Author
Secondary Characters Blog Hop
- by Suzi
Scroll down for today’s The Big Reveal posting
Thank you to Rachel Schieffelbein for bringing us this fun blog hop. And congratulations on your soon-to-be-released story, Secondary Characters. And thank you also to all these lovely co-hosts: Theresa Paolo, Kelley Lynn, Jessica Saylor, Jenny Morris
Cassie Mae
Sometimes secondary characters steal the show, (or the book) and become our favorites. Whether it’s the funny best friend or that goofy kid next door,
we want to know what secondary characters
you just couldn’t get enough of and why.
I’ve got a few characters I’d like to mention.
First is my own character. Which unfortunately is in an unpublished novel, so it’s not available to read.
Murphy from THE PROPER WAY TO SAY GOODBYE. He is the best friend of my main character Chloe. He is a totally sweet guy—not the hottest one, not the wittiest, but loyal and caring. But I’m biased of course. And I hope you all will be able to meet him someday an love him just as much as I do.
Another character I really liked was Laura from CLAWS by Will Weaver. She’s a spunky girl, tough on the outside, but hurting on the inside. The main character was Jed, and the book was good, but I also think the story would’ve been fun to hear from her pov.
This is an old one, and it’s from a movie, but I’m going to go with Chunk from THE GOONIES. He’s the chubby-funny kid, pictured on the right, kneeling down.
I was a kid when this movie came out and loved it. I watched it recently with my kids, and I still laughed. Chunk is a riot, and he’s got several great scenes. He’s the kind of kid who isn’t necessarily trying to be funny, but is. A little dopey, but he makes you laugh and is a good, loyal friend.
So I know you probably haven’t read THE PROPER WAY, but have you seen THE GOONIES or read CLAWS?
Here is the linky list to go check out the others.
The Big Reveal
- by Suzi
Welcome to the Big Reveal
I enjoy reading author interviews, but often times they don’t ask the kinds
of questions I wonder about. So I’ve assembled a group of writers at
all levels, from un-agented to published, and every week I will
have a new question for them.
Old fashioned book or e-reader?
Lara Schiffbauer, Published Author
I like paper books, but I have to admit it’s a lot easier to hold an e-reader for me. I like to read fiction on an e-reader, but any kind of reference book I need on paper. So, I guess if I can read linearly (from beginning to end) I like an e-reader, but if I want to make any kind of notes or refer back to anything, I need paper. I have to admit, I have two e-readers. I started with a basic Nook, and then for Christmas I got a Kindle Fire. I’m thinking I’ll give my Nook to my nephew.
Chloe Banks, Agented Author
I’ve never touched an e-reader in my life! I don’t have a problem with them – times change – I just haven’t seen the need to have one myself. I love the smell and feel of books, although I do feel a bit guilty for buying second-hand books, when buying digital copies does at least give money to the author.
Valerie Cole, Agented Author
I read on both books and e-readers, and have no preference at all. In fact, I think all my books are evenly split between the two. It just comes down to where I bought the book (ebook deal vs. in store). I have both a Kindle and an iPad, although I do prefer my iPad because I can read at night without a light on. (And, yes, I also enjoy destroying my eyes.)
Jay Bendt, Un-agented Author
Both. I love actual pages but I just don’t have the space for an actual library of any kind, so I have an e-reader out of convenience. I’d LOVE 100% to have the space to house books, look at them and pet them and call them all george — but since I don’t have the luxury, an e-reader it is. Plus it’s nice to have a whole library of books in my purse without having to use a tow-truck to move it. Convenient!
Mark Koopmans, Un-agented Author
“Real” books for me. I have nothing against any e-reader – and will gladly use them as a tool when I sell my books, but I *love* having a dog-eared book in my hand and don’t worry that three hundred books can be quite heavy – I can only read one at a time anyway.
Eileen Cook, Published Author
Both! I love print books, but my e-reader is very handy, especially when traveling. I have an i-Pad that tends to go wherever I go. Books in any form are a good thing!
