"Hey, I'm Trying to Write Here"

10 Laws of Productivity

2011-11-21T14:07:00.001-08:00

These laws are as true for writing as they are everything else. Enjoy.

Here are 10 laws of productivity we’ve consistently observed among serial idea executors:

1. Break the seal of hesitation.A bias toward action is the most common trait we’ve found across the hundreds of creative professionals and entrepreneurs we’ve interviewed. While preparing properly as you start a new project is certainly valuable, it’s also easy to lose yourself in planning (and dreaming) indefinitely. We must challenge ourselves to take action sooner rather than later. The minute that you start acting (e.g. building a physical prototype, sharing a nascent concept with your community), you start getting valuable feedback that will help refine your original idea – and move forward with a more informed perspective.

2. Start small.When our ideas are still in our head, we tend to think big, blue sky concepts. The downside is that such thinking makes the barrier to entry – and action – quite high. To avoid “blue sky paralysis,” pare your idea down to a small, immediately executable concept. Can you trial the idea of a multi-day festival with a smaller performance series? Take an idea for a skyscraper and model it in miniature? Work out the flow of an iPhone app by sketching on paper? Once you’ve road-tested your idea on a small scale, you’ll have loads more insight on how to take it to the next level.

3. Protoype, prototype, prototype.Trial and error is an essential part of any creative’s life. As Ze Frank says, usually when we execute an idea for the first time, it kinda sucks. The important thing is to synthesize the knowledge gained during the process to refine the idea, and create a new-and-improved version. Serial idea-makers like Jack Dorsey, Ben Kaufman, and Studio 7.5 all attest: Prototyping and iteration is key to transforming a so-so idea into a game-changing product. Rather than being discouraged by your “failures,” Continue article here

Just wanted to say, Thanks

2011-11-19T14:04:00.001-08:00

You know what I love? It's you guys. I've been going through a rough spot in, it seems, everything. My life is changing in so many small ways. There seem to be more things to conquer, more things to achieve, and less time to do it all.

This is how naive I am--was. Up until around five years ago. I believed the older you got the easier life got. I'm not talking health wise, at least I know better than that, I mean in general. Things would become easier, I'd mellow out and let things be, well, easy. I used to believe nothing would change in the world and it would skip along like always. I never expected to have to face things like, unemployment, the stock market crippling along so I may not be able to completely retire(Thank you Mr. Obama). Grocery prices and gas prices skyrocketing (ditto above) and strange and unusual things, like the occupy everything gang that won't go away, keep happening. Yep, thought it would all be roses and cream.

Loud buzzer. It didn't happen. I let things get to me and all the sudden I'm crippled with worry and guess what suffers--my writing, my health, my well-being. I hate to keep harping on this. Ya'll must be getting tired of my whining by now, but you put up with it, because in spite of the above paragraph, you guys make things easier. I just wanted to thank you for that. For your support and encouragement. I know it's not just words. Just saying this lifts a huge burden off my chest. Funny how just saying "Thanks" can make a person feel better.

That's all for this week. Take care, everyone.

Still loving you guys

2011-11-10T09:09:00.000-08:00

We've been updating our home. What a process. It's been a lot of fun and the funnest part is doing it with my husband. It's kind of like re-bonding. I told him before we even started not to get impatient and snappish. He didn't; he was wonderful. What's that got to do with writing? Will, it gives me a great procrastination excuse, though weak.

I'm in a slump. Can anyone give me a reason to continue with my work in progress, or more importantly, promote my novel that has been on the market for about a year. I reread some of my WIP the other day. You know they tell you to walk away from your book after the first draft. I've never been able to do that before, but I kind of did it this time because of my "Slump." I found some rough spots that need to be revised or rewritten, but for the most part, I really liked it. Now I ask you; why is that? Is it because it's really good or is it because I'm in love with my writing? Wouldn't it be better if I disliked it a little bit?

Here's my resolution. I feel like I've let you all down lately with my sporadic posting, so I pledge to blog at least once a week. There, I feel much better.

So, I'm going to be dropping in on you from time to time so you know I still love you and haven't forgotten about you. Until then take care and God bless.

Ever just don't feel like it?

2011-10-23T07:50:00.000-07:00

I love that I have a blog, and I love that I have so many peeps. I am pleasured to be semi-starting a new phase in my life--semi retirement. Once I get over the guilt of working part-time It's going to be a blast. But sometimes I just don't feel like doing anything. I've been lazy and loving it. Finally got motivated, though. I'm not sure exactly when, but our next huge step will be to sell our house. That's after we get our travel trailer and my husband retires from his job. Dosen't matter, the motivation is all that matters. I'm excited about pulling up the carpets and restoring the hardwood floor beneath. I can't wait to see what they look like. I know it's going to be a dirty mess and we'll have a lot of work moving the furniture, rolling up the carpet and pad, and restoring, but it's going to be a rush, and it should get me out of my dull-drums.

On a similar, yet different note, decluttering the house is exciting. We've taken bags and bags of stuff to Goodwill, and there is so much more to do. We've lived here for fifteen years. Still, I have to make myself do it. Starting out slow, but getting a lot done.

As for my writing, it's come to a complete stop. Something I intend to remedy. Life never stops changing, it just stalls for awhile.

Blog Problems

2011-09-15T14:26:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, did you miss me. I'd like to blame my absence on Google because they blocked my blog, but I don't know when that happened. I've been avoiding it is the real truth. Why, because I've been avoiding everything, my writing included. I think I was suffering a little depression.

Good news, I am going into partial retirement, finally. Heck, I'll still be at home as much as I'm at work, but I'm looking forward to getting our house ready to sell. We've been in it for fifteen years and it needs some major overhaul. We got some hail damage, so at least the roofs of all our buildings will be replaced. I wish I could talk them into replacing the siding, too.

Will, that's all the time I have for today. Thanks to everyone who stayed in touch while I was gone. It means a lot.

Are these really glaringly incorrect?

2011-08-10T09:29:00.000-07:00

Here's a few tips that most people know, but sometimes forget. Enjoy:

Here are seven simple grammatical errors that I see consistently in emails, cover letters and resumes.

Tip: Make yourself a little card cheat sheet and keep it in your wallet for easy reference.

You're / Your

The apostrophe means it's a contraction of two words; "you're" is the short version of "you are" (the "a" is dropped), so if your sentence makes sense if you say "you are," then you're good to use you're. "Your" means it belongs to you, it's yours.

You're = if you mean "you are" then use the apostrophe
Your = belonging to you
You're going to love your new job!

It's / Its

This one is confusing, because generally, in addition to being used in contractions, an apostrophe indicates ownership, as in "Dad's new car." But, "it's" is actually the short version of "it is" or "it has." "Its" with no apostrophe means belonging to it.

It's = it is
Its = belonging to it
It's important to remember to bring your telephone and its extra battery.

They're / Their / There

"They're" is a contraction of "they are." "Their" means belonging to them. "There" refers to a place (notice that the word "here" is part of it, which is also a place – so if it says here and there, it's a place). There = a place

They're = they are
Their = belonging to them
They're going to miss their teachers when they leave there.

Loose / Lose

These spellings really don't make much sense, so you just have to remember them. "Loose" is the opposite of tight, and rhymes with goose. "Lose" is the opposite of win, and rhymes with booze. (To show how unpredictable English is, compare another pair of words, "choose" and "chose," which are spelled the same except the initial sound, but pronounced differently. No wonder so many people get it wrong!)

Loose = it's not tight, it's loosey goosey
Lose= "don't lose the hose for the rose" is a way to remember the same spelling but a different pronunciation
I never thought I could lose so much weight; now my pants are all loose!

Lead / Led

Another common but glaring error. "Lead" means you're doing it in the present, and rhymes with deed. "Led" is the past tense of lead, and rhymes with sled. So you can "lead" your current organization, but you "led" the people in your previous job.

Lead = present tense, rhymes with deed
Led = past tense, rhymes with sled
My goal is to lead this team to success, just as I led my past teams into winning award after award.

A lot / Alot / Allot

First the bad news: there is no such word as "alot." "A lot" refers to quantity, and "allot" means to distribute or parcel out.

There is a lot of confusion about this one, so I'm going to allot ten minutes to review these rules of grammar.

Between you and I

This one is widely misused, even by TV news anchors who should know better.

In English, we use a different pronoun depending on whether it's the subject or the object of the sentence: I/me, she/her, he/him, they/them. This becomes second nature for us and we rarely make mistakes with the glaring exception of when we have to choose between "you and I" or "you and me."

Grammar Girl does a far better job of explaining this than I, but suffice to say that "between you and I" is never correct, and although it is becoming more common, it's kind of like saying "him did a great job." It is glaringly incorrect.

The easy rule of thumb is to replace the "you and I" or "you and me" with either "we" or "us" and you'll quickly see which form is right. If "us" works, then use "you and me" and if "we" works, then use "you and I."

Between you and me (us), here are the secrets to how you and I (we) can learn to write better.

Master these common errors and you'll remove some of the mistakes and red flags that make you look like you have no idea how to speak.

Source Reference

Writers are human, too

2011-07-26T09:11:00.000-07:00

This article is from a blogger, writer, Ali Luke at Aliventures Here I hope you enjoy it. It's proof that writers are human, too.

A few years ago, I’d look at published writers and think that they were somehow different from me. After all, their books were gripping and fluent – unlike my stumbling attempts at first drafts. Their blogs had hundreds or thousands of readers.

They were real writers. And, deep down, I was afraid that I could never really become one of them.

But as I’ve taken more and more steps into the writing world, I’ve realised that my perception just doesn’t match up to the reality. Writers – at all levels – have just the same struggles as you and me.

I’m going to go through eight secrets. Eight things which all writers know – but which you might never hear them admit.

Secret #1: Writing is Hard

Writing is easy: All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead. (Gene Fowler)

There’s a myth – not just in the writing world – that if you’re good at something, it’ll be easy. And established writers, me included, do have writing sessions where the words flow smoothly.

The truth is, though, that writing is hard. Some types of writing are tougher than others – I’ve written before about Why Fiction is So Hard to Write. But almost any type of writing will cause some sort of resistance – getting started is never easy. And very few writers, however experienced, can turn out a great draft first time.

Use It: Getting started is nearly always tough. There’s nothing wrong with you if you find it hard to sit down and write. But like exercise, once you get going, it gets easier.

Secret #2: We All Struggle With Procrastination

There’s only one person who needs a glass of water oftener than a small child tucked in for the night, and that’s a writer sitting down to write. (Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic’s Notebook)

I’ve seen a few writers talk about this, often in a jokey way: we procrastinate. This isn’t just the case for beginners. Writing Magazine columnist Jane Wenham-Jones, for instance, writes quite openly about her struggles to just get on with writing. (And she’s had several novels and non-fiction books published – plus many short stories and articles.)

Procrastination can come in a couple of different forms:

You do the dishes, weed the garden, tidy your desk, sharpen your pencils … anything but sit down and put words on a page.
You write, regularly – perhaps blog posts or journal entries – but you never get round to starting that novel or memoir or other big, meaningful project.
This form is, I think, fairly harmless; it’s easy to spot yourself doing it, and there are easy tricks for “just getting on with it”. The second type is more insidious – it’s easy to kid yourself that you’re just not ready to tackle something longer or more complex, even when you’ve been putting off that project for years.

Use It: Take a good hard look at your own writing. Are you procrastinating on something? What would it take for you to get moving on it?

Secret #3: We Put Ourselves Into Our Work

Every author in some way portrays himself in his works, even if it be against his will. (Goethe)

Anything and everything you write says something about you as a person, whether you want it to or not. Even your choice of what to write about – the decision that something is worth putting down in words – is significant.

It doesn’t end there. Writers (particularly good ones) deliberately draw on their own lives. If you know enough about a novelist, you can almost always spot some autobiographical element in their work. If you knew someone closely enough, you’d see that they pour in their childhood memories (the good and the bad), life experiences, hurts and dreams.

Use It: Dig incidences out of your past – they can be tiny things, so long as they have emotional power. Put them into your writing. There’s a truth in these which can bring your work to life.

Secret #4: First Drafts are Always Crap

The only way I can get anything written at all is to write really, really shitty first drafts. The first draft is the child’s draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later. (Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird – you can read an extract from this section here)

Short, straightforward pieces may come out just-about-right the first time round. Most authors, though, will have first drafts which look vastly different from the finished product. I remember reading J.K. Rowling’s description of how she cut a whole character, plus a bunch of associated scenes, from one of the Harry Potter books.

