Open-Ended or All Tied Up--What Kind of Ending Do You Like?

Can I say I'm really missing Castle and Hawaii Five-O?  It's going to be a long summer.  At least we have America's Got Talent to get us through.  I didn't think I'd like Howard Stern replacing Piers Morgan because, well, he's Howard Stern, but surprisingly, I've liked him so far.  He seems witty and genuinely interested in the contestants.  And I thought it was funny when he said he was the first American judge on America's Got Talent.  He really is since Howie is Canadian (love you Howie!) And Sharon and Piers were from England.  LOL

Well, as I was lamenting the hiatus of my shows last night, the ending of my book came to me.  A solid ending that I've been thinking about since six o' clock this morning.  (I'm going to write it today I hope so I can pad my Word Count Wednesday totals).  The problem with it is that it's a bit too tidy I think and wraps things up with a big red bow.  I know my publisher likes things somewhat open-ended and some of my readers do, too, so I thought I'd take an informal poll before anything gets written in stone.

Do you like your books to end with all the loose ends tied up and the storyline having a firm ending?  Or do you prefer things to be a bit more open-ended with room for a sequel perhaps or at least using your imagination on how some things turn out in the story?

Book Review: Royal Secrets

I got Royal Secrets for Mother's Day and I was really excited because I'd wanted to read this book since it came out.  I apologize to all the other books on my TBR list because Royal Secrets went to the top of the list, as in, I started reading it immediately and ignored all the other books I'd been reading until Royal Secrets was done.

Royal Secrets is the sequel to Royal Target.  In Royal Target we are introduced to the royal family of Meridia who needs the services of CIA agent Janessa Rogers to help foil a terrorist plot against them.  I really loved that story because Janessa was a kick-butt girl who didn't back down in the face of danger.  The only thing I didn't like about that book was the Prince's name was Prince Garrett.  (I know, it's silly, but there was just something that seemed so out of place with that name.)  In Royal Secrets Prince Garrett and Janessa are back, (and I won't tell you what they're doing because that would be considered a spoiler), but Janessa's friend Alora, who lost most of her family in a terrorist bombing, is coming to Meridia to be Janessa's assistant.  (Okay, never mind, it says right on the back cover that Janessa and Garrett are planning their wedding.  So don't blame me, blame the back copy people for giving away that little gem. Ha!)

Anyway, Alora and her two small sons arrive at the castle and it reminded me a bit of a CIA Cinderella story.  Poor woman with no family goes to the castle and meets a prince.  *swoon*  I liked Prince Stefano's character a lot because he was so flawed.  He's a bit arrogant and demanding, which I think anyone raised as the heir to the throne could be, yet he's got a soft side to him that is just as engaging.  But in Royal Secrets he's recovering from an assassination attempt when he meets Alora and her boys and the plot thickens from there.  (No spoilers, I promise!) 

The main plot is that there is a group trying to overthrow the monarchy and Alora, Janessa, and the princes are working to stay alive and figure out who's behind it.  I thought the plot was engaging and twisty enough to keep me turning pages.  My only complaint (another silly one I'm afraid) was that there were a lot of names starting with the same letter that made it hard to keep characters straight sometimes (i.e. Paolo, Pedro, Patrice, Phillippe, etc.)  (Meridia, Meridian, Merid)  I know, I know, I shouldn't be so picky, and it's my fault for staying up into the wee hours of the morning to finish and my poor brain can no longer remember who is Paolo and who is Pedro.  But the book is so good I had to finish, no matter who was who!  :)

I am a big fan of Traci's books and I highly recommend her SEAL series if you want an edge of your seat romantic suspense.  Royal Target and Royal Secrets are more of a fun romantic suspense, and I recommend them to anyone who wants a great afternoon read that turns into an early morning hours because I have to finish it right now read.

