A Raging Madness by Jude Knight @JudeKnightBooks #RLFblog #historical

A Raging Madness, Jude Knight: counterfeit marriage, real enemies. Their marriage is fiction. Their enemies are real. Ella has survived abuse and scorn. Alex is a broken-down soldier. They must face their past to find their future.

Filters Are for Water and Coffee

"Show. Don't tell." Every writer has heard this mantra. Filter words are all about telling. They're verbs that take the reader one step away from experiencing life as your POV character. Leah Wohl-Pollack of Invisible Ink Editing gives this list:

to see
to hear
to think
to touch
to wonder
to realize
to watch
to look
to seem
to feel (or feel like)
can/could/couldn't
to decide
to know
to sound like
to notice
to be able to
to note
to experience
to remember

If your POV character is doing any of these, you're telling, not showing. So when I edit, I do a search on each of these words and its variants, evaluating them to see if I'm pulling the reader out of the action. For example, in one draft I found:

Alex was managing to smile, though he looked pale. She went to place a comforting hand on his shoulder then realized how gory her hands were, and instead bent to lay her lips against his forehead.

This became:

Alex managed a smile, though all the color had leeched from his skin, which was slick with sweat. She went to place a comforting hand on his shoulder then stilled her gory hands and instead bent to lay her lips against his forehead.

It's a great tip. For more, just Google 'filter words'.

Today's featured book is A Raging Madness, a historical romance by Jude Knight.

Ella survived an abusive and philandering husband, in-laws who hate her, and public scorn. But she's not sure she will survive love. It is too late to guard her heart from the man forced to pretend he has married such a disreputable widow, but at least she will not burden him with feelings he can never return.

Alex understands his supposed wife never wishes to remarry. And if she had chosen to wed, it would not have been to him. He should have wooed her when he was whole, when he could have had her love, not her pity. But it is too late now. She looks at him and sees a broken man. Perhaps she will learn to bear him.

In their masquerade of a marriage, Ella and Alex soon discover they are more well-matched than they expected. But then the couple's blossoming trust is ripped apart by a malicious enemy. Two lost souls must together face the demons of their past to save their lives and give their love a future.

A Raging Madness's genre: historical romance

Book heat level (based on movie ratings): PG
Publisher Titchfield Press
Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07111TCLR
Barnes and Noble http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-raging-madness-jude-knight/1126227273
Kobo https://www.kobo.com/nz/en/ebook/a-raging-madness
Smashwords https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/717569
CreateSpace https://www.createspace.com/7108258
iBooks: https://itunes.apple.com/nz/book/a-raging-madness/

Jude Knight Social Media

Jude Knight's writing goal is to transport readers to another time, another place, where they can enjoy adventure and romance, thrill to trials and challenges, uncover secrets and solve mysteries, delight in a happy ending, and return from their virtual holiday refreshed and ready for anything.

She writes historical novels, novellas, and short stories, mostly set in the early 19th Century. She writes strong determined heroines, heroes who can appreciate a clever capable woman, villains you'll love to loathe, and all with a leavening of humor.