Structure Part 1–Anatomy of a Best-Selling Novel–Structure Matters « Kristen Lamb's Blog

Like most of you, I have been working a very long time on this novel. My first, a picture book, was written in the car as a story for my grandson. Everyone in the car was saying, "write that one down." So, I did and I have worked on it over the years and, as an artist played with illustrating it. I still thinks it stands the test of submission but other things came up.

My second, a mystery, went quickly. I did research at the library, both on writing and on the things needed for the story. I had index cards and binders up the wazoo. I felt I had a pretty good product, went to Of Dark and Stormy Nights, had an author critique, she gave me the name of her agent and stupidly, I sent it out. Looking back now, it was not ready and my query letter was FARRRR from ready. Someday, I will maybe get to working on it. I need a much better Protagonist, I know that.

This time, the internet is here, and research is at the tips of my fingers. My notes are in computer files and folders. I have still spent five years writing and researching and I still sit here and wonder if I have dotted all the 'i's' and crossed all the 't's?' Last night, in one of my "this isn't good enough" moments. I turned to Google and found a great blog.

Structure Part 1–Anatomy of a Best-Selling Novel–Structure Matters « Kristen Lamb's Blog

Besides having a great teaching overview for what you need to have a best-selling novel, she is also having a critiquing contest. So, check her out and tomorrow I'll share my insecurities with you.

Betch can't wait!!!

My webpage week

This is the umpteenth version of this webpage and I like the look but, what torture putting it together.

I spent Monday starting the page, all the search words, title, etc, the background and the banner up and centered. Then, moved onto the line of links that will be next.

I wanted to draw them myself and not use anything borrowed from a free site on the web. Geez, I painted portraits for a living for fifteen years, I should be able to do a colorful enough drawing to pass. Ya think????

I started a new sketchbook for this book and have pages of sketches I have started and discarded. That is nothing new. I have a reasonable set of sketches for the links, used Jasc Paint Shop to eliminate the background and put them up and guess what, the background showed. Did it again two more times and finally gave up and just blacked out the background.

I tried a little CSS again, went back to HTML. I tried using a template from HTML Editor, Flash & Web Design Software CoffeeCup Software, which I own, and have gone to using a table with two rows. I know there has to be a better way. I have always put the link list down the left hand side. My last version of Coffee Cup had a whole bunch of templates too, but I had to reformat and lost it all and, while I have upgraded, I have yet to find the long list of templates.

So, now I have a background, a banner, and a row of hand drawn icons to dress up the link buttons. As in all things with this webpage, it is all trial and error. Right now the buttons do not link. So, that is next.

In the meantime, I have entered the first 1,000 words of my novel in Miss Snark's First Victim critique. I could not find the complete rules, so here is hoping I did it right.

The Orphan Boy- a Richly Textured Children's book

I love Picture Books

I have been known to take a canvas bag to the library and load it up with Caldecott winners. One of the things I miss most about having little grandkids around, is I have no one to read to. JRock is sixteen now and he just is not interested in King Bidgood anymore. I can have a blast making a total fool of myself reading King Bidgood's in the Bathtub. I will read to any child – at the Doctor’s office, at the library, on the bus. It makes no mind to me, as long as it is a good book.

Not all books are equal. Daughter-of-eleven loves books but has no distinction between them. She thinks that Barbie’s Picnic deserves shelf space with Matthew’s Dragon and anything by Audrey and Don Woods. I, however, refuse to read Barbie’s Picnic a second time.

One of my all time favorite children’s books is The Orphan Boy, A Maasai Story by Tololwa M. Mollel and illustrated by Paul Morin. Amazon.com: The Orphan Boy: Tololwa M. Mollel, Paul Morin: Books I am approaching this as a visual artist and this book has some of the most outstanding illustrations I have seen. It was published by Clarion Books, New York.

The back blurb reads: “At dawn the planet Venus appears in the east as the morning star. At night-fall it is the evening star in the west. The Maasaid call this star Kileken, the orphan boy. This traditional story from Africa explains the reason Kileken appears in the sky both morning and night.”

Beside the story, which is well worth reading, the illustrations are painted and the artist's canvas is visible to add texture to the pictures. This book is so richly textured that you can feel the heat of the African sun and the cool of the moonlit night. The canvas itself adds life to the morning sunrise. The artist has then added, perhaps using gesso with sticks or string or other additions, another dimension. I have scaned a few of the illustrations in, as Amazon does not do them justice.


This is but one half of the picture. I wish my scanner was larger to show it all. Note the texture in the foreground. The cattle go off into the sunset in the upper right corner.


I know the books binding here is in the way but the fabric and then the yellow highlighting to the right adds so much dimension, I wanted to show it.

This is also only part of a picture but I wanted you to see the way the artist has used texture in these illustrations.