An Exerpt From "No Mountain Too High".....

The high pitched whine from the chopper blades droned out the constant chatter coming from the radio. Charli sat staring out the small window almost in a trance.

What a contrast this beautiful Alaskan landscape was after her tour in the desert. As she looked out at the endless sea of whiteness, her mind began to flash back..... A mirage of orange sand stared at her now, with its endless peaks and beautiful ridges. The warm afternoon sun beaming through the open door of the chopper as they flew back to base on daily patrol. The high wind was causing a lot of turbulence, and brought her back to reality as they prepared to approach the frigid cold crash site. She was beginning to feel the familiar nausea that accompanied every flight. Always a little leery of what she would find when they got on scene.

The dispatcher had radioed that the last communication from the cockpit of the downed plane was from a small boy, approximately nine years of age. His father was piloting a twin engine Cessna 320E, with his mother and sister on board. After an apparent loss of one engine, and altitude, their aircraft went down. Her heart bled for this family as they approached them. Using their GPS, maps of the area, as well as the most advanced computer technology available, they should be easy to locate. Their last known coordinates had put them in the midst of a dense section of the forest.

Hovering the chopper was out of the question. The high winds and turbulence were going to make this an extremely difficult mission. They would have to insert in through the trees. Considering that the aircraft had crashed over four hours ago, they didn’t have much time.

Charli was accustomed to engaging the enemy, but the merciless enemy they were up against this day was the weather. The wind was howling and the snow was turning from flakes to an impenetrable slush, and they were ready for battle.

There was an eerier silence among them. You could feel the tension in the air as they prepared themselves mentally for the worst. There was a break in the chatter on the communication system in Charli’s helmet that had been non-stop since they took off.

“Okay team, we have located the wreckage. Prepare for insertion. You boys are gonna need your tree suits for sure. This is going to be a rough ride down…..copy?”

“Copy that Nash."

The two men put on the cumbersome tree suits. These suits were bulky, with extra padding on the knees, elbows, and special protection for the neck, but were vital to keeping them safe in these kinds of jumps.

Noah was going down first.

Charli was in position, she opened the chopper door, and was on standby, ready to operate the wench that would lower the men down to the scene waiting for them below. Noah hadn’t spoken two words to Charli since that first day in the hanger. She had always made an effort to give him space, she knew he would make peace with her when he was ready.

Noah made his way to the open door. Once his harness was secure, he gave Charli thumbs up, and their eyes met. For that second…..time stood still.

Charli could not stop herself, with no thought of consequence she looked deep within him. His eyes were truly the window to his soul. Immediately she wished she hadn’t looked. Years of hurt and torment gazed back at her, stabbing her heart through with a dagger of regret. She looked away, and swallowed hard. The pain that I have inflicted upon this man because of my selfish stupidity…..I am such an asshole, she thought to herself.

He stepped to the edge of the chopper, and began to lower himself slowly into the vast wall of trees beneath him.

Wow! Forever Since I Blogged!

Greetings..... I really cannot believe that it has been almost seven months since the last time I checked in. Where did all the time go? Summer is becoming a distant memory, and the cool mornings dawn the beginning of winter. Here is a photo of my highlight of the summer. This picture is entitled; One Author's Quest To Take Research Way Too Far!

I have also started my newest project which is a trilogy, working title; Daughters of the Realm. I will post the synopsis and maybe an excerpt soon. Thanks for reading!

Cowboy Take Me Away.....

Oceanside California.....

This is where I want to be this weekend! My hiny was sitting right in between those two palm trees a couple of weeks ago. It is a little slice of heaven!

Wicked Weather!

Snowing at my house this morning! What the heck.....it's the end of March! I grew up in Alaska so this really wouldn't be classified as snowing. It was more like a hail cover. Okay, but seriously it was beautiful.

Shout Out to all RITA and GH Finalists!

