Feeding Your Readers’ Interests

By Elizabeth Ludwig

Guideposts 2017

My husband and I recently made a trip to Sugarcreek, Ohio, to visit the setting for my latest series of cozy mysteries from Guideposts. One of things I loved about the experience was sampling the authentic Amish cooking. I even found several Amish cookbooks to add to my treasure trove of books. Unfortunately, if you’ve ever used one of these cookbooks, you know that many of the recipes can be very vague—a “pinch” of this, a “smidge” of that. LOL! Apparently, the authors of these recipes assume you know what temperature to bake a pie or exactly how much of each ingredient to add. I assume it’s because many of these dishes have been passed down for generations, and the cooks in the family know exactly how something should taste.

The problem is, I don’t always know exactly how long a pie should bake, or what the finished product should look like. That’s why I’m so glad I have a loving family to experiment on. They enjoy having new dishes to sample, and as I’ve learned writing this series, so do my readers. You see, every book in the Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries includes a recipe—something from the story that can be shared with readers at the end of the book. Surprisingly, this has generated more fan mail than anything else I’ve written! Readers love to tell me when they’ve tried one of the recipes I’ve included. One sweet lady even sent me a picture.

This has proven to be such a fun way to connect with my readers, and my growing collection of Amish cookbooks will ensure that I always have plenty of recipes to draw from, including one from my latest release, A Tempting Taste of Mystery that I’m glad to be able to share with you.

Miracle Crust Buttermilk Pie

Ingredients:

·         1 1/2 cups white sugar

·         1 cup buttermilk

·         1/2 cup all-purpose baking mix

·         1/3 cup butter, melted

·         1 teaspoon vanilla extract

·         3 eggs

 

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch pie plate. Beat together white sugar, buttermilk, baking mix, melted butter or margarine, vanilla, and eggs until smooth. Pour filling into pie plate. Bake until knife inserted in center comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Cool 5 minutes.

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Elizabeth Ludwig is an accomplished speaker and teacher, often attending conferences and seminars where she lectures on editing for fiction writers, crafting effective novel proposals, and conducting successful editor/agent interviews. Book three in her popular Edge of Freedom series, Tide and Tempest, was recently named a finalist for the Gayle Wilson Award of Excellence. Elizabeth was also named a finalist in the 2015 Selah Awards for her novella “One Holy Night”, part of the bestselling anthology collection, Christmas Comes to Bethlehem, Maine. Her latest releases include Home Sweet Sugarcreek and A Tempting Taste of Mystery, part of the Sugarcreek Amish Mysteries series from Guideposts. Along with her husband and children, she makes her home in the great state of Texas. To learn more, visit ElizabethLudwig.com.

Contact Elizabeth: HERE

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A Story Worth Fighting For

I first saw this video on the AuthorCulture blog. It's disturbingly and hilariously accurate, and if you're a writer I strongly recommend you watch it, if only for a well-deserved laugh:



The Horrors of Stage Five

Currently I'm in Stage Five for my first completed manuscript. It's quite a leap from Stage Four to Stage Five, as many of you writers out there know!

Thankfully many of our critique partners and those kind enough to actually read through our first drafts are not nearly as cruel as the ones who left big red X's all over the pages of this poor fellow's manuscript. ;) But it can still be a scary, horrifying, and depressing thing to see just how much work our stories need in order to be presentable.

Our stories seem such lovely things, shining in the sunlight of our triumph upon completion of the first draft. And so they are! (Well, at least I like to think so, after all the work put into them!) But they can still be polished and even re-molded a little to refine them into stories that will be even more beautiful. So I'm learning that Stage Five doesn't have to be all darkness and hopelessness...

Leave the Forest For A While

When you find yourself taking that step from Stage Four to Stage Five, it's easy to get lost in the sudden shadows of the forest of edits. You can run from page to page, struck by the shortcomings you, with your limited perspective, had never noticed before. And you can feel like an utter failure.

I was recently given some great advice on how to handle that initial shock: Step away from the story. Leave the marked pages in the forest for a while. Go play in the sunshine. Those pages will still be there when you get back.

Now, I'll be completely honest with you--I haven't yet gone back to the forest. It's been several weeks since I got the very kind and helpful comments and edits from a dear friend. (Believe me--if all critique partners were like her, the editing forest would be a lot less terrifying! My "shock" was buffered by encouragement and understanding, so thank you so, so much to the person who helped me, because you know who you are!)

Yet, someday (hopefully soon!), if it's God's will, I want to go back. I want to brave that forest.

Why?

A Story Worth Fighting For

Generally when any of my writing gets critiqued, I want to either:

1. Reject the criticism.

2. Give up.

Or...

3. Make the smallest amount of change necessary.

But this time it's different. This is a story I've had on my heart for a long time. It's a manuscript I've worked on off and on for years. To me, it's a story worth fighting for, and unless God lets me know otherwise, I want to fight for it.

Yes, I want to fight!

I want to my story to be the best that it should be. I won't settle for mediocrity! (Should this be the BB's new team cheer?)

Seriously, I'm kind of scared to post this. I don't want to be a hypocrite by writing all this down and then never getting around to fixing up my manuscript. If that does happen, please forgive me.

But by writing this post today, I hope that even one person might be encouraged to battle through Stage Five and find a grand, uncharted, thrilling Stage Six someday. Even if that one person turns out to be just me. ;)

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Characterization 101 ~ First Impressions

I have a friend who tends to write her female characters too harshly. Because of this, her critique group will often express how much they dislike her heroine. It's a problem I also struggled with as I developed characters in my early years of writing (okay, like last year). I can't tell you how many times I would re-write chapter one. Constantly tweaking dialogue and character qualities and. . .well, you get the point. Thankfully I have learned a trick that works to create a better first impression for my characters.

How do you write about a character who has issues in such a way that makes them likeable?

Think of their qualities.

Redeeming qualities, if you will. We all have them. What I have discovered as a writer is that it is possible to put off showing a characters dark side long enough to establish some good traits or tendencies. Instead of showing your shattered-heart heroine's bitter, impatient attitude toward others, because, afterall, that's how she really feels inside, give her a prop. Something that she cares deeply about, whether it be a dog, bird, or a hobby. Or maybe she is devoted to her aging mother. Whatever it is, be sure to show that soft side, then segue gently into showcasing her edginess.

First impressions count. If your reader doesn't like your character or make a connection, then you're sunk. Can you mix both elements? Edginess with redeeming qualities? I'm sure you can, but please be sure to let someone else, preferably more than two people, read your first chapter and give you feed back. If one of the three critiquers doesn't like your character then you might have a problem. But if two of three critters don't like your character, you *know* you have a problem. Of course, if all three unanimously hate your character. . .oh, dear. Back to square one.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

S. Dionne Moore is author of cozy mystery, Polly Dent Loses Grip, a 2010 Carol Award finalist, as well as several historical romances. Visit her at www.sdionnemoore.com.

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