Kelley Lynn, Published Author
Both. I couldn’t go without my Nook for my business trips. I finished two books on my last trip and I’d hate to have to carry all those books around (or have to buy a book at the airport if I ran out.) But if I’m reading at home I go the old fashioned route.
E-book or real book?
More about me
- by Suzi
Recently I received two Liebster awards, which means I get to answer a bunch of random questions.
The first set comes from Kate at My Next Life. Here are her questions.
1. If you were an animal, what would you be?
Dolphin maybe? That’d be fun swimming across the ocean, jumping out of the water and playing around.
2. What is your favorite book of all time?
The Outsiders has been my favorite since grade school. Haven’t read it as an adult, but I should. Also loved the movie, as any girl would.
3. What’s your biggest fear?
Dying without seeing kids grow up.
4. If you could have any talent, what would it be?
Singing would be cool. Not that I’d want to do it for a living; I just wish I could carry a tune.
5. If you could invite 3 famous people to dinner, who would you choose?
Emeril Lagasse: he’d have to cook dinner
President Obama and Rush Limbaugh: just to see what would happen
6. If you had a time machine, where would you go first?
For fun: medieval times. Take the place of a princess or queen. That’d be cool to live in a castle.
7. If calories didn’t count, what would you eat today?
Shrimp and scallops fettucine alfredo with a side of the most tender filet wrapped in bacon. Brownies (no nuts) and vanilla ice cream.
8. What book do you wish you’d written?
How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
9. What antagonist do you most relate to?
I have no idea. I’m not very antagonistic. 
10. If you could relive any day of your life, what would it be?
Wedding day, probably. So I could remember more of it. It goes by too fast.
11. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live?
Paris
The second set comes from Dani at Entertaining Interests. Here are her questions.
1. Which urban legend freaks you out the most?
The person in the back seat of your car with a knife. Yet, I don’t always check my back seat like my mom always said to.
2. If given the chance, which dream celeb would you have asked to your prom?
Back in the day, it would’ve been Corey Haim or Kirk Cameron… what dreamboats. I think Kirk turned out okay, unfortunately Corey did not.
3. Who would you “Freaky Friday” (switch places) with?
Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge. Maybe she’s not a princess or a queen, but maybe duchess is the next best thing.
4. Why?
I don’t know. It’d be cool to be a duchess.
5. If you could claim any novel as your own, whose would it be?
How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr
6. Is there any skill you’d like to learn?
I always wanted to learn fencing. I should’ve taken a class before the kids were born. I don’t see myself doing it anytime soon.
7. What movie would you like to star in?
Any of my novels made into movies. I’d even take just a little cameo instead of the starring role.
8. Which book/series would you like to see made into a movie?
I think Shine by Lauren Myracle would make a good movie.
9. You just crashed into the back of Ryan Gosling’s car, what do you do?
Grab my camera. And not to take pictures of the damage.
10. The zombie apocalypse just broke out; besides family, pick 1 movie star, athlete, weapon, and one other person or object, who/what would they be?
Movie star: Charlton Heston. I figure he’s got a good stack of guns somewhere. Even though he’s dead himself now.
Athlete: Whomever is the last winner in the UFC championship.
Weapon: Crap. I don’t know what all kills zombies. If I can have unlimited bullets, a gun, but otherwise a samurai sword.
Person/object: Magic zombie killing powder. (The question didn’t say it had to be real)
11. What is your dream day?
Sleeping in to a quiet home. Doing some reading in a quiet home. Doing some writing in a quiet home. Eating what/when I want in a quiet home. Basically I want a quiet home.
Thank you to Dani and Kate for the fun award. And as usual, I’m backing out of the passing it on to other, because I hate that part.
So go check out their blogs to learn more about them.
Sloppy Writing 101.56
- by Suzi
Another word I looked at in The Proper Way to Say Goodbye is NEED. Sometimes I didn’t need it. Sometimes I could replace it with something less formal.
Here are my examples.
-Kevin and I decided we need to have a family discussion.
Actually they decided TO have the discussion, so I cut the WE NEED. Totally unnecessary.
-I need to catch upon my sleep.
-You need to read these.
