Driving a Taxi for the Dead
Today I'm delighted to welcome Joyce and Jim Lavene, authors of Broken Hearted Ghoul, to my blog. This lonely ghoul drives a taxi for the dead, and she's touring with Innovative Book Tours this week. Meanwhile the authors are here to tell about their own writing journey to bring this ghoul to life, and to offer a wonderful giveaway prize (at he end of this post).
Publishing should be a team effort between a writer, editor,
and artist. Even if you’re self-publishing, you can’t do it all, and end up
with a great book. Your team is there to
make the book better.
Want to follow the rest of the tour?
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Editing Your Way to a Great Manuscript
By Joyce and Jim Lavene
Publishing should be a team effort between a writer, editor,
and artist. Even if you’re self-publishing, you can’t do it all, and end up
with a great book. Your team is there to
make the book better.
We have a wonderful editor, Jeni Chappelle, who worked with
us through Broken Hearted Ghoul as well as our other Indie stories. We always
know the story is going to be stronger because she’s there too. She understands
our humor, and what we’re trying to say.
Editors are there to see things that you can’t see. When
you’re telling the story, you need another pair of eyes. The more professional
the eyes, the better. You don’t want to have the ‘but this is what I meant’
syndrome. What you mean to say, and what
you end up saying, are two different things sometimes. The text might look fine to you because it
looks fine in your head.
An editor might suggest changing some words or sentence
structure. Spelling is a big offender. A few words that are misspelled can take
your reader out of your story. That’s not where you want him.
Grammar is another basic. Even a writer with a poor grasp of
grammar can have their work improved by a good editor. Grasp of day/time is another big problem for
writers. Sometimes in our hurry to tell our story, we can lose track of what
day it is for our characters. This can be really confusing for our readers.
Finding a good editor—someone you can work with—is
important. An editor that’s good for you is one who enjoys your writing, and
understands the story. A good editor isn’t just there to be critical, but also
to point out our strengths.
It means making an investment in your work when you hire an
editor. We would never advise spending more than you have on a project, but
find an editor who knows what they’re doing, for a price you can afford, and is
someone you can trust with your work. It’s an investment in yourself, and your
future as a writer.
The end of all that work is a book that's fun and smooth to read, with text that doesn't get in the way of enjoying the story. The authors are generously offering an excerpt for you to read below and see what I mean. Meet Skye...
My name is Skye Mertz, and I’m a zombie.
BLURB:
My name is Skye Mertz, and I’m a zombie.
I know. Not exactly a great pick-up line at a bar, huh?
I’m not the newfangled, brain-eating kind of zombie who runs
around moaning and pulling off body parts. I come from old magic, and I look
mostly normal. Short blonde hair. Blue eyes. About five foot ten.
My dead husband—this is two years back—used to say I looked
like an ostrich first thing in the morning. I think it was supposed to be
affectionate.
How I got here is a long story. Where I am right now is
waiting for a man at an old motel in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
It’s cold—though I can’t feel cold anymore. It’s after two
a.m., but since I don’t sleep anymore, no problem.
“How long do we have to wait for him?” my new partner asked.
That’s Debbie Hernandez—late twenties, dark hair, big brown
eyes. She looks like someone’s mother with her round hips and big breasts.
There’s something very understanding about her. She’s compassionate.
I don’t know what she’s doing out here.
She’s not a zombie, but she’s taken on the twenty-year debt
for her husband. He’s the zombie. She doesn’t want him to know. It’s
complicated.
And it's very intriguing... Enjoy!
BLURB:
It’s been two years
since Skye Mertz agreed to drive Abe’s Taxi for the Dead, transporting his
zombie workers back to the man who gave them an additional twenty years of
life. She’s raising her daughter, with the help of her ghostly mother-in-law,
and keeps looking for what killed her husband the night she died.
Now she has a
partner—a housewife working off her zombie husband’s service—and she’s met a
sorcerer with amnesia. It shouldn’t be surprising that a broken hearted ghoul,
bent on getting revenge, should show up too. After all, there’s no rest for the
dead.
BIO:
Joyce and Jim Lavene
write award-winning, bestselling mystery fiction as themselves, J.J. Cook,
and Ellie Grant. They have written and
published more than 70 novels for Harlequin, Berkley, Amazon, and Gallery Books
along with hundreds of non-fiction articles for national and regional
publications. They live in rural North Carolina with their family.
ONLINE LINKS:
BUY NOW LINK: Not available yet, please check before you
post.
·
B & N http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/broken-hearted-ghoul-joyce-lavene/1118719997?ean=9781495933363
·
Smashwords
Want to follow the rest of the tour?
Broken Hearted Ghoul
3/3 Review T B R
3/3 Excerpt Booker Like a Hooker
3/4 Guest Post A Book Addict's Delight
3/5 Review My Kindle Fever
3/6 Review The Book Review
3/7 Guest Post Sheila Deeth
3/3 Excerpt Booker Like a Hooker
3/4 Guest Post A Book Addict's Delight
3/5 Review My Kindle Fever
3/6 Review The Book Review
3/7 Guest Post Sheila Deeth
Giveaway
US only -
Broken Hearted Ghoul tote, ecopy of Undead By Morning, and a print copy of
Broken Hearted Ghoul
Comments
bn100candg at hotmail dot com