Raina Everett paced. She didn’t care that the desk sergeant glared as if he wanted to lock her up. Her taxes paid his salary and she had rights damn it!
She checked her watch and sighed. Then she marched up to the man. “Is Lieutenant Ross Lowe available yet?”
Scowling, the man insinuated his finger between his neck and collar. “He’ll be out soon.”
Soon?!? Her older brother had been missing two weeks and this moron told her “soon”? This department said the town Dave lived in wasn’t in their jurisdiction, that she had to go to Tampa to file the missing person’s report in person.
By the time Ross sauntered out her blood boiled. She rose and fisted her hands on her hips. Then she took a deep breath and tried to blind herself to the man’s raw sexuality more evident today than ever, damn him.
To read the full story go to the Long & Short Reviews here. It's free, so enjoy. :)
I've mentioned it before but it's worth bringing up again - there has to be a balance between writing and staying fit.
That may be a no brainer for many, but it's tough for me. I tend to gain weight if I plant my butt in the chair to write a lot. The more I write, the more I gain.
I need to find balance as I don't want to stop writing. I have a lot of writing goals. But I also want to lose about ten sizes. Maybe twelve.
I spied a dieting mention by a commenter on one of the blogs I frequent. So I checked out the blogger and found two very interesting things: 100 Mile Fitness Challenge and the Game On! Diet.
I just signed up to join the 100 Mile Fitness Challenge. The challenge is from January 1, 2010 through March 31, 2010 to walk at least 100 miles. It can be on a treadmill inside or outside at a park or around your neighborhood. Other forms of exercise can add into the calculations, too.
I emailed my daughters and also my friends at work who say they want to get serious and diet this year about doing the Game On! Diet. I have to look into it deeper but it looks interesting.
For me, challenges and games make things fun and when something's fun, it's always easier to do.
I bought a new set of New Balance gym shoes last weekend and I got the mini trampoline with the bar. Ingredients for spaghetti squash, cabbage soup and smoothies are in the fridge. So I'm ready to go.
I'd be perfect if only I could come up with a cat shifter story. I've made three false starts.
My brain is still fried since working day and night most of December so I had to surf the web to find ideas for a blog post today. Hopefully I'll recover soon.
On Tess Hilmo's blog I read an interesting post about backing up our important documents, in particular books for us writers. She recommended an online data backup site Mozy.com.
I mozied on over (excuse the pun) to Mozy.com and nosed around. It looks to be quite helpful. And no, I'm not affiliated with the site and I'm not endorsing it as I've not used it. But perhaps I will.
If you're a writer you've probably lost at least part of a book some time during your writing career. Then we learn to back up our work. But how?
There are many ways: thumb drives, CDs, emailing books to a friend or relative, creating a Yahoo loop to save it, keeping print outs, and now Mozy.com
My recommendation? Do all or at least several of the above. No one is foolproof.
In the beginning of my career, I backed up my books to CDs and paper copies. One day the other half of my duplex went up in flames. Our side almost caught fire, too. If the fire department had been five minutes later, my computer and my backed up CDs and paper would have been gone with the wind.
After that I began emailing copies of my books to my father. I thought that was working well. Then when I visited last and looked for my books on his computer they were gone. He'd forgotten about them when he changed computers and threw out my books when he threw out his computer. Luckily I had other copies.
I bought a thumb drive after that. Guess what? It went bad. Another one dropped off my key chain.
I also created a Yahoo group so I could save my work in their files. First, you need to have a group of five. You could get around that by banding together with other authors, family and friends to keep the loop active. However, someone in the group also has to visit at least once every two months or guess what? Yahoo will delete the group and poof! Your files disappear. I forgot...
I also printed out some of my earliest books. Once I lost my computer file and had to retype the whole damn thing. Nightmare! Plus, the almost fire would have wiped that out.
