Kindle Vella - I Have Begun!

 In my previous blog, I introduced Amazon's new baby - Kindle Vella! Today I actually started using it. I added the information on story title, story description, story category, and story tags. I still have to find an image to use and upload it, then I can go "live" with that, and start writing my story.

I have a name for my protagonist - Anne Devereau. She lives in Virginia and is the owner of an antique store (Annie's Antiques). she is also mother to a psychic cat named Midnight. The bare-bones story in my mind is that she has an object that has tremendous value, and she is not even aware that she has this object. Strange things will start happening, including a very unusual customer, and her store and house being broken into.  

Now I get the chance to flesh out my characters and their environment. I ran across a very interesting article earlier today that talks about creative ways to craft amazing characters. You can find the article here. 

Wishing you all happy writing!

(c) May 2021 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author,

Kindle Vella - The New Way To Publish!

 

Kindle Vella is a new and quite exciting venue from  Kindle Direct Publishing that allows authors to self-publish in a serialized fashion. I cannot wait to get my toes into this water! Stories will be available in the Kindle iOS App and on Amazon. 

Authors will earn 50% of the Tokens that readers spend to unlock episodes. Wait ... What? Tokens? Readers will be able to read the first three episodes of any story for free. After that, they can purchase tokens and redeem them to unlock episodes. The number of tokens needed to unlock an episode will depend on the episode's word length (episodes can range from 600 - 5,000 words). Authors will be eligible for a launch bonus based on customer activity and engagement.

Readers will have access to Kindle Vella stories within the next few months. I certainly am going to have a continuing story up there! This is so 1920'a noir to me - only then the serial stories run in magazines, and the authors were paid accordingly.

The Beta version of the Kindle Vella library can be found here - Kindle Vella library. This is where authors can start to share their stories. The format is very straightforward: add in the story title, author's name, a 500 character description of the story, an image for the story, a primary category (with an option to add a secondary category), and up to seven tags. Story details can be edited up until the time that the story is published. 

At this time it appears that this serial publishing option is open to U.S.-based authors only. The Kindle Vella store should be available within the next few months.

(c) April 2021 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

Pantser Outline For My First Christmas Mystery

 

I have had my first Christmas mystery book running around in my mind for "forever". I know the physical setting - Minnesota, where I lived as a child. I know that the action will take place in a mid-sized town, where people know each other. I know that the protagonist is a reasonably well-off mystery writer and that the victim is a successful lady in her forties who is engaged to a wealthy local gentleman with a secret from his past.  I know that the opening chapter will focus on a Tarot reading that the victim gets from a local reader. 

I need to form an outline so that I don't stray too far from the "facts", and so that the story takes a plausible form that is tightly woven (no holes allowed!). Speaking of which, I would be digging myself into a hole if I tried to write a "step-by-step" type outline. As a writer, I am a "panster" - I write by the seat of my pants. 

Here is what I am looking at so far:

Chapter One: A very elegant lady (the victim) comes into a local tea shop for lunch and a Tarot reading. The reader is very uneasy, as she sees cloudy energy around this lovely lady. The cards show death. The lady leaves, never to reach her destination.

Chapter Two: That evening, the reader learns of her client's untimely death. She sees her client with her hands outstretched as if asking for help. She feels icy fear all around her - this story is not over yet! She calls the protagonist, who hurries over to her house to calm her down.

Chapter Three: The victim was engaged to a mysterious, wealthy local. She was on her way to his mansion when her car drove off the road, and she died. The police found out about the Tarot reading, and want to talk to the Tarot reader.

Chapter Four: The protagonist calls a meeting of her friends, to discuss the death, and to see why the victim is asking for help. Was this not the accident that it seems to be?

Chapter Five: The protagonist attends a local board meeting, which is also attended by the victim's fiancee. He tells her his story and asks for her help. His dead fiancee has come to him in his dreams asking for help too.

Chapter Six: Introduce the assistant to the victim's fiancee. Portray them in a good light. Bring in strange missives that have been coming in through the mail.

Chapter Seven: There is a large Christmas party, where a prominent local woman is poisoned and dies.

