Take a character from your manuscript, for example, any character you choose. How would they handle the early hours of Halloween Eve when the kids come knocking. Are they the type of person who couldn’t be more excited? Perhaps they went to the store and bought three different types of candy because they weren’t sure what kind the kids would like most. Perhaps they have an elaborate costume of their own and they’ve decked their house out in spider webs, gravestones, flashing lights, and fake blood. And, for the entirety of trick-or-treating hours, they are perched on their porch with a huge smile on their face asking the kids about their costumes and telling them how cool they look.

On the other hand, perhaps your character is not much of a Halloween fanatic. They care enough to go grab a bag of candy from the store to prevent their house from getting egged, but they aren’t going to be spending their Halloween interacting with a bunch of snot-nosed kids. They’re the type to set out the candy on their porch in a giant bowl with a sign that says ‘take one’ to which each of the kids will take two. They spend the early hours of their Halloween evening prepping for a party with friends later while listening to the kids laughing and screaming in the distance.

Additionally, your protagonist could be decidedly anti-Halloween, promptly shutting off all the lights in their house at 6:00 PM sharp. Or perhaps they come up with a clever plan to deter future trick-or-treaters by gaining a reputation as the house with bad candy, finding the most obscure and off-putting candy at the store and excitedly handing them out to the neighborhood children.

Creating a scene that forces your character to both interact with children and participate in a holiday can give you an excellent opportunity to get to know your character better. This type of exercise can be used to highlight how they feel about children, holidays, ceremony, merriment, family, privacy, and how they prefer to spend their time. Think about different themes within your manuscript or different aspects of your character’s personality you’re attempting to highlight. Focus on attempting to feature those things in this exercise.

Writing Prompt: Choose a character from your manuscript and write a scene where they are handing out candy to trick-or-treaters on Halloween. You can either make this scene timeless or you can set it in a significant year in your character’s life. Attempt to convey different aspects of your character’s personality through this event. How do they feel about trick-or-treaters and why? For example: if they don’t like trick-or-treaters, are they dissatisfied with their family or the lack of family in their life? How do they feel about the holiday in general and why? How would they spend their time (if they could choose) and why? And how do all of these factors affect the chain of events that evening?

The post Writing Prompt: Trick-Or-Treat appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Name:

Hometown: Loveland, Colorado

Book Title: Parachute Minds: Leap of Fate

Genre: Sci-Fi/Adventure

Dorrance Publishing (DP): Describe your book in 10 words or less.

Jeremiah Sanchez (JS): An exploration beyond the unknown through biological light travel.

DP: What made you want to write your book?

JS: I’ve long been fascinated by the explorers of old, who looked across the horizon and braved the unknown by venturing where no one else dared. That was real. That was visceral. And, in our modern world, it’s something that no longer exists. We’ve mapped out the globe. Adventure has been whittled down to tourism. As the adventurers we innately are, we’ve begun exploring into our solar system, which is incredible! But it’s slow.

Obsessing over these floating details, I remember I was staring at a beam of light breaking through a window, marveling at the intricacies too small for me to see or understand. In a moment of unexpected inspiration, I remember wondering what possible properties of light are yet to be discovered. We’re always learning more of the scientific workings around us. So, the first “what if” of many in my “Parachute Minds” adventure hit me: What if light had elasticity properties? And furthermore, what if we could biologically harness it and leap impossible distances at amplified light speed? From there, the book flew out of me, and I’m currently working on the fourth installment.

DP: How long did it take you to write your book?

JS: The first book took about half a year.

DP: How do you choose the names of your characters?

JS: My main protagonist, Gideon, is a name that has been on my heart since I was in my teens and one of my friends randomly asked me, “Hey, if you ever have a son, what would you name him?” The name “Gideon” hit me out of nowhere. I thought it sounded trustworthy and adventurous. Like, “Hey, mom, can I go over to Gideon’s house?” Who would say no to that? His name was ready before the story even existed.