If I sound pessimistic I don't mean to be. I merely mean to point out it's not safe to rely on only one form of backup. We pour our life's blood into our books so we need to safeguard them. What's a few extra minutes to make several backups in different places for books that we spent weeks, months, and maybe even years to produce? It's pretty cheap insurance.
How do you safeguard your books? Do you have another good place to back them up?
In order to write writers need to "sit butt in chair and write!" It's a universal axiom and it works.
The initial draft may not be publishable but it's a lot easier to edit black words on a screen than an empty screen.
Of course that's not the only writing axiom writers need to follow.
Unfortunately, although gluing your butt to a chair and writing for hours is an excellent way to get a lot of writing done, it's also a good way to get a big butt. That's what happened to me anyway.
There has to be a happy medium between working and exercising. What good is it to become multi-published even if you become as rich as Rockefeller if you die young from obesity or other health problems caused by inactivity?
I realized that several years ago when I was putting out a lot of books but couldn't walk up stairs without huffing and puffing and when I was also embarrassed to post my author photo online.
I worked hard and got fit. In the process I became thin. I was happy about how I felt and looked. I was proud of how hard I'd worked to get there. I wasn't happy, however, with my book output. I'd put all my energy into getting fit.
The writing bug bit me again. I had to get my writing career back on track. I was furious at myself. And I thought I would be able to write more and maintain my weight and my health.
But I didn't. Perhaps if I didn't have a full-time day job and children's sports activities several times a week I'd be able to juggle just writing and just exercise. Perhaps other people can successfully manage many different things much better than me.
I'm going to try again to regain my health, lose weight, spend less money on food and still write a lot. Of course I say that now when my daughter's second softball team just ended and Fall Ball softball tournaments are finished. Last week at this time I was at Fall Ball all day Saturday. This weekend, we've been cooking diet meals to freeze for the week.
Time to exercise or not, time to cook ahead or not, I can eat less and eat better: fruits, veggies, nuts, water...
I cooked all morning today and this will be my lunches for this week: Cabbage Soup.
The dinners we cooked ahead also include meat loaf, shrimp fried rice and taco soup. For dessert we made Rice Krispies Treats and chocolate dipped frozen bananas.
While most of the Western World are disguising themselves as demons, saints and cartoon characters and gorging themselves on cheap candy, millions of writers all over the world have their keyboards poised to start Nanowrimo tomorrow.
Happy Halloween, by the way! (Don't eat too much candy).
As of the time I'm writing this post, a few days before Halloween, I'm still debating whether or not to join in nanowrimo this year. I did two years ago and wrote 50,000+ words. Last year, I was bogged down with several edits so I couldn't.
This year I have only two edits. But I have several physical therapy appointments lined up after work starting next week (sprained knee) and my daughter's still playing lots of ball.
And yet, stories nag at me to be written, nano or no nano. I want to submit stories for several of my publishers anthologies and the deadlines are close. So why not nano, get my goal done and commune with other writers worldwide. I had a great time meeting and spending time with local writers.
If you're a writer, what do you get out of writing?
Writing, publishing, and promoting has improved my life, personal and professional in many ways. Please feel free to share in the comments how writing makes your life better.
Here are several good things I get from writing.
1) Keep your mind active.
Unfortunately, sometimes people who don't keep their minds active, get dimensia. A family friend is one. She rambled around her alone in her house for years, as far as we could tell, doing nothing. Eventually, she couldn't remember if she ate or took her medicine. It's a real shame.
It's no guarantee that writing or another way to keep your mind active will prevent this, but that's the theory and seems to work.
2) Give you something worthwhile to do with your time now.
3) Makes you smarter. Writers do a lot of research. We have to stay current with our industry. We have to promote. To be an effective writer and promoter, we have to keep learning and researching new things.
4) If published, writing earns money to help our families, perhaps even enough to make a living.
I'm not yet earning enough to say goodbye to my day job, but my writing certainly helps pay for the groceries and the occasional entertainment we wouldn't have otherwise.
