As an editor, I've found point of view to be the number one problem I've encountered with authors. Then when I try to explain deep point of view their eye's glaze over.

If you write romance, you need to learn how to write in deep point of view,and when to ease out. Learning the how and why of point of view will prove valuable.

Here is an article I wrote on deep point of view a few years ago. I use it in the online classes I teach. My latest class will be Novembe 9-23 for the FF&P RWA chapter.

I hope you find the article helpful.

Hugs,
Tambra Kendall/Keelia Greer
Christmas of Hope by Keelia Greer coming
December 10, 2009 from Red Rose Publishing

Deep Point of View: How and When to Use it Effectively
By Pollyanna Williamson
Deep Point of View (POV) is close third person, a combination of first and third person omniscient. It is driven by the character's experiences and emotions.
When using deep penetration POV you see the scene through the character's eyes. You never leave his/her thoughts. Deep penetration is similar to first person giving the motivation behind an action. The character's attitude, at that moment is shown, not a memory of his/her feelings as they look back on what happened.
Deep POV is more than filling your story with internalization.
From The Elements of Fiction Writing Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card he describes deep POV: "Deep penetration is intense 'hot' narration; no other narrative strategy keeps the reader so closely involved with the character and the story. But the viewpoint character's attitude is so pervasive that it can become annoying or exhausting if carried too far, and the narrative isn't terribly reliable, since the viewpoint character may be misunderstanding or misjudging everyone he meets and everything that happens."
Card says that no one level of POV penetration will be right for the whole story. There needs to be a balance. You need to know when "hot" narration is needed and when to "cool" the scene with light POV penetration.
Deep POV is more than filling your story with internalization. Too much internalization can become a form of telling, slow the pace of the story and unravel tension.
Gina from the RWA Craft loop explained deep POV to me in this way: Check to see if your dialogue, tone of voice, body language, facial expression, inner body response, and/or physical reaction shows what is being told.
• Remove filtering devices such as s/he thought, decided, saw, watched, etc. They put a distance between the reader and the POV character. Once POV is established, you don't have to keep reminding the reader that they're experiencing the story through the POV character's eyes.
• Describe things how the POV character would describe them.
• In deep POV, a character wouldn't use her own name when referring to herself. Nor would she, except in very few cases call her parents by their whole names. A deep POV character's narration should contain thoughts that are natural to that character, and what is seen and described should only be things that character would notice.
Anne Frazier Walradt taught this in a workshop for RWA in 2002. Her suggestions began with Show, Don't Tell: Stay out of your character's head. Since I'm a visual learner Anne's tips made all the other posts clearer. She wrote:
• Insert the picture in your head into the head of your reader by reporting action and dialogue.
• Engage the reader by showing her the scene and awakening in her the emotions that your characters feel.
• Abstract words do not evoke in us the emotion they describe. They merely tell. " Nancy was scared. Terrified actually." To evoke the emotion you must create the sensory details that make it read vivid, authentic.
• Document the effect of the emotion on the character. (Her hands shook) The scene must be seen by the readers.
• The character isn't thinking about her feelings ("Oh, I'm so much in love.") She's thinking about what's causing her feelings. (I love his hand on my.whatever.")
• Your job is to convey the emotion by the meticulous choice of specific details that will evoke emotion in your reader.
Author Terri Prizzi says writing deep POV effectively means you must know your character very well since all things are filtered through the character's eyes and emotions. Gender, education level, life experiences all will impact how your character views the world. The fact that the character comments on anything should be a clue about this character.
Learning how to write deep POV takes some practice, but when used in the right way it will keep your readers turning the pages.

Tambra Kendall joined RWA in 1994. She grew up reading historicals. Her favorites are Scottish and Medieval. Today she combines her love of all things Celtic with the love of paranormal.
Copyright © 2005 Tambra Kendall. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Labels: craft of writing, deep point of view

Fall is my most favoritest time of year.  It probably comes from growing up in a tourist town where you never got to enjoy summer because everything was so packed with city people, but oh man when labour day weekend ended you could shoot a cannon up main street and not hit a single car.  You can actually park at the grocery store and not have to circle around for 20 minutes waiting for someone to pull out. (It's a little like trying to shop on christmas eve in a town that only has one mall.)

Gonna keep this short and sweet. My mom is ill and will be having surgery toward the end of the month so any good vibes, thoughts and prayers would be greatly appreciated! The docs aren't really sure at this point what's wrong with her but they seem to be trying to rule out cancer, so as you might guess, the whole family is distraught. My parents are staying with me for the duration because my house is near a very fine hospital, thank goodness.

Needless to say, I'm not getting much new writing done at all. At this point, I'm treading water, just trying to meet my editing/proofing deadlines and such. Once my emotions begin to settle down, perhaps I'll be able to write again. Wish me luck. ;-)

And now for some happy stuff... I've got some new covers! It's for my next dragon book, titled DRAGON STORM, which will be out in ebook formats on November 17th from Samhain.

