Interview with Rebecca J. Vickery

Thanks so much for joining us today, Rebecca!  We'll begin with your bio.

I’m Rebecca J. Vickery and I write primarily contemporary romance with a twist of the paranormal (special gifts), adventure, mystery, or suspense along the way to a happy ever after ending. This year I also added speculative fiction and suspense short stories to my list of published works and I am enjoying the new challenge. Most recently, with the help of my friend and talented cover artist, Laura Shinn, I founded Victory Tales Press, a small independent press for a select group of authors. Then to fill a different niche, I began helping certain authors and friends discover Indie-Publishing.

I’ve been married to the same extremely patient man since 1975, and we have one son and three wonderful grandchildren, plus a neurotic toy poodle. I’m also the primary caregiver for my mother and a firm believer in the saving grace of God.

To keep up with Rebecca's projects or to check out her work, visit:

http://www.romancewithatwist.com/

[Anne] Tell us about your latest book.

[Rebecca] My latest published story is actually in A Halloween Collection Anthology. Victory Tales Press has published two anthologies for Halloween, one sweet to mildly sensual and the other we called Stimulating as it contains more detailed romance stories. My story, A Haunting Love, is in the second book. It is the story of a young woman who house-sits in a large Victorian during Halloween week. After various problems which led to her meeting a handsome police officer, she discovers the house is haunted. She decides maybe she can deal with that—until All Hallow’s Eve when the ghost takes over.

[Anne] What inspired you to write this story?

[Rebecca] I love all the legends and tales about Halloween. I wanted to take a traditional idea like a haunted house and do something unusual with it. It was a difficult story for me as I tried to rein in my characters too much at first. Upon good advice from several authors, I finally turned Trudy and Simon loose and A Haunting Love is the result.

[Anne] How did you go about researching your book?

[Rebecca] For this particular story I spent a lot of time Googling and jumping from site to site scanning articles and then searching a new or different term I would find. I spent hours reading about hauntings, binding spells, curses, candles, herbs, and how witches go about casting and breaking spells. I found it fascinating and, of course, all that research translates to only a few passages in the actual story, but I hope it makes it feel more authenticate for our readers.

[Anne] Do you have anything new in the works?

[Rebecca] I am currently working on another story for our Christmas Anthologies. Victory Tales Press will have four books available in mid-November spanning the heat levels of sweet, sensual, stimulating, and spicy. I think everyone should be able to find a book of stories they will like. I also have two romance novels in progress, Healing Rain and Finding Treasure. I hope to have those ready for publication soon. Healing Rain is about a touch healer with a special affinity for horses. Finding Treasure features a young woman with the special gift of being able to locate lost objects, even if they were lost decades ago.

[Anne] What is your writing process like? Are you a plotter or a pantster?

[Rebecca] I am a definite pantser. Whenever I try to rein in my MUSE, she goes on vacation. I usually begin with a spark of an idea and my Muse quickly gives me character descriptions and names along with a situation which needs to be dealt with. Then the characters take over and most often it seems I just take notes as they give me their story. This can be most distracting if I’m driving or cooking.

[Anne] If you could be anyone of your characters, which one would you chose to be and why?

[Rebecca] I really think I would want to be Stacey Parker from Surviving With Love. She is a strong, independent woman with a kind, loving heart. She has a great career and a wonderful family. Then she meets a challenging, irritating man who is the dark, brooding, macho type. Yes... I want to be Stacey Parker.

[Anne] Say your publisher has offered to fly you anywhere in the world to do research on an upcoming book, where would you most likely want to go?

[Rebecca] I think I would want to go to Hawaii. Tropical weather, sandy beaches, beautiful oceans and flowers, plus the native culture, would be interesting to explore and research. There are also ranches and mountains to add some variety. I think I could find all kinds of inspiration there. I’ve wanted to see Hawaii ever since Magnum PI was filmed there.

[Anne] You’ve just been informed that your latest release was a NY Times bestseller and Hollywood wants to turn it into a movie. What actors would you choose to play your main characters?

[Rebecca] My latest romance release is Seeking Shelter. I would need a cowboy type for the hero, Brigham, and a young woman who would be good with horses to play Kat. Hmmm... Rachel McAdams would be my pick for Kat and for Brig, maybe Paul Walker. I think I would need a lot of leading men to “audition” for me before I could definitely decide on the male actor to play Brig.

[Anne] What type of books do you like to read when you’re not writing?

[Rebecca] I love psychic mystery romances such as Kay Hooper’s Bishop Special Crime Unit Series. She has signed with a new publisher who is going to allow her to continue the series. I’m really looking forward to them, even though I have no time to read anymore. I also enjoy suspense, some fantasy, and a bit of sci-fi. I truly read almost everything when given a chance.

[Anne] Name three things you can’t live without (excluding spouses and family because that’s a given).

[Rebecca] That one is easy for me. Would have to be chocolate, Dr. Pepper, and my computer.

[Anne] What advice would you give to any aspiring writers out there?