With both of these I changed the NEED TO to SHOULD. It’s dialogue and is a little less formal.
-Um, what did you need to see me about?
I changed the NEED to WANT. Sometimes you need to specifically use NEED versus WANT. But this time either worked. In those cases when it didn’t matter, I used WANT for Chloe and NEED for Sasha.
So this isn’t a huge issue, but it’s one more thing to look at if you want to clean things up.
The Big Reveal
- by Suzi
Welcome to the Big Reveal
I enjoy reading author interviews, but often times they don’t ask the kinds
of questions I wonder about. So I’ve assembled a group of writers at
all levels, from un-agented to published, and every week I will
have a new question for them.
Do you prefer writing or editing?
Kelley Lynn, Published Author
Hmm, this is a tough one. I really enjoy both. The writing is cool because I have no idea what’s going to happen (as I’m a panster). But since I’m a panster and I write rather fast, my first drafts are crap. So the editing is fun because it makes the story somewhat respectable. And since I don’t edit at all while I write, I forget a lot of the stuff I wrote so the first read through is always cool.
Lara Schiffbauer, Published
I like both writing and editing for different reasons. Writing is so fun because you get to create and inhabit other worlds. Editing is fun because you get to fix it all up and make the story better.
Chloe Banks, Agented Author
I feel like a fraud as a writer because I love editing. Writers are meant to love the creative process of a first draft and hate the nitty gritty that follows, but I love finding ways to tighten up every sentence. I do love pure writing too – not sure which I like most – but to take an initial idea and try to find beautiful, unique ways of expressing it, is a huge joy to me.
Valerie Cole, Agented Author
I think I prefer editing. There’s something about taking a pile of word vomit and sculpting something really beautiful out of it.
Jay Bendt, Un-agented Author
EDITING! I have a fondness for butchering my bad writing and making it better. Plus it doesn’t feel like pulling teeth like writing sometimes can become.
Mark Koopmans, Un-agented Author
I love writing, but I have a real fondness for editing, which stems, I think, from my newspaper days.
Eileen Cook, Published Author
Writing! During the first draft stage I’m not as aware of all the mistakes I’ve made. Once I get to the editing stage I start thinking of all the ways the idea didn’t meet the perfect idea that was in my head before I started.
What’s more fun: writing or editing?
Secondary Characters Blog Hop
- by Suzi
Whether it’s the funny best friend or that goofy kid next door,
we want to know what secondary characters
you just couldn’t get enough of and why.
Theresa Paolo, Kelley Lynn, Jessica Saylor, Jenny Morris
Rachel is also planning on giving away a three chapter critique along with an ebook of Secondary Characters, which releases on May 28th.
Cassie Mae and Kelley Lynn will also pick a winner to get either an ebook of
Reasons I Fell for the Funny Fat Friend,
or a signed copy of Fraction of Stone.
So sign up on the linky list below and start thinking about your favorite secondary characters!
Sloppy Writing 101.55
- by Suzi
I haven’t done any sloppy writing posts for a while, but trust me, I still have lots of issues to fix. The point of doing these posts is to point out ways I’m trying to clean up my writing. There are so many unnecessary words out there that plague my stories, I end up spending more time editing than writing. Way more.
As writers, we are supposed to tighten our prose, but we also need to develop that elusive voice. We want to get rid of all those unnecessary words, but we don’t want our voice to be blah/boring.
Finding that balance is tough, but I’ll keep working on it, keep learning, and hopefully you’ll learn something new too.
Two (often) unnecessary words I use are outside and inside. They can easily be cut without changing the meaning. And really, most of those times, it’s just redundant saying outside/inside. You’ll see what I mean in my examples below, all from The Proper Way to Say Goodbye.
-Her empty voice matched the way I often felt inside.
-I clenched my fists trying to control the anger inside.
-Nervous couldn’t begin to describe my feelings inside.
Apparently I mostly overuse inside when it comes to feelings. And really, does anyone have feelings outside their body? No.
-The cool air outside was a welcome relief.
I didn’t have as big a problem with outside, but this is one I could cut. You know from the prior sentences that she is outside, so I just don’t need it here.
