Southern WritersNovember / December 2015

Volume 5 Issue 6ISSN 2333-3189 (Print)

ISSN 2334-5845 (Online)

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Susan ReichertMANAGING EDITOR Doyne PhillipsCREATIVE DIRECTOR Gary FearonCOMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR Annette Cole MastronSOCIAL MEDIA DIRECTOR Edie MelsonCONTRIBUTING EDITOR Vicki MossWRITER-AT-LARGE Chris PeppleSTAFF WRITERS Jessica Ferguson Jonathan Gardner Londa Hayden Barbara Ragsdale Rick RobinsonCOLUMNISTS Julie Cantrell Tracy Crump Shelly Frome Sara M. Robinson W. Terry Whalin

Lisa WingateCONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE

Steve BradshawC. Hope ClarkPatricia HopeCaryl McAdooAne MulliganSylvia Ney

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IN EVERY ISSUE5 Magnolia Corner8 Must Reads by Southern Writers9 The Writer’s Jar by Julie Cantrell & Lisa Wingate – Sara Loudin Thomas13 Social Media by Edie Melson17 What’s the Story?18 Screenwriting by Shelly Frome27 Poetry Matters by Sara M. Robinson31 The Writing Craft by Tracy Crump35 Book Proposal Boot Camp by W. Terry Whalin37 Sneak Previews38 The Last Word – Guest Author Patricia Hope

FEATURES6 Angela Hunt – Angela Hunt Digs Vein Deep7 Duke and Kimberly Pennell – Pen-L Publishing’s Husband and Wife Duo10 Suzanne Adair – Redcoats, Patriots, Fiction and History12 Terry Shames – Going to Extremes14 Mary Alice Monroe – Connecting Nature to Human Nature16 Edison McDaniels – History, Surgery and the Supernatural19 Lin Stepp – Ask Santa for a Smoky Mountain Romance21 Michael Thompson – The Many Hats of Michael Thompson24 Melanie Dobson – Fully Committed26 Getting Out of the Way of the Story by Steve Bradshaw28 Mary Ellis – Reaping the Rewards of Research29 Dialogue is Your Barometer for Good Storytelling by C. Hope Clark30 John J. Zelenski – From Scream to Screen32 Marian P. Merritt – In Just the Right Place33 Happily Hybrid by Caryl McAdoo34 Nancy G. West – The Wild Wild Nancy G. West36 Let’s Be Series by Ane Mulligan

Cynthia Hickey The Chase Is On

ot embarrassed to admit I chose She Always Wore Red to read because of the book’s tomato-red cover, I almost spewed iced Earl Grey all over white carpet when these words loomed large and loud, “The nameless cadaver on the cover of my anatomy textbook—a middle-aged man who is no longer black, white, or brown—would be counted among the orange in a census of the embalmed. Someone should have adjusted the tint before they juiced him.” Now, that’s a hook with a razor’s edge that will cut an artery clot loose—and right after I read on the blurb page “…a lighthearted read that is simply to die for.” I should have known, however, from the cover’s tint this would be no pink-peony narrative. Even in “lightheartedness,” Angela Hunt touches on subjects most writers are hesitant to explore. Quite a departure from her folk story Tale of Three Trees, a classic loved by children of all ages. To write a book the tenderloin-caliber of She Always Wore Red, the Christy Award winner and bestselling author—with nearly five million copies of her books sold worldwide—had to dive vein deep into research that included anatomy and the funeral industry. Using big-buck words like brachiocephalic, Angela Hunt is not afraid to read widely and study intensely about the grayer shades of life. A master-mistress of the hunt when it comes to the coup de plume, Angela writes books “for readers who have learned to expect the unexpected.” Having a book made into a Hallmark holiday film from The Note and receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award are only a couple of Angela’s many accomplishments when it comes to the world of those who dare stroke a computer key to create word art. Those accomplishments didn’t happen at warp speed. “If you want to go way back, I wrote a novella when I was in seventh grade. But it smacked entirely of Nancy Drew and crew.” Her reading realm eventually mushroomed. “I have many favorite authors, and while I’m sure they have influ-enced me, those influences have been subtle. I loved the classics as a youngster—Jane Eyre, Gone with the Wind, The Nun’s Story—and have liked everyone from Jodi Picoult to Chaim Potok as an adult.” A college English major, Angela confesses, “My life experiences play into everything I write, but it’s so filtered that only those who know me very well would be able to

