Novel – Page 8 – The Stories of Scott D. Southard

November 12, 2013

Working The Audience: A Very Useful Writing Trick
I am a little bit of a helpless romantic.

For those who read my novel A Jane Austen Daydream that is not at all surprising. And before I met my wife I thought of my writing as a gateway to the heart.

I was one of those fools that bought into the lie of the romantic novels and the romantic comedy films. You see this plot twist all the time! That grand gesture that makes a person reconsider another in a different light. Oh, it is a great idea in a story, but we all know, honestly, it goes against how people are wired in the real world.

Short stories with hidden messages (and not so hidden ones), books, and I still squirm to remember the poetry. I have admitted a lot of embarrassing stuff on this site, but this is one of those few memories I still want to crawl into a cave and live out my remaining days because of. Yup, just the hint of it makes me want to become a hermit.

I, Scott Southard, was the creator of bad love poems. And I have sent them, strategically left them around, and even mailed them once anonymously in the hope that it would make another stop and see me as hotter (as some kind of light rock classic kicks on in the background like in a bad movie). In the end it never worked… and, by the way, the recipient of the anonymous love poems didn’t even figure out they were from me until I said something! Ouch!

All those bad memories aside, there is something to be said for the importance of an audience. I’m not just talking about the readers all writers dream to have, I mean that more enigmatic dream of a reader. The one we hope will find our work, the one in the back of our mind that drives the creation forward. They demand the story. What many don’t realize is that dream reader can be a tool, and can help over many different steps in the creative process if used right. Just be sure to leave the poetry at home… (more…)
Share this:
Email
X
Facebook
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Reddit
Print
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Like Loading…
November 7, 2013

“Touching… Entertaining… Unexpected…” The Historical Novel Society reviews A Jane Austen Daydream!
This week, my new novel A Jane Austen Daydream was reviewed in the recent issue of the Historical Novel Society! So very cool.

Here is an excerpt:

Novels are also little fun if predictable and in creating a story of Jane’s life, where the facts and incidents are already known, Scott Southard has managed to produce both an unexpected and unconventional story. A Jane Austen Daydream captures the warmth, laughter, folly, wisdom, and grief that must have been present in Jane’s family life and surroundings for her to have produced her novels. And in Southard’s novel dear Jane is given a much kinder end.

You can read the entire positive review here.

A Jane Austen Daydream can be purchased in print ($13.46) or as an eBook for the outrageously low price of $3.99 for Kindle. You can find it on Amazon here (http://amzn.com/B00CH3HQUU). I hope you will consider checking it out.
Share this:
Email
X
Facebook
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Reddit
Print
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Like Loading…
November 3, 2013

“Wonderfully Written” New review for A Jane Austen Daydream
I just found this great new review of A Jane Austen Daydream on Cindy Wade’s blog The Writer BackBlogger.

Here is an excerpt from it:

At times I felt as though Scott knew something everyone else didn’t. As if he had been there personally and was sharing her life with his readers.

I cannot remember when last a book evoked such strong emotions within. I laughed out loud and cried really hard and was shocked, excited, disgusted and sometimes perplexed.

I couldn’t put this novel down until the charming end after which I sat down with a cup of tea and started my very own daydream.

You can read the rest of the review here.

A Jane Austen Daydream can be purchased in print ($13.46) or as an eBook for the outrageously low price of $3.99 for Kindle.
Share this:
Email
X
Facebook
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Reddit
Print
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Like Loading…
October 24, 2013

New WKAR Book Review: Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane
I’m back on the radio with a review of the new novel by Neil Gaiman, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. You can hear my review via the WKAR’s Current State website here:

http://wkar.org/post/book-review-ocean-end-lane

WKAR also has a new page for all of my book reviews, which you can find here. You can also learn more about my reviews via this page on my site.

