Books with author Randy Ingermanson

A Magical Key to Unlock Your Creative WizardAre you writing a novel, but having trouble getting your first draft written? You’ve heard of “outlining,” but that sounds too rigid for you. You’ve heard of “organic writing,” but that seems a bit squishy to you. Take a look at the wildly popular Snowflake Method—a battle-tested series of ten steps that jump-start your creativity and help you quickly map out your story. All around the world, novelists are using the Snowflake Method right now to ignite their imaginations and get their first drafts down on paper. In this book, you’ll follow the story of a fictitious novelist as she learns to tap into the amazing power of the Snowflake Method. Almost magically, she finds her story growing from a simple idea into a deep and powerful novel. And she finds her novel changing her—turning her into a stronger, more courageous person.Zany, Over the Top, and Just Plain FunHow to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method is a “business parable”—a how-to guide written in story form. It’s zany. It’s over the top. It’s just plain fun. Most important, it’s effective, because it shows you, rather than telling you.You’ll learn by example how to grow your story idea into a sizzling first draft. You’ll discover:How to define your “target audience” the right way, so you know exactly how your ideal readers think and feel. Forget what the experts tell you about “demographics.”How to create a dynamite selling tool that will instantly tell people whether they’ll love your story or hate it. And you want them to either love it or hate it.How to get inside the skin of every one of your characters—even your villain. Especially your villain.How to find a deep, emotively powerful theme for your story. Do you know the one best point in your novel to unveil your theme—when your reader is most eager to hear it?How to know when to backtrack, and why backtracking is essential to writing great fiction.How to fire-test each scene to guarantee it’ll be high-impact—before you write it.Excerpt from Chapter 1Goldilocks had always wanted to write a novel. She learned to read before she went to kindergarten. In grade school, she always had her nose in a book. In junior high, the other kids thought she was weird, because she actually liked reading those dusty old novels in literature class. All through high school, Goldilocks dreamed of writing a book of her own someday.But when she went to college, her parents persuaded her to study something practical. Goldilocks hated practical, and secretly she kept reading novels. But she was a very obedient girl, so she did what her parents told her. She got a very practical degree in marketing. After college, she got a job that bored her to tears—but at least it was practical.Then she got married, and within a few years, she had two children, a girl and then a boy. She quit her job to devote full time to them. As the children grew, Goldilocks took great joy in introducing them to the stories she had loved as a child. When her son went off to kindergarten, Goldilocks thought about looking for a job. But her resume now had a seven-year hole in it, and her practical skills were long out of date. The only jobs Goldilocks could qualify for were minimum wage.She suddenly realized that being practical had made her horribly unhappy. On a whim, Goldilocks decided to do the one thing she had always wanted more than anything else—she was finally going to write a novel.She didn’t care if it was impractical.She didn’t care if nobody would ever read her novel.She was going to do it just because she wanted to.For the first time in years, she was going to do something

A Magical Key to Unlock Your Creative WizardAre you writing a novel, but having trouble getting your first draft written? You’ve heard of “outlining,” but that sounds too rigid for you. You’ve heard of “organic writing,” but that seems a bit squishy to you.Take a look at the wildly popular Snowflake Method—ten battle-tested steps that jump-start your creativity and help you quickly map out your story. All around the world, novelists are using the Snowflake Method right now to ignite their imaginations and get their first drafts down.In this book, you’ll follow the story of a fictitious novelist as she learns to tap into the amazing power of the Snowflake Method. Almost magically, she finds her story growing from a simple idea into a deep and powerful novel. And she finds her novel changing her—into a stronger, more courageous person.Zany, Over the Top, and Just Plain FunHow to Write a Novel Using the Snowflake Method is a “business parable”—a how-to guide written in story form. It’s zany. It’s over the top. It’s just plain fun. It shows you how it’s done, rather than tells you.You’ll learn by example how to grow your story idea into a sizzling first draft.You’ll discover:How to define your “target audience” the right way, so you know exactly how your ideal readers think and feel. Forget what the experts tell you about “demographics.”How to create a dynamite selling tool that will instantly tell people whether they’ll love your story or hate it. And you want them to love it or hate it.How to get inside the skin of each of your characters—even your villain. Especially your villain.How to find a deep, emotively powerful theme for your story. Do you know the best point in your novel to unveil your theme?How to know when to backtrack, and why backtracking is essential to writing great fiction.How to fire-test each scene to ensure it’s high-impact—before you write it.ExcerptGoldilocks had always wanted to write a novel.She learned to read before she went to kindergarten.In grade school, she always had her nose in a book.In junior high, the other kids thought she was weird, because she actually liked reading those dusty old novels in literature class.All through high school, Goldilocks dreamed of writing a book of her own someday.But when she went to college, her parents persuaded her to study something practical.Goldilocks hated practical, and secretly she kept reading novels. But she was a very obedient girl, so she did what her parents told her. She got a very practical degree in marketing.After college, she got a job that bored her to tears—but at least it was practical.Then she got married, and within a few years, she had two children, a girl and then a boy. She quit her job to devote full time to them.As the children grew, Goldilocks took great joy in introducing them to the stories she had loved as a child.When her son went off to kindergarten, Goldilocks thought about looking for a job. But her resume now had a seven-year hole in it, and her practical skills were long out of date.The only jobs Goldilocks could qualify for were minimum wage.She suddenly realized that being practical had made her horribly unhappy.On a whim, Goldilocks decided to do the one thing she had always wanted more than anything else—she was finally going to write a novel.She didn’t care if it was impractical.She didn’t care if nobody would ever read her novel.She was going to do it just because she wanted to.For the first time in years, she was going to do something just for herself.And nobody was going to stop her.

