Have you ever worked on a project and knew you needed help? The story is moving along, but you know you can do better. While writing the third book in my Messed-Up Heroes series, I hit that spot. I'm normally the kind of person who likes to do everything on her own, so asking for help is tough for me. But I want this book to be my best, and I know I need an outsider to take a look at my ideas, my writing skills, etc, and give me honest feedback.
An Internet search turned up several writing coaches, and the one I chose was Lori DeBoer. We set up a time, and since I couldn't figure out Skype, (curse you, newfangled technology!) we decided a phone call would work fine. Lori got right down to business, and though some of her suggestions were slightly painful (what do you mean I'm not perfect?), they were are incredibly helpful. All these light bulbs kept going off over my head. As we read through a writing sample I'd sent, she made suggestions and pointed out issues. I have to confess, I had a few "man, I suck; I should step away from the keyboard forever" moments. But Lori assured me it wasn't true. She gave me encouragement to keep going, noted my strengths, and suggested tips to improve on my weaknesses. Lori was tough, but kind. She gave me a few titles of books to read, some on craft, and some for story structure. I ordered them, and will dig in with delight. I left the call with renewed enthusiasm and plans. Big plans. Once I get my WIP to a certain point, I'll work with Lori again. Visit Lori's website if you need a little help to bring out the best in your writing. www.lorideboer.net/ Holy Shmoly, I'm late with this announcement. My winner from the Name the School for Gifted Children contest is Christina H. chosen by random.org. Thanks for all the great school names. I still haven't picked one, there are so many delightful choices! I'll let you know when book three comes out and you can see which name was chosen.
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Names are important. Would you send your child to a school called Lazy Days Learning? Shortcuts to Success? Mad Skillz Academy? Nope, I thought not. No one wants to do business with a company if the name sounds strange, and parents wouldn't send their child to a school that didn't inspire trust. In book three of my Messed-Up Heroes series, my heroine works at a school for gifted children. Well, she did work there until an unfortunate incident gets her fired. Help me name this school with something creative and fun. Visit the Survey Monkey for more details. This contest will end May 8th and the winner will be chosen by Random.org. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GR86CQQ After you share your idea, go to your favorite e-book retailer and buy book one in the series, Dangerous Addictions, on sale at .99 for a limited time. Thank you! Amazon iBooks Barnes and Noble Kobo and your favorite e-book retailer A topiary at Disney. What if the creators of this fairy named her Skeeter Wings? Not quite as charming as Tinkerbell, is it? :-)
Join me while I pat myself on the back and put on my Planning Princess crown, simultaneously. Messed-Up Heroes book two is coming out, and I decided to to do the marketing differently this time. My day job is hopping, I have limited funds to use, so I have to make the most of my time and money. Here's my plan. 1. I'm going to embrace the joy of putting out a new book. Instead of viewing promotion as something I have to do, and feeling like I'm bothering people by asking them to buy my books, I'm adjusting my mindset. I get to tell people about my books. Readers are waiting for them and excited that I wrote them, and they're happy to purchase one. 2. No rushing with the publication date. My day job is super-busy right now, and I'm not going to spend every free second I have doing marketing. I want to plant tomatoes, clean my messy house, enjoy a movie with my honey, and have an Irish whiskey with my friend on St. Patrick's day. I'm giving myself enough time to do everything I want with the marketing, and still live my life. 3. I'll explore different options and exercise creativity. I'm a Planning Princess (who else packs their suitcase for a trip a week ahead?), and here's the perfect chance to use those skills, come up with great ideas, and have fun. I don't have a gazillion dollars to spend, so I've found promotional opportunities that will keep me in my budget. 