Five Keys to Captivating Settings by Connie Mann

I'm delighted to welcome a friend of mine from the Faith, Hope, and Love Chapter of RWA to Seriously Write today. Connie Mann is a talented author and a joy to be around. I hope you'll try out her latest suspense title, Tangled Lies.

Something delicious happens when you start reading a new book and find yourself seamlessly transported to another world. Maybe you’re fighting in a galaxy far away, or dancing at a masquerade ball in Regency England, or walking through a charming town someplace you’ve never been.

Books take us on a journey and for me, that trip begins with setting, that first tantalizing glimpse through the opening-scene portal into another world. When an author whisks me to another world and plants my feet on solid ground, I’m ready to enjoy the trip.

But sometimes, everything screeches to a halt because I don’t know where I am. Frustration sets in as I flip back to the beginning of the book to look for clues, characteristics, something solid to anchor me in that particular place. Without it, I can’t really settle in and enjoy the story.

If your settings need a little pizazz, here are a few tips to draw the reader in and immerse them in your story world.

Start with the Big Picture

My Dad worked for TWA for 37 years, so my love of travel and perpetual excitement over new places started early. The first thing I do is simply stop and look around.  It’s wonderful to take it all in—the sights, sounds, smells, unique architecture, different clothing, accents and all the amazing variations in people and culture.

Even if you’re writing about your home town, go do the same thing. A small town in Florida is not at all like a ranch in Wyoming. Force yourself to see it like you’ve never been there before. Take pictures, jot notes, write down the smells, the feeling.

If you’re starting from scratch or writing about someplace far away, go online and search for images, videos and travel shows. Gather it all so you have a thick stew of impressions to scoop from.

Narrow it Down to the Telling Details

Places have their own personality, their own unique vibe that differs from anywhere else.  The challenge is to take those big sweeping impressions and boil them down to deliciously memorable snippets. It’s all about the telling details, the one description that distinguishes this place from any other. What does the waterfront smell like? How do the waves sound lapping against the dock?

Make the Setting (almost) a Character

For my stories, setting is one of the first things I start thinking about. I always make sure it is part of the plot. For example, Tangled Lies takes place in a small town in Florida, in and around a family-owned marina. The climax scene of Angel Falls takes place at Iguacu Falls, Brazil, one of the world’s largest waterfalls. Neither plot would work if I tried to move the story to the middle of, say, a big city. The setting has become part of the plot itself—and impacts the book title, too.

Create Visuals for Yourself

I draw a map of every town I create, so I don’t have to remember whether my heroine turns left or right when leaving her house to go to the café. I also create collages with photos and use Pinterest boards as a fun way to keep track of those telling details.

Know When to Say When

How much detail should you include? That depends quite a bit on genre. In a historical, readers expect more lush and lengthy descriptions, though less is still better than more. I write suspense, so readers won’t tolerate a long descriptive paragraph of flowers and butterflies—unless the killer is hiding behind said flowers, trigger cocked, ready to shoot the heroine as she walks by. Even then, readers won’t care about the butterfly unless it lands on his nose and affects his aim.

No matter what genre you write, build a setting we want to visit. Help us see it clearly, and we’ll settle in to enjoy the journey.

How do you create captivating settings?

Bio: Connie Mann is a licensed boat captain and the author of romantic suspense novels Tangled Lies (May 2016) Angel Falls and Trapped! as well as various works of shorter fiction. She has lived in seven different states but has happily called warm, sunny Florida home for more than twenty years. When she’s not dreaming up plotlines, you’ll find “Captain Connie” on Central Florida’s waterways, introducing boats full of schoolchildren to their first alligator. She is also passionate about helping women and children in developing countries follow their dreams and break the poverty cycle. In addition to boating, she and her husband enjoy spending time with their grown children and extended family and planning their next travel adventures. You can visit Connie online at www.conniemann.com.

