Savannah Verte Blog Tour
Writing Process
My writing process to me is pretty straight forward. Once I
have a story idea, I talk it out, out loud, for days, sometimes weeks. Once I
have it refined in my head, I start researching key locations or any factual
data that I will need, before I turn to the plot wall and my sticky note stash.
I’m a plotter. I learned the hard way that I cannot pants a
book to save my life, the story gets away from me and goes rampant on tangents.
Once I have the main characters identified, and the key transitions, I start
working the board backwards so I know I end up where I plan to go and put the
pieces in place arc by arc. In several of the books I’ve written, there are
multiple story arcs, so I break each down one by one and put them up on the
wall, before stepping back to see if I’ve left any major holes, or breaks in
the flow. I can see by the color coding that I’ve learned to use if I have a pile
up of action in one place or a lag in another. Hopefully, this keeps the story
moving all the way through and doesn’t leave places for the reader to get
bored.
Before I sit down to actually write, I plug into something
instrumental that lends itself to the mood of the story and ‘read’ the board
scene by scene to make sure I don’t have odd transitions between arcs, or have
somehow have put a scene from one arc ahead of where it should fall in relation
to another. More than once at this point I’ve had to pull an arc down and
replot it to get it to flow and fit with the rest of the tale being told. Once
I sit down to write, it’s too late. The story becomes fluid and jumbled then
and I can’t see the timelines clearly. This final ‘read through’ for me is
critical, and can sometimes take hours or days to get through.
Once the wall is up and done, it’s time to write. Block by
block and scene by scene, I purge the story to words. As each element of the
scene is incorporated, I take the sticky note down and turn it over. I don’t
look back. Usually, within a couple of weeks, the whole story board is blank again
and I have the rough draft done. I run a quick spelling and grammar check,
print it off, and shelve it. After a few weeks, or days if I’ve been working on
something else, I take it back out and read it with my red pen in hand. I make
the corrections I’ve encountered, then I’m done and it’s off to the editor.
After the plotting, the waiting game is the longest part for
me. I actively distract or pamper myself now so I don’t go stir crazy, or fall
to the temptation to interrupt the editor working. Once I have the edits back
and incorporated or declined, the book is formatted and off to betas for go
time and it’s time for me to start working on another story.
Viva Zapata & the Magic 8-Ball
Contemporary Women’s Fiction
Four women face their flaws, fears, and futures when they
meet in person for the first time on a girl's weekend in Las Vegas. Each gets a
bit more than they bargained for as they get to know one another over three
days in Sin City. Truths come out to prompt change as they learn that life is
less about the cards in their hands than the way they play the game.
In the end they realize there is more about them alike than
different and anything is possible with friends who support their journeys.
Three days, a Mexican revolutionary, and a Magic 8-ball that came along for the
ride later, they each leave Las Vegas different than when they arrived.
Sometimes what happens in Vegas can't stay.
One liner: Sometimes what happens in Vegas can’t stay.
Purchase Links:
Amazon: paper- www.amzn.com/0692493867
Ebook- www.amzn.com/B01217QQVQ
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/viva-zapata-the-magic-8-ball-savannah-verte/1122380025?ean=9780692493861
BAM: http://www.booksamillion.com/p/Viva-Zapata-Magic-Ball/Savannah-Verte/9780692493861?id=6782216317791
Book Of Time
Urban Fantasy Suspense
Blurb:
February 1950
It’s been thirty years. Every available Custos, and able
bodied member of White Diamond, have once again converged in New Orleans. The
Book of Time is to be passed to a new Keeper on Mardi Gras Day.
One group comes to make certain the exchange happens, align
the next guardian, and keep them safe for the next thirty years. They had
nearly failed before. They cannot repeat their mistakes.
The other group rallies to take the book and use it to
change the world. They almost had it and the Keeper who could read it in 1890.
In 1920 they botched every step and never had a chance. The book and the Keeper
hadn’t been seen since.
One liner: Whomever controls the book controls the world,
but the book is missing.
Purchase links:
Amazon: Paper- www.amzn.com/1535370793
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/book-of-time-savannah-verte/1124259896?ean=9781535370790
Biography
A lifelong lover of words and reading, Savannah Verte hasn’t
quite figured out what she wants to write when she grows up. Born and raised in
the upper Midwest, Savannah’s gypsy spirit and never quit attitude keep her
busy and seldom idle. For so many reasons, Savannah considers herself a
‘Contemporary Vagabond’ when it comes to writing and hopes that others find her
diverse offerings as enjoyable to read as they are to write.
Her first release in decades, Viva Zapata & the Magic 8-Ball
began the journey August 1, 2015. Her short story, What they didn’t know, was
featured in the January/February BTS magazine, and she co-authored a paranormal
piece, Kingdoms Fall, which came out in early 2016. Her next two solo ventures,
the first two books in The Custos series -Book of Time & Book of Change
also released in 2016. After that, she’ll be working on her competition piece,
Chasing Daylight for Cherry Adair’s Finish the Damn Book Challenge, she has an
upcoming anthology work called Immortal Alchemy, and an untitled short story
for a charity anthology that is a TBA release. There is a long list of titles
to come after those are done too.
As the primary owner and driving force behind Eclectic Bard
Books she considers herself immensely fortunate to see writing from varied
perspectives as she endeavors to publish the authors rostered there. Working
with other writers, Savannah gets to expand her horizons every day as someone
brings a new idea to the table and the brainstorming begins. There is something
addictive about the creative process for her and helping other authors embrace
their dreams make hers a reality daily.
That’s the official Savannah, the unofficial version is just a
girl who loves experiencing life with every twist and turn it takes. When she
was born, she had such fine, light hair that her mother used to tape bows to
her head so people would know she was a girl. She’s had a host of crazy
unrelated jobs- everything from cake decorator, dry cleaner, and insurance
agent to Emergency Room assistant, bartender, crime lab tech and bouncer.
Savannah loves air hockey but completely sucks at it. She loves good jazz, good
scotch, and antiques but also old rock, a quiet tea, and a tidy home. She’s
completely technology impaired and can get it after she’s broken the computer
or done it ass-backwards a few times… Thank Gods that there are some amazing
meme creators that let her pilfer images or she’d be lost. Lime green is her
color, the rhinoceros is her logo & philosophy, and she’s completely mad
about seeing new authors try.
Follow Savannah on Facebook:
www.facebook.com/authorsavannahverte
or on her webpage My Revolution: www.savannahverte.com
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