Downton Abbey's Success Model

By Elva Cobb Martin

Who hasn't enjoyed five seasons of Downton and isn't deliciously awaiting Season Six and the series finale? I certainly am. If we had the new streaming type TV (which is on my Santa wish list) I could ALREADY be enjoying the last of this great series. It has already shown in England.

Today I listened to a Downton Special to get America ready for the finale coming in January on PBS. I made some notes from the remarks of the producer, Gareth Neame, and the writer of the series, Julian Fellowes, that I think you are going to LOVE. I believe they shared major SECRETS of the success of this series that can work for our novels, too!

Julian Fellowes: The spice of the series is love. There's not doubt about that.  All the characters are given an opportunity to feel love, to turn love down, to love the wrong person, to make a mess of it, to make a good thing of it. But, I think, on the whole, love is a very key ingredient to all our lies, even if or because we haven't got any.

How's that for a plot outline for your romance characters?

Downton Writer Julian Fellowes and Producer Gareth Neame

Gareth Neame: This show is about a time when relationships are much more straightforward. There's no strange texting going on. I think audiences have loved the simplicity of the relationships. The fact that they are not really about sexual love, but romantic love, and deeply unfashionable for TV producers to be doing--and yet it seems to be a formula that is working around the world.

Don't you love that statement?  Gives new impetus to our writing of inspirational novels versus various shades of gray!

"Lord Grantham" who was the spokesman for the special, had some great stuff to say about love. He said: Love is all around Downton Abbey. Upstairs and downstairs. There's the seasoned love of Robert and Cora.
The scandalous and passionate love of Lady Sybil and Branson.
The long-simmering love of the butler Carson and the housekeeper Mrs. Hughes.
 But perhaps the truest, noblest love at Downton is Anna's for Mr. Bates. But their quest for simple love and happiness is plagued by misfortune.

Julian Fellowes on Anna and Mr. Bates:
By creating a happy, contented couple but where there is always a grenade with its pin half out in the pocket of one of them--you don't ever have to search for the tension you need.

He's got that right!

Producer Gareth Neame on Anna and Mr. Bates:
Unlike the other love relationships which are plagued with difficulties, what Anna and Bates have is this extraordinary relationship of the heart, this incredible bond. They are the couple that all of us know somewhere in our lives, that have this amazing partnership and it's the only way they can deal with all the hurdles that are put in front of them.

Don't you love this guy's thoughts? No wonder he is the producer of an award-winning series like Downton.

I will close with a description of the butler Carson and his pursuit of love from Producer Gareth.  "He (Carson) moves slowly like the speed of a glacier."

Have you watched Downton Abbey?  Please share your thoughts and any gleanings you've found that can help us write winning stories.

Thanks for stopping by.
Elva

My tribute (To God be the glory) by Crystal Lewis on Thanksgiving Day 2015

Guest Blog: 10 Ways to Jump-start Your Writing

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2015

10 Ways to Jump-start Your Writing

by +AneMulligan  @AneMulligan   Guest blogger from Novel Rocket!

10. If the seat in which you park your behind is a good one, you'll park it more often. A while ago, someone told me about her office chair. It has an exercise ball in it. It's actually part of the chair. If you use an exercise ball to sit on but are balance-challenged, this is for you. Then, you can be to be a balanced writer.

9. Have your muse readily available...capture it in a jar. If James Scott Bell can keep "the boys in the basement," I can keep my muse is a jar. In fact, my critique partner Jessica Dotta made it for me. It's amusing to look at (yes, the pun was intended) and will remind me to start creating.

8. Keep chocolate handy. Okay, it's not that new of an idea, but my new take on it works. Allow yourself one M&M for every forty words written. That way you get twenty-five M&Ms for every 1000 words. It's not enough to get fat, unless you're like Karen Kingsbury, who writes 10,000 words a day.

7. Start the week off right with a clean desk. I try to pretend I'm neat. I like to be neat. I write better with a clean desk. But at night, while I'm asleep, the dust bunnies come out to play. They leave an awful mess, stacks of books, notes and scraps of paper, empty M&Ms bags. There's nothing I can do. They're an endangered species.

