New release from RJ Nolan

My publisher, L-Book, has just released two new books, including “L.A. Metro” by RJ Nolan.

“L.A. Metro” started out as a popular online story but has been thoroughly rewritten, extended, and edited. Here’s a summary:

Dr. Kimberly Donovan’s life is in shambles. After her medical ethics are questioned, first her family, then her closeted lover, the Chief of the ER, betray her. Determined to make a fresh start, she flees to California and LA Metropolitan Hospital.

Dr. Jess McKenna, LA Metro’s Chief of the ER, gives new meaning to the phrase emotionally guarded, but she has her reasons.

When Kim and Jess meet, the attraction is immediate. Emotions Jess has tried to repress for years surface. But her interest in Kim also stirs dark memories.

They settle for friendship, determined not to repeat past mistakes, but secretly they both wish things could be different. Will the demons from Jess’s past destroy their future before it can even get started? Or will LA Metro be a place to not only heal the sick, but to mend wounded hearts?


You can contact RJ via her website or Facebook page.

Story length

I know many readers still think of novel length in pages, but that is not a reliable measure since page count is influenced by font, font size, margin width, white space between lines, etc. Depending on the formatting, you could have 150-800 words on a page.

With the spread of e-books, page count is becoming an even more unreliable measure of story length. The number of words on a page varies widely with the e-reader, file type, formatting, and zoom level.

File size (kb) is even less accurate since it’s influenced by the size of the cover art.

Therefore, the best measure of book length is word count.

Different publishers may vary on the exact word count they consider a short story, novelette, or novel to have. The Science Fiction Writers of America uses the following definitions:

• short story: up to 7,500 words
• novelette: 7,500-17,500 words
• novella: 17,500-40,000 words
• novel: 40,000 words and more.

It’s not just a matter of word count, though:

Short stories give us a glimpse into a moment in the life of a character. Novellas have room for the development of one or two characters over a longer stretch of time. Novels can support multiple characters and subplots and cover larger areas and time spans.

In August, I set out to write a short story for an anthology. Well, if you know the length of my novels, you can probably guess how that endeavor turned out.  The “short story” is now a novella with 30,000 words (and counting). I personally find it easier and more interesting to write novellas or novels than short stories. A large part of what motivates me to write is developing the characters and that’s easier to do in longer works.

I did manage to finish a 4,600-word story last night, though. Finally, a short story!

Review — “Jericho” by Ann McMan

 

Bedazzled Ink

Will be published in September 2011

412 pages

Syd Murphy, a librarian, relocates to the little town Jericho in Virginia after her almost-ex-husband cheats on her. A flat tire stops her before she even reaches Jericho, and she’s rescued by Maddie Stevenson, Jericho’s doctor.

Maddie has returned to Jericho after her father, the local physician, died two years ago and she took over his medical practice.

Syd and Maddie become fast friends, and Syd, who has only planned on staying for eighteen months to set up a library in Jericho, becomes more and more involved in the community.

“Jericho,” Ann McMan’s debut novel, is a satisfyingly long read with likable, three-dimensional main characters and a quirky cast of supporting characters. The romance is developed at a slow pace, so readers can witness the love between them growing instead of the characters just hopping into bed on page two.

The dialogue is witty and laugh-out-loud funny at times.

I read the online version, but I’ll buy the book once it’s published too.

I just had one tiny issue with this novel: The characters drink a LOT of wine.

Otherwise, it’s a captivating romance that I highly recommend.

Dangling participles

I’m sure most writers have heard of the infamous dangling participle. Most of us have even created a few. So what exactly is a dangling participle?


What is a participle?

Participles are verbs ending in –ing (present participle) or—except for irregular verbs—in –ed (past participle) and functioning as adjectives. Since they are verbs, they describe actions or state of beings, and since they function as adjectives, they modify nouns.

Examples:

The washed dishes (past participle).

The broken record (past participle).

The smiling man (present participle).

The confusing explanation (present participle)

What is a participial phrase?

A participial phrase is a phrase containing a (past or present) participle.

Examples:

Exhausted after twenty hours of work, he collapsed as soon as he got home.

Floating in the pool, she looked up at the blue sky.

