Merry Christmas Story-Telling

 Listen for Free to the 1st short story in the Sailing with Mystery anthology.

The first short story is "Amber Dreams" :: Blackmail threatens a young bride when her secret diary is stolen. Her marriage of convenience is threatened if the contents are revealed to her new husband and his autocratic mother.

Can Isabella recover the diary before the bride loses all hope?

Use this link to find the first episode after 5:30 a.m. on December 26, 2023. The other episodes post five minutes later and later and later and later. All five episodes are available for free on various podcast services, including Apple, Google, YouTube, Samsung Podcasts, iHeart, Tune-In, and many many more.

The collection is available in ebook and paperback at the following links.

Zon, ebook and paperback https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CJL28Z5W

Worldwide Paperback https://books2read.com/u/3R5QJR

Worldwide Ebook https://books2read.com/u/3R5QJR

View the trailer https://youtu.be/csAe72b5X2I

The audiobook became available from various distributors on October 30, 2023.

Look for The Write Focus.

Stage 8 / Greatest Plot Structure

 Stage 8 is the second of the two most important stages of the Archetypal Story Pattern, the greatest plot structure in the world. Many would say that it is the most important stage.

We’ve reached the Ordeal, the Dark Moment, the greatest trial for our protagonist, the point closest to Death—the near loss of a love, a goal or dream almost destroyed, a job or status at an explosive moment that could prove fatal if one more horrid mistake occurs.

While the Ordeal is not the ultimate battle, it is all-important, for our protagonist and our antagonist.

Before we delve into Stage 8 a word on the rest of December. With all the hectic holiday events, The Write Focus takes December off and will resume on the first Wednesday of the New Year. Our Discovering Plot series has two more episodes to explore the last 4 stages. We’ll start the New Year and Season 5 with those.

It’s hard to believe this little podcast is entering its 5^th season. Thanks to all of our listeners who keep us going!

Do stop by after Christmas for a little audio Christmas gift from our host M.A. Lee.

Now, let’s face the Ordeal.

TIMINGS

• 00:00 Welcome
• 00:30 Introduction
• 02:12 Stage 8
• 04:09 Persuasion as an example
• 07:10 13^th Warrior as an example
• 09:09 Antagonists
• 11:27 Deathly Hallows as an example
• 13:07 Key Juxtapositions
• 15:05 Last Words / Closing

Total Run Time = 16:47

Examples from Jane Austen’s Persuasion, Michael Crichton’s 13^th Warrior, and JK Rowling’s Deathly Hallows

 Links to the Ebook

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0838PTN49

https://books2read.com/u/bOJK6K

Links to a paperback 8 x 10 bundle for plot / characters / branding / sentence craft, called Discovering Your Writing https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08691892S

Trailer https://youtu.be/hTVQn92kNBk

Direct Link to the Audio

Direct Link to the Video Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXi3M_aM-d7JRRacR_0tlplDqSeHp5c-o

Direct Link to the Blog https://thewritefocus.blogspot.com/2023/12/stage-8-greatest-plot-structure.html