Thursday, December 31, 2009

Happy New Year

Thanks to those of you who've accompanied me on my writing journey via these posts. Stay tuned. I think it's going to get even more interesting from here on out.

May tomorrow's dawn mark the start of a year that gives each of us a renewed closeness to the God who placed us here, and a vision of His purpose for us.

Happy New Year.

Thursday, December 24, 2009

Christmas: Light In The Darkness

This was the Christmas message I posted last year. I don't think I can say it any better. May your holidays be blessed. Random Jottings will return on January 4.

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"Do we go to your parents' house or mine?" "Where did you put the extra string of Christmas lights?" "Which stuffing recipe are you going to use?" "What can we give him/her?" "Where is my Christmas tie?" "Why doesn't this sweater fit anymore?"

Have these become the sounds of Christmas at your house? I hope not. As the blessed day sneaks up on us, I've wondered what to say to those of you who read my random jottings from time to time. What can I say that's new and inspirational? Finally, it dawned on me...I don't have to find something new. Better to stick with something written about 2700 years ago by the prophet, Isaiah. The words bring as much hope now as they did then. May it be ever so.

"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned....For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

May you have God's peace in your heart, not just as you celebrate Christ's birthday, but every day in the year to come. Merry Christmas.

Monday, December 21, 2009

Previews Of Coming Attractions

I've just learned to write "2009" and now 2010 is already around the corner. I may not necessarily be having fun, but nevertheless time is flying by. Other than a Christmas message on December 24, this will be my last post until next year. Here's a preview of what you can expect at that time.

I've invited Maegan Roper, the new Marketing and Publicity Manager for my publisher, Abingdon Press, to answer some questions about marketing and publicity. You'll want to check out that interview, although it may give many of the authors among us heartburn as we learn how much we need to be involved in selling our books.

New York Times best-selling author, my cyber-friend and colleague, Dr. Michael Palmer joins me for a discussion of medical details in fiction and a preview of his forthcoming novel of medical suspense, The Last Surgeon. Oh, yes, we may just touch on my own debut novel, Code Blue.

I try to make these posts interesting enough to keep you coming back to read them. If there's something you'd like discussed here, leave a comment, won't you?

Meanwhile, may I wish you and yours a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year.

Friday, December 18, 2009

Please Join Me In Celebrating

I'd like to share some good news with all my readers. I've just signed a contract with Abingdon Press for the publication of the second and third novels in the Prescription For Trouble series. In addition to Code Blue, which will be released April 1, 2010, you can look for Medical Error in the fall of 2010 and Cause Of Death the following spring.

I'd like to express my sincere appreciation to my agent, Rachelle Gardner of WordServe Literary, and Barbara Scott, Senior Acquisitions Editor at Abingdon Press for all they've done to make this dream a reality. Thanks to you both for believing in me.

You can pre-order Code Blue now from your local independent bookseller, Amazon, Christianbook.com, or Cokesbury books. If you do, drop me an email (using the "email me" tab at the upper right corner of this page) with your mailing address and the name of the retailer from which you ordered, and I'll send you a signed bookplate for the front of the book. As an added bonus, at the end of Code Blue you'll find a preview of Medical Error. I hope it piques your interest.

Thanks for letting me share this exciting news with you. My sincere wishes to all my readers for a wonderful Christmas and a great New Year. Blessings.

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Rules Of Writing

When I first stumbled into this thing called writing, I had a very simplistic view of the whole enterprise. After all, I'd had my full measure of English classes in high school and had done well. I'd edited or written eight textbooks that are still in use. Over a hundred of my papers had been published in medical journals. I knew how to put the words together. This fiction stuff should be a snap. Right?

We'll now pause for all the writers out there to stop laughing. No, despite being reasonably conversant with the language, I still had a lot to learn. And I'm still learning.

Of course, one of the things that frustrates every writer is seeing a novel on the shelves at our local bookstore, opening it, and seeing that the author has violated one or more of the rules we've had hammered into us.

Bill Pronzini is a well-respected writer of thrillers. He's been nominated numerous times for the Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America. Publishers Weekly called him "a master of the modern mystery." Here are the opening lines of his novel, Quarry:

Cool, windy Monday in late April. Pale sun, scattered cumulus clouds. Nice day for a long, solitary drive into the country, especially when you had a partner and best friend who was getting married in a few days and who was turning everyone concerned into basket cases with his prenuptial mania...

There wasn't much traffic on Highway 101 south of King City, and when I turned off at San Lucas there was no traffic at all...


Now, this turns out to be a good book. I've read it a couple of times, and like Pronzini's work. But all you writers out there, what rules did he break? Here are the ones that jumped out at me. Never start a book with information about the weather. Don't write in first person--it's extremely limiting. Avoid "passive" phrases that depend on "was ---ing" verbs. Don't put too much backstory into the first few pages. Introduce tension early. Hook the reader with the first sentence if you can, certainly with the first paragraph.

How did Pronzini get away with it? The simple answer is that he'd developed a following (including me) and they knew that if they just waded through the first few pages it would get better. And, in this case, it did.

Do writing rules serve a purpose? I think they do. I've just completed the final edits of Code Blue, and I have to admit that when I followed my editor's suggestions to got rid of some of my pet words (I seem to favor "just"), when I changed "was starting" to "started," and when I applied some of the other standard "rules" for writing, the resulting prose flowed better and held my attention. But I dream of the day when I've written a couple of dozen successful books and, like Bill Pronzini, I can ignore the rules and just write.

Writers, do rules bother you or do they help? Readers, what's your take on openings like this one?