 Chapter Eight: The protagonist and her friends meet to go through clues and share information.

Chapter Nine: What the victim saw just before she died.

Chapter Ten: Showdown between the victim's fiancee and his assistant.

Chapter Eleven: Conclusion.

There it is - a bare-bones, pantser outline! 

(c) March 2021 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission of the author.

Organized Chaos

 

It is Monday morning, and I am in the middle of organized chaos. I love the word chaos - such lovely energy just zooming around at will, causing havoc here and there! The Cambridge Dictionary defines organized chaos as "a situation in which there seems to be a lot of confusion and no organization, which makes you surprised that the results are good". 

I look at organized chaos a bit differently. I see it as bits of random chaos that are actually diverse small sections of action that within themselves are quite organized. In the end, everything comes together with the desired result. I am seldom surprised that the end results are good.

What I am doing right now - since we are almost to the end of the second month of 2021 - is setting out a rough sketch of the Christmas mystery novel that I will be putting up on Kindle this November, I know who several of the characters are, where the physical setting is going to be, and the "why" of the major story. I am going to leave it to the process to develop the minor stories that make any book captivating to readers.

Since I have decided to do the same setting every Christmas, with pretty much the same characters, I will need to develop a method of keeping track of the "minor" details - what each room consists of, who likes who, who doesn't get along with who, interactions amongst the businesses in the local area and such.

I have the idea for the story in my mind, and I have fleshed it out in my mind. Now to set down what is going into each chapter, and how this will develop from chapter to chapter. It will be a relatively short book - around 50,000 to 60,000 words. Longer than a novella, which is usually set at 40,000 words max.

Off to see where my characters want to take this story!

(c) February Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written consent from the author.

Symbolism Helps Readers Remember Our Characters

 

I think we can all recognize this photo as Michelle Obama at President Joseph Biden's inauguration. I was actually looking for a meme that I had seen on the Internet, with Mrs. Obama wearing this outfit and carrying a Jedi-type laser sword in her hand. Unfortunately, I could not find it. At any rate, I knew that Michelle Obama would be THE person to use as an example of showing symbolism in our characters.

As writers, we paint pictures with words. Our characters come to life through our words. Pretending that we know nothing of her background as a lawyer, mother, wife, or former FLOTUS, what can we see in this literal picture? She is conversant with COVID rules/regulations and follows them. Looking at her hair, we know that she takes care of herself. She is tall, and she stands tall. She can wear clothes that make a statement without having the clothes walk in the door before she does. Her belt buckle makes a subtle fashion statement, as does the length of her coat. This lady personifies power in subtle ways. Taken together, all of these symbols tell us that in a story her character has strength, integrity, and a boatload of self-confidence. And she is wise - she would know the right people.

Symbolism in writing allows us to present a complex picture of an individual character. It can be the small things - the colors they wear, the movies they watch, the style of furniture in their home, the type of food they eat, where they work, or where they went to school. Symbolism can be a theme that runs through a story - my immediate thought as a mystery writer is that this theme can help leave a trail of clues as to what happened, who did it, and why. 

Symbolism can be the thread that holds our stories together!

Happy writing!

(c) January 2021 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.

2021 - Thoughts On A Writer's New Year

Today is January 1st, 2021. We are just over two weeks away from inaugurating a new president, and a new way of life for the U.S. Or rather, a return to a more sensible, responsible way of life. The COVID-19 crisis is still going strong here in the U.S., but we do have two vaccines available, and the projections are that by the end of March everyone that wants a shot will have had their first shot. (Both vaccines that are out right now require two shots.) We are looking at opening up businesses again, creating jobs, and opening up our economy.

As writers, we have seen our professional lives impacted in different ways. Large and small scale in-person conferences were canceled, as were venues such as book signings. We were unable to connect with each other except digitally. Whatever each of us learned, we need to take into 2021 and make it part of our professional (and personal) foundation.

While 2021 will present its own challenges, I personally am going to treat it as a "regular" year. What do we do at the beginning of a "regular" writing year? Here are some of the things that I am going to be doing.

