Laura L. M.: How to Hook a Reader

I should note that this article will be primarily concerning YA fiction, as that is what I know most about. You may notice that some of these openings use elements that I cautioned against in an earlier article. Told 'ya there were bountiful exceptions to writing "rules."

http://lauralee1.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-to-hook-reader.html?m=1

#MotownWriters #WritersLife Article by @Matthews_Mark #Michlit #MotownLit

Current Books

ALL SMOKE RISES, New Release! Set in Detroit

Ten year old Lilly is the victim of a terrible house fire and a wretched family. Her father is an

addict with mental illness, her mother was murdered and then buried across the street, and her

uncle got her addicted to heroin.

Lilly's tragic story has been told in the book ALL SMOKE RISES, and it may be true, for the author

has broken into your house, and placed Lilly's body on your kitchen counter. He demands you

read the manuscript, before cutting his own wrists and bleeding out on your floor.

Now you have decisions to make, for her body may not be dead, and her family is coming for

her.

MILK-BLOOD, set in Detroit, has been optioned for a full length feature film.

Lilly is ten years old, living in poverty, born with a heart defect, and already addicted to heroin.

Her mother is gone from her life, and there are rumors that she was killed by her father and

buried near the abandoned house across the street. The house intrigues her, she can't stay

away, and the monstrous homeless man who lives there has been trying to get Lilly to come

inside.

For her mother is there, buried in the back, and this homeless man is Lilly's true father, and both

want their daughter back.

WRITERS' LIFE ARTICLE:

ALL SMOKE RISES and MILK-BLOOD capture the horror of modern day issues that families are facing.

Urban decay, isolation, poverty, and heroin addiction. These are real people facing real horrors, Parents doing the best they can with what they have, losing children to tragedy, and children trying to survive on a street with very real dangers that no child should face.

 The stories center around a ten year old girl named Lilly, born with a heart defect, and her tragic family dynamics.

The inspiration for writing these books came from my own work as a substance abuse therapist. For
nearly 20 years, I've worked with hundreds of addicts from the Detroit area, many of them indigent.

Before this time, I spent years in my own addiction. I woke up each day and my daily efforts were how to get high and get by. By the grace of God, I now have 23 years clean and sober, but I have come to understand the immense power addiction has over the human soul.

So I wrote these books, and they are full of suspense, horror, and supernatural elements, but everything that happens in them is true.  All of it. True.

That doesn't mean that there's an actual ten year old girl named Lilly whose mother was murdered,
dismembered, burned, and buried in a shallow grave across the street, yet still speaks to her from this
grave.

Whose uncle got her addicted to heroin.

Who discovers her true father is the schizophrenic, homeless, heroin addict living on her street, the one who injected his dad's ashes into his veins when he was craving his next fix.

Just because these things didn't happen, doesn’t mean they aren't true.

The urban decay, the poverty where children get their best meals from school breakfasts. This clearly
exists, as well as people who go about their life doing everything they can to get high on heroin. This is not fiction. It's happening, right now. These books only shine the supernatural light on the subject, for what's the best way to tell the truth? It's by making up a story.

Please check out my latest release on amazon,

Amazon Author Page
http://amzn.to/1Vgc1MT

GoodReads
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5034611.Mark_Matthews

Twitter:
http://twitter.com/Matthews_Mark

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MichiganMurderMayhem Monday: How To Create Mystery By Chrys Fey #amwriting #mwn #mmm

Mystery is not just a genre but an emotion that can be used in any story. Here are ten tips to help you create mystery in your story:

1. Setting and Tone. Yes, when it comes down to it, the setting and tone of your book is very important, and sometimes amateur writers take them for granted. A true writer will take advantage of the setting to play into whatever emotion they want to give. An affective setting can be scary, delightful, or even mysterious.

For example: A room suffocating with dust and clothed in cobwebs with newspaper clippings cluttering the walls is a mysterious place. It makes you want to know what is on those newspaper clippings and who put them on the walls.

By far, the best way to make your writing mysterious is by writing mysteriously. It's all about your tone!

2. Give your characters a secret. When your protagonist has a secret, your reader will want to know what it is -especially when he/she fears that their secret is going to come out and vows to do anything to prevent that from happening.

3. Give your characters a past. Just as mysterious as a secret worth dying (or killing) for, is a past that keeps haunting your protagonist and/or antagonist. Revealing their past one piece at a time will keep your readers curious, but make sure that you tell them all there is to know by the time you get to the climax.

