Tweet Your Book

Twitter provides an excellent way to get your book out before the public. But if you've never been on twitter or written a tweet, here are a few tips.

1. Project a professional image by careful selection of your handle
(twitter name), your photo and your biography. Keep the handle short but not silly. Some writers might use their first and last name followed by author or an abbreviation like bks. for books. I used a photo of myself taken at one of my launch parties at a friend's house. I'm sitting on a nice sofa and holding a copy of my first romantic suspense novel Hiding. In a brief bio, I included my education, past jobs related to writing, and a list of my published
works. Also, include some personal likes and/or dislikes, hobbies,
favorite foods, pets etc. that give the reader a peak at your personality.

2. 140 characters and hash tags: Remember when you finished that first manuscript and were then asked to give a synopsis in 500 words or less? Now think even shorter. Now you're counting letters. Tweets are short. Make sure your title and the website where readers can order your book are included. Use photos of your cover or perhaps the beach with the words: Looking for a great summer read to attract attention. I didn't even know what a hash tag was when I started, but they are short words or initials
that alert readers looking for certain topics. #romance #suspense
or in the case of my publisher #TWRP is short for The Wild Rose Press.

3. Build followers by following others with similar interests such as other authors or other readers. Thank those who follow you and retweet their tweets. And don't spam your followers by constantly hawking your lastest book. Use some tweets to put out neat quotations or to praise others or to start discussions. 

Now visit www.twitter.com and get started.

Complex Characters

Most writers spend a great deal of time fleshing out the hero and heroine giving them flaws and virtues, conflicting likes and dislikes, turning them into real and complex people. But sometimes there is a tendency to spend less time on secondary characters making them one dimensional and maybe even stereotypical.
     James Scott Bell in his article "The 5 Cs of Writing the Great Thriller Novel" written for The Writer's Digest advises: "Look for ways friends can become enemies or betrayers." This can create undercurrents and secondary themes. Bell suggests a character grid.


                    Susan                Marcus              Robert               Carmel

Susan

Marcus

Robert

Carmel

Then fill in the blanks.

                   Susan                                                              Carmel
Susan                                                            Is jealous of the attention Marcus gives Carmel.
                                                                      (Susan is secretly attracted to Marcus.)

Robert       Knows Marcus has an illegitimate child

Many times creating characters who are opposites gives many opportunities for both humor and conflict. Think of Felix and Oscar on The Odd Couple or The female Salvation Army worker and the gambler in Guys and Dolls.

In this post, I'd like to introduce an up and coming author, Elva Cobb Martin. She is the president of the S.C. Chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers which meets once a month in Anderson, SC. A former school teacher and graduate of Anderson University and Erskine College, she has written for the Christian magazines: Decision, Charisma, and Home Life. Her Bible study, Power Over Satan is available on Amazon.com.
    She is currently under contract for two romance novels. Summer of Deception, is scheduled for a 2017 release by Prism Book Group. The setting of the story is a tea plantation near Charleston, SC. Her historical romance, In a Pirate's Debt, also scheduled for a 2017 release will be available through Lighthouse Publishers of the Carolinas. A mother and grandmother, she resides with her husband Dwayne and a lovable mini-dachshund named Lucy in Anderson, S.C. She also leads an internet prayer task force praying for a Great Awakening.
    You make connect with her on her web site: www.elvamartin.com or visit her blog at http://carolinaromancewithelvamartin.blogspot.com

To purchase Power Over Satan: How to Discern and Defeat the Enemy's Plans Against You go to book page on Amazon: buff.ly/1NUkfYD

Buy button

If you've had a difficult time locating Hiding, here is the buy button

http://catalog.thewildrosepress.com/all-titles/3572-hiding.html?search_query=Hiding&results=4

Just paste it into your browser.

The Perfect Oubliette

     After creating an intriguing villain, I needed the perfect setting for the climax of Hiding, available at www.thewildrosepress.com.
Having read a fascinating article in National Geographic about the labyrinth of tunnels under Paris that include a sewer and water system, French resistance outposts from WWII, and the ancient and eerie catacombs, I knew I had the perfect oubliette. The French word oubliette means "forgotten place." An on-line tour of the catacombs gave me a realistic vision of the bone yard. When Alex abducts Teresa and takes her there, she realizes with growing horror there is no better place to kill someone. What notice will be taken of one more set of bones among the many?
     Find the perfect oubliette for your novel and think about important setting can be to the story. In "The Fall of the House of Usher" the crumbling mansion represents the decaying family. The house is attacks strangers; it is almost a living being, another character. The crack that widens and causes its ultimate destruction
symbolizes the hereditary thread of insanity that runs through the Usher family which culminates with Roderick and Madeline.

Creating a Good Villain

     In creating romantic suspense the "bad guy" is just as important, if not more important, than the hero and heroine. He must be a "real" person with legitimate motives and his own back story; otherwise, you end up writing a melodrama with stock characters like Dudley Do-right and Snidely Whiplash.
     In my suspense romance Hiding, available at www.thewildrosepress.com, I gave a lot of thought to my stalker, Alex Sinclair. When Alex was a child his father deserted his mother, and Alex has pent up anger over the abandonment. His fascination with knives is symbolic of his father's action in cutting off his family. Alex is insecure and easily becomes jealous. He hates to look foolish in front of other males.
     At first, he is a strong shoulder to lean on, an excellent financial advisor and friend to the heroine, Teresa, who has lost her father after a long struggle with cancer. Her mother died when Teresa was a child, and her father's medical bills have left her almost destitute. Fortunately, she has a college education and rare artistic talent. Alex goes out of his way to help her, even lending her money, but he finds her desire to establish independence threatening. When he strikes her in anger, she flees to Paris with the last of her savings, hoping to leave his over possessiveness behind. But eventually, he tracks her down.
     A "good villain"? Oxymoron? No. In creating a believable monster who genuinely thinks he has been wronged, an author cranks up the suspense. Breath bated, the reader forges ahead as this legitimately off-balanced person commits acts of increasing atrocity. Like the narrator in Poe's "The Tell Tale Heart," who keeps insisting that he is perfectly sane, the reader sees and fears the psychosis.

Entering RWA Contests

Before I published Hiding, my suspense romance novel, I entered several contests sponsored by various chapters of Romance Writers of America. The early contest entries helped me improve the first chapter so that it grabbed the reader's attention. The comments from various judges were really helpful in the revision process. Then I placed in the SOLA Contest which boosted my confidence.
Finally, I won the Daphne du Maurier Award for Suspense. Without these contests, I might not have gained the self-assurance to submit the manuscript for publication. You can always check current contests at the RWA website. Good luck with your submissions!