Shaken and Stirred

I just survived my first earthquake! Yay me!

I am generally not awake at 4:15 in the morning. My alarm is set for 7:15 and with a tap or two to the doze button I’m up by 7:40 and if I’m honest, I’m usually functional by 9. 

So, to get woken up at 4:15 by my bed shaking and my windows rattling, not to mention the entire house rocking, well, let’s just say it was not my calmest moment. I wondered if a tree had fallen on my house but when I put the lights on, I didn’t see any branches poking through my ceiling so I checked that off my list. Then I wondered if my propane tank had exploded. I took my trusty searchlight and looked out into the yard and was pleased to see the tank wasn’t flying through the air.

Our home is about 2 miles from a nuclear power plant (as the crow flies) but since I hadn’t been vaporized, I knew it wasn’t that. Next up, I called the police because if there was a terrorist blowing up the forest, I’m certain they would know about it. They said they suspected an earthquake and were waiting for confirmation because I guess the earth jarring movement wasn’t enough evidence. They advised me to turn on the local news and sure enough! A 4.4 earthquake had hit our little town, with the epicenter about 3 miles from our house. 

We hear about earthquakes all the time in California and Alaska and earthquakes are actually common in East Tennessee, I learned, but they are generally in the 1 to 2 range and aren’t noticed. A 4.4 quake is noticeable, trust me on that one. 

After a bit I decided the excitement was over and went back to bed. My last thought before I dozed off was: I know I can work this into one of my books.

To all of my readers, I wish you a Merry Christmas or whichever Holiday you choose to celebrate and a safe and blessed New Year! 

Dee Morgan

Never Broken, An Unacceptable Truth, Martinis with Mom and Martinis at the Ranch are available on Amazon, Kindle, IBooks and Amazon Paperback Books. 

Follow me on Twitter @dmorganbooks, on Facebook Dee Morgan, or contact me by email at dmorganauthor@gmail.com

Know Your Characters

The other evening I was doing some research on owls (don’t ask why), and I came across an interesting question someone had posted: How do you write the sound an owl makes? I thought the answer would have been simple: Hoot…such as The Hoot of an Owl.

I was wrong. There were at least half a dozen ways to write an owl sound, aside from the obvious “hoot”. Hmmm, interesting. And that started me thinking about how many ways to write a scene or an emotion or a reaction.

How do you write about someone who’s had their heart broken? So many ways, but it depends on your character. A sixteen-year-old who has just been dumped by her boyfriend of three months is likely going to have quite the dramatic reaction. Probably with lots of tears and drama and throwing herself across her bed with promises that she’ll never fall in love again. Typical and probably stereotypical but also most likely accurate. Again, depends on your character.

Now take a forty-year-old man whose wife of twenty-five years just told him she that she wants a divorce so she can marry her personal trainer. I doubt he’s going to throw himself across the bed in tears, but hey, it could happen. Your character might just go out and get drunk. He might go for the revenge route and try to cut the wife off financially. How would your character react?

The bottom line is this: know your character and don’t make their actions or reactions out of touch with the person you’ve built through your writing. You can write the most heart-wrenching scene when someone has lost their true love, but if it doesn’t fit your character it will never work.

Happy writing until next time!

Dee

Never Broken, An Unacceptable Truth, Martinis with Mom and Martinis at the Ranch are available on Amazon, Kindle, IBooks and Amazon Paperback Books. 

Follow me on Twitter @dmorganbooks, on Facebook Dee Morgan, or contact me by email at dmorganauthor@gmail.com

Characters A-Plenty

I’ve read a few books where there are so many characters, I just couldn’t keep them straight. Then I’ve read a few where there are plenty of characters and I enjoyed – and got to know – all of them. What’s the difference? I asked myself that same question, so I went back to some of the books and studied them from a writer’s point of view.

In the books where the characters tumbled together, I noticed a couple of things. First, the characters weren’t “defined” clearly enough. I didn’t know if it was Susie or Mary that went somewhere because I had never identified either one. If I’d known that Susie was tall and lean with red hair, I’d have been able to picture her. But the writer never gave a description of either Susie or Mary so in the reader’s eye, they became interchangeable. If a character has more than a passing occurrence, make sure the reader can differentiate between similar characters.