My second of three protagonists, Traveler, is the representing embodiment of the call to action in the book. While I do have a first name for him, I wanted him shrouded in purpose. He is an observer, a recruiter, and a traveler, and he prefers title over birth name. And lastly, Dumakleiza, my third primary protagonist, was pure universal inspiration. I needed a new and unique female character that inspired fear and respect, admiration and wonder, and I spent days going over forced names until “Dumakleiza” just popped in my head. Her name is by far my favorite invented name of the series.

DP: What do you do when you have writer’s block?   

JS: I have a small group of trusted individuals whom I call “my parachute minds.” I have shared the plotline with them, all the way through my planned five books of the series. I’ve insisted upon honest, critical, and creative feedback. Whenever I’m stuck or unsure, their perspectives and guidance have given me fresh eyes and inspiration moving forward. It’s all too easy for us writers to hide away as hermits and covet our art, but one of the best decisions I’ve made on this journey was asking for help from other creative and critical minds along the way.

DP: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

JS: In the first book, my favorite chapter is easily the first. While it has nothing to do with the scope of the story’s plot, it wholly exemplifies the story’s heart. The majority of the book is saturated in epic adventure, mystery, and danger, but the first chapter is a simple view into Gideon’s soul. Exploring his unconditional love for strangers has changed who I am as an author and a person.

DP: If you were stuck on an island and had to have one person from each category with you, who would they be and why:

a. One character from your book:

JS: Ha! Easy! Dumakleiza. She’s a medieval pirate, who’s lived on an island for most of her life, so she’s well versed in fishing, cooking, and survival tactics. And, not to toot my own horn, but she is passionately brimming with confidence, faith, and perceptive intelligence.

b. One fictional character:

JS: Jack Sparrow seems like an easy answer since he’s a master of getting off islands but after thorough consideration, I would say Raymond Reddington from “The Blacklist.” His intelligence, survival prowess, and calm demeanor in dangerous situations, make him an ideal survival buddy. And between James Spader’s captivating voice and Raymond’s poetic darkness, he would be spellbinding to join staring up at uninhibited stars from our isolated beach.

c. One famous person (living or dead):

JS: This one came to me instantaneously. Mark Rober, the NASA engineer turned YouTuber. His vibrant charisma would make him a pleasure to be stuck with, and his ingenuity would make life fun and efficient, and he would be a great teacher to learn from. If I ever made it off the island, I’d have gotten the equivalent of a college education!

DP: Besides writing, what are your other interests?

JS: In all aspects of life, I think of myself as a student (foreshadowing for book #2). I enjoy trying my hand at anything that piques my interest at all, even if I end up proving terrible at it. This year, my business partner and I started a card and board game company, “Alien Architects,” which will be launching soon. Since writing remains my favorite passion, whenever I’m not working on my books, poetry is still my first love. Day to day, I live in the gym, training under strongman influences such as Brian Shaw, Eddie Hall, and others. I’m an independent model and actor, amateur filmmaker, and voice actor. Check back with me tomorrow. I’m always up to something new!

DP: Do you keep a journal?

JS: I’ve always wanted to! However, I tend to put them down and resort to keeping my journal mental.

DP: How did you celebrate the publishing of your book?

JS: By getting to work. I am beyond excited to finally be able to hold a physical copy of my book, but it only makes me want the next steps of this dream even more, and now they’re within reach. I have a YouTube channel, also titled “Parachute Minds,” which discusses subjects similar to those in my books, where I’m promoting the release. And in addition to other promotional work, I’m preparing the second book of the series for publication. Expect more very soon!

DP: If your book was made into a movie, who would play the main characters?

JS: At this point, I would want Gideon played by Dylan O’brien, Dumakleiza played by Zendaya, and Traveler remains a mystery as to who I envision portraying him best. I’m open to suggestions.

DP: What did you enjoy most about working with Dorrance Publishing?

JS: The freedom. The professionalism, promptness, and guidance, were all ever-present, but at the end of the day, Dorrance ensured that this was my project and that every step met my standards and vision. This resulted in me getting a product I’m truly happy with and proud of.

