Birthdays: Charlotte Brontë (1816), Alistair MacLean (1922), Elaine May (1932), James Dobson (1936), Helene Prejean (1939), Thomas McMahon (1943), Kole Omotoso (1943), Patrick Rambaud (1946), Barbara Park (1947), Jeannette Walls (1960)

Helen Prejean was a Roman Catholic sister who wrote “Dead Man Walking”

Quote: “I am not a novelist, I’m a storyteller.” – Alistair MacLean

Tip: When punctuating dialogue, remember to use a comma or question mark (or exclamation point) with a verbalized tag and lower case the word following if it’s not a proper noun. Use a period and upper case with non-verbal tags: “I can’t do that,” she said. “Can I do that?” she asked. “No, you can’t.” He shook his head.

Jumpstart: You’re in a museum, browsing around ancient artifacts. Someone pushes you and you stumble, breaking a case and an ancient sealed vase. A strange vapor escapes. What happens next?

Birthdays: Edward L. Beach Jr. (1918), Peter S. Beagle (1939), Ian Wilson (1943), Philip Margolin (1944), Mary Hoffman (1945), Sebastian Faulks (1953), Robert Crais (1953), John van de Ruit (1975), Rebecca Makkai (1978),

Edward Beach Jr. was an American submarine officer known for his novel “Run Silent, Run Deep”

Peter Beagle was known for his book “The Last Unicorn” adapted into an animated film.

Quote: “I run the writing as a business, with one overworked and overstretched employee – me! But she has a very understanding boss so that if I as worker ask me as employer for a day off the answer is always yes.” – Mary Hoffman

Tip: “That” is often a throw away word. If you can read your sentence without “that” and the sentence makes sense, you can probably delete “that”.

Jumpstart: You’ve found an unlocked cell phone on the sidewalk. While checking for an owner, you look at the contacts list and find your own name and number. But there’s no one else on the list you recognize, and you’ve never seen this number before. Who owns the phone and why do they have your name and number?

Birthdays: – José Echegary (1832), Richard Hughes (1900), Etheridge Knight (1931), Candy Gourlay (1962), James Franco (1978),

Quote: “Make your characters interested in something. Striving for something. In need of something. Good at something. This will make them likeable and interesting.” – James Franco

Tip: Clichés are words or phrases that are overused and should be cut out. Some of the more common ones include: gentle as a lamb; black as night; burning the candle at both ends; hit the nail on the head. Go through your manuscript and see if you use too many clichés.

Jumpstart: Thomas Hinkey was hanged for mutiny, sedition, and treachery for plotting to kidnap George Washington. He was one of Washington’s bodyguards. Imagine you are there before he is captured and tried, and you are aware of the plot. But to expose him is to expose something illegal you did. Would you tell, and thus save Washington’s life? Or stay quiet and out of sight? Why?

Birthdays: Richard Harding Davis (1864), Joy Davidman (1915), Kathy Acker (1947), Susan Faludi (1959), Alexandra Adornetto (1993),

Susan Faludi won the Pulitzer for her work in journalism.

Quote: “I do chapter breakdowns so I know vaguely what’s going to happen in each one. All I need to know is the basic outline of what’s going to happen and the story tends to write itself.” – Alexandra Adornetto

Tip: If you’re having trouble with the blank page in front of you, change your manner of writing. Get away from the computer and use a pen and paper. Use a crayon. Use funny paper. Use something different than you usually do.

Jumpstart: You are the one millionth customer of a “wishes granted” occult store. You have been granted one wish, but it has to be for someone other than yourself. What do you wish for and for whom? Why?

Birthdays: Ray Stannard Baker (1870), Karen Blixen (1885), George Adamski (1891), Thornton Wilder (1897), Cynthia Ozick (1928), Beverly Lewis (1949), Catherine Ryan Hyde (1955), Nick Hornby (1957)

Ray Baker (writing as David Grayson) won the Pulitzer Prize in Biography for his work on Woodrow Wilson.

Karen Blixen is known for her book “Out of Africa” (wrote under the name Isak Dinesen).

Thorton Wilder won the Pulitzer for “The Bridge of San Luis Ray”

Quote: “I start with a tingle, a kind of feeling of the story I will write. Then come the characters, and they take over, they make the story.” – Karen Blixen

Tip: Don’t be a perfectionist with your first draft. Turn off your inner critic/editor and just write. Especially don’t listen to that little voice that says you aren’t any good. Stick your tongue out at it and keep writing.