4. Put a mask on your antagonist. When your protagonist and readers do not know who the culprit is it guarantees mystery.

5. Show your characters point-of-view. I'll say it again because I can't say it enough: Revealing your protagonists' and antagonists' thoughts and feelings is extremely important to not only help your readers connect with them, but to also provide suspense and, of course, mystery.

6. Use emotional responses. How we react to certain things can be very mysterious. Perhaps your protagonist becomes angry when another character says or does something. The reader will want to know why they responded that way.

7. Pose questions. Bringing mystery into your story can be as simple as asking a question and not revealing the answer right away.

8. Reveal clues. This is especially important for murder mysteries. Start by uncovering small clues that seem strange and irrelevant but leads to the bigger picture, whatever that may be.

9. What all of the above boils down to is to be secretive! Even if you're not writing a mystery novel and you
don't have an antagonist, you can still create mystery by being secretive and not telling your reader everything right from the get-go. Instead, draw out the anticipation by revealing the facts one at a time.

10. The most effective method in my opinion is to keep your readers guessing! Throw something at them that makes them believe someone else is the murderer, or provide a plot twist that will cause your readers to doubt what they thought they knew.

Chrys Fey created Write With Fey, a how-to blog about writing a novel. Every Tuesday there is a new post containing tips, inspiration, insight into her series, and much more. http://www.writewithfey.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chrys_Fey

MichiganMurderMayhem Monday: How To Write Action By Chrys Fey #amwriting #mmm #mwn

Every writer has tips that help them write, rules they follow, and methods they use. Below are ten tips that I find helpful when I am writing action.

1. Show action and reaction. In a fight, every movement from one person causes a reaction with their opponent. What happens when someone receives a punch?

Their head turns with the impact, they stagger, and sometimes they fall. Bones breaking and blood gushing is also a reaction.

Examples of action-reaction:
• He shot off a round of bullets. She dodged them and fired back.
• Her fist connected with his face, breaking his nose.

2. Describe, describe, describe! Remember that prose we were talking about? Use it here but go above and beyond! Give a crime scene details so that the reader can see the morbid site imprinted on their eyes. Describe each step of a fight, the cocking of a gun, and the pain a character feels from injuries. Bring a car accident to life with speed, bending metal, and shattering glass. Let your words make the suspense!

3. Use action verbs! If you can, try not to use the same verbs over and over again. A thesaurus can help you to find a good alternative.

 My favorite action verbs:
• Bombard
• Explode
• Hammer
• Thrust
• Assault
• Slither
• Growl
• Mangle
• Vanish
• Pummel

4. Write short sentences. Short sentences quicken the readers pace and give the illusion of fast action.

5. Use "All of a sudden" and "Suddenly" sparingly. Back-to-back paragraphs starting with this will become annoying to the reader and is a bit lazy.

6. Don't forget dialogue! Action is not all about what a character does, but also what a character says. Have your characters spit threats back and forth, and let them curse. Also, injecting a characters thoughts can add a great deal of suspense.

This is it, he thought, I'm going to die.

7. Read books by your favorite authors and study how they write action. Note words and phrases they use, but don't plagiarize!

8. Get into the mood for writing action. Listen to rock music or any kind of song with a fast beat that makes you want to get up and cause havoc.

Songs that help me write action:

* Shoot It Out by 10 Years
* Your Betrayal by Bullet For My Valentine
* Hold On by All That Remains
* Blood On My Hands by The Used
* I Will Not Bow by Breaking Benjamin

9. Act it out. Remember when I said that I sometimes talk aloud to create dialogue between two of my characters? Well, I also act out fight scenes. Granted, I can't move or do half the things a fighter can do, but by acting it out (the best I can) I can understand how a body moves and better describe the movement with words.

10. Watch action movies. Watching movies can help you to understand the rhythm and flow of fighting. It can also give you ideas. Depending on what you need to write, find movies that show a lot of it and then study them. How do the characters move in fight scenes? What do you see when there is an explosion? Now, write the scene in your book as if you are watching it unfold on a television screen. This is how I do it and it is my best strategy for writing action.

Movies that help me write action:
* Underworld Awakening
* Matrix Reloaded
* Fast and the Furious
* The Day After Tomorrow
* UltraViolet

Chrys Fey created Write With Fey, a how-to blog about writing a novel. Every Tuesday there is a new post containing tips, inspiration, insight into her series, and much more. http://www.writewithfey.blogspot.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Chrys_Fey