DP: Five favorite books of all time?

JS: Frank E. Peretti’s “The Oath” inspired me as a young reader. Growing up, I loved the imagination and creativity of Michael Crichton’s “Jurassic Park” and Douglas Adams’ “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” The book that most inspired me while doing research for my own books: “The Future of Humanity” by Michio Kaku still blows my mind! And lastly, while it seems like a lazy answer, my book. When I decided to write “Parachute Minds,” I decided not to tailor it to any audience or demographic beyond myself. I wanted to write the ultimate story I would want to read.

DP: One sentence of advice for other writers:

JS: Create your characters and then let them do whatever they’re going to do.

Are you ready to publish your book? Contact us today!

The post Author Spotlight: Jeremiah Sanchez appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

When to use

There are many different reasons why authors will choose to write under a pen name. One of the more popular reasons to use a pen name is to escape some sort of reader bias, for example a woman author writing in a predominantly male genre. This way the readers don’t know your gender and they go into your book unbiased. Another reason is if your name doesn’t necessarily fit the genre you’re writing in. For example, the name ‘Anne Joy’ may not necessarily be the best author name for someone writing in the suspense or horror genre.

It could also be that your name is very long and difficult to fit on a book cover or perhaps you want to spare both readers and yourself from having to deal with constant mispronunciations. Maybe another author has a similar name to yours and you want to avoid confusion or comparisons. Or it could even be that you plan to write books for multiple genres and it’s your way of differentiating between the two. For example, author V.E. Schwab (author of series such as Vicious, Darker Shades of Magic, etc.) writes her adult novels under this name and her Y.A. novels under the name Victoria Schwab. And J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, writes under the name Robert Galbraith for mystery novels.

Your reasons could even be as simple as wanting more author anonymity or just not liking your name and wanting to change it. Regardless of your reasoning, choosing a good pen name for yourself can be a lot of pressure.

How to choose

One of our first suggestions when choosing a pen name is to consider the age of your target readership. One big reader bias is with age and sometimes readers can be biased against younger authors. We would suggest against choosing a name that sounds younger than your target readership. For example, if your target audience is women ages forty and up, choosing the first name ‘Lauren’ as part of your pen name wouldn’t be the best move. Instead, look up popular names around that age and choose one that would fit well with whatever last name you choose.

Next, choose a name that matches well with your genre. For example, take the name Beatrix Potter or Dr. Seuss, both of which are authors of children’s books. Their names, imaginative and unique, fit the genre perfectly. Try to choose a pen name that fits within the genre, without being too on the nose. If you’re choosing names like ‘Robert Horror’, you’ve gone too far in the other direction.

Additionally, try to choose a name that’s memorable and stands out to readers. So if your family name is a ‘Smith’ or a ‘Jones’, perhaps go with something a little more unique to catch your reader’s eye. And you should always check to make sure that there isn’t an author out there using anything similar because it will end up confusing readers. For example, let’s say you’re a contemporary writer named Andrea Weir, it’s possible that your fans will end up accidentally reading The Martian and being very confused.

Finally, before officially selecting your pen name and building your author brand around that name, double-check that those names or close variations are available as social media handles. Even if they are being used by people who aren’t in the book-writing game, you ideally don’t want your readers to have to sift through a bunch of people to find your various social media handles.

The post When to Use and How to Choose a Pen Name appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Historical Fiction

Historical fiction involves a heavy amount of research into the time period where you’ve chosen to set your novel. What sort of clothes were people wearing during this time period? What were the rich people wearing vs. the poor? What sort of language was being used? What sort of customs were expected? Where would they get a cup of coffee in the morning? What would they do with their free time? Readers of historical fiction are reading in large part for the historical details, so you need to put the work into research and accuracy. It’s one thing to embellish a historical event for the sake of fiction, but the novel should overall be grounded by fact-checked historically accurate details.