Here's the back copy:

It’s been three years since the tragic Christmas Eve when CIA agent Alora DeSanto returned from a doctor’s appointment to find her husband dead and her Paris home destroyed by a terrorist firebomb. Still mourning her heavy loss, she seeks a new life for herself and her two young sons by accepting a job offer from her friend and fellow agent Janessa Rogers, who is engaged to marry Prince Garrett of Meridia. As Janessa’s personal assistant, Alora takes up residence in the royal chateau in Bellamo, where Prince Stefano is recovering from a possible assassination attempt and reeling from some life-shattering news of his own.

As their paths repeatedly cross, Alora and Stefano are surprised by a budding attraction that draws them together in friendship. But as their hesitant affection evolves into romance, royal secrets plunge them into plots of espionage and blackmail that threaten all they hold dear—including each other. And as enemies arise to crush the Meridia monarchy, Alora must confront the fears that destroyed her past before they destroy her future.

First Page Friday and The Hop Winner!

I had critique group last night so you know what that means---yeah, I didn't get to bed until 1 a.m. and I'm dragging today.  Honestly, I wish I could bring you all along for my crit group.  It is so fun!  We laughed a lot, but we also got a lot of chapters critiqued.  It is so motivating to have that.  I can't wait to dive into my WIP today.

We also have an amazing First Page Friday to read, but before we do, here is the winner of my LDS Authors Giveaway Hop (or whatever it was named. The one I started last Friday).

*drum roll*


Angela!

If you will email me your snail mail address at juliecoulterbellon@gmail.com then I will send you your book basket and dessert.  Thank you to everyone who entered!

On to today's First Page Friday.  And, as always, if you would like to have your first page critiqued by a national editor, then follow the instructions in the sidebar.  (Can I say I'm a little excited about this entry because I BEGGED Melanie for an epilogue to her book, The List, and this is pretty much what I needed.  So THANK YOU Melanie for giving me closure.  :)  (I hope that's not a secret.)

The Entry
Untitled
by Melanie Jacobson

I tore Trentyn Bach's large square head in half and dropped him in the garbage. Molly winced at the sound of the photo paper ripping.

“Sorry,” she said.

“This is officially irony,” I said. “We develop a whole web series to reform the Huntington Beach dating scene, and the star gets himself into a relationship.”

“Raina is a cool girl,” she said. “We should probably be happy for her.”

“I know. I'm trying.” I sighed. It would be easier to cheer on their blossoming relationship if it hadn't become official two days before I needed Trentyn to do things like save my business and revolutionize love and romance in HB.

“What are you going to do?”

“I have no idea. I barely got Trentyn to agree to do it. I don't know who I could convince to step in.”

Molly ducked behind her Mac screen and turned the radio up, leaving me to stew until I was ready to talk it out. Greatest best friend/employee ever. I snatched up my phone and texted my future sister-in-law, Ashley. Can you dump my brother for three weeks?

Her reply was instant. Sure. Wait. I mean, HECK NO. Bachelor problems?

I snorted. Are there any other kind?

She sent back a picture of Ryan Gosling reading, “Hey, girl. Smile.”

So I did. Unfair trap.

The soulful ballad playing gave way to a party rock anthem the UCLA marching band used to play after every touchdown during my senior year there. Molly reached over to switch the station, but I waved her off.

“Leave it. Maybe it'll motivate me to come up with a good idea.” I drummed my fingers in time to the up-tempo beat but by the second chorus, I still had no answers.


Ms. Shreditor's Comments

Very good this week! You'll see below that I had some issues here and there, but not bad at all.

I like the first sentence of this piece. It’s an attention grabber. However, we lose a bit of momentum in the second sentence, which pulls Molly into the fray without any words of introduction. Who is Molly? We meet her in the first paragraph, but we don’t learn that she’s the narrator’s best friend/employee for another seven paragraphs. I would rework this so that her role is more immediately apparent.

The narrator has a fun, snarky voice. We don’t learn her name, but we do get a sense of what might drive this story (her search for a male star in her web series).

The musical element could use some minor tweaking. Molly turns on the radio, but we don’t know what kind of music she plays. The second-to-last paragraph opens, “The soulful ballad playing,” and the reader has to backtrack a bit to remember where this ballad is coming from. The easiest fix would be to recast as follows: “The soulful ballad playing on Molly’s computer gave way to a party rock anthem…” Or something to that effect.

