“I can’t think of anything to write about.”

When I taught high school English, my students frequently moaned about the lack of interesting things to write about.

My standard response:
I’d roll my eyes and challenge them to keep their eyes and ears open and to ask questions about everything they see and hear.

When I was driving near my home recently, I spotted the perfect story starter:

I’ve never had to pull to the side of the road to make way for a seaplane. In fact, I’ve never seen a seaplane being towed down the highway!

This scene has the makings for a good mystery/suspense story.

I started asking questions:

• Who owns this seaplane?
• Why is it being towed down the highway?
• Where is it headed?
• Where’d it come from?
• Is there water nearby where this plane will be docked?
• How am I going to get past this monstrosity?

The scenery provides ideas for more story elements:

• “Dead End” sign to the left of the plane
• Tall hedge on the right side of the road
• Beige shed behind the plane
• Long, lonely road between the truck and the photographer

From what viewpoint could I write the story?

• Pickup driver
• My own (driver of car approaching the pickup)
• Person hiding in cockpit of seaplane
• Unseen bystander or omniscient narrator who’s observing the scene unfold

What potential conflicts could I develop based on this scene?

• Kidnapping (pickup driver is leader of a drug-smuggling cartel. His seaplane is loaded with kilos of illegal drugs, which he’s attempting to spirit out of the U.S. into Canada. He kidnaps me, the unwitting witness of his dastardly deed).
• Crash (truck towing seaplane crashes into oncoming driver).
• High-speed chase (seaplane is, in reality, not being towed at all but is taxi-ing down the makeshift runway with police cruisers in hot pursuit. Unsuspecting driver of uncoming car gets caught in the cross-fire).

Take the story-starter challenge!
Using the seaplane photo, write the first sentence or paragraph of your own story. Share it with us in the Comments area.

Tags: author, fiction, scene, seaplane, story starters, Writing

I hate reading series books because they leave you hanging, and you have to wait at least a year for the next installment in the series. By then, you’ve forgotten what happened in the first book. The whole thing is one big, vicious circle intended to frustrate readers and generate big bucks for publishing houses.

But when Jim highly recommended Karen Hancock’s 4-book Legends of the Guardian-King fantasy series, I took the bait (but only after visiting the library to make sure all four books were available for checkout).

My husband, who is a huge fantasy/sci-fi fan, read them first and gave them a hearty stamp of approval. Then I dove in, and spent several sleepless nights devouring the suspense-filled books. It was one of my first forays into Christian fantasy fiction (which some fantasy-fearful publishers disguise by calling it “speculative fiction,” “allegorical fiction,” or “inspirational fiction”).

Let’s just call it what it is: fantasy fiction with all the trimmings, written from a Christian theological worldview. The Christian “God” and “Jesus” are never mentioned, but one of the gods worshipped is modeled after the God Christians are familiar with.

I thoroughly enjoyed the series, especially since I was able to read the books one after another. The action-packed storyline contained way more violence than most Christian books (lots of sword fights and superheroish escape scenes—the staple of all fantasy fiction), and even a few juicy love scenes that caused my eyebrows to raise (whoa…this is Christian fiction?).  Karen Hancock does a superb job with character development and her characters are truly—er—inspirational. Maybe that’s why they call it inspirational fiction.

So if you’re looking for an author to binge on and want to give Christian fantasy a try, pick up the Legends of the Guardian-King series. (And no, Karen did not pay me to write this; I’ve never met her…although I would like to; she’s a terrific writer!)

Books in the series:

1. Light Of Eidon
2. Shadow Within
3. Shadow Over Kiriath (Legends of the Guardian-King)
4. Return of the Guardian-King (Legends of the Guardian-King)

More author binges:

• Learn to write fiction through author binging

Tags: author binging, authors, fantasy fiction, fiction, Karen Hancock, Legends of the Guardian-King, novelists, Writing

Every published writer I know (and I’m acquainted with my fair share) is a voracious reader. We drown in books, simply because it brings us joy to read them.

We are our local public library’s best friend. Bookshelves are tucked into every crevice of our homes. We lovingly stare at those good friends—the books on our shelves—doing so elicit fond memories of a particular character, a particular author, or a life-changing tidbit.

