Barbara V Evers

Story time! Yes, on the last week of the month, I post a video to my YouTube channel of me reading one of my published stories. This week's story, "Bullseye," offers a bit of everything--disappointment, gifts, mayhem, bloodshed, and laughter! And guess what? It's all true! I hope you enjoy it! If you do enjoy the video, please subscribe to my YouTube channel while you're on the site! If you enjoy this blog, please subscribe to my newsletter, The Watcher Tribe: 

Image courtesy of Gerd Altmann at pixabay.com Do all writers use their imagination the same way? The short answer is no. Each writer approaches the creative process in individualized ways specific to his or her own nature. Why am I asking this question? My first novel, The Watchers of Moniah , is tentatively scheduled for a December publication with the second book releasing four to six weeks after that. The goal is to have book three in the editing process before book one gets published, so it can follow book two in a short span of time. I'm writing like crazy on book three. My writing critique group has seen the first chapters. Half of the group knows the story and characters, but it's been a while since they've seen the first two books. The other half have never seen this story.  It's intriguing to hear the feedback from my critique group since we're a diverse genre group. One mystery writer expressed amazement at my imagination and ability to create such a fully...

Check out my T-shirt! I bought it to support GCF. The mask came from Etsy, so not a donation purchase. It's week 2 of the month, so that means I'm sharing giraffe news! I follow GCF ( Giraffe Conservation Foundation ) on social media, so when a podcast interview with Dr. Julain Fennessy showed up in my Facebook feed this week, I couldn't wait to listen to it. The 55-minute interview by All Creatures Podcast provides a great and comprehensive introduction to the history and mission of this crucial organization. GCF podcast interview Crucial Facts For those of you who can't listen right away, I thought I'd share a few crucial points: There are approximately 111,000 giraffe in the wild today. To put this in perspective, there are roughly 4 elephants for each giraffe, yet elephants receive more press about being endangered. The giraffe is experiencing a "silent extinction." New evidence points to the existence of 4 species of giraffes, not one:  Masai, Norther...

One of the worst things someone can say to you about your protagonist is: "I just didn't care." We have to create characters that people find relatable. They can't be flat, and they shouldn't be perfect, either. In fact, perfection is the last thing you want to find in a character.  So how do you avoid flat, boring characters? Let's look at four essential aspects of interesting characters. Creating a Character Your Reader Cares About I just attended a webinar on character do's and don'ts, and the facilitator shared that characters need: A driving need, desire, or goal A secret Contradictions Vulnerabilities If you can apply all four of these to your story, you're one step closer to creating a relatable and interesting character. Many of you know, I tend to channel Harry Potter when trying to make my point, so I'm not going to deviate from that pattern today. Let's take a look at Harry. What is Harry's driving need, desire, or goal? This...