5) Stay on the cutting edge of technology. Writers in today's world must know how to use computers, the Internet, and promote. We learn how to make our own websites, code html, use editing software such as tracking, power point, excel, word, Twitter, Facebook, blogging, and many other computer-related programs.
6) Gives us a way to donate our work to help charitable efforts. Many authors give away free stories. Some conduct auctions and raise funds other ways with their writing.
7) Helps you to make friends - with other writers and readers.
Some of my best friends are other writers. We work closely together. We commiserate about our triumphs, dreams, and woes.
8) It's fun to create new worlds and living vicariously, and so is going to writing conferences and meetings.
9) Writers can set their own schedules.
Since I write as my second job, I do it evenings and weekends. I can do it when my children are asleep. I could sleep all day and write all night if I so choose.
10) Writing is portable.
Writers can write anywhere in the world. And we can work with publishers and editors on the other side of the world, often with people we've never met in person.
I live in Florida. One of my editors lives several states away. Our publisher lives in England. I could move anywhere in the world and not have to give up my writing job. It will travel with me wherever I go.
11) Writing makes me feel like I've accomplished something fantastic. Not just for now, but something that will stand for all time. When I am gone and buried, my stories will live on. People will still be able to enjoy them. They're my legacy to my children and their children and to all readers.
12) Writing makes the world a smaller, more intimate place. As I mentioned in number 10, I work with people around the world. I converse with friends I've made in Australia, Michigan, Georgia, North Carolina, England, Ohio, Indiana, etc.
That's not to say writing and promotion isn't hard work. It is. Sometimes it's incredibly hard. Some edits have made me tear out my hair. Some stories have sat unfinished for a year or two until inspiration hits. But it's hard work I and many others love. We do it for the love of writing and storytelling.
I feel very blessed that I am able to earn money to help my family doing something I love.
I claimed I was going to be more transparent about the writing process - for me, anyway. I'm pretty sure a lot of it is personal and therefor unique for every writer. Of course, lots of things are the same, too.
Maybe I'm crazy to mention this, or maybe I'm just plain crazy, but I had a bit of a mental breakdown recently.
It wasn't a complete breakdown about everything. I got very nervous about a particular edit. It seemed like it was doomed.
You know how my family swears I'm a computer serial killer - as in I kill defenseless laptops. I swear it's not on purpose but I'm beginning to believe I'm the Bermuda Triangle of computers.
I flubbed on an edit from a brand new editor and brand new company (for me). So I got an email paraphrased like this: "Why would you do this?!?"
That freaked me out. Literally.
I didn't mean to do anything wrong, but I obviously had missed some stuff. Why, I'm not sure.
So I was given another month to fix and return the edit again. But I was totally spazzing out. I felt like I was having a nervous breakdown every time I went to work on it. I'd force myself to do it, and then, the Bermuda Triangle struck again. I had a lot of work done, and my computer died before I had a chance to save it to a thumb drive or send it to myself on AOL.
I hated to redo all that work when I truly believed I'd get my computer back in a few days. But a few days kept dragging out. When it finally returned, the repair company had wiped out my Word program. My husband and my son thought this free similar program would be okay so they didn't have to pay a mint for Word again (the repair company should've replaced Word or so my hubby claimed but they wouldn't).
So, I opened my file on this new similar program. I couldn't see the Track Changes. And it added junk.
So now, I was really freaking out and I begged hubby and DS1 to get me real Word YESTERDAY! Unfortunately, they took a couple more weeks.
Remember when I got pneumonia and I couldn't do anything except throw up and have cold sweats? Yep, that was in the middle of all this as well. I was so weak for a month I could barely sit up or read or do anything.
Finally, I thought I could get back into this edit. I slaved over it all one day, determined to get it done and back to my editor even though I was in dire fear she'd say she no longer wanted the book and wanted nothing more to do with me. Guess what?