As a reader, you only get to see the finished product. You don’t have access to the fumbling, faltering first draft, which every author has to go through in order to get to the polished finished piece. But those drafts exist – buried or even burnt, their clumsy sentences and over-indulgent passages concealed from the world.

Use It: Don’t ever worry if a first draft doesn’t seem very good – especially if you’re writing fiction. If you can, take a look at a published author’s first draft and compare it with the finished work. Here’s an example, bravely posted by Diane Chamberlain: Finished! (And a First and Fifth Draft Comparison)

Secret #5: Each Piece Exists in a State of Flux – and it’s Never “Finished”

Art is never finished, only abandoned. (Leonardo da Vinci)

When you read a book or article or blog post, it feels fixed. You can’t really imagine it being any other way.

That’s not any writer’s experience of their work, though. Chances are, the piece began as a patchwork of ideas. Whole chunks – chapters, scenes, paragraphs – will have been moved around, cut, added, expanded. There’ll have been plenty of times when the writer had a coin-toss decision between taking one direction and another.

Because of this, the work never feels finished to its own author: there’s always the potential for some more tweaking. At some point, though, every writer has to let their work go.

Use It: Aim for completion, rather than perfection. You’re never going to feel like a piece of writing is quite as finished as it could be. Send it out into the world – it will only truly be complete once it has readers.

Secret #6: We Do it Because We’re Obsessed

An incurable itch for scribbling takes possession of many, and grows inveterate in their insane breasts. (Juvenal, Satires, around 100 AD)

Normal people aren’t writers. Most people (much to my horror) dislike writing. They might only read one or two books every year. They certainly don’t see any reason to put their thoughts down in writing, whether that’s as a blog, a journal or a story.

If you’re writing, you’ve got a certain obsession. Some writers talk about their need to write – and even believe that they couldn’t live without it. I certainly find it very hard to imagine a life where I didn’t write at all.

Use It: Accept that you’re a bit weird – and revel in it! Make time for your writing – sure, the rest of the world might not understand, but they’re not writers.

Secret #7: Money does matter

Nobody but a blockhead ever wrote except for money. (Samuel Johnson)

While many writers carry on because they’re a bit obsessed, there are very few who don’t have some ideas about making money from it. After all, if you can make a living from your writing, you get to spend your work day with words – not just your evenings and weekends.

Writers don’t necessarily love or even agree with everything they write. I’ve written on topics like Australian college football, not because I had any particular interest in it, but because I was being paid.

There’s no shame in making money from creative work – whatever the beret-wearing, garrett-dwelling types would have you believe.

Use It: If you want to make money as a writer, start paying attention to the market. Some sorts of writing (e.g. web copy, specialised non-fiction) are a lot more lucrative than other types (e.g. poetry). Don’t be afraid to try something new: you might enjoy it more than you think, and it might be the first step to turning your writing into an actual career.

Secret #8: We All Struggle With Self-Doubt

This is what I’ve been thinking lately: I’m getting worse. My writing just isn’t as good as it used to be. With every new story I write I believe I’ve lost something—the spark, the raw energy, the ability to see the scene, to tell the truth, to imagine. I look at my stories and feel like they could be so much better. (Jessie Morrison, MFA Confidential blog for Writer’s Digest)

You’ll come across the occasional supremely confident writer. In my experience, those people tend not to be very successful. Good writers are often riddled with self-doubt – and as they get better and better, they’re also more and more able to spot the flaws in their own work.

Self-doubt can be very destructive, and can cripple your ability to write. It’s something to stand firm against – but it’s important to remember that you’re not the only writer who goes through it. There’s nothing wrong with you if you have a little voice in your head saying “Who’d want to read THAT?”

Use It: Next time you doubt yourself, keep going anyway. Put doubts about your work aside when you’re drafting – save them for when you need to edit.

If you liked this post, I’d be thrilled if you’d share it with any friends who might find it useful. You can tweet it by clicking the green button below, or you can share it on Facebook or by email by copying this link: http://www.aliventures.com/8-writing-secrets

Blogger is giving me headachs

2011-07-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

I've read other peoples woes about Blogger, but those things don't happen to me, right? Wrong. I'm having a wicked hard time and having to jump through hoops just to log in. Grrrr.

I'd like to talk about punctuation. It's a pain in the bazooka. Next subject:

That Girl is getting a makeover. I did a little research and found out I didn't really know my subject too well, so I've had to incorporate the truth into the story. Imagine. First Blogger, now, my story. I'm almost back to the original story line, though. It's comforting to know, I won't have to rewrite the whole dang book. Regardless, I think I'm liking this version better. Now I have to decide if I incorporate the original boo boo by my heroin. I think I will, just because it is so her and I've worked her up into this mouthy girl who claims whoever had her tongue before her must have had Tourette's syndrome. Knowing my writing style as I do, I'll be making many such changes throughout.

Let me hear from you all. What's been happening in your lives and work. Tell me, I want to know.

Until next time, tootles.

Lessons Learned

2011-06-26T07:04:00.000-07:00

Now the work begins. I've finished the first draft. I just made it to my word count goal. But I think it will continue to climb, no worries.

The differnce between That Girl and Bum's Rush are a lesson well learned. Bum's Rush took me three to four years to complete, then another six months for editing and publishing. I went from 90K word count to just over 70K word count. It was my first novel and will always be special to me. That Girl The first Draft took six months to complete. I don't know how long rewrites and edits will take, but I guarantee it won't be three years.

What did I do differently? Well, for That Girl, I started with a plan and made an outline. Though I haven't looked at that outline for a few months, it got me started and started quickly. The outline took weeks to complete, but it really sped up the process. The next difference is I just wrote. I admit to weakening and rewriting some of the first chapters, but for the most part I sat down and wrote without editing. There are other difference, but these are the time savers.

A lot of work lies ahead, but it should go fairly fast. I haven't made a deadline, deadlines for me are hazardous. You put a limit on something and that's all you're thinking about instead of thinking about writing. It adds a lot of pressure and promotes procrastination. I'm guessing it should be done by Christmas, maybe before. Ya'll will be the first to know about it, though.

Take care and stay dry.

A Tribute on Father's Day

2011-06-19T07:50:00.000-07:00

My father has been gone since 1984.

My father was a gruff, man who said little about himself, but had opinions about everything. He enjoyed a lively conversation about all the things we're told not to discuss in life.

After WWII, where my father served his country as a PT boat driver in the Navy, he worked in a sawmill for 30 plus years. When the sawmill burnt to the ground, twice, he found work doing anything to support his family, sometimes he had to work two jobs while the mill was being rebuilt.

My father wasn't a generous man, and a buck was a hard thing to part with. My mom had to do some penny pinching, but at least we had pennies to pinch. Even so, whenever friends or family needed a helping hand, Dad held out his.

Dad loved to fish and camp with family and friends. Sometimes we'd tent camp, sometimes we'd sleep in the back of pickup trucks or on the ground under the stars. I have fond memories of wonderful adventures in the woods and my parents whooping it up.

My mom contracted Tuberculosis in the days when they sent you away. Dad had to work two jobs for the nine months to pay for her hospital stay. When she was released, she came home to a brand new dishwasher. It was a big deal back then.

Later, when it was just me left at home, Dad bought a little pickup camper. When he could afford it he upgraded to a fifth-wheel and a boat. One boat turned into a bigger boat, then an even bigger boat. He named them Sue Ann I, II, III, mine and my sister's middle names. What fun we had water skying and fishing as a family.

Dad loved his grandchildren like he never had time to love his own children. It was a surprising transformation. In all the years my dad worked, he bought savings bonds. When he died, there was a nice little nest egg to fall back on if needed.

In their empty nest days, Mom and Dad took square dance lessons. They would camp and travel with their square dance club and have a great time doing it. Sadly, that's what they were doing when he suddenly died.

Dad was all about family. He was the glue that held us together. He had so many friends and relatives, when he died, there was standing room only at his funeral.

This is my tribute to my father, on Father's Day. It may be late in coming, but I just want you to know, Dad, I love you.

Moving right along

2011-06-15T08:39:00.000-07:00

So far, I have managed to avoid writer's block while writing this book. I'm kind of stymied at this point, though, because there's so much left to do. The book is basically done. The rewrites are going to be massive, but I'm now confident, I'll hit my word count goal, if not go over it. I'm thinking I should post some excerpts, but do people really read them?

It's interesting where I live. The Missouri River is causing havoc along it's shores, or should I say, it's former shores. It's been unbelievable. We've had lots of warning, the water is rising slowly, so anyone in it's path can actually move out of their houses, lock, stock, and barrel. It's been interesting. We're okay. We live miles and miles from the river, thank God.

I'll try and be more vigilant with my posting. I'm in one of those slumps where you don't have the energy to lift a hand.

That' it. Until next time, so long.

Crying my way through a scene

2011-06-05T07:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I wrote a scene that made me cry. Wow, why would I do that to myself. But then I reread it and cried again. It still needs work, so I'll be crying my way through it a few more times. Writing the ending to a books is tiresome and just plain hard. That's why I put it off. That and the story changes in the process of writing it, which affects the ending. I'm about 82% done, probably more because I have fifteen thousand more words till I reach my goal and I don't think I need that many words, but by the time I rewrite, add scenes, make changes, add a few needed descriptions, who knows, I might fill all that space up and more.

I autographed my book for the first time ever. You'd think I'd never held a pen before the way it looked. So I'm going to order a whole new book so my signature will be pretty. But here's what I did. I googled signing you name. There are rules, and suggestions for signing your name. I spent an hour perfecting my new signature. I'm afraid if I ever do a book signing I'm going to have to practice, do hand calisthenics or something before each session. Did you know there's a five second rule? Yes, write your name in under five seconds. One, I've got a fairly longish name if I use Elizabeth, and two, really, I don't care,do you? Try timing yourself when you sign your name. Suffice it to say, I'll be breaking that rule. I did come up with a fairly nice looking signature though.

K, nuff said.

Free Book

2011-05-23T09:37:00.000-07:00

I had such success last time, I decided to do it again. I'm giving away my book, Bum's Rush at get Bum's Rush here for a limited time. Enter code WY74C. If you are inclined, please write a review. Thank you for that. I hope everyone enjoys my book, it would be nice to know one way or the other

Emotion repitition

2011-05-21T09:47:00.000-07:00

The idea for the post comes from Josh Hoyt at The Blog that Helps You Diagnose Your Character, That's a mouth full, but his blog is very educational.

Emotional repetition. I love writing from a man's POV, but I realize my feminine emotions can somewhat prejudice my perceptions. What was happening, a lot, was one or the other or, even, all of my male characters were crying a lot. It bothered me every time I reread for editing. Well, I learned somewhere in the process of learning to write, that if something nags at you while rereading or rewriting a scene, to revisit it. That's a lot of 're' this and that's. I was in denial because I thought those scenes were brilliantly written. That may or may not be true, due to my, uh, personal bias on the matter, but I was compelled to revise, to man up if you will. I let them feel emotion, let tears come to their eyes, even let them cry occasionally. Face it, men get emotional too. I'm glad I finally maned up, because I felt better about those scenes after I either took them out or rewrote them. The moral, and I know I've said this before, is to heed those naggers, they nag for a reason.

Thank You

2011-05-19T06:41:00.000-07:00

Thanks go to Melissa Kline from Reflections of Writing for the Versatile Blogger award. I will pass this along in another post.

The winner is

2011-05-19T06:30:00.000-07:00

Actually, I have two winners to my Write the First Line contest. All the entries were thought provoking and helpful. The two I would be most inclined to use as an opening line come from Summer Ross at The Inner Fairy and Sue H at I Refuse to go Quietly.

Congratulations. To claim your prize, please click on my email logo and leave your addresses. Thanks to all who entered. Though there weren't many, I figured this is my first time to run a contest, so it went well thanks to you.

Opening Line Contest

2011-05-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

I'm horrible with opening lines. No matter how clever I think I am, it's never clever enough. So I got to thinking, there's a lot of talent sitting in my peeps queue. Peeps mean resources, and resourcefulness is what I need. So here's what I was thinking I'd do. I'm going to give away a copy of Bum's Rush to the person who writes the best opening line for my book, That Girl. Not only that, if I use it, that person will get a mention in the acknowledgment section. Wow, huh? So read the following and come up with a better opening than it already has. Any takers?