6. Stacks of colorful sticky notes help keep you organized. I attended my local ACFW chapter meeting (go ACFW North Georgia!), where an author told us about her method of editing. It involved different colors, sizes, and shapes of sticky notes. It worked for her, so I figured it would for me, too. The next day, I hurried to the store and $90 later came home with a bag full of every color and size imaginable. The next day I tried it. I discovered this method of editing doesn't work for me, but I'm good for sticky notes for the next five years.

5. Hang inspirational pictures & sayings around your desk for those times when you are not creative. Am I the only one who stares blankly at a screen for eons? I thought my brain had turned to grits. So I hung pictures of my characters, quotations in a pretty frame, anything to fire those synapses in my head.

4. Writers' accoutrements. I have a clock, made by one of my writer friends, Linda Rorbaugh. It makes me smile and reminds me that tossing and retrieving are all part of the process of writing. But at nine o'clock there's the submit part that leads to publishing. However, last year, I made it to 12 o'clock. That's PUBLISH!

3. A getaway, no matter how small, is good for writers. It tricks you into thinking you're like Steinbeck or Hemingway. Okay, maybe not, but Starbucks does not have a telephone that rings for you. Nor does it have washing machines or vacuum cleaners that know your name. So, do yourself a favor and break the dull routine you've gotten into.

2. Hang a laminated "Do not disturb ~ writer working" doorknob sign for the office door. Oh, and be sure you shut the door and hang it on the outside. I got a really nice one from My Book Therapy. Of course, it didn't come with a guarantee that the hubs wouldn't open the door and ask if I'm busy. And our mastiffs, Shadrach and Oliver, can't read, so they woof outside until I can't ignore them a minute longer. They have a doggy door a linebacker could fit through, but no, they want personal service. Maybe I should write a manual for authors: How to Train Husbands, Children, and Dogs. Hmm, I could make a fortune...if it worked. Somehow I have my doubts, though. Which leads to... 

1. Turn a blind eye to dust and clutter. Remember #7? Dust bunnies are an endangered species, so do your part. Give them undisturbed breeding grounds (they breed best amidst clutter). That frees you up to write. It all makes sense if you look at it the right way. 

HOPE YOU ENJOYED THIS GUEST BLOG BY ANE MULLIGAN ON NOVEL ROCKET! How to you jump start your writing when it lags? Please do leave a comment and share this good blog on your social media.

Thanksgiving Blessings to you and yours,
Elva Cobb Martin

Blackbeard's Anniversary

by Elva Cobb Martin

I blogged on Blackbeard a couple of years ago and thought you might like this shared again as we approach the anniversary of Blackbeard's capture and death on November 22. This was part of my research for my pirate novel, In a Pirate's Debt, for which I am seeking representation.  The below was actually published as an article and a later reprint.

  

                                           Blackbeard's Flag 

Pirates - Part 2  Blackbeard

To review, in the first part we shared that piracy had their greatest days in our Atlantic waters in the 1600-1700’s. Many governments at the time supported piracy encouraging it as a cheap way to get expensive goods into their country, especially from their enemies. England and others issued “letters of marque” which gave their own “privateers” as they called these type captains, permission to attack and plunder ships of their enemies.

But piracy became so prevalent at times that honest sea trade almost ground to a halt. Then governments withdrew letters of marque, tracked down the pirates, and hanged them in public.

The history of Charleston, South Carolina, records such a story involving Blackbeard, one the most notorious pirates of all who roamed the Eastern seaboard and the Caribbean.

In May of 1718, Edward Teach, alias Blackbeard, sailed into Charleston with his fleet of pirate ships. He blockaded the harbor, captured and plundered nine ships and took several hostages including Samuel Wragg, a member of the S.C. legislature. After interrogating the hostages about the remaining ships in the harbor—their cargoes and destinations—the victims were thrown down half-naked into the hold.

In exchange for the prisoners, Blackbeard demanded of Governor Johnson something he did not find on the plundered ships, mainly a large supply of meds used to relieve a pirate’s recurring nightmare—syphilis. Blackbeard warned that if his demands were not met, he would execute all the hostages and then raid and sack Charleston.

The legislature complied. It seemed that shame, indignation, and revenge were outranked by fear. Actually, it was wisdom that outranked the lot, with revenge simply being reserved.

Blackbeard sailed away, and he had to be gloating over the fact that not only had he taken the most valuable loot of his career, he had, as one writer put it, “reduced to total submission the proud and militant people of South Carolina without firing a single shot.”