Yep, the computer died again! This time the monitor burned out as I was editing, before I could save my redone edits to my thumb drive or email it to myself (I never did get those lousy characters out or get Track Changes back so I had to start from scratch anyway).
That was another couple weeks to wait for the new monitor to come in the mail and then for DS1 to install it.
So, a one month edit took me months.
I'm usually not like that. I've returned edits in a day and usually in a week.
To say 2009's been lousy and I've been under a ton of other stress that may have contributed is an understatement. But that shouldn't matter. I'm supposed to be a professional. Somehow I managed to stay professional and hold things together for the day job. But that drained me so much I was dying by the time I finally made it home.
Still...
However, even though I'm a professional writer, and even though I know excuses are lame, I am at the end of the day human.
Sometimes I falter no matter how hard I try to hold things together.
I wasn't going to mention this. There seems to be an unwritten code among writers: don't talk about royalties - how many books sold or $ - and don't talk about things like this. But that reminds me of another organization I was in that controlled people by telling them "Fake it 'til you make it" and never talk about what's really going on in your business lest you scare others away. That sending out that was insidious mind control - they didn't want their reps comparing notes and finding out everybody was getting screwed over so they could keep screwing them over. Honesty's good.
You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox,Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)
4. Chili spaghetti & cheese is one of my favorite cool day recipes.
5. How will you know me after all these years?
6. A day off, a soft bed, a hot guy and a stormy sky. If no hot guy, then a steamy romance novel.
7. See my other # 7 from #140
I'm a week late for this version #140 so if I get the chance after the day job tomorrow I'll add edition #141 beneath this.
1. I feel inspired - I just watched Julie & Julia again and have a lot more ideas for my blog. For instance, I'm still going to write about writing and my books, but I'll add more tidbits for transparency, like Julie did with her cooking project.
2.Blogging is always fun. - Even when it feels like working. :)
3. Right now, I can hear these things: my husband complaining, my daughter rolling her eyes (yes, I can HEAR that very LOUDLY!), the TV in the other room (undoubtedly a cop show knowing my hubby), and the hum of the ceiling fan.
4. It's TGIF and I'm glad I don't have to wear fancy shoes and clothes for the next two days!
5. The last time I saw people dress like Julia Child was in my parents' wedding photos.(It was pretty cool to imagine what it was like when my parents got married in 1950 about the same year Julia Child's sister Dorothy got married. I'm a genealogy buff so I love this sort of thing).
6. Except for seeing Transformers 2 at the theater, I vegged out this past Labor day weekend.
7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward toblogging and Twittering probably, tomorrow my plans include baking in the Sun and walking at my daughter's softball games and Sunday, I want to see Star Trek at the dollar theater - I hope it's still there!
Let me expand on what I mentioned in fill-in number one: Although I've done it to a point, I'm going to TRY to express more of my feelings about writing and the publishing and promoting process in this blog. I'm also going to TRY and log at least one promotional thing I've done new each day.
To kick this off, I found "LinkMommy.com" through a tweet on Twitter which I'm exploring as I blog. Did I mention I was ADHD? I have to multi-task or die. My idea of the worst torture is to make me do only one thing - well, maybe it's second next to getting eaten alive by an alligator or shark.
On LinkMommy I found job ads which isn't exactly promoting, but if you've been following me, you know I'm anxious for my adult daughters to get gainful employment. I very happily and quickly sent the link to them to check out.
I can't exactly vouch for LinkMommy, but I am going to check it out. The quote about free and very low cost advertising caught my interest. Of course, "low cost" is in the eye of the beholder. My idea of low cost is usually no more than $30.00 and really more like $10.00 or under. Free is extremely good for me. :)
Weekends, like I mentioned in Fill-In #7 is the time I usually tour blog land and surf the net looking for promo opportunities and fun things. While most other people are taking weekends off, this is my main time to partake of my second job (writing/promoting).
You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox,Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)
Have you ever stared at a blank, white piece of paper? Or a blank Word document?
