The Plot Whisperer is at it again!

The wonderfully generous and insightful Plot Whisperer, aka Martha Alderson, is at it again...this time, posting a daily series of activities and thoughts on plot to help bring your fictional one(s) to life.

Honestly, I really want to know where to find the wellspring of plot knowledge she's tapping for my own selfish benefit :) but for now I'll settle for her helpful posts.

She's got too much stuff over there to condense it down into a line or two. If you haven't read Blockbuster Plots, you need to. Shell out the bucks because I guarantee you'll never read another plot the same way again.

In the meantime, go visit her amazing series of posts at The Plot Whisperer

Happy Plotting (I never really believed in that before Martha!)

Beth

A Fun Character Naming Resource

I know, I should be writing. Don't worry, I have been. I'm home for the day for an appointment, and have spent a good hour on the story. About to wrap up the end of the first scene in chapter 1...and I realized I don't have a solid character name for my hero. I do have a "working" name that came out during on of the heroine's dialogues with a secondary character, but I'm one of those who absolutely must know the character's name before I can write it.

Mind you, I won't get started with the hero until the last line of chapter one, when the heroine time-travels back to his bed (oooooh...spoiler alert :)) but I need to know it because she's going to be thinking of him in the next two scenes.

So how fun is it when I checked out some babyname places online and found this one? It's from the Social Security Administration (maybe this is where my money is going...LOL) where you can plug in any year after 1879 and get a listing of the 50, 100, or even 500 most popular names that year? Extremely cool, especially if you write historicals. My story is set around the 1860s so it won't be spot-on but a good resource nonetheless. You can get both male and female names.

Go on, check it out. Every writer deserves a little play time :) You can choose by year, by decade, by state and you can search individual names to see how popular they were as well. Oh, yeah...don't forget to get back to the writing!

Popular Baby Names by Birth Year at the Social Security Administration website

Character Development Through Cosmo

Here's an interesting article courtesy of Cosmo (&Yahoo) on how to interpret male body language. Aside from the general knowledge we chicks need to know, it's also great stuff for when you're trying to figure out how your hero is reacting to your heroine.

Dating 101: Decode His Body Language

Use this cheat sheet to observe couples in public to get a really vivid idea of how to translate it to the page. Good stuff!

Happy writing,
Beth

My Latest Project...Me!

First Impressions of the Flat Belly Diet at Prevention.com



I know, I should be in bed...4am comes early these days...but I'm so excited I can't sleep (Ok, that's a lie...coming from the person who's fallen asleep on school busses and airplanes before takeoff...).

A few weeks ago I got a note in my inbox from Prevention Magazine. Yeah, that one. It was an invitation to apply to become a blogger and try out their latest, greatest diet--The Flat Belly Diet.

. We know how I feel about blogging :) and I'm a sucker for diets, since I consider myself an expert at them. I think I started my first one in high school and have been reading and researching ever since. I applied and honestly didn't expect to hear back from them. After all, this *is* Prevention Magazine we're talking about.

Interestingly enough, I was one of 80 chosen to get the diet book for free, do the plan and blog about it all the while. When I got the book, I liked what I saw. Portion control and healthy eating...what's not to like? And no kill-yourself-at-the-gym exercise routines? Are you kidding me?!!

Anyway, I devoured the book and stocked up on groceries tonight to officially start tomorrow. Great choice, Beth. On the day teachers bring donuts and your lunch group is going out for Chinese...but really, there's never a good day to start dieting.

My first post is up and running over at the Prevention site...come see what all the buzz is about. My goal is to post every day but there's a queue for posting so it'll go as fast as that process takes.

Who knows? By February I could have a flat belly and less fat. Wouldn't that be a great way to celebrate Spring Break?!

The Flat Belly Diet
BuckeyeBeth's Flat Belly Diet Blog
First Impressions of the Flat Belly Diet

Guest Blogger: Skhye Moncrief

As promised, another author treat...this time with multi-published Skhye Moncrief. Be sure to check out her work at The Wild Rose Press for your chance at that Sony e-Reader...



When did you know you were a writer/that writing is what you wanted to do? That's all part of my pre-baby blur, a past life of some sort where I can glimpse things but rarely recall anything I'm supposed to. ;)

What is the best part of being a writer? I'm in control of my little worlds.

What is the worst part of being a writer? Other people not liking my little worlds.

What is your typical writing routine? These days after baby, I write when I get the chance. I spend a lot of time catching up with stuff online, revising, submitting, and editing. I'm lucky if I write 25 pages a week when I'm supposed to. I'm currently working on a 50K-word werewolf tale. My goal was to write like there was no tomorrow and whip out 50 pages a week. Right. Right. Now, I'm happy with 25 pages in the same timeframe. What was I thinking?

Are you a pantser or a plotter? I am a combination of both. I don't always write the basic proposal-type synopsis down before typing that first page. However, the ideas are firmly rooted in my mind. I'm a stay-at-home mom who doesn't get a chance to scribble down story points with a 3 year old afoot. I tend to mentally work the story over and over before typing anything. That's the plotting aspect of my writing process. I come up with a few major plot points, work out the associated internal conflict, and jump in to pants the rest. ;) But, I'll be the first to admit that writing the entire synopsis before or while writing the story makes life a heck of a lot easier than after I write THE END.

Do you have a secret to busting writer's block? I'm certifiably geek being formally educated in hard and soft science. On top of that, I have an incredibly fast thought process that often makes my friends dizzy. So, I don't normally get writer's block. I get "stuck" in life and don't get back to writing when I should. But I have found that watching some good documentaries on a subject can really lead me places I hadn't thought of before.

As for my stories, my Time Guardians are kilted heroes wed to their soul-mate Druid wives. Don't get me wrong. You could be one of these Time Guardians. You just haven't realized it yet. Think. Have you ever been drawn to someone? Have you ever clicked with someone? What about those shooting stars you see when that special someone kisses you? Don't you know that there's a reason various cultures think those lights are something special, mystical? Open the door to a new reality where legends become history and destined love defeats timeless evil. ~www.timeguardians.com

Time Guardian titles available:
HE OF THE FIERY SWORD--Once upon a time, King Arthur was a time-traveling shape-shifting dragon. A man must live be for becoming king.
SACRIFICIAL HEARTS--Only the fairies know what the future holds as the Gods send two sacrificial hearts racing toward their destiny.
NAKED ON THE STAIRCASE--She's got a grenade, and she knows how to use it.

I also channel Calliope's stories for The Wild Rose Press in the SONG OF THE MUSES anthology. ;) My tale, ANCIENT MUSINGS, is the opening story in the first series. The Greek muse of writing Calliope challenges Zeus to make her mortal and lands in Hades to confront her end. The soul of a deceased archaeologist is the only person who can outwit Zeus' harpies. Little do they know that they are nothing more than pawns for ANCIENT MUSINGS.

All my stories, including my free read VOW OF SUPERSTITION: DRAGON'S BLOOD, are available at this link:
http://www.thewildrosepress.com/index.php?main_page=index&manufacturers_id=232

All of my first chapters are posted here at my website:
http://blog.skhyemoncrief.com/categories/1st%20Chapters.aspx


Thanks for having me, Beth. ~Skhye

My pleasure! Happy Writing :)

www.skhyemoncrief.com
www.timeguardians.com