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I wrote a nonfiction book in 2009 for and about a man and woman in Chiefland, Florida, who suffered first through an act of terrorism in Angola and then faced full-blow Post Traumatic Stress Disorder symptoms for nearly two decades as they faced the trials of the man’s kidnappers. Two Moons in Africa: Barbara and Brent Swan’s Story of Terrorism by Patricia Camburn Behnke (my former name).

From January 26 to February 26, I’m offering a giveaway of two autographed hardcover copies on Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ.

The book also isÌý for sale on my , in both paperback and hardcover. Visit the e-store on at for details on ordering.

Book Giveaway For Two Moons in Africa

Two Moons in Africa


Enter to win
Giveaway dates: Jan 26-Feb 26, 2013

Description: Two Moons in Africa (nonfiction book 2009) � On October 19, 1990, Brent Swan, of Chiefland, Florida, was kidnapped in Angolo by members of the Front for the Liberation of the Enclave of Cabinda in Angola. When he was finally released 61 days later, Brent provided the FBI with complete descriptions of his kidnappers and their camps, but it took until 2003 for just one of those kidnappers to be brought to trial, with outstanding warrants still on file with the U.S. Justice Department for three others. The U.S. government contacts the Swans and gives them information when they might need Brent as a witness, and each time they receive a call, they are thrown back to 1990 and forced to relieve the nightmare once again. There are days when they aren’t sure who the real terrorists are. Two Moons in Africa: Barbara and Brent Swan’s Story of Terrorism brings Brent out of the jungle with Barbara at his side. It is the story of Brent’s literal journey into a dark and dank jungle at the hands of rebels. It is the story of Barbara’s journey as well as she awaited first his release and then his recovery. It is the story of the love between two people who suffered and survived. But it is also the story of a country crammed with deadly land mines and embroiled in decades-long civil wars. It tells of a people destroyed by hopeless poverty while oil fields and diamond mines sit within view but beyond reach. It shows the true meaning of Africa as the Dark Continent. It is the story of rebels so intent upon their cause that the troubles of one American family have no bearing upon their fight. In fact, these fighters for Cabinda’s liberation felt they were so right in their cause, they made Brent Swan an honorary citizen of a country that does not exist except in their minds. It is also the story of how victims of terrorism are treated in the aftermath of the terrorist act as justice is sought but not always achieved. Two Moons in Africa represents their desire to tell the story. It is Barbara’s and Brent’s attempt to take control of a situation that has been out of their hands since 1990. But it has never been out of their minds or hearts or souls.

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It’s time to start another book now that is finished. Finding the time to begin the new work is nearly impossible because my days are taken up with promoting the novel, submitting it to different websites, and finding reviewers for the book.

I’m not really starting a new book this time. I began a novel in 2006, but then life interrupted, and I set it aside. When I pulled it out of the drawer yesterday, I was amazed that I had written more than 300 pages. How did that happen? For the past six years, I wrote two other novels, and Trails in the Sand. But Safe Harbor � the book’s working title � sat in the drawer waiting for me to do my research.

I remember thinking right before I put it away that I needed to interview a wildlife expert, preferably a wildlife officer. Safe Harbor is about an international consortium that wants to build “perfect� living communities with an environment filled with wild and endangered wildlife. The two main characters are environmentalists who attempt to uncover the truth about the community. But I needed to do some research about wildlife and the laws regarding endangered species.

As life would have it, within two months of putting down the novel, I took a job with the as a public relations director. For four years, I worked with wildlife biologists, wildlife officers, and wildlife conservationists. I trampled through the Everglades in pursuit of the Burmese python. I worked with experts on Florida’s panthers, alligators, bears, freshwater turtles, and sea turtles.

I’ve done my research. Now what do I do?

First, I read the book. I began with the first chapter yesterday and here’s my process.

Note cards: I put the name of each character on a note card. I put down relevant information on the card to help me keep details straight. I put year of birth, marriages, divorces, etc. When I have a card for each character, I pin each card on a bulletin board on the wall across from my desk. I group them by relationships. I also put any cross references to other characters on the cards.

Characters: As I go through the first reading, I’ll assess the depth of the characters. I know I have a few peripheral characters in this book so I have to make sure they are essential to the plot and have enough substance to remain in the book.

Dialogue:Ìý Sometimes I read the dialogue aloud to see if it sounds realistic. I’ll ask questions. Does the dialogue seem too formal? Sometimes writers forget to use contractions or slang or have a character using not true to the characterization developed. For me as a reader, nothing turns me off from a book than unrealistic dialogue. I still struggle with dialogue at times. Each time I write a novel, I learn more and appreciate the comments of my beta readers. On my last book, one of them asked why I had a husband and wife speaking to one another in such a formal tone. I reread the passage and was shocked. She was right. That question guided me through the revisions of the next draft.