All your life, you dreamed about the City of God.But you never thought you’d ever actually go there. Until now. Your name is Rivka Meyers, and you are a total misfit. You are a Messianic Jew, studying at UC Berkeley. Misfit. You are a woman getting your PhD in archaeology—a man’s field. Misfit. You are in Israel working on an archaeological dig, pretending to be someone you’re not. Misfit. Your Israeli co-worker on the dig tries to set you up with his cousin, Ari Kazan. Disaster. Because Ari likes you. And you haven’t told him you’re Messianic. Ari is a theoretical physicist who wrote some crazy paper on time travel. Somehow, an experimental physicist, Damien West, thought it was a good idea.Damien came all the way from the US to try to build a wormhole to test Ari’s crazy theory. Damien is obsessed with safety, which seems a little weird. But he has a personal reason for wanting time travel to be real, and it’s a lot weird. Only he’s not telling anyone that reason. Damien wants to go back in time and kill the apostle Paul. Somehow, Damien gets the wormhole working, sort of.Somehow, he tricks you into going through the wormhole, without telling you where you’re going, or when. Somehow, you find yourself in Jerusalem, AD 57, completely unprepared and completely bedazzled. This is where you always wanted to visit. It would be dumb to leave without looking around. But too late, you realize it’s even dumber to stay. Because you’re the worst possible misfit in the City of God. You didn’t come dressed for a place and time where women are required to cover their bodies. Where women don’t talk to men. Where women are property, not people. Where violating the rules could get you killed. Back in the lab, Damien isn’t worried about you. He packs his gun, sets a timer to shut down the wormhole, and walks through into ancient Jerusalem. If he calculated the dates right, he’ll be lining up the apostle Paul in his gunsights next Tuesday. And you can’t stop him, even if you figure out what he’s up to.There’s a loose cannon in this picture.Ari Kazan. The guy who has a weird, crazy, stupid crush on you.The guy who’s mad at you for not telling him you’re a Messianic.The guy who just found out Damien West has made a fool of him. What’s Ari going to do? About The BookTransgression is a time-travel suspense novel that mixes science, history, religion, romance, and suspense. It’s about learning to stand up for yourself, when you just want to be let alone. It’s about making hard decisions. It’s about asking whether life has meaning and whether God exists — and becoming a badass fighter for justice, even if you don’t have the answers. Transgression won the 2001 Christy award for best futuristic novel in Christian fiction. Transgression will take you on a wretched, miserable, dangerous adventure through the filthy, bandit-ridden streets of first-century Jerusalem. Transgression is the first novel in the City of God series:Book 1: Transgression (A.D. 57)Book 2: Premonition (A.D. 57-62)Book 3: Retribution (A.D. 62-66)