Calls went out today for RITA and Golden Heart finalists. The RITAs and the GH are Romance Writers of America’s annual awards for excellence in romantic fiction, for both published (RITA) and unpublished (GH) authors. Like many entertainment awards, these books and manuscripts were judged by peers. The Awards Ceremony will take place at RWA’s annual conference in San Francisco, this summer.

Here’s a great big WAHOO! to everyone who got the call today.

Congratulations, Stephanie, Kristina, Linda, and Darcy!

U.S. Air Force Pararescue Music Video

A Chat With Kat....

Hello Readers! I am so close to being finished with No Mountain Too High I can taste it! This novel has been a labor of love for me. I grew up all over the United States as an Air Force kid, and this book tells a story of the beloved men and women that surrounded me during the most impressionable years of my life. When I embarked on this journey however I had no idea that it would become a tale of the selfless warriors who call themselves PJ's. For all of you who aren't familiar with PJ's, that stands for Pararescue Jumper. These men put themselves in the middle of the worst conditions imaginable in places that most of us can't pronounce. By their motto, these things they do ..."That Others May Live."

Check out a couple of the guys that have given me much needed information, as well as inspiration at http://www.pjcountry.blogspot.com .

What's the Point! POV for dummies.....

I've judged quite a few unpublished manuscripts lately and I noticed that one of the things that appears to separate the amateur from the professional writer is an understanding of point of view (POV). What is POV? Basically, it's whose head you're in--whose emotions and feelings you're going to let us experience. It's a powerful tool in your writer's kit, and one you need to understand thoroughly. There are several different types of POV commonly used in fiction: omniscient, first person, and third person. In omniscient POV, you're in the viewpoint of the author or of God. You see and know everything; nothing is hidden from you.
Example: Unbeknownst to Sarah, this would be the worst day of her life. While omniscient viewpoint makes it very easy to introduce backstory and give the reader a good feel for the atmosphere of the times, it doesn't allow them to identify with your story people. You view the characters as if from a distance--you aren't in their head living the experience along with them. Since you know everyone's feelings and motivations, it's also hard to build suspense. Though this technique was frequently used in the nineteenth century, it's seldom used today. In first person, you're only in one person's point of view, the character who is telling the story. In this POV, the author uses "I" to tell the story.
Example: Mary's uncertainty cut like a knife in my gut. The advantages are that you get right into one person's skin and you live the story along with him. It's very immediate and compelling--but only if your viewpoint character is interesting. The problem is, everything the reader learns about other characters or situations is filtered through the viewpoint character, so you only get one side of the story. This is used effectively in some mysteries and the old gothic romances where the author only wants you to know one perspective, but is not recommended for stories where you want the reader to know other characters' true feelings or motivations. Third person is most often used by fiction writers today. Example: Mary's uncertainty cut like a knife in John's gut. Here we are in John's POV. We know that because you've told us what he's feeling and thinking. In this type of POV, you can remain in just one character's viewpoint or switch from one to another. It's a nice compromise between omniscient and first person because you have the balanced perspective of more than one viewpoint as well as the intimacy of being in individual characters' heads. Though omniscient POV is seldom used to write entire novels today, it is used occasionally to start a story in order to give the reader a good sense of time and