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Thursday, February 23, 2012
Blogging A to Z Challenge is Almost Here
It's almost that time of year again. The Blogging A to Z challenge where you are challenged to do "one month of blogging through the alphabet." It begins April 1, 2012. Use it any way you wish, with whatever theme fits your writing. Each post starts with a letter - beginning with A on day 1 and ending with Z on the last day.
For more information. please visit A to Z Blogging Challenge and sign up. Comment below with a link to your blog and I'd love to follow your posts! Have fun!
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Books in a Basket
Let's see how sharp your eyes are. Can you spot A Star in the Night?
Click on the links to get your own copy of A Star in the Night and Teresa's Shadow. When you do, stop by my facebook page and tell me what you thought!
Wednesday, February 15, 2012
Children's Writer Contest
Children's Writer is having another writing contest! Be sure to check it out here. As an editor, I highly recommend participating in as many contests as possible. It helps teach you to adhere to writers guidelines and is excellent practice, if nothing else.
This contest is about a middle grade mystery. Visit the link above for rules and guidelines. Good Luck! Maybe I'll see ya there.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Come check me out on Goodreads
I've been making better use of Goodreads lately. Goodreads is a great place for authors and readers alike to share, recommend and discuss books and their love of books. They even have a special Author page for authors who are promoting their books and works. Come check me out on Goodreads. Be sure to add me as a friend and fan my page. Leave a comment with your link and I'll gladly return the favor.
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4447596.Jennifer_Gladen
Some author updates:
http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4447596.Jennifer_Gladen
Some author updates:
- I am consolidating my facebook pages into one author page. If you are a fan of Teresa's Shadow or A Star in the Night on FB, please head on over to my AUTHOR PAGE and follow me there as well. I look forward to connecting with you all there.
- I am in the process of booking several author events. More info will be provided once the information is official, so stay tuned.
- Parents or family of children with special medical concerns may be excited about my new book coming out soon titled Angel Donor. This is a medical specialty book about a young girl in need of a liver transplant and her journey toward this life saving surgery.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Check out the review of A Star in the Night on Susanne Draizic's blog. She gave great reviews of the book , including K.C. Snider's illustrations. When you visit, be sure to leave a comment to be entered to win a FREE AUTOGRAPHED copy of the book. Just click here for Susanne's blog! Good luck and I'll see you there.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
A Star in the Night featured in Susanne Drazic's Christmas in July
This July, fellow blogger Susanne Drazic is having a Christmas in July blogging party! Stop on by and check it all out. There's giveaways, guest posts, book reivews and more. Later this month my book, A Star in the Night (illustrated by the talented K.C. Snider) will be featured. When A Star in the Night is featured on Susanne's blog, leave a comment under her post at http://susannedrazic.blogspot.com/. with a link to your Fb or Tweet about my book and you could win a free autographed copy! DO NOT COMMENT YET. You must wait until she features A Star in the Night. I will provide another link when the time comes. So stay tuned....
This post is also published on the official A Star in the Night Blog
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This post is also published on the official A Star in the Night Blog
Friday, June 17, 2011
Dialogue Advice from Author Shelby Patrick
****Blog Owner Note: The content following is solely the content and opinion of Shelby Patrick alone, and not that of blog owner Jennifer Gladen***
I Have Spoken…
By Shelby Patrick
One of the many elements to writing fiction is to use good dialogue. I have been told countless times, by my editor and other publishing professionals, that my characters’ dialogue is pretty good. You can’t have an enticing story if the cast can’t even produce two sentences that sound natural and exciting. Writing dialogue is not the same as talking to another person. For instance, when you meet someone, this might be how it goes: “Hello, how are you? I’m not doing too bad myself. How is the family? How was school…work…etc.?”
Hmm, a bit tedious and boring, if you are reading that, unless it somehow enhances the storyline or its speakers. If it doesn’t, there’s no place for dialogue like that in your piece of fiction. Keep it snappy and enlightening. You want to keep the reader engaged, not turn them away or make them nod off in the middle of your chapter.
So how do you go about keeping readers involved with your characters when they speak?
• Create a memorable character by allowing him/her to use witty banter – come-ons, put downs, sarcasm, etc. Example from my own book, When Angels Sing: :”Following me down here was a stupid idea, Jen. Do you realize I could lock the door and and no one would ever know? If you disappeared now, they would just go out looking for your kidnapper . . . again.”
• Make sure the speaker is always clear; don’t frustrate your reader so that they aren’t even sure who is talking. Find some way to personalize the dialogue so there is no confusion. For example: The bouncer reached for Susan’s arm but Luke slapped him. “Shame on you, Jacques, no one touches my girl but me.”
• Sometimes thoughts or speech patterns get interrupted. Don’t be afraid to leave someone’s dialogue hanging, such as: “Zack, I don’t know how to tell you this…” Anna shifted her feet and looked down at the floor.
• Give at least one of your characters a good sense of humor and show it in his words.