pinpoint personal epi-sodes or situations. “I read every how-to book I could find and vigorously applied those lessons. And when my editors pointed things out, I didn’t resist—I listened.” Not a member of a writing group/club/association, Angela confides, “I find that too many voices only clog my creative engine.” The best and worst writing advice for her: “Not to pay much attention to writing advice. “I have a family who supports me, a husband who encour-ages me (though he doesn’t read what I write), and writing friends who provide support when it’s needed. These things are necessary, I think, if you want to survive a long time in this business.” Angela’s no-nonsense answer to the frequently asked question, “How do you find writing time?” is “It’s my job. I get up and go to work every morning.” Angela gets the most work done when at home surrounded by her beloved English Mastiffs and reference books. Most novel ideas are fact-based. “I’ll read about something, or hear about it on the news, and then I ask ‘what if?’ What if this happened to a woman about my age? What if this situation went wrong? What if this person were successful in this endeavor, what might happen to his world?” Angela’s books are nearly all traditionally published. “I

only self-publish when a book goes out of print or if the target market is so small that the book wouldn’t interest a traditional publisher.” Recently returning to historical fiction, Angela is writing the “Dangerous Beauty” series about women of the Bible—Esther: Royal Beauty, and the second book in the series, Bathsheba: Reluctant Beauty. Knowing Angela and her writing style, a reader of her new series can rest assured these queenly women will not only be wearing red, they’ll be living red, along with a purple coup de foudre forthcoming. No doubt, in breathing these biblical women to life from the ancient sands of time through meticulous research, Angela will once again be diving vein deep. n

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6 Southern Writers

Angela Hunt dives vein deep

by Vicki Moss

know November is just starting, but Thanksgiving will be here before you know it, with Christmas right on its heels. The holidays offer great opportunities for reaching new folks, but they also limit the time we have to spend online. If we make some plans now, we can accomplish both.

Start with Social MediaThe first thing you want to look at is your cover photo on the different platforms, especially Twitter and Facebook. If you don’t have a new book to show, consider ways you could enhance your photo to give it a warm, holiday feel. You’ll probably want to change it twice, once for fall and again for Christmas. The best way to create a new cover image or collage is to use PicMonkey. It’s an online photo editing site and even includes templates for sites like Facebook. But when you make the changes, don’t change your avatar image. That small thumbnail needs to continue to be a quality headshot of you—not a holiday image—and needs to be recognizable from one network to another. Beyond changing the look of your platforms by changing your images, you’ll need to plan ahead for social media updates. Let’s face it, the holidays are fun, but they’re also hectic. By planning out some holiday updates in advance we can save our sanity and keep the momentum going. Here are some ideas for fun social media updates you can put in a file and pull from when you need something fast:

• Share your favorite holiday recipe and ask your friends/followers to share theirs. Remember that an accompanying image will garner more shares and comments.

• Ask your followers to give you tips on sanity savers during the holidays. Be specific when you ask. For example, before Thanksgiving, ask for tips for holiday settings or things to keep people busy after dinner. By asking for specifics, you can use this tip several times.

• Share a crazy holiday faux pas and ask others to share theirs.

• Share some of your favorite holiday reads.• Ask for decorating ideas. Again, make it holiday

specific.

• Share a holiday tradition and ask for others to chime in.• Ask about favorite holiday movies.• Share your favorite Christmas carol and ask your

friends to share theirs.

Don’t Forget Your BlogYour blog posts can also benefit from some seasonal seasoning. This is the perfect time to write a post using Christmas classics. I did one that people loved called “What I Learned About Writing from Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.” If your blog focuses on readers, offer a list of gifts for readers. Sprinkling in a few holiday-related posts will help your audience feel like they’re sharing the holidays with you. This is the season of gift-giving, so don’t forget to include your online community. It’s a great time to offer a new ebook, calendar, or tip sheet just because. Offering something without asking anything in return (like signing up for your newsletter or following you on social media) may sound risky, but the novelty of it will appeal to those who interact with you and it will benefit you in the long run.

Where to Keep These IdeasFor all of these ideas, I try to do as much in advance as possible. I keep a file on my desktop during the holidays so I always have ready access to ideas when I’m pressed for time. I also find that it’s a great way to gather more ideas as the season progresses. After the holidays, I move the file back to my DropBox account and use it year after year.

Bottom LineWe don’t want to sacrifice time with our families and friends during the holidays, nor do we want to miss out on time spent with our online friends. A little advance planning can give us the means to do both. n

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by Edie Melson

Get Your Online Life Ready for the Holidays

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Edie Melson is the author of the bestseller Connections: Social Media and Networking Techniques for Writers. She’s the co-director of the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, Social Media Mentor at My Book Therapy, and the Senior Editor for Novel Rocket. Visit Edie on Twitter, Facebook, and her blog, thewriteconversation.blogspot.com.

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