Do you have an outside/inside problem?
The Big Reveal
- by Suzi
I enjoy reading author interviews, but often times they don’t ask the kinds Before we start back in, I’ve got two thing to mention. Congratulations to both Kelley Lynn and Lara Schiffbauer on the releases of your novels. Kelley’s is Fraction of Stone and Lara’s is Finder Meara. Make sure you check them out if you haven’t had a chance yet.
Welcome to the Big Reveal
of questions I wonder about. So I’ve assembled a group of writers at
all levels, from un-agented to published, and every week I will
have a new question for them.
Do you prefer writing with real or imaginary settings? What do you prefer to read?
Eileen Cook, Published Author
I enjoy writing contemporary books that typically have a blend of real and imaginary. I may make up a specific town or school so that I can have the flexibility to do exactly what I want.
Kelley Lynn, Published Author
Oh wow. I like both. Writing imaginary settings gives you COMPLETE freedom. So much fun. You get to make the rules. Writing in a real setting is, to me, more challenging. But the challenge is so cool as well. I think the imaginary comes easier for me. (Maybe I have a slight complex with wanting to control everything…haha)
Chloe Banks, Agented Author
The two proper novels I’ve tried writing both had imaginary settings – one was a fantasy (for children), and one was an imaginary English seaside village. But that was more because I was worried if I chose a real place I’d get the details wrong! My next novel I’m setting in a city I know well so I’m looking forward to that. I’ve read two books set in a little town I know a bit, and I loved reading them – it felt as if I was in on a secret. I don’t read a lot of fantasy but I think Discworld is fabulous, and I want to live in The Shire with the hobbits.
Valerie Cole, Agented Author
I can only wrap my head around real settings—which is why I’m a contemporary writer. However, I’m fascinated with fantasy and sci fi writers. I think it’s amazing how they can world build and create entirely new settings from scratch. I really liked Jodi Meadows’ INCARNATE series, and recently picked up Brodi Ashton’s EVERNEATH and Cynthia Hand’s UNEARTHLY series.
Jay Bendt, Un-agented Author
I always like having a bit of fantasy in any setting I work with, even if it’s already an urban setting. While I love to read straight-out-of-real-life scenarios, the writer in me prefers imaginary settings I can expand upon rather than be constricted by. I truly believe in writing what you know, and I would not be comfortable placing a story in say…Georgia, if I’ve never been there. While research could help with a big part of that, any Georgian would immediately know I’m not from there! So I like imaginary settings, sometimes balanced mixes of both imaginary and real, that allow me to truly stretch the boundaries of what’s possible.
As for a setting I loved, my most recent read was The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa, so I am in love with her work for the Nevernever (Faery land!). She did a great job at creating a whole world with its own rules of nature, its own feeling, its own life. Because of her fantastic job, her stories took on a deeper root in my mind and I was able to imagine the place as real, with stories and activity that went beyond just the characters. That’s always a great thing to stumble upon.
Lara Schiffbauer, Published
Imaginary settings are easier, because I just describe what I see in my head. When I have to write a real place, it helps if I’ve been there. If I haven’t, I spend too much time researching the place, trying to get the description right. I also feel handicapped because I haven’t had the sensory experience of the place. For reading, I enjoy either setting and can’t think of any particular setting that I’ve loved more than others.
Mark Koopmans, Un-agented Author
I love real, and that’s why I love thrillers and detective stories.
A CERTAIN JUSTICE by P.D. James is a must-read. James has such a delicious way of writing!
Do you like writing with real or imaginary settings? What about reading?
Friday Night Alibi
- by Suzi
I’ve got another terrific book to share. The cover reveal for Cassie Mae’s Friday Night Alibi, which I had a chance to read. Along with being an awesome writer, Cassie Mae is one sweet gal, and is on her way to becoming the Queen of YA/NA Romantic Comedy. So make sure you check out her fun books.
Take it away, Cassie Mae…
Let’s all dance together!
I’m super thrilled to show you all my cover for my New Adult debut, FRIDAY NIGHT ALIBI, published by Random House Flirt. This baby comes out on July 29th, but you can buy it now! And it’ll just zap onto your ereader the day it’s released.