I suppose I should put a time limit on this, lets say you have till next Tuesday, May 17th. This is my first contest so I don't want to complicate it.

That Girl, Chapter One

Time is no friend to the impatient, nor should it be wasted by idleness, for if one man wastes a second, so, too must we all. Thus sayeth Matthew Lukas Drako whose time, at present, was being wasted. I glanced at my watch and estimated, if I leave now I can be home in eight minutes. Still and all, it wasn’t a total waste of time, for in my left breast pocket, lying close to my heart, was what I’d come for, an envelope that could possibly save my life.

Just as I was about to make my move, I caught the movement of the restaurant door opening. Brilliant light shimmered in from the outside as someone entered the dimmed room. Even though the sky outside was overcast, I squinted from the glare.

Oh dear God in heaven. My heart did a screech and halt and somersaulted to my throat. She took my breath away. Her unblemished beauty in adulthood surpassed the loveliness of her youth. The last time I saw her was graduation, five years ago. Then her face had been round and fresh, her feet dancing in endless possibilities. Now she possessed a worldliness of innocence lost. She paused inside the door, racing my heart in a mind-dizzying rewind, back to second grade.

It was her first day in a new school. She was standing at the front of class dressed in a yellow dress with little white daisies. The teacher asked where she wanted to sit. She pointed at me and said, “I want to sit by the boy with the buggy eyes.” That day, I swore I was going to marry her someday.

Halle Winters will always be “that girl” for me. Memories from a time few people could remember filled my mind like an old, black and white TV flick obscured by snow. Even in old age when my mind was vacant with dementia and the shrill whine of my hearing aids sent dogs howling for cover, I would never forget.

Her eyes swept over the place in search of somebody and her scan didn’t slowed when she looked in my direction. Not that she could recognize me, I was no longer the boy with the buggy eyes.

Dressed as she was, in a white dress, she seemed to radiate light. She lifted a dainty hand and waved. Her graceful gait was the carriage of a person who had been a dancer all her life, Dancers don’t walk, they glide.

Pull yourself together, Drako. That’s a road you don’t want to go down, not again, not when you’re getting married in a couple of months. But renewed pangs were beckoning me back into a life as wondrous and magic as it had been painful and broken. I sighed, Garth Brooks had it right when he sang, “I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance.” Yeah, first of all, there was never a dance, second, she was just a broken dream.

“Well, gentlemen,” I said. “I feel as if everything is going as planned. If there is no more discussion . . .”

I shook hands around the table, then grabbed the bill.
Don’t look at her, don’t look at her, I chanted with every step. Just a little ways to go and I’d be safely out the door. The powerful pull was magnetic, but I had to resist. I just couldn’t hazard a look at the girl who freshman year had laughed at me when I asked her out on a date. I paid the bill and headed out.

God help me, I don’t remember giving permission to my head as it turned and glanced over may shoulder. Jennifer, Halle’s BFF: Best Friend Forever, from high school waved, beckoning me over.

I'm getting closer

2011-04-30T10:24:00.000-07:00

I'm back to posting whenever I feel like it. So I'm going to post twice today, go figure.

On my current WIP, That Girl, I've hit 40K words. It puts me 67% to goal. It's a lot of words, but so will be the next 20K. If I had nothing more to do than to sit and write all day, I would write a thousand words a day for the next twenty days. It's doable, providing the words flow from my fingers at lightening speed. I'm on the second draft, maybe third draft, at this point in my writing I've been over some areas a few times more than others. As I get to know my characters, I start to think like them and the words come pretty easy. This is the part of writing that I love. You get to be in someone else's head, have the same emotions and experiences they are having, see the same things they see. I wonder how healthy that is, in that these people are completely fabricated. Is that like talking to yourself? But I digress.

I have two possible covers for this novel. I haven't decided which to use yet, but I don't have to. When the time comes, I may have a little vote. That would be fun, I think I'll do that. It doesn't mean I'll use the one everyone votes for, but it will be fun to get your opinions. Why do I have covers? you might ask. It's the crap that I do. I've got the new Photoshop program and I love messing in it. For what it cost, I have to get my thirty cents out of it. And speaking of thirty cents, that's all I have for now. You won't be seeing me every day, not that I was completely faithful to the A -Z challenge, but I'll get back to my usual drivel pretty soon.

"Z" is for

2011-04-30T06:36:00.000-07:00

"Y" is for

2011-04-29T08:26:00.000-07:00

Youth:

I always say, and it's as true now as it has been since the beginning when God gave us Adam and Eve, Youth is wasted on the young. They are born into this world, prejudice, old is something they'll never be. I know this is true, because it was my prejudice, at least up until the last five years. I have fought it tooth and nail and I'm slowly losing the battle. That's not to say, you can't be healthy and fit, oh no. It depends on how you treat yourself as a youth, even if you start in middle age.

That's all well and good, but my purpose for choosing this word was to say. I wish I had started writing in my youth. I get so much pleasure from it, I could have been writing,instead of all those things I now regret.

Stay well, keep from deforming your body with excessive piercing and tattooing, quit those bad habits early, live long and live well.

"X" is for . . .

2011-04-28T06:38:00.000-07:00

What can I say? Use each of these words in a sentence.

* Xanadu (n) - an exotic, luxurious place. This word comes from the poem "Kubla Khan" by Samuel T. Coleridge.
* Xanax (n) - a pharmaceutical drug that is used to treat depression and anxiety.
* Xanthic (n) - yellowish in color; having to do with the compound xanthine.
* Xebec: A xebec is a special three-masted sailing ship used in the Mediterranean.
* Xenolith (n) - a fragment of a rock embedded inside another rock.
* Xenon: Scientists call xenon one of the noble gases. It’s odorless, colorless, and found in very small quantities in the Earth’s atmosphere.
* Xenophobia (n) - fear or hatred towards foreigners, foreign countries, or anything foreign. Other related words: xenophobic (adj.) and xenophobe (n)
* Xeric (adj.) - dry or desert like conditions; having very little moisture.
* Xerography: The word for a process to copy documents is xerography.
* Xerox: Xerox is the patented process for copying documents, and the name of a corporation. The word Xerox should never be used as a synonym for photocopying a document.
* Xhosa: Xhosa is the name of the Bantu language, and a name for a member of the Bantu people of South Africa.
* Xylem: Botanists describe the tubes within the stems of woody plants as xylem. The xylem conducts fluids up the plant, while phloem brings the fluids down.
* Xylograph (n) - a wood engraving.
* Xyloid (adj.) - resembling wood; woody.
* Xylophone: A percussion instrument with wood or metal tubes struck with hammers.
* XML: A computer language abbreviation for extensible markup language.

"U" and "V" are for . . .

2011-04-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Victory:
Victory is upon us with this challenge. I've faltered along the way, but I've put the effort out, albeit, toward the end, the enthusiasm has also faltered. It's just a very busy week for me. I'm proud of my fellow A - Zers who have hung in there faithfully.

Yum: (yes I realize it's spelled with a "Y", but it's what I wanted to talk about today.)
I love to eat. Sadly, I'm short and every thing I eat leaves a mark. But once in awhile, I love to eat ice cream, cinnabons, pasta, roast beaf, Oh stop. We're going a a Christmas cruise and I need to get my body ready for a winter swim suit. No, I don't go tanning, so I'll be the one with the albino legs. Suffice it to say, the above treats will have to wait.

"T" is for . . .

2011-04-25T04:54:00.000-07:00

Tired:

I've got to catch up, so will have to do two today. Tired, I'm always tired it seems, but it's always my own fault. By the time it's bedtime, I'm wide awake even though I've been comatose most of the day.

Hope everyone had a great easter.

"S" is for . . .

2011-04-22T13:49:00.000-07:00

Signing:

I'm not signing up for another challenge for a long time. I'm not used to posting every day because I don't have time and I run out of topics of interest. I like writing about writing. So I'll just say, the ideas are flowing again for That Girl, my current WIP. I was having a hard time coming up with more than 21,000 words and the book deserves more. A few times per WIP, I have to step back and get out of my rut. I tend to get narrow minded as I write in my rush to the end. Wracking my brain for, maybe, a sub plot, I stepped back and realized I wasn't utilizing what I have already written. There's much more to be done. Sometimes you have to step back and punt.

Happy Easter, everyone and remember, there is a God and this country is a Christian country. Don't let anyone say different.

"R" is for . . .

2011-04-21T08:50:00.000-07:00

Rude:

My pet peeve--rude people. There's no excuse for being rude to another person. It's the little things that burn me, like interrupting, purposely remaining in another person's chair when other person re-enters the room, then snapping at said person when asked to move. Honking at someone who makes a minor traffic boo boo, like they've never done anything wrong. It burping, without apology, stuff like that. In short it's hypocrisy.

Having said that, I am guilty of some of those things myself, and I want to apologize.

Have a great day everyone.

"Q" is for . . .

2011-04-20T06:18:00.000-07:00

Quiet:

I can sit in the quiet for hours and hours, with nothing electronic on, well, except for my computer and coffee pot. I dislike noise, especially loud abrupt noise. I think it has more to do with my ears than anything. No, really, I was one of those children who had terrible ear infections back in the day. They didn't have the means, in those days, to address ear problems. Now, doctors look in my ears with those little lights and cluck. Lots of scar tissue. Sharp noises physically hurt my ears. Someday, I suppose, when my hearing deteriorates to hearing-aid level, maybe those noises won't bother. Know what, I'm not looking forward to that. I'll take what I have now over that, quack, quack.

"P" is for

2011-04-18T12:56:00.000-07:00

Pleased:

I am so pleased that I have picked up so many wonderful and interesting people from this A - Z challenge, but it's getting really hard to keep this going. I must prevail.
Thanks to my peeps for hanging in there with me.

"O" is for

2011-04-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

Optimisum:

I finally had to admit what I've been denying for the majority of my life. I am a bit of a pessimist. This is not a good thing to be if you're a writer. For instance, and please don't think I'm not thrilled, but I earn about $0.53 per book sale. If I'd have done the math, I'd have realized that's what it would be. I asked my husband, "Why am I even writing?" His answer was, "Because you love doing it." Okay.

"N" is for . . .

2011-04-14T10:10:00.000-07:00

News:

You can't trust what you here on the news. Did you know, or maybe you have noticed, main stream media, ie: NBC,CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, The Associated Press and it's affiliates, are biased. I'm suspicious of news stations who only report one side of everything. But it's always been like that and there was a time when I fell for it. I'm thankful to have the internet which gives me choices and options, and two out of three times, what I learn from trusted sources on the internet, is the opposite of what the main stream media is saying. Interesting.

"M" is for . . .

2011-04-14T10:00:00.000-07:00

Missing:

I went missing yesterday and forgot to post.

2011-04-12T16:10:00.000-07:00

List:
Everyone has a list, even if it's just a grocery list written on a torn piece of table paper. As a writer, I've recently discovered the wonders of an outline. It's very helpful, but I still list. After I finish a chapter, if I know what's next,or if I have one of my brilliant ideas, I'll list them there at the bottom, before I start the next chapter, then I'll highlight them so I won't forget and leave them in the finished product.. They shouldn't call them lists at all, they should call them memory boots.

One of the things I've discovered recently, is the Kindle bookmark or note function. I just finished proofing Bum's Rush, one last time--yes, yes, I know, I thought I was done with it also, but errors had been reported and, as you know, the only way to flush them out is to read the book--again. So I downloaded a copy from Smashwords and when I found a little error, I bookmarked it and put a note in the bookmark so I'd know where to go to find the error and what needed fixing. As I was doing this, I got to thinking, if this works out well, maybe with my next book, that's where I'll start. I'll submit the raw WIP and flush out all the error I find on the first time through, or maybe the second. You can't edit the MS here, so it might be less distracting. Just a thought. Have to wait and see if it works.

K is for . . .

2011-04-11T19:10:00.000-07:00

Kiss:

Good night everyone, kissy, kissy

J is for . . .

2011-04-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

Justice

When I'm reading a book and there's an injustice done to my favorite character, I immediately want justice, revenge, in other words. If the author is cognizant, they don't give you immediate justice. The writer wants to do the opposite of what's expected. The more tension in a story, the more involved the reader becomes. Easy, huh? Not so much. Why? Because as writers, we also want immediate justice for our characters and, frankly, it takes a lot of planning, in other words, work, to build that tension by withholding the justice. Will, it's true for me, anyway. I can't speak for the rest of you. I always want immediate results. I've gotten into trouble for that.