Science Fiction

The science fiction genre often involves researching complex scientific concepts. Unlike the fantasy genre, the science fiction genre involves a world with a set of rules that can be explained. This means that the concepts that the world deals with should be able to be explained, oftentimes scientifically. So when you’re writing about high-tech gadgets and the discovery of aliens, make sure that the concepts that exist within your world could be supported scientifically. The last thing you want is to write a virtually impossible event or object into existence into your world, only to have the sci-fi community find out by doing their research (and they will trust us).

Horror/Crime

Horror is a genre most people would be surprised requires research. When we think of horror, we think of a killer walking slowly down the darkened road with a single knife held aloft. Or we think of a serial killer and a detective who is getting a little too close to finding him. That involves a lot of suspense and action… but research?

First, the horror genre may be heavy in suspense, but it should also be heavily researched. One of the most frustrating things for a horror reader is reading a character’s death that is absolutely preposterous in its absurdity. The kind of death that, even without any research, you’re absolutely sure can’t exist in nature. This type of character death can leave the reader both heartbroken and angry, even when it happens to the antagonist if you’ve written them well.

Even though it may leave you with a very questionable search history, you should be making sure that a character being stabbed in a certain area of the body isn’t fatal. You should be researching the states of decomposition of a body over time or how the body would react to being shot in the leg. There are no stakes, and therefore no suspense, in your book if the characters don’t feel real, and part of that involves accuracy.

Additionally, the horror genre often involves creating new and grotesque ways of murder. Doing so involves research in order to both brainstorm ideas (again, sorry about your search history) and make sure that they’d be humanely (or sometimes inhumanely) possible to carry out.

Fantasy

This one probably shocks you, but fantasy novels too require research. The level of research required depends on how removed your fantasy novel is from our world. For example, take the Harry Potter world which involves a magical world that is adjacent to or hidden from our world. This means the story still involves humans in a certain time period, the 90s. Therefore, although the world involves magic, JK Rowling still had to research how the character’s human bodies would react to certain injuries and time-specific details like the technology (or lack thereof) that would be available to the students at the time.

You might instead be writing a high fantasy book, or one that involves another world and oftentimes species other than humans. Research can still be helpful in this case as it can help give the fantasy details a bit more solid ground. For example, let’s say you’re writing about a character who is an elf, researching elf lore from other series and reading up on myths can help you find the details you want to include in your world’s version of elf lore.

The post Researching Your Fiction Book appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

What was your character like before this event?

In order to properly execute your plot points by showing rather than telling, you need to start by examining how the event will change your character. It could be as simple as changing their mind, perhaps they had a certain plan set in their mind but this event shows them that it’s a bad idea. It could be something big that changes their perception of the world, perhaps a loved one betrays them or they find out a dark secret. Or maybe it changes their perception of themselves, maybe the event shows them that they’re braver or more capable than they previously thought. Either way, a plot point should visibly affect your protagonist in a major way.

How did this event change your character or their trajectory in the story?

There are two ways a plot point can change the trajectory of a story. The first is by fundamentally changing the protagonist themselves, thereby changing any decisions they will make after this point in the story. It could also simply change the trajectory by giving them new information or direction that affects what happens next and the decisions being made.

A plot point doesn’t involve every conversation and scene throughout your book, but rather purely those that lead the protagonist where they need to go to get to your novel’s climax. When you’re writing a scene that can be considered a plot point, make it more obvious to the reader by clearly telegraphing the drama involved. Write in-scene with short and quick sentences so the pacing feels faster. Have your protagonist react to the information or events of the scene through action, mannerisms, changes in dialogue, etc.

What choice did your character make?

Major plot points should always be accompanied by character choice. Don’t make your readers follow a protagonist who lets the world kind of happen to them. Instead, allow your readers to follow someone who is an active participant in the world and in their own story (AKA someone who makes choices). Character choice is, therefore, an excellent way to telegraph to your readers that a major plot point is unfolding in your novel.

When writing a character choice into your plot, make sure to examine it thoroughly. Why is the protagonist making this choice? Does it make sense for them to make this choice? Just because you need your plot to lead a certain direction, doesn’t mean your characters can make choices they wouldn’t make.