Social Media Links
Website:  www.conniemann.com
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/ConnieMannAuthor?ref=hl#!/ConnieMannAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CaptConnieMann
Pinterest.com http://www.pinterest.com/captconniemann/

Amazon buy link:

https://www.amazon.com/Tangled-Lies-Connie-Mann-ebook/dp/B0194UEDEK?ie=UTF8&keywords=connie%20mann&qid=1460580370&ref_=nav_signin&sr=8-1

Coming Home to Story by Ann H. Gabhart

These days we have a choice between writing for the Christian market and the general market. Some authors do both at the same time. Today, author Ann Gabhart shares her experience in "coming home" to Christian fiction. -- Sandy

Ann: If you write for a Christian inspirational publisher, sometimes you might wonder if you would be more successful, sell more books or get more reader attention in the general market. And all those things might be true for some writers. But not for me.

I’ve been there. My first historical romance novel, A Forbidden Yearning, was published by Warner Books almost forty years ago as a mass market paperback. The title was chosen by the editors and perhaps promised more forbidden yearning than it delivered which is why, after publishing one more novel with Warner Books, I seemed unable to keep up with market trends. My agent said my stories were “too clean.” After that I published eleven coming of age stories for young people with several general market companies.

While I was writing those books, I began to notice Christian fiction books on store shelves, but I hesitated to try writing for that market. I thought I’d have to preach and I didn’t feel qualified. I simply wanted to tell stories.

Then, after a few years of writing and getting nothing but rejections, I decided to forget about markets and write the book I wanted to write without worrying about whether an editor anywhere would like the story. I came up with a young girl whose father was a preacher and whose mother had deserted the family. I didn’t really have the inspirational market in mind while I was writing the story, but I did have that preacher as a viewpoint character along with his daughter. Then, I threw in odd old Aunt Love who did her best to keep the young heroine in line by quoting Bible verses at her. Plus, my young heroine had her “dog prayers” and “sister prayers” and “please, no more cabbage for supper prayers.” That led my agent to send Scent of Lilacs to Revell Books, an inspirational publisher. First time out, the story found an editor who not only liked lilacs but also liked my Hollyhill characters.

And I came home. Right where I needed to be. I love writing for the Christian market. I like being able to include my characters’ faith journeys in my stories. I like that my stories can be “too clean.”

Readers have so much choice in today’s market place with books to suit practically any interest. I’m glad I’ve found some readers who choose the kind of books I like to write. I sometimes wish I had decided to write that story about a preacher sooner, but then everything in its own time. Perhaps I had lessons to learn in those rejection years and that has helped me write better stories now.

On my website, my tag line is “Come home to story.” I feel as though that’s what I did when I began writing for the Christian market. I came home and found a welcome. 

Have you "come home" to a market or a genre that fits your writing?