Point of View:Ìý Point of view is another tricky little task to tackle and understand. Again, when I’m reading a book with a point of view that jumps around or isn’t established at all within the book, I’m a goner. I’ve experimented with point of view. I’ve written two completely in first person. I wrote one with the omniscient third person point of view â€� which to me is one of the trickiest forms, and I don’t think I’d do it again. In Trails in the Sand, I experimented with chapters from the three main characters. In Safe Harbor, the point of view is third person limited, but I switch the limited view between characters in different chapters. I’m not a fan of switching point of view in the middle of a chapter. I may decide on a different point of view in Safe Harbor as I begin revisions. I did that in Trails in the Sand after my beta readers made some comments about how I was portraying the real-life events playing out in the oil spill and coal mine disaster. So I inserted short chapters of narrative coverage of the environmental disasters taken from news reports and press releases. I suggest writers play around with point of view.

±Ê±ô´Ç³Ù:Ìý Since it’s been six years since I’ve worked on this novel, I’ll probably do a timeline and outline of the story as I read. I often move around chapters or bits of pieces of information. I love doing this because only one person is in charge of how the story plays out. We don’t often get that much control in life.

I have lots of work to do, but I’m ready to do it. I hate having an unfinished book sitting dormant in a drawer. Now I won’t have any. I look forward to the day when I’m ready to start another novel from scratch, but at this point, I don’t have any idea what I might write next. That doesn’t bother me. It always comes to me if I just let it go and let my subconscious do that work. My job is to remain conscious enough to allow the story to sift into my brain.

I always tell my friends they need to be careful what they tell me because they might end up in my next novel.

How do you get your ideas?

I’m looking for reviewers for Trails in the Sand. I’ll be happy to gift you either an ebook version or print copy in return for an honest review. Leave me a comment or email me at [email protected]. Thanks for your consideration.

Available in print and ebook

Fellow author and blogger, Rachelle Ayala has released a new book this week, . The book is available for .99 cents January 21-23 on amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.

Synopsis:

Maryanne Torres is a compassionate nurse who fails at relationships. After a string of losers, she swears off premarital sex, hoping to land a marrying type of man.

Lucas Knight, a law-school dropout, moves to California to train for the Ironman Triathlon. He’s smart, sweet, and everything Maryanne wants in a man, but their relationship suffers from his dedication to the sport. Seeking consolation in the arms of a handsome preacher’s son, Maryanne attends a church party where she is raped.

Maryanne is pregnant from the rape and plans to abort. But the identity of her rapist is hidden in her baby’s DNA. Lucas asks Maryanne to seek alternatives and pledges to support her through the pregnancy. When Lucas becomes the prime suspect, Maryanne must clear his name and make a life changing decision.

The rapist has other ideas. In order to destroy the evidence, he offers Maryanne an illegal offshore abortion. With Maryanne’s life in danger, Lucas races to save her and her baby. However, Maryanne hides a secret that threatens to tear them apart forever.

A 99,000-word women’s fiction, deals with the consequences of rape and abortion.

From the Author

is an emotional and hard-hitting story about a young woman facing a heart-wrenching decision. We’ve heard the rhetoric, maybe even argued over the issue of abortion and rape. But behind the debates are real people—women and men with real problems and feelings. My story is not meant to be preachy, but compassionate, especially for post-abortive parents seeking closure. I think people on both sides of the fence will find meaning in the changes that both Maryanne and Lucas go through. Ultimately, it is an uplifting story, and my hope is that it will be a help to you.

From Rachelle Ayala

I am the author of three novels: Michal’s Window, a historical romance between King David and his first wife, the princess Michal, Broken Build, a romantic suspense thriller set in a Silicon Valley startup, and Hidden Under Her Heart, a story about a nurse wrestling with her decision to abort. My stories tend to be dramatic and emotional, crossing genres and cultures. I like to dive deep and live through my characters� eyes. Each of them are passionate but flawed women paired with conflicted men with good hearts. I hope you enjoy the emotional journey I take you on. I love to hear from readers. Please contact me on Facebook: or my blog:

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I’ve been invited to partake in a blog-hop soon, and I need five authors to post the week after me. I’ll post your contact information on my post Jan. 31. In my post, I’ll answer ten questions about my latest work. On Feb. 7, the authors I linked in my post will do the same thing by answering the questions and posting links to five other authors. It doesn’t take much time, but it certainly helps expose your work to a wider audience.

Any authors who are interested, please send me a message via , , or email at [email protected].

I’ll be answering questions about my new novelÌýwhich will be launched on Jan. 30 although it’s available on amazon.com right now.

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Confession time: ÌýI’ve never been a great fan of writing. It leaves me cold. That’s not to say he isn’t a brilliant writer; I’m only saying his style of writing is not my favorite. I go more for and .