How is your character or the events of the story different afterward?

What has changed based on this plot point? From your perspective, likely very little has changed, but you need to put yourself into the minds of your readers. Has their perception of the world you’ve created changed based on the information they’ve learned in this scene? Or was the protagonist about to head somewhere very dangerous when they learned of a different way to accomplish their goal, therefore totally changing the protagonist’s physical trajectory in the plot? Or perhaps a major life event occurs from which the protagonist will spend a significant amount of the book recovering? Think about what has changed for the protagonist based on the scene you’ve created and make sure those changes are telegraphed in the text. Showing, rather than telling, how the story or protagonist has changed will allow readers to see that a major plot point has occurred.

The post Show Don’t Tell: Plot Points appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Name:

Hometown: Boca Raton, FL

Book Title: Freddie The Fruit Fly

Genre: Children’s

Dorrance Publishing (DP): Describe your book in 10 words or less.

Zane Stuart (ZS): Optimistic, adventurous fruit fly finds his way in the world.

DP: What made you want to write your book?

ZS: I saw fruit flies in the market, which caused me to recall seeing them occasionally in my kitchen. I started thinking about how a fruit fly might get from the market to someone’s kitchen, and the story took off from there.

DP: How long did it take you to write your book?

ZS: All in all, it took many years. I wrote the first part of the book pretty quickly. Not knowing how to pursue publishing, the manuscript sat for a long time. Inspiration hit again, and I came up with more ideas about how Freddie’s journey would continue, and I added to the story. I pitched it to literary agents and got good feedback, but none of them decided to go with the book. Years later, I saw an ad for Dorrance on my computer. I sent them the manuscript and they accepted it! I found a great illustrator, and with Dorrance’s help, we finished the book to my great satisfaction.

DP: How do you choose the names of your characters?

ZS: In this case, I went with sound keeping with F for fruit fly. Freddie was an easy choice. And his girlfriend’s name is Francine. Also, my father’s name was Fred.

DP: What do you do when you have writer’s block?   

ZS: Step away, get some fresh air, and come back to it. Be kind to yourself. The inspiration will return.

DP: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

ZS: I love the transitions—Freddie really travels. I have great fun coming up with creative ways to get him from one place to another.

DP: If you were stuck on an island and had to have one person from each category with you, who would they be and why:

a. One character from your book:

ZS: The lady, because she’s the only human who is relevant to the story.

b. One fictional character:

ZS: Freddie! Because he’s so positive.

c. One famous person (living or dead):

ZS: I would choose George Carlin.

DP: Besides writing, what are your other interests?

ZS: Music, jamming with others, playing and teaching blues harmonica, practicing Qi Gong.

DP: Do you keep a journal?

ZS: Not currently, but that’s a great reminder! I used to write Morning Pages, inspired by Julia Cameron’s book, The Artist’s Way.

DP: How did you celebrate the publishing of your book?

ZS: Dinner with girlfriend and friends, but I’m always celebrating this achievement.

DP: If your book was made into a movie, who would play the main characters?

ZS: The main characters would be played by Tom Hanks and Drew Barrymore.

DP: What did you enjoy most about working with Dorrance Publishing?

ZS: I enjoyed their kind, knowledgeable, and expert assistance.

DP: Five favorite books of all time?

ZS: Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda; The Tracker by Tom Brown Jr.; Mousekin’s Golden House by Edna Miller; Black Elk Speaks by John Gneisenau Neihardt; The Horse’s Mouth by Joyce Cary

DP: One sentence of advice for other writers:

ZS: If you are entertained by your ideas, others will be too!

Are you ready to publish your book? Contact us today!

The post Author Spotlight: Zane Stuart appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

One way to improve your action writing is by writing a scene with a simple premise: two characters get into a fight. This may sound overly simplistic, but that’s why it works as a perfect tool to practice action scene writing. An engaging action scene in manuscript format can’t be solely about the action taking place because simply reading about punching and kicking doesn’t translate the same way in a book that it does on screen. Instead, the focus should be on what is at stake on a character level.