4. I'm not going to worry. The beauty of being a Planning Princess is that things get taken care of ahead of time. I have a Plan of Action, so I won't wake up at two o'clock in the morning thinking of something I should do, or sit frantically at my computer spilling chili from my dinner on the keyboard, as I take care of last-minute details. Once an action item is on my Plan sheet, it will be done, so I don't need to stress out. I'm prepared! The less stress in my life, the happier I am. The happier I am, the more smoothly life goes, and the faster the next book gets written. Yay! The winner of my March contest was Janet M. Thanks to all who entered! I love to eavesdrop when men are talking, and since I began writing, I have a great excuse. I mean reason. A great reason to be nosy. I mean observant. I'm observant. I have to pay attention to how the males of our species talk to each other, and it's better when they don't know anyone is listening to them. And more fun. Men and women don't talk the same way. Vive la difference! Men use more abrupt, choppy language and curse more, or at least the men in my books do. Something else I've noticed, men tend to sound angry, and often, we think they're mad at us, but that's not true. They're mad at themselves, a situation, or using mad to cover another emotion, like fear or sorrow. When I write as a guy, I can explore that anger, and let readers know the underlying emotion sparking it. I can also show what the hero's thinking and feeling about a woman in the book and describe her in more detail, something hard to do if writing from the female POV only. Writing as a man makes me step into his shoes and sometimes, I'm surprised what I find. A good thing, right? Join me and over thirty other romantic suspense authors in a giganto book giveaway contest right here: https://authorsxp.com/giveaway The winner of my name-the-drummer-doorbell contest was Lori R. and the song I chose for the doorbell is the theme to Hawaii Five-O. If you've never heard it, visit YouTube, fire it up, and shake your booty. You'll warm up ten degrees, guaranteed! Who loves to rock out to a good drum solo? Me! Me! Nothing gets the blood pumping like jumping up and down and shimmying those hips around. And whenever I do, all the other shoppers let me go first in line. Ha-ha! No really, I only shake it down in the privacy of my home. Or car. Or after much wine, and as long as others are dancing along too.
There's a house in my work-in-progress book, and the original owner was a rock drummer. He had his door chime set up with a drum solo, of course. What song has a great drum introduction? Enter my contest here for a chance to win an Amazon or your favorite bookseller gift card. Winner will be drawn on December 20th using random.org. I can't wait to hear your answers, and good luck! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/3YNYLZM There's no way I can write 50,000 words in thirty days, but I love and embrace the spirit of National Novel Writing Month. Go writers! I'm thrilled to report that in three months, I've written 60,000 words. For me, that's awesome-balls and I have to tell you, I shed a few proud tears today. But many days, I look at what I've done and compare myself to others. The tears on those days aren't so proud. Aaargh! I'm never going to hit a best-seller list, or make those millions, or have thousands of fans at this pace. I write too slow. I should just hang it up.
But I haven't. I have a goal and once that's met, I might adjust my direction, but I won't stop. I'll plan another goal, and keep tapping on my keyboard. Because there's always hope. We only fail if we quit. And a big reason why I write is because I love books. They've been my salvation during this craptastic year. I know at the end of every day, I can crawl into a story and lose myself for a while. Bless you, authors, for helping me keep my sanity, and I hope my books help others keep theirs. Very soon I'll be starting on what I call the third layer of my next book. That's the really fun part. I have the story-line down and logistics covered. Everyone is doing what they're supposed to do and hanging out where they're supposed to be. Now, I get to coax out all the personality quirks from my characters, and add the details that make the story shine. I'll keep at it, because the thrill of having a finished book outweighs the sad parts. If you're in Florida, I'll be at a multi-author book signing this Saturday. Come by for goodies, giveaways and of course, books! facebook.com/events/352208378451020/ For my birthday, I bought myself a Florida Writers Association conference registration. Pretty nice gift, yes? I've never attended a large writing conference and since this one is sort of local and wouldn't involve airline travel (airport = hell), and the hotel and registration prices were reasonable, I dug out my credit card and splurged. I ended up going alone, which turned out to be a smart decision. Here's why.