You can find Neil Gaiman’s new novel on Amazon (here) and at any bookstore. If you would rather read my book review than hear it, you can do so below . I hope you enjoy it. (more…)
Share this:
Email
X
Facebook
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Reddit
Print
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Like Loading…
September 17, 2013

“…head over heels” An Interview With The Booknatics About A Jane Austen Daydream
Recently, I had the pleasure to be interviewed by The Booknatics about my new book A Jane Austen Daydream. They also shared some of their thoughts on the work, which I found very flattering. You can read the interview and their thoughts on my latest novel here.

Here is part of my reply to a question about the process of creating the book:

Honestly, it took many years before I even had the courage to write the book! For a long time, A Jane Austen Daydream was my Mount Everest, and I would jump to any other project than take it on. It was my wife that argued for me to get on with it, believing wholeheartedly in the project and idea. She definitely earned the dedication in it! I read a few biographies, of course, but I wanted Jane’s own stories and words to direct the plot and the characters and the dialogue. So while I have people from her actual life in it, when it came to mapping the book out, it was definitely more fiction than fact in the end. And then I had to put some of my own plot points in so even the Austenites would be surprised.

(On a side note, one of the fun questions I had to answer was who I would cast to play Jane Austen if the book was ever made into a TV mini-series or a movie. While I am still happy with the two actresses I reference in the article, I want to add a new name; my new first choice for Jane- Catrin Stewart. For those that watch Doctor Who, she plays Jenny Flint and definitely would make a phenomenal Miss Austen.)

You can read the interview here. If you would like to learn more about A Jane Austen Daydream, you can do so on this page for the book (here). A Jane Austen Daydream is available via Amazon (here), where you can find it for the low price of $3.99 for eBook and $13.46 for print.
Share this:
Email
X
Facebook
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Reddit
Print
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Like Loading…
September 15, 2013

“I love, love, love this book!” New Reactions to A Jane Austen Daydream
One of my favorite things in the world is tracking the reaction to A Jane Austen Daydream. Seriously, it can turn around any day I am having. Recently, I discovered two fun reactions to my new novel.

On her blog Tapestry of Words blogger Becky Shillington in her post “My Half-Full Glass and What I’ve Been Reading” mentioned A Jane Austen Daydream, saying:

I love, love, love this book! Mr. Southard says up front that this is not a biography of Jane Austen, but is instead a projection of what he imagines her life to have been like. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his interpretation, and was gratified at the end of the book because I felt like Miss Austen finally had an opportunity to be the heroine of a story. It has always saddened me that she died at such a young age, but as Mr. Southard suggests, maybe there is more to her story than we know.

You can read the rest of her post here.

Also, I am honored that Lori Nelson Spielman, the popular author of the fun book The Life List (check it out here), wrote a review on Amazon!

Scott Southard captures Jane Austen’s voice in this lovely, thought-provoking novel. Southard deftly weaves fact with fiction, giving readers a glimpse into what might have been for our beloved Jane. Fans of Austen will adore this book.

A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM is published by Madison Street Publishing and can be purchased in print and as an eBook for only $3.99. It is available for the Kindle, Nook, and Kobo.
Share this:
Email
X
Facebook
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Reddit
Print
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Like Loading…
September 14, 2013

Tackling The Problem of the Agent Query Letter
There are no guarantees in the world of writing.

You may feel after completing that dream novel that you are standing in a packed football stadium ready to kick the field goal. And this should be an easy one! You already did the hard work bringing the ball this close down the field, right? That was those hours writing and outlining and planning until late in the morning. And in all of your dreams, this part of the writing career was easy. It always is. The field goal is right there!

The sad thing is that in reality the holder with the ball is a little bit like Lucy from Peanuts. Which makes you something akin to Charlie Brown.

Now before you lose hope with that analogy, let me remind you that Charlie Brown actually did get to kick the football once or twice. Granted, one of those times was in a TV special and he was invisible thanks to Snoopy and some happenstance magic. But that is how things sometimes work in the world of literature as well. Sometimes you need that bit of luck… or a dog with a magic wand.

The first step to achieving your dream, the field goal, is getting that agent. They are the gatekeepers to the big publishing houses. Here are some suggestions to consider before you start running up to the ball.

