Novel structure & pace via Kindle

I'm reading a book I wouldn't ordinarily read. This author is a NYT Best Seller. I wasn't drawn to the story, but I wondered what it was that made him soooo popular -- a bit of story analysis on my part.

Here is the Kindle progress bar:

Since I'm only 13% in, I can't say how I like the story. But the thing I noticed was the chapter lengths of the book, which can be a clue to pacing.

Kindle's progress bar shows a graphical representation of the book's length with a dot at the beginning of each chapter.

For a "big picture" person like me, this is great.

I see that the story has a fairly uniform length of chapters up to middle. [The part of the story where plot and characters are being established.]

Then things get quick. [Building to the main conflict.]

The chapter lengths vary after that until nearing the end when the chapters get shorter (and probably the pace speeds up). [The plot climax and resolution.]

This is a handy tool for writers to analyze plot construction from the masters.


My field guide to the writer's life has more on plot:

The “Next Big Thing” blog hop

This idea of linking together authors and asking the same questions about their current works-in-progress (WIP) sounded like a lot of fun.

I was asked by two authors on the same day, so I’m tagged from the first e-mail I received – Keith Pyeatt (http://keithpyeatt.blogspot.com/). But also go see Kris Neri (www.KrisNeri.com).

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These are the rules/questions:

Rule details:

• Answer the ten questions about your current WIP (Work In Progress)
• Tag five (or fewer) other writers/bloggers and add their links so we can hop over and meet them.

It’s that simple.
 

Ten Interview Questions for The Next Big Thing:

What is the working title of your book?

Gee, I feel like a slacker because I don’t have one.  Me and titles – we’re complicated.  I tend to brainstorm titles at the last minute.  I’m calling the project WitchDuck as I work on it.  That’s where the kernel of the idea started…which leads me to the next question.

Where did the idea come from for the book?

There is a road in Virginia Beach called Witchduck Road; I hear it referenced in the traffic reports in the mornings.  The name intrigued me. I did some Goggling and found it refers to Grace Sherwood who was the only Virginian to be convicted of witchcraft. 

Back in 1706, Grace was tested for innocence by being dunked (or ducked as they said back then) into a pond to see if she would float.  Float = guilty of witchcraft.  Sinking below the surface of the water = innocence (but too bad because you would probably drown).  Grace floated.

The witch trials and accusers went after people who were different.  Three hundred years later, people who seem different are still persecuted in one way or another.  Even towns that refuse to accept the influx of sameness from the big box and chain stores, restaurants, hotels, and office parks lose tax money and traffic from the hordes of people who crave the numbing sense of sameness.

Each town seems to have a Wal-Mart, Lowes, and Home Depot with an Appleby’s and Olive Garden at the edge of the parking lots.  Sometimes I have no idea which town I’m in. I’m a big supporter of local independent businesses.

The idea was born to construct characters who are chastised for not fitting in. They lose things important to them because they do not comply. I’m using an ancestor in the 1700s accused of witchcraft to parallel the lives of her contemporary descendents.

What genre does your book fall under?

Good question…I would probably set it as historical or maybe a mystery since the main plot is a cross-generational mystery.

Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?

I list these like I have thought about it.  But, I’m trying to list people I like and who seem to have some of the character’s personality.  I don’t keep up with pop culture, so my answers may be a bit dated – hopefully these actors are still working.

• Anna (the witch): Michelle Pfeiffer or Julianne Moore
• Taliesin:  James Franco
• Cliodhna:  Reese Witherspoon (love her because she reminds me of my niece Whitney)
• Brigid:  Kirsten Dunst (love her because she reminds me of my niece Courtney)
• Finn:  Colin Farrell (had a drink with him in Jerome, Arizona – he doesn’t know that since we were ten feet away from each other)
• Granny:  Shirley Maclaine or Frances Fisher

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book? (Really it is three sentences – I can’t comply)

Struggling musician Taliesin searches for the reasons his father vanished one night 26 years ago. The disappearance leads Taliesin and his cousins to discover parallels between themselves and their ancestors of over 300 years before. As it was then, and now, being an outsider can be murder.

Will your book be self-published, sent to an independent publisher, or represented by an agency to a large house?

I plan to have this published through Cherokee McGhee as were the last two books.

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

Hmmm, still haven’t finished the draft.  Once that’s done, I can have it ready for an editor in about five months. After that, it takes about a year to hit the shelves.  2014??

