Blog Tour: Sons of Thunder by Susan May Warren

Sons of Thunder by Susan May Warren wasn't just a good read--it was a compelling read. This is historical fiction done right.

I took the book with me throughout my day, reading snatches of chapters at red lights or when I arrived early to pick up my daughter from school. Part of me wanted to wait for extended periods of time to read the unfolding story of Markos, Dino and Sofia, but Sons of Thunder is a can't-put-it-down-page-turner.

In Sons of Thunder, Warren tells the story of Sofia Fragos, who is torn between the love of brothers Markos and Dino and the promise that binds them all together.

Warren writes true-to-life fiction and is not afraid to have her characters make tough choices. At one point when Sofia makes a certain decision, I thought, "I would never!" And then I paused . . . reflected . . . and realized that, if I was in the same circumstances, I would have made the same awful choice Sofia made, for the very reason she made it. Sofia's choice was her sacrifice for someone else.

I've read just about every book Warren's written, and she just keeps getting better and better. Her dialogue is strong, while her World War II historical setting and details accurately ground the book. The characters of Markos, Dino and Sofia are so believable that, more than once, I had to stop reading Sons of Thunder because my tears blurred the page.

Stop by Warren's Brothers in Arms Web site, where she's hosting a contest to celebrate the launch of Sons of Thunder. Share a story or photo from your family's history for a chance to win a Memory Prize Package that includes:

• a certificate to create your own hardcover photo book
• a 6-month membership to Netflix
• a signed copy of Sons of Thunder

Five runners up with also receive signed copies of Sons of Thunder.

To find out what others are saying about Sons of Thunder, go here.

What genre or kind of book do you like to read and why?

"A good book on your shelf is a friend that turns its back on you and remains a friend." ~Author Unknown

When you want to curl up with a good read, what kind of book grabs you? Some escape through romance novels. Others try to understand or overcome their pain and shame through self help books. Whether you enjoy contemporary fiction, fantasy, science fiction, biography, mystery, self-help, or science books, books often tell us something about ourselves or others.
In TV interview John McCain and Barack Obama identified their favorite books. McCain pegged Ernest Hemingway’s For Whom the Bell Tolls. Obama named the Bible and Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. What if they announced a book that was completely unpredictable?
Like a fantasy romance novel.
What Others Love to Read
Someone even received a book contract to find out the favorite books of 125 top writers. Don't you wish you'd thought of The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books?
Australia’s 100 favorite books
Harvard Book Store staff's favorite 100 book

Barack Obama’s favorite books
Favorite books of John F. Kennedy
Seth Godin’s off-the-wall book list
Bill O’Reilly’s favorite books
Art Garfunkel lists every book he’s read the last 40 years on his online library.
The New York City Library’s favorite 100 children’s books
Favorite books for children and teens

Young Adult Library Services Association 2009 Top Teen Books
Famous librarians' favorite books
Richard Dawkins’ top five favorite books
Border’s 100 Favorite books of all time
Top 100 best books ever written (more or less)
Time magazine’s 100 top novels of all time
Guy Kawasaki's favorite books
17 leading scientists recommend life-changing books
IT pros pick their favorite books
Celebrities’ favorite books

A Strong Opening--Every Time

Photo by tutu55/StockXchange.com

Fridays mean nonfiction critique group with Mike and Scoti, a.ka. "Brill." Brill is my nickname for Scoti and it's short for Brilliant.

Today the three of us were hashing out how Mike should begin chapter 6 in his work in progress (WIP.) I'd highlighted the first paragraph in gray, suggesting he delete the paragraph. I also posted a comment box off to the side with one word in it: Yawn.

I know, that was not the most subtle of comments.

However, Mike's been with the group for over a year now and he's told us he considers every comment/critique a gift. I just didn't bother to put a bow on my comment to dress it up.

The three of us discussed the importance of hooking your reader at the beginning of your chapter. I reminded Mike how beautifully he ended the previous chapter--and he had! After getting his reader to turn the page from chapter 5 to chapter 6 with such a powerful ending, it was so important for him to start off strong--not with a yawn.

After I explained my reasons for my suggestion, Scoti spoke up.

"Not everybody starts reading a book from the beginning," she said. "I like to go the the Table of Contents and look over the chapter titles. I then go to the chapter that grabs my interest. So, you never know if some readers are going to start reading your book at chapter 1 or chapter 6. That's why you need each and every chapter of your book to start off strong."

