Adam Wakefield has an ideal life as pastor of the small church in which he grew up. Then he receives a telegram inviting him to become pastor of the largest church in Chicago. He accepts unaware he is playing into the hands of extortionists and murderers. But God has great plans for Adam.  On the train to Chicago he meets and falls in love with Victoria Winters. Together Adam and Victoria face a life of ministering, love and danger.    writersofvision.com
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 When he is not writing   Darrell is in jail. Actually several jails or prisons.  And he’s been there for over thirty years. As the co-founder of Souls for Christ Darrell ministers to serial killers, mass murderers’ robbers, drug dealers, and others who have broken the law.
Born in 1945 Darrell grew up on his family’s farm. He spent his summers reading and wandering the surrounding woods. Fishing in the neighbor’s pond and in generally learning to love nature
In high school, he perfected the fine art of hiding a novel behind a text book. While the rest of the class labored over equations he sailed the seven seas, followed a snowy trail in the Yukon. Climbed the Rockies, swim the Amazon and fought wars in foreign lands.  In books he discovered worlds far beyond the hot boring classroom.
At age 49 Darrell put pencil to paper and began recording the stories rumbling around in his head. His first book was a howling failure selling a grand total of 6 copies. Not one to give up, he went back to the drawing board. He has since graduated to computer yet he still makes the same mistakes, however now it is easier to correct them.
Through trial and error more error Darrell learned to write. His books have gained many 5 stars from   those who count –his readers.
Folks who have read his books make such statements as: amazing, Could not put the book down, Awesome, this book kept me on the edge of my seat, a riveting story.
 However this may not be your opinion. Darrell wants to know what you think. Send him your comments. Good, bad, indifferent. He always likes to hear from his readers. 

Send Darrell an email ат   writercase1@frontier.com and tell him what you think.

http://writersofvision.com/

My life of crime

I sit on the bunk with him. We casually discussed life, this life and the next. The door to his cell was locked. The order was no escape even if he took me hostage. They had analyzed the residue on the odor from the barrel in which he burnt his wife’s body. He would be on trial for his life shortly.

Less than two weeks later his girlfriend would attempt to break him out. In the process, she wounded one deputy. She kept firing spraying bullets over the dispatch area of the jail. In the subsequent trials she would receive 16 years he would get life.igo

That was almost 30 years ago, since then I have ministered to what society considers the most dangerous criminals.  Serial killers, mass murderers, rapists, robbers, drug dealers and others. I have spoken to cop killers and cops who have murdered. Where others see those who are helpless and hopeless, I see a potential child of God. One who can become a new person in Christ.

Using my experience in writing is relaxing and enjoyable. While we can’t control the criminal in the real world we can in the world of fiction. A reader became quite upset with Steven King because in one of his books a man kicked a dog to death. King pointed out the book was fiction. Therefore the dog wasn’t real. Yet to a writer while in the throes of the story the characters, the setting and the action is real.

In Sluagh my wife cringed each time a child died. I pointed out to her the child wasn’t real. Therefore no child was harmed in the writing of the book.

While sitting down with a good mystery may raise the Goosebumps on your arms you’re still safe in your favorite chair.   

Like a good christian mystery? Check out my books at writersofvision.com

Hugh Howey Interview on Writing and Self Publishing | Publishing Profits...

How to Write a Mystery Novel Outline by Stephen J. Cannell

The thread that runs so true

                   Some of the best novels I read were confusing in the beginning. They seemed to be disjointed. They started in different locations perhaps years or generations apart. The characters appeared to have no relationship to each other.  If this is a new author or an unfamiliar one you may be tempted to put the book aside. Yet you persist. You wade through the pages wondering where the author is going. What was the writer thinking as he or she wrote this narrative’

It may be on page 50 or 100 you start to see a coalition in the parts of the novel that before appear to have no connection. Now the author weaves together the different threads until they become one.

As the story nears a conclusion it becomes clearer and more evident what was thought to be rambling was the true story in separate parts. All the threads are now one and stronger and perceptible.

The author like an artist paints the picture with assorted colors looking as if they are no part of the whole painting. Yet as with the artist when the book is complete it becomes a representation of what the writer saw in his or her mind in the beginning.

As authors we must keep in mind the true thread of the story. There are plots and subplots. Various threads run throughout the novel. However we hold them in our hands weaving them into the one true thread and with this we tell the story.     

Paper Dolls

Paper dolls

Remember when you, your sister, or a friend played with paper dolls.  Their clothes changed depending on the task or activity.  However, their expression always remained the same. They were always happy, smiling no matter what the circumstances.  They were never worried, sad or fearful. They were fun to play with. No sorrow affected them. No tragedy touched them. You could leave a paper doll for a day, a month or a year. When you decided to play with them, again they always had the same expression.

Sometimes we as writers have a problem creating believable characters. The ones creative in our writing can be paper dolls or cardboard character.  Having no depth no real feelings.  A person’s childhood colors how they react to a situation.  Past failures made them cautious of making decisions.  They ache for love yet are fearful of rejection.  Are they driven by a desire for wealth or power?  How does this affect their family life?  Are they addicted to drugs and long to be free?  Are they hiding something in their past, terrified this indiscretion will be exposed. Do they weep in the middle of the night when no one hears.  If they are fired, lose a child or go through a divorce do they react with the same feelings as your next-door neighbor.  As you write, do their emotions touch you?  Do tears come to your eyes as they weep at the casket of their loved one?  Do you rejoice with them as they are united in marriage?  As they face danger, does their fear touch your heart? As you write an action scene does your heart beat faster? Do you feel the excitement of the chase? Are you the hunter or the hunted? Do you lose track of time? Do you get lost in the story?

What about the villain?  What kind of person are they?  What made them the person they are?  What is behind their actions?  Are they mentally unstable?  If so, why?  Can your reader hate them yet also feel sad for them?  No person is born with hatred in their heart, something has happened to make your villain this way.  Find out what it is. Even the villain is human and has those who love them.

 If your characters live and breathe, weep and laugh your novel will come alive.  If we as the authors do not feel the emotions of our characters neither will the reader.