difficult emotions	1.      A)  Pride B)  His current live-in girlfriend C)  Fear of another rejection

BRANDY	External	Internal
GOAL	1.       Be found	1.       Expose the truth of what happened
MOTIVATION	1.      A)   Allow her spirit to rest in peace B)   End her mother’s suffering before she dies	1.       A)  People can finally heal B)  Brandy can let go and move on
CONFLICT	1.       She’s a ghost; barriers to communication	1.      Her friends need to be together to provide energy for her spirit to draw from and summer is almost over

I hope these charts help demonstrate the importance of GMC when developing characters.  Even Brandy, the ghost, has a goal with valid motivation and frustrating conflicts.  Of course, Allie and A.J., the other two friends at the lake house reunion, have charts as well, but in the interest of space, I left them out.  However, you can find their GMCs within the pages of the book--plus, you can experience the additional conflicts Rain and Jason must face as they struggle against their attraction and face the danger of a ghost willing to put her friends at risk to expose the truth. SILVER LAKE is now available electronically for only $3.99 on Kindle exclusively, as this title is now an Amazon Encore Imprint.  Print copies are available from the original publisher, The Wild Rose Press, and also on Amazon as well.

Now that I'm used to analyzing characters and plots within this paradigm, I see GMC everywhere.  Not surprisingly, if I don't see it, I'm not usually interested in continuing reading or watching.

I love comments, so please feel free to chat about this topic...Happy writing!