Laura and “Pumpkin Sally”
I am tickled pink, or maybe orange, that The Great Pumpkin Ride has been featured on Kindle Boards in the new book discovery section. http://kboards.blogspot.ca/ Woot! Woot! Let’s hear it for my old Pumpkin Sally who enjoyed her first appearance in print in this book, adding many laughs to the kids unforgettable adventures.
Buy any one e-book of One Frosty Christmas, The Great Pumpkin Ride, A Filly Called Easter, or Independence by December 22, 2016 and receive a free e-book of your choice.
Just tell us where you purchased your e-book and which e-book you purchased and we will send you a FREE copy of the next novel in the Holiday Series!
Defying Hope:
The school of hard love is taken to the next level when a renegade nun chains hooker/ junkie, Hope Sanderson, to a steel girder inside a derelict building in the hopes of helping her break her habit.
Sometimes you need to leap off a cliff, not for the view, but to see how far down the ground really is. Then again, I’ve always liked Monty Python’s line: “And now for something completely different.”
That’s what I did during the re-writing of the horror/thriller screenplay for Defying Hope. I broke down my own barriers and took a leap into the dark side.
Defying Hope is one of the darkest stories that I’ve ever written. Blew my mind really. The re-write was tough as I had to take the screenplay down to its basic story line, characters, and dialogue. The re-write resulted in a faster moving story line with four locations instead of fifteen, more action, and some new revelations about the characters. It is a pretty cool feeling when the characters come to life and take over the story.
And now…back to the writing of Valentino.
It is time to refresh my book covers in the Holiday Series. It’s been a big job. Now, for the inside jackets and story lines. Life as an independent author means you wear a lot of hats. You will also see that the title of “Two Independents” is changing to “Independence.”
Why the changes? In the writing of the screenplays, I added some scenes from the back-stories that I had for the characters. I liked them so much that I am including some of the scenes in the novels. With the re-writes come a new design. When the re-writes are complete, these covers will appear on my website and sales platforms.
Laura Hesse
Love ebooks? . Follow this link to my author page. My own novels are at the bottom, or follow the link to meet some new and exciting authors for the sizzling summer e-book sale (50% off regular prices) on Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/laurahesse
It took me about a week to work out the beat sheet for “Whisper” to the point that I was happy with the story line that had developed, and another two weeks to write out the 40 scenes that will make up the screenplay.
By using the scene cards and the beat sheet, I was able to write the first 15 pages of the script in an hour.
This is quite a dramatic change for me and I like it. Instead of letting the story and characters develop as I write the first draft, I have a plan in place. I like it. I believe that my stories will have better structure, more conflict, and less meandering in the story line, because of it.
I didn’t know if I could “change lanes” with regards to the way I craft a new story, and am happy to say that it seems you really can teach an old dog new tricks. My skills as a writer are growing in leaps and bounds. I am using the “Save the Cat” Method to fine tune Valentino, as well as begin a new screenplay, Whisper. Already this morning, I have outlined the the opening Act, and completed the story-board for Whisper. Yesterday, I worked at adding more conflict into Valentino. I highly recommend any writer read Blake Snyder’s books. Take away what you can from them. There is always a new trick to be learned or an old trick to relearn.
I hooked up with Mark Dawson by fluke when one of his ads popped up on my facebook page. Since then, I have enjoyed both his ever popular training videos and now his new podcasts on his self-publishing website. Check them out: http://www.selfpublishingformula.com/
First stop was Parkswest Office Supplies for a $6.99 corrugated sheet of plastic board, a $3.99 box of index cards, and a couple of sharpies at $2.99 each. I could have chosen a blue, black or bright orange background, but I went for white, like the top of Mount Arrowsmith. I wanted my story board to be as clean and crisp as the sun on fresh snow. I wanted old school. I wanted to be able to look up and not down at my first words.
Next step: ink “Whisper” in the top right corner of my cold winter landscape and then let her rip!
I am using the Blake Snyder Beat Sheet as a guideline. Totally different way of working, and thinking, for me. I am halfway through using the template to rough-out the story line.
The story is as clean as my sparkling work space after a three hour cleaning marathon. Here’s to learning new things! Who says you can’t teach an old dog a new trick? Not me. lol
Running L Productions 