Blog Touring

I've been doing a blog tour for my novel Escape this month, and today, I've stretched myself thin! Please visit me over at Karen Jones Gowen's blog, Coming Down the Mountain, where I'll be discussing dialogue and character, using Humphrey Bogart's Rick Blaine from Casablanca, one of my favorite movies!

Also, catch me at Nas Deen's blog, Romance Book Paradise, discussing Escape and Masquerade, parts one and two of my Unchained Trilogy series! Please visit both sites and leave a comment!


This is my first blog tour and I've found it a great way to connect with readers worldwide! What are your thoughts on blog tours?

Thanks for visiting and have a great week!

Monday's Writing Tip: Let Your Characters Lead the Way to a Great Story

"There are, according to whichever authority you listen to, three main plots, or six, or a dozen, and everything else is just a minor variation on one of them."  Robert Masello

Today I'm sharing some great advice from Robert Masello, who says in his Robert's Rules of Writing, that every plot you come up with will  start to remind you of some other plot in a book you've read or a movie you've seen.

If that's the case, how can your story engage and excite the reader if it's just a stale, well worn plot? 

Masello suggests that rather than trying to spice up your narrative with something big, like a ticking time bomb on Air Force One, a deadly outbreak, or a policewoman who can read the mind of an ax murderer, think small.

You might think "big" is more exciting, but "small" involves characters, not plot.  If you're unsure of how the action should progress in your novel, concentrate instead on the people.

"No matter how strong a plot is," Masello writes, "...it won't won't amount to much...if the characters aren't engaging or memorable."

Masello says to visualize your characters.  Envision who they are, what they look like. Imagine their hopes, fears and desires, and how getting what they want will put them in conflict with others.

Some writers create elaborate biographies for their characters.  I'm not one of those, and neither is Masello. He tries to figure out what sets his characters in motion and how they wind up colliding, and what happens after the collision.

He also states that if that doesn't work, he'll introduce a new character.  I read recently, that to up the conflict, add a smoking gun.  But a smoking gun doesn't have to be a real gun toting character.  It can be a smart mouthed teenager or a jealous ex-girlfriend. 

Masello suggests that to kick start the story, throw something new into the mix, like a mean boss, flirtatious neighbor, overbearing mother, or a long lost brother.  "And," according to Masello, "because the action evolves from the peculiar interactions of characters that only you could have brought to life, and to the page, and not from some mechanical and superimposed plot, it'll sound and feel original."

Are you letting your characters lead the way?

Tweet me @: maria_mckenzie.  Thanks for visiting!

Morbid Curiosity or Fascinating Character Study?

"I have, indeed, no abhorrence of danger, except in its absolute effect--in terror."  Edgar Allan Poe

It's October and Halloween is right around the corner, so now seems an appropriate time for this post.

Call me sick, call me twisted, but I seem to have a morbid curiosity regarding true crime.  I'm fascinated by what drives people to do such things.  I also find that some great ways to develop fictional bad guys are by reading factual criminal accounts and watching televised reenactments.

A tragic local story has been in the news recently that involves a 17 year old young man who strangled his 10 year old brother.  This is a terribly sad account and I can only imagine what the parents are experiencing, as they've lost two sons.

During the courtroom proceedings (of which the parents were absent) the prosecution, as well as the public, displayed outrage because the young man showed no remorse, and never apologized for what he'd done.  In response, he did make an apology.  But the statement was chilling to hear on the news as the young man read it with the same emotion he'd use to read a book report. 

Although the youth never mentioned his sibling by name, he did say he was sorry for the murder and that he'd never forget how much his little brother meant to him and everyone else. (Really???)  Another unsettling aspect of this apology was that he spoke of how he planned to spend his time in prison (receiving his GED, taking college courses and working toward a degree), and when released, he'd go back to work at the restaurant he'd previously been employed by before the murder.  (Really???)

The prosecution didn't buy the apology, and neither did the public.  The verdict was announced last week.  The young man received life without parole, because he was only 17 when the murder was committed.  What I have since learned, is that he said he did it because he wanted to see what it would feel like to kill someone.  He also mentioned that he'd fantasized about committing murder since age 13.  I was flabbergasted upon hearing this!  What happens in some one's upbringing to make him think of such things?

When I brought the case up to my husband not long ago, he said, "I don't want to talk about it, I can't even think about it!  How can you?"

Perhaps I'm just sick and twisted.  But this case reminds me of another one, that of Leopold and Loeb.  I first became acquainted with this infamous case when I was 16, working at the library during summer break.  One of the reference books kept in the work room was called The Encyclopedia of Murder.  I tried to get to work early everyday so I could read it.  (Okay, pretty twisted, I know.) 

Maybe this is when I realized I had a morbid curiosity about true crime.  I'm not interested in horror movies, and scary books (sorry Stephen King) frighten me too much!  True crime, however, fascinates me.

If you're not familiar with Leopold and Loeb, I've provided a thumbnail summary below.  But to learn more, go here: http://www.leopoldandloeb.com/.

Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb were two wealthy University of Chicago college students who murdered 14 year old Bobby Franks in 1924.  They were eventually sentenced to life in prison, and this case has inspired works of fiction, film and theater including Rope, a play by Patrick Hamilton, and a film of the same name by Alfred Hitchcock.

Both men were exceptionally intelligent.  Leopold was 19, and Loeb 18 at the time of the murder, and they believed themselves to be Nietzchean supermen, capable of committing the perfect crime.  "A superman," Leopold had written, "is on account of certain superior qualities inherent in him, exempted from the ordinary laws which govern men.  He is not liable for anything he may do."

The duo (residents of Kenwood, a wealthy Jewish suburb of Chicago at the time) spent seven months planning an elaborate kidnap and murder scheme of a neighbor, and distant relative of Loeb's.  They even planned on a way of receiving ransom money without getting caught.  Money wasn't something they needed, as their families were wealthy and provided them plenty.

The boy was kidnapped, murdered and his body disposed of.  But when the corpse was discovered, also found at the scene was a pair of eyeglasses.  Expensive ones, with a unique hinge mechanism, only purchased by three people in the Chicago area, one of whom was Nathan Leopold.  So much for the perfect crime!

Clarence Darrow was hired by Loeb's family and the trial soon became known as  "The Trial of the Century."  It was later revealed that the men were driven by the "thrill of the kill," as well as to prove that they could commit the perfect crime.

Is it just me, or do you have a morbid curiosity, too?

Tweet me @: maria_mckenzie.  Thanks for stopping by!