• Descriptions and feelings can sometimes be conveyed through dialogue with other characters.
• Don’t make all your characters sound the same. One may speak with a stutter or a foreign accent, sound more educated than the rest, or show more emotion.
• Don’t tell us how a character feels. Instead, show us through his choice of words. For example, instead of saying “I’m angry! How could you do that?” Try something like: “ That is the stupidest thing I have ever seen you do."
One good rule of thumb here. Characters rarely ever say what they feel. When is the last time you read a romance and the man and woman declared their love right away, or a thriller when the killer is revealed through his dialogue in the first chapter? You have to keep the reader guessing and entertained. They may know what the characters are thinking, but chances are the other characters in the story won’t, so don’t push the dialogue too fast and ruin any suspense building up.
Good luck!
-------------------------
Shelby has self-published two creative writing exercise books, Dark Recesses of the Mind and Forbidden Knowledge, a short horror and science fiction collection entitled The Fear Within, and a supernatural thriller, When Angels Sing.
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WHEN ANGELS SING came out in December 2010. The main male character, Blaze Kerrigan, is a typical young guy but with one peculiar problem – he has a psychic link to a serial killer. So when Jenna Michaels shows up at his door unannounced and bears an uncanny resemblance to his dead fiancée, it’s Blaze’s job to keep her safe, especially when the body count starts to rise.
To see the trailer for WHEN ANGELS SING, please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPop7HH5slc
All of Shelby’s titles can be purchased at amazon.com.
Shelby Patrick
http://www.shelbypatrick.com/
http://writershotspot.blogspot.com/
** Find Shelby Patrick on Twitter (@shelbypatrick) or Facebook **
I Have Spoken…
By Shelby Patrick
One of the many elements to writing fiction is to use good dialogue. I have been told countless times, by my editor and other publishing professionals, that my characters’ dialogue is pretty good. You can’t have an enticing story if the cast can’t even produce two sentences that sound natural and exciting. Writing dialogue is not the same as talking to another person. For instance, when you meet someone, this might be how it goes: “Hello, how are you? I’m not doing too bad myself. How is the family? How was school…work…etc.?”
Hmm, a bit tedious and boring, if you are reading that, unless it somehow enhances the storyline or its speakers. If it doesn’t, there’s no place for dialogue like that in your piece of fiction. Keep it snappy and enlightening. You want to keep the reader engaged, not turn them away or make them nod off in the middle of your chapter.
So how do you go about keeping readers involved with your characters when they speak?
• Create a memorable character by allowing him/her to use witty banter – come-ons, put downs, sarcasm, etc. Example from my own book, When Angels Sing: :”Following me down here was a stupid idea, Jen. Do you realize I could lock the door and and no one would ever know? If you disappeared now, they would just go out looking for your kidnapper . . . again.”
• Make sure the speaker is always clear; don’t frustrate your reader so that they aren’t even sure who is talking. Find some way to personalize the dialogue so there is no confusion. For example: The bouncer reached for Susan’s arm but Luke slapped him. “Shame on you, Jacques, no one touches my girl but me.”
• Sometimes thoughts or speech patterns get interrupted. Don’t be afraid to leave someone’s dialogue hanging, such as: “Zack, I don’t know how to tell you this…” Anna shifted her feet and looked down at the floor.
• Give at least one of your characters a good sense of humor and show it in his words.
• Descriptions and feelings can sometimes be conveyed through dialogue with other characters.
• Don’t make all your characters sound the same. One may speak with a stutter or a foreign accent, sound more educated than the rest, or show more emotion.
• Don’t tell us how a character feels. Instead, show us through his choice of words. For example, instead of saying “I’m angry! How could you do that?” Try something like: “ That is the stupidest thing I have ever seen you do."
One good rule of thumb here. Characters rarely ever say what they feel. When is the last time you read a romance and the man and woman declared their love right away, or a thriller when the killer is revealed through his dialogue in the first chapter? You have to keep the reader guessing and entertained. They may know what the characters are thinking, but chances are the other characters in the story won’t, so don’t push the dialogue too fast and ruin any suspense building up.
Good luck!
-------------------------
Shelby has self-published two creative writing exercise books, Dark Recesses of the Mind and Forbidden Knowledge, a short horror and science fiction collection entitled The Fear Within, and a supernatural thriller, When Angels Sing.
WHEN ANGELS SING came out in December 2010. The main male character, Blaze Kerrigan, is a typical young guy but with one peculiar problem – he has a psychic link to a serial killer. So when Jenna Michaels shows up at his door unannounced and bears an uncanny resemblance to his dead fiancée, it’s Blaze’s job to keep her safe, especially when the body count starts to rise.
To see the trailer for WHEN ANGELS SING, please visit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PPop7HH5slc
All of Shelby’s titles can be purchased at amazon.com.
Shelby Patrick
http://www.shelbypatrick.com/
http://writershotspot.blogspot.com/
** Find Shelby Patrick on Twitter (@shelbypatrick) or Facebook **
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