What Blackbeard and his cohorts did not count on was that in the South, revenge rides hard on the heels of humiliation.

Once the pirate squadron sailed out of Charleston Harbor and Samuel Wragg and the other hostages had replaced their clothing, if not their dignity, white-hot Southern dander rose to the surface in the Charleston waters.

It was just the stimulus needed for the difficult task of subduing a hitherto fashionable vice.
History records the results.

The courts of Charleston, in November of that same year, tried, convicted and caused to be hanged in the period of one month a total of 49 pirates.

The pride of South Carolina was certainly restored in great measure by these successes against piracy. Blackbeard, however, was not among those executed in Charleston.

He died on November 22, 1718, at the hand of Lt. Robert Maynard. Maynard and his crew, sent by Lt. Gov. Alexander Spotswood of Virginia, challenged Blackbeard near his Ocracoke, North Carolina, hideout. After being wounded an astounding 25 times, 20 cutlass wounds and five gunshot wounds, Blackbeard succumbed.

Lt. Maynard battles Blackbeard

Maynard reportedly chopped off Blackbeard’s head and attached it to his mast to sail home. Legend has it that when they threw the body over board, it swam around the boat seven times before sinking.

So goes the story of Blackbeard.

In England the last pirate of this era was strung up in 1840, and in America the last one was hung in 1862.

What is your favorite pirate tale? Why do you think pirates, who for the most part were a dastardly group, still tantalize new generations?

Please join the conversation and share this on Twitter and Facebook by clicking the small buttons below.
Elva Cobb Martin

Sailing with Pirates

by Elva Cobb Martin

Note: I wrote this blog a couple of years ago and it is shared again as we approach the November anniversary of the capture and death of that most famous of all pirates, Blackbeard.

How do you like my current pirate hero, photo of actor Gerard Butler? Of course, in my wip he is Captain Lucas "Bloodstone" Barrett and we are having a load of fun getting him and my heroine Travea together for a happy ending!

Pirates – Part 1

In our Atlantic waters pirates had their greatest days in the 1600’s and 1700’s. Piracy was often a form of freedom for the outcasts of society, as well as attractive to some second and third sons of nobles who saw it as a way to gain the wealth they didn’t gain from birth order. 

Of course, pirates have been around a lot longer than this time period and modern pirates still operate in many parts of the world today. 

Caribbean pirate ships didn’t roam around 

hoping to chance upon a victim; they were smarter. They patrolled known shipping routes, especially Spanish treasure routes from the Incas to Spain. During much of this time, many governments (particularly England) supported piracy, encouraging it as a cheap way to get expensive goods into their country. 

England and other governments issued “letters of marque” which gave their own “privateers” as they called these type captains, permission to attack and plunder ships of their country’s enemies. 

Piracy became so prevalent at times that honest sea-faring trade almost ground to a halt. Then the governments would begin working against the pirates. They withdrew letters of marque, tracked down the pirates, and hanged them in public. 

An amazing story of this kind is emblazoned in the history of Charleston, South Carolina, my home state and my favorite city.

In May of that year, the notorious pirate Blackbeard blockaded Charles Town Harbor with his large pirate fleet, captured and plundered nine ships of much gold and silver, and took all the passengers captive including a member of the Charleston legislature, Samuel Wragg.

In a message to South Carolina Gov. Robert Johnson, Blackbeard demanded a large supply of medicine in exchange for his captives. The meds, which Blackbeard did not find on the ships he plundered, were needed to relieve a pirate’s recurring nightmare, syphilis. 

The Charles Town leaders capitulated and sent the meds. The captives were released and Blackbeard and his fleet sailed off to Ocracoke, North Carolina, in the gayest of pirate spirits. 
However, there’s another amazing footnote to this story.

When the South Carolina leaders gave in to Blackbeard’s demands, it seemed that feelings of shame, indignation, and revenge were outranked by fear. Actually, knowing Southerners like I do, since my family has lived here for many generations, and what history has now recorded of this incident; it was wisdom that outranked the lot with revenge simply being reserved.

In the next part I will share, as Paul Harvey would say, “the rest of this story.”

Do you like to read about pirates? Join the conversation and please share on Twitter and Facebook if you have a moment.

