Writing Archives - Page 5 of 50 - Addicted to Writing

Interview with Novelist Trudy Myers

Posted on April 7, 2023 Written by Pinar Tarhan

For this post, I interviewed American author Trudy Myers. She writes in different genres and has some great insights into the writing life.

Where are you from and where do you live?

I grew up in the midwest of the US, mainly in Nebraska and Colorado. When my husband and I retired, we moved to our current home in Groveland, Florida. That’s just an hour’s drive from the theme parks of Orlando.

When did you start writing and when did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I started putting stories down on paper in the fourth grade, about age 10. I’ve been writing pretty nonstop since, but it was only after I retired from my day job that I started getting published by other small presses.

What do you write?

Mostly novels. Short stories are difficult for me, because I keep wanting to introduce complications, and before I know it, it’s not a short story anymore. As for what genres I do write, it’s really whatever strikes my fancy. My first two stories published were paranormal, then a fantasy. Then I wrote two romances, and now I’m working on a soap opera romantic science fiction series.

I write under two different names; my own (Trudy V Myers) and a pen name I use for romances (Linda NMI Joy).

Let’s talk about your latest book. What’s it about? What inspired it?

The science fiction series I just mentioned was inspired by Star Trek, the original series. I loved the idea of a spaceship traveling around, having adventures. But with people being people, I was sure there would be some kind of drama between crew members as well. So I introduced a new communications officer on a well-established ship.

She came from a heavy world, so she was stronger than most of the other crew women, and she also had a lot of unusual beliefs about men, due to her father’s heavy-handed upbringing. The crew does have adventures, but she has her own internal adventures trying to fit in with the crew.

Do you have tips for writers who struggle with finding ideas or getting unstuck during certain places in their stories?

I usually start with a character. I give them characteristics that make them ‘different’, and then I start building a world around them. That usually introduces another character or two, and possibly a problem that needs to be solved. If no problem presents itself, I have to complicate the world to create a problem.

As for getting stuck at some point, I’ll try different methods. I’ll re-read the last chapter or two, looking for a place where I can turn the story in a new direction. I’ll wonder if I’ve got the characters acting true to themselves. If I’ve got a hot-headed warrior woman, she wouldn’t suddenly turn tail and run. You have to let the characters be themselves.

And then there’s editing and marketing. Do you have a specific process and/or tips you’d like to share with authors?

I generally put my rough drafts through 3 edits. In the first one, I concentrate on finding inconsistencies and plot holes and fixing them. In the second edit, I study each scene to make sure it’s necessary. A long rambling scene that only introduces one or two facts that are important will be eliminated and those important facts moved to other scenes.

In the third edit, I check my grammar, my punctuation, spelling, word use, etc. It sounds like I’m doing a lot in my third edit, but I’m lucky that I have a pretty strong understanding of grammar and punctuation.

As for marketing, I’m still trying to figure out what works. There are lots of people out there with good ideas. You have to decide what you can do, and ultimately, what will work for you.

Who are your favorite authors? And why?

Robert Asprin, Connie Willis, Esther Friesner

I love some comedy in my reading. I grew up reading for enjoyment, and comedy really appeals to me.

Where can we find your books and writing?

My books that are published by MoonPhaze are on Smashwords.com, which offers several ebook formats. If you are looking for a physical book, rather than an ebook, try MoonPhaze.com. On both of these websites, try both names for me, Trudy V Myers and Linda NMI Joy.

I also have a weekly blog at TrudysUniverse.blogspot.com. It is an eclectic assortment of whatever subject I researched that week. When I retired, I started thinking of writing science fiction and realized my science knowledge was woefully out of date. So I subscribed to 3 different science magazines to try to catch up.

Sometimes I do a little more research on a particular subject and report on it in my blog. Lately, I have been reporting on various animals from the last ice age.

Can you share some non-writing facts about yourself?

I also have hobbies, such as making ‘bumpy foreheads’ for those who want to try being an alien warrior from Star Trek. My husband got me into this, as he wanted to be one, and didn’t know where to get a forehead. It’s a lot of fun, but can be a lot of work.

I also crochet, knit, sew, and do leatherwork, when I can find the time.

I like cats. Dogs are okay, but I’m a cat person. Unfortunately, allergies keep me from having one.