Nonetheless, I longed to read , a nonfiction account of his years in Paris during the 1920s. He wrote the book almost thirty years after his life of sharing drinks and philosophies with Gertrude Stein, Ezra Pound, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, and many others of that era. The period and place fascinate me as I’ve often wondered what it must have been like to have so many creative geniuses gathered in one place, sharing and hording ideas and discussing the process of creating when all the rules went with the winds of war so recently fought.

The book didn’t disappoint. A Moveable Feast is the first book of Hemingway’s that I enjoyed and read in almost one sitting. His descriptions of his writing process intrigued me. Here’s a few gems that moved me and made me consider my process.

Here’s what he told himself when he became stuck as he started a new story: “Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence.�

I tell myself something similar every time I face a blank page. Then I just write the first thing that comes to mind about the topic. I wonder what one true sentence might mean. He describes it as a simple, declarative sentence. So I suppose that’s all it is: the simplest thing to be said in the most concise way. What do you think is “one true sentence?�

�. . .I learned not to think about anything that I was writing from the time I stopped writing until I started writing the next day. That way my subconscious would be working on it and at the same time I would be listening to other people and noticing everything. . .�

Sometimes it’s difficult to shut it off, but I believe he’s right about letting the subconscious work it out. Whenever I’ve agonized over a scene or character, nothing comes, and I become more frustrated. When I let it go and forget it about, I often wake in the morning with the perfect solution to the problem. Are you able to let it go when you put down the pen or stop the fingers?

“I had learned already never to empty the well of my writing, but always to stop when there was still something in the deep part of the well, and let it refill at night from the springs that fed it.�

This is fairly similar to the last one, and again, it’s the way I write. I stop writing when I’ve figured out a way to begin or end a scene. I take down some notes on how I want to proceed, and then I start fresh the next day after that time of letting it go to the subconscious. Of course, this is in the perfect world of writing � it doesn’t often happen that way. I’ve emptied the well and had to quit until I could pull in the hose and fill it up again.

“I always worked until I had something done and I always stopped when I knew what was going to happen next.�

Yep. It’s the best way to end the writing day. I’ve ended in the middle of scenes. I read somewhere that Somerset Maugham ended his writing day in the middle of a sentence so he always had a place to start the following day. I don’t go that far, but I do like to stop so I don’t face an empty page the next day. Do you find this a helpful way to write?

Hemingway to Fitzgerald: “Write the best story that you can and write it as straight as you can.�

Amen.

Ìý

Last October I wrote a blog post of their e-books.Ìý
In the meantime I discovered even more reasons to have at least a small amount of printed books
listed. ÌýRead on:

E-book authors might be happy with their sales on Amazon, Apple, Kobo or Barnes & Noble. You might have even turned it into an audio book.

Good discussion of print editions. I agree with the author of this post. I hope to be back next week as I'm still recovering from a virus.

The number one tip I learned from my writing in 2012 is to write cinematically, write like you’re laying out an already-told story, and the most important factor of this is writing truthfully (that means not trying too hard).

I don’t think I read a single book on plot, characters, writing, etc in 2012. And my fiction

Some favourites from 2012!

Good advice from author Rebecca Berto.

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As the new year approaches, I’m thinking about what I want to accomplish in 2013 as an author. Perhaps if I share these goals here in a public forum there will be more chance of keeping them. I’m writing this post from the road in Florida. I’ll return home on New Years� Eve, refreshed and recharged from time spent with family and friends and the sun. When I return, I’m hoping I’ll be ready to tackle these goals, or I could come home with a revised list after time away. Travel always helps me focus.

I accomplished many of my goals for 2012. I began writing full time. I published a novel that had languished far too long in a desk drawer (), I began blogging on a regular basis and developed a modest following (thank you), and I finished Trails in the Sand, which is almost ready for its big launch at the start of 2013. The only goal that didn’t occur:Ìý I didn’t become a bestselling author. . .yet.

Writing Goals for 2013

Launch . I published it on amazon and have a print copy ready to proof. I plan to do a big launch for the novel by the end of January.
Finish Safe Harbor. I started this novel in 2007 but stopped when I decided I needed to find a wildlife officer to interview. I left for the big , which led to the creation of Live from the Road. When I returned from Route 66, I took a new job with Florida’s fish and wildlife agency and became very familiar with wildlife officers and experts. Now there’s no excuse not to finish the almost completed draft. I start by pulling out the spiral notebook where it’s housed and giving it a read. I always recommend that writers let pieces incubate, but five years isn’t what I meant.

manuscript waiting for its creator

Publish a book of essays on my travels. I already have a name: Odyssey to Myself. I have most of the pieces written in various stages. It’s a matter of pulling it all together into one cohesive story of my travels from 2004-2009 as I discarded an old life and moved into a new phase.

