Blessing or Curse

I've finished one of the stories in Blessing or Curse - A Forever Young Anthology. This one is the tale of Consuela who caretakes her husband, Diego, who suffers from Parkinson's Disease. This tale strikes home to me since my own dear mother suffered from this debilitating disease before she passed on.

In Blessing or Curse you'll learn whether the Forever Young pill was a good or bad thing for this couple.
I'm off now to work on another of the anthology stories.

In Capable Hands

Forever Young- Blessing or Curse

Forever Young - Blessing or Curse is now in the very capable hands of my editor, Helen Ginger. Hopefully, she won't find too many things wrong with it, but I'll find out. (g)

In the meantime, I'm getting some blog posts ready ahead of time for when I do my Blog Book Tour, and also blurbs to describe the book. It's a busy, fun time!

Will Today be the Day?

I'm wondering if today will be the day I finish editing Forever Young-Blessing or Curse. I'm getting very close.

However, the DH is also home today. He's already got plans for grocery shopping, going to lunch and a few other projects, so maybe it won't be the day.

I'll let you know when it happens.

It's Worth the Bother

I'm on my second personal edit of Forever Young - Blessing or Curse. I'm finding the experience very intense because not only am I reliving what happens in the story, but I'm also checking every little detail to make sure it's filled in and done in the best way possible.

Editing can be fun, and editing can be drudgery. From minute to minute, my feelings change on which it is for me.

I typed it all out single spaced so I could catch the mistakes and mark them in pen. That works fine, except for then having to go back to the manuscript itself and make the changes. I discovered it's way too easy to go through about ten typed pages and mark the corrections. Trouble is then it's a real pain to go to the manuscript itself and make the changes permanent. For my peace of mind, I'm doing only a few pages at a time now instead. I despise the minutiae!

After this, my manuscript is going over to my real editor, Helen Ginger for an even more intense going-over.

Fingers crossed that the Kindle and Smashwords editions will be ready some time this summer. Then I'll tackle Create Space, another project. I'm glad the front cover is already done, but the back is laying in wait for me. I'll need that before Create Space can publish it. So many details, but I'm chugging along. It's worth the bother.

Updated Website

Come on over and check out my updated website at http://morganmandel.com/ when you get a chance.

Fly Like an Eagle?

I saw many eagles while I was on vacation in Wisconsin. They're graceful birds, but also puzzling.

While I walked Rascal one day, I noticed an eagle being chased by a smaller bird. You'd think the eagle, being so much bigger, would have turned on the smaller bird and attacked it. Instead, it put up with the harassment.

The incident reminds me of what's happening now in the publishing world. The smaller birds, i.e., indie publishers and small publishers, are chasing the eagles, i.e., traditional publishers.

The smaller birds are gaining. The big birds are only starting to realize they are threatened. For the most part, they're still going about their usual business, as if no threat is involved. Maybe they don't think there is one.  Or, maybe they can't find a way to get rid of the pesky little birds, the ones they thought wasn't so important but really are.

And what about the authors published by the traditional publishers? Some are having second thoughts about going the same route as before. They're not sure if flying like an eagle is the best choice.

I'm one of the small birds right now, but each author needs to decide what's the best flight path. The great thing about this whole phenomenon is there is a choice.

On the Road Again by Morgan Mandel

Good Paul wasn't so successful last time in the fishing department, so we're off again to Wisconsin so he can try again!

Here are a few pics from last time:

My friend, Jeanne's backyard deer.

Rascal sunning herself on a good day.The tee shirt is so she won't get sunburnt.

The frog pond



The Lake

I'll have more for you from the next trip!

Morgan Mandel At the Mexican Restaurant - We'll probably go back there.
Great food and Great prices!

Mona Risk, Contemporary Romance Author, Shares Editing Tips

Mona Risk

I'm very happy to welcome my guest and Internet friend, Mona Risk, today.
Mona never thought chemistry would lead her to publishing romance novels! Her Ph.D. in Chemistry trained her to prepare medicinal products, allowed her to analyze water and soil samples, and landed her contracts to refurbish laboratories in foreign countries. As a director of an analytical laboratory, she traveled to more than fifty countries on business or vacation. To relax from her hectic schedule, she avidly read romance novels and mentally plotted her own books. Eventually she left a successful scientific career to dedicate herself to her passion and share the many stories brewing in her head. Mona likes to set stories in the fascinating places she visited and throw conflict at her heroes and heroines.

"Mona Risk writes heroes with heart, heroines with spunk in stories and settings that are simply unforgettable!" -- Roxanne St. Claire, Killer Curves, National Bestseller.

You can reach Mona at
http://www.monarisk.com/  and
http://www.monarisk.blogspot.com/

Mona says, "If you like to travel and love to read, come and enjoy my international romances. I will take you around the world through stories that simmer with emotion and sizzle with heat."

