My friend has a new book out!

Broken World

When a deadly virus sweeps the country, Vivian Thomas sets out for California in hopes of seeing the daughter she gave up for adoption. When her car breaks down, she knows accepting a ride from redneck brothers, Angus and Axl, may not be the best idea, but she’s willing to do whatever it takes to make it to her daughter.

Then the dead start coming back. Now Vivian has to figure out how to be a mother under the most frightening circumstances, cope with Angus’s aggressive mood swings, and sort out her growing attraction to his brooding younger brother, Axl. Then they pick up a pompous billionaire who may be the answer to all their problems. Trusting him means going into the middle of the Mojave Desert and possibly risking their lives, but with the streets overrun and nowhere else to turn, it seems he might be their only chance for survival.

Kate L. Mary is a stay-at-home mother of four and an Air Force wife. She spent most of her life in a small town just north of Dayton, Ohio where she and her husband met at the age of twelve. Since their marriage in 2002, they have lived in Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and California.

Kate enjoys any post-apocalyptic story – especially if zombies are involved – as long as there is a romantic twist to give the story hope. Kate prefers nerdy, non-traditional heroes that can make you laugh to hunky pieces of man-meat, and her love of wine and chocolate is legendary among her friends and family. She currently resides in Oklahoma with her husband and children.

Rookie Writing Mistakes to Avoid

Rookie Writing Mistakes to Avoid

Dan is back for his second post! And this one is on the
mistakes that rookies make.

It's a widely accepted belief, in the writing community,
that an aspiring author's first book will be absolute crap.
Sure, there are exceptions to this rule, but they're rare.
Most authors who succeed in finding publication have
at least one novel in the drawer already.

This would suggest that, for all our pretenses to the
contrary, writing is a matter of skill as much as it is art and inspiration. If we accept that much, then there are two important corollaries:

1. Writing should get better with time (i.e. practice)
2. A writer's current efforts should reflect how much time he/she has practiced

Writing Experience Tells in the Prose

It's no accident that most literary agents want part of your novel (often the first few pages or chapters)
along with the query letter. The letter itself is a test of writing, but so is the prose. Good, clear, 
professional-grade writing stands out. When a writer has years of practice under the belt, the prose
tends to be clean. It flows well. It's easy to read. And it introduces information at a reasonable pace.

Unfortunately, the writing samples from less-practiced authors are also easy to identify. Anyone who's
been part of a writer's group or pitching contest knows what I'm talking about. I'm happy to forgive a
couple of small mistakes in a writing sample. We all have different styles and editorial quirks. Yet when someone's writing isn't quite there yet, there are often some obvious signs.

THE REST OF THIS POST IS HERE. Have you visited the blog my friends and I share yet? There are
many other informative posts like this one there too. Check it out!