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TRISTA FRANK

Trista Frank

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Am I Good Enough?

September 27, 2013 by Admin Leave a Comment

As a writer, I struggle a lot with whether I’m good enough to do this for a living.

It seems sort of arrogant that I should expect people to pay money for something that I would do anyway. I think a lot of other people feel this way too, as the prevalence of electronic books has gotten cheaper and cheaper until it’s almost as if writers are giving away their work just so someone will read them.

It’s a tough situation. Made worse that careers in the Arts rarely get the same respect as someone in business or marketing or other white-collar jobs.

Of course this is something that everyone, not even writers, struggle with. Am I good enough?

Truthfully – I actually believe I AM a good enough writer to do this and making money from it. I do think that if someone spends time (and let’s face it – writing a novel takes a heck of a lot of time) and produces something entertaining – that people searching for that type of entertainment will pay for it. Not astronomical prices, mind you, but something.

But what? What is a fair price to pay for a book these days?

I don’t know the answer. I do know what *I* like to pay, but I’m not sure I’m a typical reader.

Personally, I’ll pay up to $9.99 for an author or book I’m really interested in. I rarely pay more. That’s my tipping point. It sucks that since I’m in Australia that I don’t get a lot of the lovely cheaper prices for many books (I really want Cuckoo’s Calling, but it’s over $15 for us Aussies – and yes Amazon I can see it much lower so why can’t I buy it at that price too (don’t get me started)).

While I will pay that much, it also depends on a lot of things: genre, cover, premise, author, what comparable books are priced at, and so on.

I’ve also been conditioned that the range of $2.99-$4.99 is a reasonable price. Whether I would pay more or not for some of those cheaper books is a conundrum because I don’t know (because I don’t have to).

I rarely buy books at 0.99 cents. RARELY. It’s such a non-price that it also doesn’t seem worth it. Either price your book at free or bring it to $2.99 or higher. The exception is short stories.

I don’t know when I’m going to write another book and publish it. I do know it will happen, but when is the big question. I’m busy with other writing projects – other more profitable ones that it seems I have no time to write another dark fantasy or suspense novel. But I want to. It’s always in my mind. I considered delaying another writing project of mine so I could do just that. But then I saw the bills. Maybe if I can build up my savings a bit more, first.

Or I could write a book slowly. 100 words a day which doesn’t seem that difficult. That means for a typical 60,000 novel it will take me 600 days, or just shy of two years. Two years … on second thoughts I might wait until I have more spare time – I don’t think I could remember what I wrote at the start of the book if it took me that long to write.

Filed Under: Writings

Writing Good Cliffhangers

September 17, 2013 by Admin Leave a Comment

My favorite author is Dean Koontz. In particular, I absolutely love his Odd Thomas books. Apart from being a brilliant writer and a master at suspense, I think Dean is one of the best cliffhanger writers I’ve read.

A good cliffhanger (in my opinion) hooks the reader into wanting to read the next chapter. They simply must turn the page to see what happens next. Even if it’s two o’clock in the morning and they have to get up for work the next day, the reader is compelled to read ‘just one more chapter’.

Dean does that for me. His cliffhangers are often some sort of twist, an unexpected plot development, or simply the character in peril (hanging off a cliff, so to speak).

But good cliffhangers don’t have to have a character in peril. Look at romances. Romances use a lot of emotional cliffhangers. It might be as subtle as a character turning away from their love interest, or a longing look at another. Or perhaps it’s a witty offhanded comment made by a secondary character.

The brilliance of cliffhangers is that they aren’t always physical hanging-off-a-cliff stuff. Nor should they all be, even in a thriller or a suspense novel. You need some softer cliffhangers to give the story more depth.

But what about writing your own?

This is a tricky one. Tricky, because it depends on the story. Cliffhangers should match the style, the pacing, and the flow of the story. So if you are writing a fast paced action scene, it probably makes sense to end the chapter on something physical. But a love scene? Not so much.

It’s function is to get the reader turning the page, get them excited about reading what comes next. Therefore it’s kind of a, you’ll know when you read it, kind of deal. Or at least it is for me. Often I’ll write something and then look back and say cool – there’s my cliffhanger. I might have even written right past it with my first draft and only spot it when I’m cycling back through.

Generally though, you’ll be able to write better cliffhangers by reading more books. Especially those that readers love. If a reader loves a book and say they ‘couldn’t put the book down’. It’s usually because that author is great at writing cliffhangers. That’s a book and an author you should read and study.

My goal is to get better at them as I write more. As I become a more experienced writer I can see that Rabbit Farm wasn’t the great novel in the world (understatement?). It was the first novel I’d ever written after all. I have a few novels under my belt now, and a few writing courses. I’ve also written a ton of short stories. Nothing published under this name. Most of them just for me. Just for practice.

I expect the next novel will be out next year. I can’t see myself writing one this year, especially since the year is mostly over. But who knows what will happen? Maybe, I’ll be motivated after all?

Filed Under: Writings

What’s next for me?

September 6, 2013 by Admin 2 Comments

You may have noticed a lack of updates on this blog, and no new books. I have plans on writing more books soon, but first I wanted to increase my writing craft skills before I write something new.

Rabbit Farm was my first novel. And as you would expect, first novels are not great. I actually still like it, and think the story is strong and unique, but lack of sales would tell me that readers think otherwise.

I’m not sad or angry about this. Not at all. In fact I think it’s how it should be.

I’ve got hundreds of story ideas mulling around in my head, which I can’t wait to start writing. So much so, that I plan on starting a few soon.

