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 Hi, I’m Ninie

I’ve been waiting for you. And here you are!

I have soooo many stories I want to tell you, so many worlds I want you to see, so many people I want you to meet. People in trouble, most of them. Big trouble they didn’t ask for but there it is. Ordinary folks like you and me who are forced to fight for their lives. And then, smack in the middle of their everyday worlds they encounter the unexplainable. It’s always the game-changer.

Welcome. If you’d like to know more about me, I’m easy. Click on Meet Ninie and you’ll see. My life isn’t really an open book … it’s more of a pamphlet—and you are cordially invited to read it. I’d love to interact with you in all those virtual realms—Twitter, Facebook Fan page, Goodreads and 9e’s Blog. Who knows, maybe after you’ve listened to some of my stories, you’ll decide that you’ve been waiting for me, too.

Oh, and about the 9 and the e beside my picture and on my blog. Say it fast, emphasis on the 9. That’s how you pronounce my first name—9e. (Think “rhymes with tiny and shiny, NOT with skinny and penny.”) If you’re interested in how I got tagged with that handy pronunciation-guide, click on Meet Ninie and you’ll find The Rest of The Story.

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The Last Safe Place

 
In the deepest, darkest midnight of her soul, Gabriella writes a book, a horror story about demons … and then one of them crawls up out of the pages and confronts her face to face. A deranged, fanatical fan who believes he is The Beast of Babylon from her novel turns up at a book signing and then comes after her to claim her as his bride. And to sacrifice her son, Ty, as an offering to their unholy union.

. . . . more

Click here to order this book

Ninie’s Latest Posts

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Heroes & Villains: You Need Both

10 ESSENTIALS OF A DYNAMITE STORY #4 GOOD GUYS & BAD GUYS Where would Luke Skywalker be without Darth Vader? Harry Potter without Valdemort. The Three Little Pigs without the Big, Bad Wolf? Black hats, white hats; good guys, bad … Continue reading

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Conflict: there are only four kinds

10 ESSENTIALS OF A DYNAMITE STORY                      #3 CONFLICT For the record, I don’t entirely agree with what I’m going to tell you about conflict. You could say, I suppose, that I’m … Continue reading

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Three Roles of Setting in a Novel

10 ESSENTIALS OF A DYNAMITE STORY                      #2 SETTING Why is setting so important in a novel? Because it defines your characters. Or exemplifies your characters. Sometimes, actually becomes a character. Setting … Continue reading

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10 Essentials of a Dynamite Story #1

     JOB DESCRIPTION: NOVELIST You have to reach up out of the pages of your book, grab your Loyal Reader by the lapels and yank him out of his world into a place he’s never been, where he’ll be … Continue reading

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Three Ways To Draw Pictures In Your Readers’ Heads

         I suspect it’d be easier to sneak a pipe bomb through security at the Tel Aviv airport than to get any three authors to agree on a job description. Exactly what is it we get paid … Continue reading

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Three Things Every Novelist MUST Do

I spent a lot of years telling rooms full of just-out-of-J-School reporters to “picture groceries.” For a decade, I gave up a few days every summer to teach at state press association “boot camps” where the goal was to whip … Continue reading

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Don’t Break Your Promise To Your Readers

         I spoke to a group of fledgling suspense novelists last week and loved their fire and enthusiasm. I tried hard not to dampen that fire when I answered the questions they’d submitted. A dose of reality … Continue reading

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How To Survive Success As a Novelist

                  STEP FIFTEEN I considered adding a subtitle: I’ll Let You Know As Soon As I Have Some and then leaving the space below blank. Might have gotten a chuckle, but it’s not … Continue reading

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If You Have A Song to Sing, SING IT!

               STEP FOURTEEN Perhaps this should have been the first post instead of the 14th out of 15. It is, after all, foundational to everything I have come to understand about writing in general … Continue reading

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Set It Free! No Little Dogs.