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

There are no other books like this one!!  It has bits of family saga, history, mystery, and mythology.  I think I aspire to be a mix of Lee Smith, Bobbie Ann Mason, and Tony Hillerman.

Who or what inspired you to write this book?

People who know me and my family will see the Lillys here: my father, uncles and aunt, along with my grandparents.  I get a lot of inspiration from family history.

What else about your book might pique the reader’s interest?

If a reader knows Irish mythology, there will be multiple layers revealed in the symbolism. If you don’t then it will just be a damn good story – that may spur you to dig deeper into the tales and legends of our ancestors before us.

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The following writers will pick up "The Next Big Thing" thread and answer the 10 questions about their WIP.  Go ahead and visit them today to learn a little more about the writers and their work.
 
They will post next Wednesday, December 5, about their Next Big Thing.

Tag – you’re next week’s posts:

Narielle Living

Narielle Living is the author of the novel Signs of the South, a novella in the collection Chesapeake Bay Christmas, and the upcoming novel Past Unfinished.

Blog: NarielleLiving.blogspot.com

Website: www.NarielleLiving.com
 

Michelle Moore

Michelle Moore is a North Carolina writer inspired by quirky characters; she has written of cats and criminals with a work in progress set in the Great Dismal Swamp.

Website: www.MichelleAMoore.com

 

William Torgerson

William J. Torgerson is an assistant professor in the Institute for Writing Studies at St. John's University in New York. In addition to novels and screenplays, William writes short stories and articles on teaching and writing.

Website: http://thetorg.com/

John Bray

John Bray is a retired attorney, member of Chesapeake Bay Writers, author of THE BALLAD OF JOHNNY MADIGAN, THE CONFIDENTIAL and CODE NAME: CALEB, the sequel to Johnny Madigan, all published by BeWrite Books.

Work-in-progress working title, OPERATION REBOUND, sequel to Confidential.

Blog: www.poppa10sblog.blogspot.com

 

Pamela K. Kinney

Journey to worlds of fantasy, beyond the stars, and into the vortex of terror with the written word of Pamela K. Kinney.
Website: http://FantasticDreams.50megs.com Blog: http://PamelaKKinney.blogspot.com

 

 

 

Nurturing the Creative

I have several promotions lined up for Scalping the Red Rocks and the other books. On Monday, December 13, I’ll be on a regional radio show during morning drive-time to discuss the new mystery. This is the same show I was on in November 2009 and discussed Under a Copper Moon. It’s a fun thing to do. I’m always a bit nervous, but I try not to think of the people listening, but instead focus on the announcer in the booth.

With the radio interview, it’s beneficial to schedule a book signing the following Saturday, mainly to give the listeners a call-to-action, a place they can go to buy the book. I have a book signing set at Twice Told Tales in Gloucester, Virginia on Saturday, December 18. That’s the Saturday before Christmas. Throw in a trip to see my family in Bristol and getting back home for Christmas and a magazine deadline when I have four articles due and a fight with Intuit Customer Service in India and I’m getting overwhelmed.

What falls out in all these commitments? The new writing project.

In the radio interview, I was going to mention the new project because part of it is set in this part of Virginia, along with the Bristol area, and the Shenandoah area. Now that I consider it, this may be too early in the development to make a comment on radio, especially where answering questions is broadcast to a few people, maybe more than a few – no time to edit before it goes. I’m usually pretty good about editing things before they leave my mind, but being nervous, I say things that I wouldn’t ordinarily say. Not that I have any great secret about the new book. Not that it’s a subject I fear will be “stolen.”

I heard a writer once say that inspiration and ideas need to be protected like a growing child until they can stand on their own and speak for themselves. Other people (“blocked creatives” as creativity guru Julia Cameron calls them) try to squelch the growth of new ideas and developing muses, to stop creativity from allowing a different world view, to inhibit forward momentum. So, this writer, he said not to discuss the new project too much at the beginning, give it time to mature.

Like an infant, this idea needs my attention, care, nurturing. Why is it always the one thing that gets pushed aside? Yes, I know. I’m the one setting the priorities and I think I’ve just worked out what to do: I’m going to go write.