place. Once that's been established, the writer switches to third person to get firmly into one character's viewpoint. As an example, picture a camera shot of the New York city skyline. The camera zooms in slowly overhead to show the hustle and bustle of the city at Christmas time with the streets decorated, carols filling the air, and pedestrians hurrying to do their last minute shopping (omniscient POV). Then the camera focuses on a shabbily dressed man who lies sleeping on a park bench covered by newspapers. As he is prodded awake by a policeman, we get a full face shot of him and his startled expression--and we are now firmly in his POV. If you're going to write in third person, there are several things you need to keep in mind. First, let the reader know immediately whose head they're in. This is easy to do by telling us that person's feelings. For example: Lancer woke and immediately regretted it. His brain felt as though it had been pickled in rotgut and beaten to death with a sledgehammer. Is there any doubt here whose head we're in? If we were in anyone else's POV, we wouldn't know how Lancer felt unless he told us in dialogue. We could make some suppositions by describing the way he looked and acted, but we wouldn't feel it along with him. Beginning writers frequently forget that if they're in Sarah's POV, they can't write about how another character feels. Why not? Because Sarah doesn't know how the other characters feel--she can only make interpretations based on their actions. In other words, if you're in Sarah's POV, you shouldn't say, "Frank was nervous." Instead, you could say, "Frank fidgeted and ran his finger under his collar." That will give Sarah--and the reader--the idea that Frank is nervous without resorting to mindreading. As another example, picture yourself in Mike's POV. Mike just drank a drugged brandy and passed out, and you describe the way the delicately etched crystal goblet slipped from his hand and shattered on the tile floor. Wrong. Why? Because if he's passed out, he doesn't know this has happened. He can't see it, so you accidentally slipped into omniscient POV. When should you switch POVs? Switching POVs often (called head hopping) is done far too frequently in some romance novels because the author wants to give the reader an idea of how both the hero and heroine feel. They write one paragraph in the hero's POV, then the next in the heroine's, then back again. It feels like watching a tennis match--with the reader's head as the ball. It doesn't allow you to identify with any one character, because as soon as you do, you're yanked out of that POV and slammed into another. In my opinion, it's lazy writing. A good writer can show the other character's feelings by their actions, facial expressions, tone of voice, and dialogue. When is it okay to switch POVs? As a rule of thumb, use no more than one person's POV per scene. Most readers readily accept a POV switch at the end of a chapter or scene, or at a dramatic moment. Of course, there are times when you will want to switch POV within a scene. I've done that--but only when there was a good reason for it, and only when I had a full understanding of POV. You can break the rules--but only if you understand them first. And I highly recommend you avoid minor characters' viewpoints. Use the viewpoints of your protagonists and your villains, because that's who the reader cares about. Okay, so now you know which POV to use, you know how to stay in it, and when to switch. The next question is, whose POV should you be in? Assuming you're using third person and more than one character's POV, then ask yourself which character has the most to gain or lose in your scene. Which one has the primary goal, the major conflict? That's the person whose head you should be in because that's who the reader will want to identify with. You should ask yourself this in every scene, to ensure you pick the most compelling viewpoint, because compelling viewpoints make fascinating characters that will make your readers care and keep them turning the pages. Isn't that what good storytelling is all about?