(more…)
Share this:
Email
X
Facebook
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Reddit
Print
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Like Loading…
September 10, 2013

My Greatest Hits! Editing, Literary Agents, and New Writers
As part of my introduction on Rebecca T. Dickson’s website for editing/writing services, some of my older writing posts are appearing up there weekly. These are my greatest hits, people!

Currently, three can be found on her site, with more to come…
- The Necessary Humbling of Editing. You can learn a lot about my editing philosophy in this post, as well as my experience working with editors. Oh, and there is a writing horror story as well in it.
- What I learned from having a literary agent. This still is one of the most popular writing posts I have ever written. It’s good to know that my bad experience has helped so many…. Okay, I jest. There are some good lessons in it, and yes, I would still work with an agent again. To be honest, I hope to find one for my new book.
- Welcome to the World of Writing: My Advice for New Writers. What would I have liked to have heard when I started down this thorny path of authoring? This is that post.
If you would like to learn more about hiring me as an editor, you can do so via this page. Or you can contact Rebecca T. Dickson and ask for more information via her site, which you can visit by clicking the image below.
Share this:
Email
X
Facebook
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Reddit
Print
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Like Loading…
August 30, 2013

“A bit of fun” Austenprose Reviews A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM!
When A Jane Austen Daydream was released there were two reviews I was the most nervous about. The first was with the Jane Austen Centre (which you can read here), the second was with Austenprose, probably the most prominent voice in new Austen literature. Seriously, if Entertainment Weekly or the New Yorker found the book, I wouldn’t feel this amount of stress. (Okay, I might as well… and I would love to be tested on that, by the way! Do you hear me book reviewers?)

Yes, A Jane Austen Daydream is my novel and can be read by those who are not schooled in the works of Miss Austen (with some post-modern twists in it), but I really, really wanted my book to be accepted by the Austenites as well. Well, today, I got the review from Austenprose (here) and I am right now breathing a deep sigh of relief.

Here is an excerpt from the review, the reviewer’s response to my depiction of Jane Austen:

The good news is Scott Southard’s Jane is a delightful creature. She is clever and witty and determined to do the best she can for herself, even when things take a turn for the worst. Jane’s dialogue is one of the bright spots in the novel and her thoughts and comments had me smiling (and even laughing) on more than one occasion.

You can read the rest of the review here. If you would like to learn more about A Jane Austen Daydream, you can do so on this page for the book (here). A Jane Austen Daydream is available via Amazon (here), where you can find it for the low price of $3.99 for eBook and $13.46 for print.
Share this:
Email
X
Facebook
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Reddit
Print
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Like Loading…
August 27, 2013

“A great achievement” New book review and interview for A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM
Author and blogger Christoph Fischer has recently given a wonderful review for my new novel A Jane Austen Daydream. Here is an excerpt:

An excellent concept and a great achievement, a must read for Austen fans open for a playful read and those who wish Austen had written more. This is like a little welcome encore for us fans.

I also agreed to be interviewed about the book and my writing. It was a very interesting interview with some fun and serious questions mixed in. This was my response to the question about how the idea of the book came to me:

It was in reading a biography on her that I realized how little her life actually mirrored her books. She did not have a Darcy waiting for her at home, and died far too young and only with her sister and mother for company. So at the heart of A Jane Austen Daydream is my hope to give Jane an adventure she might have wanted for herself… with a few post-modern twists to it. The big twist in the book (which I won’t ruin here) actually grew out of a joke I made once. I still can’t believe I had the guts to do it. But there you go, it’s out there now forever. Let’s see what happens.

You can read the complete review and interview on Christoph’s website here. I hope you will check it out. If you would like to learn more about A Jane Austen Daydream, you can do so on this page for the book (here). A Jane Austen Daydream is available via Amazon (here), where you can find it for the low price of $3.99 for eBook and $13.46 for print.
Share this:
Email
X
Facebook
WhatsApp
Pinterest
Reddit
Print
LinkedIn
Tumblr
Like Loading…