Wisdom for today.

"I" is for . . .

2011-04-09T04:36:00.000-07:00

Inspired

Encouraged by something. I am inspired to get to work on my next book. Not that I haven't been busy writing it, but I have finished my outline.

I was beginning to think I didn't have enough word power for this story, but it's looking up. Another inspiration is I've written the ending for it already. So I'm inspired.

What things inspire you?

"H" is for . . .

2011-04-08T05:09:00.000-07:00

Happy. Happiness is hard to achieve for some people. I'm a simple person and want very little. I'm happy and thankful I have the means in which to get everything I need, but you can't buy happiness, can you? There are two types of people (and you know I'm an expert on this). Those who are miserable on the inside and act happy, and those that are miserable on the inside and act unhappy. Okay, wait, there are happy people who act happy too. A lot of happiness comes from others, but I believe you have to, also, make your own happy. Not easy some times.

For me,because I'm simple, just a gesture or a thought can cheer me up. This morning I received an email from a girl who read my book. I'm going to print it below, but it's the first outside source who has read my book that reported back to me so far. It's a happy email, Here it is:

just finished your book...
If your goal was to have your reader experience every emotion possible, then you succeded. I teared up, I got upset, I laughed a lot...excellent!! Your story slowly brought me to the amazing climax that did not disappoint; a very neat story and a wonderful page turner. Absolutely adore Ancel, lol. All the MC's were very likeable, escpecially Jack who commented that it felt like his life was a novel--that was cute! Loved the story!

"G" Goals, Glad, God, Global, Green, Goofy ???

2011-04-07T12:45:00.000-07:00

I imagine, God," is getting a lot of press today in this challenge. Goals would be a good motivating thing to write about, Glad, glad it's almost Friday. Green, Boring, Goofy - we have a winner.

I love Goofy, in fact, I love the word goofy. Sometimes I feel goofy--not often enough, I must say. Goofy is a good way to release endorphins. Endorphins:

Endorphins interact with the opiate receptors in the brain to reduce our perception of pain and act similarly to drugs such as morphine and codeine. In contrast to the opiate drugs, however, activation of the opiate receptors by the body's endorphins does not lead to addiction or dependence.

Hmm, maybe that's not the word I was looking for.

Okay, well, there's your lesson for the day. Pretty goofy, huh?

Oops, starting with "F"

2011-04-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

I have really skrewed up. I've been waiting for the April A - Z challenge since I heard about a couple of months ago, except when I read it I thought it started on April 20th. I got suspicious when I started reading other people's post who had labeled them with an alphabetic number. I looked, again, at the logo. The 20, was for 2011. I thought the '11' was exclamation marks, so I've failed before I began. Well, I'm going to do it anyway. Maybe I won't get the satisfaction of starting from "A," but I can start at "F," So here's my "F" post.

"F" is for "F"orks.

Our lives are filled with them. I'm not talking about the forks we eat with, I'm referring to the paths life takes us down, it's filled with forks. Sometimes one will take us down a path we wanted to avoid, or one we hadn't planned on. I've had several forks in my road, but I welcomed them at the time. Some of them I soon regretted, but most were fulfilling. There are some I'd like to reverse on, but that's not what God had in mind for me. I'm where I am for a reason. When one door closes, maybe it's the left hand fork, another door openes, maybe the right hand fork might or the middle one, or maybe back the way I came.

That's all the wisdom I have for you today.

Hi, I'm Home

2011-04-03T14:17:00.000-07:00

Just spent a wonderful week in Washington visiting my daughter and grandchildren. It was sad leaving, but it's wonderful to be home. Though it rained every single day, we had a blast, playing games and shopping. Did I mention, eating. So, because we're heading out for a Bahama cruise in Decompber, I'm on a serious diet. It will take me that long to lose the fifteen pounds I've been trying to lose for about five years. I'm doing a radical Slim Fast diet for the first couple of weeks.

Anyway, I want to thank all of you who are reading Bum's Rush. I can't wait to hear what you think.

Welcome to my new peeps. I want to thank Deirdra from a Storybook World for the Best Books blog award. If you haven't visited her blog, it's absolutely beautiful Click here Also, it's nice to hear from the A to Z Challenge participants. I'm looking forward to blogging to the alphabet in the upcoming challenge, see sidebar for details.

It's like Christmas coming back and finding so many goodies on my blog.

I've put up a new first chapter excerpt to "That Girl" on my "That Girl" page, plus a new, self-designed background. Feel free to visit and comment. I'm still working on it. Being on vacation kind of put a crimp in my progress, but it's really coming along and as fast as new ideas pop into my head, I try to incorporate them into my outline.

Well, I think that covers it for now. I'll be checking in on you as time allows. Until then, keep writing for those who do, and God bless to you all.

Best Seller

2011-03-22T15:56:00.000-07:00

Bum's Rush is among the best sellers on Smashwords. I am offering my free coupon PW42C to my blogging friends. Enjoy.

Does Outlineing Really Work?

2011-03-18T15:20:00.000-07:00

I don't know if you could call what I'm doing a really outline, but let me tell you, it is working. I'd like to share with you what I'm doing and how it's working.

First of all, as I've mentioned before, I wrote Bum's Rush by the seat of my pants. It took me more than four years to finish, but it's done and it's good. Then I got this idea from another writer, about a high school prom queen and how she betrayed her best friend from second grade. It all takes place five years after they graduate. Having loved her all his life, Matthew Drako finally gives up on Halle Winters and moves on. That's it. That's all I had. That was last fall when the idea hit me. I had to take some time off from writing it to launch Bum's Rush, which if you look in the box above is now available on Amazon and Kindle.

In between then and now, I've been making notes. I wrote the first chapter which has changed three times already, then googled how to outlining a novel. I read everything I could find and finally came up with my own design. Since I was essentially clueless, I hit a dead end pretty quickly, but I believed in this idea and started writing and outlining simultaneously. Still making notes as I wrote, I wanted to hurry and get to the end. I did that, but it's only got 18 grand. Then suddenly it all started clicking and it's beginning to get some depth. The outline is actually taking over. It's a living document with tendrils that are becoming far reaching. So yeah, outlining really does work and if it's not written in stone, it's a fabulous tool for writing a novel. I doubt this book will take four years. I'm hoping by late summer, I'll be ready to publish, if not, at least by this time next year.

That Girl Update

2011-03-07T09:25:00.000-08:00

I'm moving right along with my new novel, That Girl. My goal is to get it completed by the end of this summer. What do you think? Is it possible. It took me more than five years with the last one, but I had problems with that one. A severe case of writer's block for months at a time. I've learned with that first novel. I was a seat of the pants writer with that one and I kept having to rewrite. So, with That GirlI'm doing an outline. My first outline ran through the general scenes as I had them written. Then I concentrated on my characters and did a Character outline, now I'm on a scene by scene outline and as it turns out, I'm outlining each scene, then writing it. We'll see. I'll post a few paragraphs of the first chapter below.

First, I want to remind everyone that Bum's Rush is still free at Smashwords, or if you really want to contribute to my fortune, you can buy it at Amazon, now in book form as well as on Kindle. Thank you everyone who have already taken advantage. I love you for it.

Okay, as promised here's a bit from That Girl. Feel free to comment either way. You like it, you hate it.

Dinner was souring in my stomach. Negotiations ended, bargains made, papers signed. My business would be solvent once more, and I could pay off my future father-in-law, bless his retched soul. Now the conversation was redundant and I was nothing more than a smiling bobble head. A good woman and a tall glass of Moscato were waiting for me at home.

I caught a reflection from the door and looked at it longingly. If only I were on the other side heading away. Here I come, darlin’ start pouring the wine.

My heart leapt to my throat just as I was about to take a sip from my water glass. A brief visual of spewing my guests with water and spittle prolonged the inevitable awestruck, adolescent goddess worship. Time slowed.

They say, or so they should, the love of your dreams will be just that, in your dreams. She’ll never be the love of your life, or so they should say. My dream had just arrived.

It's a Rush

2011-02-27T07:41:00.001-08:00

It is, it's an amazing feeling when someone buys your book for the first time. It's kind of like selling your soul, but without the one-way trip to Hell. You authors out there know what I mean. You put something on paper that comes from your heart and brain, and someone wants to read it. It takes years, sometimes, to organize and write a book. You labor and agonize over it. Doubts, writers block, procrastination, you name it, we go through it. Then it's done and it's out there for public consumption. What a rush.

So, the book will be on Amazon soon, but it's on Kindle and you can get it free, for a limited time, on Smashwords for free with this code, PW42C. I'd appreciate a review either on Amazaon.com, or on Smashwords.

God Bless and take care

Elizabeth

Free

2011-02-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

I am in need of some reviews, so I'm giving my E-Book away on Smashwords. See the sidebar for details.

I'm still waiting for Amazon to list my book. I guess it takes time for them to build my detail page. I'll keep you posted. Check out my other pages often. I am constantly changing them.

Okay, business is done. I got a new computer. I do that about every four years. Trouble is, they run out of ram before they break down, so they all still work. I have an old HP that has 60gig memory. That's it. I used it for four years, it broke down, still under warrenty, and HP (Heart them) replaced the harddrive twice. It still works. It even has a floppy disk which excites my husband. No one's turned it on for a few years now, but it's plugged in. Can you imagine all the updates wanting to be downloaded once it gets turned on. It's protected with a free anitvirus. The program takes up most of the ram, but it's protected.

Then I bought this other cute little computer, also HP (I heart HP) It didn't last two years, but I think I wore it out. HP analyzed it for free online and told me where to find a new harddrive for it. I got one off Ebay and now my husband is using it.

I then, bought a compaq, also HP (I heart HP). That's the one I've been using until recently when it became so slow, I started unloading it. That, of course wasn't exactly the problem. It just couldn't keep up with on 1 gig of ram. The one I just got is huge. 400 gb , 4 gig ram and it's red, also, you guressed it, it's an HP (I heart HP)

When my mom was so sick and I was doing a lot of traveling, I bought, shhh, a Samsung netbook. I know, HP makes them, but Samsung was cheaper without being cheap, you know. Anyway, it's adorable and runs on a battery for up to 10 hours. It's not that good of a product, though I wouldn't give it up for anything. Great on airplanes and traveling long distances in cars. It's been recovered twice, once I was able to do it myself, the next time, I messed it up and had to take it in to the geek squad.

You may think I'm obsessive. I am, but not about computers. I use them almost every waking moment when I'm at home, and take on to work with me during the day. I suspect, I'll be buying a new one every three to four. It's what I do. Somepeople go through cars or phones, or IPods, I go through computers.

So, there you've got it. This post wasn't so much about my books as it was the devices I write them with. Oh well. I haven't blogged for a few days, so I had a lot to tell.

See ya next time. Go out and get your free E-Book.

Get excited with me.

2011-02-15T18:35:00.000-08:00

Have you ever gotten so excited about a new book, that you wanted to start a webpage and design the cover?

I first called it Dancing in the Stars,Then Song of the Body. But there's only one possible name for it, "That Girl." Check out the blurb and tell me what you think. I've even put a tab for easy access. While you're at it, you could check out my Bum's Rush page. I'm dumping the webpage. I like the blog page better. It's easier and more fun.

Liz Writes: Giveaway: ARC of Wither by Lauren DeStefano

2011-02-14T07:07:00.000-08:00

Liz Writes: Giveaway: ARC of Wither by Lauren DeStefano: "Yesterday I reviewed one of this year's most anticipated new YA dystopian books, Wither by Lauren DeStefano. Thanks to the generosity of Sim..."

In love with your characters

2011-02-12T11:05:00.000-08:00

If you love your character, is that good? I can see two totally different sides to that questions. For me, if I'm in love with my characters, I can try and transfer that love to my readers. However, being in love with my characters, is different from loving my characters. Being in love with them, is like having a first love. All you can think about and talk about is the one you love and people around you get sick of hearing it. So that might cause me to overwrite them. I might want the reader to know more than they want to know about them. Does that make sense.

