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Jun 12 2019

Hot Time In The Summer Time collection

I’m in this collection with my short story Cowgirls Don’t Cry which follows Cowgirl Up in an early anthology with Romance Books ‘4’ Us collection.

Cowgirls Don't Cry-1

As Gwen and Arthur’s big day approaches, will his father succeed in stopping the
wedding from happening, or will Gwen’s empathic gift soften his heart?

COWGIRLS DON’T CRY

(FOLLOWS COWGIRL UP)

Janice Seagraves

CHAPTER ONE

 

While interviewing his client, Arthur Castel felt an urge to wrap things up. A shiver of awareness went through him, and his heart beat a little bit faster. Gwen is in the waiting room. He didn’t need to look to see if she was there, he knew it. The bond that had linked them the first night they slept together told him so.

As the client, Mr. Ortega, told him about the case, Arthur nodded, but his gaze kept darting toward the door. He jotted down some notes, even though his heart wasn’t in it. Anything to keep his mind off Gwen. This was his first case as a trial lawyer and he should have been excited. He studied the file and asked a couple more questions. “Okay. That seems to be all I need from you. If I have any more questions, I can call you at this number, right?”

“Yes, or my office number.” Mr. Ortega, a well-dressed middle-aged man with silver in his dark hair, slid a card across the desk.

Picking up the card, Arthur clipped it to the file. He stood and held out his hand. “Thank you for coming in.”

Mr. Ortega stood and clasped his palm. “Think you can get me off?”

“I’ll do my best. Sexual harassment lawsuits can be a little dicey, but this one seems to be more of a he said/she said situation.” Probably why he, the newbie, was saddled with this case. “I’ll do the best I can.”

“That’s all I can ask for.” Mr. Ortega went out the door.

Arthur placed a few folders he needed to go over into a briefcase and hurried out. His entire body pulsed at the sight of his fiancée.

Gwen sat in one of the comfortable chairs in the waiting room. She wore one of the dresses he had bought for her—low-cut, and dark. The dress was made for her. He caught a tantalizing glimpse of her creamy white breasts. All he wanted was to take her right there on the floor.

Gwen’s green eyed gaze went to Mr. Ortega. Her expression seemed troubled.

“Did milady miss me?” Arthur offered a hand.

“Always, darling.” Gwen took his palm and rose.

The shock of skin to skin contact ran through his body.

She picked up her old leather-fringed jacket.

Arthur helped her into it and sniffed her hair, getting a lungful of cherry blossom from her shampoo. “Your jacket does nothing for that sexy dress.”

She slipped her arms into the sleeves. “Sorry, but it’s all I have.”

He settled the coat on her shoulders. “I’ll have to buy you another one.”

“It never ends, does it?” Mr. Ortega shook his head before stepping through the doorway.

Gwen flipped her dark hair out of the coat and glowered after him. “Client of yours?”

“Yes. What are you feeling?”

“His disdain for women is like a throb in a bad tooth.”

A chill flowed up his spine. “What else?”

Gwen met his gaze. “Whatever he’s done, he’s guilty as hell.”

Please like my Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/JaniceSeagravesAuthor/

And my Amazon author page: https://www.amazon.com/Janice-Seagraves/e/B0056D223Y/

Hot Fun in the Summer Time, our summer antho, releases 25 June.

Amazon preorder link:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07RRRZP2Q

The weather is heating up, but it’s not just the sun and the sand which will keep you hot.

This summer anthology brought to you by the authors of Romance Books 4 Us will bring temperatures to your eReader that will set unheard of heat records, scorching the tips of
your fingers as you turn the pages.

Sultry temperatures.
Passionate couples.
Unbelievable desire.

This is your ticket to… Hot Fun in the Summer Time.

RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY LINK:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ec8aae6733/?

Jun 3 2019

Revising An Old Manuscript

 

Revisiting an Old Manuscript

By Janice Seagraves

Hi, this is Janice Seagraves. I’ve the author of nine books and six short stories.

I wrote lots of stories before I was ever published. A lot of those book-length manuscripts were what I learned on. When you first start out you have to write and write and write so you can learn. And I was no different.

Twin Heart is an early book-length manuscript that I had learned on but had never forgotten. The characters in it feel like old dear friends.

Feeling nostalgic one day, I pulled Twin Heart’s file out and started revising it. I’ve learned a lot over the ten years since I wrote the manuscript and though I should be able to fix it, no problem.

It was a mess!

Missing punctuations, run-on sentences, and drifting POVs. Just to name a few.

I have a lot of work to do if I’m ever going to get my dear old friend up to snuff.

The first two chapters weren’t so bad, but the further along I dug the worse it got. Some chapters read like filler and didn’t further the plot or add anything to the storyline. And there are thirty-two chapters in my manuscript.

Thirty-two.

And over 115,000 words. My manuscript can certainly use some trimming.