Santiago, Chile

Pull together all of my gardening blog posts from my blog into a book. I see it as a primer for gardening and preserving produce. Again, I have all the pieces here and there, I just need to pull it all together.

our garden

Read the pile of books on my desk, both fiction and nonfiction. Reading is an essential part of the writing journey. How fortunate for me to have a career that requires reading for improving my craft.

just a few books to read

Establish myself as a bestselling author. Every year this one makes it to my list. Here’s to 2013 as being the year it happens. For me, this goal refers to making a living as an author. I want to be able to pay more than the electrical bill each month with the proceeds from my storytelling.

Ìý

In 2012, I finally believed in my success as an author. Perhaps that’s all that matters. The realization came twice. When I finished reading the final draft of Trails in the Sand, I cried happy tears because I loved the story I created, whether anyone else did or not. The second time occurred this past week. My husband was reading. He looked up at one point and said, “Now that’s good � that’s just plain good writing.� I wasn’t sure what he meant because I wasn’t paying attention to what he was reading. When I looked at him, I saw he had the proof copy of Trails in his lap, and he was tapping his pen on words I’d written. That to me is success, but I’d still like to pay more than the electric bill with my work.

Do you set goals at the beginning of each year? Does it help keep you on track?

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I decided the best way to celebrate another year was to giveaway my book during the holidays. I’m a Christmas baby (December 23). I’m grateful I made it through another year, and I’m extremely grateful to have published two book in 2012. went “live� on amazon in May, and last week, I very quietly published . The big launch will come in January when I have a few reviews posted. The book examines the wounds inflicted through generations of a family while the Deepwater horizon oil spill threatens Florida’s endangered sea turtles. I call it an environmental love story, but no one recognizes that as a genre. . . yet.

The first opportunity for a giveaway, over at ends tomorrow. She has more giveaways to offer than just Live from the Road. It’s the End of the World Blog hop, and that’s right, it ends on December 21, 2012. But I’m sure you’ll all be here to read whichever book you might win.

Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ Giveaway â€� Two autographed print editions of Live from the Road will be given away. Enter to win now through December 31, 2012.

Live from the Road � December 21-25, 2012. Happy birthday to me and Merry Christmas to you. You can take a trip down Route 66 for free without leaving home.

Ìý

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Two books, two male authors, and two similar disillusioned looks at love kept me reading late into the night recently.

I admit I read books written by women with intriguing female protagonists most of the time. It’s my preferred choice because I’m a female author who creates female protagonists in pursuit of truth and love. But I reached my quota a few months ago after reading one too many “bestselling� novels by “bestseller� female authors. The last novels disappointed me with weak plots and annoying female leads.

I decided I needed a break from my “studies.� It’s not that I don’t like male writers � and are two of my all-time favorites � it’s just that I study in the genre I write. Sometimes it helps to break with routine.

I turned to and . I enjoyed Middlesex, his novel that received a Pulitzer Prize in 2002, so I eagerly awaited his next book published ten years later.

Ìý

The Marriage Plot takes a different approach when a love triangle forms with Madeleine at the center as she writes her senior thesis on female authors from the nineteenth century who formed the “marriage plot� of the era.

Madeleine’s love interests, Leonard and Mitchell, provide glimpses at very different versions of intellectual prowess. The novel begins at Brown University and follows the characters through college and beyond as they travel and do post-graduate studies. The book has received criticism for being pretentious in its literary ramblings and collegial discussions.

I found it refreshing to read a novel not watered down to achieve the eighth-grade national reading level. I learned about things I’d never heard of before , such as semiotics, and I felt intelligent when I understood the genius behind the madness of Madeleine, Mitchell, and Leonard. Thank you, Mr. Eugenides, for taking ten years to write a novel of substance.

Since I enjoyed reading one male author so much, I ventured immediately into another one on my shelf purchased from the discount bin at the local bookstore. creates a rich portrait of a female protagonist in .

Again, I found myself immersed in the life of an intelligent and literary main character, Jane. Jane loves, loses, and learns to rise up above the ashes of her pitiful life. Despite the outrageous plot contrivances and the unbelievable tragedies that befall Jane, I was intrigued by her pain and poor decision-making abilities. I moaned a couple of times when I recognized the brink Jane teetered on, but I still became invested in Jane’s redemption.

After these books, I went to another male author. Ernest Hemingway has never been one of my favorite writers, but I wanted to read his account of his Paris years in . That’s for another post.

Next, I’m embarking on a book I found impossible to read in serial form when it was released back in 1987 in Rolling Stone. But it’s the twenty-fifth anniversary of the release of so I thought I’d give it a try. Now it will be an historical account rather than a contemporary examination Wall Street and New York City. At 700 pages, don’t expect me to write about it anytime soon, if I can embrace it this time around.

Have you read either of these novels?Ìý What did you think? What are you reading now?