A to Z Challenge: A is for Anger...AND...a Cover Reveal for Searching for Moore

Welcome to the 2013 A to Z Challenge!
First and foremost, a BIG thank you to A to Z founder, Arlee Bird.
Without you, none of this would be possible!

This year, I’m focusing on two themes:  Emotions and grammar,

depending on which letter we’re on each day.

I’ll be sharing mostly what I’ve learned about writing emotion into a novel, but I’ll also be throwing in a few key grammar lessons, pet peeves I’ve picked up while working as an editor.

Today’s an emotion day!

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A is for anger:  a strong feeling of annoyance, displeasure, hostility, or belligerence, typically aroused by a wrong.

There are many degrees of anger, and so, many ways in which to show it.  First you must figure out exactly how angry the character is.  And don’t overdo it.  Don’t use clichés such as “raging like a bull” or “angry as a wasp”.  And whatever you do, do not rely on exclamation points to get your emotion across!!!

First, try to use the character’s voice via dialogue, and I don’t mean screaming, but rather by the way he or she speaks, showing the movement from whatever emotion came prior then displaying the change, the difference in phrasing and tone in which they speak and the very words they use to do it.  This disparity will exemplify his turn in mood, as will adding certain traits we all exhibit when angered.

The obvious ones are a red face or gathering and lowering of the brow, a turned down mouth or stomping of the feet, or even a simple tensing of the body.  Using one of these with the proper words and tone is more than enough to display anger.  You can also describe a change in the eyes, how they tensed, glared, or seemed to turn hard.

Whatever physical traits and action the character models to show anger, it’s more effective to contrast it with whatever mood came before it.  And, as we all have typical ways in which we exhibit anger, be sure to be consistent with each character.

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But wait!  There's more!  Searching for Moore, actually.  Today is the big cover reveal for my friend and fellow author, Julie A. Richman's new novel, Searching for Moore!

Title: Searching for Moore

By: Julie A. Richman

Series: Needing Moore Series #1

Genre: Adult Romance, Chick Lit

Length: 318 Pages

Here's the lowdown: 

Attended by reality TV star wannabes and Southern California social climbers, Schooner Moore knows the party his wife is throwing for his forty-third birthday has little to do with him and everything to do with her social standing in Orange County. The evening turns out to hold more surprises than just his wife's Botoxed friends groping at his privates, when a conversation with his old college roommate, Beau, reveals the biggest surprise of the night.

Beau has had contact on Facebook with Mia Silver. Just hearing her name sends Schooner into a tailspin, as he is now just a Friend Request away from the one who got away when she disappeared without a goodbye, leaving him wondering why she left.

A serial failure at romance, Manhattan boutique ad agency owner, Mia, gets a blindside of her own when a Facebook Friend Request from first love, Schooner, appears in her email. Going with her gut reaction, Mia hits accept, propelling her past to catch up with her in a New York minute, as a forceful Schooner is determined to understand what tore them apart and to explore the possibility of a second chance at love.

From a 1980's Southern California college campus and a devastating first love to present day New York City, Searching for Moore explores how technology has eradicated the divide between our past and our present, and asks whether you would give up everything to reconnect with The One in a single keystroke?

Click here to add Searching for Moore on Goodreads

Click here to attend the Facebook Release Party

Click here to “Like” Julie’s author page

And click here to check out her website 

So...are YOU doing the A to Z?  Interested in a little Moore?

Dangerous Embrace by Dana Mason

Today is Launch Day for my friend, fellow SSP author, and Bay Area homegirl, Dana Mason.  If you love romance and suspense, then join me in celebrating the release of Dana's debut novel, Dangerous Embrace.

Synopsis:

Sarah Jennings wants nothing more than a quiet life—alone.  Raised by an eccentric mother, their life on the road only taught her how to run away from hard times. But when she finds herself in an abusive relationship, this lesson serves her well.  

Now, back in her hometown, she's found a place she loves. She’s a first grade teacher, and with few friends and less family around, she has what she wants, a quiet life under the radar where she can be free of her past and live quietly. Finally comfortable in her own skin, she’s settled, and less fearful than she’s ever been in her life.

But it only takes one night and one act of violence for everything to change. Injured and afraid, Sarah wants to run again, but Mark Summors refuses to let her go.

Just when Sarah thinks she can have Mark and the life he promises, her past comes back to haunt her.

Mark Summors was born and raised in Santa Rosa. He married his high school sweetheart and never questioned his life, until he found his wife with another man.

Now divorced, he wants something more. He’s passionate about his job, he wants to protect people, and he devotes his life to it.

This time he’s protecting more than just another client, he’s protecting his future; at least, Sarah Jennings will be his future, once he convinces her she loves him.

Excerpt from Dangerous Embrace:

Sarah pried open her heavy eyelids and turned, trying to focus on the clock. “Ow, dammit!” She clenched her teeth and looked down at the sling tied to her arm. The smothering realization pressed on her chest. When the nausea hit, she flung the covers off and rushed to the bathroom, fighting to get to the toilet before her stomach heaved.

When the painful dry heaving stopped, she lay back on the cold tile floor, exhausted, and waited for the room to stop spinning. Her ragged breaths roared in her ears and seemed to echo in the quiet room. When her breathing slowed, the silence ebbed around her in waves, but when footsteps approached the bathroom door, she tensed again.

A bead of sweat dripped down her scalp and at the same time someone tapped at the door. Her pulse spiked and she fought like hell to remember who brought her home from the hospital. 

She closed her eyes. “Who’s there?” The waver in her voice pissed her off. Gawd—please don’t let me be pathetic in front of whoever this is.

A hesitant and completely unfamiliar man’s voice said, “Are you all right? Do you need something?”

Sarah sucked in a hard breath. “Um…” She exhaled slowly. “Who are you?”

“Mark Summors.”

She stiffened and tried to sit up. “Do I know you?” she asked her voice pitching.

“I can explain if you open the door.”

She steadied herself against the bathtub. The sling had slipped up her arm, exposing the trail of bruises. She swallowed another wave of nausea and tried to put the pieces together. Mark Summors? She glanced around for something to use as a weapon just in case, then she wanted to laugh—and cry. Who the hell was she kidding? She rolled her eyes. Good plan, Sarah, take on a strange guy with a toilet brush. 

“Can I come in?”  His voice was muffled as if he was resting his face against the door.

“Go ahead.” She clamped her mouth closed to suppress a shiver, then said, “It’s unlocked.”

The door eased open and a cup of water shot out at her.

“Oh, thank you,” she cried out, relieved to wash the disgusting film out of her mouth. She snatched the cup out of his hand and gulped it, letting her eyes lift above the rim to see his face.

 “Ah.” Sarah choked and inhaled the water. She set the cup down, almost upending it as she dropped it. “Oh my God!” She would never forget those intense blue eyes, just like she would never forget the smell of her attacker’s breath. They were all thrown together in the same horrifying memory.

Dana Mason started writing to prove to her computer geek husband and her math & science geek kids that she actually has a brain; it’s just a right functioning brain instead of a left. She’s lived all over the country and uses that experience in her writing and character studies. Her debut novel, Dangerous Embrace, is the first in a contemporary romance series about a group of friends from Northern California who learn just how short life can be when you don’t hold on to what’s important. Second chances don’t come easy…but sometimes love is worth the risk.

When not writing, Dana specializes in professional development and training. She’s also a board member on the local Art's Council and does what she can to support the art community.  

As an avid reader and movie watcher, she always requires a happily ever after ending.