Things I’m looking out for as I revise my manuscript:

  • Fix common mistakes: errors in punctuation, repeated words, drifting POVs.
  • Do the sentences make sense?
  • Are too many sentences started with a -ing word?
  • Do the sentences use it as a subject of the sentence instead of a noun?
  • Are words spelled right or an I using a wrong word choice?
  • Break down run-on sentences into smaller sentences.
  • Delete unnecessary words.
  • Kill my darlings.
  • Read the manuscript out loud.

Once I get the problems taken care of, I’ll have to write out the manuscript chapter by chapter as if I was writing a synopsis so I can figure out what can stay and what can go.

The delete button has already become my friend.

Now, why did I start this project again?

Oh, yeah, dear old friends that are the characters in the manuscript.

*sigh*

At least the bones of the story are good. I just have to delete, rewrite, and make stronger a bunch of the bad sentences to make the good shine through.

Have you ever dragged out an old manuscript with designs on fixing it?

What happened?

 

May 18 2019

Vlog: The Right POV For Your Story by Janice Seagraves

THE Right POV FOR YOUR STORY

By Janice Seagraves

 

Hi, I’m Janice Seagraves. Sorry I’ve been absent, but I’ve had a health crisis of sorts. After a week or nose bleeds and getting rushed to the hospital because I couldn’t stop the last one, I was told I have high blood pressure and must take meds from now on.

Now on to the point of this article: POV or Point of View means the eyes and ears of your story and it is important to pick the right POV for your story. You’re also showcasing that character’s feelings when something happens in any given scene.

Here’s a list of POVs and how they are used to help you decide on the right one for your story.

First Person POV: involves “I” and “me” in the story telling. You’re in the head of the protagonist only. What she or he see, hears, and feels is what is offered to you in the story telling. First person is used primarily by chick lit, urban fantasy, YA, and others. A lot of writers prefer this first-person narrative because you can really get into the head of your protagonist.

Second Person POV: used only rarely in which the point of view of a narrative work is told in the voice of the onlooker, which is you, the reader. For instance, the text would read, “You went to school that morning.” Is written as “you” see this, “you” hear that. Not my favorite POV. It feels clunky. I’ve seen this mostly for children’s lit. And the 1990’s pick your own ending novels.

Third Person POV: Can be told in two ways: Third person singular: which stay strictly with one person in each scene. Deep Third person: also stays strictly with one person but goes deeply into that person’s narrative almost as deep as first person. Is written with “she” or “he” sees this or hears that. It more universally accepted by publishers for fantasy, sci-fi, romance of any sub-genre, and many other genres.

Omnipotent POV or Narrator POV: This type of story telling is not used very much anymore except for children’s lit. It’s a type of floating narrative that was used primarily before 1980 or so. You can be in anyone’s head at any given moment or be floating above the action. It was used for a time in the early horror and gothic genres. But could be used in anything from romance to science fiction. I recently read an example of it in an early Anne McCaffrey novel. It’s loose, floating, and I find it confusing. Whose head are we in now? Who knows?

And add to that Omnipotent POV reads like head hopping and most editors frown on their writers using it.

What is the POV that I use? Deep third person POV. I find I can show case both the hero and heroine’s POV (in separate scenes of course) and tell the story well.

I hope this helps you in your own writing.

Please like and share and I’ll make another vlog next week.

Apr 16 2019

Write Time in scenes by Janice Seagraves

 

Writing Time In Scenes

by Janice Seagraves

 

Hi, my name is Janice Seagraves.

Today, I thought I’d talk about time in writing. I don’t mean the day or week or month, but the speed in which things happen. Have you ever had someone tell you that your scene went too fast or maybe the opposite, your scene was very slow? And not in a good way.

Here’s some tips on how to fix that.

First, if your scene is going fast, you can odd more detail to slow it down. Believe me this trick works. Don’t know what to add in? Then I suggest describing what is happening in minute detail. Add in colors, textures, how things smell. Was the scent in the area nice, sour, or did it smell like something died? Maybe there is a background buzz that is irritating or soothing one of your characters? Add in details in all its glory: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Go deeper into your characters’ feelings. Add a pause as something else happens.

I had a scene that my critique partners said went too fast, so I added in more detail, more feelings, and more internal dialogue of one of the main characters. Then as they headed out, I wrote a pause. The heroine speaks to someone, while the hero is chumping at the bit to get her walking again then takes her arms and drags her down the road. And having one character wanting to leave the area, while the other is speaking to a secondary character can make the scene tense.

If you need to speed up a scene, then you’ll need to lose some of the detail. One time I added what in the business is called a ticking clock to speed things up. One of the characters is urging the others to hurry. His frustration shows whenever anything slows down. Have the characters speak in quick, short bursts.  One liners. No long dialogues. And if there is only two characters, you can leave off some of the dialogue tags. No one ambles anywhere in this scene. It’s all dashing, sprinting, and doing things fast.