Happy Saint Patrick’s Day, Seekerville! I hope ye be wearing the green and looking for that pot of gold under the rainbow.
I found my pot of gold when Love Inspired Books published
my first story in 2007, and I’ve been dancing a jig ever since.
Did ye know March is Irish Heritage Month and the perfect
time to announce my new release?
HIDDEN AMISH SECRETS is in bookstores NOW.
The lad and lass in the story grew up Amish, instead of Irish, but the deputy sheriff, Terrence O’Reilly, is as Irish as Paddy’s pig. So I’m calling it an Amish/Irish tale—at least on St. Patrick’s Day!
A typical thatched roof cottage |
Two years ago, before the COVID shutdown, I toured Ireland
and wanted to share photos from that fun excursion. The people were friendly
and welcoming, and the country was beautiful with quaint villages, picturesque
farmland and majestic seascapes. The Cliffs of Moher were especially
breathtaking. Surprisingly the weather was delightful with day after day of
blue skies and sunshine—and NO RAIN! Undoubtedly, the saints were smilin’ down
on us as we toured the Emerald Isle!
My maiden name is Willoughby so I had to snap a shot of this quaint pub. |
A wee bit of this…
I hosted a writing class at my church pre-pandemic and
recently met with one of the “students,” who had just penned her first story. We
discussed her manuscript, and the questions she asked were similar to the one’s
I’d had when I started my writing journey so I decided to share some of what we
talked about that day.
Colleen, as I’ll call her, needed clarification on point of view. I encouraged her to think of the POV character wearing a movie camera on his head. Everything the character sees has to be captured by that camera. If the camera can’t film it, the character can’t see it--thus, it's not in his POV.
A carriage ride through one of the parks. |
What about multiple points of view? For a romance, the hero and heroine should each have their own POV. Longer books might include a few more characters, but follow the KISS rule and “Keep it simple.”
No head hopping, please. Start each scene in a particular
character’s point of view and remain in that character’s POV until the scene is
over. The next scene can be in a different character’s POV.
End each scene and chapter with a hook. Pull from your story arcs. The hook can deal with the suspense or the romance or the faith element. Often the hook foreshadows the protagonist’s next problem and should always make the reader want to turn the page and keep reading.
Castles are a common sight along the highway. |
A number of Colleen’s scenes involved multiple characters. I shared a screenwriting tip. Have two characters talk among themselves while the rest of the group is occupied doing something else. One person in the initial twosome can step away, which allows a third character to move onto the page, all the while the other characters continue to chat quietly among themselves, eat a meal or do something else off stage and out of the limelight. Focusing on two characters at a time prevents the confusion that could ensue when lots of characters are simultaneously embroiled in a discussion.
Whether you’re a plotter or a pantser, plan ahead and have a clear idea of the major scenes, especially the climax, before you begin to write the story. If you’re working in the suspense, mystery or thriller genres, the protagonist must battle the villain, emerge triumphant and solve the crime by the end of the story.
Cliffs of Moher |
Here are a few off-the-wall things I think about after I
know my characters and their GMC but before I begin to write my Amish stories. Which
if any of my Amish characters will have a cell phone? Will I need to include a
phone shack? Will the characters travel solely by horse and buggy or will an
Amish taxi be needed? If my Englisch hero or heroine seeks shelter with an Amish family
and must remain with them until the danger passes, how will the visiting
character access clothing, toiletries or other personal items? What about the
facilities? Indoor plumbing or an outhouse? Since the Amish practice non-resistance, how
will the villain be subdued at the climax? Will any characters have access to a
weapon? An Englisch character needs
to have a good reason to become Amish. What was lacking in the character’s former
life that attracts him or her to the Amish faith? If Englisch characters drive a car, what make and model?
Blarney Castle |
A closing thought…
Last month I mentioned my concern about the erosion of our
Freedom of Speech. Since then, more censorship has occurred on various social
media platforms. I get a daily medical bulletin from the American Society of
Clinical Pathologists, of which I’m a member. Last week, the bulletin mentioned
that more than 30,000 medical posts had been removed from various online forums
seemingly because they didn’t adhere to the medical practices of the day. I
wouldn’t want to get a daily newspaper that had articles blacked out nor would
I want to attend an online class if portions of the instructor’s notes had been
scrubbed by an arbitrary outside censor before I received them. I wonder what
information all those deleted medical posts contained. I don’t know about you,
but I’m digging deeper these days to uncover what’s true and what’s not.
