Rose Marie Dunphy @RoseDunphy · 2h “The Commodore’s Ball,” a Memoir | The East Hampton Star http://easthamptonstar.com/Fiction/2014722/%E2%80%9C-Commodore%E2%80%99s-Ball%E2%80%9D-Memoir#.U9GOqTGY1Zg.twitter … ReplyReplied to 0 times RetweetRetweeted 0 times FavoriteFavorited 0 times Delete More

Rose Marie Dunphy @RoseDunphy · 2h

“

Rose Marie Dunphy @RoseDunphy · 2h

“The Commodore’s Ball,” a Memoir | The East Hampton Star http://easthamptonstar.com/Fiction/2014722/%E2%80%9C-Commodore%E2%80%99s-Ball%E2%80%9D-Memoir#.U9GOqTGY1Zg.twitter …

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“The Commodore’s Ball,” a Memoir | The East Hampton Star

Rose Marie Dunphy @RoseDunphy · 2h

“The Commodore’s Ball,” a Memoir | The East Hampton Star http://easthamptonstar.com/Fiction/2014722/%E2%80%9C-Commodore%E2%80%99s-Ball%E2%80%9D-Memoir#.U9GOqTGY1Zg.twitter …

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NEWS RELEASE: THE COMMODORE'S BALL

NEWS RELEASE! My memoir piece titled The Commodore's Ball, will be published in THE EAST HAMPTON STAR this coming Thursday, July 24, 2014. The paper sells throughout the Hamptons and NYC, if anyone wishes to read it. The piece will also be online.

Invited by Hofstra University for a Book Talk/Signing, Tues. Oct. 7, 2014, 7-8:30 PM

I have been invited to speak at Hofstra University's Italian-American Experience Lecture Series on Oct. 7, 2014, 7-8:30 PM.  Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY 11549.  Free and Open to the Public.  All are welcome.

Book Talk/Signing in Mt. Sinai

This Friday, the 27th of June, at 9:30 am, I will be giving an Author Talk at the Acampora Center at Mt. Sinai. The address there is 739 Route 25A, Mt. Sinai.

Book Talk/Signing at the Dolphin Bookshop

On June 14, I had a Book Talk/Signing at the Dolphin Bookshop and Cafe in Port Washington, NY.  My books were on display one week prior to the event and continue to be on sale there today.  

Book Talk/Signing at The Dolphin Book Shop and Cafe, Port Washington, NY, 2-4 PM, Sat. June 14, 2014

Won't you join me for a book talk/signing at The Dolphin Book Shop and Cafe in Port Washington, NY?
Date: Sat. June 14, 2014
Time: 2-4pm
Free and Open to the Public

Happy Memorial Day!

A big Salute to all the men and women who fought and continue to fight and die for us so that we may live in peace and freedom.  We are indebted to you and your families for your sacrifice.

Author Visit with Sharon Zollenberg's Book Club, May 19, 2014

It was a pleasure to visit and share dinner with Sharon and her Book Club members who had read Orange Peels and Cobblestones as their monthly selection.  Their questions showed that they were deeply affected and emotionally involved with the book's story.  Thank you so much for your positive support.  Sharon booked me for two other events that she runs: a book talk/signing in Mt. Sinai Senior Center on June 27, 2014 and another with the Port Jefferson Library book club on Oct. 14, 2014.

Delray Beach Library Book Talk/Signing, Delray Beach, Florida April 10, 2014

The event was a great success.  About 40 people attended and all were intrigued by the story of my book.  Many asked questions that lasted longer than I expected and bought copies of my book, which I gladly signed for them.  The event was even more successful in that a member of the audience asked me to be a speaker at one of their group meeting for the 2015 winter season.

2 Future Book Talk/Signings

Am looking forward to my book talk/signings with the Council for Catholic Women in Ascension Church on Wed. April 9th, 7 PM and at the Delray Beach, FL library on Thurs. April 10th, 2 PM.

The Palm Beach interview of me by Linda Haase, Feb. 27, 2014

This is the photo that appeared along with The Palm Beach Post interview of me by Linda Haase, Thurs. Feb. 27, 2014, titled "Unanswered questions lead author to confront demons."

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www.palmbeachpost.com

Rose Marie Dunphy, author of Orange Peels and Cobblestones, poses for a portrait at her home in Delray Beach on Thursday, February 20, 2014.