Be careful with the word “irony.” I blame Alanis Morissette in part for how widely misused this word has become. So few things in “Ironic” are actually ironic, but I digress. Irony is, according to Merriam-Webster, “the use of words to express something other than and especially the opposite of the literal meaning.” An alternate definition from Merriam-Webster: “Incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result.” There’s nothing incongruous about someone starring in a series about dating and getting into a relationship himself. It might be ironic if he were starring in a series about dating and decided to swear off relationships.

I would avoid abbreviating Huntington Beach at the end of the fifth paragraph. I had to stop in my tracks to figure out what “HB” stood for despite its close proximity to the first mention of “Huntington Beach.” I’d recommend spelling it out.

I’ve dissected a lot here, but I really do like the writing style. There are very few grammatical issues, and the writing has a nice, natural rhythm. The bulk of the work to be done here is minor reorganization so that identifying details accompany the first mention of a character or plot detail. Otherwise, well done!

Thank you to Ms. Shreditor and to Melanie.  I know I really enjoyed this one.  See you next week!

Writers and Unicyclists

"Every great success is an accumulation of thousands of ordinary efforts that no one sees or appreciates."  - Brian Tracy

My son wants to be a professional unicyclist.  Now, that may sound funny to some, but he can do all kinds of tricks and flips on that unicycle that take my breath away!  Unicycling is a growing sport and you would not believe the time and effort that goes into doing some of the amazing things they do.  (There's even a UniCon coming up this summer and people are coming from all over the world.)

My son and I were talking last night about reaching our dreams.  Of course, my dream was to be a published author, which I am, but as we talked, he didn't see the correlation to him spending hours and hour mastering crank flips and being able to ride down a guardrail with me being an author.  But this is what I know.

Being a successful author takes a lot of practice.  Generally speaking, your first novel won't be your best work.  You're still learning and balancing.  The more you write and the more you read, the better you get at your craft.  You begin to see words in a different light.  You practice some more in putting those words on a page in a way that makes your readers feel flutters in their stomach, whether it be dangerous flutters or romantic flutters.  You make them feel.

You work and work on that story (or stories) until you hate the characters and want to kill them all off.  You agonize over the finale scene because you want it to be just right.  And you take the rejections, the bad reviews, and the critiques without crying (or letting people see you cry) because you live for the fan mail, the acceptances, and the good reviews.

That's what makes writing worth it to me.  And I know I have to practice to get it right.   That's why I like that quote from Brian Tracy.  I think every novel is an accumulation of thousands of ordinary efforts (skipping that TV show to write, giving up an hour of sleep to write, working and researching until you can write those words, THE END) and a lot of times people don't see or appreciate those efforts because writing is a solitary profession for the most part.

So today I'd like to give thanks to all the writers who have put their stories out there for me to enjoy.  I know it may look easy, but I also know it isn't.  And I'd like to thank all the people who have enjoyed my books and let me know.  That's what keeps my motivation high and the stories coming.  I have to say, my readers are the absolute best among all the readers in the world.  Truly.

My moral to the story:  Unicyclists and writers have a lot more in common than my son thought.  What do you think?

Word Count Wednesday and Unclaimed Prizes

Before we get down to the nitty gritty of Word Count Wednesday, I just wanted to remind a few of the winners from the birthday bash that they need to send me their snail mail address so we can get their prizes out to them.  You can send me your addy at juliecoulterbellon@gmail.com 

I need addresses from Mindy, Stories from the Cline Clan, Heidi, Char, and Cheri.  I would love for you to claim your prizes after all that hard work!

I am very proud of myself this week.  I managed to write 3400 words.  Woohoo!  Sadly, it was on a new project that I'm working on, and not the one I need to finish.  But it still felt good to stretch the writing muscles and leave the editing behind for a while.  Drafting can be fun, too!

How did you do this week?

Hawaii Five-O Season Finale--What Were the Writers Thinking?