Elva Cobb Martin

3 Incredibly Useful Ways to use Pacing in Dialogue

Guest Blog  by Anthony Ehlers

Pacing in dialogue is like fuel-injection for your writing. Have you ever noticed how you start reading quicker when you get to dialogue in a story?  It’s a great way of showing and not telling — and allows your characters to ‘act’ out a scene.

Here are three ways you can use pacing in dialogue:

① Tighten it

1. ‘Will you please quit hassling me?’ Tim asked in exasperation.
2. ‘Quit hasslin’ me!’  Tim snapped.

The pace is better in the second example. We use half the words of the first. The missing ‘g’ and exclamation point add vigour. And ‘snapped’ implies exasperation.

② Give it rhythm

1. ‘I know the husband is responsible for the murder!’
2. ‘You see, I know, I know who did it, Inspector. It’s the husband. It’s always the husband, isn’t it?’

The first example is shorter, yes, but it’s also bland. The second shows the cadence and excitement of the speaker. The repetition, italics, and rhetorical question add to the rhythm.

③ Know your genre

1. ‘If we leave now, it’s only a two-hour trip to the barn where the body was found,’ Mary said. ‘We probably won’t find any new clues, but someone may have seen something.’
2. ‘Get Alpha team on standby!’ Hawkins hissed. ‘Suicide bomber. 12 o’clock. Hotel roof.’

Both examples could be from suspense novels. Yet the first one’s leisurely pace could be from a cosy mystery. The clipped pace of the second example means it could be from a military thriller.

What ways do you use pace in your dialogue?

If you want to learn how to write a book, join our Writers Write course in Johannesburg. 

by Anthony Ehlers

Guest Post How to Market a New Release

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2015

Misty Beller has broken records selling as many as 10,000 books a month of her first book. She is a member of our ACFW-SC Chapter and we are so proud of her. Here are her secrets summarized.-Elva Cobb Martin, Pres. ACFW-SC Chapter

How to Market a New Release

By Misty M Beller @MistyMBeller

One of the questions I receive most often is from authors is, 

"How do I promote my new book?" 

Whether it be your debut release or book #5 (or #105) 

marketing a new release can often be daunting. 

But it doesn't have to be!

Through the months of June, July, and August, I shared all

 the different marketing options available to authors. And there 

are a lot of opportunities! But the list can be intimidating, so 

let me break it down into critical steps for a new release. 


This list is accurate for either indie or traditionally published books

 (although indie authors certainly have a few more steps related to                                  book production). 

Let's get started!

1. Make sure your book is posted on your website, Goodreads, your Amazon Author Central page, and all your social media profiles. In other words, if people are looking for info about the book, make sure they can find it!
2. Choose whether you want to do a blog tour. If yes,                                           get started and enjoy the ride! For more info on the steps                                           and best practices, see this post. 
3. Line up your influencers and early reviewers.                                                       One of the most helpful tools to gain traction with book                                                sales, is to help your book garner reviews early. I've                                                  shared a lot of strategies to gain reviews here.
4. Share the new release to your newsletter list, blog and                                                 
   
   
   social media channels. In other words, get the word out to                                    your people! Get excited and your enthusiasm will be infectious!
5. Schedule paid advertising. This is the step many authors                                       try to skip,but I've very rarely seen a book take off without some                        amount of paid advertising. There are so many choices out there,                              it's easy to waste money. My go-to sites are                                                           ereadernewstoday.com and Facebook Ads. (You may remember,                                I shared the Facebook ad process in detail here.) 

So that's it! Not so hard, is it? 

After you've accomplished these five, you can step back and send 

up a prayer of thanksgiving. Then assess whether you're happy with                                   the book's sales (and rankings) and develop your marketing strategy 

moving forward. 

Now it's your turn! Do you see a critical step I've missed? 

Anything additional on your book release task list? Let's hear

 your thoughts!

Misty M. Beller writes Christian historical romance, 

and is author of the bestselling novels The Lady                     and the Mountain Man and The Lady and the                  Mountain Doctor.

Misty was raised on a farm in South Carolina, so her

 Southern roots run deep. About eleven years ago, 

she made a career change from farm life into                             the business world, where she worked as a                                Senior Manager and Director of Process &                                                                           Training. She's now loving the life 

                                             of a full-time writer, wife, and mother.