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Book Therapist Picks Karen Ball!

By on December 14, 2007 in Featured Fiction

Karen Ball , bestselling novelist, is also the editor behind several of today’s bestselling Christian novels. Her love for words was passed down through her father and grandfather – both pastors who shared God’s truth through sermons and storytelling. Blending humor, poignancy, and honesty, Karen’s writing style is a powerful force for revealing God’s truth. She lives in Oregon with her husband, Don, and their "kids," Bodhan, a mischief-making Siberian husky, and Dakota, an Aussie-terrier mix who should have been named "Destructo." When I first met Karen, I was captured by two things – her great sense of humor, and her deep love for the Lord.  Karen has a way of getting to the heart of the matter, in a way that resonates, and that is the hallmark of her […]

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Prescriptions: How to Hook your reader Wk 4

By on December 13, 2007 in Uncategorized

HOOKing the reader – it’s essential for a great story. I was watching television with my children who have apparently been listening to me rant about hooks for too long because my son paused the show (yes, Tivo!) and said… “Mom, there is nothing sympathetic about this heroine that would make me like her!” Ah, the sympathetic hook! We’ve been talking about stakes in a hook, but what is at stake for a character will only work if there is also a reason to CARE about the character. Which brings me today to: Hero/Heroine Identification – Or creating Sympathy (and thereby creating connection with the reader.) We’re only going to read a book about someone we can, at least remotely, relate to. Someone we at least a little understand. Maybe […]

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Self-Therapy: An Interview from the Therapy Couch!

By on December 12, 2007 in Loosen Up!

As promised, yesterday, I wanted to give you all a look, today, into my own interview/characterization process. These are the actual rough draft notes from Reclaiming Nick – my interview with my hunky hero, Nick Noble: Identity: Nicholas Noble, quiet strength, pensive, narrowed eyes, distrustful, coiled power, well of emotions, Age 30 6’1, hazel eyes Who am I? I’m a broken cop. A man who falsely put someone in jail…well twice, really because the first time, I blamed my father for betrayal, when in fact, I know now he didn’t betray me. I knew it then, also, but as a boy whose mother had died two years prior, it felt like betrayal to me to see him in Adele’s arms. It was a bad moment – I hit my father, […]

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Doctor’s Notes: Questions to ask your Hero!

By on December 11, 2007 in Uncategorized

Yesterday we talked about how to get your Hero to talk! Today, I thought I would give you a few pointers on WHAT to ask him once he starts talking! There are a few pointed questions to ask your hero (and it’s not what kind of car does he drive!) to unearth his deep issues and those things you can use to develop his character. Here are 3 Top Secret Questions to ask your hero: 1. What is the nightmare in your past that has made you the person you are today? Okay, so not everyone has turbulent pasts, but often, some decisive moment, a mistake, a tragedy, a misunderstanding, even a childhood prank can so deeply affect a character that he/she is still making choices based on that nightmare. […]

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