Last night's Hawaii Five-O Season Finale was full of a bit of everything.  I have to say the first thirty minutes were full of win.  The team being creepily watched, the fake phone call to Fryer and the scene in the alley.  Wow.  Tense.  Poor Max being shot had been spoiled in the previews, dang it, but it was still awesome to have the McDanno banter in the car while they were chasing the shooter back to . . . the police station.  haha.  Danny's comment, "the better question is why they're going back to HPD" was funny and the "I think it's the white one."  Man, I love Danny.  Although I figured out it was a woman and she was the one talking to Steve sooner than Steve did. 

Unfortunately, after the veterinarian's office scenes (they shot Steve!) it was sort of downhill from there.  The editing seemed choppy (we come back from commercial and Chin is setting Creepy Baldwin Brother free and we're all sitting there going, wha?  What happened?

It's sort of like the writers were sitting around the writing table going, okay, we've gotta end this thing.  Anyone been watching any good shows lately we could "borrow" from?

And one writer raises their hand and says, "hey we've got Reiko Aylesworth from 24.  She's good at the dead wife thing.  Why don't we use some of their old 24 standby stuff.  Like, have an impossible choice of who lives and who dies, then have Chin throw the bad guy up against something and grit through his teeth, "why are you doing this?"  Maybe he can channel Kiefer and no one will notice.  (Although no one will ever touch The Velvet of Kiefer.  And I totally called it when they brought Reiko back for a quickie courtship and wedding that she would be dead or dying.)

Head writer nods head and writes that down.

The next writer has been watching their favorite soap and says that since we've already done Danny cheating with the ex and a Who's the Daddy storyline, now it's time to go for custody.  (And seriously, who leaves their phone in the car like that?  It was so odd and totally plot point.)

Head writer nods head and writes that down.

The next writer has been watching a lot of Claire Danes/Romeo and Juliet/Shakespeare stuff and goes with those themes for Kono.  (Really?  Flowers and dinner make up for your Yakuza boyfriend pulling a gun on you and duct taping you?)

The last writer had obviously been watching his old Alias DVDs.  The whole looking for Shelburne thing was reminiscent of Sydney looking for the Man and it even ended the same way with both Steve and Sydney ending with the stunned look on their face and murmuring, "Mom?"  I wish I could screencap it because it would be the exact same look.

So, to sum up, the first half was at least original and twisty and kept me on the edge of my seat.  The second half was a bunch of people borrowing stuff from other shows and throwing it all together to see what would stick and hoping their audience didn't watch any of those other shows.

I'll still tune in for next season though.  McDanno is hard to resist.  Oh, and the Hawaiian setting as well.  One day, Hawaii, you and me . . .

Book Reviews: Daughters of Jared and Dangerous Favor

Can you believe it's Monday already?  That weekend flew by way too fast.  I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day.  Mine was wonderful---I had all eight kids home with me to enjoy my favorite foods.  And I got some beautiful flowers, chocolates, books, and hand-drawn gifts.  Those are always the best.

But today, I have something special for you.  TWO book reviews!  Because I was a very busy girl last week when I found two incredible books and finished them both in a 48 hr. period.  They were just that good.  So I have to warn you about something.

There is going to be major gushing.  MAJOR.

So prepare yourself.


Daughters of Jared by H.B. Moore

Daughters of Jared is a tightly woven Book of Mormon historical that honestly kept me in my comfy chair long after I should have been up making dinner and doing some other Mom-like things.  (I know it's just after Mother's day and I probably shouldn't admit that.)  But I just had to see how it all ended!


We are introduced to our heroine, Naiva, the long-suffering second daughter of ousted King Jared.  She is level-headed and doesn't have much ambition when it comes to being a royal queen or getting her father's crown back.  She seems to want to have a normal, quiet existence.  Her sister, Asherah, on the other hand has a lot of ambitions.  She wants her father's crown back, she wants to be queen, and she has thought of a cunning plan to do it.  Unfortunately, her plan relies a lot on Naiva's silence and presence which puts Naiva in danger more than once and causes Naiva to have to make a choice---her own happiness or her family.