I also have the most awesome cover EVER, from Kensington Brava for my first big-time, NY-published novel, ONCE BITTEN, TWICE DEAD, which will be officially released in March 2010, but is already available for pre-order from Amazon (and a few other places). How cool is that cover? I LOVE it!!! :) Thank you, cover gods!!!

I've also spent a little time working on my website the past few days. (It's mindless work that I can do while I sit with my Mom.) I've updated most of the splash pages (the individual indexes to each sub-section of the site) and added new buttons for all sorts of online booksellers on my homepage side bar. It might be getting a little too complicated at this point, so if you have any troubles loading it, please let me know. It's hard to find the right balance between too much and not enough. ;-) Until next time...

Labels: Bianca D'Arc, covers, dragons, zombies

I've got two new releases this month! First, GRADY'S AWAKENING came out yesterday from Samhain Publishing.

It's the story of Grady Prime, an alien super soldier who is beginning to learn what it means to be human. The story brings him together with Gina, a martial arts champion and spy, and her other true mate, Jim, the leader of a ragtag band of human survivors. Together, the three of them figure out how to live and love in the post-apocalyptic world where only the strong survive. You can read an excerpt online by clicking here.

Labels: Bianca D'Arc, New Releases, sci fi, zombies

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what do readers want.

Free reads?
Do free reads help you decide to buy an author?

Contests
Contests are fun, but does it influence your buying of that author?

I am asking this for a reason.

I want to make sure I'm giving readers what they want. On my Yahoo group, I have a free read started that I'll post every week on until it's finished.

I'll be holding another contest soon, too. Someone once remarked I give good, original prizes. That's a start!

So, come on readers. Let me know what brings you back to an author. What makes an author an automatic buy for you?

Hugs,
Tambra Kendall
Cowboy of the Night-out now from Red Rose Publishing
A Cursed Heart by Keelia Gree, out now from Red Rose Publishing

Labels: contests, free reads, readers

So, as I've mentioned a few dozen times, I took a workshop at the Haliburton School of the Arts last week.  The class was called Fiction Writer's Bootcamp and was taught by Barbara Kyle.  As expected, we covered characterization, structure, POV, all the basics.  What made this better than other classes I've taken, was that the teacher used tons of examples from books and movies to illustrate the points of the lesson...way more informative.

Check out the hot-off-the-presses cover for my upcoming release with Kensington Brava. It's an anthology featuring the novella I mentioned in my last blog post all those weeks ago. (I missed last month due to vacation and poor planning on my part. Sorry!)

Anyway, the story is called SIMON SAYS and it's in the HALF PAST DEAD anthology, which is scheduled for release on 12/29/09. Mark your calendars!

The cover is just perfect, I think. It's sexy and mysterious with a hint of the subject matter - namely zombies. My story features a special forces soldier whose mission it is to defeat the creatures that are the result of an experiment gone horribly wrong. Here's the blurb:

Special Forces soldier Simon Blackwell ended his affair with Mariana Daniels three years ago, but he hasn’t stopped protecting her. Mariana has no knowledge of the dark, deadly creatures that lurk in the forest surrounding her clinic, or of the mysterious powers that make Simon the only one who can defeat them. But soon he’ll have no choice but to reveal the truth, and urge her to trust in an explosive passion that never faded….

I'd also like to mention that I have a new release in ebook. INFERNO is finally out! It's the sequel to LORDS OF THE WERE, and tells the vampire Dante's story. It's a very hot book, with lots of menage and a sizzling love story. There's also lots of magical action and vamps, weres and even a fey knight in the mix. Here's a little bit more about it:

A forbidden union forged in love-and tempered in hellfire.

One last task and Megan will be free of the debt of honor owed by her family. Spying on Dante, a powerful vampire with questionable friends, sounds simple enough. But her mission is complicated by the fact she's got something every vampire wants-tangy, powerful, werewolf blood.

It's easy to capture his attention. The hard part will be getting out with her heart -- and soul -- intact. Not to mention her life, thanks to a crazed bomber.

Dante isn't the kind to forgive or forget easily, especially the grudge he holds against werewolves. Still, he is instantly drawn to the injured lone wolf in his care. When he and his friend Duncan treat her wounds, they discover something that marks her as much more than she seems.

The mark is a neon sign warning to be careful, but Dante can't help himself. He wants her and nothing will stand in his way. Not her species. Not his. Not the strange woman who keeps trying to kill him.

Not even the magical poison in Megan's blood...

Buy now from MBAM

Labels: Bianca D'Arc, New Releases, vampires, werewolves, zombies

What to do when you get antibiotics that mess with your head...write a wicked story about demons. This story flowed and it was a lot of fun to write too :)

Be warned it's a naughty story with an unusual take on m/f/m, oh and there is an HEA *grin*

Anya Sigurdson is counting down the days.

