Leslie Keller Books

I've always enjoyed learning and, if given the option would likely spend the rest of my life attending classes.  This has become even more important to me since I've been focusing on the task of creating the written word. Looking back on when I started this journey I naively thought that I could simply sit down and write a novel.  I didn't know about plot and premise and the three act process.  I had never heard of "show, don't tell" and I never considered word count.  Writing that does make me miss the times when I could simply sit and pour the words onto the page.  Perhaps all of the education I've received has slowed me down and makes me re-write the same sentence a dozen times trying to get it perfect.  However, I believe knowledge is power and, despite the fact that I may sometimes feel the pressure to use what I have learned,  I am very thankful to have had the opportunity to learn. With all of that being said, I would encourage someone new to th

I've decided to randomly include a snippet from Menu for Murder.  Since you don't know what has come before or after the paragraph posted here I will leave it up to you to guess at what Jayne has gotten herself into.             My head halfway under the thorny branches of a Palo Verde tree, I heard the sound of raised voices and footsteps crunching on the gravel pathway headed in my direction.   Not wanting to get into trouble for dropping the tray, I remained crouched behind the bushes like a timid desert rabbit hoping if I remained perfectly still I would not be discovered. Jayne doesn't intend to trip her way into one catastrophe after another but sometimes life just seems to toss you in the wrong direction.  Let's hope she is able to get out from under the Palo Verde long enough to solve a murder - or two! Leslie

Floating on a raft or pontoon, what is a better way to spend an afternoon?  Enjoying the beautiful waters of Lake Pleasant.  Okay, maybe I wasn't exactly writing anything but I was certainly gaining inspiration.

One of the most used phrases heard in every writing class or conference is "Show Don't Tell".  What this means is that the writer should show the reader who the character is rather than telling.  Take this example: Telling the reader how the character feels: The girl was very unhappy. Showing the reader how the character feels: The girl reached for her third box of tissues, piling them up like a blizzard in Minnesota. You can determine from the second sentence that the girl is unhappy.  In neither instance do you know why she is unhappy but at least you are able to come to that conclusion without the author spelling it out. Another way to Show the character is to describe a place or setting.  Using the character's home or office you can illustrate much about her: Telling:  She likes to read Showing: The well-worn chair sat in the corner where the sunlight would dance across the words of her favorite book. The reader can surmise that the woman enj

As I previously posted I attended the Desert Rose Chapter of the Romance Writers of America over the weekend.  It was the first time I had attended one of their conferences which I expected to be focused on romance writing.  I glad to say that the conference was not what I expected. Friday started with a practice your pitch session for anyone who would be meeting with an agent or editor the next day.  The pitch session was well run and informative.  That was followed by an agent/editor panel where the panel was asked a series of questions as submitted by attendees. What I learned from the session and panel was invaluable and here are a few tidbits: 1.  When pitching your work to an agent or editor they really aren't scary - so true! 2.  When pitching treat the person on the other side of the table as if you were pitching to a friend.       This one sentence really hit home to me and made giving my pitch much easier. 3.  Don't quit your day job.  As much as I would lo

Tomorrow I'll be attending my first ever writing conference which is geared toward romance writers.  I don't consider myself a writer of romance, however I have found that many stories contain an element of romance. Our lives revolve around our relationships whether they are considered romantic or otherwise.  We are certainly exposed to romance on a daily basis in advertising - after all, sex sells.  Many of the classics have romantic elements, think Jane Eyre, or maybe Steven King's Misery (albeit romance gone bad) and even Peanuts or Kermit and Miss Piggy. When I say that I write mysteries and women's literature am I not also saying that I write romance?  My short story was titled Three Loves and a Wedding - that certainly involved romance.  My Jayne Stanford series includes a romance between the main character and at least one handsome man.  So this leads me to question what exactly I am writing.  Am I a romance writer after all?  Or am I a romance writer who t