Her current release is Rx IN RUSSIAN. Here's a little bit about it -

Fyodor Vassilov is a Russian widower, surgeon and officer. Duty demands he provide a mother to his four little boys and marry a woman who loves children and a big family.
Jillian Burton is an American pediatrician on a mission to improve medical conditions in Belarus. She blames herself and her ex-husband for their son’s death, and has lost her illusions about men and marriage. When they work together for six months in his hospital, their fascination with one another shocks them both. Can attraction and love overcome guilt, duty, and a clash of cultures?
For more, see http://tinyurl.com/3ulvcxp


AND NOW - Mona has some great tips today she'd like to share with you about editing
Edit your Manuscript

By Mona Risk

Someone said that creating a good book is ten percent writing and ninety-percent editing. Although I believe this statistics to be exaggerated, I certainly spend a lot of time polishing my manuscripts before sending them off to an editor.

For me, editing starts while I am writing. As soon as I type my first chapter, I read it again and again, first to check the story flows well, then for typos, spelling and grammar and finally to make sure that the hook is grabbing enough. By hook I mean, the first line, the first paragraph and the first page. These should be intriguing enough to catch a reader’s—or editor’s—interest. As a result, I keep revising the first line and first paragraph while I continue to write my story. By the time the book is finished, I have at least twenty versions of first paragraphs, all saved. I compare them, send them to my critique partners, and sometimes combine some of them, until I am satisfied with my hook.

While revising my first book for ever—more precisely for three years— I realized that an outline could save a lot of time. Now before starting a new story, I do my homework: an outline for the first three chapters, a summary of the back story, a few lines about the hero, heroine and villain’s characters and one paragraph to summarize the storyline. Only then, do I allow myself to start typing the actual story.

By the time my partial is polished, I am well acquainted with my characters and I have a pretty good idea of where the plot is going.

An outline for the whole book completes my preparations and helps my story to flow. Now I can write without interruption for days and weeks.

To edit the whole book, I tabulate the chapters and scenes, and then check the following items.

Setting: avoid having several scenes in the same setting. It’s boring.

POV: Heroine’s or hero’s. If you have a long book you can add, the villain’s POV.

Hook: strong enough to grab the reader.

GMC: what is the goal in that scene, what is the conflict?

Emotional development: show how the Hero/heroine’s attraction to each other escalates and their romance progresses. You should see a definite increase of tension and emotion from scene to scene.

Action: it’s important to show some stage direction.

Sensual Tension: any eye contact, hand touching, kiss,… Like the emotional development, the sexual tension should increase from chapter to chapter.

Sensorial: smell, sounds and color in the scene. It helps the reader be grounded in the scene.

End hook: Make sure it generates suspense, a question to be answered in the next scene or some emotion that keeps the reader panting.

Pace: how do you evaluate the pace in this scene, fast, medium slow? It should be fast if you have action or dialogue, and slow to emphasize emotion.

In addition to self-editing, I can’t stress enough the importance of sharing your work with critique partners.

You manuscript is ready to go. You need one last reading. I suggest you save the file in Adobe, click on VIEW, and then READ OUT LOUD. It’s an amazing feature I discovered a few years ago. The computer will read your story while you look at the pages on the monitor screen and note on a paper the repetitions, missing words, lack of transition. I prefer this method to printing and reading on paper. But you need one these two methods of final reading to catch the mistakes your eyes have stopped seeing on the screen.



Babies in the Bargain



Rx for Trust



BABIES IN THE BARGAIN winner of 2009 Best Romance Novel at Preditors & Editors and winner of 2009 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite.



Rx FOR TRUST, winner of 2010 Best Contemporary Romance at Readers Favorite and 2011 EPICON.      

Mona’s books are all available at amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_9?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=mona+risk&sprefix=mona+risk

Mona's website: http://www.monarisk.com/

Mona's blogspot: http://www.monarisk.blogspot.com/

Please leave a comment below to welcome Mona.

I Have A Cover for My Almost Done Book, Forever Young-Blessing or Curse!



 I now have a bright new beautiful cover for my almost done paranormal thriller, Forever Young - Blessing or Curse.

Thank you, Stephen Walker, of S.R. Designs at http://www.srwalkerdesigns.com/ for doing such a great job!
Stephen was very patient, easy to work with, and open to suggestions.

Now that I have my cover and my editor, I better finish my initial edits and get the ball rolling!

For more details about Forever Young - Blessing or Curse, come on over to http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel

I Have An Editor!

I emailed my former editor, Helen Ginger, who did such a great job editing Killer Career. She has graciously agreed to be my editor again for Forever Young - Blessing or Curse.

Now, I just need to finish going through Forever Young first so I can catch all the glaring errors before she sees them!

Almost a Cover

Excitement is building, as my cover for Forever Young - Blessing or Curse takes shape. I'll be sure to share it when it's complete, even before the book goes up!

It's been a while since Killer Career came out. Above, on the blog header, I'm sharing my joy as I visited bookstores, found my book, and signed stock copies. I'm not too sure how many bookstores will still be around soon, which is a shame.

Anyway, with regard to Forever Young, right now I'm doing my own editing process, which will then be followed by professional editing. After that will be when I buckle down and figure out how to put it all up on Amazon as a kindle, then later into print.

Stay tuned for further developments.

