Author A.D. Trosper Interviewed me!

Author A.D. Trosper interviewed me yesterday--click on the link below to read it, and also check out her blog and trailer for her book Embers at Galdrilene (Dragon's Call)

Interview:
http://adtrosper.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/interview-with-diana-rubino/

Blog:
http://adtrosper.wordpress.com/

Purchase:
http://www.amazon.com/Embers-Galdrilene-Dragons-Call-ebook/dp/B0080R4LPK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1336343993&sr=8-1

BLOG HOP WITH AUTHOR A.D. TROSPER

We're blog hopping today--linking to other authors' blogs with questions and answers about our current WIPs. I am currently working on a biographical novel about Martha Washington with her 'personal servant' Oney Judge as narrator. The story centers on how Martha and Oney both craved very different types of freedom. Oney escaped during Washington's second term and lived the rest of her life in Greenland, NH. Her story--and Martha's--are extraordinary.

1.    What is the working title of your book?

GIVE US LIBERTY, The Story of Martha Washington's Difficult, Confined Life as First Lady by her 'personal servant' Ona Judge

 2.    Where did the idea come from for the book?

I wanted to write a bio novel about Martha but do something different. The idea to use Oney as narrator hit me like lightning one day out of the blue.

3.    What genre does your book fall under?

New Adult Historical Novel

4.    Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

Mariah Carey would be Ona and Glenn Close as Martha.

5.    What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Ona Judge’s memoir of Lady Washington’s difficult life in her husband’s last term as president.

6.    Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?

My agent will market it to publishers.

7.    How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

I’m still working on it—I began earlier this year and plan to finish the first draft in a week or so, I’m nearly finished.

8.    What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, Martha Washington, an American life by Patricia Brady.

9.    Who or What inspired you to write this book?

I’ve always enjoyed biographies of the First Ladies, and I now enjoy writing bio novels. I thought Martha would be a good place to start.

10.What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

It’s told in Oney’s voice, before she escaped during Washington’s last term. It gives the reader Martha’s story as told by Oney, on their very different quests for freedom.

To see other authors on the hop, click on the following links: (more to be added later)

http:/adtrosper.wordpress.com

susanannwall.wordpress.com


 

 

 

AUTHOR JOAN REEVES IS MY GUEST TODAY

WELCOME TO JOAN REEVES

I'm happy to present Joan Reeves. Joan is a best-selling Kindle author of romantic comedy who, in her first five months as an ebook author, sold over 120,000 ebooks. She also writes the popular blog SlingWords ( http://SlingWords.blogspot.com ). Her latest title is ROMEO AND JUDY ANNE.
Joan will be popping in today to answer questions. Meanwhile, here is her "Universal Truth."

A Universal Truth

by Joan Reeves

Rules are interesting little critters, aren't they? Quite often, I write about rules, and about the breaking of rules. However, there is one rule that I never break, and that rule involves truth.

First Rule of Writing

Many years ago, the first so-called rule of writing that I learned was what all published writers, editors, and agents advocate: "Write what you know."

I'm pretty sure all writers still hear this because I hear it when I pop into writers' conferences. I even say it when I teach workshops and classes and when I give advice to aspiring writers. This rule applies whether you're writing fiction or nonfiction, an article for a periodical or a blog post.

Write what you know. Why? Because it gives authenticity to your words.

Now, people who don't write fiction think that writing what you know doesn't apply. After all, you're just making it up. I've heard many people tell me this so it must be true. Once, even my banker who was trying to write a nonfiction book told me that I had it so much easier because I was just making it up. So you don't have to know anything if you're just making it up. Right?

Universal Truth

Wrong! In fiction, writing what you know means not only getting the facts straight on your information plot but also finding the underlying universal truth–the emotional truth--that is as real for an American woman as it is for a French woman or a Japanese man or whomever. It's the honesty and recognizable emotional truth–recognized usually on a subconscious level--that makes fiction come to life. When done well, it's what will make an editor offer you a book publishing contract or an agent offer representation or a reader email you and say your book "spoke" to her/him.