By writing a scene based on this simple, you’re able to focus on the why behind the fight, rather than making the action exciting as we’re often feeling pressured to do. For example, let’s say we have two characters: Matt and David. Matt and David get into a fight, why? Are they two friends who had a falling out based on some dishonest behavior, only to wind up running into each other at a bar one night and having it out? If that’s the case, what was the lie and what did it cost each of them?

Or are they two strangers out at a club who bump into each other, a few harsh words are exchanged, and suddenly punches are being thrown? If that’s the case, what put them each in a bad mood? Maybe one of them just has anger issues, what has his anger cost him in his life? What could this moment cost him, should it get too out of hand? There is so much going on behind a fight and, in a manuscript format, focusing on these aspects is how you’ll be able to keep readers engaged and excited about the action.

Writing Prompt: Write a scene where two characters get into a fight. You can choose two already-made characters or create two new ones for the purposes of the scene. What is the relationship between the two characters? What caused the fight vs. why are they fighting (sometimes these are two different answers)? What are the stakes of their fight, both internally and externally? Put your dukes up, writers.

The post Writing Prompt: Fight Scene appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Do the Work Beforehand

In order to write an engaging action sequence that keeps readers hooked, the work begins prior to the scene actually taking place. One of the main things that separates a good battle sequence from one that readers will skim through is one that your readers truly care about. And in order to make the readers care, they’ll need to care about your characters and story. That involves putting a lot of leg work into fleshing out the characters and plot, making them creative and engaging, and then by the time readers arrive at the action sequence, you’ve got them right where you want them.

Focus on Emotion

Unlike action in film or television, the action itself isn’t what is going to keep your readers engaged. Unfortunately, action on the page just doesn’t translate the same way as it does on screen. In a film, you can begin with an action sequence that lasts ten minutes before you even meet any of the characters, and not a soul will complain. In a book, however, it can be boring to read an entire chapter of just mindless punching and kicking. Instead of the action itself, the scene should focus on the emotion behind the action. Is a character fighting their former best friend? Are they trying to save someone they care about? Are they trying to obtain an object of great emotional significance to them? Focus on what is emotionally at stake for the character and the action itself should be happening around that.

Pay-off

Additionally, you want an action sequence to feel like a pay-off for the reader. As stated previously, action in books can’t be the same mindless fun as it is in film. Instead, when deciding what action scenes are necessary in your manuscript, focus on including ones with the most pay-off. For example, if your protagonist has some snide interactions with a character throughout the book, all of a sudden finding themselves faced with fighting them. Or the final showdown with the villain of your series or maybe a fight with a character who had a hand at killing your protagonist’s parents.

Having your protagonist spend ten minutes fighting one random guard is just going to result in your readers skipping around. If, however, their fight has the potential for a pay-off for them or for their character arc, the readers will remain engaged.

Stakes

Similar to the pay-off, high stakes are another way to keep your readers engaged during an action sequence. Perhaps your protagonist has to scale the side of a building to break in. Or maybe they get into a bar fight with a group of their friends, glass bottles being broken and stepped on all over the place. Perhaps they run into a very deadly and unearthly creature that they once believed was a myth. And their conflict results in the breaking of a priceless artifact. Having something at stake within the fight, something that both the characters and readers care about, will allow readers to remain enthralled.

Language

In addition to all of the story components that add to an action sequence, your writing style and the language you use must adapt as well. When writing other scenes, the language can be flowery with lots of adverbs and time spent on minute details. In action sequences, the opposite should occur. Your sentences should be choppy and short as it creates more of a sense of urgency for the reader. You should also limit your use of adverbs and try to keep minute descriptions to a minimum unless they relate to the action of the scene.

The post How to Write Action Scenes appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Personality

When including an animal character in your story, it’s important to make sure they have a bit of a personality. Any animal owner in real life knows, each of their pets has a very different personality. This can even range based on the animal, cats are typically more aloof while dogs are more fun and friendly.