Where can we find you online?

On Facebook, look for Trudy Myers.

I also handle Twitter posts for MoonPhaze, @MoonPhazePub

Any parting words?

Thank you for having me. It was fun to answer your questions. (A couple of them made me stop and think, always difficult early on a weekend morning.)

Why I Think Men Should Read My Romcoms Too (Why Finding Your Target Audience Is Tricky)

Posted on March 21, 2023 Written by Pinar Tarhan

This post is for two groups:

Authors struggling to find and reach their target audience. (PS I am still figuring this out. But I have some useful tips to get started.)
Men who love short and entertaining romcoms that don’t devote 40 pages to how hot the male main character is.)

Let me explain.

As authors, we are expected to have our elevator pitch, aka a brief but intriguing description, for all our books ready at all times. Mine is:

I write short and fun escapist romcom dramas even men can enjoy. I feature big casts and multiple POVs.

So why “even men?”

There are a lot of romcom fans out there, and not all of them are women. Sure, some men are dragged by their girlfriends to the movie theaters, but many enjoy the experience. And they are probably more comfortable buying movie tickets than being seen reading books with hot men on the cover.

Men reading this post, be honest: How many of you hated watching The Ugly Truth?

Or What Women Want?

Or The Wedding Crashers? (If you did, why???)

Okay, okay. Taste is subjective. But surely you see my point. And if you haven’t seen these movies, please watch them. They are hilarious. And romantic. And so much fun.

Maybe I am weird. Maybe the reason I am not a bestselling author yet is I have strange tastes.

But I’ll name two romcoms or romances I didn’t love with the passion as the rest of the public:

Notting Hill.
The Notebook (based on a book)

They aren’t bad. They are great in some ways even. They are just not for me.

With Notting Hill, I didn’t like the romantic storyline.

With The Notebook, I am a bit turned off by how incompatible they are. I also don’t like unhappy endings, no matter how much romance and love you pour into them.

Here are some romcoms I adore:

Pride and Prejudice (movie and book)
Just Like Heaven (The movie. Didn’t read the book.)
The Holiday (Yes, I love writer/director Nancy Meyers)
While You Were Sleeping
Someone Like You
27 Dresses
Kate & Leopold
Friends with Benefits
10 Things I Hate About You
Laws of Attraction
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Can You Keep a Secret? (Great book. Fun movie.)

Some are rated PG, some are PG-13 and some are R.

The majority have biggish casts and interesting subplots. Some have elements of sci-fi or fantasy.

At the end of the day, they have fun premises and end HEA. No one dies. The main characters find The One. The main characters don’t cheat on their loved ones, most people are very attractive, and the characters are flawed but likable and relatable.

I use multiple POVs, because I get bored if we are only in one person’s head. Especially if that one person is only about the girl/boy they like. Remember the Joseph Gordon-Levitt movie 5oo Days of Summer? I like that film as a character study of an obsessed young man who’s clueless about how real love works. And I love watching Gordon-Levitt as an actor. But if you try to sell that film as a realistic romcom, we’ll have words. A romcom is about two people finding mutual love. Not one guy spending an entire film chasing a girl and ignoring what she says or wants. And guess what, Levitt is on my side. He believes his character’s the villain if you are desperate to find one.

Back to my romcoms and why men can and do enjoy them:

While my characters meet, fall in love, and stay together, there’s more to their life than each other. They have dreams about their careers, close friends, and hobbies. They listen to each other.

I simply don’t have the book space just to talk about how they look for so many pages on end. They are hot. End of.

But if you don’t like good-looking characters, you won’t like most romcoms. Not just mine.

What about realism?

What realism?

Kidding. But there’s a reason I put the word escapist in my elevator pitch.

Look some of my favorite movies include Braveheart (historically inaccurate), The Crow (dude comes back from the dead), and Speed. I adore Atomic Blonde and John Wick. So…

Of course, my characters live in the real world and they have problems. But it’s not all problems. They have good things going for them too because life is like that. You have ups and downs.

If my character’s boyfriend dies, I’m not going to give her cancer.

If my character’s broke and stuck in a bad job and relationship, you can bet she’s going to have amazing friends who will help her out of this mess.,

Now that we got that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the things that will help you find and/or reach your target readers:

Choosing a genre-appropriate cover

This is where things get tricky, at least for me.

