Kristy Berridge's Blog

Once upon a time, you would plonk yourself down at an ageing, wooden desk, hot cup of steaming coffee to the side while you tapped furiously on an old brother typewriter. Fast forward a few years and writers and creatives alike are now voicing their thoughts through iPads, fancy desktop computers, dictation, and even through the medium of podcast. There have been so many changes in the format and style of how writing is supplied to the world that it's almost impossible to keep up.

Despite the ever-changing way in which we write, market or sell our stories, we all need to follow a simple structure to help us achieve the best quality result. Here are 10 top tips to keep you on track:

                                            Young Book Writer Writing in Library

Note. Sourced depositphotos.com Elnur_ (2021)

Make sure your voice is unique and entirely your own - as in - don't be afraid to be original in your thinking. If you feel the urge to compete with and/or copy another artist, then where is the true joy and inspiration that you're hoping to impart?Organise your thought process. Good stories have well thought out structure. Evolve your characters, build conflict, resolve conflict, and finally find a way to bring the story to conclusion or add a little hook for evolving sagas.Create consistent characters. Make notes about each of your characters to ensure you have consistency regarding their behaviour, speech style, and aesthetic.Make sure you've done your research on the topic you intend to write, blog or podcast about.Keep your writing as simple as possible. Avoid convoluted sentences and too much fluff in your descriptions. Instead of saying 'she walked as fast as her legs could carry her', you could say, 'she walked hurriedly'.Edit. Edit Edit. And once you've done that, proofread some more.Read other novels to gain insight on styles, structure, characters, and creative thinking.Be open to receiving constructive criticism.Write consistently and as often as possible.And most importantly ... write about the things that you would like to read!Hopefully that helped, but feel free to reach out if you want any more ideas to help keep you going or set the pace.
Kristy 😀

Synopsis: Two people meet in the Art Institute by chance. Prior to their encounter, he is a doctoral student who manages his destructive thoughts with compulsive calculations about time travel; she is a bipolar counterfeit artist, undergoing court-ordered psychotherapy. By the end of the story, these things will still be true. But this is not a story about endings.

For Regan, people are predictable and tedious, including and perhaps especially herself. She copes with the dreariness of existence by living impulsively, imagining a new, alternate timeline being created in the wake of every rash decision.

To Aldo, the world feels disturbingly chaotic. He gets through his days by erecting a wall of routine: a backbeat of rules and formulas that keep him going. Without them, the entire framework of his existence would collapse.

For Regan and Aldo, life has been a matter of resigning themselves to the blueprints of inevitability—until the two meet. Could six conversations with a stranger be the variable that shakes up the entire simulation?

My two cents worth:

Aldo and Regan, the main characters of this rather simple, yet perplexing story of boy meets girl are the most confusing and mentally challenging individuals I've yet to encounter within a story. The author defines the book as a 'love story', but do not fool yourself into thinking there will be romance or the usual telling of lust and evolving relationship normality. This is a strange, and for lack of a better word, complex enmeshing of polar opposite characters that are magnetised to the other's eccentricities. 

The novel explores the evolution of thought as two individuals with their own unique mental struggles somehow define a new language in order to see the world through the same magnified glass. Unpredictable behaviours in both Aldo and Regan ignite curiosity, passion, and shared intellectual intelligence which within themselves unlocks some stability in their otherwise tumultuous thoughts and past patterns of behaviour.

I found this story intriguing and all together just plain different from anything I've ever read before. Even the story itself moved from being within a conversation between characters, to almost hovering above the ghost of history's past and re-living that particular moment. Did I enjoy this story? No, I don't think I actually did. The writing was good, the plot average at best, but the characters and their idiosyncrasies really set the novel apart from other stories within the 'love' genre.

I was intrigued, which I suppose is as much a positive as is not actually enjoying the story overall. I will say this is a very clever author with a very unique perspective, and if nothing else, this book should be well and truly celebrated for breaking the mold of conformity and arousing curiosity within its reader.

3 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐

Kristy :)

Designing a successful book cover is an extricate process as writing the novel in the first place. Just like when defining your characters, plot, battles, conversations, or inserting witty repertoire, the appropriate design for your cover needs to be well considered.So, here are some points that may help when looking to design your own book cover:
The name of the book is 
largest and obvious 
followed by the
author's name in its
own unique position.

The image is singular 
and brazen. The title again
takes prime position with
all fonts interrelated and colour
matched to the cover image.