 

What is a dangling participle?

Like all modifiers, participles need to go next to the noun they modify. If the noun the participle modifies is merely implied, not clearly stated, the participle is left dangling and ends up modifying the wrong subject.

Examples:

Slipping into bed, Keile was still on Haydn’s mind.

It’s Haydn, not Keile, who’s slipping into bed.

Rewrite: Slipping into bed, Haydn still thought of Keile. Or: When Haydn slipped into bed, Keile was still on her mind.

Tugging at it again, it refused to budge.

“It” is not the subject doing the tugging.

Rewrite: She tugged at it again, but it refused to budge.

Sitting across from the other woman, the customary evasion came easily.

The customary evasion is not sitting across from the other woman.

Rewrite: Since she sat across from the other woman, the customary evasion came easily.

Dragging in a long breath at the harsh command, Becky’s eyes snapped open.

Body parts are a great source for dangling participles. Clearly, Becky’s eyes can’t breathe.

Rewrite: At the harsh command, Becky dragged in a long breath and her eyes snapped open.

A disheveled mass of red hair popped from under the covers, gasping for air.

Hair can’t breathe either.

Rewrite: Sue’s disheveled mass of red hair popped from under the covers. She gasped for air.

So how do you avoid dangling participles?

The best advice is to use participles sparingly. Overusing participial phrases—dangling or not—is a sign of an amateur. If you do use participles, check to see if the subject of the main clause is the same person committing the action in the participial phrase and place the participle as close to the noun it modifies as possible.

Review — “Strange Bedfellows” by Q. Kelly

 

Ride the Rainbow Books

August 2011

75,000 words

Frances Dourne is the daughter of a pastor and the president of “Gay is a Choice,” an organization that wants to “help” gay people choose a straight life, just like Frances did many years ago. But Frances has stopped believing in the principles of her company long ago.

Now she’s preparing to come out to her family and to the public.

She hires a prostitute, Elena, to have a sounding board for her coming-out plan.

At first glance, these two women couldn’t be more different, but if you look more deeply, they have a lot in common. They both have suffered losses and kept secrets. Both lost a child, Elena when her ten-year-old son drowned and Frances when her husband, an ex ex-gay, came out and kidnapped their three-year-old daughter ten years ago.

At first, both stick to the rules of their professional relationship, but they quickly grow closer. The growing intimacy between them scares them both.

“Strange Bedfellows” is a captivating novel. I stayed up until 3 a.m. because I wanted to find out more about the interesting characters. The author avoids head hopping and brings us deeply into the characters’ point of views. The main characters are three-dimensional and likable; they struggle with their fears and I couldn’t help rooting for them.

Some issues could have been explored more fully toward the end, but it’s still a very satisfying read.

The editing was very well-done too (just a typo or two), so I highly recommend this self-published author’s novel.

Review — “Just Like That” by Karin Kallmaker

 

Bella Books

November 2005

284 pages

31-year-old Syrah Ardani doesn’t want commitment, and she’s not enthusiastic about her best friend’s plan to settle down. All Syrah wants is to focus on her family’s winery instead. But then she finds out that her aging father made the winery a corporation and is now deeply in debt.

Toni Blanchard, a corporate turnaround specialist, is sent to assess the situation. Toni’s lover of two years just left her, and she has no romantic notions left.

When they meet, they don’t trust each other. Syrah is downright hostile at first since she thinks Toni is helping to take the family business away from her. Toni is used to doing business without emotions, but this time, she finds it impossible not to get emotionally involved.

“Just Like That” is a solid novel from a writer who knows what she’s doing. The characters, especially Syrah, have a life and people in them even before meeting each other. Karin Kallmaker also incorporated the wine lingo nicely — just enough to make me believe that this is really what Syrah does for a living, but not enough to distract or bore the reader.

What I didn’t like is the fact that the conflict keeping them apart relies partly on a misunderstanding/lack of communication and trust. And considering that they avoid each other at first, the declaration of love comes a bit soon.

But at least the author has Syrah prove her trust in Toni in the end — a good move!

Editing is always a bit hit-and-miss with Bella Books, but this one is well edited (except for a few comma issues).