What do you see?
Are you an artist? Do you see the masterpiece drawing dying to come out of you?
Are you a writer? Are characters badgering you to jump onto the page?
Once there, do the characters behave? Do they grow like you planned? Or are they like your real life children who often choose their own paths?
There's so much we can do with a blank page, or a piece of clay. There are so many ways in which to use it (origami, paper airplanes, and paper wad missiles aside).
Sometimes the stark white page intimidates me. I stare at it...and only see a white void, empty of all thought. Scary...
It gives me the shudders just thinking about it.
Most of the time, however, it's exciting. I can go anywhere in the universe with that white page. It doesn't judge me. It doesn't talk back. It just lets me cover it with whatever I desire.
Like yesterday, my blog posts for the next few days are inspired by the movie “Julie and Julia”.
If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know that Julia Child and her co-authors were not happy when their editors asked them to make big changes in their cook book. They said goodbye to the publisher and took their book elsewhere.
How realistic is that?
Oh, I’m sure other authors have done that and still do it. But is it RIGHT?
I don’t know that it’s exactly WRONG, but every editor, every publisher I’ve ever worked with requires edits. Some more than others.
It seems childish of me to take your toy and run to another playground just because the publisher wants changes.
Julia Child got lucky that they found another publisher that wanted their book as is.
However, I give Julia and company credit for having tested each recipe and rewritten the book at least once in the beginning. For those who are just beginning the writing journey or who haven’t tried yet, that’s par for the course. Sometimes we have to rewrite our books at least once and edit several times.
Even though three of my books were edited by their first publisher and had been previously released, the second publisher who re-released them still required more edits.
For better or worse, edits are part of the package.
I used to hate edits. Ask my critique partners. I’m still not in love with them but see the merit and opportunity to really polish and perfect my stories. I try to make the process fun now.
I'm pretty sure this is a scam...
Warn your friends anyway just in case it's not.
This was another "test" email-post. This time I tested sending a picture through email. It failed.
Luckily I still have the picture because I just have to share.
This also reminds me of a more serious subject and no, not breast cancer. Perhaps I'll blog about that another day.
This reminds me how I Twittered and Googled a new co-worker. I don't normally do that, but this person came off rather high and mighty and is very web savvy so I did.
I found him on Twitter. I found his resume through googling. I even found pictures.
If I can find him, he can certainly find me. That's a little scary.
I invented "Ashley Ladd" so my employer and fellow church members wouldn't stumble upon my less-than-lilly-white erotic romances. That was even before I started writing M/Ms and MMFs.
I haven't been ultra-careful and have mentioned my real name in a couple interviews about my books when I was also speaking about "Ashley Ladd". I wasn't too worried that most people who found out would care or that anyone at church or work would investigate that deeply.
However, this particular man supposedly has boasted how he can hack into any computer. He recently mentioned that he was "walking into the lion's den" when he walked through my department last week. I think there might be a slight hint of animosity.
It's too late to erase what I've done.
Maybe I shouldn't post pictures like the one above. Then again, I'm not going to stop writing and publishing erotic romance so what the hell?
Enjoy!
I'll take my chances and hope he won't rat me out to the powers that be at my day job if he does discover my dirty little secret. Although I googled and Twittered him, I didn't plan to say anything even if I had found out something juicy (which I didn't - except the fact that he also wrote a book, but his book isn't naughty).
I know the economy's bad and peple look at you cross-eyed if you cough or sneeze, but there's still a lot of good things to celebrate.
Today, for instance, one of my co-workers had a birthday. Actually, yesterday, another co-worker had a birthday, too. And although my hubby's birthday was a couple weeks ago, we're going to have cake and ice cream with the family tonight. That's a LOT of birthday cake and partying for one week.
Last night my daughter's softball ended for the city team. That means another party is on the way. This also means I won't be chained to the softball field nightly and can write/critique/edit/and read more. I plan to start back on my Thursday 13 blogging, too. Yipee!