A late afternoon boat ride on one of Ireland's many lakes. |
An Irish blessing…
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields,
And, until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of His hand.
Leave a comment or share some Irish trivia or a writing tip or two to be entered in a drawing for HIDDEN AMISH SECRETS!
Happy Writing! Happy Reading! And Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
Debby Giusti
HIDDEN AMISH SECRETS
By Debby Giusti
Her temporary Amish homecoming
could get her killed.
Julianne Graber left her Amish life behind after a family
tragedy, but now she’s back to sell the family home— and someone’s dead set on
getting rid of her. With her neighbor William Lavy by her side, Julianne must
uncover dangerous secrets to make sense of the past and present. Can she find
justice for her family—and a future with Will—before the killer hits his
target?
Order on Amazon!
Top of the morning to you, Seekerville! I'm wearing green and looking forward to a fun day on the blog. The coffee is ready and hot cross buns are on the breakfast bar. Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteI too love the Love Inspired Suspense and I also enjoy your books Debby, I have read many of them. Thank you for the chance to win a copy of this one.
ReplyDeletewfnren at aol dot com
Wendy, thank you for your kind words and thank you for stopping by Seekerville today! You're in the drawing! Fill your coffee cup and grab a hot cross bun before you get on with your day!
DeleteHugs!
Hi Debby, this is a really good post. There is nothing like the Irish race. I had prominent Irish characters in two of my books, "Westward Hope" and "Settlers' Hope." Michael Moriarty is my hero in "Westward" and his sister Oona is the female lead in "Settlers'." Their passion, their stubbornness, their way of twisting a word until it does backflips, as Pace Williams observes about Oona. Because of what they went through, and because many escaped to OUR shores, there are thousands of stories still waiting to be told.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your writers' tips. I had never heard the one about having only two people talking, but it makes sense.
A quiet St. Patrick's Day here. I made Irish stew in the crockpot for supper, and we'll probably dig into a carton of Mint Chocolate Chip. My husband has errands and business outside the house, so I'm seizing the day to catch up on my writing, and grateful to have a day to seize.
Please enter me in the drawing.
May be back later,
Kathy O'Bailey
Your O'Kaybee
KB, your day sounds delightful, and I can smell your Irish stew from Georgia! I'm having meatloaf, which doesn't sound very Irish. :)
DeleteLove your settlers. The Irish did so much to settle the West. Hard workers who loved America! God bless them all.
I also agree with you about censorship. These are perilous times...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're concerned as well. I fear too many are ignoring what's happening.
DeleteThank you for tips,I would love to be entered in the giveaway
ReplyDeleteHi Angeline, thanks for joining us in Seekerville today. You're in the drawing!
DeleteHi Debby! I'm editing a YA novella today written by a newbie who doesn't even know how to use track changes. It's really more of a coaching job, teaching her all of the tips you included above. Thanks to you, you included many of them in the same blog. I also need to teach her how to show a story rather than tell it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Irish, my heroine in Dreams of My Heart is a feisty little woman from Ireland who doesn't want to depend on any man. Of course, Buck is there to show her it's okay to accept help, especially when she's his "reluctant bride."
Along with you, I'm incensed about censorship online. The Big Tech companies own us. They are not only tracking us on their sites (Google, Amazon, etc.) they are tracking us no matter where we visit online. They sell our information, and the latest article I read said they're also sharing it with the federal government, supposedly so they can send aid to needy areas. Yeah right.
Please throw my name in the hat for your book, Debby. And thanks for your words of writing wisdom today!
Barb
"Show, don't tell" is a hard concept for new writers to grasp. Seems POV is, as well! Bless you for sharing all your expertise.
DeleteHow fun to write a reluctant bride story. Hmmm? I wonder how that would be for an Amish story? Something I haven't done before. Thanks for mentioning your heroine and for priming my inspirational well. :)
Yes, Big Tech is keeping track of everything we do or so it seems. What we buy, where we shop, the routes we take to visit friends and family. Big Brother knows all and that's frightening. Even more so when they decide what we're allowed to see and what needs to be kept from us. For our own good, of course!