That said, I do love my characters in my upcoming,Dancing in the Stars. I'm still on the first draft, and I've actually change the title of the book, but fear it's not going to be the last time I do, so forgive me if I don't share this with you. I may have a, name that book contest someday soon. My challenge, as far as characters go, is giving them unique personalities. One character is quirky and conceited, but funny and realistic, kind hearted under her tough exterior, the other one, sweat, good natured, and in trouble. It's fun to get to know them as they evolve.

That's about all I have for now. Keep coming back, I'm going announce the release of Bum's Rush real soon.

Just Sayin'

2011-02-07T16:36:00.000-08:00

It seems with all the publishing and writing, and weather woes, I've had little time left to update my blog. I now have a webpage, at least for the moment. You can check it out HERE It's not fancy, and it's not completed, but it's there for anyone's enjoyment. Drop by and sign my guest book, you are the first peeps I've invited.

I'm getting ready to have a give away. I have three proofs from Amazon.com to give away. Two of them have minute errors, and the last one should be close to perfect. As close as I'm ever likely to get, anyway. I'll figure something out, and all I will ask for is a review. But let's not jump the gun.

I'm kind of nervous about a release date. I'm not full of whimsy and find it hard to come up with something, you know, promotional, plus I'm a little shy about this. Never done it before, don't know quite how it works. I'll be winging it in other words.

I am honestly going to make time to post my blog. I'm just at a rough spot at the moment, but it'll work out.

You guys take care until next time.

The Ghost and the Goth

2011-01-27T16:15:00.000-08:00

Another recommendation, The Ghost and the Goth, written by Stacey Kade. I'm a slow reader and I had this book read in three days. It's delightful, very humerous, suspenseful, and a bit of a love story. Click here for a review of it on the authors website. And don't you just love the cover?

Some changes made

2011-01-25T18:09:00.000-08:00

I've been reading, reading, reading lately. Isn't that the first rule of writing. Makes sense. Since I'm trying to write in a different genre, I'm consuming YA books and I'm enjoying it so much. I love my kindle, but you know, I enjoy reading off my netbook just as much. Of course there is nothing like holding the book in your hand, but what do you do with it when you're done? I keep them. I know, I should recycled and share, but I just don't. So, I like that I can just archive my books. If I want to re-read them, I just go into the archives and pluck them out. There's no storage involved.

Not only am writing in a new genre, I'm writing in first person pov. It takes some getting used to, doesn't it, for those of you who have switched around. I think it might be a little easier, too. It's kind of hard, sometimes to do the show and don't tell thing in third person pov.

The other thing I'm trying is to write is spurts. Intellectually, I know when writing a first draft you don't worry about content so much. It's much more pleasant to just write, right? The problem becomes, I start getting panic attacks about the plot. So I put it down until I come to my senses again. It doesn't take long, just a few minutes, but it seems to work for me.

Those are my words of wisdom to you today. It's so nice to talk to you all.

Rushing Spring

2011-01-23T12:56:00.000-08:00

If you put up springy backgrounds, spring will come faster. I'm about ready to get a countdown widget, anything. Not that I heart spring so much, actually it comes with hazards, you know, tornadoes ans thunderstorms, and it's just a violent time of year, but then summer comes pretty fast after that. I'm really looking forward to my next birthday and that's in September. I think I'm going to throw a blog bash. I have a secret, it's a wonderful secret and you can't know what it is, yet.

2011-01-22T12:52:00.000-08:00

I just finished Twisted by Laurie Halse Anderson. It's insanely good. It's a YA book about a teenage boy, tyler, who is in trouble. Just like most teens, he's trying to fit in. It starts off with him on probation for spray painting graffiti on the school. He figured he'd be considered a hero for this. So now he's doing community service by taring the school roof and digging holes for a landscaping business in between visits to his parole officer.

He's got the hots for a girl out of his league. She just happens to be the daughter of Tyler's father's boss and her brother has been bullying Tyler all through school. But due to all the strenuous labor Tyler has been forced to do, he's bulked up.

The girl becomes interested in Tyler and they go to a big party. She gets waisted and tries to seduce Tyler who decides to do the proper thing and not take advantage of her. She blows him off and disappears for a long time. Tyler drives her and her brother home because they are too drunk to walk.

Long story short, Tyler gets in trouble for taking pictures of her in various stages of dress.

Tyler has issues with his father as well, but I'll leave the rest for you guys to find out.
I came away wishing I could write a book like that and determined to do so, just as soon as I figure out how, exactly.

Habits

2011-01-15T14:03:00.000-08:00

They say, "They," those much smarter than me. They say that if you repeat something three times, it becomes a habit. Maybe it's 3 weeks, anyway, I realize now, that my ROW80 goal should have been to blog more, like every day. Maybe no one reads it, that's okay, there's a habit to be made here, and I want to illuminate you with my vast knowledge. By-the-way, you guys are great. You cheer me when I'm down, share your ample supply of knowledge, and you're just all around good peeps. I thank you for that.

Okay, so I'm going to try, for three days in a row, to blog something. It might be a paragraph on the proper way to brush you teeth while balancing a notebook on your lap and putting your makeup on-- simultaneously. Or the woes of a novelist just trying to get from Monday to Friday with dignity and, more importantly, sanity.

I am meeting my ROW80 goals, but not in the way I had visualized. I'm more just working on my novels than writing them, but it's still progress.

You all have fun and stay good.

DING, DING, DING, DING, DING -- SUPER DUPER CONTEST

2011-01-09T16:47:00.000-08:00

Drop in to learn how to win. Just click on the sponsor logo above

Play Fling, by Amber Scott

2011-01-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

Play Fling by Amber Scott is a love story and a fantasy well worth it's price. Millie is a cupid in training who is assigned to find an aging devorcee, Brooke Munkel, true love, but she misinterprets Brooke's feelings for her ex-husband and works to reunite them, nearly disrupting Brooke's relationship with another man, the man who turns out to be Brooke's true love.

Ms. Scott captures you from page one with humor and takes you on an emotional journey that lasts until the last page. I strongly recommend this book.

ROW80 Goals - It works

2011-01-05T06:29:00.000-08:00

For someone who doesn't make goals, I'm finding they work. The ROW80 challenge is easy. Just thirty minutes a day and I've got 500 words on paper. Do you know how many works that's going to be at the end of 80 days? Don't calculate, let me tell you--80,000 words. So, though thirty minutes sounds like a small goal, it's huge. I see a new goal in my future--psst . . . maybe I'll raise it to forty-five

2011-01-04T09:16:00.000-08:00

Getting closer to publishing. It seems like there's always a delay. If anyone thinks publishing a book is easy, they're wrong. Even after you've closed the file for the final time, after all the proofing and editing, and falderal, as my mother used to say, there is other stuff. Like understanding the terms of royalties. I don't have a head for business, mostly because I don't do numbers. No comprehend. So I have to rely on someone else to do the research. That's where I am now. Waiting for the research. Everything is almost ready, just write my blurb and submit my book.

I'm excited and scared. What's the worse that can happen? No one reading my book, unconscionable. Everyone hating my book, unconscionable. I'm being silly.
It's my first book, I've got two in the works.

It's also hard to stop visiting my characters. Characters are people, you know. I miss them, I liked them and put them through terrible ordeals. But they only live within the confounds of the front and back covers.

I've ramble enough. I like to keep my posts short for my ADD friends out there. Take care, see you next time, and God bless.

Sometimes I just need to ramble

2010-12-30T17:33:00.000-08:00

I may have hurt some feelings when I complained about people who ask me about the status of my book. Upon reflection, there is only one or two people I wish I'd never told I was writing a book. On further reflection, only one of those people is a smart ass about it, and he's a smart ass as a rule, anyway. Someone I work for to those who might know me. The only men in our office are the bosses. So I apologize to anyone who thinks my comments suggested for them to shut-up already. Ask away.

I'm looking forward to the ROW80 challenge goal. If this goes well, I might be on the track to becoming a certified goal-maker. I feel like once I get started, the thirty minutes will grow to sixty and so on.

Aw, the weekend. Like some of you, I live for them. It's the most productive time for me. I wake up and start writing. It's a joy, and I would throw a complete hissy if someone tried to take them away from me. It's also the only time during the week that I can spend with my husband doing special things. I would hope he would throw a hissy if someone tried to take those away from him. There's talk that my bosses have other plans for my weekends. Retirement might be closer than I thought.

I'm glad the holidays are almost over. A lot of us have gotten off subject, become like normal people for a short time. My boss suggested I get out and live. Huh? He thinks if you're not outside mowing the yard or shoveling the snow, you're not living. Okay, how many people who shovel the snow drop dead from a heart attach. That's not living.

So, until next time, cheers.

Goals, yuk

2010-12-29T04:44:00.000-08:00

When did I stop with the New Years resolutions? About the same time I stopped making goals. Unless I'm passionate about something, I rarely stick to it. Will, I'm passionate about not spending another five years finishing my two manuscripts. I took the Row-80 pledge. It can be any goal that is doable to you. It's designed to give the writer an excuse to write and have a life too. My goal is to work thirty minutes every day on one of my MSs. I can knock out, say, five hundred words a day if all I'm doing is writing. But there's much more to writing than writing, isn't there? There's the rewrite, the editing, the cutting, the proofing, the research. Yes, research is part of the process as well. Then there's the sweating, the frustration, the blocks, anxiety, fear, and just plain craziness. This part doesn't need a goal, it just comes naturally.

But I really, really just want to get to the end as fast as possible, but at my own pace. Does that make sense? I think I'm just going to write, write, write. If I see I'm making good progress, that's all the incentive I need. You know, if you're busy writing, you're not looking at the clock anyway and thirty-minutes stretches into forty, then an hour . . . it's limitless. Now, if I could only achieve the weight loss like this.

What about you? Are you goal makers, or do you feel you have the discipline to stay with it without goals and actually make progress. The world is full of both.

See ya next time

Who do you write for?

2010-12-23T06:44:00.000-08:00

Is there such a thing as too much praise? Probably, but I've never reached the peak. Some people think only one compliment is necessary. It's all psychology, you know. Maybe I grew up unappreciated. One compliment should suffice.

As writers every word is agonizing. To put thoughts on paper and make them flow so future readers can be wowed by them . . . Oh wait, that's not why we write, is it?

In the back of your minds, who are you thinking about when you write? Are you trying to impress or do you do it for the shear joy of writing? Dig deep.

Trust your instincts

2010-12-22T10:14:00.000-08:00

Trust your instincts. So you've been writing for awhile, learned a lot from critique partners, wrote a first, second, and third draft. It's almost done. One more read through and you're done. So you put the MS down for a month and do something else. You come back, now as a reader, not a writer and you begin to read. It's working great. You are enjoying the read as a reader, and then, there it is again. There's that section that every time you edited it, you paused. But the writing is so amazing. People will think you're a literary genius when they read this.

NOT, and your subconscious knows this. For me, there's usually several scenes that could use a rewrite or a cut. Put your subconscious to rest. It's not going to hurt too bad and you can copy that profound piece of literature into a file for use at a more appropriate time. Maybe in the next MS.

What usually happens, if you are me, anyway, is you forget about it or when you read it again, you wonder why you thought it was so exceptional.

You can fight any emotion, but you must satisfy your subconscious. It will send you ulcers otherwise.

Those are my profound words of wisdom. Just trust your instincts and you won't get ulcers. As a byproduct you might produce a bestselling novel. Who knew?

Finding those unclosed quotation marks

2010-12-18T11:12:00.000-08:00

In the world of Microsoft Word you must find some little tricks. In doing so, you may actually learn a thing of two without having to read the help menu. So I'm trying to get by cheaply without having to spend an arm and a leg for proofreading. Better to fix it now, than later, right? Talking to my hubby, who seems to have a good grasp on Word, I got the idea to find and replace all the quotation marks with, say, a, "%." sign, then highlighting the "%" sign with color. Here's how I did it.

1. Copy/Paste your completed document into a blank, new document and save that as something else.(Edit/select all, Edit/copy, Edit/paste) Psst . . . there are those who don't know how to do this.

2. Go to Edit/Find

3. In the "Find What" box, type in, Shift-', which equates to quotation marks

4. Click on the "Replace" tab and in the "Replace with" box, type "%" (Shift-5)

5. Click on the "More" button,

6. Click on the "Format" button

7. Highlight and click on "Font,"

8. Highlight "Text Font, Font Style, Font Size," you are using in your document, then click on the pull-down menu under "Font Color," select a color.