The relationship between the two sisters was exceptionally well done.  I could completely empathize with Naiva, who has lost her mother, is largely ignored by her father, and is wanting that close sister relationship she's always had with Asherah.  She is forced to make so many hard choices that I found myself wondering what I would do if I were in that position.  The strength of the book for me was that the characters, the sisters, the family, the gray-shaded villains, and our hero, were so real, the royal intrigues so easy to believe and hard to predict, that it was easy to lose myself in the story.

And speaking of losing myself in the story, part of the reason that was so easy was that the setting was well-researched and completed the illusion of getting lost in that time period.  Whenever I read a book by H.B. Moore I really feel as if I were there because she is so thorough as an author in paying attention to the details. 

I couldn't find anything I didn't like about the book.  It is easily one of the best historicals that have come out this year.  Two thumbs up and more.

Click here for a link to the book trailer.  I thought it was well done as well.

Here is the back copy:

 Naiva, daughter of the dethroned King Jared II, lives in the shadow of her privileged elder sister, Asherah. But when Asherah develops a secret plot to return their father to the throne, Naiva's resentment turns to fear. Thwarting the scheme becomes more complicated when Naiva discovers that Akish, the first man who has shown interest in her, is an integral part of the plan. Asherah traps Akish in a ploy to make him marry her, breaking Naiva's heart and leaving her feeling more alone than ever. Somehow Naiva must find the strength to stand against the encroaching evil in the kingdom and a sister who will stop at nothing to become queen. When Akish's wickedness escalates and threatens to destroy the bonds of sisterhood, Naiva must decide between protecting her sister and honoring her new belief in the true God,a forbidden belief that could cost her life.


Dangerous Favor by Joyce DiPastena


When I finished Daughters of Jared, it was late at night and I had that let-down feeling, wishing I had something else just as captivating to read.  There, just staring up at me was Dangerous Favor by Joyce DiPastena.  It was already late, but I thought to myself, I'll just read one chapter.  Wow, was I ever sucked in.  Reading until 2 a.m. sort of sucked in.  The next day I carried that book with me everywhere, desperate enough to read even a paragraph or two while I was at a red light, just so I could see what happened!  I read whenever I had two minutes during the rest of the day and finished by supper time.  (Yes, my kids got a great dinner that night.  I promise.)

This is a medieval adventure romance that had it all---mayhem, massive misunderstandings, medieval jousting, and of course, murder.  It was like an incredible French mille-feuille with all the layers of delicious intrigue mixed in with the cream of romance and love. 

Mathilde, our heroine, is determined to find a man to help her prove her father's innocence since he was accused of being a thief.  She meets Lord Therri and knows from the instant she sees him, after he's accidentally knocked her to the floor, that he is the knight of her dreams.  His friend, Etienne, with his laughing eyes and teasing voice takes a favor from Mathilde to wear on the jousting fields the next day, but Mathilde, an innocent, believes Etienne to be a seducer only trying to make the lovely Lady Violette jealous.  The laugh out loud misunderstandings and hijinks that follow quickly become serious when an assassins' crossbow cuts through the air and murderous demands are dealt with.  Just when I thought I had it all figured out, a new layer was introduced and I was quickly turning pages wondering who could really be trusted and if our fair hero would prevail.

I would highly recommend this book to any historical lover.  The medieval setting is incredible, and the author has given her readers plenty of action, intrigue, and clean romance---all the ingredients of a book that will remain on my keeper shelf.

Here is the back copy:

Her father has been accused of stealing from the king, an allegation that has reduced her family to poverty. She has one chance to find and marry a man who can help her prove her father's innocence. Lord Therri, heir to a rich barony, has the wealth and connections Mathilde needs to delve into the mysteries of her father's past. Furthermore, Therri embodies all her romantic dreams.

Etienne, the younger son of a disgraced family, has neither wealth nor connections, but is smitten with Mathilde at a glance. She finds the knight intriguing, but believes he is only out to seduce her. While she seeks for a way to win Therri's attention, Etienne tricks her into granting him her favor, an embroidered white ribbon, for a tournament, setting in motion a dangerous chain reaction of events. Can Etienne save Mathilde from a nightmare from her past and prove himself the true hero of her dreams?