Killer Career available for 99 cents
on Kindle and Smashwords.
http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel

Happy Easter Egg!



A chocolate Easter Egg from a Bakery.
I don't do real ones any more.

 Silly things stay with a person forever. When I was a kid half a century ago, the pastor at our church said, "Happy Easter Egg" to me. That I remember, though lots of other stuff I've forgotten through the years.

Do you remember something from long ago? Tell us, no matter how sillly it is.

Oh, and by the way, Happy Easter Egg!

Morgan Mandel

At Acme Today

My blog today is over at http://acmeauthorslink.blogspot.com/  where I offer examples of how what characters eat offers clue to their makeup. A good way to show, not tell. If you get a chance, go over and check out the examples, and if you have your own, please add to them.

Morgan

Never Enough Organized

No matter how much I try, I'll never be enough organized. Still, I do have to make some efforts. I relish every small success along the way.

On my group blog today at Make Mine Mystery, I show some ways for Writers and Readers to remove clutter. Maybe you know more. Please share at


http://makeminemystery.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring-cleaning-for-writers-andreaders.html

Thanks,
Morgan Mandel

Back with Pictures and Lots of Housework to Do




One of the Amtrak stops on the way there was Galesburg.

 

I had a great time doing research coming and going and while in Arizona. I came back with loads of pictures, also loads of wash and bills to take care of. I'm hoping to once again work on Forever Young this week, but some things need straightening out before I can think straight.



Morgan Mandel in the observation car. Lots to observe.



Every time I put my camera away I had to take it out again. There was so much to observe out there, and I wanted to keep as many memories as possible.



More pics on later posts, still have many more to upload onto the computer.


 

Taking in the local flavor

I'm in Scottsdale right now researching for my work in progress, Forever Young - Blessing or Curse. I can hardly wait to include some of what I'm learning in my manuscript to round it all out.

When I get home, I'll put up some pictures here and on Facebook. In the meantime, if you wish, please stop over at Acme Authors Link on Wednesday to read my blog about some of the differences between Arizona and Illinois, and feel free to mention about those in your home state and others.

Tag if you wish

I've been busy doing some neglected housecleaning the last few weeks, and unfortunately have much more on my plate to accomplish. It doesn't come easy, since I neglected the home over 38 1/2 years while working full time. This project needs doing before I find another full time job. In the meantime, I'm also doing research on Forever Young - Blessing or Curse.

One of the egroups mentioned about how tags are important on Amazon. If you've read Killer Career, I'd appreciate your going to Amazon and agreeing with the tags there or adding your own tags at

http://tinyurl.com/48bunxg

Thanks,
Morgan Mandel
Killer Career 99 cents on
Kindle and Smashwords

I'm a Guest at Mike Manno's Blog

I'm usually the one interviewing, but today I'm answering interview questions at Mike Manno's blog -


We'd both be happy if you'd stop by at

http://mikemanno.blogspot.com/2011/03/mondays-with-mike-author-morgan-mandel.html

Thanks,
Morgan Mandel

Seven Things You May Not Know About Me - Or Maybe You Do

Stylish Blogger Award

Jean Henry Mead has presented me with a Stylish Blogger Award. I've received other awards before, and have been lax about responding, since they required posting a bunch of links, and I just didn't have time at the time, then my senior mind forgot about them.

This time, I decided to respond right away before I forgot. Also, I only need offer one link, and that's hers above.

The main requirement for accepting the Stylish Blogger Award is to list seven things about myself, so here goes:

1. I'm currently unemployed, after working as an administrative assistant for 38 1/2 years.

2. I love my kindle and read it while eating breakfast and lunch, or when nothing's good on TV.

3. I hardly every make phone calls. I prefer to e-mail instead. That's why my Iphone doesn't get used much as a phone, but the other features get lots of use, like the camera and Internet.

4. I'm addicted to Facebook and visit often during the day. I also like Twitter, but am not on there as much.

5. I've written mysteries and romances, and am almost through writing a paranormal thriller.

6. This is not my only blog. I'm also at Acme Authors Link on Wednesdays, at Make Mine Mystery on the first and 3rd Mondays of the month, and on The Blood-Red Pencil the first and second Tuesdays of the month.

7. I love country music, slots, chocolate, ice cream and pizza.

8. I dye my hair to keep the grey away.

9. I hate arithmetic. I guess that means I'll never be rich.

Rascal

10. My dog, Rascal, is a pit bull, yet is more popular than I will ever be. She's also on Facebook and has many followers.

TOLD YOU I HATE ARITHMETIC!  AS ONE OF YOU POINTED OUT, I CAN'T COUNT. I PUT DOWN 10 THINGS, NOT SEVEN. (LOL)

If You Don't See Me Here

Just to let you know, I've been quite busy on my work-in-progress, Forever Young. Because of that I haven't been posting as many blogs.

If you don't see me here, stop on over at http://facebook.com/morgan.mandel or
http://facebook.com/foreveryoungbook and you'll most likely see me there.

Morgan Mandel

Killer Career now 99 cents
on Kindle and Smashwords