Jumpstart: Finish this scene: We were so happy that day… (use: shepherd, silver baby cup, canoe, ginger)

New reviews are up!

Under Romance: Heart Fire by Rose Mackie and Strong Enough by Jana Richards

Under Science Fiction: Imago by Greg Belliveau

Under Mystery: Murder with Darjeeling Tea by Karen Rose Smith

Under YA: Skandar and the Unicorn Thief by A.F. Steadman and Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa

Under LGBTQ+ for Adults: Fireman’s Carry by Andrew Grey

Birthdays: Anatole France (1844), Gertrude Chandler Warner (1860), John Millington Synge (1871), Dorothy P. Lathrop (1891), Howard Mumford Jones (1892), Tristan Tzara (1896), Berton Roueche (1910), Garth Williams (1912), Kingsley Amis (1922), Carol Bly (1930), Diane Middlebrook (1939), Tracy K. Smith (1972)

Anatole France won the 1921 Nobel in Literature.

Dorothy Lathrop won the 1929 Newbery Medal for “Hitty, Her First Hundred Years”

Howard Jones won the 1965 Pulitzer for Nonfiction for “O Strange New World”

Tracey K. Smith won the 2011 Pulitzer for Poetry for “Life on Mars”

Quote: “Your readers expect a story, a story that answers the question, ‘So what, why do we care about what this person has done?’” – Diane Middlebrook

Tip: Many people confuse the words then/than. “Then” refers to time (we will do this first then that) while “than” is a choice (I’d rather do this than that)

Jumpstart: Take the first line from any book and write it into a paragraph, first as a mainstream book, then as a mystery, horror, science fiction, fantasy, and romance.

This post is part of a virtual book tour organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. Rose Mackie will be awarding a $30 Amazon or B/N GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour. Clkick on the tour banner to see the other stops on the tour.

*The planet Falosia has an excess of females. The planet Verit has a surplus of males. The best of each have been put forward to start a new colony and find mates, in a last desperate attempt to save both worlds. A scorchingly hot sci fi, alien romance. *

Denara barely survived her disastrous first attempt at marriage; for years she threw herself into her research, giving herself time to heal. When the opportunity arises to take up a position on the colony, she decides to take a risk for the chance to live, and love, again. Lucius has spent his life under the heel of the ruthless Matriarchs of Verit. Tasked with leading the males of the new colony, he reluctantly accepts the assignment. The last thing he wants is to tie himself to a scheming female through mating, but nothing could have prepared him for meeting Denara. Sparks fly, but can they overcome their pasts to find love? With the political machinations of two planets vying for control over the colony, perhaps together, they can bridge the gap between their worlds.

What to expect: Glorious world building, spicy alien romance, friends to lovers, enthusiastic consent. Recommended 18+ due to sexual content.

Read an Excerpt

“Would you like to see a trick?” He blinked in surprise. “What?”

“A trick? Something that Falosians don’t often show outsiders?” Not waiting for his reply, she stood up and walked to a nearby bush that bore large buds. “I have been analysing some of the flora that the bio teams have been bringing in, and if I’m not mistaken, this is a fruiting plant.”

She reached her hands out to cup one of the buds, and bent to place her lips next to it, whispering, bathing the bud in her breath. Lucius moved next to her, staring in rapt interest. He reminded her again of a huge jungle cat, eyes bright with curiosity. A few moments passed, and she opened her hands to show a peach-coloured fruit, covered in fuzzy blue hairs. She plucked the fruit, pulled her laser knife out, and sliced a section away to reveal the dark blue pearls within.

Lucius leaned in to sniff, his eyes flicking to hers at the sweet smell.

“Go on, it’s perfectly edible. They will start appearing on our normal food rotation soon, now that we’ve confirmed they are suitable for our digestion.”

He took the offered fruit and scooped out some of the pearls, dropping them into his mouth and popping them with his teeth. As he did, his mouth was flooded with a sweet, slightly spicy juice. “I suspect they will be very popular. This would make an excellent fermented spirit.”

Denara laughed. “I will start mixing hangover cures.”