In the meantime I’m going to continue to improve my writing skills, and perhaps even pen a few short stories which I think will help tremendously in writing a good story.

It’s an exciting time to be a writer. The world is open to allow us to share our art with anyone, and for anyone to find the types of stories they like. It’s win win for both readers and writers.

To the future,

Trista 🙂

Filed Under: Writings

Title Change for the Zombie Novel

November 26, 2012 by Admin Leave a Comment

Why are the girls always in swimwear?

Got all the feedback and glorious red marks back from the editor a few weeks ago, and I have to say, I can definitely see where my money is going, she is marvelous and her changes have only made my novel all the more better.

But one of the major suggestions she has made is that I shouldn’t call it Zombie? like I originally was going to.  I do agree with her.  It’s too obvious a title when really it is more of a mystery about what is happening to this group of people.

I’ve been playing around with a few other titles and one I think I’m going to stick with now is Rabbit Farm.  It’s a kind of weird title on its own, but makes perfect sense for this novel.  But since the title is rather ambiguous that means I have to nail the cover so that you can see at a glance what the book is about.

I’ve already talked this over with my designer who will be starting the cover design very soon, and in the meantime I’ll be implementing some of the changes from my editor into the book so it will be super polished by the time it’s published.

I really thought I’d have it ready by now, but this publishing game takes a lot longer than I anticipated.  I definitely will have it out by Christmas though.  Pinky swear.

In the meantime, I thought you’d like to hear some of the feedback from my editor:

I have to say, it’s unlike anything I’ve read before! I’m not exactly sure of what I think of it… it was certainly very graphic and disturbing in ways, although what bothered me most was certainly [spoiler removed]. I do love the sick, twisted, and dark story that this novel envelopes.

Cool huh!  Couldn’t have asked for a better comment if you ask me (considering it is a horror story and not a light romance – lol).

Now it’s not all good, I still need to work a bit on the main character and tighten up the ending but all in all I can’t wait until it’s out for people to read finally.

Here’s to hoping it’ll be sooner than I think.

Trista.

P.S. Just waiting on the cover design.  Designer has had some good ideas, but I haven’t seen anything concrete yet.

 

Filed Under: Writings

Zombie? finished

October 8, 2012 by Admin Leave a Comment

I love the pink on this poster 🙂

Last night I high fived myself (harder than it sounds) because I finally finished Zombie? and was really excited.  The rest of the family thought I had gone bonkers, but surely they knew I already was?

I have to admit that finishing a new novel always makes me feel really good.  I think it’s because you’ve spent three months on the one project, so when it’s finally done, it’s a real sense of accomplishment.  I mean how many people can say they’ve written a novel?  (Okay, so probably lots.  But still …)

Anyway it’s currently with my beta reader (husband) and so far he thinks its good.  He did say some of the early parts were a little slow (he’s only just got up to the part where the woman attacks one of the crew members and bites him on the face), but I think the story needed that to introduce the characters and they got there.

I guess once he finishes it he’ll let me know how the rest of it goes, but unless he comes up with some major issues, I won’t be changing it though.  (I may change how I write the next story however).

For now I’m looking forward to a week of two of rest before I start NaNoWriMo with another pen name.  Then I’ll be back as Trista, writing that killer Mommy & Me story that is buzzing around my head.

Next week Zombie? is off to the editor, and then it will be published on Amazon.  I can’t wait to see how it goes.

trista 🙂

Filed Under: Writings

Editor Booked In

October 2, 2012 by Admin Leave a Comment

Man, I love old retro movie posters!

My second draft is going much better than I thought it would, and I’m already about a third through the book fixing it up.

I’ve booked the editor, which means I have to finish the manuscript within two weeks.  It should be enough time, as long as my beta reader *cough, husband* doesn’t take more than a week to read and comment on the bits that are slow or unclear.

If the editor takes about two weeks, and my cover designer is also fast and efficient, it could mean that Zombie? will be up just in time for Halloween.  Oh goodness me, I hope so.  That’s the date I’m shooting for at any rate.

But what is the title?  Oh I’m glad you asked.  I was going to name it Zombie?  (yes the question mark is supposed to be there, I think it sounds more interesting given that this isn’t your typical Hollywood zombie).  But is the title too obvious?  Should it be something more intriguing?

It’s another thing thing that I”ll discuss with hubby when he reads it because I’ll need the title ready to give the cover designer.

I’ve already started thinking about my next book of course.  Although to be fair, I probably wouldn’t be able to do any more than draft it out before I start NaNoWriMo.  My other alter ego pen name will be writing for NaNo, and she writes in a far different genre than I do (he, he).  Then my real namesake has to do a non fiction book, so me, Trista, won’t be able to start my next scary book until next year.

Well never mind.  At least it will give me lots of time to come up with some cool twists for my plot by then.

But first things first, and that’s getting Zombie? finished.

Fun times.

Filed Under: Writings

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Featured Book

Rabbit Farm

By Trista Frank

Only hours from being free, a group of ex-criminals are called to a desolate farm house for one last mission.

Cracks start to appear when they can’t find the threat they were sent to eliminate and don’t know what they are dealing with.

Frustrated, they intensify their search, as one by one they are eaten alive.

Available at: Amazon.com | Apple iBooks | Barnes & Noble | Kobo | Google Play
Paperback: Amazon.com

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Recent Posts

  • Am I Good Enough?
  • Writing Good Cliffhangers
  • What’s next for me?
  • I did it. I changed the cover of Rabbit Farm
  • Changing Covers

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