Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing: Miss Mae, Dialogue, Settings, and Editing, Giveaways

Hello and welcome to our series, Romance and Mystery Authors on Writing. Our "tipster" author today is Miss Mae.  She is giving away of three downloads/ gift coupons of her mystery, It’s Elementary, My Dear Winifred. Enjoy an excerpt and please leave a comment to be eligible for the drawing on Sunday at 9 p.m.

DIALOGUE:

Make it believable. I still have a hard time with this one, though, especially if I’ve included a set of characters from different regions of the globe. I’m wondering, ‘am I writing this right? Is this what they’d say?’ However, for my Victorian books set in London, I’ve had a wonderful critique partner who lives in England. She’s set me right on the many different accents. So I advise finding someone who lives where your character does, if that’s possible. 

SETTINGS: 

I like to have my characters all in one area where I can control them. For instance, I mean, if I should place my story in France, then I’d need to describe the landscape, the sight, the smells of the area. To be realistic, I should have at least visited there so I could get everything correct. Well, I’ve not been there. So, to get beyond that hurdle, I’ll create something to where I don’t have to write that. I’ll set all my characters trapped in a snowstorm, a basement, a closet - anywhere! So that I’m able to “show” my readers the setting through my main character’s senses without actually having set my physical foot anywhere but outside my front door.

1.      EDITING: 

      Get another good pair of eyes. Eek, I still find errors even after three people have read the finished work. LOL

Miss Mae, what was your light bulb moment about your writing experience?  When I decided to self-publish. After having signed with three traditional publishers, then discovering that I was still expected to promote/market as hard as if I were self-published -- well, why not self-pub? I get a bigger pie piece of the royalties this way. 

Back of the book:

 Do bizarre and unusual mysteries only occur in imaginary tales? 

Amateur sleuth Winifred Merryweather, along with dashing newspaper hound Remington Hawthorne, find themselves in the throes of a real life mystery when they’re plunged in the bowels of a dark and ancient castle. Booby-traps abound with disappearing floors, hidden sliding panels, and spider-webbed shadowy corridors.

Danger threatens to steal Winifred’s very breath -- or is that the annoying allure of Remington’s flirtatious charms?

AMAZON BUY LINK: (print copy):  AMAZON

About Miss Mae

Miss Mae is all about romantic mysteries. Said the Spider to the Fly, When the Bough Breaks, Dove Island, It’s Elementary, My Dear Winifred and See No Evil, My Pretty Lady 

are award winning best sellers. Her latest, Catch Me If You Can, and the novellas, Miss Penelope’s Letters and Through a Glass Darkly, have already received top rated five-star reviews. Tantalizing trailers and more information are readily available at Miss Mae's website

Miss Mae also enjoys writing humor and non-fiction articles. Some of her publications can be found in The Front Porch Magazine, Good Old Days, and WritersWeekly.

Her alter ego, M.M.,  has her first children’s/humor book, Ahoy Gum Drop! In this slightly cracked tale, readers are introduced to I.B. Nosey, the ‘official unofficial’ reporter. To learn more about cyberspace’s only Pukelitzer Award winning interviewer, visit ‘Feeling Nosey?’