All your life, you dreamed about the City of God.But you never thought you'd ever actually go there. Until now. Your name is Rivka Meyers, and you are a total misfit. You are a Messianic Jew, studying at UC Berkeley. Misfit. You are a woman getting your PhD in archaeology--a man's field. Misfit. You are in Israel working on an archaeological dig, pretending to be someone you're not. Misfit. Your Israeli co-worker on the dig tries to set you up with his cousin, Ari Kazan. Disaster. Because Ari likes you. And you haven't told him you're Messianic. Ari is a theoretical physicist who wrote some crazy paper on time travel. Somehow, an experimental physicist, Damien West, thought it was a good idea.Damien came all the way from the US to try to build a wormhole to test Ari's crazy theory. Damien is obsessed with safety, which seems a little weird. But he has a personal reason for wanting time travel to be real, and it's a lot weird. Only he's not telling anyone that reason. Damien wants to go back in time and kill the apostle Paul. Somehow, Damien gets the wormhole working, sort of.Somehow, he tricks you into going through the wormhole, without telling you where you're going, or when. Somehow, you find yourself in Jerusalem, AD 57, completely unprepared and completely bedazzled. This is where you always wanted to visit. It would be dumb to leave without looking around. But too late, you realize it's even dumber to stay. Because you're the worst possible misfit in the City of God. You didn't come dressed for a place and time where women are required to cover their bodies. Where women don't talk to men. Where women are property, not people. Where violating the rules could get you killed. Back in the lab, Damien isn't worried about you. He packs his gun, sets a timer to shut down the wormhole, and walks through into ancient Jerusalem. If he calculated the dates right, he'll be lining up the apostle Paul in his gunsights next Tuesday. And you can't stop him, even if you figure out what he's up to.There's a loose cannon in this picture.Ari Kazan. The guy who has a weird, crazy, stupid crush on you.The guy who's mad at you for not telling him you're a Messianic.The guy who just found out Damien West has made a fool of him. What's Ari going to do? About The BookTransgression is a time-travel suspense novel that mixes science, history, religion, romance, and suspense. It's about learning to stand up for yourself, when you just want to be let alone. It's about making hard decisions. It's about asking whether life has meaning and whether God exists -- and becoming a badass fighter for justice, even if you don't have the answers. Transgression won the 2001 Christy award for best futuristic novel in Christian fiction. Transgression will take you on a wretched, miserable, dangerous adventure through the filthy, bandit-ridden streets of first-century Jerusalem. Transgression is the first novel in the City of God series:Book 1: Transgression (A.D. 57)Book 2: Premonition (A.D. 57-62)Book 3: Retribution (A.D. 62-66)

All your life, you dreamed about the City of God.But you never thought you’d ever actually go there. Until now. Your name is Rivka Meyers, and you are a total misfit. You are a Messianic Jew, studying at UC Berkeley. Misfit. You are a woman getting your PhD in archaeology—a man’s field. Misfit. You are in Israel working on an archaeological dig, pretending to be someone you’re not. Misfit. Your Israeli co-worker on the dig tries to set you up with his cousin, Ari Kazan. Disaster. Because Ari likes you. And you haven’t told him you’re Messianic. Ari is a theoretical physicist who wrote some crazy paper on time travel. Somehow, an experimental physicist, Damien West, thought it was a good idea.Damien came all the way from the US to try to build a wormhole to test Ari’s crazy theory. Damien is obsessed with safety, which seems a little weird. But he has a personal reason for wanting time travel to be real, and it’s a lot weird. Only he’s not telling anyone that reason. Damien wants to go back in time and kill the apostle Paul. Somehow, Damien gets the wormhole working, sort of.Somehow, he tricks you into going through the wormhole, without telling you where you’re going, or when. Somehow, you find yourself in Jerusalem, AD 57, completely unprepared and completely bedazzled. This is where you always wanted to visit. It would be dumb to leave without looking around. But too late, you realize it’s even dumber to stay. Because you’re the worst possible misfit in the City of God. You didn’t come dressed for a place and time where women are required to cover their bodies. Where women don’t talk to men. Where women are property, not people. Where violating the rules could get you killed. Back in the lab, Damien isn’t worried about you. He packs his gun, sets a timer to shut down the wormhole, and walks through into ancient Jerusalem. If he calculated the dates right, he’ll be lining up the apostle Paul in his gunsights next Tuesday. And you can’t stop him, even if you figure out what he’s up to.There’s a loose cannon in this picture.Ari Kazan. The guy who has a weird, crazy, stupid crush on you.The guy who’s mad at you for not telling him you’re a Messianic.The guy who just found out Damien West has made a fool of him. What’s Ari going to do? About The BookTransgression is a time-travel suspense novel that mixes science, history, religion, romance, and suspense. It’s about learning to stand up for yourself, when you just want to be let alone. It’s about making hard decisions. It’s about asking whether life has meaning and whether God exists — and becoming a badass fighter for justice, even if you don’t have the answers. Transgression won the 2001 Christy award for best futuristic novel in Christian fiction. Transgression will take you on a wretched, miserable, dangerous adventure through the filthy, bandit-ridden streets of first-century Jerusalem. Transgression is the first novel in the City of God series:Book 1: Transgression (A.D. 57)Book 2: Premonition (A.D. 57-62)Book 3: Retribution (A.D. 62-66)