Writing a character well is a process.
The writer must think of the character as a whole. Characters have habits. Characters have a past. Characters are complex.
A character may have faults, and on the other hand, they may have gifts. A character may be deranged. What made him/her deranged? Born that way? Or the derangement may be a temporary thing, the result of a situation or a reaction to some outside stimulus. A character may be kind, generous, and given to putting money in every homeless person’s hand. Why? What made that character so kind? Or is this character putting on an act? Or is this character tired of the rat race and planning to give away all their earthly goods in order to exit the world with no baggage?
Each character presents so many choices to the writer. And a good writer will make concrete choices about each character in their work in progress.
In writing characters, the author should go back to the character’s beginning, and answer question as to why the character become what they have become, good or bad.
I found this excellent post by Roz Morris about writing characters with addictions. We all have addictions of one kind or another – from heroin to chocolate. She points out the questions to ask yourself. I thought it was a great article. I hope you enjoy it also.
Heroes and heroin – writing a character who has an addiction.
Here is the link for an interview that Reader Views did with me.
Hello and welcome to those new to Rebecca Nolen’s news team newsletter. The purpose of this broadcast is sometimes to promote my books shamelessly, and yes, that does include posting pictures of adorable baby miniature donkeys. In a land full of books, and authors selling and signing books, my job is much like trying to sell ice cubes in Antarctica. But someone’s got to do it and that would be me. And you!
If you’ve read one of my books and liked it – while I would love a review on Amazon and Goodreads – I would really love it if you passed on that enthusiasm for the story to your friends who love to read the same sort of novel. And also, if you’d go ahead and write that review:-)
A lady at church yesterday told me that she wanted to write a review for me but that when she read all the other reviews she was cowed. She said, “How can I compete with that?”
I told her that while I loved all reviews of any number of stars, a few words count as much as a lot of words. It’s the number of reviews that make the difference to the future of my novels. A review is like a vote . You think your vote doesn’t make a difference? If you watch city elections you would know that wasn’t true. Every vote counts. So my book is in a city election and here I am clapping my friends and acquaintances on the back and saying vote for me with twenty words because that’s all you need.
In other news, I’m going to be signing books at the Kroger on Sweetwater Blvd. Friday August 8 from 3 to 7, and Saturday August 9 from 10 to 5. And I’ll be at the Kroger on Hwy 6 #375 (Hwy 6 and I think Kirkwood) the following weekend August 15, & 16 the same hours.
My first experience signing books at a Kroger went very well. I watched people’s faces as they walked into the store and got a look at The Wasp. Horror. Puzzlement. I answered the look with “It’s a wasp.” Either that got a smile and a nod or they wanted to know more. The staff at that store were delightful and friendly. The managers were very helpful. And they want me back. Hooray!
Have a delight filled week.
You’ve heard me expound on the virtues of independent bookstores (indie-bookstores) and how important they are in the world of book selling. They are gatekeepers to literacy, pushing good books out in front of our noses, and encouraging all ages to read. Each small bookstore has its specialty, and personality. My latest favorite is River Oaks Bookstore on Westheimer. I offered scones and creme fraiche at my book signing there. You know me, it’s really all about the food. I’ve been to a book signing at River Oaks where there was a full meal served. Now that’s a book signing to go to!
River Oaks is good about encouraging their authors to offer food that might be part of the world of the story. You’ll notice I didn’t have bug crackers, or chocolate covered earthworms on the menu, so the world of The Dry wasn’t on the menu. You’re welcome. I featured scones and clotted cream and cream fraiche and rough-cut marmalade because I was promoting the world in Deadly Thyme, a British thriller.
This past weekend I was signing books at Barnes & Noble on West Gray. There were other authors there. I believe that is how I will be signing books at bookstores from now on. Other authors mean more fans, and my fans get an opportunity to enjoy other authors, so it will be happy times all around. New model for book signing – going forward.
Actually this blog post is about Barnes & Noble. I’ve probably mentioned in earlier blogs how each Barnes & Noble is like a sovereign kingdom. In other words, each Barnes & Noble is unique because of their manager.
How can you as the reader appreciate this? Because your Barnes & Noble will cater to your needs, or not, depending on what their individual policies are regarding requests. For instance, if you want to hold a meeting for your book club on the second Tuesday of every month at your B & N, the manager either gives you a thumbs up or a thumbs down. I believe B & N’s live or die according to what the answer would be from that manager.
What does this mean for authors? How well are you loved by your B & N? Have you asked or been approached to have a signing? The answer is critical to the indie-published author especially. It’s hard enough to rock the stigma that is very real about indie-books (that’s another blog post). Here’s where the book leather scrapes the pavement. Listen up, I’ve even heard of traditionally published author’s being given the “brush-off” by their B & N in regards to a book signing. Seriously? Yes. Can you imagine the answer to an indie-published author? How about a huge, whopping no! What a shame.
On a more positive note I can now say I know of two Barnes & Nobles that readily offer book signing opportunities for indie-authors (indie-authors are independent authors who may be self-published but often are published through small press publishers. I am an indie-author.) My experience signing books yesterday at the Houston Barnes & Noble on West Gray was marvelous! I sold out of The Dry that they had ordered through Ingram and I had to call for reinforcement books from home and still, I kept selling. They told me I was the “best-selling” author of the day at the store. That means I sold more books that any other author, not just my friends who were signing their books but of all the author’s books across the store. What? It’s true. I’m sorry. There is always the part of me that wants to apologize for outselling friends. They are as earnest as I am. But I have to say – I bring a wasp.