I got up from my seat and walked over to Scoti and hugged her. "That's why I call you 'Brill'!"

In all the time I'd heard writers talk about hooking readers in your first page, I'd never heard them address that habit--how some people read haphazardly, skipping from this chapter to that chapter. We can't just assume having a great hook in chapter 1 will ensure our readers will stay with us until we write "The End."

Every single chapter needs to start off strong.

Here's an exercise to try: Take your current WIP. Look at the openings to each chapter. Consider these questions:

1. Are they all equally strong?
2. Do you open each chapter the same way?

You want to make sure you vary your openings. Don't open every chapter with a question or a compound sentence or a reference back to the previous chapter. You want a strong hook in every chapter--and you want a fresh hook in every chapter.

Act One

I've had a life-long love affair with books and a somewhat dusty journalism degree, so when I set out to pen my first novel, I was certain I knew a thing or two about writing. Turns out, I really didn't.

When I studied novels in high school, we talked about POV--as in first person (I), second person (you), and third person (he or she). Sometimes, third person was also described as the omniscient narrator. We studied theme such as racism in To Kill a Mockingbird and symbolism in The Great Gatsby, so I thought I knew novels.

I had no idea that the POV character of a scene could only know what s/he could feel or experience or think. No head-hopping around the dinner table. No author intrusion, "If only Sally would have known what was about to happen next." Novels had to begin somewhere but we never discussed inciting incidents, and conflict equaled man/man, man/nature or man/self. I knew that movies/screenplays were organized into three acts, but I had no idea that books were often segmented that way.

According to Award-winning Author Susan May Warren, in her latest writing craft book, Deep and Wide Advanced Fiction Techniques for Making Your Characters Deeper and Your Plot Wider, these are the elements that should be woven into the plot and emotional journey of Act One:

--Home World/Glimpse of Hope
--Inciting Incident/Invitation to Change
--The Big Debate...Regret of the Missed Opportunity
--Need to Change...Which results in The Noble Quest

* If you have two or more POV characters, you'll need to chart the emotional journey for each one.

One of my wip's (work-in-progress), opens with the home world of my character, Sophie, a single mother, who is worried she'll be late for work--and possibly fired--but she's delayed because she's having an argument with her teenage daughter. I try to answer basic who/what/when/where/why questions about Sophie's life.

I offer Sophie a glimpse of hope as she dumps everything out of her purse onto a beautiful table she'd restored. She's able to take worn-out discarded things and make them beautiful. In time, and with God's help, she'll restore her family and her life.

The inciting incident sets the story in motion. Think, the news that the Civil War has started during the festivities at Twelve Oaks Plantation in Gone with the Wind. The inciting incident in my story happens when Sophie's car is involved in a collision with Paul, a good-looking, sweet-talking man. Now, she's not only lost her job, but her car is totaled as well.

Need to Change. Sophie's immediate needs are to find a job and obtain transportation. But her noble quest is to take care of her family, and not just financially. She needs to make sure her two daughters don't make the same mistakes that she made. They need to avoid becoming involved with irresponsible, charming playboys at all cost. Can she afford to stand on principles and turn down the temporary job Paul offers her?

I left out one element: The Big Debate/Regret of Missed Opportunity because I haven't made that clear. Now that I've got this checklist, I know what my first chapter still needs.

Take a look at your wip. Are all these elements woven into the first act of your novel?

~Roxanne Sherwood

Your Novel’s Time Frame: Researching the Big Picture

"To give an accurate description of what has never occurred is not merely the proper occupation of the historian [fiction writers], but the inalienable privilege of any man of parts and culture." Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Anglo-Irish playwright and author, in The Critic as Artist, published in Intentions, 1891.

Need to move into time groove of your novel? Where do you start researching daily life, politics and fashion? Google, Project Gutenberg and JSTOR provide interesting leads. Reading encyclopedia articles, general history texts and children's books with illustrations provide great overviews. Below you’ll find a few online resources to gain a big picture of the time period.

Recapture the year’s nostalgia

What was like ‘back when’? Whathappenedinmybirthyear http://whathappenedinmybirthyear.com/ focuses on American pop-culture, as well as some world and sports history. The information unfolds as if typed by someone, which may be irritating if you’re in a hurry. It also jumps ahead to your teenage years to include some pop culture. I immediately started singing the words to the year’s most popular hit song.

