Christine Amsden

As I went for a walk with my son today, I was reminded of the lyrics to an old children’s song, “Who are the people in your neighborhood?” The truth is, I don’t really know most of them. I live in a neighborhood with hundreds of single-family homes, three swimming pools, a volleyball court, tennis courts, a lake, and several parks — but where are all the people?

Drake and I often frequent one of the neighborhood playgrounds on beautiful days like today, but we almost never see anyone there. It’s a little sad, I think. Whatever happened to people swinging on their front porches on a lovely Spring day, chatting with the neighbors or inviting them over for lemonade?

Or maybe that’s a memory from some old sitcom. It does seem kind of black and white when I replay it in my head.

I know I’m a child of the TV and video game generation and I’m supposed to like it inside, in the air conditioning, watching the “boob tube” (as my mom used to call it) and IMing friends I only know over cyberspace, but I prefer flesh and blood to pixels.

Tomorrow is supposed to be another beautiful day. Why don’t we meet at the playground?

Well, it’s finally here! After months of waiting and wondering, I can tell you that Touch of Fate is expected to come out in trade paperback format in mid-November, 2007!

Last week I received one last round of edits. For those who have bought the e-book, don’t worry. There are no substantive changes. In fact, most of the changes were to formatting, although the new editor did catch a few additional grammatical problems that will happily not make it to the print version of the book. It is, after all, more difficult to change a book once it has been printed.

I can also reveal to you that I added a paragraph of physical description to chapter 2 for those who did not feel that they had a clear enough picture of what Gabrielle and Marianne look like (such as the editor :=) ).

The next step for me is the marketing and promotion of this book. I need to send it to reviewers, set up personal appearances and book signings, and just plain get the word out..

For those who are interested, I will include my tentative promotional plan in a future blog entry. Feel free to comment, ask questions, or offer advice and support.

Not all chocolate bunnies are created equal. When I was a child, I used to think that the best bunnies were the BIG ones. As a more discerning adult, I now know that bigger is not always better — not even with chocolate.

Of course, most of the really big bunnies are hollow inside, which means you don’t really get more chocolate. Also, the chocolate tends to be low quality.

Low quality chocolate is abundant in the United States. Companies are likely to make chocolate sweeter rather than creamier or chocolatier. I recently discovered, to my dismay, that Hershey’s chocolate is now entirely unsuitable for its main function — s’mores — because it is too sweet and waxy. The waxiness means it does not melt when shoved between graham cracker and hot marshmallow and the sweetness means it’s just too much for a hot summer day around a campfire after having filled up on bratwursts or hamburgers.

I just looked up and saw the title of this post is supposed to be “Chocolate Bunnies” and that I have gotten sidetracked. So I will simplify this — get Dove chocolate bunnies. Dove is a little more expensive than Russel Stover’s and Hershey’s but it is worth every penny in rich, creamy, smooth milk chocolate.

When I write, I do not simply want my reader to know how my characters are feeling; I want them to feel that way, too. I want them to share in the joys and pains, the triumphs and defeats.

The way I do this is through a specific application of the old advice, “Show, don’t tell.” Instead of using emotional keywords such as happy, sad, ecstatic, angry, or grumpy, I show facial expressions, attitudes, and actions.

Human emotion is complex. Even if I say, “Bill is angry,” you may not understand the depths of his anger. Each experience of anger is qualitatively different from the next and not just because the situation that evoked the anger is different – each person reacts slightly differently.

Example one:

“Yeah, I slept with your wife.” Sam said with a mocking half-smile on his pale face.

Bill had never felt angrier in his life.

Example two:

“Yeah, I slept with your wife,” Sam said with a mocking half-smile on his pale face.

Bill’s fists clenched into tight balls. He wanted to pound that smirk off Sam’s ugly face.

Example three:

“Yeah, I slept with your wife,” Sam said with a mocking half-smile on his pale face.

Bill drew back a fist and landed it hard on the side of Sam’s nose, which gave way with a satisfying crunch.

Saying “Bill had never felt angrier in his life,” is not a lot of information, especially if the reader has just met Bill. Is he the type of person who gets angry a lot?

The second two examples give us ways in which Bill might react, depending upon what kind of person he is and exactly how angry he is. Notice, however, that I did not use the word “angry” in either of the last two examples but I bet you understood that Bill felt angry.

If you want your reader to experience your story rather than simply read it, letting them feel what the character feels is a great technique. It may take a lot of practice and false tries, so don’t forget the value of critique in determining if you have been successful.