Make sure your cover image matches your genre - The worst thing you can do is try to trick the reader with an inauthentic image that represents something too far removed from the story behind your novel. For instance, you wouldn't place a picture of a fantasy realm with mythical creatures if you had written a hard-hitting detective novel. The reader will very quickly feel misled and may leave a bad review, because let's face it, we shop with our eyes first!Use the correct font and colours - Ensure that your title hits home, ie; it is the clear and definitive within your cover and works coherently with your cover image. Choose colours that are appropriate to the image selected and also make sure they are not too garish or multiple in choice. This also applies to font. Too many variations in font can be confusing and ugly. Never use a copywrite image - This is pretty self-explanatory, avoid any trademarked or copywritten material that could leave you liable. Ensure good structure and layout - The title should take up pride of place within the cover, either in the middle or appropriately placed to create the right sense of drama and that the image does not overwhelm the cover. The author's name should be smaller than the title and placed either directly with the title or in its own space near the bottom (not visually crowded by images or tag lines). Too much text or visual elements - Again, self-explanatory, but if your cover is filled with word after word which is then swamped with a busy visual background, the reader's eye is drawn everywhere and nowhere all at once. Tag lines - If you are going to have a tag line, make sure it is short, sharp, and snappy and doesn't interfere visually with either the title or author's name. Writing a series - If your books are a part of a series, it's okay to use different visual images, but there should be consistency between each novel ie; same font used for titles and author names, similar colours, similar imagery styles etc. Try to show coherency between each jump in novel so that the reader can piece that the series belongs together.Well, that should get you started, and please feel free to drop a comment if you think there are some other valuable nuggets of information on book design that may help other authors on their writing journey. Also, if you would like your cover assessed, also just drop a visual in the comments and I'll provide some honest feedback.
Kristy😀

Synopsis: Darby, Mary Beth, and Rhea are on personal quests to reclaim aspects of their identities subsumed by motherhood—their careers, their sex lives, their bodies. Their children, though, disrupt their plans when an unsettling medical condition begins to go around the Little Academy preschool: the kids are craving blood.Then a young teacher is found dead, and the only potential witnesses are ten adorable four-year-olds.Soon it becomes clear that the children are not just witnesses, but also suspects . . . and so are their mothers.As the police begin to look more closely, the children’s ability to bleed their parents dry becomes deadly serious. Part murder mystery, part motherhood manifesto, Cutting Teeth explores the standards society holds mothers to—along with the ones to which we hold ourselves—and the things no one tells you about becoming a parent.
My two cents worth ...
I can honestly say that Chandler Baker weaves quite an in depth, and pleasantly surprising account of motherhood - the joys, the fears, and the things we never truly admit to anyone else - from the perspective of three very different women. A mother myself, I found a lot of the inner dialogue and conversational pieces relatable, and at some times, laughable for the honesty imbued. I actually think this is where the strength of this book truly lies. The story line, although quirky and somewhat slightly different if you are expecting some sort of supernatural read does ultimately prove to be short of thrills. Without revealing too much of the story, the characters unfold with a level of predictability that offers very little for the reader to figure out. About halfway through this book I knew "who'd done it", but still found myself wanting to understand how the children craving blood tied in with everything unfolding.
The author, although very clever with their formation of characters and creating a true believability, unfortunately fails to bring a sense of relevance to the overarching story. Where I'd hoped for the supernatural element of blood craving to be further developed, it merely operated as a side car to the real vehicle of this novel - the who done it.
With a very real skill in crafting relatable characters and relationships, this author tipped the scales from a mediocre read to something closer to intriguing. If you are searching for something highly thrilling and dripping in darkness, then this novel is not quite the page turner. That being said, the candid and astonishingly inciteful deep dive into the working minds of motherhood is worth the read alone.
3 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐
Kristy 😄

Sometimes it’s nice to do a little get to know me, especially for those of you that are new to the fictional world of Kristy Berridge. Like any writer, I’m full of a bit of drama and have a decent flair for the theatrics on occasion, but for the purpose of this blog, I won’t go into the details of my side hustle selling kidneys on the black market.

Kidding. So here are fifteen things you may or may not know about me.

I never wanted to have children, but I now am the proud owner of a bouncing baby boy. We call him Archibald or pain-in-the-ass for short

 

I’m never one to consider myself a health and wellness expert. I completed a one-year stint in nutrition and then dumped it in favour of focusing on my writing. Perhaps that might not have been the wisest choice considering I’m not snorting cocaine off the backside of a hot Spaniard on my forty-foot yacht in the Caribbean.

But, one year and a keen interest in nutrition and health does equate to hefty opinions. And small steps are the key to a healthier version of yourself regardless of the self-imposed qualifications.

Heath doesn’t equal skinny. Health comes in multiple packages and it’s important to recognise all of them. A healthy mind driven by focus and meditative healing can be just as beneficial as six gym sessions and drinking green smoothies. Granted you can’t meditate your way to a leaner physique, but as I stated, health isn’t just about physical appearance.

Drinking more water and staying hydrated equals sharper cognition and better internal functioning. Sleeping more or resting when tired helps the body to repair and recover when needed. Taking up a physical activity, even if it’s a sex marathon, will help to keep obesity levels at bay. And of course, taking the small step to ingest more nourishing food options not only keeps the waistline down, but helps you poop better. And who doesn’t want to poop better?

Small steps, small changes. They all add up to progressively bigger results. Don’t stop proactively walking towards a healthier lifestyle just because the journey may seem too far.