A lot of my author and reader friends just returned from RT (Romantic Times book convention in Orlando) and are pumped on writing, reading, and life. A lot more are gearing up to go to Lori Foster's Readers' and Writers' event in Cincinnati this summer. I'm hoping to but not holding my breath - we'll see.
Adam's still on American Idol even though it was a close call. Whew! I'm sooooo glad he's still the competition. I can't wait to see what he'll do each week. His entrance last week has got to be the sexiest entrance in Idol history.
I had lunch with two good friends today.
I still see a lot of books coming out weekly, so we're still reading and buying books.
April was a really beautiful month in Florida and May's starting off pretty, too.
I guess the Prozac's working (well, the Lexapro - I figured more people know what Prozac is).
I wish I could go to SunFest to see David Cook live, but oh well... I have an edit to do (which means I'm being published) and I don't want to spend that much money - and I've been buying birthday cakes galore this week. :) Plus, I want to critique, blog hop, walk, and Twitter. Oh, and maybe catch a movie. I'm a movie-a-holic. Give me buttery popcorn, a big soda with lots of ice, a huge screen, and a dark theater and I'm in seventh heaven.
entered in the drawing for the sequel to Truth, Justice and the Vampire Way - "Blessed Be". You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox,Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)
Last week, one of my co-workers told me I'm a great multi-tasker. That's one of the benefits of being ADHD. My mind can't function on just one thing at a time. Maybe on one huge project, but I still have to have a lot of little things going on simultaneously.
Like right now, I'm writing this blog and watching TV. I'm not paying much attention to the TV but I need something in the background to listen to and glance at occasionally. Something I don't have to answer.
Usually, I agree. I'm a great multi-tasker. Until I get way too much to do. Like this past month.
I had 3 edits and two stories to finish writing. My friends and family asked me why I planned so badly.
Well, edits come when they come. I was waiting on one edit for three years. The other I was waiting on for 6 months. I, gulp, forgot about the story due to write. That was my fault. As per the edits, that's just how the planets aligned.
Meanwhile, the daughter's playing on two softball teams so she has games and or practice almost every day of the week. I've been involved in a couple big projects at the day job so I've been staying until 6 and even 7 pm nightly.
So I've gone beyond merely multi-tasking to being overwhelmed. Or I was.
I handed int he first round of edits on the final edit due. I handed in my stories. I finished my big project at work.
I stayed home from the day job today to rest up from my fall this weekend. I've been in bed catching up on much needed rest since Saturday. Now I've gone to the flip side and I'm getting antsy. I'm ready to get up and out and play or work or do anything but stay in bed another damn minute!
I feel human again - almost. Just don't look at my black and blue back. The doctor today said it looks to be healing well and I should get the stitches taken out next Monday.
You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox,Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)
It would be nice if I actually wrote an article before I posted the blog. If you checked this out early you'll know what I mean.
If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I posted the final paragraph about "You'll also want to see what other authors are doing" and nothing else.
I've been feeling overwhelmed again. I'm sure there are a lot of factors. I hadn't had my Lexapro in 2 or 3 weeks. I'm under the gun of 2 big edts and having another whole story to write due. I've been down with asthma and bronchitis. The kids, in particular DD2, want me to run them places right and left. The Softball Team's Booster Club is on our back about helping out more and most of it's during my work hours when I can't take off from the day job.
I feel bad for not volunteering more with the softball team but I'm way behind in my writing job as it is. I finally finished one big edit yesterday (first round anyway) which is a relief. However, that still leaves another big edit and a story to finish writing.
And have I exercised? Even once this week? Even once in the past month? Have I even used the bathing suit I bought two or three months ago? All big NOs. I want to but then I feel guilty that I'm ignoring the writing.
Yeah, I have a problem about feeling guilty too much. A few years back I decided to get healthy and I exercised and dieted all the time and ignored the writing/promoting. Then I hardly put out any books. My career took a nosedive. But I got thin and my cholesterol came down.
