ABOUT WRITING your essential #writing manual (#paperback #xmas #MFRWAuthor @MFRW_ORG)

It's finally here! About Writing, my writing manual.

It's a compilation of both my writing primers in one handy, inexpensive paperback, perfect for Christmas gift-giving to the aspiring or advanced writer you know.

Here's what people said about the books included in About Writing:

PLOTTING AND PLANNING: 

Sue has written a concise manual that is valuable for both beginning and seasoned writers. Going to write a book? Read this first! 

--Bestselling suspense author Kylie Brant 

Suz deMello's PLOTTING AND PLANNING is a concise, informative, and entertaining look at writing a novel. 

--Paranormal author Silver James

Regarding the other book that's in ABOUT WRITING: 

Not only did WRITE THIS NOT THAT! reach #2 on Amazon’s writing reference list, but it also garnered many five star reviews: 

Five stars...good advice and fun to read.

--Jo Frye 

Five stars... Kudos to the author for a well-written manual! 

--Book CraZ Five stars from me... 

This short guide covers the essentials and is useful for both new and experienced writers. 

                                                --Author Catherine Cavendish

Here's a little taste:

PLOTTING AND PLANNING

There are three rules to writing a novel.

Unfortunately, no one knows

what they are.

--Somerset Maugham

For decades, I sensed a creative spark glowing feebly inside me. I tried everything I could to nurture that tiny ember and fan it into a blaze. I sang in concert choirs and rock bands. I painted and made craft projects; I remember buying Styrofoam balls, rick-rack and sequins one Christmas when I was about nine. I recall how great I felt when Mrs. Elliott, my friend Dru's mother, bought one of my primitive ornaments for a whole thirty-five cents.

Later I majored in art without, alas, a shred of talent at drawing. The leap from pen to brush didn't come easily—some say I never bridged that gap.

My preference for the pen was a sign I ignored or didn't know how to interpret.

Woodcut by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi
via Wikimedia Commons

And unfortunately, creative writing units in middle school English classes didn't help. They never answered this basic question: How does an author write a book?

Unfortunately for aspiring authors, this is not an easy question to answer. It’s tantamount to asking, Where do authors get their ideas? which, believe me, is our least favorite question. I often tell people I get them at Sears—they’re sold by the dozen in the basement between the barbecues and the bikes.

I needed years of study to learn how to write a story, but ideas are actually the easiest part of it. I find them almost anywhere. Maybe a magazine article about a place or event. Perhaps someone I meet or something a person says may trigger a train of thought that will eventually lead to a book. Maybe travel to someplace new ignites the creative spark that will inspire me.

Here’s a better question: What are the building blocks of plot and story?

Like what you read? Buy it here:

http://tinyurl.com/deMelloAboutWriting 

This is part of a blog hop! Check out other authors' work via the links below:

Her Sexy Halloween Costume Gets His Attention in "Seducing the Hermit" (@MFRW_ORG #iamreading #Halloween #romance)

Deejay Valerie Percy rejects the phony life she's led in L.A. and travels to remote Takinsha Island, Alaska, determined to start over. She looks for a fuck-buddy, an accessory she considers more important than mascara. She wants a warm, outgoing man to laugh with her, hang out with her and shag her silly.

She doesn’t think she’ll encounter any difficulty in Alaska, where the odds of men to women are twenty to one. But as locals say, the odds are good, but the goods are…odd.

She falls for Fisher Chugatt, a loner who rejects any relationship. But Cupid has other plans for this couple, and so does Valerie. She doesn’t waste any time, seducing Fisher within a few hours of arriving.

Anal sex in the shower, hummers on the couch and a spectacular encounter beneath the Northern Lights seal the deal in Valerie’s mind. In love with Fisher, she wants it all: home, husband, babies…his babies. But Fisher can’t banish shadows from his past that prevent him from committing to Valerie.

In this part of the story, confirmed bachelor Fisher is finding it more and more difficult to resist Valerie's allure:

...he could see green glitter in her golden hair, on her cheeks and eyelids. Full makeup accentuated her delicate beauty, disguising the hard-nosed, determined woman underneath.

"Wow," he managed to say.

"Wow yourself." Smiling, she handed him a glass of wine. "Tell me about your costume."

"First, let's toast the evening. Thank you for this." He waved his glass, narrowly missing her hair.           

"Now who's the klutz?" Her grin teased.

He laughed. "I guess that makes up for the soup incident. No, half of the soup, since I didn't actually get you."

       "Aw, who's counting?" She clinked her glass against his, then sipped her wine. 

