Writings by Danette

I love to write. Its very rewarding to see my words on a page. I always think to myself, “These words came out of my brain!” It always amazes me. Using the best words can also be a challenge of course, but the biggest challenge of all is WRITING THE HOOK.

You know, that moment when you pick up a book, open the flap and read what its about? Its the most important part of writing. It is what causes the shopper to buy the book. Afterall, that is what we want, someone to buy and read our book.

That is most rewarding.

(Okay, the money from the purchase is not bad either…)

So how do you write a good “hook”? I’m still trying to figure that out, but I like to leave a bit of a mystery for the shopper. That might make them turn to the first page and scan through it or go to the last page and read it….of course that’s cheating! Sometimes the hook needs to lie a bit. I mean, maybe not lie, but give a false…ummmm hope? It can’t be too far off though, or the reader will be angry at you. Like killing off the main character, that makes readers really mad!

In my book Daffodil Hill, a few of my readers were mad at me. But I am not going to tell you why, you’ll have to read it for yourself.

So…when I do feel like I can write a decent hook, I always try to write it, leave it and then go back and read it. If it makes me want to read or buy my own book, then I know its a winner!

What about you? What are your best hooks? Or what hooked you and then disappointed?

…Bug?

…Dog?

…Mom?

We all have adventures and challenges.  Lets talk about the FUNGUS BEETLE.  This beetle I raised from a larvae and then he went into the pupae stage for two weeks.  Viola! He came out this beautiful black and olive bug with black spots.  He lived on rotting fruit and a bit of water now and then.

He lived 3 months. That’s pretty good for a beetle.

In my ongoing series of ON THE EDGE OF WISHING, Joey is struggling with a lot of challenges.  He has a brother that he cant beat at anything and a sister that is nearly perfect.  What a challenge for sibling!

But as I write, I find new ways for him to meet his challenges by giving him adventures.  It’s really fun.

What adventure are you experiencing?  Share here…..

Have a good week!

 

I sat down today and reread all 42 pages of written manuscript for book number 2, in the series of On the Edge of Wishing.

After reading it, I finally was able to feel motivated to write four more pages!  I feel really good about it too.  It sounds good so far.  But I am only 45 pages in and I feel like the conflict is already solved.  That’s bad.

I need about 120 more pages to get to t he 172 for my small novel.  I need to create another conflict to ramp up the story and the ideas.

Writing is so rewarding though. I still am amazed by the things that come out of my head and are transformed into pages and pages of adventure.

Happy writing everyone, see ya next post!

I’ve hit the halfway mark of being retired…. what I mean is its been 182 days since retiring.  Living in a small community, I have thrown myself in full throttle.

But that’s okay.  I love being active and social.  Some say, see what happens when you retire?  I say, this “busy-ness” is my choice.  That’s what makes it fun.  If it was forced upon me, I know I would feel different about the busy-ness.

I looked in the mirror the other day and swear the grey hairs have disappeared. My wrinkles have dimensioned and I’m not as tired as I used to be.

Wow.  THIS is retirement?  Yeah.  So sweet.

I’ve heard about retirement before I actually took the leap. Some people sit and watch TV all day.  I just can’t do that. BUT, if I wanted to, I could. That’s the fun thing about retirement,  we can do our errands another day.  Or another day.  Or another…..

Enough about retirement…  Nah, there is a lot more I want to say.  It is totally fun and I’m having the time of my life.

I really need to get back to my writing though and quit having so much fun!

Here I am again, with my life in the way of my passions! I have finally made the decision to retire from my company of 30 years!  Big decision.  51 more working days!

BUT,  oh so happy now that I get to concentrate my time and energy on writing, blogging and reviewing books for others.  This is my passion.

So, If you’d like me to review a book or do a blog tour, contact me at yaya_key@yahoo.com or danette.key@gmail.com  OR you can message me on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/writingsbydanette/  I also am on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/dashboard

I’d love to hear from you!

Have a great week!