Although my two published books are non-fiction, I’m a fiction reader, mostly. Lately I’ve been learning more about the craft of writing fiction by listening to CDs I purchased from a writers’ conference. As I jot notes about how to write fiction, I mentally dissect each novel I read to learn how the author creates rich characters, intriguing plot lines, and compelling dialogue.

I’m also learning the craft of fiction writing through what I call author binging. I’ll select an author who is new to me (usually someone recommended by another writer) and read every book written by that author, one after another. Author binging not only helps me get to know the author and his/her unique style, but it shows me specific techniques that author uses.

My fiction author binges include:

Binges in Progress

• Steve Martini – Contemporary courtroom drama/suspense starring the Perry Masonish Paul Madriani.
• Alexander McCall Smith – I adore The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency Series, am working my way through The Isabel Dalhousie series, and plan to start The Portuguese Irregular Verbs series and The 44 Scotland Street series later this summer. You gotta love his intriguing titles!
• Tracy Chevalier – Just finished binging on Tracy’s historical romances. My faves: Girl with a Pearl Earring and Burning Bright.
• Anita Shreve– Not my favorite, but elegantly-written enough to entice me to keep going.
• Sharon Hinck – I’m amazed at the way Sharon’s mind works. In The Sword of Lyric series, she creates everyday, 21st century moms who get transported to alternate realities.
• Elizabeth George – I’ve been binging on her for years and recently finished A Traitor to Memory. Next on my list: Careless in Red: A Novel.
• Camy Tang – It’s easy to binge on Camy because she has three published novels (to date). The Sushi Series (Christian chick-lit with a dash of wasabi) is delightfully entertaining. Camy, who’s a friend, blogs about books at Camy’s Loft.

Planned Binges

• Mary DeMuth – The Maranatha Series is exceptional. Mary is also a prolific blogger. Find her at Relevant Blog.
• Tricia Goyer – A Valley of Betrayal (Chronicles of the Spanish Civil War, Book 1) sold me on Tricia’s writing.
• Angela Hunt – Enjoyed The Note (Women of Faith Fiction), am listening to her fiction-writing workshops, and am itching to read more of her work.
• Brandilyn Collins – I’m a sucker for suspense, and Brandilyn’s Kanner Lake Series is packed what she calls “seatbelt suspense.”
• Susan Meissner – A Window to the World sucked me in. I must read more of her beautifully-written novels.

Past Binges

• Jan Karon – The Mitford Series is my favorite series, bar none.
• Randall (Randy) Ingermanson – Randy consults with He Blogs, She Blogs quite often, so of course, I had to read his books! He writes historical, speculative Christian suspense. Enjoyed his City of God series. The Oxygen series, co-authored with John Olson, had me gasping for breath.
• John Grisham – Who hasn’t binged on him?
• Mary Higgins Clark – Ditto.
• Maeve Binchy – One of my absolute favorite authors. I’ve read most of her books, and will probably re-read them all.
• Lisa Samson – Loved The Church Ladies but wasn’t impressed with Women’s Intuition or The Living End.
• Sue Grafton – I’ve read every book (so far) in The Kinsey Millhone Alphabet Mysteries.
• Sophie Kinsella – My guilty pleasure chick-lit. Her Shopaholic series tickles me.
• Kristin Billerbeck – A Christian chick-lit alternative to Sophie Kinsella. Kristin’s Ashley Stockingdale Series is laugh-out-loud funny.
• Bryan Davis – I read aloud the entire Dragons in Our Midst series and the lengthy Oracles of Fire series to my 11-year-old son. Whew. If you can make it through all the painful similes in “Dragons” book 1, keep going. Your child will love you for it.

Classics Binges (my all-time favorites):

• Jane Austen – I never tire of Pride and Prejudice, no matter how many times I read it.
• Richard Llewellyn – It took me 10 years to collect the entire How Green Was My Valley series, but I own ‘em all. And love ‘em.
• Thomas Hardy – Dark, intriguing, tragic love stories.
• Charlotte Bronte – Ditto.

Tags: author binging, authors, fiction, novelists, Writing