Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Elizabeth Seckman on Healing Summer and Telling Lies

I'm sure many of you know that Elizabeth is on a blog tour right now promoting Healing Summer, the second book in her Coulter Men series.  You may also know she's writing guest posts based off prompts we bloggers have given her.

My prompt to Elizabeth was: "People pay me to tell them lies."

So you must read how the quick-witted, creative Elizabeth Seckman responded!


Me lie?

Why Jeff, I am offended. You say people pay me to tell them lies? Why, I never lie…but I do take literary license as my God given right and talent. ;)

Okay, no lies; true story.

Elizabeth Seckman
My mother bought me a Hummel wall plate. I love Hummel. I LOVED my plate. Notice I said LOVED? Yep, my son knocked it off the bathroom wall. I heard the shattering glass from the kitchen. I knew my cute little pink cheeked, bow lipped, plucked from a happy yard in the 1950’s children were probably dust on the floor.

See, I have four boys. They are active and ornery and I have yet to abuse a single one. And that’s not by luck. You see, years ago I determined the best way to keep from giving them a good beating was to take many deep breaths before visiting the scenes of their crimes.

So, on that day, as I waited for God to grant me calm, I overheard an older brother tell his younger brother, “Don’t just tell her you broke it. Make something up. Something funny, like you were practicing your ninja techniques or rehearsing to be Spider-Man. Just telling her you threw a shirt at me will get us both killed. Make her laugh, keep her distracted, and we’ll order a replacement.”

I was impressed. My children had colluded against me to save the younger, weaker member of the pack.

And they taught me the fundamentals of any good lie, eh mmm, I mean story…you have to engage the receiver. Whether we’re telling stories to entertain, to get attention, or to save our hides…we have to find the best combination of truth, lie, and detail to interest and engage the listener.

A bit of truth…yes we broke the plate
A bit of lie…it happened in an extraordinary way
A bit of detail…something interesting…like ninja moves or Spider-Man

It’s a lesson from my boys, who use story telling as a defense mechanism, for us writers, who take it to the next level and ask for cash. If we can distract and amuse readers long enough, we can rob them of their money and not have them call the police for giving them nothing more than pages and pages of lies in return.

About Healing Summer:

Ditched at the altar…biopsied for cancer…Mollie Hinkle is having a bona fide bitch of a summer. When life sucks so hard it takes your breath away, what's a girl to do?

2nd Book in the Coulter Men Series
Road trip! Pack a bag, grab a few friends, and leave the past and the worry in the rear view mirror. What wounds can’t be healed by a drive across the Heartland, where quarter flips at cross roads determine the route and the future?

All roads lead to Craig, the second son and bad boy of the haughty Coulter line. Craig has spent his life taking care of number one—himself. He’s not interested in a relationship and he’s definitely not looking to fall in love. But if a morsel drops in his lap, who is he to refrain?

Mollie’s not looking for love either, but truth be told, she’s not opposed to it. Heck, if fate brought her to the miniscule Montana town to find happily ever after, she won’t fight it.  Perhaps it is a summer where love, not time, heals all her wounds.

Links:
Healing Summer Blog Tour page.
Connect with Elizabeth on Facebook and Goodreads
Get Healing Summer on Amazon!

And enter the Rafflecopter for a chance at the giveaway!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

28 comments:

  1. That is an awesome way to get out of trouble. And what an excellent lesson in story telling. Also, Elizabeth's book sounds awesome. Haughty guys and roadtrips sounds like a great combination.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Imogen! Personally, I think it is an awesome read...but I am biased!

      Delete
  2. LOL! Those smart boys... Totally loved this post, Liz/Jeff. Really entertaining. I'm sooooo excited for all of Liz's success. She truly is one to watch!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah Morgan...you will make me blush...but feel free to say it as much as you want ;)

      Delete
  3. Hilarious. And very true for story telling, you have to keep them entertained so they don't notice all the craft and work and set up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Isn't that the truth? Sometimes I boggle over the idea that it takes me months to write what people will read in an hour!

      Delete
  4. Hahaha, that story of the ninja moves is more creative than what I came up with when I was in that situation. Nice lesson!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They have four heads they can put together...that makes them a formidable group!

      Delete
  5. Necessary lying. Creative lying. Tactful lying. So many valid varieties! ;) So glad to see your book getting attention Elizabeth!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You got it Julie! I'm very grateful for the attention. We really have the nicest blogosphere!

      Delete
  6. So did you buy the Ninja story?
    And did you get a new plate?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. They are all still alive. And yes, I do have a new plate. It is now secured by bolts and wires...no more hooks!

      Delete
  7. Liz, I just stumbled upon this site that now reminds me that you're on tour. Wishing you much success with Healing Summer. Good love/loving, I assume, can heal all pain, even if it's is only for a few minutes.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your boys are smart. I once broke a ceramic giraffe my mom loved. She got very angry. One week later, I put it on her pillow as a Godfather reference. Anger over due to laughter!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is funny! Very clever. Mine have figured that trick out...make her laugh...she won't kill us!

      Delete
  9. We all, of course, are rooting for you and hoping that much success finds it way to you. I really like what you came up with based off my prompt. And you have got to admire all that on-the-spot creativity your kids have. Must be inherited. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jeff. And yes, they get it from their dad...he can make up an excuse faster than a girl can say, "what?"
      Just joking. I've always tried to encourage their creativity...so of course, they use it against me now and then.

      Delete
  10. Ah, it's happened. I should be angry, but humor and distraction take things down a notch.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It certainly does. It really is true. It's impossible to be angry when you're laughing.

      Delete
  11. It's sweet that they wanted to protect the little one. Usually I hear the older ones framing the smallest of the bunch. Had a lot of fun with this stop and you're right Liz. You don't get paid to lie you take Literary Licence. Completely different situation.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's right. And I do think that is special that they protect each other. I guess I did something right!

      Delete
  12. Oh Elizabeth... you made me giggle! Your boys sound EXACTLY like you! That's wonderful!!
    Great prompt, Jeff... in fact, it's my favourite so far. I'm off to vote for you now :) (even though I took part!)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For the record Suzy, whenever they do something ornery, I blame that on their father's genes. And yay for Jeff! He is certainly worthy of the vote.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, Suzy! Elizabeth made good use of the prompt, that's for sure!

      Delete
  13. I'd say they're future writers, spinning tales like that. ;)
    Congrats on your book, Elizabeth!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Another fun entry in this blog tour. Thanks guys!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I loved that story! My brothers would have been colluding to tell Mom it was my fault...

    ReplyDelete