My audience is more women than men, but it’s not only women.

My books are semi-steamy: My characters have sex. And I tell you this. I just don’t describe it in detail. Unless you only read clean romance, you’ll be fine reading my books.

My books are romcom dramas, especially A Change Would Do You Good, the first book in the A Change Would Do You Good series. The main character’s boyfriend is dead. One of the major characters struggles with agoraphobia. Naturally, I didn’t think a pink cover or a cover with a semi-naked dude would be appropriate or reflective.

You can study covers of well-selling novels in your genre all you’d like, but it doesn’t mean much unless you also look at the plot, style, and themes of those books.

I believe my cover designer did a fantastic job. Remember: big cast, surfer main character, several surfer supporting characters, big moves, and changes. Set in San Diego.

Writing your blurb

I shelled out and hired Best Page Forward to rewrite mine. I like the result. I hate writing summaries, blurbs, and synopses with a passion. If you need it, get help.

Until I could afford it, mine was written by me with feedback from author friends who read in my genre.

Bad reviews (news flash: they do suck.)

It doesn’t matter how much you emphasize what your book includes, you will have people complaining about what it includes.

If you only want to read about a small cast of characters, detailed sex scenes, and one-person POV, don’t read my books. If you hate swearing, don’t read my books. If you love literary books and pages and pages of narration about things unrelated to the plot, don’t read my books.

Why lose time over something you are not into?

Unfortunately, your non-target audience will find you and will leave you 1-2 stars.

I am not going to tell you to develop a thicker skin. I hate it when people do that. It’s easier said than done, and I hate impractical advice.

Sure, if you have 5,000 awesome reviews, even 500 bad reviews won’t hurt. (At least it shouldn’t hurt much.)

But when you just have 5 or 10, or if you have many but a few is all you have on a given Amazon page (because they are scattered around Amazon’s various country-specific pages and Goodreads), you freak out.

So, Authors, what do you do?

Continue your search. Tell whoever asks about your book, but also tell them what it isn’t.
Trust that the right people will find you, and that remember that you probably have a couple of favorite movies on IMDB rated only 5-6 stars over 10. A high rating means the writer reached their target audience. Not that you’ll necessarily enjoy that book.
Write more books so you increase the chance of being discovered.
Love your fans. Even if you only have a few.
Improve your writing and marketing, but don’t stop being you.
Check if you are meeting genre expectations. If you aren’t, notice if this is on purpose or by accident.

Here’s what I mean: An action drama can kill off its protagonist. An action/thriller usually doesn’t. I love Jack Reacher. I read all the books, and watched the movies and the Amazon series.

Love them all. I’d be so pissed if Reacher was killed off. So if you want to write an action thriller with a super soldier, cop, or spy but want to kill them in the end, you will need to find people who will enjoy this.

If you think you might be betraying genre conventions accidentally, the fix is a little easier. You read the well-selling books in your genre, find the common ground and apply them in a way that will work for your story. If you don’t know what these expectations are, you’ve got some studying to do.

Men,

Worry not, a lot of my female MCs are beautiful. And while they might lust after Mr. Darcy and want to be romanced, they tend to love action films, having fun, and rock’n’roll.

Why not read about fun, flawed but decent people trying to make the most of their lives as they find passion and love?

How to apply vague/abstract marketing advice

It sounds abstract to me when marketing advice asks me to create a reader avatar to represent my target audience. They want to paint a clear picture so I know who I am talking to. Or create different several avatars which include sex, occupation, kids, marital status, age, outlook on life, and maybe even their income bracket.

Come again?

How do you do this when you are just starting out or have a small number of books and a small audience?

Let’s try the exercise for my books. You can try for yours.

You are a man or a woman.

I know that you – my target audience – believe in love. I know that you are a cynical or hopeful romantic. But I don’t know if you are single or married. Whether you have 0 or 5 kids. (Some of my readers are single. Some are happily married. Some have 0 kids. Some have 3.)

I know that you love life, even though it pisses you off sometimes.

I know that you love your friends and non-toxic family members.

I know that you desire or have a job you love.

You have hobbies. You can care much about both deep and superficial stuff.