1. I didn't have to check in with anyone. Ever. Most of us report to others throughout the day and are supposed to be in certain places at certain times. Not having anyone expect me to show up allowed me to make spur of the moment decisions and change my mind whenever I wanted, without disappointing a friend. 2. I met new, fabulous people. Most everyone at this event was extremely friendly and since we're all interested in the same subject, it was easy to start conversations. The men and women I chatted with all had a story to tell, and exchanging ideas and experiences tweaked my brain synapses. Talking to authors who write outside my genre was a breath of fresh air and gave me lots to think about. 3. When you're by yourself, you have to step out of your comfort zone. A lot. I had to walk into a room and sit at at table with strangers for meals and workshops. You know what? The more you do that, the easier it gets. I was having a downright fun time by the end of the weekend. I also had to take absolute responsibility for my own decisions, since I didn't have a buddy to discuss plans with. Yoiks! Talk about being a total grownup. But it made me think hard about which workshops to attend and how to spend my time. 4. Not having my honey along meant I could focus entirely on learning and not be distracted by whether or not he was doing okay. The honey and I do well when we travel together, but we each have to think about the needs of the other one. This time, it was all about me. Which also meant I could take a chill-out break when I needed. Surrounded by so many people, I required a lot of those breaks. Quiet ones. The television did not get turned on once. Perfect! It was nice to come home and snuggle with my cat on my feet and my man next to me, but I enjoyed my time away. Being alone doesn't have to be lonely. There were times when it would have been fun to have a friend or my sweetie with me, but mostly, I rocked being alone. And I'll do it again. It's not often I get excited about cleaning implements. It's not often I get excited about cleaning. Or really, not often I clean. Kidding. I'm happier when my house is tidy, so I give it a good scrub now and then. Anything I can find to make that chore easier brings me joy.
The Shark Rechargeable Sweeper does that. It's lightweight, easy to use, and inexpensive. Best of all, no cord. I plug it in, charge it up, and in between big cleanings, run it over bare floor or carpet. It does a great job of picking up kitty litter, fur (human and cat), food particles (again, human and cat), and just about anything else. Easy to remove the fuzz catcher and clean it out, too. I got the smallest size in a box at the store (minimal assembly required) for under $30, and the larger ones are priced moderately also. Best thing, since it's got a motor, my honey will grab it occasionally and give the floors a sweep. I listen to music all day at work and while I love my old familiar tunes, I've been playing them forever. My brain needs more input. Enter Spotify. I debated between this company and Pandora, since Spotify costs a little more each month. But Spotify allows you to download your songs, which is great if you don't have Internet. As long as you pay the monthly fee, you can access your music anywhere. Sweet! It's super easy to learn to use. I've started playlists and have no problem finding or adding songs to them. Ahhhh. New music. My brain thanks me. I'm going to try to start writing this blog on a regular basis. When something works well and puts a smile on my face, I like to share. Suggestions or thoughts on what made you happy recently are always welcome. Honest and truly, I watch movies other than cartoons. But with all the crazy going on these days, isn't escaping to another world necessary once in a while? Zootopia will do that for you. It's not only for kids, though children will adore the irresistible characters. Like most Disney movies now, many themes in Zootopia speak to adults. Judy Hopps, a bunny, wanted to be a cop ever since she could remember. The first part of the movie does a great job showing her aspirations, and moving right into the story. Once Judy is on the job, some of the sparkle wears off her dream, but she still give it her best, writing two-hundred tickets in one day as a meter maid. Her optimism keeps her going when she's given a deadline to solve a case, or be booted from the force. Judy totally shines when she out foxes the fox, Nick Wilde, as he tries to scam her. She trounces him at his own game with flare and fun, making her my new hero. There are so many sly and fun bits tucked into this movie. Pay close attention, and back up to re-watch if you miss them. Sloths running the DMV and wolves howling involuntarily are two of my favs. I love how the writers use normal animal characteristics and do the "what if this animal could...." thing. The story has shades of the current political climate, so you'll probably be like me, going, "Yep, I get that." Enjoy this fun, fast-paced (except for the sloths) adventure and give your brain a break from the news. dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Zootopia/80079258 ______________________________________________________
Something else to brighten your day...author friends...got a great cover? Here's a contest that DOESN'T requiring hunting down and harassing your friends to vote for you. Easy to enter, low fee. Check it out here and hurry, it ends July 31st: http://authorsofromance.com/star-crossed-covers-contest/ ______________________________________________________ When you come from a state made of sand, you tend to lose your perspective of what the world is made of. It feels shifting and unstable, like it's changing all the time and eroding into the ocean. But when I lay down on the rocks of Maine, Mother Earth wrapped her arms around me and reminded me how strong she is. Especially at those places on the mountain where the wind howls. Nothing moves those rocks. Not the wind, not the mighty ocean. Not for years past and not in years to come. Solid. Safe.
Maine is absolutely beautiful and if you have a chance, visit Mount Desert Island, go hiking in the Acadia National Park, watch a sunrise from the top of Cadillac Mountain and stay at Moss Mountain Cottage. But don't make your reservations when I want to go there, because, I'll be back! |
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February 2024
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