Personal Goals:

• Continue my daily thankfulness blog, where I list at least five things each day that I am thankful for.
• Block out the hours each day that I can write. (I am still working full time.)
• Meditate daily (for me this is best done at the beginning of my day).
• Exercise at least a few minutes each day.
• Set aside time on a daily basis to read for pleasure.
• Eat in a healthier manner.

Professional Goals:

• Set out my writing projects for the year. I want to write 1-2 cozy mysteries, as well as a small Christmas book each year. I would also like to have a half-dozen journals out there, as well as 18-20 page pamphlets on differing topics.
• Redo my bio.
• Create a template for the back cover material on my books,
• Join at least 1-2 professional organizations, keyed towards women, mysteries, and cozy mysteries.
• Check out writer's software. I am currently learning to use Scrivener, so that will be my go-to software for now.
• Continue using Grammarly, with an eye to eventually using the professional version. Grammarly and I do not always agree on the "state of the state"!
• Since I am going to continue self-publishing, I will need to look deeper into having my books professionally edited.
• Look into writing articles for magazines, and entering writing contests.

Your lists will be different because they will be tailored to your life and your lifestyle. I do feel that it behooves all of us to do a deep dive into what we would like to accomplish during the next year so that we can move on to the second step - how we are going to accomplish the goals we are setting.

Below are a few previous blogs that may be of some help in starting out your New Year:

• https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1380693857976784266/4277007376417915275
• https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1380693857976784266/2103853801358826129
• https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1380693857976784266/2714324547621901620
• https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/1380693857976784266/8694947898499657310

January 2021 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written consent from the author,

 

An End To 2020 - What Do We Take With Us, What Do We Leave Behind

 

We are one week into December of 2020. It is time to think about how to properly say goodbye to this roller-coaster of a year. The politics, the health crisis, the truths, the lies ... they are all part of reality for every one of us. Cussing the year out is not going to do us any good. Whining is not going to do us any good. Here are some things that we might want to consider:

• Going into 2020 we had no idea that we were going to face a health crisis of global, pandemic proportions.
• We had no idea that the truth of the health crisis would be hidden from us.
• We had no idea that we would be facing empty shelves in our supermarkets. That we would be out of TP, napkins, flour and so many other essential items.
• We had no idea that hospitals would be innundated with desperately ill people. 
• We had no idea that our mortuaries would be over-run, and that bodies would be stacked in refrigerator trucks.
• We had no idea that we would be locked out of the nursing homes that our family members were in.
• We had no idea of the concept of wearing masks, social distancing, of limited capacity in our stores, of limited capacity for socializing anywhere. 
• We were not able to celebrate holidays with our families.
• We could not visit family members that were seriously ill in the hospital, and that essentially died alone.
• We could not celebrate weddings, birthdays, anniversaries, or other social events.
• Traveling became questionalbe.
• People began to work from home. 
• Distant schooling became (somewhat) the norm.
• We did more online ordering.
•  Sporting events were cancelled, and when they began again, it was with a limitied (or no) spectator audience.
•  Many people suddenly found themselves unemployed.

But we might also want to consider: 

• Many businesses and sports groups adjusted their ability to produce, and they helped bring to the market necessary things like masks, hand sanitizer and breathing machines,
• Working from home appears to be the way to go in the future.
• The home delivery business is booming ... and appreciated.
• Personal shoppers are becoming a way of life in supermarkets.
• Vaccines are being developed to help deal with the COVID virus.
• The US elections are over, and we look to be entering a new era of responsibility and attention to the needs of the people. 

Going into 2021, we want to remember to give thanks for the lessons of 2020, and that we survived the year. We saw the worst in people, now we want to see the best in people. 

What are you releasing from 2020? What are you taking into 2021 to set the foundation for the year? How is this affecting your writing? Are you self-published, or do you work with a publisher? If you work with a publisher, are they changing how they do business due to the current financial climate? 

Wishing you a strong end to 2020, and a strong beginning to 2021!

(c) December 2020 Bonnie Cehovet

Reproduction prohibited without written permission from the author.