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AUTHORBUZZ: Discover new books, "meet" the authors and enter to win: Goto: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader
Dear Reader,
One, two, three, four authors: Colleen Coble, Kristin Billerbeck, Denise Hunter and Diann Hunt embarked on a challenge to write the novella, Smitten Book Club. How did four different writers collaborate and make decisions? Sounds like more than a mere challenge to me. I can only imagine...
"I want the sentence rewritten. That character would never, ever say those words! There's no transition..." And on-and-on.
It could have been a challenge that affected the friendship of four BFFs, but it didn't. Instead, knowing each other so well, knowing each others strengths and weaknesses, and trusting each other helped craft the characters for their book.
"To brainstorm the story we met in a log cabin in Indiana with our publishing team. We could've done this by email, but where's the fun in that? Not only was it tons of fun, but we actually came away from the cabin with the story's plot."
Was it complex to write a book with four different authors?
"Yes! There were lots of details to iron out, but we decided to give each of our heroines our own basic personality to make it easier. It was way fun to put words in each others mouths!"
Smitten Book Club is made up of four novellas, one written by each author. The four heroines are book club members and BFFs (is this storyline starting to sound familiar?) and the authors assure me that a central thread connects the entire book.
It's a delightful read. Check it out for yourself. Go to: http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=bryantestqqxqB1FEAF417F41&c=SUZ&nocache&future
And be sure to send an email, the authors are giving away 15 copies of their book, The Smitten Club.
Today's guest column is written by Smitten Book Club author, Denise Hunter.
Take it away Denise....
Let's Make Magic
By Denise Hunter
I am a novelist. I create events, I create conflicts and resolutions, themes and symbols. I create entire worlds. But most important, I create characters. They are the writer's biggest challenge because, as every reader knows, characters make or break the story. If we don't care about the character we don't care about the story, and if we don't care about the story, we put the book down and never pick it up again.
Characters are the feet that carry us through the book. We climb into their skin and into their minds. We worry with them, laugh with them, cry with them, get angry with them, and fall in love with them. And when their story is over, if the writer has done her job, we miss them.
Creating unique and wonderful characters is a mysterious thing, even for the writer. Sometimes they arrive on the page fully fleshed like an exuberant woman, bursting into a party, arms flung wide in a grand ta-da! Others tiptoe onto the page, revealing themselves bit by bit as if waiting to see if they can trust us with their deepest secrets.
Characters will foil the most structured writer. They will go left when we say "Go right." They will utter a truth, right there on the page that contradicts all our careful plans. They will make us wring our hands and bite our nails and promise our first born if only they will do as we say.
But the smart writer knows what to do when the character takes over. She will sit back and shut up and let her fingers move across the keyboard. She will put her tediously worked synopsis from her mind and dare to wander into unknown territory. She will bind fear with tight cords and duct tape his mouth and let the character tell the story. Because that is where the magic happens.
--Denise Hunter
To enter the fun giveaway, send an email to: smittenauthors@gmail.com
Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.
Suzanne Beecher
Suzanne@DearReader.com
* This month's Penguin Classics book is BUTTERFIELD 8 by John O'Hara. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin bookbag. http://www.supportlibrary.com/bc/v.cfm?L=drclassqqxqN1AFE3FA7A11&c=CLASSICS
AUTHORBUZZ: FRANCES AND BERNARD (Fiction) by Carlene Bauer
In the summer of 1957, Frances and Bernard meet at writer's colony. Afterwards, he sends her a letter, and with it begins a friendship told through a correspondence that chronicles--and changes--the course of their lives. Frances is hesitant where Bernard is insistent, cynical where he is quixotic, but in each other they find the audience they've been searching for. From their dazzlingly witty early missives to dispatches from the long, dark nights of the soul, Frances and Bernard tussle over faith and family, literature and creativity, madness and devotion--and before long, they are writing the account of their very own love story.
Go to: http://authorbuzz.com/dearreader click on FRANCES AND BERNARD to read more and to email author Carlene Bauer, you'll get a reply.
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