9. "OK" out and do a "Replace All"

Now scroll down and count, "One, Two, one, two" If you get off count, you've found a missing quotation mark.

Reverse the above to put the quotation marks back into the document. I wouldn't replace the original document with this one. That's just my fail safe way of always having a back-up copy. Just rename it and this will be your new submit doc. You could even name it that.

You might think this is time consuming. It's really not so bad. I had over three- thousand quotation marks. I had missed twenty-three closing or beginning quotation marks. It took an hour or so, but it was worth it. I wish I had figured this out a long time ago.

There are a lot of little secrets inside the "Find" option. Check them out.

Of course, there is always more than one way to perform the same operation. If you have a little trick you'd like the share, put it in the comments. Someone will appreciate the tip.

As always, God Bless and see you next time.

Getting out of my rut

2010-12-14T10:29:00.000-08:00

If you've read my two blurbs up top, you've probably noticed similarities. I tend to enjoy writing about top corporate businessmen. Maybe it's time for a change. In Dancing in the Stars everything is different. I enjoy writing from the man's pov. I like men. I like getting into their heads, but DITS is from a woman's perspective, it's a YA genre, and for the moment, no one gets killed or maimed. It's also a love story of sorts. I like a good love story, but I usually don't make it the focus of my stories and you'll never see a sex scene in my books. I get off on the passion and emotions leading up to love, not sex. Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against sex.

DITS is a coming of age story about a former prom queen who doesn't want to move on past high school. She works in a dance studio in her small hometown while her friends have moved on with their lives. Her mother ran out on her and her father, leaving her father bitter towards love and he discourages my MC from pursuing anything but the most casual of relationship. Nice parent, huh?

Then she goes to a five year class reunion. Really? who has a class reunion after just five years. Any more years than that and she'd be too flippin' old for this story, so it's five years. She hangs with her old crowd, the "in crowd," and after awhile they start talking about their successful careers, yada, yada, yada. My MC, her name for now is Halle, like Halle Berry, gets depressed and drinks too much. She gets so drunk she spends the rest of the evening in the john. When she comes out, most everyone has left.

Well, I don't want to give too much away. Suffice it to say,she runs into a classmate who has always had a crush on her. She and her snooty friends used to call him owl because of his big magnification glasses. He takes her home, she tries to seduce him, but all she gets is a nice kiss. When he's gone she realizes she doesn't even know where he lives or what he does, but she remembers the kiss they shared. Now you think they will get together doncha?

I might post an excerp from Bum's Rush in the next little while. You don't want to miss that.

Hugs and good wishes to you all.

Self Doubts

2010-12-09T20:18:00.000-08:00

Some days I wish I had never told anyone I was writing a novel. Why? Some of you already know the answer to that one. People want to keep asking, "When can I read it," "When's it going to be done?" "Aren't you finished with that yet?" "What are you doing, working on your book?"

I admit, it's taken me forever to write this dang novel. Thankfully, some people have forgotten I'm writing one. I really don't mind the occasional question. I'm a little shy about it, is all. I shouldn't be so sensitive. After all, I've posted it on my Facebook profile that I'm writing a novel. It's only natural people would be curious about it. Well, it's so close to being done. I'm back to formatting it and actually making progress.

I think, sometimes, I'm the one holding myself back.Questions like, "What if its a piece of crap?" "What if people don't like it?" "Will anyone buy it?" "What if its a piece of crap?" I'm not one to blow my own horn, so promoting it will be grueling for me, yet none of these questions will be answered if I don't tell people about it. Only one person, besides my husband, has read. She said she liked it, especially the surprise ending, but she's one of my BFFs, would she have said it was a piece of crap?

Do all writers go through this self doubt? I've read other writers say similar things. I wonder if Dean Koontz, or Robert Crais, or John Grisham have these doubts? If they do, do they care, really? All the way to the bank. I'm not writing to get rich. I guess I ought to remember that I'm writing because I love to write and not worry about what people think. But then I wouldn't be human, would I?

See ya next time. Until then have a great week.

Dancing In the Stars

2010-12-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

The thing about rewriting a novel you've finished twice, six years ago? It's impossible to keep a running tally of the word count. The reason? Well, because it's constantly evolving. I find I'm doing more adding than rewriting. Still, it's coming along a little at a time. So my meter is really off by several thousand words at any given time. That's okay. As long as I can write a couple thousand words a week, I'm happy. I'd be able to write a thousand words a day if I didn't have to work. By the time I get home, my eyes are at half mast and my brain is mush.

The good news is, I've started, yet another novel. This one, since I don't have to think too much, I can write between patients and sometimes there's a long lull between them. For those who don't know, I pretest for an optometrist. Anyway, I'll post the cover, which I've already designed, with this post. It's titled, "Dancing in the Stars." That may be a working title, I haven't decided yet. It's about a former prom queen, out of school five years. She can't get her head out of high school and into the real world. She's a wannabe dancer who works in a small town (completely made up town) at a dance studio teaching classical dance at night and kindergarteners during the day. It's a rite of passage with a love story. I don't think I've completely found my genre yet. Still experimenting. Or maybe I have more than one.

See ya next time. Until then have a great week.

The Hating Game

2010-11-29T05:12:00.000-08:00

Help Talli Roland's debut novel THE HATING GAME hit the Kindle bestseller list at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk by spreading the word today. Even a few sales in a short period of time on Amazon helps push the book up the rankings, making it more visible to other readers.

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com:

No Kindle? Download a free app at Amazon for Mac, iPhone, PC, Android and more.

Coming soon in paperback. Keep up with the latest at www.talliroland.com.

About THE HATING GAME:

When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £2000,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?

Don't throw the baby away with the bathwater

2010-11-28T07:28:00.000-08:00

As you can see, I've got my word-count meter up for my upcoming novel. Don't be overly impressed with the quick rise in word count. Though in the last two days I've written three thousand new words, the rest was cut and paste. It's amazing how much my perception of my MC has changed. When I started this novel six years ago, I had him escalated to super stud. He begged to be taken off the pedestal and given human qualities. Its been fun reacquainting myself with him and the others characters. I'm not quite sure where it's going, but I am overcoming my fear of conflict to some degree. I'm putting him into situations where he might be, dare I say it, embarrassed and unsure of himself.

Quite honestly, I had written this novel off as a great learning experience. I put it through the critiquing process, a humbling experience. I rejected a lot of critiquer's suggestions. I wanted raving reviews instead of constructive criticism. In an attempt to live up to their expectations, I changed the nature of the novel in such a way that it no longer resembled my original idea. So, in frustration, I set it aside and started anew. Now, looking back and re-reading and writing, I understand a little better what they were trying to tell me. I recommend critique groups, especially for beginners, but grow a thick skin and keep in mind, some people's perspectives are a little off.

So that's my two cents for the day. Hope this day brings you blessings and refreshment. The party's over, time to get back to work--crocodile tears, sniff, sniff.

Need Help?

2010-11-26T15:50:00.000-08:00

It's not very often someone gets to help someone else. Part of the reason is, someone else forgets to ask for help. I'm offering up my help to anyone who wants to promote something author or book related. Do you have an upcoming release you'd like to advertise? Send me the info and whatever prevalent links, and if it's legal, tasteful, and easy, I'd be happy to help. I'm offering on a trial basis. If it looks like something that will benefit everyone concerned, I may make it permanent depending on the response I get. Make it easy though. I have limited knowledge of html and no knowledge of programming. What I don't know, I can teach myself, that is if it's something I am able to learn.

As you can see, I'm working on a new book. Actually, it's a complete rewrite of a book I started six years ago or so. I'm pretty excited about it. I'm up to 40,000 words give or take. That will change as I add and delete scenes. I'm so excited about it, I designed the artwork for it already. Hope you like it.

That's about it for today. I really am going to post more often and try and keep with you guys. I'm thrilled to have so many peeps who like my blog well enough to follow. Very flattering. Have a great holiday to those who celebrate, and God bless.

I need a good splash

2010-11-16T13:56:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to think of a way to release my book with a splash. I don't just want to post that it's been published, and, oh, by the way, you can find it here, here, and here. Yeah, that should get people excited. I may put out some excepts, I'll certainly offer some free ones. I'll be seeking some reviews later in the process. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to offer them.

On another, note, I am putting together my first book, the one I finished, but became to discouraged to mess with anymore. I have several versions, you get why I became discouraged. The writing is solid, the story plot good, or should I say plots and it has slipped into place fairly easily so far. It's kind of like shuffling cards. You take the two to three different versions and shuffle them together. I keep thinking this is going to be a piece of cake. I'm waiting for the other shoe to fall. Wouldn't it be fun to have two books out in a short time frame?

I'm looking forward to hearing from you all.

Things you must know

2010-11-06T07:31:00.000-07:00

Smashwords has a wonderful free ebook, Style Guide by Mark Coker on, click here. you guessed it, styling your manuscript. I recommend you read it before you type one word of your MS. It's absolutely a must if you want to avoid a huge formatting mess at the end. You really can conquer Microsoft word. This book is written in complete and understandable detail. It can be used for any form of general formatting for submission to anyone, anywhere. You may have to tweak a bit depending on submission requirements, but only a bit.

For those of you who are struggling with editing your WIP, I have a suggestion that works, and you don't have to spend a cent. When you begin your proofreading, resize your MS to book size, such as 5.5 x 8.5. Go into edit, page setup and click on the paper tab. I swear it's as affective as pointing your toes to keep your leg straight. (how many of you just tried that?) Reading in this manner will turn you from writer to reader and those errors will fly off the page. Try it and let me know how well it works.

On that subject, I'm almost done with my proofing. It's taken a long time and a lot of work and a lot of cutting, but, as a result, I have a good book, so it's worth it. I'm hoping to get it published before Christmas, but if I don't, soon after. Oh, I'll be so glad to put this one to bed.

You all have wonderful weekends and God bless.

Finally, a decision

2010-11-01T06:41:00.000-07:00

I'm sorry I've been absent, in case you noticed. I trimmed another 5,000 words off Bum's Rush. I'm proud of myself. Here's a lesson, one I've preached before, when you write something you don't feel 100% about, do something about it, especially if every time you stumble across it, you get that same gut feeling. Also, another lesson, one we all know, if it doesn't move the story forward, leave it out, no matter how beautifully written it is. I took a deep breath, and cut, cut, cut. It felt so good, I almost got carried away.

As soon I get the thing done, I'll let you all know, because I feel like you've all been behind me and I love you for it.

The power of words

2010-10-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

It's funny how one word or a sentence can inspire. Sometimes when I'm reading, a single word can bring a whole story idea to mind. I always read just before going to sleep, so sometimes it's not the most opportune time to be having a big idea. But you gotta do what you gotta do, after all.

The other night I wrote a whole synopsis off a single sentence I read in whatever I was reading at the time. I had to delay my bedtime to write it. I guess the subconscious is always on the alert. It knows what you're interested in and seeks it out without caring weather it's an appropriate time of day, or where you are, or what you're doing. If you don't write it down as soon as is convenient, it's gone, at least it's gone for me. Age is a lovely thing. It does things to one's memory.

Does this happen to anyone else?

Have a great weekend everyone.

I'm almost ready for an agent

2010-09-28T10:32:00.002-07:00

But where do I look for one? I've so busy writing my books, I don't know where to go next. I guess I'm asking for suggestions. I know there are websites with loads of agents listed, I might even have some listed on my own blog, but I don't know what they're called. Can anyone give me a website or a name.

Thanks, I know you won't let me down.

In other news, Bum's Rush is on it's final edit. I shopped around for a cheep proofreader. There aren't any. .01 cents per word at 80,000 words is 800 dollars. I'm really naive about this step, and nervous for some reason. My query letter and synopsis suck, and I'm into my next book. Self-publishing is looking better every day.

You all have a great week and God bless.

I'm almost ready for an agent

2010-09-28T10:32:00.001-07:00

Fixed

2010-09-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

I got my blog back up. I still don't know why Google gave me that message and wouldn't let me in. Seems like everyone else was able to get in okay. I removed some sidebar widgets from the code, and it came back. I put them back in, and it went away, took them away and it came back. I don't miss the widgets. I can't even remember what they were.

So now we know, GOOGLE IS WATCHING.

Thanks for all the comments. You guys are great.

Testing, Testing

2010-09-16T16:42:00.000-07:00

Google is messing with my blog. I can't use any template but this stupid classic one and it won't let me "Design." I don't know if any of my followers can see my posts because I can no longer see my followers, this the test. If you see this, please comment. Thank you. This really upsets me.