                              STEP THIRTEEN My mother was an artist. Though she passed through water colors, oils and acrylics on the way, she found her home in pastel chalk—not … Continue reading

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Watch Your Novel Go From Caterpillar to Butterfly

                       STEP TWELVE  It happened to me with my very first novel. I got it in the mail, shipped to my house in Godalming, Surrey, southwest of London, and for … Continue reading

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Label ‘Em or Lose ‘Em

                      STEP ELEVEN So you’re going to write a novel. You sit down and type the title: “The Greatest Book Ever Written”. You slug it, “By Ninie Hammon,” and you’re … Continue reading

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The CFD–Crappy First Draft

                       STEP TEN  Years ago, a famous columnist from a big metro daily and I co-taught a session on column-writing for the Kentucky Press Association Boot Camp. His approach to … Continue reading

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All Great Stories Are About Change

                    STEP NINE  As the story opens, Gandalf the Gray provides the entertainment for Bilbo’s birthday party. He sets off fireworks—his specialty. Three books full of outrageous adventure and 1,000+ pages … Continue reading

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One List to Rule Them All, One List to Find Them

                         STEP EIGHT: “One list to rule them all … One list to find them … One list to bring them all and in your novel bind them … In the land … Continue reading

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What Were They Doing When?

                       STEP SEVEN: I’ve said it before but it bears repeating. Starting a new novel is a front-loaded activity. Every novelist does it differently, but only a handful sit down … Continue reading

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Five Strangers Stare At Me

                           STEP SIX: As I type these words, five people stare at me from the other side of the room, four grownups and a little red-haired girl. One … Continue reading

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Line Up The Pearls

                        STEP FIVE: In my head, I see each scene of a novel as a pearl. A pearl is born in conflict. Something, some irritant, a grain of sand … Continue reading

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Take Your Reader On A Journey

                    STEP FOUR: In my first blog for December, we talked about seat-of-the-pants writers, that rare breed of writer who sits down at a keyboard … and writes a novel, with … Continue reading

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Another massacre like Sandy Hook almost happened

The parents of the children massacred in Sandy Hook Elementary School a week ago today had no idea their little ones were in  danger. The parents of children in a South Carolina elementary school four years ago had no idea … Continue reading

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A Popcorn String Christmas Story

The spaces between the yellowed kernels get bigger every year where the knots of popcorn have crumbled away. The cotton sewing thread grows more and more fragile. But then we weren’t making anything to last the Christmas of 1973. Just … Continue reading

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Merry Christmas NOT Happy Holidays

I walked into a store yesterday and the sales clerk greeted me with “Happy Holidays!” I ground my teeth, of course. It’s CHRISTMAS, folks. That’s what we’re celebrating. Then I got home and read an email from a friend about … Continue reading

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To Plan Or Not To Plan … That Is The Question

                      STEP THREE: I’ve only known a few, which isn’t surprising given that I suspect they’re a very rare breed. They’d have to be because theirs is such a unique gift … Continue reading

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Always Always Language

                         STEP TWO: It’s always, always on my computer desktop and the top Note in my IPhone. I keep it handy because my Always, Always Language List is very important … Continue reading

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You Need A Book For Your Book

                         STEP ONE: The one for Sudan got lost when we moved from Surrey to Buckinghamshire. But I remember it. It had a soft, brown leather cover. Dignified, befitting … Continue reading

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Fifteen Steps to Get Novel On the Page

Sit down. I’m about to save your life. Ok, maybe not your life, but your sanity for sure. I’m about to tell you how to get that novel—the one that’s been roaring around in your head for years on a … Continue reading

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Stephen King’s Boys in The Basement/Ninie Hammon’s California Raisins (Part 2)

I suspect the last original thought anybody ever had was probably something like: “I think I’ll call that one with the tall, skinny neck a hippopotamus and the short, fat one a giraffe …naaa, make it the other way around.” … Continue reading

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Stephen King’s Boys in the Basement/Ninie Hammon’s California Raisins (Part 1)

Right out of the chute here I want to set the record straight: I have absolutely no idea how to write a novel. No idea how you’re supposed to write a novel, that is. When I began to write my … Continue reading

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Book Clubs, Schools … here I come! (via Skype)

  As anybody who’s ever spent more than half an hour in my presence will attest, I would crawl on my belly through five miles of fire ants for a chance to hang out with readers. (Ok, that was excessive, … Continue reading

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Coal Is Black Sunshine

I got a letter about a week ago. No, I mean a LETTER. Written on paper. Delivered by the mailman. It was from a coal miner in Eastern Kentucky. He didn’t say how he had gotten my mailing address, but … Continue reading

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NOT my first blog post … really

This is NOT my first blog ever—on my brand new website. I know it looks like it is, but it’s not. Really. It’s my second blog. Writing the first-ever blog on a newly-designed website, a pristine format where you must … Continue reading