Thank you St. Jude's Columbiettes in Boca Raton, FL

A big thank you to St. Jude's Columbiettes for the wonderful reception and welcome they gave me during my book talk last night and for so many buying ORANGE PEELS and COBBLESTONES. Mille grazie also to the members of the Italian class next door who chose to join us to hear me speak and for buying the Italian translation of my book, CIOTTOLI e BUCCE D'ARANCIA.

Upcoming Book Talk/Signings

Please join me if you can.
Thurs. March 6th, 6:45 P.M. St. Jude's Columbiettes in Boca Raton, FL
Thurs. April 10th, 2 P.M. Delray Beach Public Library in Delray Beach, FL
Sat. April 19th, 10 A.M. to 1 P.M. Islip International Airport in Ronkonkoma, NY

Book Talk/signing

Thank you St. Vincent Ferrer Columbiettes in Delray Beach, FL for welcoming me warmly during my book talk last night, for gifting me the lovely daffodil plant and for buying my books.

Thanks also go to St. Jude's Council of Catholic Women in Boca Raton, FL for also welcoming me warmly during my book talk  and for buying my books on Jan. 23rd.

How to Write a Compelling Novel

How to Write a Compelling Novel

by Rose Marie Dunphy, author of ORANGE PEELS and COBBLESTONES

1.       Write in Scenes.  This satisfies Writing’s Cardinal Rule, which is, “Show.  Don’t Tell.”  Think of each chapter as a play composed of scenes.  You are a spectator or eye witness of the scene.  Then record the action, which is what happens; the dialogue, which is what each person says; description, what the people look like; location, where the scenes take place.

2.       Like a journalist, you’re providing the 5 Ws, Who, What, Where When and How.

3.       Write about something you know, something you’re familiar with.  It comes across as more authentic.  There isn’t much you can say about what you don’t know.  You need to research what you don’t know and once you do that, you know it, so it’s still writing about what you know.

4.       Write about something you love or hate.  It has to be a strong emotion so your passion comes through.

5.       Let the conflict of the book show its face early in the first two pages.

6.       End each chapter with something that needs to be resolved.  Unfinished business.  The reader will want to turn the page and if he or she doesn’t have the time to continue reading, they’ll be itching to get to the book as soon as possible.

7.       Write your first draft of each scene furiously, from your heart.  Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, great character development of anything else.  Get you your story down.

8.       Create characters with flaws as well as redeeming qualities.   Make them human, not saints and devils.

9.       Use strong verbs to describe the action and limit adjectives and adverbs.  Your verbs should carry the story forward.

10.    Use all your senses or as many as you can to write a scene.  Think of the reader as a blind person next to you and you are taking them on a journey providing the world they can’t see.

11.    Bridge your scenes or connect them with prepositional phrases so that they flow, for example, “in the meantime, whereas, on the other hand, not so for John.”

12.    Try to have two or three parallel themes or stories going in your book. Orange Peels is about Marietta’s need to come to terms with her past but it’s also a love story between John and her.

13.    Revise many times.  Once you have all or a good deal of writing done, revise, revise, revise.

14.    Choose an apt title, preferably unusual, so that it will pique the reader’s curiosity and an interesting cover design.  It acts as the readers’ first impression, how they get introduced to your book.

15.    You need ass glue.  What this means is that you must sit in your chair and write even when you don’t feel like it or are stymied.  You have to stay there, keep at it until you break through and make some ground.

16.    Write every day, preferably at the same place and the same time of day.  The routine will help you stay glued to your chair.

17.    Read, read, read other authors.  Copy how they describe a character, a location, an action.  Write a scene using your favorite author’s style.  It will come out differently because you are not copying his or her words but their style.

18.    Read books about writing to learn and perfect the craft.  There are tons out there.  Some of the best are Stephen King’s book “On Writing”, Natalie Goldberg’s “Writing Down the Bones”, Ann LaMott, etc.

19.    Join a writing group and bring in your writing for critique and input regularly.  Others see what you don’t.  Remember, they’re like your readers and will pick out things you’re not even aware of or they will confirm your personal intuitions that something isn’t quite right in the development of the story.

20.    Believe in yourself.  If you don’t, no one else will.

21.    Promote your book every way you can.

Point #9 How to Write a Compelling Novel

1.       

2.       Use strong verbs to describe the action and limit adjectives and adverbs.  Your verbs should carry the story forward.

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday, Mary.

Point #8 on How to Write a Compelling Novel.

1.   Create characters with flaws as well as redeeming qualities.   Make them human, not saints and devils.

Point #7 How to Write a Compelling Novel

1.       Write your first draft of each scene furiously, from your heart.  Don’t worry about spelling, grammar, great character development or anything else.  Get you your story down.