Happy St Patrick's Day. Wishing you the luck of the Irish, b'gosh and b'gora!
I love reading blog posts like this. It's so helpful when I need a little nudge to keep going on my story. Your new book sounds like a great read.
ReplyDeleteJamie, keep writing and don't get discouraged!!! Writers are lifetime learners and we're all in this together. Glad something I posted could be of benefit to you.
DeleteHappy St. Patrick's Day!
I love ye Irish brogue! Please throw me name in ye hat for the book!
ReplyDeleteWaving to my not-too-distant neighbor! Stay safe tomorrow, Edwina. We're supposed to have bad storms and possible tornadoes! Praying for God's protection.
DeleteYou're in the drawing!
Hi Debby!
ReplyDeleteI "claim" Irish ancestry on St. Patrick's Day. There's a gray area in my family's background that gives me a 50/50 possibility of having an Irish ancestor, so I claim that side of the family on St. Pat's Day. :-)
Thanks for the great post! I've read a few books published in the 1990's lately, and a couple of them did a lot of "head hopping." It drove me crazy as I tried to keep the characters straight! That's one change in writing that I'm glad has been made.
And I agree whole-heartedly about varying our sources of information. I spend a couple hours each day searching through news sites to try to get a complete picture of what is going on in the world. It's very concerning, but it gives me the opportunity to pray specifically for our nation and the world.
I don't have any Irish blood, but my hubby is 1/4 Irish so that's got to count for something. Besides, on St Patrick's Day, everyone is Irish! :)
DeleteI'm praying for our nation and world, as well, Jan. I'm so worried about what's happening on a number of fronts...and then we can add COVID to the mix. Like you, I try to ferret out the truth. So much false information circulates and is featured on many of the nightly news stations. We all need to be sleuths to uncover what's real and what's not.
I went to Ireland on a college trip more than 40 years ago, so I enjoyed looking at your Irish pictures. I really want to go again. I had a 3 greats grandmother born in Ireland, so proud today to claim some Irish heritage. Great advice in your post, too. Please put me in the drawing.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful you could see Ireland in your youth. I'm thankful my husband and I took the trip when we did. No telling if we'll ever travel internationally again.
DeleteSo you're an Irish lass, are ye, Sandy Smith girl? Are you having corned beef and cabbage this evening? Perhaps a slice or two of Irish soda bread? If so, I'll stop in for a to-go order! :)
You're in the drawing!
Only a little Irish, and I don't eat corned beef and cabbage. Having meat loaf tonight. Don't think that is very Irish!
DeleteWe're thinking alike, Sandy! I made meat loaf too. YUM!
DeleteCongratulations on your new book! Your pictures of Ireland look so beautiful!!!
ReplyDeleteOur tour guides talked about Queen Victoria's visit to Ireland, way back when, Erica! They took her on buggy rides each afternoon, and she continued the practice when she went home to England. At least, that's the story we heard on our trip! :)
DeleteDebby, how fun this post is. :) I'm Irish by blood, my maiden name being Clanahan. I've never been to Ireland, but it's one of the places I've always wanted to visit. A friend and I have talked about traveling there once all of our kids are out of the house (hers are now grown and on their own). I loved your pictures of Ireland. They make me want to visit even more. Your book sounds soo good. And, I'm like you . . . doing more research these days on all things medical, etc.
ReplyDeleteClanahan, eh? Do you know where your family was from in Ireland? I hope you can visit your "homeland" someday, Jeanne. It's a beautiful country and the people will charm your heart, for sure!
DeleteI've got an Irish name. The rumor is, there is a Connealy River in Ireland (or maybe a stream or creek?) My brother-in-law went there.
ReplyDeleteBut mostly I'm NOT Irish, your usual German, English, Irish, Scott northern European mish mash.
I love the Old Irish Blessing.
Here's my Irish saying. I have it on my wall.
Wherever you wander
Wherever you roam
Be happy and healthy
And glad to come home
The Irish love their homeland! Great Irish saying, Mary. Dorothy, as in the Wizard of Oz, had it right. "There's no place like home!" You and your cowboy need to explore the Connealy River someday...post COVID!