You like money, but you like your freedom a bit more.

You are probably not too into literary fiction.

You care about the plot.

I don’t know your favorite drink or sport.

I can’t.

You are probably between the ages of 25-45, but this is a guess based on the average age of my characters, and the readers who talk to me.

And you like certain things left to the imagination, you know, like how much tongues are involved in a kissing scene.

This is as specific as my avatar can get. You tell me, where do these people hang out? 🙂 (Because that’s how we sell, right? By being where the readers are.)

How did your avatar exercise go?

Summing Up

Defining your audience is complicated.
People have complicated tastes. I can’t just go to the beach and ask surfers to buy my books.
You need to do a lot of research, go through trial and error, and yeah, suffer a bit in the process.
In the meantime, don’t ignore potential targets (or books you might enjoy) because of stereotypes.

If you enjoyed this post, consider joining my newsletter. I share posts from this blog, updates about and excerpts from my books, and movie/TV/book recs.

Like Beach Romances? A Change Would Do You Better Is Coming!

Posted on November 6, 2022 Written by Pinar Tarhan

What better to announce a sequel to a surfer romance novel than a badass surfer picture?

I’ve finally finished A Change Would Do You Better, a beach rom-com drama that is the sequel to A Change Would Do You Good.

I’m currently proofing it, so the launch’s getting closer. (Which will be in January. Stay tuned for the cover reveal and the exact launch date announcement.)

Both can be read as standalones, but the second book starts from where we left the characters in book one. Obviously, I’m biased, and I’d prefer you read them chronologically, but it’s up to you. 🙂

In case you want to check out the cover for the first book in the series. 🙂

A Few Fun Facts About A Change Would Do You Better

Janie and Kevin are still the main couple, followed by Linda and Rick.
Janie’s close friends, married couple Andy and Sarah move back to the States, causing some solid conflicts.
Fun role reversal: Just as Greg went on a mission to change Linda’s life for the better in the first book, Linda will take up the mantle. No, Greg doesn’t get a say in this.
Model and fashion designer Ben is still one of the main characters. And this time, changes are coming for him too.
The book ends HEA, but there will be a third book (and probably final book — which will also be — you guessed it, HEA).
There are new meet-cutes and interesting new characters.
You’ll also reunite with Denise, Michelle, Ian, Tom, and Sam.

One clue about one of the new meet-cutes. There is a cute dog and water’s involved. Just picture a Golden Retriever instead. 🙂

Be advised, the following blurb kind of spoils the first book.

But then again, it doesn’t tell you anything about the how and why, which is what makes romcoms fun in the first place. And let’s face it, you knew Janie and Kevin would get together.

What is A Change Would Do You Better about?

About a year ago, Janie moved to San Diego for a fresh start after a devastating loss. And the big changes she made paid off: She’s happily dating her hunky surfer neighbor Kevin, who turned out to be a better boyfriend than anyone could have imagined.

Linda loves being a fitness trainer and not even a long tour couldn’t mess up her budding relationship with rock frontman Rick.

Therapist Greg is happy working for Janie’s boss Ellen and running his own clinic.

Janie’s old friends Andy and Sarah have moved back, and they have a lot to catch up on.

Things are going great, except….

Kevin’s new student is hellbent on seducing him.

Andy and Sarah are keeping a massive secret from Janie that might ruin their friendship forever.

Rick is about to co-star in a steamy video with one of America’s sexiest women, and Greg is dating the wrong person yet again.

Finding love is hard. Making the relationship work is even harder. Will your favorite couples make it?

And Change is coming for them all…

Want to read the book before the launch? Email me at pinartarhan@windowslive.com, and let me know you want ARCS in the subject line.

Want to read the first one first? You can read it for free through Kindle Unlimited or buy it on Amazon here.

The Tools I Use for Writing, Editing and Formatting My Novels

Posted on November 2, 2022 Written by Pinar Tarhan

As an author, I’m always interested in which tools fellow authors use to craft their manuscripts.

Writing a novel typically takes a long time. And even if some writers are faster than others, there’s so much effort put in that it makes sense to choose tools that make life easier.

So here are mine.

Writing

– Laptop.

