THE EXCITING JOURNEY OF Writing
a Fictional Book
"IT'S A LUXURY BEING A WRITER,
BECAUSE ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IS LIFE."
AMY TAN
BECAUSE ALL YOU EVER THINK ABOUT IS LIFE."
AMY TAN
A brief pictorial of Los Angeles in the 1960's. The backdrop. LOS ANGELES- WILSHIRE BOULEVARD 1960'S It starts in downtown Los Angeles and travels through the city, Beverly Hills, Westwood, West Los Angeles and stops at the Pacific Ocean.
Organized crime flourished in the City, which I briefly touch on. On Nov 22, 1963, President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas Texas. April 4th, 1968 Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated in Memphis and two months later, Robert F. Kennedy while running for president was assassinated on June 6, 1968 in Los Angeles.
THE FICTIONAL STORY
#the mouse that became the cat,# Los Angeles 1960,#Bel Air 1960,#Los Angeles,#robert stephen author,#robert stephen writer,#write a novel,#crime thriller 1960,#serial killer 1960 los angeles
BOOK COVER-FIVERR
7/17/2017
THE MOUSE THAT BECAME THE CAT-COMING AUGUST 25TH. We can't do it all. Depend on the experts. As I am putting the finishing touches on the book I looked at the original cover and decided it needed a face lift. In the long journey which is the process of creating, editing, publishing, etc, etc, it is nice to find some help now and then. If you have never used Fiverr, I highly recommend that you check it out. I am writing this because I found this a graphic design person or company that did absolutely great work and furnished me with a finished product in less than 3 hours after we connected. I liked their professionalism, their speed, they were easy to work with and I wanted to share this. Shaheengraphic is a real find. The sample on the left is one that I did. I asked that it be re-interpreted and more professional. Three hours later I was presented with the cover on the right plus a back panel without text. It is a crime/thriller and for me they gave me the product I was looking for. The greatest part, the cost. $21.00 ready for ebook and Createspace. Great job Shaheengraphic, Thank you #fiverr,#book cover design,#graphic design,#the mouse that became the cat,#robert stephen
KILL THE WORDS-NOT THE STORY
7/13/2017
#book outline,#book editing,#book edit,#unnecessary words,#eliminate words,#rayne hall,#writershelpingwriters,#self editing,#writing,#writing a book
Developing someone as evil as Hank Calner evolved as I wrote the story. He is an evil person without a conscious. He moves boldly in the daylight with little or no fear of being caught.
HANK CALNER CHARACTER DEV. SHEET My sheets break my character down. Who is he or she? WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE Hank is an large man in his early 40's. CHARACTER ATTRIBUTES Easily talks to people, especially children. He knows how to lure them in. They trust him. CHARACTER FAILURES/FLAWS He cannot control his anger, is overconfident, obsessive, sociopath. EMOTIONS/ATTITUDES-POSITIVE Personally I found nothing in Hank's mind positive. He's a killer so I added to his negative emotional attitudes. EMOTIONS/ATTITUDES-NEGATIVE He is extremely violent. Very narcissistic Lacks empathy Hatred of young boys who appear happy Lacks remorse and emotionally disconnected I have other headings for GOALS, MOTIVATIONS, WOUNDS, AND NOTES. Hank the antagonist and George the protagonist have something in common. They are both loners, comfortable with themselves. However, it stops there. Hank is a killer. As the story developed so did Hank. THE CAT THAT BECAME THE MOUSE takes place in Los Angeles during the 1960's. However, I go back briefly to Hank's early childhood. Another time when he lived in Africa. Hank has difficulty with the fact that George survived the attack. Both antagonist and protagonist are tormented for completely different reasons. #protagonist, #antagonist,#The Mouse that became the Cat, #Robert Stephen, # write a novel, #writer, #novelist RORY AND EL PASO-AUDIO
7/6/2017
Audiobooks are part of an author's product mix. It is a growing segment in the marketplace and should be seriously considered. My next book, is due out August 25th, not only will be available in the ebook format, but also in paperback and audio.
Although I created the audio for Rory and El Paso I must admit many hours went into the project. I will continue to record short stories and essays, but I will be working with ACX/Audible on my upcoming book. Rory and El Paso is a story about a young boy and his horse who deal with bullying in their own amusing way. I hope that you enjoy the story. THE BLURB-(THE FIRST 30 SECONDS)
7/4/2017
It would be wonderful as a writer if all that I had to do is write. If after the book was completed I could hand it off to a team of people to market the "best story ever written" all the way to the top. But alas, those are dreams because I'm not J.K Rowling who has her own story to tell. I've read that a potential book buyer takes about 30 seconds or less to decide if they want to buy and read a book. I was also shocked to find (Total percentage of books started but not finished) 57%- www.statisticbrain.com/reading-statistics/ Truth be told, most writers are one man or woman shows. We do it all. Write, edit, write, edit, and then market, market, market. Imagine for a moment that you own a store with all of the merchandise in the back, nothing on the showroom floor. Or everything on the floor is poorly displayed. Welcome to the blurb or 30 seconds to buy or bust. I recommend "How to Write a Sizzling Synopsis" by Bryan Cohen. It is a great tool for writers. It makes a writer think about their book which is their product. We become marketing people trying to softly persuade strangers that our product is entertaining. They will enjoy it. Why shouldn't they? We've only invested months or years of our lives. The reader, just like the moviegoer, is not interested in the behind the scenes nonsense. "Entertain me and damn it you better be good," they say. Below is a sample of the blurb from THEY TRY TO THINK LIKE US, the original and then the re-write. Tell me which you prefer. #they try to think like,#writing a blurb,#the blurb,#bryan cohen,#robert stephen,#writing,#novelist,#write a book
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AuthorRobert Stephen. Archives
September 2018
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