And the winner is...

This giveaway has officially closed. And the winner of Eat..Sleep...Write's 2nd giveaway is...

Ellyn from 'The Book Trapper'

Congratulations! I will e-mail you work out the address. And from everybody else, thanks for participating. ☺

Giveaway: One more week

Yep, just one more week before the giveaway closes, so head on over there.

And I want to explain one thing I think was miscommunicated: I do NOT need both your e-mail address and the address to your blog, either one will do. ☺

Bad Guys part 2

Wow! This post is long over due.

In part one of my post on bad guys, we looked at some of the different kinds of bad guys. In part two of this "series" we will be looking at three things that make a good bad guy. (And yes, I know how contradictory that sounded.)

One - Do not forget to introduce your bad guy.

It would be so cool if all character could have name tags. Imagine it, Captain Hook enters with his beautifully handwritten name tag and everyone knows who it is. Not just bad guys but all characters.

(Using the example of Captain Hook and Peter Pan. Warning: not taken form the real book.)

One of the ways you could do that is to let someone who already knows who Captain Hook is speak.

Example:
Peter Pan gasped, "It's Captain Hook."

That was easy, and now everyone know who he is. Granted, if you want your bad guy to remain a secret for the time being, let it. But don't forget to introduce his when it comes time. Nothing is more annoying than reading a book that expects you to know all the characters.

Two - Every bad guy needs a purpose, fuel, a motive. Why is he doing this? We know that every bad guy has a motivation. Captain Hook wants to kill Peter Pan. Dr. Cuddles (from 'Muddle Earth', a wonderful book!) wants to be ruler of Muddle Earth. The Red Queen, well, just likes saying "Off with her head!"

It may seem like an unnecessary thing to have to figure out before you write. But I promise if you don't know why your bad guy is doing this, neither will your reader.

Three - Depending on the role you give your bad guy, it (being the role) should suit how you want your readers to look at him. You would probably take a different approach at introducing your bad guy if you wanted your readers to pity him, contrary to you wanting your readers to hate your bad guy with a vengeance. So take the time to think about how you want to portray your bad guy.

That is the end of my bad guys "series". I'm afraid if I said I'd do another one it would be awhile before you saw it. ☺

So what so you think makes a good bad guy?

Hello Seattle

Yep, I gone on another trip, this time Seattle. Just warning everyone I will be gone for a week but will be ready to get back into the swing of writting on my blog. . . What? Don't believe me? Well, I'm making an effort.

Hello Seattle by Owl City

The Beloved Dearly by Doug Cooney

About the book:
Ernie, a twelve year old boy who is always on the look out for a quick buck, and he comes up with some crazy, but smart, ideas. But this idea will top them all, pet funerals. So he grabs Dusty (a decorator of pet funeral boxes), Tony (an expert hole digger), and Swimming Pool (an awesome crier). Dressed in his fathers suit and tie he is ready to make some money, but learns that friends are more important than all the money can buy.

My thoughts:
I loved this book. It was a funny and wonderful read, the characters were awesome and the plot was so cute.

Despite it's hilarity there are some serious notes to this book. Ernie's mother is dead and so he goes through trying to build a relationship with his dad. And Swimming Pools older brother ends up deciding to leave the house. And Swimming Pool secretly watches him struggle to make money.

This is a sweet, cute, fun book that I would recommend.

Page number:192
Genre: children's fiction
Recommended for ages: +10
Bad stuff: Ernie is disrespectful to his dad.
Romance: Nope.
Recommendation: I would give this a four and a half out of five

Any thoughts, questions, or comments on this book? I'd love to hear and answer them.

coffee quote

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted a quote last. Here is one that, recently, found a place in my heart.

"Without coffee, the world would never wake."

I currently loving this quote because the past week has been wake up, work on deck (we are building a new deck at our house), go to sleep. With meals in between, it's been pretty fun. ☺

And don't forget to enter my giveaway HERE.