Review — “Storms” by Gerri Hill

Bella Books

July 2011

264 pages

Carson Cartwright hasn’t seen her family for twelve years. After her mother died and her father basically threw her out because he blamed her for her mother’s death, she spent years pretending to be satisfied with one-night stands and her rich friends. Now her twin brother calls to tell her their father is dying and their brothers are running their family ranch into the ground.

When Carson reluctantly returns home, she meets Kerry Elder, who is just starting her own consulting business and wants to convince Carson’s brothers to turn the ranch into a guest ranch.

Both feel a connection from the start, but Kerry is straight – or so she thinks – and one of Carson’s brothers has his eye on her.

“Storms” is a solid romance with good editing. Some things could have been explored more deeply, for example, Carson never really has a long conversation with her brothers and all the old feelings and resentments are never resolved.

At times, it was hard to keep her brothers apart, because their names were too similar (Cody, Colt, Chase, and Chance) and we don’t see enough of them to give them distinct personalities.

Otherwise, the book provides a few hours of entertainment.

Review — “Wild” by Meghan O’Brien

 

Bold Strokes Books

June 2011

288 pages

I really liked Meghan O’Brien’s Endgame and Battle Scars, but while Wild isn’t badly written per se, I didn’t like it as much. It didn’t have enough world building to work as paranormal fiction. Selene is the only shape-shifter/werewolf around, and she doesn’t even seem to wonder if there are others like her.

It’s more of a romance than a paranormal novel, but even the romance didn’t fully convince me. For someone who avoided emotional attachments for many years, she let herself enter into a relationship a bit too quickly.

If you are looking for a good paranormal fiction novel, you’ll probably be disappointed.

Review — “Reluctant Hope” by Erin Dutton

 

Bold Strokes Books

June 2011

288 pages

Songwriter Brooke Donahue’s best friend, Diane, just died of cancer. Brooke is still full of unexpressed grief and anger and wants nothing to do with Diane’s support group or anything else related to cancer.

To honor Diane, she participates in a fundraiser for cancer research and has to work with Addison Hunt, a survivor of breast cancer. Even before Diane’s death, Brooke closed herself off, afraid to let herself feel too deeply, and now she doesn’t want to fall in love with someone she might end up losing.

The author took a bit of a risk with the ending, but I really liked it and thought it was perfect for the book.

Review — “Keeper of the Piece” by Lesley Davis

 

Windstorm Creative

November 2000

200 pages

 

Tatum “Tate” Belan is the “Keeper of the Piece” (and no, that’s not a spelling mistake), which means she’s the guardian of the mountain Turrenoc. She’s also the keeper of a secret: She’s an animal adept, who can talk to animals. When her previous lover found out what Tate is, she left her, and Tate has lived a reclusive life ever since.

Dr. Lorrah Gilden is an adept too, but she’s a plant adept. Her skills include feeling the healing potential of plants. She works for Estros, a large and powerful research company. One day in late fall, she shows up on Tate’s doorstep and wants Tate’s help in finding the Missourose, a half-mythical plant with incredible healing powers. Lorrah’s ancestor had found the plant, but a few pages of his diary, describing where to find the plant, are missing.

Reluctantly, Tate agrees to help her, and they start their trek up the mountain. Since winter is approaching, it becomes a race against time.

“Keeper of the Piece” is a quick read (200 pages or less), and it focuses as much or more on the romance than on the fantasy aspect. As a romance, it works even though it’s a short novel, because the two main characters meet at the very beginning of the book and stay together throughout, so they are in constant interaction.

There are a few issues that are just mentioned, but not fully explored (Tate’s past as a warrior or the danger that might lurk inside of Estros, Lorrah’s company). Maybe those issues will be further explored in the later books of the series, but they didn’t seem necessary for this book.

The book had a few editing issues (overuse of adverbs, an unclean POV, and a few spelling mistakes, e.g., naval vs. navel). On the plus side, the book also had a few nice concepts (I loved the idea of Tate hibernating in winter), and I couldn’t help but like Teeko, Tate’s cute squirrel.

So all in all, it’s a short but good read. If you like fantasy with a heavy dose of romance, I recommend it.