But I can't seem to manage to hold the day job and do enough exercise and writing all at the same time. Not with kids still at home anyway. Not when half my time off the day job is at softball games or taxiing kids to their activities.
Yikes! I don't mean to whine. I'm just annoyed with myself for not working this out better. For perhaps taking breaks to watch American Idol instead of breaks to walk. AI is pretty much my one guilty pleasure. That and too much KFC.
Hubby just pointed out it's time to pick up the daughter from her friend's house where she stayed overnight so we can take her to guess where -- yep, softball practice again. Today it's batting practice. Tomorrow night is a game.
I'm going to be good and WALK during her practice. And afterwards I'm going to camp out at Borders again to write. I wish the library was open late because I'd go there instead. The library has privacy cubicles with power hookups in every one and there's no tempting food to make me spend money and calories.
You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox,Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)
I said I wasn’t going to do much Christmas shopping this year, not like other years anyway, but I’ve done some. So far I haven’t gone wild in Walmart or the mall like usual. However, I stopped at Walmart this morning as I got paid yesterday, to look for something for those on my list I haven’t bought anything for yet.
Wouldn’t you know it? I saw all kinds of things I wanted to get for me. A swimming suit. A Christmas sweater. A cute dress. A couple cute watches. Temptation called to me down every aisle.
I really wanted that swimming suit as I’ve gained a size and I’d like to go swimming at the gym again (so I can lose that size and more!) So that’s more of a need. Still, I didn’t get it today. I’m thinking about it, though. I might go back. Swimming sounds delicious. But I’m also on deadline (past deadline on one book) for two books so I need to work on those. That’s why I’ve been absent from my blog a bit lately. How I wish I could clone myself so I can go swimming and work all at the same time. I even feel guilty blogging instead of working on my stories.
I also saw a lot of things I wanted to buy for the family and I drastically limited myself today. I saw a cute camera that would be perfect for both my 14 year-old son and my 9 year-old grandson. But I already have gifts for them and spent the allotted amount of money I set myself per person. Plus, my oldest son gave my youngest son a great birthday gift last night that I’d be hard put to top anyway. DS#1 gave DS#3 a mini laptop with a web cam built in (yeah, I’m a bit worried about the web cam part for a teenage boy so I’ll have to find out how to monitor it). The thing is so CUTE. It looks like a baby lap top. I didn’t know they came so tiny until last night. Trust DS#1 to have the latest technology. He’s a real techno geek. Suffice it to say DS#3 is extremely happy right now and playing with his new toy.
I haven’t sent out my Christmas cards, either. I had two packages of banana bark cards from my charity (you have to see them – they’re hand made by the poor of Haiti and Jamaica and so beautiful and best of all they help them to support their families. Click here.) since before Thanksgiving and I’ve still not addressed them much less mailed them. I have to squeeze that in this weekend, too.
We decorated our front yard but not much on the inside yet at all. Our tree is still in its box in the garage. We’ll have to put it up tonight or tomorrow night. We also meant to do that Thanksgiving weekend. I can’t remember what we did the day after Thanksgiving – oh! I think I was working on my books. I didn’t go out into the Black Friday craziness. And still, I found a pretty purse for my older daughter today for $5.00. (Walmart of course. Walmart’s getting a lot of my dollars this Christmas. And the Flea Market.)
I haven’t bought anything for hubby yet. He told me not to spend much money this year in general but then he told me that he wants a “good” MP3 player, better than the one he has. Excuse me? My MP3 player isn’t working at all plus he told me not to spend much. That or he wants a silver Corvette (and not a toy one). I know he knows I can’t afford the Corvette but I bet he’s expecting me to buy him a good MP3 player. I guess I’m only allowed to spend a lot on him and no one else? I’m confused.
