I mean I have a ‘Developing Your Plot’ class I’m giving this month and I’ll share it with you. Here’s slide 1, below.
Good Plot – The Cast of Characters
First, there’s me, the teacher character, Andy Zach. If you’re not familiar with my biography on this site, you can go to Amazon or to Goodreads and find out about me and my books.
Then there’s you, one of many student characters. What have you written? Are you writing? What will you write? Please share you plot/novel/work ideas with me and the class by commenting below.
That’s my big turkey stick. The carrot is, I will give a free ebook of Zombie Turkeys to one of the commenters!
Start commenting – NOW!
Good Plot – Lessons – Where Will You go with Your Idea?
You’ve got your great idea for your novel. What’s next?
Authors fall into a spectrum of two approaches. First, there are plotters, who plan out the plot of their book and then write to that plan.
Then there are ‘pantsers’, those who sit on their pants and type away until a book emerges–or not.
Then there are endless variations between the two. I’m firmly in the first group. If you want to learn the pantser approach, find another author! I can’t even imagine how I’d write that way, and I’ve got a good imagination.
Let’s take my first novel, Zombie Turkeys.I created a chapter outline of the book on my first day of writing it duringNaNoMo in November 2015.
Disabled Superheroes and a Villain on Vacation! But why go on vacation with a villain? You’ll find out when you read Villain’s Vacation! It is on sale starting today, March 3rd! But just for seven days, so quickly click here to get Villain’s Vacation.By ‘seven days’ I mean the 67% off sale ends on Sunday March 10th at 2 am PDT.
Villain’s Vacation cover
But first, let me tell you about Villain’s Vacation.
Four disabled seventh-graders with superpowers take a vacation at Coaster World. They need a break from fighting criminals. Ever since the beginning of the school year when they acquired their unusual abilities, they’ve been training and using those powers to fight crime in their town.
Little do they know the arch-villain they recently defeated also loves coasters and is vacationing at Coaster World. Worse, the villain wants revenge. Nothing less than turning these teens to a life of crime will satisfy.
Can Jeremy, Dan, Kayla, and Aubrey withstand the villain’s attacks? Or will they become Super Villains?
In this sequel to Secret Supers, Jeremy has been experimenting on his hamster. As a result, Dancer has learned how to read, and is reading everything he can to learn about the human world. When Jeremy discovers this, he gets Dancer one of his old cell phones so Dancer can text the group.
As for the superhero business, the group needs some downtime and goes on vacation to Coaster World. What they don’t realize is that the villain they defeated also loves roller coasters and wants revenge against the Secret Supers.
Will the Secret Supers be able to defeat the villain and enjoy their vacation, or are their crime-fighting days numbered?
This was a fun sequel to Secret Supers. Not only did we have Andy Zach as a character in the book, as though the events were true and actually happened, but I loved the inclusion of a Super-Hamster helping out Jeremy and his friends. In this battle against the villain, the Secret Supers struggle, as the villain seems to have figured out how to neutralize their powers, and they not only have to call in support but also reveal themselves to some non-Supers.
The action was well-paced throughout, and the mystery of the identity of the villain was well-done. While I had suspicions, I wasn’t sure before the reveal, which was nice. If you enjoyed Secret Supers, I feel confident that you will also enjoy Villain’s Vacation.
For this book, I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by Michael Stafford. This was a different narrator from The Secret Supers, which was a little odd to my ears at first, but I think that was only because I had listened to Secret Supers so recently. Stafford gave a wonderful performance, and I would certainly listen to this audiobook again.
The Book of Revelation is mysterious to many, but if you use this daily devotional, you can understand it like never before.
Each day you’ll have one small verse to read and reflect upon. You will see connections and meanings you’ve never seen before.
Author Jeffry Smith asks provocative questions to help you think about each portion of scripture. He also supplies useful cross-references which give further insight to the scripture.
Begin your journey of inspiration now, with the Revelation Devotional.
Are you too impatient to wait? Do you want a paperback copy? I’ll send you one BEFORE the book launch. Just click here!
Tell Me What you Think of Disabled Superheroes!
Let me know what you think by clicking here or emailing me at [email protected]. As always, everyone who responds with a comment or email will get a free book from me.
Best February Reviews from Readers! What’s going on in the book world this February? Who has reviewed what? Which books stand out from the rest? Let me share with you the best reviews of some great books.
I’ve read a lot of Harmon Cooper and this is the coziest book he’s ever written. Here we have a hardened soldier, Sylus Runewolf, dying as he fought his country’s enemies in a battle. After his death he wakes up in the underworld. What’s more, he has a deed to a pub.
Some of Sylus’ favorite memories are from his boyhood where he helped in his father’s pub, so he’s eager to get the pub up and going. It’s quite the fixer-upper. But he gets a pub cat, Patches, who’s magical and helps him protect the pub from rats–and demons.
The pub is in Ember Hollow which is hard by the Chasm, the hell that is below the underworld. Sometimes demons slip in. Overhead are are Celestial Plains, or heaven, glowing in the sky.
This book is a delight for brewers, fantasy lovers, and RPG lit readers!
This was a fun concept in the super-hero genre, it had everything that I was looking for in this type of book. The characters were interesting and had a great overall feel to this world. I enjoyed what I read and can’t wait for the sequel. Andy Zach has a great writing style and I’m glad I got to read this.
I just re-read this novel after 20 years from my first read. I loved my initial read and I kept remembering inspirational sections of the book, so I had to re-read it.
Ben Fielding, a successful VP with a keen interest in China, leads his company investments there in the 1990s. To promote their Chinese division, Ben decides to spend a couple weeks living with a Chinese family. He decides to contact his old Harvard roommate, Li Quan, who went back to China after graduating with honors.
Ben has mixed emotions about his old friend. They were very close at Harvard, but fell out of touch while Ben got married, had kids, and got divorced. There’s also the awkward fact Ben introduced Quan to Christianity, which Ben no longer practices.
So with mixed emotions Ben drives to meet his old friend, three hours away from Shanghai.
That’s when the novel really begins. Li Quan is the backup pastor for an illegal Chinese house church and is under suspicion by the government. Ben is clueless about Christianity in China. It’s a major threat to the Communist government which persecutes it severely. Ben is forceed to decide between his old friend and his company, which needs the favor of the Chinese government.
The novel holds up well 20 years later. China has become more repressive toward Christianity and Christianity has grown beyond a hundred million people.
Four disabled seventh-graders with superpowers take a vacation at Coaster World. They need a break from fighting criminals. Ever since the beginning of the school year when they acquired their unusual abilities, they’ve been training and using those powers to fight crime in their town.
Little do they know the arch-villain they recently defeated also loves coasters and is vacationing at Coaster World. Worse, the villain wants revenge. Nothing less than turning these teens to a life of crime will satisfy.
Can Jeremy, Dan, Kayla, and Aubrey withstand the villain’s attacks? Or will they become Super Villains?