One might even say that writing what you know--the emotions you feel when hurt, scared, angry, sad, or happy--is even more important in fiction because without that truth, your fiction will never succeed.

My Spin

Over the years, I've put my own spin on one aspect of the "write what you know" rule, that being the information plot of a story if we're talking fiction. If you've read some of my writing how-to articles or taken a class or seen me giving a presentation at a conference, you've probably heard me say it this way: Write what you know OR WANT TO KNOW.

I truly think if you are interested enough in a subject to do the necessary research AND if you have the ability to articulately express ideas then you can write on a variety of subjects without necessarily being an expert. Researching and writing about a subject are highly effective ways to self-education.

So don't be intimidated by not being an expert on a particular subject if it interests you enough to learn about it. Without realizing it, you'll become an expert. I know I have on any number of subjects that have fascinated me enough to land jobs writing about them when I was a freelance writer.

Information Plot

In fiction, this same willingness to research and explore will help you in creating your information plot. In case you've never really heard the term information plot before, just think of it as the reality your characters inhabit. Every character should be like real people who have jobs, hobbies, relationships, and environments.

Part of your information plot may revolve around airplanes if your hero is a pilot or an aircraft mechanic. You would give enough information about planes, aviation, maintenance, etc. to make the reader feel that the hero really does know what Bernoulli's Principle is and how it affects a plane in the air. The reader would come away with some new information that he never knew before. Imparting that information via your fiction is the information part.

In my work in progress OLD ENOUGH TO KNOW BETTER, my heroine is a history teacher who became interested in artisan cheese making. At the beginning of the book, she's demonstrating how to make homemade mozzarella. The reader should come away with the knowledge of how this is done. (Just in case the reader wants to try it for him/herself, I'm including the recipe. It's actually quite easy.) That and growing grapes for wine are part of the information plot of that story.

Emotional Truth

Then there's the most important truth of all--emotional truth. You can give characters hobbies, jobs, backgrounds, and all the other elements that create a "fictional person," but if you don't tap into emotional truth, your writing will never succeed. I'll warn you that tapping into the well of emotional truth that each of us carry inside can be painful.

If you're writing about a character who has lost a loved one, without consciously knowing it, you tap into your memories where something like that happened to you. Your emotions rise to the top. You remember how sad and depressed you felt. All of that give you the words you need to show your character feeling that loss and all the painful emotions that go with that.

When a reader reads your words, if you've done your job well, the reader recognizes those feelings because she's had an experience with loss–everyone, worldwide, knows that feeling. The underlying emotional truth connects you, wherever you are, with the reader wherever he may be, via a character in a book. The same is true if you're writing about love or desire or happiness. Everyone around the world knows those feelings.

You might be able to fake expert knowledge in an information plot. You can't ever fake emotional truth and get away with it, and that's a universal truth. Always.

The Keith Richards Autobiography

It's titled LIFE and now I have a new respect for Keith as the genius that he is.
He says this to musicians, but it's something all writers should remember:
"Already five years earlier, on Some Girls, we'd got "Miss You" out of it, which was one of the best disco records of all time. But Mick was chasing musical fashion. I had a lot of problems with him tryng to second-guess the audience. This is what they're into this year. Yeah, what about next year, pal? You just become one of the crowd. Let's just do it the way we've always done it, which is do we like it? Does it pass our test? When it comes down to it, Mick and I wrote our first song in a kitchen. That's as big as the world is. If we'd been thinking about how the public was going to react, we'd never have made a record."

RWA Nationals in NYC

Had a blast at Nationals! So good to see everyone! Worked registration & met one of my fav authors, Tess Gerritsen. Photo from the 48th fl. revolving restaurant atop the Marriott Marquis.

Reviews and Recipes on "A Book and a Dish"

Check out great recipes and book reviews, including A NECESSARY END and my recipe for "Jeff Davis Pie" at:
http://marthaskitchenkorner.blogspot.com

HAUNTING PARANORMAL ROMANCE NOW ON SALE!

A NECESSARY END, centered around the plot to assassinate President Lincoln with a paranormal twist, is now on sale with Amazon.com.