“How did you do that?”

Denara smiled archly. “I said I’d show you a trick, not that I’d show you how I did it. You can’t expect me to show you all my secrets at once.”

About the Author:Rose Mackie (she/her) is an Australian author who writes and loves sci-fi romance, paranormal romance and fantasy romance. Born in Scotland and living in Perth, Western Australia for the past 15 years, Rose loves nothing more than to hang out with her family and rescue cat, and create magical worlds of imagination.

All Rose Mackie books have an element of spice, kick-ass heroines, enthusiastic consent and happy endings. Rose has been writing for as long as she can remember, but has recently published her first book, Heart Fire. It still spins her out that people are reading the weird stories she makes up in her head!

Rose has fallen in love with writing, and loves seeing audiences connect with her work and characters, and hopes you’ll love them too!

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See my 4 Sparkler review under the Romance page!

Birthdays: James Branch Cabell (1879), Arnold Toynbee (1889), Erich von Daniken (1935), Mireille Guiliano (1946), Bruce Sterling (1954), Tina Rosenberg (1960), Daniel Clowes (1961), Wells Tower (1973)

Erich von Daniken is best known for “Chariots of the Gods”

Tina Rosenberg won the 1995 Pulitzer for Nonfiction for “The Haunted Land: Facing Europe’s Ghosts after Communism”

Quote: “With fiction, there’s no reason why everything you write shouldn’t be amazing. Nobody’s stopping you from making up better stuff.” – Wells Tower

Quote: “A book, once it is printed and published, becomes individual. It is by its publication as decisively severed from its author as in parturition a child is cut off from its parent. The book “means” thereafter, perforce, — both grammatically and actually, — whatever meaning this or that reader gets out of it.” ― James Branch Cabell

Tip: An opening to your story is not the place to put backstory. This will not pull the reader in. Backstory can come later. Check your opening. Does it start with action that invites the reader in, or backstory?

Jumpstart: Write a love letter. Not just any love letter, but from one person who is caught in a disaster and knows s/he is going to die to their secret love—someone nobody knew about, including the recipient.

Birthdays: Nella Larsen (1891), Marguerite Henry (1902), Samuel Beckett (1906),
Eudora Welty (1909), John Braine (1922), Erik Christian Haugaard (1923), Seamus Heaney (1939), J.M.G. Le Ciezio (1940), Rae Amantrout (1947), Christopher Hitchens (1949), Michel Faber (1960),

Marguerite Henry is most famous for her “Misty of Chincoteague” stories.

Samuel Beckett won the 1969 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Eudora Welty won the 1973 Pulitzer for Fiction.

Seamus Heaney won the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

J.M.G. Le Ciezio won the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Quote: “I can’t think of a case where poems changed the world, but what they do is they change people’s understanding of what’s going on in the world.” – Seamus Heaney

Tip: Delete redundant modifiers. Don’t “look up” at the sky. The sky is up. Just look at it. Don’t sit down. Just sit.

Jumpstart: You’ve purchased a painting of an old castle with a figure in the tower window. You’re not sure why you bought the piece—it’s not even very attractive, but something drew you to it. Upon closer inspection…

A Note from Vicky: If you have been promised a review, it is coming. Honest. It just may take a little longer. I have been overwhelmed with requests, with my own writing, and with a project I took on months ago that has taken a lot more time than expected. I promise. I put a lot of effort into my reviews. They are not just “I liked this book” type reviews. Please be patient. Reviews are coming.

Birthday: Hardie Gramatky (1907), Beverly Cleary (1916), Carol Emshwiller (1921), Alan Ayckbourn (1939), Tom Clancy (1947), Scott Turow (1949), Gary Soto (1952), Jon Krakauer (1954), Elliot Ackerman (1980)

Quote: “The truth of the matter is that the people who succeed in the arts most often are the people who get up again after getting knocked down. Persistence is critical.” – Scott Turow

Tip: Like redundancies, may writers pad their work with wordiness. Check out wordy phrases you tend to overuse. Some to look for: for the reason that (because); both of them are (both are); until such time as (until); the true fact is (the fact is)

Jumpstart: Go to the engagement/wedding section of your newspaper and pick out several couples. Write brief character sketches for the people. What are they really like? Why are they together? Mix and match couples and give them different mates. Why those?