New Online Writing Lab February 14, 2025!

Collaborative World-building for a Book Series or Anthology

Palm Springs Writers Guild

Presenter: Ariella Moon

Friday 14, 2025 on Zoom

1:00 PM - 3:00PM PST 

Collaborating on a shared-world book series or anthology is a great way to hone your skills, bump your Amazon rankings, and expand your fan base through group marketing and promotion. Creating stories centered on a shared world can be fun and profitable, but requires structure and organization. In this workshop, Ariella Moon will draw upon specific examples to show the step-by-step process, so you can determine whether collaborative world-building for a book series or anthology is right for you.

 
 5 Things You Will Learn From This Class

1.     5 characteristics needed to be a collaborative world author

2.     The planning process for creating a shared world series or anthology

3.     What should be included in a shared world author contract 

4.     Collaborative marketing.

5.     Post project possibilities

To Learn More or to Register, Click Here

 See you on Zoom!

Ariella Moon

Escape Into Two Great Thrillers by Jacklyn Goldis

Book Reviews by Ariella Moon

The Main Character, by Jaclyn Goldis

 

In The Main Character, Jaclyn Goldis crafts a page-turning thriller with an unusual premise. Instead of mining her own life for inspiration, Ginevra, a mysterious reclusive author, pays people to be the main character in her novels. She extensively interviews and investigates them, digs up or creates mysteries, then fictionalizes their lives. Ginevra gifts her next main character, Rory, with a lavish, all-expenses-paid trip on the Orient Express.

 

The mere mention of the famed train ignites mystery readers’ suspicions, especially when Rory discovers Ginevra has also assembled onboard Rory’s brother Max, her close friend Caroline, and her former fiancé Nate. Soon, long held relationships slowly unravel.

 

Goldis skillfully weaves red herrings and other misdirects into the story. Will there be a murder and betrayals akin to Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express?

Amazon

The Chateau, by Jaclyn Goldis

 

In The Chateau, Jaclyn Goldis creates a tense whodunit set in a grand Provence chateau, where the owner has invited her granddaughter Darcy and three of Darcy’s longtime friends for a visit.

 

Paranoia sets in when Grand-mère is brutally murdered, and each woman’s unique relationship with the victim is gradually revealed. When the police order the friends to remain at the chateau during the investigation, long-simmering grievances, jealousies, and possible motives bubble to the surface.

 

Goldis keeps readers engrossed and guessing as relationships fracture, the plot twists, and the chateau itself is exposed as a silent secret-keeper.

Amazon

Happy reading!

Wishing you all a happy, healthy, book-filled New Year!

Ariella Moon

 

 

Twentynine Palms Book Festival: Romance Books Author Panel

Twentynine Palms Book Festival

DATE: SATURDAY NOV 9th AT 2:45 PM

LOCATION: 29 PALMS COMMUNITY CENTER

6547 Freedom Way, · Twentynine Palms, CA

CHECK THE BOOK FESTIVAL AGENDA

Festival Agenda

 29 PALMS BOOK FESTIVAL 

Nov 9: EXPLORING THE DIVERSE APPEAL OF ROMANCE FICTION AMONG MODERN AUDIENCES. 

Join Jayce Carter and Ariella Moon, two distinct voices in the world of romance fiction, as they delve into the unique allure of the genre for younger generations. Jayce, known for her contemporary and paranormal romances featuring strong-willed women and the red-flag men who love them, contrasts with Ariella, whose shamanic experiences inspire magical tales of medieval Scotland and contemporary paranormal adventures. Together, they will explore what draws new audiences to their differing styles and how romance fiction continues to captivate across different worlds and narratives.

Learn More

See you there!

Ariella Moon

The Unwedding by Ally Condie: Book Review

 

Ally Condie did so many things well in The Unwedding, a Reese’s Book Club selection, that I didn’t expect to have any criticism. The short, crisp chapters and hook endings propel the reader through the story of Ellery Wainwright, who reluctantly takes a solo trip to the Broken Point resort in Big Sur, a trip she was supposed to take with her husband to celebrate their 20^th wedding anniversary.

 

That was before Luke asked Ellery for a divorce and took up with a girlfriend.

 

Condie does an excellent job of depicting a blindsided woman who had maintained hope despite mounting warning signs her marriage was beyond repair. She also perfectly captures a setting I know well: Big Sur resorts and the destructive storms that too often wipe out roads and communication in the area. In The Unwedding, a storm at Broken Point echoes the tempest within as Ellery, unmoored by her husband’s actions, also remains guilt-ridden by a past tragedy.