Another thing I noticed was when there are several people in a scene, the dialogue isn’t always clear on who said what. That can confuse the heck out of a reader and make for a lot of back-and-forth between pages. If the reader doesn’t understand who is speaking, a simple tag can clarify it. And the tag doesn’t have to be “Susie said” – it can be a bit more interesting, such as “she remarked with a smile as she tossed her red hair over her shoulder.” The reader knows the only person with red hair is Susie, so ‘nuf said.

The idea is this – don’t confuse your readers. You don’t want to explain every little detail to your readers because most people want to figure a few things out for themselves. Our readers are smart and love to figure out where a story is going, but don’t make the mistake of confusing them unintentionally.

Happy Writing!

Dee Morgan 

Never Broken, Martinis with Mom and Martinis at the Ranch are available on Amazon, Kindle, IBooks and Amazon Paperback Books. An Unacceptable Truth is available on Amazon and Kindle and IBooks.

Follow me on Twitter @dmorganbooks, on Facebook Dee Morgan, or contact me by email at dmorganauthor@gmail.com

Oh What A Feeling!

As a writer I go through a lot of feelings – and I mean a LOT! Almost on a daily, if not hourly, basis.

When I start a book, when I finish a book, and every paragraph and scene in between is important. Biggest question I ask myself: Did I convey to the reader what I want to show or feel? That’s a doozie. It’s not just telling a story, it’s showing the reader your soul. It’s putting it out there for every reader to see how you think – how your mind works. That can be a scary feeling.

For me, ninety-nine percent of my feelings are good ones. When I finish a difficult scene, I can read back over it, tweak it a bit, and then finally say, yes, that’s what I meant.

When I release a new book, the feeling is generally euphoria. It’s my hard work, my words, my thoughts, my characters, my story all packaged up neatly waiting for someone to pick it up and enjoy. It doesn’t get much better than that and it’s what keeps us word junkies going.

So, enjoy reading that book because fiction writers love writing their stories for you. Every. Single. Day.

Dee Morgan

Never Broken, Martinis with Mom and Martinis at the Ranch are available on Amazon, Kindle, IBooks and Amazon Paperback Books. An Unacceptable Truth is available on Amazon and Kindle and IBooks.

Follow me on

Twitter @dmorganbooks, on Facebook Dee Morgan, or contact me by email at dmorganauthor@gmail.com

Playing Tag

No, not the children’s game. I’m writing about dialogue tags: “he said”, “she said”. Those kind of tags. 

I write a lot of dialogue in my books. I like to tell a person’s situation through dialogue, but I try not to overuse it. That can make a book difficult to read. When I use dialogue, I try to avoid using tags whenever possible. I’d rather use dialogue to s how the reader who is talking through their actions/reactions while they are talking. 

That’s not to say tags aren’t useful because they definitely are. I can use or not use a tag to show a person’s tone or demeanor. Matt’s face twisted in pain. “Get the h ell out of here. I don’t even want to see you anymore.”   

Using tags are a good way to get the reader to understand a pause. Matt’s face twisted in pain. “Get the hell out of here,” he said. I don’t even want to see you anymore.” 

Or try using a tag to emphasize an emotion. Matt’s face twisted in pain. “Get the hell out of here,” he moaned. “I don’t even want to see you anymore.” 

Get the idea? Play with your dialogue tags. Try eliminating them, substituting them, or using them. You’re the writer so if it feels right, use them.  

On a completely different subject, I just released my fourth book – NEVER BROKEN – on Amazon as an eBook and a paperback. I hope you’ll take a look and enjoy it! 

Dee Morgan 

Never Broken, Martinis with Mom and Martinis at the Ranch are available on Amazon, Kindle, IBooks and Amazon Paperback Books. An Unacceptable Truth is available on Amazon and Kindle and IBooks.

Follow me on 

Twitter @dmorganbooks, on Facebook Dee Morgan, or contact me by email at dmorganauthor@gmail.com