While animal characters obviously don’t need to have their personalities fleshed out the way your other characters will, you should at least have a few defining traits to play around with. For example, your character could have a German Shephard that is extremely protective and territorial, going off on anyone who so much as goes near their owner. Additionally, depending on the genre of your story, you could invent an animal with its own unique personality and biological traits. Think of at least three words that you could use to describe the personality of your animal character and base their actions throughout the story around those traits.

Quirks

An animal’s quirks will show rather than tell the reader about their personality traits. This can highlight a certain aspect of their personality while also allowing them to become a more unique character. For example, take the character Hedwig, the lovable owl from the Harry Potter series. There are many instances throughout the series where Hedwig refuses to deliver packages for Harry for various reasons. Perhaps he forgot to give her a treat after one of her deliveries or used another owl for a delivery because she wasn’t around. These actions result in Hedwig pouting at Harry, ruffling her feathers, and even pecking him if she’s feeling particularly upset. That is, until he threatens to use another owl for a delivery, and then she quickly drops her attitude.

These exchanges show off Hedwig’s sassy personality and intelligence while also allowing both the reader and Harry to connect with her on a more human level. You should strive to achieve these same goals within your own writing.

Emotional Intelligence

Showing the reader that the animal character has a level of emotional intelligence, which many animals do and all literary animals should, will allow the reader to connect with them on a human level. There’s nothing worse than reading a book with a seemingly useless animal character to which the reader has no real emotional connection. Even when it comes to an animal, a character that doesn’t establish any type of emotional connection with the reader is a waste of page space.

So how do you allow your animal character to connect with the reader in this way? This will happen primarily utilizing action considering that, unless you’re writing in the fantasy genre, your animal character won’t be using dialogue. For example, perhaps your protagonist had a particularly bad day and is laying in bed crying, only to look up and see their pet dog offering them their own favorite toy. Or maybe this comes in the form of your protagonist’s pet lizard refusing to leave their shoulder as they’re having an altercation with a friend. Think about what would fit your animal’s personality and find actions that you can use to show both their emotional intelligence and their relationship with different characters throughout the story.

Story Role

As stated previously, the last thing you want is to write in a useless animal character with absolutely no purpose or role within the story (other than to be cute). Your editor is going to cut them from your book so fast it will make your head spin. Instead, as you’re planning to write your animal character, make sure you ask yourself: what is their role or purpose in this story?

For example, let’s say you’re writing about a very pessimistic character with a tough exterior who had befriended an alley cat near his apartment complex. With everyone else in his life, he is blunt and harsh but when he’s around this cat he is suddenly a sweet ball of mush. The role of the cat in this story is to show the reader another side of this character that we wouldn’t normally see and allow them to draw conclusions as to why the character behaves this way. You must therefore ask yourself, what does this animal show the readers about my protagonist? How does this animal character push along the plot of the story? Does this animal character raise the stakes of my story in some way?

The post Show Don’t Tell: Animals appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.

Name:

Hometown: Delavan, Wisconsin

Book Title:

1. Books Can Take You Anywhere
   
2. Too Cool Dazzle
   
3. My Toy Box
   

Genre: Children’s

Dorrance Publishing (DP): Describe your book in 10 words or less.

Vicky M. Van Dan-Pletsch (VDP):

1. Books Can Take You Anywhere: Let your imagination go!
2. Too Cool Dazzle: To be kind is to be cool!
3. My Toy Box: Open up a toy box, and let the fun begin!

DP: What made you want to write your book?

VDP: I taught our two boys to read at the age of three. When they entered school and ordered books through various companies, I was not pleased with the poor quality of books. I informed my husband that I could write better books. His response was, “Then why don’t you?” Challenge accepted!

DP: How long did it take you to write your book?

VDP: Each book took about three days to complete, from start to finish. I have written 14 other books, with the hopes to have them published.

DP: How do you choose the names of your characters?

VDP: Books 1 & 2 have many cultures and ethnicities represented as the book’s characters. With so much racism and hatred in the world, I wanted many cultures represented: White, Hispanic, African American, Asian, Eastern, as well as both boys & girls.

