#writinghacks #writingadvice Writing Hacks by Janice Seagraves

Here’s are some ideas that might make writing a little easier. I know they’ve helped me with my writing, and I hope they can help you, too.

*One scene one POV. This simple reminder has helped me to keep from head hopping, especially when I was a new writer. (Not that you do that.)

*You should sprinkle in backstory like cookie crumbs. A little goes a long way.

*Make sure all your threads are tied up by the end of the story in one nice neat bow.

*Avoid adverb abuse in dialogue tags and use said instead. It is nearly invisible to the reader.

*There are times when you don’t need or want to use said, so use an action tag instead.

*Be careful not to use duplicate words. Too many looks, stared, arched eyebrow or frowns etc., catches the writer’s eye and pulls them out of the story.

*Don’t say your character blushed. Say his or her face heated since they can’t see their own face.

*This is one of mine: Avoid a saggy middle by using the middle of your story for the big reveal. That means a sudden death, a body found, or something scary happens, or if you're like me and write romance then you can use the middle for the first kiss, first sex scene, etc.

*And my new favorite and one that I learned from a revision work shop: When working on revisions, if there is a favorite scene or sentence that you’re not sure if you want to delete, open a file and name it deleted scenes, then saved that scene or sentence. If your story reads better without that section then leave it out, but if your story needs it then nothing is lost, and you can add it back in.

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Alien Heart, the first of a whole new SF series.

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Heart-Chronicles-Arcon-Book-ebook/dp/B01N0N73OF/

Blurb: Divorcee and single mom, hardworking Audrey Westberry is the host of a cable TV show called Miz Fixit.
Romance was the last thing on Audrey’s mind when two handsome extraterrestrials join the audience of her show.
Soon Audrey finds out a single word “mated” has different meaning when you are born a galaxy away. After a wonderful night of passion, Audrey finds herself far from home, impregnated and her life turned upside down.
Will she ever be able to leave the alien compound, see her son again, or get home in time to film the fall season of her Miz Fixit show?
But what’s a girl to do with two aliens that smell like candy, and their kisses taste like it, too?

Janice's website:  https://janice-seagraves.org/

Janice's Twitter: https://twitter.com/janiceseagraves

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#Free on #KindelUnlimited Exodus Arcon Mini-Series by Janice Seagraves

I updated my book trailer and added the cover for the mini-series, but I had to use new music since the old one wasn't available anymore.

Please take a look and comment. Let me know if you like it or not.

Exodus Arcon: Prelude to Book 1 Alien Heart: Chronicles of Arcon
 Free on kindleunlimited

The Arcons build three colony ship to take them off their dying world. Only the chosen can come, the rest take their chances with the lottery. But one family cheats.


Excerpt:

“And you, my podling?” Blade met Keefe’s eyes. “Do you really want to share your mate with me?”

Keefe’s cheeks flushed lavender, but, through gritted teeth, he said, “Bite her, but don’t swallow.”

“With her undressed and smelling of pheromones, all I want to do is bury her underneath my body while I bite that lovely white skin.” Blade leered at her, showing his sharp canines. “Is that what you want, my lovely?”

Hauling harder on his wrist, she met his crimson eyes. “You’re not fooling me, Blade. I’m not afraid of you.”

“You should be,” he growled. “I’m a bad-tempered military male, whom you do not want as a mate.”

“You will bite me, but only that, understand?” She raised her chin. “We are going to pretendpretend to mate. Nothing more.”

“Yes, mistress. You order, and I shall obey.” Blade wrenched free from Paz and Aziza then loomed in front of her.

She blinked at his muscular chest.
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Exodus Arcon: Prelude to Book 1 Alien Heart: Chronicles of Arcon (Kindle Locations 286-288). Keith Publications, LLC. Kindle Edition.

Cat Goddess by Janice Seagraves

In my book science fiction book series, Chronicles of Arcon, I have a cat. Not any cat, but a Goddess. I refer to her as the Arcon's living Goddess. What that means is she is a living creature with special powers that walks amung them. So how is this science fiction and not fantasy? Her people, the old ones, developed right beside the humans and the humans worshiped them.

It was funny too, I had no plans on introducing the Goddess or God of the Arcon race. I acutally kind of thought they didn't worship at all, but I started adding her in and surprised myself.

 Exceprt:

     Snatching up a pine cone, Audrey pitched it over the fence. Something scurried off making the huge ferns move in its wake. Peering over the slats, she didn’t see anything. A squirrel?

And then later:

"Audrey walked down the road and heard a rustle in the brush. Bending forward she peered at whatever it was. A pair of red slanted eyes met her gaze for a moment, and then disappeared. 

"What the heck was that?"

I wonder where I was going with this.

But then later, while Blade and Audrey were talking, it all became clear:

 “The Mother? I heard Keefe swearing by the Mother, a couple of times. Is that your religion?

Do you worship the Mother?” 

Something chuckle in the underbrush. A bird?      

“Yes and no,” Blade said, bringing her attention back to him. “The Mother is the progenitor of our race, and she is the last of her kind.”

     “What do you mean?” A chill run up her back.

     “The Mother gave birth to the first of our species. We made a capsule for her, and then we took her to the stars with us.”

     “Whoa, time out,” she said, making the “T” sigh with her hands. “Are you telling me you’re Goddess, your mother, which your race developed from, is-is a living breathing creature and you brought her here to Earth?” 

     “Yes, why is that so hard to comprehend?”

     “What does she look like?”

     “Paz’s pillow looks somewhat like her.”

     “You mean the pillow that looks like a purple tailess cat?”

And then I had the cat Goddess nailed down.

Read more in Alien Heart.

Alien Heart, the first of a whole new SF series.

https://www.amazon.com/Alien-Heart-Chronicles-Arcon-Book-ebook/dp/B01N0N73OF/

Blurb: Divorcee and single mom, hardworking Audrey Westberry is the host of a cable TV show called Miz Fixit.
Romance was the last thing on Audrey’s mind when two handsome extraterrestrials join the audience of her show.
Soon Audrey finds out a single word “mated” has different meaning when you are born a galaxy away. After a wonderful night of passion, Audrey finds herself far from home, impregnated and her life turned upside down.
Will she ever be able to leave the alien compound, see her son again, or get home in time to film the fall season of her Miz Fixit show?
But what’s a girl to do with two aliens that smell like candy, and their kisses taste like it, too?