Avoiding discomfort

2010-09-16T07:03:00.000-07:00

It's not what you write, it's what you don't or find hard to write. As authors, it's our job to cause conflict, cause the reader to feel emotions. We can make our characters do whatever we want them to. We can also harm them, fix them, cure them, bring them back to live, perform miracles on them,etc. Easy? No, not for me, anyway.

How to get passed my own conflict and discomforts? What aren't I writing? If I put my character in an embarrassing position, it's hard to push through because it might be a situation I'd never find myself in and avoid. Personally, I'm a peaceful person who dislikes confrontation, so putting my characters in a situations I'd avoid is particularly hard for me, yet it's necessary. Every story needs conflict, and sometimes it's at the expense of the character. I think I must block out anything uncomfortable. What I'm saying, yet not writing, is conflict is a personal thing.

An exercise I could try would be to write about every avoidable conflict I can think of without offering my character a hand. No help from this author, no siree.

How about anyone else? How do you overcome avoidance due to your own personality?

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

2010-09-13T09:52:00.000-07:00

I feel stifled lately. I don't know what to do now that my book is completed. Is it kind of a let down? What do you think. Also, I can't get my synopsis to work. If it doesn't thrill me, how much more will it not thrill an agent.

I'm having doubts. Is my book good enough? Will I handle rejection well? Actually, on that subject, rejection, I wouldn't mind getting a rejection notice. At least I will have gotten that far.

Where do I go to find an agent? Does anyone know? Should I self publish? If I do that, then I can put this book to bed and concentrate on the next one. Such a quandary I'm in. Any suggestions?

Glynis Smy and Elizabeth: Talli Needs Our Help

2010-09-11T06:42:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to read Talli's book.

Glynis Smy: Talli Needs Our Help

Brain Stormin'

2010-09-02T09:27:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

I need to brainstorm. Okay, lets say a married couple have separate, but identical guns. The wife shoots someone. Ballistics shows the bullet from the victim came from her gun. But she throws her gloves away and gets her coat cleaned, so there's no gunpowder residue. Then she says her husband used her gun and shot the guy. There were no witnesses. I thought about the police finding powder residue in her car, which is possible according to everything I've read. But she could say her husband drove it. I've got the cops trying to trick her by saying they have a video of her with the gun, but she wasn't buying it. I need suggestions. Lets brainstorm.

I can't dance, I can't talk

2010-08-31T11:04:00.000-07:00

In the day, I could dance and dance and dance. I once danced for exercise and fun. I didn't realize it until one day when I looked at my baggy clothing, but I'd lost ten pounds without even trying. That'll never happen again.

I'm not fat, but I'm short. I have put on an extra twenty pounds. When I was on vacation with the hairdo from hell, I didn't realize how much the, previously, adoring camera had betrayed me until I saw the results of the photos. What a friggin' shock. I was horrified. I had to act.

I got right on it and dug out exercise tapes with dance aerobics, hip hop, walking, etc. I'm not only fat, I've lost any coordination I once had. I feel like a beached wale. With a little practice, I can get through a routine and it's becoming a little easier. My problem is, though I have a spacious basement, it's carpeted. So I'm out on Ebay looking for dance sneaker. Dance sneakers? Who knew. I need something I can pivot with and scoot in on the indoor/outdoor carpet.

Back to Ebay. I'm employed, but my husband is not, so I wasn't willing to pay full price for dance sneakers. Will, there they were for $10.00 on Ebay. Brand new and the right size and width, I've got bunions and a fat foot. I'm not holding my breath on their comfort, but the price was right and if they don't work out, will, I'm out a few bucks instead of a lot. I was just notified that I won the auction. Is it a good sign? Wait and see, I guess.

The good news is, the first two weeks, I lost five pounds. Yay. That's enough to keep me encouraged, so I went and bought some more exercise tapes. I'm rollin' now, boy.

Until next time, Good bye and God bless.

Out of the Office

2010-08-21T05:18:00.000-07:00

I have been away for a few weeks and now I'm back.

Off the top of my head, these are the things on my mind. It's scary how fast the cost of living is increasing. When you walk out of a grocery store with fewer bags and less product for the same price as you paid a couple of weeks ago, it's going to be impossible if this keeps up.

I'm still snailing along, editing Bum's Rush. I'd like to think when I get done with it, it will be perfect, but I'm a less than perfect person. so that's unlikely. I did something that I think magnified my errors. I published a private copy using BLURB. One of those publish your own things where you can sell it or not. I'm not, it's just for my eyes and I'll probably delete it, soon. It's a lot of work, but cheep. Unfortunately, when you copy the MS into the template, it doesn't indent paragraphs, so you had to do that by hand. It was worth it. It only cost me $14.00 plus shipping for one copy and it was in my hands within a week, a full paperback book with cover and everything.

I started reading it, and within a page errors were popping off the pages. Reading it in this form, was more like reading it as an unbiased reader. I don't recommend this for the faint of heart, because, as I said, it's a lot of work to set the thing up.

We spent a week in Oregon and ate our way across the state. We went to class reunions and family reunions, family birthday parties, climbed to the top of Multnomah Falls, and spent a couple of days at the beach. It was fun, but I didn't protect my face and got a tan. I normally don't let the sun touch my face, but it was mostly overcast, so it was easy to forget you still get sun damage through the clouds. Well, at least I have some color, now.

I hope everyone is doing well. God Bless and have some fun.

Don't know much, but wait, yes I do.

2010-07-31T07:28:00.000-07:00

The first time I read those words, I about panicked. What I know, I can hold in the palm of my hand. I'm a literal person. Abstract ideas are doable, but they're not the easiest things to eek out for me. So when I read, "Write what you know" you can imagine.

Here's what I know: Sunsets; how they make me feel. Burlap; how it feels next to my skin, the way the fibers overlap, it's thickness, the color. Talcum powder; deja vu, Johnson and Johnson, babies. The smell of popcorn, the sound of a train whistle in the distance. Where haven't I lived where I couldn't hear one somewhere. Rain; how it makes my hair go straight.

You get the picture. I know so, so much. Things you know have to do with your five senses and the images and feelings you get from them. Write those things, look into your heart, your memory, re-experience them, then put them on paper. So many times I forget and have to go back and add imagery. In fact, the first draft is usually void of such things. Just get the story on paper, right? But there are those things we know that come so natural that, even on the first draft, they flow onto the paper from memory. I'm talking like this is a new revelation. I know we all know this stuff, but we forget--I forget.

Sometimes I have to stop and close my eyes. When I'm writing a scene, I try and imagine the things around me. Getting out of an old, worn out car, for instance. The door probably sticks and squeaks--now that's a really old car. The musky, old smell that mingles with the fresh air for a single instant. The difference in attmosphere, like stepping from air conditioning to stifling, breath-eating swelter. Easy, right?
Not so much. How does it look, feel, smell, even taste? Of course, one can get carried away with this, I suppose.

That's my words of wisdom for the week. Hope you all have wonderful weekends. I'll shout at you again real soon. God bless.

I need an expert on teens

2010-07-29T12:20:00.000-07:00

I get so inspired by some of your guys' blogs. It makes me want to drop everything and write. But when I go to write, I'm stumped, not writer's block, writer's ignorance.

I'm on my second novel. It's going to be a YA book with the teen character from my first novel. If I can't sell the first one, I'll have to change some things, but it will still work.

I'm not on fire about it yet. I think one of the reasons is because I've been away from that age group for so long. I've got a book of teenage slang coming from Amazon, but that's just part of my problem. The whole mentality of teenagers has changed. It was so easy being a teenager back in the dark ages. These days it's like a war out there--teen bullies, teens with guns, teens who have no respect, and those are the nice ones. Now that I think about it, I've just described a lot of adults, especially the ones in politics. I don't want to open that can of snakes.

Regardless, I'm out of touch. I know most teens are decent kids, but even the decent ones are still teens. It comes with a certain amount of giving and getting pain, at least the mental kind. So I'm reading a lot of YA books, or would be if I'd get my hiney in gear. If anyone can recommend any good high school YA books with mean girls, I'd be most thankful for the titles and authors. I need some inspiration I can get my wrap my mind around.

Thank you so much and God bless.

Under the Radar

2010-07-27T14:04:00.000-07:00

Ive noticed in my reading that some literary agents want a book proposal in which you describe things like how you plan to promote your book. One even suggested starting in advance to the finished manuscript. Websites, interviews, even TV appearances. They suggest going to writing conferences and online social networks. One or two of them suggested including a website or blog address on the query letter. The agent then goes out and looks at how many comments you get to your posts.

It looks like I'm a bit behind on my promotional work. The other thing that interests me is the previous experience garnered throughout one's writing experience. I have none. I've never written a short story or entered a contest, so I'll be leaving that blank. I encourage everyone who thinks they may want to write a book, to start at a young age so they have time to incorporate this in their time spent away from work. Well, live and learn. It's an interesting road we travel as writiers.

Workin' Hard

2010-07-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

It's about time I posted something, huh. Did you miss me?

I've been updating and updating and editing and editing. Do you suppose it's done? You know what? I think authors, like actors or athletes, though with the reputations these two professions garner, do I want to compare myself to them? Sorry, Anyway, I think we earn our bucks big time. It's all perfection and to the individual whose work it is, perfection is never, ever achieved. I mean, I can get obsessed on stupid space that's not in alignment. You know how when your word processor keeps fighting back?

I finally learned how to master Microsoft Word, and I learned it the hard way--after everything was done and it ALL had to be fixed. I had to go through over 3,000 paragraphs and take out the little dots before and after. Good news is, I learned how to use styles and it is slick. Will they ever come up with one that can correctly correct punctuation and spelling?

Well, that's all I have for today. My hubby is taking me out to dinner. I'm going to make an effort to post more, just as soon as I get the query letter, cover letter, and synopsis completed. You may never see my smiling face again.

Have a great week everyone. Maybe I'll be back before it's over.

When you're done, you're not

2010-07-03T06:49:00.000-07:00

Ugh, I just got my MS back from my proofing friend and I'm having to make thousands of corrections, mostly missing commas. I went out on the internet and looked up comma rules. I'm incapable of learning them. What made me think my brain would change the way I think, or, rather, learn. All in all, I didn't do a horrible job, and there aren't really thousands of corrections, though it seems like it. Wading through them one-by-one is painful.

Writing a novel is a process that involves a lot of work. The writing is bad enough, but when you're done, you're not. When I get rich and famous, I can afford to have someone else do this work, but until then, it's all me.

Going into a four day weekend, but have no plans. It takes a bomb to get me out of the house anymore, but I may force myself out because I'm running out of clothes. What I mean is, I have extra hangers.

Have fun and be safe on this July fourth, everyone, and God Bless

A Rose by any other name still has thorns

2010-06-28T08:59:00.000-07:00

How do I come up with character names? Thanks for asking. My protagonist in Bum's Rush, Jack Troy slid out of the tips of my fingers without slowing my pace on the keyboard. Jack is actually an overused name, but it's honest and easy to remember. Troy, I don't know where that came from.

Other names like Cole Sigaphoos is a misspelling of a real name, really. Penelope, Cole's wife was my sister's name. She died in 1995. I hope she doesn't mind sharing her name with a slightly devious person. My brother's name, William, is in here too. He's the real villion. I had a time with Jack's love interest, Kelli. She's had three last names.

Where did I come up with Skip Reynolds? I wish I knew. He used to be a sub-story in my first book, which was complete, then it wasn't, then it was, then I re-wrote it and now it's incomplete. Anyway, that novel was 100,000 words plus, so I took Skip's portion out of that book and it bloomed into Bum's Rush. But where did the name come from? To tell you the truth, I think it arose the same way Jack's name did, from my fingertips.

I know when my characters approve of their names, because they don't give me any grief about it. With Kelli's first and second last names, she screamed at me every time I wrote it. I think she likes her knew one.

I guess we need to listen to our characters and our fingers. I got the best names out of thin air.

An Interview With Your Characters

2010-06-26T06:37:00.000-07:00

I don't do it. It's a waste of time and I'll never look at the form again. Really, who cares what your hero wanted, but didn't get for his last birthday? What their favorite food is, What they dreamed last night, unless it drives the story or is, at least, relevant. Granted, it's a good way to get to know your character, but I prefer seeing those things as they unfold in the story.