So what say I of this Barnes & Noble? I love them. That store was humming with business yesterday or dare I say, buzzzzzzzing? Every one of those store workers were fresh-faced happy people wanting to do all and everything to make all of us successful. That’s a store that will still be there next year.
Barnes & Nobles as sovereign states? Yes. Will some of them fall away, widening the crevasse between the reader and brick and mortar stores and giving Amazon more of a foothold in their bid to take over the world? Yes.
Upper management at Barnes & Noble did an interesting thing when they allowed autonomous rule in their stores, because what they essentially created were independent bookstores (like indies) with a common name. Plus, they probably offer benefits. It’s an interesting business model.
What can you do? Find a B & N that you like. If you’re ever in the Barnes & Noble on West Gray say hi to Michelle. Also, if you are interested and I hope you are, go to your local B & N throughout the U.S. & where ever you are and please ask them to order my books. They are in the catalog. More interested in an e-book? My e-books are available on Nook, too.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart! Big hugs!
Keep reading great books.
On July 19 from 10:30 to Noon I’ll be at the Barbara Bush Branch Library in Cypress, TX signing books. I’m going to be there to take part in a panel. Lilia Fabry, E. L. Russell, and K. J. Russell will be on the panel with me. The title of the presentation is “Writing Science Fiction for Youth. 
Then that afternoon from 2 until 4 I will be with a group of authors signing books at Te – The House of Tea, 1927 Fairview just west of Dunlavy. I understand they have a great Korean dumpling and many other interesting items on their menu. I’ll be there Sunday afternoon, July 20 also from 2 to 4.
On July 26 I’ll be signing books at the Barnes & Noble on West Gray from 2 to 4 but I may be there longer if they can stand it. This is not just me, there will be a lot of other authors there also. It’s a bigger deal when there are a lot of other authors. Plus, it’s a lot more fun for everyone.
I sure hope I see you there.
I’m attaching flyers for the first two events to give you a better idea of what these events are.
I think you’ll appreciate what Catherine Howard says so I’m passing this on to you.
Publicity is not an easy thing to do. I thought long and hard about what to put in a press release for my novels. This was difficult. I was raised not to make a fuss, not to call attention to myself because vanity is a worthless quality. Having to promote myself goes against the grain.
I’ve inserted a picture of me and two of my brothers because it’s less boring. The brother to the left in the picture, I hadn’t seen face-to-face in about fifteen years. See? Got your attention again. It isn’t that we are estranged. For years he chose to avoid the family. So my other two brothers (Jeff is taking the picture) and I decided to jump in the car and force a show-down. He said it was the best Christmas present he’d ever gotten.
Here’s a repeat point about self-promotion. Self-promotion isn’t a burden required by self-published authors or indie authors alone. Those who have been traditionally published must make some of the same decisions, and develop marketing strategies just as I have. I have a great mentor in Pamela Fagan Hutchins. Her book What Kind of Loser Indie Publishes? and how can I be one, too? has been a great tool in learning about the different options I have. Why is it that traditionally published authors must also come up with their own advertising? Because marketing budgets with the large publishers are not what they used to be, and because when there is money for marketing budgets it goes to the big names like Grisham, King, and Rowling. And if you are a traditionally published author just starting out in this cruel world, you have to get over the “why not me?” thinking. The answer is ‘because’.
So, back to me, (ha. ha) I’ve read a lot of press releases and still, I struggled with what to say for mine. What to say? What to say? I went to a company in Austin who works with some big names and asked for help. Here’s my first press release. I think they’ve got an eye grabbing headline here. I couldn’t be prouder.
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2014/06/prweb11982229.htm#.U7b2CsekEuo.email
I am excited to announce that I am now writing reviews for NETGALLEY. The publishers send their new, not-yet-released books to NetGalley. I apply for each book. So far I’ve been given the opportunity to review several books. Most of them you will likely not have heard of yet because they aren’t in stores. These are pre-release reviews. I hope you enjoy reading them and will look for the book once it is released.
My first book review is for a book entitled The Farm by Tom Rob Smith.
Here is a link to a review for Deadly Thyme that you may be interested in. http://blogcritics.org/book-review-deadly-thyme-by-r-l-nolen/#respond
I was so excited to see this! Wow! Even though it is four stars it is a good one. It sounded as if the reviewer was stretched out of her comfort zone on this – reading a psychological suspense. There is a specific market for this book. It is a British murder/mystery/suspense. That is specific. The only character she did not fall in love with is Ruth. That’s the only negative. I’ll take it.
British writers in this genre tend to focus on the psychological aspects of a murder/and murderer. The gory stuff happens “off-stage”. You, the reader, see the results, a book that is sort of like an Alfred Hitchcock movie. He used shadow to the best advantage for spooky atmosphere. A British M/M or suspense is all about atmosphere, and drama, but there must also be a bit of humor.
Enjoy this review and please purchase Deadly Thyme from Amazon, Barnes & Noble (Nook), iStore books, and anywhere else. Deadly Thyme as an ebook is $4.99. And The Dry as an ebook is $2.99. Cheaper than a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Now (TODAY) the second bit of good news is this: Both of my books are now in Ingram’s catalog so they can be ordered for any bookstore anywhere. Please do me a favor and ask your local bookstore to order them. Also, ask your library to order the books. They are available for libraries as ebooks or through the Ingram’s catalog.
And as always, if you pinky swear on your mother’s meatloaf that you will write a review on Amazon (only 20 words required, people!!!) you can apply to me for a FREE ebook. (ask) JUST SAYIN’ I’m looking for reviews and I’m not opposed to begging and sending chocolate.
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