Women's Fiction vs. Romance: A Tale of Two Genres.....

Understanding women's fiction is important to successfully crafting a novel and submitting the work to the right publisher. There are similarities between women's fiction and romance, but also distinct differences. While many of the publishers may be the same for both genres, editors are looking for the key elements that make for compelling women's fiction. My pursuit to uncover a clear definition of women's fiction and understand what differentiates it from romance sent me to the depths of the publishing industry and back. What is women's fiction? What is the appeal among today's readers? How do publishing companies view the genre? I share with you my quest to answer these questions.
A Growing Market The first stop on this grand adventure took me in search of hard, warm facts. Nichole Robbins, fiction buyer at the Tattered Cover Bookstore, states: "Most bookstores don't differentiate women's fiction from mainstream/popular fiction. Tattered Cover shelves women's fiction in the general fiction area." This practice makes it difficult to analyze sales, since Women's Fiction isn't sold or shelved as its own category.
After examining industry statistics from the American Bookseller Association and Book Industry Study Group, one can easily conclude that Women's Fiction comprises at least 40% of adult popular fiction sold in the United States and approximately 60% of adult popular fiction paperbacks. According to a Gallup Poll, we're talking a $24 billion dollar industry. Women read more than men and women buy more books than men. These conclusions support the theory that the concerns of women's lives are very important in today's literature.
Scouring my own dusty archives of previous Romance Writers Reports and Romance Writers of America industry statistics, it is clear the romance genre is a staple of women's fiction. The romance market is serious business, producing serious revenues, by serious women. Women's fiction, however -- like the women who read it -- has evolved to include subjects and themes that range far beyond romance.
Women's contemporary fiction is a growing market and includes many of the facets of other genres. Harper Collins/Avon Senior Editor Micki Nuding explains, "Women's Fiction can be commercial (and usually is) or literary; it can be here-and-now contemporary or a multigenerational saga, like Rosamund Pilcher's books. The woman is the star of the story and her changes and emotional development are the subject."
Empowerment -- and More.....
A number of published authors provided insight into this growing market. According to Susan Elizabeth Phillips, "Women's Fiction is about women's empowerment." Jane Heller defines women's fiction as novels written with any relationship at the core of the plot.
Trying to wrap a definition around women's fiction is a little like trying to put a fence around a band of wild mustangs. New York Times Bestselling Author Nora Roberts says it best: "Women's Fiction is a story that centers on a woman or on primarily women's issues, not necessarily the romantic relationship based books I do, but the woman's story."
Publisher guidelines for the women's fiction market are varied, and that variety is reflected in published books. Most women's fiction tends to be longer, about 100,000 words or more, but can be in the 50,000-word range. Nicholas Sparks' The Notebook zoomed up the New York Times Bestseller list with a 52,000-word love story about an elderly couple coping with Alzheimer's disease.
Longer women's fiction uses the space to develop intricate and multi-charactered subplots and deeper characterization. These books have more introspection and description and aren't as tightly focused as shorter novels.
A man (or a hero) might be waiting for the heroine of these novels at the end of her journey, but he does not usually get equal time or equal depth to his internal journey during the course of a book. In "straight" romance fiction, the author renders the hero in every detail-an expectation of readers. This is not necessarily the case in women's fiction.
"Stories about sisters, and women's friendships" seem to be a current trend, according to Micki Nuding.
Every major publisher and most of the new e-publishers have a list of women's fiction titles in their list: Avon/Harper Collins, Bantam/Doubleday/Dell, Genesis Press - Indigo, Hardshell Word Factory, Harlequin/Silhouette/Mira, Hyperion, Kensington/Zebra/Pinnacle, Multnomah, New Concepts, Pocket, Penguin, Putnam/Berkley/Jove, Random House/Ballantine, St. Martin's Press, Warner.
When asked about the wide appeal of Women's Fiction in the marketplace, Ms. Nuding suggests, "The wider focus and the importance and variety and depth of the relationship portrayed really resonates with women today. Though there's not always the standard 'happy ending,' there's a life-affirming resolution even if the story's somewhat tragic."
A book buyer at Colorado's Douglas County Public Library offers her opinion of why women's fiction is such a big deal. "Women's fiction taps into the hopes, fears, dreams and even secret fantasies of women today."
Literary Agent Linda Hyatt of the Hyatt Literary Agency explains, "Good women's commercial fiction usually touches the reader in ways other fiction cannot. Relationship stories, generational sagas, love stories and women's commercial fiction must touch on subjects women can relate to in their real lives. Whether there is a happily ever after ending, or a bittersweet one, whether the reader laughs or cries, women love reading stories that touch their emotions-and tug at their hearts."
The novels of Women's fiction are authored by both men and women and are as varied as Montana Sky (Nora Roberts), The Gazebo (Emily Grayson), The Christmas Box (Richard Paul Evans), or The Horse Whisper (Nicholas Evans ). If you're interested in writing women's fiction, read, read, READ! If you aren't reading women's fiction, you probably aren't going to write it. Taste the different flavors, analyze it, and let your imagination and your heart be your guide. Don't be afraid of where the story will take you. Go along on the adventure.
If your heart is pointing you to expand your horizons you may discover more freedom and choices when writing for the Women's Fiction market. Try it! Hatch a daring or even heartwarming plot and relentlessly follow the trail. You may find that you possess a remarkable secret weapon for storytelling that may change the course of publishing history.
Copyright © 2000 Lisa Craig

Welcome!

Hello readers and the curious! Thanks for visiting my website and virtual office. This is where you will find all of my upcoming projects and news. At present I am am hard at work with the re-writes for my new project : No Mountain Too High. Stay tuned for the latest information on my crazy world, and those that I create.....

Kat