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.
“What’s ‘Happy Undead Mother-in-law Day? I know all about Valentine’s Day. That’s February 14th. What’s up with Happy Undead Mother-in-law?” you may ask.
My Undead Mother-in-law. Get it for your mother-in-law! Click here.
I’m glad you asked! It so happens My Undead Mother-in-law begins on Valentine’s Day. As the book opens, the family has dinner together, the undead zombies and the normal family members. Naturally, we celebrate it every year.
Finally, if you’re desperate, you can always do what I do when I want to read a book and not pay for it. Go to Amazon and click on the ‘Look Inside’ button and read random sections until you’ve read it all.
One more thing: here’s a Review
Why is this my favorite review? It’s from a professional author who doesn’t like zombie books, yet loved My Undead Mother-in-law..
When I started to read this book, I was leery. As far as I know, I’m less interested in zombies than anyone on the planet. How could I give a reasonable review? Turns out, it wasn’t hard at all. I’ve said before and it turned out to be true here that, if you have a ridiculous premise that’s hard to swallow, run with it, normalize it, and readers /viewers will eventually accept. And it worked. The original premise of cognizant, virtually indestructible zombies was lobbed and backed until I was a believer, actively rooting for zombies. Plenty of (bloodier than average) action, some smiling, if not guffaw humor, a nice fulfilling story arc in an easy readable length made for a fun book (if bloody action doesn’t bother you) with charm that didn’t take itself to seriously but still capable of many a tender and touching moments.
I’m glad my prejudice didn’t keep me from enjoying this out-of-the-common-way story.
Happy Undead Mother-in-law’s Day – Now What’s Next?
What’s next? I loved Diane Newby, my Happy Undead Mother-in-law so much, I wrote another novel with her as the main character, Paranormal Privateers. I put Diane and her family on a superyacht and send them around the world as privateers fighting enemies of the US with a letter of Marquis from the President.
Here’s the cover:
The cover of my third novel Paranormal Privateers. Click to get yours.
The Paranormal Privateers back cover. Click to get it.
But that’s not all! I’ve got the back cover for you, which I like even more:
