Author Guest Post with Maria Imbalzano: Island Detour

Falsely accused of wrongdoing at a Princeton Prep school, Sophie Kearns accepts a temporary teaching position at an environmental school in the Florida Keys to wait out her suspension.

Welcome to the April 8th stop on the blog tour for Island Detour by Maria Imbalzano with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, more guest posts, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.

Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.

Author Guest Post

What I’ve Learned About Writing a Novel during the Past 25 Years

I decided twenty-five years ago that I wanted to write a novel. I had never taken creative writing courses in college and I had no idea how to start. I’m a lawyer, so I was able to write an appellate brief or legal memorandum, but fiction—not so much. So I went to seminars and writing conferences and slowly started learning the craft. It took fifteen years before I received my first a publishing contract. “Island Detour” is my tenth published book.

During those fifteen years, I learned that:

1. You can only have one point of view per scene (until that lesson, I had several points of view per scene).
2. Each main character has to have an internal and external goal, motivation and conflict.
3.  Do not have your characters go to sleep at the end of a chapter, because your readers will then go to sleep too.
4. Each scene/chapter must have a goal. Day to day routines are boring. For example, if the characters are having dinner together, what is happening during that dinner that is moving the story forward. If a character is taking a shower, it better be with the other main character to create some heat and not just for the purpose of getting clean.
5. Start the story with an inciting incident. Do not put backstory in Chapter One. Filter the backstory throughout the book.
6. If you’re writing a series, do not make two or more books happen during the same time period. That just leads to a lot of going back to that first book to see what happened when, who was there, and what was said.
7. Decide what person (point of view) you want to write the book in before you start. I wrote an entire book in third person, and then decided it would be better in first person. It took days and days to fix that change of heart.
8.   Make sure your main character is likable from the beginning. The heroine can and should have flaws, because she must grow during the story and become a better person, but you don’t want your readers to dislike her. You want your readers to root for her.

I’m sure I’ve made many other mistakes during my career thus far, but these were big ones—which I did fix before any of my books were published (except #6). I consider myself a life-long learner and I will continue to go to writing seminars and conferences, as well as study books that I love, to learn all I can about the craft of writing.

About the Book

Island Detour
The Sunrise Island Series Book One
by Maria Imbalzano

Published 19 February 2024
The Wild Rose Press, Inc

Genre: Contemporary Romance
Page Count: 283
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!

Falsely accused of wrongdoing at a Princeton Prep school, Sophie Kearns accepts a temporary teaching position at an environmental school in the Florida Keys to wait out her suspension. The time away is meant to be an anxiety-free escape, but her clashes with the hot but arrogant marine biology teacher, Max Heaton, are anything but tranquil.

Max is determined to start an environmental research institute at the school, but he suspects the gorgeous new Lit teacher, who lacks even the most basic outdoor skills, is there to hinder that dream. Yet, something about her tames the demons from his past, and he can no longer ignore the fire she’s lit inside him.

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Excerpt

It wasn’t long enough before Max and Ben ushered Sophie to the fishing boat. She inhaled huge breaths of salt air, hoping the oxygen would perform some magic on the dull throb in her head.

“I know you’re going to find this hard to believe,” she started hesitantly, “but I don’t know how to fish.”

“What a surprise.” Max didn’t even bother to moderate his sarcasm.

Sophie’s scowl fell on his back as he and Ben gathered up rods and reels, a tackle box, and cartons of what she could only assume contained live bait. He had been sniping at her for days. Ever since Andy had asked her to cover for him as director. It was as if she had caused Andy’s accident intentionally, just to take over his job and keep it from Max.

She followed them onto the dock and into the boat, wishing she had brought her bottle of aspirin to dull the pain of this ill-conceived trip.

She sat on the bench, quiet as a church mouse, as Max steered the boat out toward the ocean. Her eyes betrayed her as they were drawn to the muscles in his back and shoulders, stretching and straining with each movement. His tawny, bronze skin glistened with a layer of sunscreen and ocean mist. A work of art. His jaw was square and tight, his cheekbones chiseled. Soft, wavy brown hair blew straight back from his forehead, giving her a bird’s-eye view of one very gorgeous man. Oh, so easy on the eyes. Too bad he wasn’t as easy on the nerves.

About the Author

Maria Imbalzano is an award-winning contemporary author who writes about strong, independent women and the men who fall in love with them. She recently retired from the practice of law, but legal issues have a way of showing up in many of her novels. When not writing, she loves to travel both abroad and in the states.  Maria lives in central New Jersey with her husband–not far from her two daughters and granddaughters. For more information about her books, please visit her website where you can also sign up for her newsletter.

Awards
Maria is a member of New Jersey Romance Writers and has received many honors and awards for her work including the ACRA Readers’ Choice Heart of Excellence Award, the Wisconsin Romance Writers Write Touch Readers Award, The NEST (National Excellence In Story Telling) Award, the Carolyn Award, Book Buyers Best Award, The Stiletto Reader’s Choice Award, Long & Short Reviews Book of the Month Award (3rd Place for Book of the Year), and Still Moments Magazine Reader’s Choice Award.

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Giveaway Alert!

Maria Imbalzano will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN GC to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.

Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.