Guest posts

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

This Beautful World by Elisabeth Jackson Guest Post




Title: This Beautiful World
Author:  Elisabeth Jackson
Genre: Romantic Suspense / Mystery
As children, RaeAnne and her sidekick King were held captive after they discovered the body of a boy their age in a crate of apples in their small town’s peculiar orchard. Now RaeAnne is grown and the mother of a troubled young daughter. After her mother is killed in an accident, she travels home to her father with her daughter. But RaeAnne finds that she is not welcomed by everyone, and frightening incidents start to happen involving her and her family. As RaeAnne unravels the mysteries of her childhood, including what happened to her older brother, who vanished on the same night RaeAnne and King found terror in the orchard, she reunites with King. The boy she knew has grown up to be very handsome and guarded. But can the two ever be more than old friends who share a terrifying secret?

Author Bio
Displaying Elisabeth_Jackson_author_photo.jpgElisabeth Jackson loves the outdoors and dogs, rescued dogs in particular. This Beautiful World is her debut novel and blends haunting childhood secrets, romantic themes, second chances and a mystery in a small town setting, with a dash of Gothic elements. When she is not writing small town Romances and Mysteries, she works as a freelance business writer. Her characters are inspired by the rural towns she has visited and lived in. She welcomes readers to connect with her at ejacksonbooks.com and Facebook.com/ejacksbooks.


Guest Post



Using a First Person Narrator

When a writer and mentor I admire once told me he thought a first person narrator I had crafted was, as he put it, “kind of strange,” for a while I thought I’d never write in the first person again. I have a much thicker skin these days and a poodle-hound adopted dog who keeps my perspective grounded by reminding me there are far more important things in life, like throwing tennis balls she can chase. But I continued to wonder if it would be harder to get a reader to like a first person narrator than a third person narrative.
One of the benefits of using a first person narrator in my debut was that I was able to handle emotionally difficult topics and scenes in a sensitive, active way, and the reader is (hopefully) able to connect with RaeAnne partly through the trauma she and King experience as kids.
An advantage of a first person narrator is that if a writer manages to craft a one-of-a-kind narrator, then the character’s voice can draw the reader in and hold them throughout the story. If done well, readers can really connect with a first person narrator.
On the other hand, a disadvantage is that if a reader doesn’t connect with your narrator, then they might have a hard time connecting with the whole story. Opinions vary, and what someone else loathes, somebody else might just adore.
Another thing I have always been cautious about when writing a story is incorporating the past and the present into the narrative. I will openly admit that I’ve written pieces where this did not work, and it took some effort and revisions to make it go smoothly for This Beautiful World. But it can be done.

Who are some of your favorite fictional narrators?