Special Guest Elliot Grace

Today, I'm spotlighting a wonderful and talented writer, Elliot Grace. His book, SOUTH OF CHARM, was released a few months ago. Elliot's writing is beautiful. I would advise you to check out his blog and his book.

1. When did you start writing journey?

          -Back in the days when a "compact" computer was roughly the size of a small dump truck, and when one considered him/herself lucky to have all three channels available on the family Zenith...okay, perhaps not that long ago, but it feels as such.  When I was in the third grade, I entered a short story into a school writing contest during Right to Read Week.  "Terror Castle," took home first place, and was later read aloud to the entire student body by an actual published children's author who paid us a visit at week's end.  There are moments during everyone's life that one can look back upon and say, "That's when everything changed."  For me it was that day, listening to my words being read aloud by an actual writer.  And I knew...  

2.      

        2. What inspires your writing?

          -As writers, it's a necessity to be sensitive to the smallest of life's daily occurrences.  To be mentally prepared for an idea to spring from the mundane, for there's no warning before lightning strikes.  During my son's track meet last spring, under dreary skies and a steady drizzle that made for an otherwise forgettable afternoon, I watched a teenage girl run the two hundred meter dash with the grace of a gazelle, and thought to myself that if the challenge were to arise, she'd give the boys a run for their money.  She reminded me of a thoroughbred at the derby, with her measured strides, frigid air billowing through a set of clenched teeth.  And I thought, "A girl named Derby, with the talent for speed..."  And while those around me grumbled for something dry to ward off the cold, I was busy piecing together a story.  In a nutshell, that's how it most often works for me.

3.     3. Who is your favorite author?     

          -As a youngster, it was Terry Brooks, Robert Cormier, and C.S. Lewis.  I read every piece of their work that I could get my hands on.  Nowadays, I'm a fan of John Sandford, Cormac McCarthy, Neil Gaiman, and whatever bestsellers the King Family manages to churn out, (Stephen and his son, Joe Hill :)   

4.       4. What sparked the idea for South of Charm?

          -"South of Charm" is loosely based on events that shaped my childhood.  Back in the days of small town magic, when family's dealt with dysfunction together, rather than turning to a judge for direction.  My goal was to capture how it felt to be a ten year old boy once again.  A youngster forced into dealing with some very mature situations, and how his actions, the choices he makes, change the very foundation of the only type of lifestyle he's ever known. 

   

5.       5. Could you tell us a little bit about the journey of South of Charm? When you started it to release day.

          -Sometimes it feels as though "South of Charm" has been a part of me since childhood, waiting around until the time was right to jot it down.  In between the raising of two ornery boys, it took me three years to finish a manuscript worthy of sending out.  Following the usual list of rejections, I met David Wiesenberg by chance, at a local book fair while speaking to one of the featured writers on hand, not realizing that he was an editor for Wooster Books.  I pitched him my story, just a quick summary off the top of my head.  A few days later he emailed me, requesting a full read.  I was signed by the end of the month, and after nearly two years of editing and rewrites, "South of Charm" rests on many shelves in and around my home state of Ohio.

6.       6. Any advice for a beginner?

          -Stephenie Meyer's fast track to success should not frustrate those who are passionate about one day seeing their work on Wal-Mart shelves.  For some it takes years, for others, decades.  And everyone's story to publication is unique in its very own measure of success.  For all of us though, whether still collecting those rejection letters, or on the brink of signing that first contract, patience is a necessary evil for scaling the publication summit.  I liken the process to raising kids...if done in haste, and with little nurturing along the way, the end result will most likely never leave your doorstep ;)

      Thanks so much, Christine.  That was fun!    

      Thank you Elliot! You can purchase SOUTH OF CHARM here and check out Elliot's blog So Close, but... 

     

      So go check it out.

     Have a great day!!

Questions, questions

I'm going to be doing a interview of a very, talented author next month and I'm trying to think of some questions. So, I thought I would ask you what you would ask an author. I've got a few in mind, but I want to see what you would ask. Who is this person? Elliot Grace. His book South of Charm was just released so put your thinking caps on and let me know. Also, go check out his blog. He is an amazing writer.

Have a great day!

Contests, book release, and that tempting dangling participle.

First, check out these contests:
Afteglow Book Reviews is having a Summer Giveaway Ends June 10th. Lots of great books.

Get over to Laurel's Leaves. 333 contest is awesome!! Ends May 31st. She knows her stuff.

Frankie from Frankie Writes will be helping out All 4 Alabama Relief. You must go and bid on her and you have a chance at winning a Query + 30 page MS critique by Frankie. Trust me, she's good. The bidding started on Monday and will be active for five days.

Book release: South of Charm by Elliot Grace. If you have not been to Elliot's blog, go and check it out. I mean it. It is amazing and I'm sure his book will not disappoint. You can purchase South of Charm here.

Now onto the dangling participle, my quick grammar lesson, if you will. I sometimes blush when I say these two words, yes, blush. It's either the 14 year old in me or I've been conversing with Simon too much. Hypothetically (sorry, inside joke). Anyway, this sort of goes along with my -ing post I did a while back.

So let's start with a definition--Per wikipedia.
A dangling modifier, a specific case of which is the dangling participle,[1] is an error in sentence structure whereby a grammatical modifier is associated with a word other than the one intended, or with no particular word at all. For example, a writer may have meant to modify the subject, but word order makes the modifier seem to modify an object instead. Such ambiguities can lead to unintentional humor or difficulty in understanding a sentence.

For example: Running down the street, the houses looked the same.

Now, the houses are not running so obviously we're missing something. I think it would sound better this way--Running down the street, I noticed the houses looked the same.

Another one--Sliding into second, the crowd  cheered.

I think this one needs a little work. As I slid into second, the crowd cheered.

These little things tend to tempt our WiPs, allowing them to sneak in without being noticed. So, when you revise keep an eye out for these buggers. They may sweet talk you, or tempt you, but you know better than to let them seduce your WiP.

What do you think? Are these dangling participles tempting your story? (yes, I blushed and maybe giggled.)

Please feel free to add anything in the comments, or if you would like me to elaborate more on this topic, I can in a future post.

Have a great day!