Wanna know what it’s about? Well, it’s about this pig who learns how to fly, but only on friday nights and he grants wishes to people who are not where they’re supposed to be, to get them out of a bind. You know I’m totally joking. I just wanted to see how many people just skipped over all these words to get to the pretty cover, lol. You mention the pig in the comments and you get cyber gold stars.
Here’s the blurb 
Rising star Cassie Mae introduces New Adult readers to a practical soon-to-be college freshman who seems to have everything—until a special guy shows her what she’s been missing.
In the wealthy town of Sundale, Kelli Pinkins has hatched the perfect plan to capitalize on her sweet reputation. For a generous fee, she will be every trust-fund baby’s dream: a Friday-night alibi, the “girlfriend” or “BFF” that parents dream about. With college approaching in the fall, Kelli’s services are in demand more than ever, which means that her social life is nonexistent. But Kelli is A-okay with that. She’s raking in cash for school. Besides, relationships are tricky, and sometimes very messy. She’d rather be at home on Xbox LIVE, anyway. Then the unexpected happens: She meets college stud Chase Maroney.
Chase isn’t like the preppy, privileged guys Kelli usually meets in Sundale. For starters, he’s twentysomething, always wears black, and he shoots back one-liners as fast as she can dish them out. But Kelli’s attempts to drive Chase away falter when she realizes that he treats her like he really knows her, like he cares about knowing her. When Kelli finally gives in to the delicious kiss she’s been fighting for so long, she faces a tough decision: make Chase a real-life boyfriend and risk her heart . . . or keep her clients and lose her first true love.
Advance praise for Friday Night Alibi
“Totally entertaining with as many swoon-worthy moments as hilarious ones, Friday Night Alibi is a must-read.”—Jolene Perry, co-author of Out of Play
“A fun, funny, and fantastic story, this is one you will read in a day, and pick up to re-read again the next.”—Kelley Lynn, author of Fraction of Stone
Oh, and stuff about me too.
Cassie Mae is a nerd to the core from Utah, who likes to write about other nerds who find love. Her angel children and perfect husband fan her and feed her grapes while she clacks away on the keyboard. Then she wakes up from that dream world and manages to get a few words on the computer while the house explodes around her. When she’s not writing, she’s spending time with the youth in her community as a volleyball and basketball coach, or searching the house desperately for chocolate. And now the pretty!
You can buy this book HERE, and it takes you to all the places it’s available.
A to Z Reflections
- by Suzi
I had a lot of fun with my first A to Z. I will definitely be doing it again next year. It was a lot of work trying to get around to other blogs, and to the people who stopped by mine, but I met a lot of interesting bloggers and added many new blogs to Feedly. (I’ve switched from Google Reader to Feedly since GR will be shutting down soon. So far am liking the change.)
So, if you read any of my A to Z, you’d know my posts were about horror movies. I’m no movie critic, but I’ve always like horror movies and books. (And someday hope to write a horror story).
About half of these movie I’d seen before, about half were new.
Here is a summary.
Children of the Corn is/was one of my favorites. That hasn’t changed.
Motel Hell is another longtime favorite that also takes the cheese.
Babysitter Wanted, a new one, isn’t a favorite, but I got a big kick out of the cheese.
Virus was new to me, and I’m glad I saw it.
Kill Theory is a new favorite.
Flu Bird and Zombie Strippers are both worthless. I shouldn’t even be repeating their name.
I really don’t have one ‘favorite’ type of horror. I’ve probably seen more slasher flicks, but I like psychological horrors, paranormal, alien, monster. Whatever… I like it all.
Sadly enough, I got an theme idea for next year’s challenge. Good in some ways, but bad cause for the next 11 months, when inspiration strikes, I’ll have to write down my ideas so I don’t forget. I suppose that’s better than trying to pull it together at the end.
Thank you to all the wonderful people who put together A to Z and keep it running. And congratulations to all those who made it through, and I’ll see you next year. (Or hopefully sooner.)