 

~~~~~~

Ann H. Gabhart is the bestselling author of many novels, including Angel Sister, Small Town Girl, and Love Comes Home, the 2015 Selah Book of Year winner. She’s also known for her Shaker novels and Heart of Hollyhill books. Now, as A.H. Gabhart, she is writing the Hidden Springs Mysteries set in a small town much like the Kentucky town where she grew up. Ann and her husband have three children and nine grandchildren and still enjoy country life on a farm near that small town. To find out more about Ann’s books or to follow her blog, visit www.annhgabhart.com.

7 Ways to Write Through Grief, Part 1 by Angela Arndt

She’d been a part of our worship for 14 years. She played like a concert pianist and somehow directed our tiny choir full of huge personalities. She put her whole being into her music and we never knew how sick she was.

She was my friend.

Although she valiantly survived the 11-hour surgery, she never regained consciousness. There’s a big gaping hole at church and another one in my heart.

I miss her. So much.

How can you possibly write when you’re mourning? Whether you’ve lost a friend, a job, a dog or Very Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo, you can still journal your feelings. You never know who will be comforted by your progression through the stages of grief.

First, give yourself time to grieve privately. Even if you know the illness is terminal or the company is closing, you’ll still need time in your closet to process what has happened.

Take time to rest. Try to nap. Find someone who will “run interference” so that you can be quiet.

Jot down notes about how you feel. Try to remember the ache in your heart or the way your head actually does pound after crying all night. Keep an emotion journal, not only for your impossibly sad times but for happy ones, too.

Journal your feelings. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone but you. For now, you’re processing what you feel.

Write down your prayers. You don’t have to share. It’s just to help you move through the stages of grief and to help you write

Write about what could have been. Writing down the happily-ever-after in that situation gives you a respite from your grief. It could also become your next book.

Immerse yourself in something else. Watch an inspiring movie. Read a book. Go somewhere that doesn’t remind you of loss.

Each person grieves differently. Even if your loss is a French bulldog, there's still a death in the family. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Next week we’ll talk more about writing through loss by journaling the seven stages of grief.

What has helped you remember your loss and function at the same time?

About the Author

Angela Arndt

Angela Arndt was a corporate trainer before health issues sidelined her. These days she’s active in her local church, ACFW and a regular contributor to MBT's Weekly Spark. In addition to being a team member of Seriously Write and she'd love you to join her on her personal website.

Angie is represented by Joyce Hart of Hartline Literary Agency. She’s currently working on a series of novels set in small Southern towns. She and her husband live in the middle of a big wood outside a small town in South Carolina.

New Beginnings by Mary Manners

New Beginnings

by

Mary Manners

 

"To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven..."

~ Ecclesiastes 3:1 ~



 

This month marks a huge milestone in my life -- retirement from a three-decade career of teaching and school administration. I have stepped into a school building for 6,196 mornings, and have only four days to go. It's barely believable that the end is so close. My feelings are mixed...excitement and sadness, fear and exhilaration. I will miss the children, but not the political red tape.

 

I began my teaching journey at the tender age of twenty-one, and spent the first several years working with special needs children. From there I moved to a decade of fourth grade and Junior Primary, and then traversed to middle school where I taught sixth, seventh, and eight grades. Three years ago I stepped into administration at an intermediate school. My career has spanned nine grades and four schools. Now, thirty-one years later, I will finish a journey that I have considered a blessing, and begin another that I have always dreamed of--full-time writing.

 

Yes, from my earliest memory as a child I have longed to write. I shared stories before I even knew how to put them to paper. Through my journey, I promised myself that as soon as was contracted to be published that I would quit my teaching job. Well, I received 'the call' six years ago this month, and it has taken me this long to say my goodbyes to the school children I've grown to love. But I'm doing it...finally.

 

So, in just a few weeks I will begin this new season, and oh...it's going to be a joy! Stay tuned...I'll keep you posted on this much-anticipated adventure.

 

 

~~~~~

 

 

Bachelor Auction

Cooper Jackson...no, it can’t be. Wake up, wake up! The room began to whirl and harsh lights danced before Lexi’s eyes. She blinked hard once, twice, and heard a flurry of movement to her left. Then he strode out. He had to duck to clear a microphone suspended from the ceiling, and his height shaded the lights, easing the glare that burned her eyes. His dark hair was a bit shorter than she remembered, but it still fell in tousled waves across intense, smoky‐gray eyes.

The years had added muscle—lots of it. And he flashed the same ‘I can get out of anything’ grin that had melted her the first time they’d met, back in the school lunchroom in sixth grade, when he’d tried to swap his warm, stinky tuna fish on squashed white bread for the turkey and cheddar on wholegrain her mom had packed along with juicy red seedless grapes and a homemade frosted fudge brownie. That grin wouldn’t work its magic on her anymore. No way in...

“Hello, Lexi.”

Her insides turned to ice. His voice was deep, coaxing, just as she remembered. She sat paralyzed, speechless. Every thought flew from her mind. She gripped the armrests of the chair like life preservers on a sinking Titanic.

 



~~~~~

 



Mary Manners is an award-winning romance writer who lives in the beautiful foothills of East Tennessee with her husband Tim and the cherished cats they've rescued from local animal shelters...Neyland and Gus. She loves swimming, running, flavored coffee and Smoky Mountain sunsets.

Mary believes everyone has a story to tell, and she loves to share hers. She writes inspirational romances of all lengths, from short stories to novels—something for everyone.

Learn more about Mary Manners at her website: www.MaryMannersRomance.com.