Kristy

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, otherwise known to the masses as OCD. I’m not certain if I’ve ever met anyone that needed to turn the doorknob seventeen times before exiting or if they need to tap their mouth three times before answering a question, but what I am quite certain of, is that every single one of us obsesses over something that needs to be done a certain way.

For example, I HAVE to stack the dishwasher without assistance. This doesn’t mean for a second that it runs more efficiently, but I do get a kick out of ‘Tetris-ing’ the shit out of every cup and plate to fit my entire cupboard in there. Thus, if the hubby even attempts to put a spoon in the knife compartment or a bowl in the plate rack, I tend to have a mini meltdown.

Crazy, right?

There is no rhyme nor reason why we do these things. The dishwasher would not be damaged if my hubby haphazardly stacked it or even put it on half empty, but my brain can’t handle the inefficiency of his efforts. Not technically and OCD tendency, it’s still a task that must be completed to my overly high standard.

Does anyone else tend to mark these psychotic tendencies down to OCD?

Kristy

Can you really narrow down your biggest pet peeve to just one thing? I know I can’t. Perhaps that’s because I’m too tightly wound, a giant prick or maybe there are just one too many things that really piss me off.

Most people can identify the one thing that really does annoy them more than anything else. It could be that someone is talking over the top of them, nose pickers, slow drivers or even assholes that wear active wear in the grocery store. There are a multitude of things that we as a human race do on occasion that irritates the person or people closest to us.

For me, though it may not sound too far out of the realms of relatable, my biggest pet peeve is my husband. Not him physically or even personally (otherwise I wouldn’t have married him), but his ridiculously annoying habits.

He walks all manner of debris over my freshly cleaned floors. He never hangs up the bath mat. He throws his clothes next to the dirty clothes basket and he steals my Tim Tams. He panics over the most random and easily resolvable situations. He’s on his phone all the time and he makes suggestions rather than just outright telling me what he needs or wants.

Truly, the list could go on and I’d hate to see what really irritates him about me. But as you can see, not one particular thing peeves me more than another. I’m just that A-typical personality that’s hard to please, but rather ‘pleased’ the hubby still loves me despite me undoubtedly being his biggest pet peeve too.

Kristy

Do we really care about others or is it just pretend? An interesting thought and one surely as varied as the billions of entities living on this planet.

I think it’s fairly safe to say that 95% of us actually do care about the other people around us. It might not be expressed in the depths that you care for a family member, your spouse or child, but if we didn’t care to some extent then social niceties would have become extinct long ago.

Yes, we are raised to stand for the pregnant lady on the bus, let the elderly man have your seat on the train or let the person busting for a pee behind you go into the public restroom first. These are our social graces and the small measures of kindness that we can impart so easily on a daily basis. But, caring about others can be a deeper, more personal thing. Caring about others can be as simple as smiling at a stranger that seems down in the dumps, helping your neighbour to mow their lawn when they’re unable to or sharing a sandwich with a co-worker without food.

These are mostly acts that we enact regularly and without thought, but imagine what else we could accomplish if we cared just that little bit more? Could we end poverty? Could we stop world hunger? Could we lessen depression by knowing there is always someone who cares?

The truth is, there’s so much more that all of us could do to show that we care and improve upon. Whether we have it in us isn’t really the question, but whether we care enough to do more is the real crux of the matter ...

Kristy

I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules or even solutions regarding how to endure bad habits, especially from those you love, but you can choose how you react.

Bad habits belong to everyone. I myself have chewed my fingernails on and off since I was nine years old and have never really been able to stop the digits from entering my mouth over the course of every single day. I also jump in on family and friends and finish their sentences if I feel it’s taking too long to get their point across. I’m impatient like that.

But, when it comes to the bad habits of those around us, it’s easy to nit-pick at their failings rather than take a massive look inwards. For example, my hubby is amazing in so many respects. He’s kind, protective, intelligent and often quite thoughtful, but he can also leave the wet mat on the bathroom floor which tends to drive me batshit crazy. He also never hangs his towel up straight, never makes the bed, throws his dirty clothes next to the laundry basket rather than in it and uses every cup, plate, bowl and spoon in the kitchen rather than re-cycling.

I’ve truly thought about murdering him on many occasions, but instead of committing myself to life imprisonment, I decided to alter my perception of his bad habits. Because let’s face it, nagging never changes a bloody thing. First off, I had to decide if the wet floor mat was that big of a deal when I have plenty of other dry ones in the cupboard. Could I scoop up the clothes and pop them in the basket as I walked past and we have a dishwasher so is it really a drama that he empties the cupboards?

The answer was staring me in the face. His bad habits are bad habits that I’ve imposed upon him. He was quick to remind me that I cut my fingernails on the couch, never put the rubbish out and force him to eat vegetarian when he’s a carnivore. The point is, our perspective interprets what is and isn’t a bad habit and although some things simply annoy or aren’t that good for us, how we react to each and every situation depends on whether or not it’s bothersome or not that big of a deal.

Kristy