DP: What do you do when you have writer’s block?   

VDP: I am a music teacher who taught in public school for 37 years, retiring in 2017. I still teach privately from my home music studio, on various instruments. I am also involved with the local community band, clarinet choir, Habitat for Humanity, Special Olympics, Relay for Life, The American Legion, and church organist/pianist which all keep me busy with the community. I keep busy with our landscaping, baking, cooking, writing more children’s books, craft projects, & working on my second degree blackbelt in taekwondo.

DP: What was your favorite chapter (or part) to write and why?

VDP: Book 1 (pages 29 & 47), as those involved the musical instruments in a band and the symphony/ballet/concert. Book 2 (page 39) that shows Too Cool Dazzle when he finally understands that kindness comes from within, not from what you wear, and when his heart grows in size. On page 45, the boy who had asked for his silky blue tie in the very beginning gives Too Cool Dazzle a huge hug, after Too Cool Dazzle gives him his silky blue tie. Book 3, the last page which includes all the toys throughout the book. Children can find each of the toys and name them.

DP: If you were stuck on an island and had to have one person from each category with you, who would they be and why:

a. One character from your book:

VDP: Book 1 (page 27) would be our oldest son, who is a meteorologist. He could predict what we would do in weather situations. Also page 47, as our other son plays the saxophone, so there would be music. Book 2 (page 23), the friend giving Too Cool Dazzle some advice would be my husband, as we are always conversing about various topics. Book 3 (pages 66 & 67) would be either of our two granddaughters, as this is what their rooms look like after we are finished playing.

b. One fictional character:

VDP: I would choose Santa Claus from “Books Can Take You Anywhere” (page 9) because I absolutely love Christmas and everything to do with Christmas!

c. One famous person (living or dead):

VDP: Deceased, it would either be Chopin or Beethoven as I admire their music. Living, it would be the Pope!

DP: Besides writing, what are your other interests?

VDP: I enjoy being with my family (especially with our two granddaughters), listening to and playing all types of music, baking, cooking, working outside in our landscaping, eating chocolate (especially dark… yum), making crafts, playing the piano & my clarinet, reading, writing books, and working on my second degree blackbelt in taekwondo.

DP: Do you keep a journal?

VDP: No, but I do have a special book of various book signings/presentations/workshops, and a scrapbook of those signings/presentations/workshops. The special book contains signatures and  dates of guests who have visited my booths or tables at past signings/presentations/workshops. The scrapbook has newspaper clippings, articles, and brochures of events.

DP: How did you celebrate the publishing of your book?

VDP: With all three books, I made many phone calls to family & friends and posted it on Facebook. Then we celebrated outside, with our favorite beverages, around the blazing fire pit, listening to tunes, and watching the stars.

DP: If your book was made into a movie, who would play the main characters?

VDP: Book 1 would have many stars and characters of different cultures & ethnicities and I’d have to think on that one. Book 2, Too Cool Dazzle would be played by either Michael B. Jordan or Denzel Washington. His friend would be either Tom Hanks or Matt Damon. Of course, there would be others to ask as there are many cultures and ethnicities represented in this book too. Book 3, the child would need to be a young actor or actress, possibly Timothee Chalamet or Giselle Eisenberg.

DP: What did you enjoy most about working with Dorrance Publishing?

VDP: I was very impressed with my first overall phone conversation/interview with Mrs. Barbara Ennis, along with my two assigned project coordinators, Melissa Weisberg and Raquel Ponce. All of these ladies have been helpful with any questions or concerns throughout the process in publishing all three of my books.

DP: Five favorite books of all time?

VDP: How about six? “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein, “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck, “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes, “The Little House” by Virginia Lee Burton, any Berenstain Bears books, and any Dr. Seuss books.

DP: One sentence of advice for other writers:

VDP: Never give up on your dream or passion to write!

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The post Author Spotlight: Vicky M. Van Dan-Pletsch appeared first on Dorrance Publishing Company.