I've tried to do interviews. When I first heard about the concept, I got excited. Then I saw the questions: What is your biggest strength, Achilles heel. These are questions that when asked of me, I hyperventilate. When I tried answering for my character, I had the same reaction.

Things that will always come up at one time or another in a story: What kind of car does he/she drive, quirks, idiosyncratic, friends, acquaintances, occupation. How they look, the clothes they wear, are they wealthy or poor, etc. Things that define the character for the purpose of the story.

What matters most, in my humble opinion, is what happened to get them to where they are. Why they react the way they do. Did they have mommy or daddy issues, was there unfinished business that they need to resolve.

How much of the hero is the author? I'd say we, as authors, give some of our views to our characters and we, or I should say, I, bestow on them traits I would like to have myself. The most fun characters I write are those with quirky personalities. But that's another subject.

If interviews help you get to know your characters, then that's great. Some people love to fill out forms. That's not me. I feel like I'm going to break out in hives. I wish I could be organized like that, but organization is something my characters might have, that's not me. If it were, my novel would have, not only a character interview, but an outline, a pre-synopsis, proper formating from the get-go, correct punctuation, T's crossed, i's dotted.

Suffice it to say, we/I end up deferring to type.

Have a great weekend and God bless

Tribute on Father's Day

2010-06-20T07:03:00.000-07:00

This is a doctored up re-post. Happy Father's Day to all good fathers.

In the last year, or so of her life, every time anyone mentioned my father, my mother said, "Your father was a selfish man." My father has been gone since 1984.

Dad was a gruff, man who said little about himself, but had opinions about everything. He enjoyed a lively conversation about all the things we're told not to discuss in life.

After WWII, where my father served his country as a PT boat driver in the Navy, he worked in a sawmill for 30 some plus years. When the sawmill burnt to the ground--twice--he found work doing anything to support his family, sometimes he had to work two jobs while the mill was being rebuilt.

Dad wasn't a generous man, and a buck was a hard thing for him to part with. Mom had to do a lot of penny pinching, but at least we had pennies to pinch. Even so, if a friend or relative needed a helping hand, my father held out his.

Mon was a stay at home mom. She did seasonal work in a packing house in a little, blink or you'll miss it, town. She was a talented seamstress and could sew anything, and did. She had a garden and canned fruit and vegetables that kept us fed and healthy.

Dad loved to fish and camp and surrounded himself with family and friends. What wonderful memories we had of those wondrous days.

When mom contracted Tuberculosis back in the days when they sent you away. Dad worked two jobs for nine months to pay for the hospital stay, and drove a hundred miles every weekend to visit. As a surprise, when she returned home, there was a nice, new dishwasher waiting for her. It was a big deal back then.

Later, when it was just me left at home, Dad bought a little pickup camper. When he could afford it, he upgraded to a fifth-wheel and a boat. One boat turned into a bigger boat, then an even bigger boat. He named them Sue Ann I, II, III, mine and my sister's middle names. What fun we had water skying and fishing as a family.

Dad loved his grandchildren like he never had time to love his own children. It was a surprising transformation. In all the years my dad worked, he bought savings bonds. When he died, there was a nice little nest egg to fall back on if needed.

In their empty nest days, Mom and Dad took square dance lessons. They would camp and travel with their square dance club and have a great time doing it. Sadly, that's what they were doing when he suddenly died.

Dad was all about family. He was the glue that held us together. He had so many friends and relatives, when he died, there was standing room only at his funeral.
A selfish man? I think not. In the last year or so of her life, Mom suffered a little dementia. I think she was confused, but as I write this, I can't be too angry. My dad may have been a difficult husband, after all.

This is my tribute to my father, on Father's Day. It may be late in coming, but I just want you to know, Dad, I love you.

New Ideas

2010-06-18T07:17:00.000-07:00

I remember, not too long ago I was whining about my lack of story ideas. Oh, those were the days. I now have three and they are all going to land me on the top ten best selling list in the WORLD. My ship has docked.

I've decided to change my genre to Young Adults. Adults can be so boring. I'm going to use all my old characters. I'm excited.

I'd also like to thank Glynis for the meat and potatoes award. Visit her beautiful blog here

I know this is short, I'll try and do better next time.

Until then, God bless

Hurry Up and Wait

2010-06-13T06:36:00.000-07:00

I've completed my editing portion, printed the MS, wrapped it all up into a neat package, and I'm ready to send it off for it's final proofing. Enclosed in this package is a cover letter, a query letter, and a synopsis. Hopefully my friend won't take six months to get it back to me with corrections. Unfortunately, my friend is not computer literate, so sending her an attachment via email is out of the question. Thus begins my first period of "hurry up and wait."

It's a grueling process, I think. The problem as I see it is I'm not getting any younger. I'll send it out a few times to see if I can get an agent, but if I have to wait for years to get this thing published, I may opt to self-publish in order to see it completed before I die. The fun is in writing it anyway.

For my next project, I'd like to write something fun. I'm having a hard time coming up with ideas. Anyone have any suggestions they're not going to use? Oh well, it will come to me. It's just hard to leave my characters. They are like family. The nice thing about that is I can always visit them in print.

Have a great Sunday, everyone, and for those going back to work tomorrow, try to have a great week.

2010-06-10T10:40:00.000-07:00

My whole goal in life is to retire--never to work again. I'm tired, I hate my job, and my husband is unemployed. I'm feeling really sorry for myself.

On another note, I am ready to send my MS off to be proofed. I have a school teacher friend who promised to do it for me. I'm worried she will take her sweet time, but what can I say? I might give her $50, but what incentive is that. Sometimes I feel like it will never be completely done.

I'm having a hard time coming up with another idea. I have something swinging around in the empty space of my mind, but it is not coming clean. I could just start to write, but this time I was hoping to write an outline first. So much for that idea when you're empty-headed.

Well, thanks so much for indulging my whining.

2010-06-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

I'm training someone to back me up at work so's I can be sick and go on vacation and stuff. I don't mind training if I don't feel rushed, but I work with patients and most of them are tolerant, but it is still nerve wracking.

We had a severe thunderstorm last night, Sirens going off, emergency radio spouting warning after warning. I worry, my husband doesn't. He was getting ready to go to a meeting, to leave me home alone to deal with the storm. He's fearless, I'm a scardy cat. Then the storm hit--he had second thoughts and when we looked at the trees across the street and noticed they were being blown in a circle. We headed for the basement. Burrr. The electricity went out. Now, we're in a basement that is underground and has no windows, and is pitch black. Luckily, years ago, we installed an emergency light that comes on when we lose power. It doesn't give much light, but enough.

I had my netbook with me. I love my netbook. The battery will keep for up to ten hours, so I had some entertainment, at least. My husband watched a movie on his iPod. I love technology.

Long story short, twenty minutes later we emerged from the basement and an hour and half later, the lights came back on.

Don't you just love spring?

Kamikaze Squirrels

2010-05-22T05:56:00.000-07:00

They are out there waiting, waiting for YOU. Those little rodents with fluffy tails and an amazing sense of timing. They pick a potential killer, wait for it . . . NOW.

They dig in with tiny back feet, dart across the path of oncoming trucks who's wheels, miraculously miss the little creatures by millimeter. Don't slow down, don't flinch, don't miss a beat, they are at full throttle. You catch a movement in the corner of your eye, and before you can react with more than a curse word, THUMP and BUMP, their dead.

Where I'm from, they have laws. You can not molest a black squirrel. Squirrel molesters may, however, have a field day with the brown ones. I was fortunate the one who killed himself using my car as a weapon was a brown squirrel (wipes sweat beads from forehead).

Be warned, participating is this ritual, even unwittingly, will ruin your day.

BEWARE THE KAMIKAZE RABBITS.

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

It feels weird being an orphan on Mother's Day. Actually, I'm not sure how it feels, but I'm not going to dwell on it. Wish your mom a happy Mother's Day from me to her, my mother would appreciate that.

Thank you.

It's Physical

2010-05-05T04:34:00.000-07:00

My book is no longer virtual or cyber. It's neither imaginary nor false, but in printed form it just became physical. Holding all that paper in my hands got me to thinking, not for the first time, what would have happened if I had lost it.

I went through three computers in the time it took me to write it, it's on every external storage device I own in one form or another, so there was little chance of it being completed blown away, yet I cringed at losing even one sentence. Funny since I eliminated 10,000 words, but that was deliberate.

Of all the things I have to lose, the one thing I would have saved in an emergency evacuation was my zippy drive. Seriously, how demented is that?

Well, last night I finally finished printing it. Now I could touch it. I don't know, it just felt like there should have been a drum roll.

Good Monday to ya

2010-05-03T05:01:00.000-07:00

It's Monday morning again. I'm trying to feel numb, it's the best way to get through. I particularly dislike the first of the month because at work statements have to be be prepared. We're a small business, so it has to be done by hand. Since I get all the junk jobs, guess who has to do them. Ugh.

I'm not writing because I'm still formatting. Man, it takes a long time to prepare my MS for printing. I had to buy two reams of paper and two inc cartridges. Hoping that will be enough. I'm also waiting for an order from Amazon, so I can start researching my next book. Talk about winging it. I don't really know my subject matter, but I think it's going to be an important, got that, important book. Yeah.

Just wanted to touch base with my cyber buds. Take care and God bless.

What to do next

2010-04-28T12:08:00.000-07:00

So, now what? I took out my old dusty WIP I thought was so well written back in the day. I read through the prologue and realized, though well written (pats herself on the back)it was written in narrative. I personally love narrative mode, both to read and to write, and I find it hard to keep from slipping back into it. I think one reason is because I write character driven novels and like to get deep into their thoughts. It also flows nicely for me. But that's not the point. The point is, if I rewrite the book, I've got some work to do. Well bring it on.

I've got this idea for a futuristic, kind of science fiction book, though I don't think there's going to be much science involved. So I went to Amazon and found a couple novels on the subject. Really, you should read the kinds of novels you want to write. I'm excited about it, but I want to do it right this time. I've already started an outline and I'm going to take my time. Now if you believe that, you don't know me. I'm a jump in with both feet kind of girl.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Wednesday.

Formatting Woes

2010-04-26T11:26:00.000-07:00

We, my husband and I, went out and bought some paper. I figure, I'll be printing my MP (masterpiece) at least three times. Once for my husband to read and mark up, once to get it proofed by my computer illiterate teacher friend to mark up, and again for a contest I'm going to enter it in.

At the moment, I'm in the process of formatting it in Microsoft Word for printing. If any of you have used that program, you know how dang stubborn it can be. I'd turn the formatting off, except Its benefits far outweigh its frustrating ticks. But once I get it there and leave it alone, I shouldn't have to touch it again.

Wrong. When all those marked up copies come back, I'll have to go in and tinker with it, which will surely shift everything.

That's for the hard copies. Some submission rules for online submissions are quite specific about formatting or in some cases, no formatting, no tabs, and no space bar spacing for paragraph beginnings, yet they want the beginning of the paragraphs indented.

So I'm asking you, what have some of you done to achieve some of the strict submission rules? Let me know what your experiences are. I want to learn from your mistakes. Ain't I sweet.

Book Trailer

2010-04-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

I put this trailer together months ago, more like a year ago, when I was just messing around. Since I'm in the middle of composing a query letter and a synopsis, I thought about this trailer and realized I had already summarized the book without realizing it. It's a simplified version, I admit, but it was fairly painless to do, and, in fact, kind of fun So even though the book is not published, or even queried, I thought I'd share the trailer. Let me know what you think, keeping in mind, the book is not available and the cover and possibly the title may change, though I'm quite fond of the title. That's down below.

On another note there is a fiction novel contest sponsored by the New American Press Click here Submit 100-400 pages of, it sounds like, anything. You have to send a hard copy via snail mail and it cost $20.00 to join. Multiple submissions are encouraged. It'll cost you $20.00 for each. Submissions close May 15, 2010.

I'm seriously thinking of submitting my finished MS. I doubt I'll be able to get it fully proofed by then, but it should be fun. I don't expect to win, anyway, but don't tell them that.

Right now my hubby is reading it. Bless his heart, he says he likes it. What else would he say, but he's pretty honest, albeit a bit biased.

Well, it was great talking with you. I'm thankful for your comments and I welcome all my new peeps. The more the merrier, I love you all.

God bless.