Fun with Trailers

Every June my RWA Chapter does an all day workshop, usually broken down into 4 different mini sessions. This time we had the technically savvy, Anne MacFarlane teaching us about websites and how to create our own using WordPress. Then Stella MacLean extolled the virtues of showing up everyday for your writing whether you felt like it or not. After a tasty lunch at the Redwood Grill, we spent the afternoon with Deb Hale and Jennie Marsland. Deb showed us how psychics could be fun when you apply it to your characters, while Jennie taught us how to make our very own book trailer with Windows MovieMaker.

Now, I’ve been using Windows since it came out and I had never realized it came with MovieMaker. Which may be a good thing since now that I know how to use it (thanks Jennie!), I am completely addicted.

I no sooner arrived home from our workshops than I ran downstairs to the writing room and turned on the computer. My reasoning was that I needed to try this out for myself so I didn’t forget everything Jennie showed us. Of course, she gave us a hand-out explaining everything, but I reasoned I needed to actually ‘do it’ to remember.

I decided on doing a trailer for Book 2 in the Invitation to Scandal series. Now, if I were doing this to use as a publicity / selling tool, I would have to be more careful about using pictures and music that didn’t infringe on anyone’s copyrights, but since I was just making it for personal use, I didn’t worry too much about it. I just wanted a visual inspiration of the book itself. Something I could look at to evoke the theme and mood of the book.

I spent a few hours that night and a few more hours the next day playing around, finding the right wording to tell the story, the most mood-evoking pictures, and of course, the perfect song choice to accompany it as the trailer played.

It was a blast and I loved the end result. What surprised me the most was how the exercise allowed me to really nail down what the story was about. So, of course, now I have to do one for ITS. And then Brimstone. Salvation Falls. I can YouTube pixs or video of the pooch too. And these things can also make great digital photo albums for family and friends…

The possibilities are endless. It’s as addictive as scrapbooking, only with less glue.

Upcoming New Release - DAMAGED by Pam Callow

My own writing has hit the skids a bit of late. I floundered around for the first four months of the year working on my YA and hitting a brick wall. Apparently that’s what happens when all the other elements are working with the one fatal exception of your protagonist’s motivation. After a somewhat disastrous week of trying to figure it out I finally threw in the towel and called a cease fire. Time to shelve the book for now before I blow torch it and dance on its ashes.

In the meantime, I decided I should finish Invitation to Scandal since I’m thisclose to having it completed anyway. I’ve revised the beginning, dropping the horrendous cliché of my heroine twisting her ankle and requiring the hero’s assistance. I opted to throw her into the Serpentine instead. I’m looking at a few contests as well for both ITS and Salvation Falls, which Harlequin have had in their slush pile since last October.

But none of the above has to do with the title of this blog post. The title refers to my oh-so awesome critique partner, Pam Callow’s new release, Damaged, due out the first week in June. This is Pam’s first book, and the first book in the series and already the buzz is hot. Being her CP, I know why. I’ve had the pleasure of reading this book from its early stages to the end and let me tell you, it is amazing. Trust me, you won't be disappointed.

Here’s the blurbage on it:

Haunted by the death of her sister and wounded by her ex-fiancé’s accusations, Kate Lange throws herself into her new career at a high-powered law firm.

When the grandmother of a lonely private school student seeks her counsel, Kate thinks it’s just another custody case. But then the teen is brutally murdered. And it isn’t only Kate who wonders if her legal advice led to the girl’s death.

Put on notice by Randall Barrett, the firm’s charismatic managing partner, Kate must fight for her career, for her reputation-and for redemption.

Unwilling to live with the damage she may have caused, Kate pursues the case on her own and unearths some chilling facts.

Facts that lead straight to the heart of a legal conspiracy.

Facts that lead Kate directly into the surgically skilled hands of the Body Butcher.

Now here’s the visual (love the music on it!):