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Reading Up: Jodi Picoult

By on October 19, 2007 in Featured Fiction

New York Times Best Selling author Jodi Picoult is gaining a reputation for great writing, wonderful stories and the boldness to address hard core social issues. In The Tenth Circle, Picoult paralells the lives of 14 yr old Trixie Stone, her Dad, Daniel and mother, Laura. with the different levels of Dante’s Inferno. Including comics drawn by the Dad, a DC Comic artist. What I love about Picoult is her ability to attack social issues like suicide, cutting and “rainbow” parties. The Stone family is far from perfect and when Trixie claims she’s raped by her ex-boyfriend, Jason, the secrets of their lives begin to surface. I classify Picoult as a “reading up” author for her smooth prose and clever addressing of social issues. In The Tenth Circle, she deftly […]

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Perscriptions: Writing Lits II

By on October 18, 2007 in Uncategorized

Last week I (Rachel) talked about writing chick literature be it chick, mom, lady, hen, southern, super chick or whatever. There are a wide variety. This week, Prescriptions continues the Lits lesson. Lits have plot, believe it or not. When I started ready chick lit, I could not figure out the plot or true point of the story. But, it’s there. Authors like Sophie Kinsella write high concept plots where almost every thing in the book revolves around a theme like a secret, or money. Here are a few Lit plot tips: Start with a situation, or inciting incident that sets up the story question. “You have a woman with a problem.” She goes on a journey of discovery or to find a solution. Things don’t go as planned. She […]

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Self-Therapy: Sympathy versus Compassion

By on October 17, 2007 in Loosen Up!

Yesterday, I talked about the first secret to creating characters that make the reader cry: Compassion. It’s always a challenge to decide what element is most important to lead with in introducing a character – Sympathy (helping the reader identify with the main character) or compassion. Ideally, it should be both. But in the opening scene of my upcoming book Taming Rafe, I struggled with finding that perfect mix. In Taming Rafe, socialite and philanthropist Katherine Breckenridge just wants to make her mark on the world, her mother did. But she thinks she’s running out of time. I started with that premise in my rough draft. RD: One hour before her engagement party to the most eligible bachelor in New York Katherine Wilcox Breckenridge had the insane urge to throw […]

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Doctor’s Notes: Secret #1 to making readers cry over our heroes!

By on October 16, 2007 in Uncategorized

I’ve been studying lately secrets to making my characters not only unique, but heroic – heroes and heroines that live on in our hearts, and will make readers cry over them! I’ve discovered three that hold the keys to great characterization. I’ll be revealing them over the next three weeks on Tuesdays “Notes” blog. First – I’ve learned that If the character isn’t someone we would want to know, then won’t care about him, regardless of the fantastic things he does in a book. I have to want to know the hero to invest in his story, to put him in my heart, and I have to like him to be able to cry for him. So, the first secret to making readers cry over our heroes is: Compassion — […]

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