[Rebecca] Keep writing and believe in yourself. Continue to study your craft and try to learn from your mistakes and the mistakes of those around you. Join writers’ groups with a positive attitude. No one needs a downer all the time. Be open to new ideas and technology. Our industry is changing and evolving and we have to change with it. And finally, don’t become so obsessed with getting a contract that you sign one without doing some research and considering all your options.

[Anne] Where can we find you on the web?

[Rebecca] My home website for my romance novels is http://www.romancewithatwist.com/ My blog is http://rebeccajvickery.blogspot.com. The Victory Tales Press website is http://victorytalespress.yolasite.com and my new website for authors who want to Indie-Publish with me is http://www.rebeccajvickery.com/ I’m also on FaceBook and Twitter as rebeccajvickery

[Anne] And where can we purchase your books?

[Rebecca] I make the highest royalties if my books are purchased through Smashwords. https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/rebeccajvickery My books are at most major online retailers and are available in ebook and print.

Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/Rebecca-J.-Vickery/

Barnes & Noble - http://productsearch.barnesandnoble.com/search/results.aspx?ATH=Rebecca+J.+Vickery&STORE=book

[Anne] Is there anything else you’d like to add?

[Rebecca] I want to thank you for spending this time with me. I always enjoy visiting the Suspense by Anne blog. I’m a big fan.

[Anne] Thank you, Rebecca!  I’m a big fan of yours too, my friend.

Choosing Active or Passive Voice - Why Should We? By Rebecca J. Vickery

Editors and Publishers always say: “SHOW, don’t tell!”

Why? What is the big deal?

The simple answer I received over and over again: “Our readers want action. They don’t want to be told what happened, they want to be drawn into the action. They want to escape into the story and experience it through the characters.”

Active and Passive Voices are the difference between showing and telling. What are Active and Passive Voice?

Active voice, when written well, draws the reader in, lets them share in the story, and involves and excites the emotions. It SHOWS what happens. The characters live the story and take the reader along.

Passive voice, through the use of passive verbs and sentence construction, pushes our readers back, removes them from the action, and makes them sit in their chair while being TOLD what happened.

A very smart lady once asked me, “Would you rather swim in the pool or sit on the side and watch others have fun in the water?” Her point being: Active is swimming in the pool and Passive is watching others swim in the water. A simplistic way of saying it, but I’m a simple kind of gal. My quandary is I really do think there is the odd time when watching is better, but I must admit, normally I’d rather be swimming.

Then is Passive Voice always wrong? Should I always choose Active Voice over Passive Voice? Many of my sentences just don’t sound right without a “was” or an “is” or even a “has been”.

This answer by Dennis G Jerz (http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/grammar/act-pass.htm) was one of the easiest for me to grasp:

The Passive Voice Is not Wrong - Passive verbs are not automatically wrong. When used rarely and deliberately, the passive voice serves an important purpose. Use them to best effect in these instances:

When you wish to downplay the action: example - Mistakes will be made, and lives will be lost; the sad truth is learned anew by each generation.

When you wish to downplay the actor: example - Three grams of reagent 'A' were added to a beaker of 10% saline solution. (The writer avoided switching to first person involving the use of “I” by using Passive Voice.)

When the actor is unknown: example - The victim was approached from behind and hit over the head with a salami.

How do we, as writers, make sure we are showing rather than telling?

A short refresher on verbs and sentence structure might help. After all, it’s been a while since high school and/or college English for most of us.

Choosing Active or Passive Verbs? The voice of a verb indicates the strength of the subject in a sentence. It tells us whether that subject takes action or receives action. There are two possible voices: active and passive. In the active voice, the stronger form, the subject of the sentence takes the action of the verb. Our army won the battle. The subject army is strong since it takes action. This sentence uses the active voice. In the passive voice, the weaker form, the subject is acted upon. The battle was won by our army. In this sentence, the subject battle is weak because it receives the action of the army. It takes no action of its own —a battle cannot win itself — and so the sentence uses the passive voice.

Learn to recognize the differences in Active/Passive sentence structure.

Mr. Jerz (http://jerz.setonhill.edu/writing/grammar/act-pass.htm) once again had some useful information:

How to Recognize Active and Passive Sentences

Find the subject (the main character of the sentence).

Find the main verb (the action that the sentence identifies).

Examine the relationship between the subject and main verb.

Does the subject perform the action of the main verb? (If so, the sentence is active.)

Does the subject sit there while something else (named or unnamed) performs an action on it? (If so, the sentence is passive.)

Can't tell? If the main verb is a linking verb ("is," "was," "are," "seems (to be)," "becomes" etc.), then the verb functions like an equals sign; there is no action involved -- it merely describes a state of being. The sentence is neither Active or Passive (but in most cases editors and publishers consider them passive as they show no action - use these sparingly in creative writing)

The most helpful advice is to write. Write a short paragraph then dissect what you write as above and see if it is active or passive and why. See which you like best and which gets your message across to your readers.

Happy Writing!

Rebecca J. Vickery can be found at:
http://romancewithatwist.com/
http://rebeccajvickery.com/
http://victorytalespress.yolasite.com/

The newest anthologies for Halloween are now available from Victory Tales Press. They are featured on my blog with a chance to win one of 2 ebooks during a drawing. Drop by: http://rebeccajvickery.blogspot.com
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