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Debby:
ReplyDeleteTo censor science is to destroy discovery. When a PC politician declares that a scientific issue is now 'settled science,' the scientific method itself is fractured. Contrary research is not published and those who dare to circulate the new findings will be cancelled and/or their government research grants ended. The danger to truth is obvious.
Yet this overt censorship is only the pain that points to the real problem. Today the existential threat is in having just a few PC ideologues control the media. The media, in all its permutations, now decides what is news and what is not news. Most media people do not even see this as censorship. It's just good editing.
Bad news, which they want to hide will be ignored. If it cannot be ignored, it will be downplayed as not really important or even spun to be seen as good news. This choice of what news is provides the power to shape reality itself.
This power to share a great part of the population's reality, who do not follow the news very deeply, is an existential threat to all freedom.
In the past, such monopoly power could be countered by the 'trust-busters' with the aid of the media. Indeed, this was so true that it became a cliché to say that 'the pen was mightier than the sword'.
However, today, it is the media itself which is the monopoly and most citizens don't even realize this.
The present may look like the best of times, (some young people today are even claiming in ads that they are the next 'Greatest Generation' -- they do this as they are living at home past the age of twenty-six, having already earned their status as the 'self--esteem' generation), nevertheless, these may well prove to be the beginning of the worst of times.
Thanks, Vince! Well said. The media used to be a watchdog for the truth. Now they have their own agendas. Yes, I fear very dark times are on the horizon, if not here already.
DeleteDebby! I just got over here, I have cute kids on Wednesdays and it was busy.... but I love the wee bit o' brogue ye've tossed about! :) Wonderful!
ReplyDeleteCute Irish girl marries hunky Italian military man!
You know, I like the thought-following-thought process you've outlined. It makes perfect sense. And your advice to the lovely "Colleen" is strong. I remember so many Ruthy errors from the beginning years! Ay yi yi.
But you will laugh when I say I still don't mine head-hopping books. I looked back at some of my favorite young and young adult books and they head hopped... Nora head hopped. It never occurred to me to be bothered by it because I thought it was all obvious, so I'm always thinking "I'm going to write a book using head-hopping and see if folks love it or leave it." I think there's a speed-up in the action in head-hopping that you don't get in today's prose.
I never think about one as right or wrong, just different, but you know an editor wouldn't be likely to take it nowadays.
They'd say "re-write" and resubmit.
But wouldn't it be fun to try it????
Signed:
Troublemaker Ruthy!!!!
Established authors can head hop. Those just starting out need to follow the rules. Right? :)
DeleteAnd I loved your additional paragraph about the truth in publishing and censoring.
ReplyDeleteLetting any entity or group (Facebook/Google/AT&T/Twitter/Media) limit what we say but even more, to limit what we "SEE" is a control tactic that abusers use first.
If you control access to the outside world, you limit idea growth or awareness.
And I see it happening and folks don't even realize they're not getting the full story.
Like you said, examining news sources is clutch. I look back on our NYS nursing home crisis and cover-up and there were lots of us clamoring for an investigation last July when we saw the numbers but it was a story ignored because of who it targeted.
Now it's all out in the open, there will be repercussions and changes, but it's the perfect example of what you said: Because no one other than the conservative outlets even covered the story in July, we went through eight months of lies and cover-ups.
You and I are old enough to remember investigative reporting and that it wasn't a rubber-stamp media so to us, this is disturbing.
Because you don't know what you don't know if you've never been privy to the information.
So true, Ruthy! The NYS nursing home scandal is so heartbreaking. And the Javits Center was available, and the refurbished hospital ship was primed to accept COVID cases and rehab folks. Neither were used. I'm so glad the truth is finally coming out.
DeleteI so enjoy your posts. Thank you for sharing. Blessings
ReplyDeleteBlessings to you, Lucy!
DeleteLove your post Blessings to you and I got a New Granddaughter on St. Patrick's Day this year and I was so doing a jig! Enter me in the drawing please!
ReplyDeleteA new grand baby on St. Patrick's Day! How wonderful, Sarah! Congrats to you and to the parents. Sending hugs and love to that precious little one!
DeleteYou're in the drawing!