My laptop is a Lenovo IdeaPad S540. I had a couple of issues at first, Like a battery dying more quickly than it should or a fan that shouldn’t have gone awry when it was practically new. But after they were fixed, I am super used to my 14” baby. It’s also light.

I carry it everywhere, and it’s also my television, so I do use my laptop more than most.

The one before this was a Macbook Air. While things were fantastic at first, it became a hassle once I started having issues.

Getting it repaired after the warranty expires takes a long time, the people at the store can’t agree on what’s wrong, and it is expensive.

Unless I can own two laptops at the same time, I probably won’t buy an Apple computer. But price and repair issues aside, the device was super-fast and light. And I miss some of the free apps that were only available in the Apple store.

Side note: I’ve been typing on a computer since I was 10 (which was in the mid-90s), and I’ve never even touched a typewriter. I can’t comment on it.

Actual image of me writing. My former laptop, RIP.

– A fun notebook and a mechanical pencil

I’m guessing you’ve guessed my age from the previous point.

While I don’t write the entire story in a notebook (I used to, before I only had a PC and not a laptop), I outline the entire thing before I start typing. I also note down good dialogue and interesting ideas as they come to me.

I always have a physical notebook with me, whether I’m carrying my laptop or not that day.

I sometimes take notes on my phone if I have to, but because the screen and keypad are so small, I won’t type large chunks of stuff if I can help it.

– Microsoft Word.

I’m too used to it at this point. I just type everything here.

– Trello.

I use it for visual outlining. It works wonders. I have a free account.

– Spotify/Jango/YouTube

A writer needs her music. I have free accounts.

– Dictionary.com/ Thesaurus

Nothing makes you question your language abilities and knowledge more than writing a novel.

Is that really how that thing is spelled?

Does this word mean what you think it means?

And then there’s the need to find the right word. The best word. An online dictionary and thesaurus definitely come in handy.

– Email/Google Drive/Dropbox/ Flash Drive/ External Hard DISC

I save my work obsessively. I push the save button a million times, even though it is saved automatically.

I email my work to myself at various intervals and keep them stored online and offline.

After it is finished, I also print it out and save a physical copy as well.

– Social media, for keeping friends updated, and not losing my sanity in isolation.

Social media is important for marketing, but it is also a nice way of keeping social and sane when you are at a desk for hours on end.

Obviously, don’t let it distract you so much that you can’t focus. I stay away from anything negative, though.

Editing and Formatting

It’s a universally acknowledged fact that a writer’s work really starts after her drafts are done.

You have to do several different types of editing so that the story is not only grammatically correct without typos and the language flows, but also the story makes the most sense and provides the most emotion and entertainment.

If you can afford to hire a professional editor, by all means, please do so.

But if you can’t afford one and you have faith in your editing and proofing skills, here’s what will help you the most:

– Grammarly (free version)

I love Grammarly to check for accuracy and mistakes but beware. You also have to recheck everything Grammarly suggests.

It’s not human, and there are a few wrong and unnecessary suggestions along the way.

I used to own the premium version, and I have a review on the blog. But it is expensive, and I have managed fine with the free version.

– Reedsy

Reedsy formats the book for you for free, and it’s easy to use.

– Printer /Copy place

Seeing the book in print is different than seeing it on the screen and helps you catch the mistakes you otherwise wouldn’t have noticed.

That said, this can cost a bit, so if you don’t want to do it, you can try other tricks such as making the font bigger, making it in another color, turning it into a pdf, or making the computer read it out loud for you.

You can also read it out loud yourself. Some people also read it backward, but my brain doesn’t work that way.

If you can share your work with others in the form of beta readers/ARC readers, and they don’t mind sharing the mistakes they find with you, even better.

Another set of eyes is always preferable because after staring at something so many things, you start seeing what you think is there, and not necessarily what there is.

For more on editing, you can read this post: How to Edit Your Writing on a Budget (to Save Time and Money).

It’s all fun and games when your novel is finished and published. Just kidding. Then you have to market your butt off. But at least you have something nice and shiny to show for your efforts. 🙂 Want to check out the book in the pic? It’s here. I’m currently proofing its sequel.

End note:

Please don’t forget to register your novel with the copyright office.

How about you? Which tools do you prefer when you are writing, editing, and formatting your novel?