Isolated from her family and best friend because of the torrential rain, Ellery is alone at a resort where, compounding her heartache, a big wedding is about to begin.

 

When Ellery discovers a dead body, she thinks, not again. But as a fellow guest warns, there is never just one murder.

 

Brava to Condie for creating a page-turning mystery. She left enough clues to make the eventual reveal of a murderer feasible. But a few chapters later, when what appears to be an abrupt continuity error occurs and is followed by a lot of conjecture, I was thrown out of the story.

 

Despite its messy third act, I still recommend The Unwedding. See if you reach the same conclusion I did.

Happy reading!

Ariella Moon

 

 

Witchcraft to Wordcraft: Saturday's Writers Forum

 Happy Witchy Wednesday!

I look forward to seeing many Coachella Valley authors this Saturday, October 5, 2024, when Eduardo Santiago will interview Jayce Carter and Ariella Moon.

To learn more or to register for this free event: CLICK HERE

In the meantime, don't forget to download your FREE Kindle ebook, Spell Check, Book 1, The Teen Wytche Saga. Offer ends October 5, 2024.

Happy writing!

Ariella Moon

The Halloween I Became Radioactive

I still remember the year when Halloween loomed like a ticking clock. The heads of nuclear medicine at two hospitals had tried to convince me swallowing radioactive iodine was my only medical option.

Did I mention I am deathly allergic to iodine?   

                                                      

I purchased bags of candy in advance of becoming radioactive. We assured our neighbors I would be quarantined in the back bedroom and bathroom, far from the Kit Kats and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

On Halloween morning, I trailed a grim-faced head of nuclear medicine down a nearly empty hospital corridor, shuffling as though bound for the gallows. We entered a small restricted chamber. After consulting my file, which I noticed had ATTORNEY stamped in red block letters across every page, the doctor used three-foot tongs to extract a radioactive vial from a lead-lined canister.

"Swallow this."

"You first."

He was not amused.

That night, my husband (the aforementioned attorney) placed a heaping candy bowl on the front porch, then took our daughter trick-or-treating. I had a vision of a giant nuclear symbol on our front door. Others must have sensed the invisible symbol, too, because even the after-hours marauding teenagers bypassed our house.

Years later, Halloween became the ticking clock in SPELL CHECK, Book 1, The Teen Wytche Saga.

The Kindle Edition of SPELL CHECK is free October 1- 5, 2024. All four TWS novels are available in Kindle Unlimited and in paperback.

Happy reading, and happy Halloween!

~Ariella Moon

AMAZON

DOES SOMEONE IN YOUR NOVEL NEED TO DIE?

 "Mauled Men, Drowned Dames and Crispy Critters;

 a Body Disposal Primer for Writers"

Presented by Jeanne Adams for the Palm Springs Writers Guild

Thursday, September 12. 1:00 - 3:00 Pacific Standard Time

DOES SOMEONE IN YOUR NOVEL NEED TO DIE?

You’re writing your fabulous novel and, as you go on, you realize you absolutely HAVE to kill someone to make the plot work. In order to bring that hero/heroine together, or tear them apart, and tangle everyone up over wills, funerals, murder, mysterious death or serious mayhem, someone’s got to die.

Once you’ve silenced that nagging dead guy, then what? You have to do SOMETHING with the body, but what? Whether or not you want the forensics, murder, death or dis-appearance to be central to your story, there is that annoying dead guy to dispose of. Discover the pernicious particulars of body disposal and how to trip up your characters, throw them together or drive them apart with the particulars of the business of death.

To learn more or register, CLICK HERE About Jeanne Adams Jeanne Adams writes award-winning romantic suspense, paranormal and urban fantasies, as well as space adventure that’s been compared to the works of Robert Heinlein and Jack McDevitt. She’s a sought-after speaker, teaching classes on body disposal for writers, worldbuilding and collaboration, plotting for pantzers and how to write a fight scene that works! Jeanne lives in Washington, DC with her husband and two growing sons, as well as three dogs – two Labs and an Irish Water Spaniel. Don’t tell, but she’s prone to adopting more dogs when her husband isn’t looking. You can find her books on all major platforms, and connect with her on the web at: www.JeanneAdams.com I am SO looking forward to this online writing lab! Hope to see you there! To learn more or register, CLICK HERE Happy writing! Ariella Moon