Generate a customized time capsule

Check out top news headlines for the week, the decade’s top songs, books and consumer prices, President, VP and academy award winners. The advanced time capture allows you to select specific headlines, birthdays, songs, TV shows, toys, and books for the selected date. You can edit the information and add your own information to the final page.

Review the time period news stories

HistoryBuff.com focuses primarily on major, and not so major events in American history were reported in newspapers of the time. Time periods cover 1700-1739, 1740-1769, 1770-1799, 1800-1830, 1831-1860, 1861-1865, 1866-1885, 1886-1915, 1900-1915, 1916-1940, 1941-1945, 1946-1965, 1966-1980, 1981-2004.

Looking for a fashion blast from the past?

This website sorts costumes according to historical periods. The history of hairstyles provides an overview of hairstyles from 3000 B.C. to present day. Did you know that women in the 1660’s wore six-inch heals? Check out the history of shoes.

Find holidays and observances for every day of the year

The Daily Almanac provides a fascinating list of trivia, plus a timeline of the world.

Recreate historic recipes

Did you know the Chinese ate ice cream in 3000 BC? From 17,000 BC to 2009, the Food Timeline presents a buffet of fascinating tidbits about food.

The Value of Voice

"Be yourself; everyone else is already taken."

~ author Oscar Wilde

Just back from the My Book Therapy Deep Thinkers Retreat, which took place in Melbourne, Florida last weekend.

I'm still trying to process all the wonderful writing insights shared by bestselling authors Susan May Warren and Rachel Hauck, while unpacking, doing laundry and generally getting back to normal life.

Whatever that is.

One of the last things Susan and Rachel talked about was a writer's voice. Those are my actual notes scribbled in red in the photo. I'm addicted to fine line Sharpies right now, but that is so beside the point! I've found myself returning to this page in the Deep Thinkers Retreat workbook. It's about adding color or word painting.

One statement Rachel made has replayed in my head this past week: "The foundation to every novelist is their voice."

I agree with her--and I also think that every writer--whether you write fiction or non-fiction--has a voice. I also think it is imperative for a writer to discover her voice. Rachel suggested one way to do that was to ask God, "What is my voice?"

Being in a critique group also hones your voice. It's vital that your crit partners understand and respect your voice--that they not squelch it.

I'll be honest here: I once trampled all over Scoti's voice. She writes with passion and emotion, what I sometimes call an "opera" voice. I mean that as a compliment. Scoti's voice is full and rich.

In the early years of our group, I critiqued an article Scoti wrote--and in the process I stripped her voice right out of it. Someone else, who knew Scoti better than I did, commented on my mistake.

And I realized she was right--and I was oh, so wrong.

I apologized and determined to respect Scoti's voice.

As Susan said, "Voice equals personality on the page."

Discovering your voice and then polishing your voice so that it adds depth to your writing takes time. You have to know yourself as a writer--and it helps if you are connected with other trusted writers who know you too.

Here's one way I know I'm writing in my voice: When someone reads something I wrote and says, "It sounds just like you were talking to me--just like we were sitting together in your kitchen," that's when I know my writing is reflecting my personality.

What about you? How have you developed your writer's voice? When do you recognize it?

The Drunken Writer

“Write drunk, edit sober.”—Ernest Hemingway

I confess…I’m a researchaholic. I don’t need alcohol to get me high, reading and research send my heart and mind soaring. Like a person intoxicated after a major research binge, my lowered writing inhibitions throw up words all over the page. Bits and pieces of research splatter across page after page after page. Then I sober up and face reality: unmanageable words are powerless.

The Sober Editor

It isn’t a bad thing to be a drunken writer hurling research, thoughts and ideas onto the page. When I’m loaded and under the influence of interesting research, wasted wabbits weave this way and that. Yet, regurgitating my interesting discoveries help me figure out what information I want to keep.

After sleeping off emotional attachment to every word and thought, my stone cold editor—

• evaluates the hangovers
• takes a fearless inventory
• visualizes what I think
• sharpens the focus
• reframes content in my words and voice
• eliminates unnecessary ideas and words.

I don't need alcoholic substances to anesthetize the ups and downs of life. Life as a researchaholic transcends my circumstances, taking me to far away places. Research offers the joys of getting high on research and writing and then taking pleasure in the challenge of cut, cut, edit, edit.