She works on an array orbiting a distant star completely alone and the isolation is seriously cramping her need for sex. She’s promised herself a wild time on a pleasure planet, but until her remaining thirteen days are up, then her own fingers will have to do…or so she thinks.

Damianos has other plans. Coming from a race of pure energy, Damianos, seeks pleasure in flesh and has an unusual talent. They can fracture into as many lovers as Anya needs. She is a joy, a rare find, and they intend to enjoy her, love her every chance they can. But to keep her they need something else, an anchor, another body for them to fix in her dimension.

And a prime candidate is on his way.

A link to the excerpt is here and this is the buy link

I'll update the link to the Ellora's Cave website when it's up, but here's the link to my author page in the meantime :)

Edited to add the Ellora's Cave link

Labels: demonic attraction, Kim Knox / Kim Rees, New Releases

Deep Point of View: How and When to Use it Effectively
By Tambra Kendall

Deep Point of View (POV) is close third person, a combination of first and third person omniscient. It is driven by the character's experiences and emotions.

When using deep penetration POV you see the scene through the character's eyes. You never leave his/her thoughts. Deep penetration is similar to first person giving the motivation behind an action. The character's attitude, at that moment is shown, not a memory of his/her feelings as they look back on what happened.

Deep POV is more than filling your story with internalization.
From The Elements of Fiction Writing Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card he describes deep POV: "Deep penetration is intense 'hot' narration; no other narrative strategy keeps the reader so closely involved with the character and the story. But the viewpoint character's attitude is so pervasive that it can become annoying or exhausting if carried too far, and the narrative isn't terribly reliable, since the viewpoint character may be misunderstanding or misjudging everyone he meets and everything that happens."

Card says that no one level of POV penetration will be right for the whole story. There needs to be a balance. You need to know when "hot" narration is needed and when to "cool" the scene with light POV penetration.
Deep POV is more than filling your story with internalization. Too much internalization can become a form of telling, slow the pace of the story and unravel tension.

Gina from the RWA Craft loop explained deep POV to me in this way: Check to see if your dialogue, tone of voice, body language, facial expression, inner body response, and/or physical reaction shows what is being told.
• Remove filtering devices such as s/he thought, decided, saw, watched, etc. They put a distance between the reader and the POV character. Once POV is established, you don't have to keep reminding the reader that they're experiencing the story through the POV character's eyes.
• Describe things how the POV character would describe them.
• In deep POV, a character wouldn't use her own name when referring to herself. Nor would she, except in very few cases call her parents by their whole names. A deep POV character's narration should contain thoughts that are natural to that character, and what is seen and described should only be things that character would notice.

Anne Frazier Walradt taught this in a workshop for RWA in 2002. Her suggestions began with Show, Don't Tell: Stay out of your character's head. Since I'm a visual learner Anne's tips made all the other posts clearer. She wrote:
• Insert the picture in your head into the head of your reader by reporting action and dialogue.
• Engage the reader by showing her the scene and awakening in her the emotions that your characters feel.
• Abstract words do not evoke in us the emotion they describe. They merely tell. " Nancy was scared. Terrified actually." To evoke the emotion you must create the sensory details that make it read vivid, authentic.
• Document the effect of the emotion on the character. (Her hands shook) The scene must be seen by the readers.
• The character isn't thinking about her feelings ("Oh, I'm so much in love.") She's thinking about what's causing her feelings. (I love his hand on my.whatever.")
• Your job is to convey the emotion by the meticulous choice of specific details that will evoke emotion in your reader.

Author Terri Prizzi says writing deep POV effectively means you must know your character very well since all things are filtered through the character's eyes and emotions. Gender, education level, life experiences all will impact how your character views the world. The fact that the character comments on anything should be a clue about this character.
Learning how to write deep POV takes some practice, but when used in the right way it will keep your readers turning the pages.

Using deep point of view brings the reader so closely into the story, he/she feels like they are experiencing everything the hero and heroine are. We want to keep the readers turning the pages, not wanting them to put the our books down.

Tambra Kendall joined RWA in 1994. She grew up reading historicals. Her favorites are Scottish and Medieval. Today she combines her love of all things Celtic with the love of paranormal.
Copyright © 2005 Tambra Kendall. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

Hugs to all,
Tambra Kendall
Cowboy of the Night-a Recommended Read!
Buy now from Red Rose Publishing
www.redrosepublishing.com

Labels: craft of writing, deep point of view, romance writing

Greg Howe used to be such a sweet boy, but a bad experience over seas has left him scarred and skittish.  Forced to return home to help out at the family Sugar Shack, Greg is confronted with his old friend Alex, who he hasn't spoken to in ten years.  The bitterness of their lost friendship fades away as Alex helps Greg struggle to cope with his pain, while rebuilding their old closeness...and something more.

To enter the contest, send a recipe that calls for maple syrup to jandrus@mac.com.  

Contest closes July 12 at midnight.

Now I'm off to enjoy my last day of freedom until September!