Stephen Lawrence Brayton's Blog – March 2012 Archive (6)

As a book reviewer, one of the areas of the book I analyze is writing style. I try to inform the potential reader about what type of book I’ve read.

Think about the different authors you’ve read. Besides the different genres having, or sometimes requiring, different styles, consider the multitude of authors in only one genre.

Horror – H.P. Lovecraft wrote lengthy sentences with details galore.

Stephen King writes flashback scenes with a lot of detail.…

By Beth Groundwater

www.bethgroundwater.com

Plot

In the whitewater rapids of Colorado’s Arkansas River, Tom King falls out of his raft. Mandy Tanner, ranger and river guide rescues him but King dies anyway. Mandy subsequently finds out King died from poisoning. Who killed him? The suspects are…

I conduct several self defense seminars for high school students and women, as well as the various techniques shown in my regular classes. One of the things I teach those who participate in self defense courses is to have options available to immediately utilize.

For example, let me keep it simple and discuss a basic wrist grab. After determining the level of threat indicated, the person would pull his/her wrist against the opponent’s thumb, that finger being the weakest part…

I'm ready to post my weekly blog when suddenly James Baroni, author of The Legend of Rachel Petersen (see Brayton's Book Buzz from this previous Monday) storms into my apartment, grabs me by the collar and throws me into the transporter. Before I can recover, he flicks the switch and we're off to...



Hec if I know. Before I can tell him it'd be a nice sunny…

Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser your story, from the moment you have an idea, your book will go through several evolutionary changes. Make note of those changes because they will help you in subsequent endeavors.

I’d like to discuss the evolutionary stages of my book, Beta, and perhaps looking at the process, you may find something to help you with your stories.

Beta was supposed to be the sequel. The first, Alpha, I wrote in the…

Opening a new book is like unwrapping a present on Christmas morning. You see a pretty dust cover over the formed cardboard like shell and you wonder what’s inside. Will it be a story to excite you or make you laugh? Will the hero be fearless and the bad guys extra evil?

Many times, the book ends up being the annual Father’s Day tie. Nothing special, same unexciting characters, standard plot with a few new twists. Once in awhile, however, you do get something shiny and fresh…