New Mystery Releases Today

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

New Mystery Skewers Tourist Town Personalities

(Williamsburg, VA • July 1, 2010) Cherokee McGhee Publishing announces the release of Greg Lilly’s newest Derek Mason Mystery – Scalping the Red Rocks.

The novel is set in Sedona, Arizona, one of the top tourist destinations in the United States. Sedona is known for the breathtaking natural beauty of the red rocks; its vibrant arts community; the rich Native American, pioneer, and western movie culture; a variety of hiking trails, Jeep tours, and journeys into the New Age movement; all topped with world-class resorts and restaurants. These unique elements contribute to the lively real estate market and spur the story’s beginning.

In Scalping the Red Rocks, the town’s inhabitants are divided by urban growth. Some entrepreneurs try to make a quick buck by selling out the very aspect of the town that drew them: the awe-inspiring views and natural beauty. Spirited, passionate, and a bit mettlesome, Derek Mason helps his aunt Ruby find her place in the New Age haven, but instead they discover her real estate agent scalped in an empty condo. The crafty real estate agent had intended to sell off part of the pristine landscape, to scalp the land to the highest bidder, but someone scalped him first.

Derek meets Myra and Topher, best friends with a shared secret from Devil’s Bridge; Kimbo Blue, a former child star from Hollywood with a eunuch-ness that defies his adult persona; Clarity Received, the New Age girlfriend of the victim; and Tricia, the diva ex-wife. Along with a troupe of paranoid art gallery owners, gossipy sales clerks, sexy day laborers, and a Jeep-driving Yavapai-Apache, the quirky characters of the resort town hamper Derek’s attempts to expose the killer.

Small town secrets, shady deals, and serial arsonists threaten to throw Derek off the trail. The destructive power of greed materializes in the idyllic setting, and Derek struggles to keep his sense of self-value over the immediate gratification of self-indulgence. Temptation from his past jeopardizes his future, unless he can tame his libido and focus. Or will he lose his head too?
“I lived for five years in Sedona, Arizona,” author Greg Lilly says. “The story could only happen in that setting, in that culture.” Lilly had lived for several years in Charlotte, North Carolina before moving to Arizona for a “simpler life.” In the city, he had written the first Derek Mason Mystery that dealt with a large family-owned business. His second novel, Devil’s Bridge, follows characters who tire of the city and end up in Sedona ─ just as he did. “The novel Devil’s Bridge foreshadowed my own escape from the city,” Lilly explains. “So, with this latest mystery, I had to bring those characters into the tale to show the dream versus the reality of a resort town life.”

The early reviewers praise Scalping the Red Rocks for its setting, plot, and characters. "Greg Lilly gives us some unforgettable characters and his ability to create them is amazing,” says Amos Lassen of Literary Pride book reviews. “The residents of Sedona are the kind of people you will never forget."

Author Keith Pyeatt (Struck, Regal Crest Enterprises, 2009) added, “The characters are diverse and real enough to touch, the story is set so firmly in Sedona, it couldn't take place anywhere else, and the varied agendas and motives keep you wondering whodunit to the very end."

Sedona resident and award-winning mystery writer Kris Neri (Revenge for Old Times’ Sake, Cherokee McGhee, 2010) calls the book “A winner!” Then adds, "With eco-terrorists, wildfire and a shocking scalping, Greg Lilly’s Scalping the Red Rocks rips the mask off the superficial New Age haven of Sedona, Arizona, to reveal its darker side, in a don’t-put-it-down mystery that will keep you guessing right up to its stunning climax.”

Echo Magazine’s book critic Bob Lind rates the mystery “five full stars out of five.” Lind, an Arizonan, adds, “I can tell you that Lilly has absolutely nailed the prevailing mindset of many longtime residents of that town (Sedona), making the mystery even more realistic to me... an exciting, well-written page-turner, which will keep you guessing as you slowly learn more about each of its colorful, complex characters.”

Although the book skewers some attitudes and personalities of tourist towns, Lilly says he feels the murder mystery creates a fast-paced story to entertain readers, all readers ─familiar or not with a small town dependent on tourists. “Hilton Head, Williamsburg, Taos, Asheville,” Lilly lists. “These are places with a lot of deals going on behind the scenes. That can make for some interesting characters and situations.”

Scalping the Red Rocks – A Derek Mason Mystery is available now at bookstores and on-line at Amazon.com and BN.com. More information about Greg Lilly and his novels can be found at www.GregLilly.com.