If you like what you read, buy it here:

http://amzn.to/1377aUh

http://www.ellorascave.com/seducing-the-hermit.html (ebook)

http://www.ellorascave.com/seducing-the-hermit-1.html (paperback)

This is a blog hop! Find other writers' sexu snippets here:
http://mysexysaturday.blogspot.com/

Get hooked by Fisher from Seducing the Hermit (@Allromance #romance #MFRWHooks #MFRWAuthor)

Today's book hook appropriately features a character named "Fisher." Cute, huh?

He's the hermit from the title :) Here's what the book is about:

Deejay Valerie Percy rejects the phony life she’s led in L.A. and travels to remote Takinsha Island, Alaska, determined to start over. She’s looking for a fuck buddy, an accessory she considers more important than mascara. She wants a warm, outgoing man to laugh with her, hang out with her and shag her silly. She doesn’t think she’ll encounter any difficulty in Alaska, where the odds of men to women are twenty to one. 

But as the locals say, the odds are good, but the goods are…odd. Valerie falls for

Fisher Chugatt, a loner who doesn’t do relationships. But Cupid has other plans for this couple, and so does Valerie. She doesn’t waste any time seducing Fisher. 

Sex in the shower, hummers on the couch and a spectacular encounter beneath the northern lights seal the deal in Valerie’s mind. Having fallen in love, she wants it all—home, husband, babies. But shadows from his past may prevent Fisher from committing to anyone…Valerie included.

And here's the snippet about this sexy hunk who captures our heroine's wayward heart:

Valerie Percy smiled at the tall, dark hunk standing in the boat docked by the Takinsha Island pier. He leaped from his boat to the surface of the wharf, agile as a sleek, sable otter. The man must have antifreeze in his veins, since he wore only khaki shorts and a faded black T-shirt in the cool Alaska summer. His skimpy clothes showed off one hell of a body, golden and muscular.

She shivered inside her sweater and parka. A southern California girl, born and bred, she could tolerate heat rocketing into the nineties or even triple digits in the summertime. She'd learned that in this part of Alaska, a temperature of seventy degrees Fahrenheit was unusually warm. 

She shivered again, then remembered, you chose this, didn’t you? You wanted a change. 

If you like what you read, buy it here in both print and digital formats:

http://www.ellorascave.com/seducing-the-hermit-1.html

This is a blog hop! Find other talented authors' work here:

http://mfrwbookhooks.blogspot.com/

Get Hooked by Fisher~~Seducing the Hermit by Suz deMello (MFRW_ORG #MFRWAuthor #erotica #romance)

The subtitle for this blog post could be "See, romance writers can be literary too!" 

Seducing the Hermit is my retelling of one of the Grail myths, specifically, the myth of the Fisher King. There are a number of different versions of this tale. Here's the one I remember:

During the quest to find the Holy Grail, Sir Percival, one of the most innocent and pure of King Arthur's knights, enters an enchanted wood and gives his horse its head, that is, allows the animal to roam freely to pick its way through the wood. He enters a waste land in which nothing grows. Within the Waste Land is a lake with a castle nearby. On the lake is a boat with a man fishing--the Fisher King.

The king rows to shore and invites Percival to stay at his castle as long as he likes. Percival notices that the king is wounded but does not dare to ask about the crippling wound to the groin, which he learns has rendered the king impotent. Such a question would be intrusive and rude, and Percival has been taught not to pry.

The feast is lavish and the companionship merry, but when Percival awakens the next morning, everyone is gone. The next evening again brings another party, but again, the next morning the castle is deserted and lonely in its Waste Land.

Finally Sir Percival asks the Fisher King "What troubles you?"

And the king is healed, as is the land, for the land is a reflection of its king's infertility.

In Seducing the Hermit, Val Percy, a deejay from Los Angeles, comes to Alaska to work and meets Fisher Chugatt, who keeps the radio station's old equipment running. He's not impotent as in the myth, but he is commitment-shy to an extreme degree. Valerie, having been raised by somewhat uptight parents, feels it's bad manners to ask what the deal is.

I'll let you read the book to find out what Valerie learns. In the meantime, here's a snippet to pique your interest in Val and Fisher's romance.

Fisher pulled her tight against him, and their hips met with a sudden, sharp bang that presaged what Valerie hoped would happen. His cock was a long, thick ridge against her mound, and he ground his pelvis from side to side, rubbing that heavenly bulge against her. She bent one knee and raised it high, wrapping her leg around his waist, opening herself so he’d hit the sweetest spot. Each push of his rod against her clit took her higher, made her hotter.

She tore her mouth away from his and panted for breath, seeking control of herself. She didn’t know him well enough to let herself completely lose her head, and it wasn’t smart to fall into lust with the first man she’d laid eyes on in her new home.

“Isn’t this the kind of help you had in mind?” Fisher’s eyes were languorous, his beautifully sculpted mouth half-open, wet, seductive.

If you like what you read, buy it here in print:

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