Our family picked names this year and I drew one of my kids, not the hubby. Still, as Mom, I feel like I have to get everybody something. Even the 14 year-old was in the name draw. Of course I have to pay for the gift he buys anyway. I’ll get more for the one whose name I picked. It seems like I’m spending more than I said I was going to anyway. At least at work, we decided not to exchange gifts this year, to donate the $ to our charity. However, one of my staff gave us all a gift already so I need to return the gesture. I’m afraid that will start something after all.
Here I am, embroiled in the materialism of the season again. Let me get off this focus and concentrate on the true reason and meaning of Christmas.
Let me put up the tree, make some hot chocolate and Christmas cookies tonight, and hunker down with some poignant Christmas movies. Let me listen to some Christmas carols and spend time in church celebrating. Let me lift my voice on high and reflect on the true joy of the season. With only a little over 10 days until the big day, let us all enjoy the beauty of the miracle of the Christ child and the spirit of St. Nick.
It is a little difficult, however, to get in a summer mindset for the summer story I’m busy writing. Then again, I was writing my Christmas stories in July. We writers are always a season or two off. One of these days, I’ll actually write a Christmas story during the Christmas season (for the following year). If I wasn’t on deadline for the summer story, I’d do so now.
You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox,Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)
Oh boy, does this ever describe me.
My hubby says it all - I don't do mornings, like Garfield the cat. I only do them extremely grudgingly for the day job or kids' activities. But I don't like it and I wake up slow - after SEVERAL extra snooze alerts on my alarm clock.
I love to blog hop and so I read about a lot of authors who get up early every morning - some get up INSANELY early, like 4 in the am - to do their daily writing. Although I applaud their diligence, I just can't do it. Even if I go to sleep early the night before, even way early like 7 or 8 pm, I still have problems waking up. Especially if I'm trapped in a dream, even a bad dream.
I'm an evening writer, after the day job. Or during the day if it's a day off the day job like a holiday or weekend. I MIGHT write early if I get to the day job early and sit in my car and write for a half hour or so. By then I've had my morning caffeine and have had a chance to become human.
What is your writing schedule? Or do you even have one?
Do you wake up early? Late?
What is your preferred writing time?
I recently read this term "racing death" and it struck a chord.
All my life I've felt as if I've been racing death. It's not that I had any premonitions I would die young, but that I have so much I want to accomplish in this life that I wouldn't have nearly enough time.
Two things I longed for the most was to have a loving family and to write and build a writing career. I definitely have the family (which I'm wondering why I wanted so bad listening to the two youngest fight behind me as I write this), and I do have the writing career - but I'm still racing to get to the level of my dreams. (NY Times best seller list. Write for Harlequin and Silhouette, etc.)
There were other things as well I'm so glad I did.
I served my country in the military - Air Force. I really wanted to see the world and thought the Air Force would be my vehicle. Unfortunately, I was plopped in the middle of the Deep South (Mississippi) and then the mid-western USA (Nebraska) instead of Germany, Australia, Japan, or some other exciting foreign place. Although Mississippi and Nebraska weren't my dream picks, I really enjoyed both and am glad I had the chance to experience more of my own country and to meet the wonderful people I did. Biloxi, Mississippi (way before Katrina) was so very beautiful I'll never forget it. I twirled flags in the AF Drum & Bugle Corps and even marched in the New Orleans and Biloxi Mardis Gras parades.
I earned my MBA and now I'm actually the "Working Girl" I longed dreamed of being. I attend lots of important meetings. I find and fix a lot of problems. Best of all, I get to help a lot of people since I work for a charity that serves the poor - another one of my dreams fulfilled (helping people).
As a kid I was an avid bowler, swimmer, bicyclist, roller skater, and rider (horses). I loved to attend summer camp - I tried to stay all summer and sometimes talked Mom into letting me stay as long as 3 weeks.
A few years ago I even joined karate although I was already in my 40s. Karate hadn't been a lifelong goal of mine but once my son got involved it looked like a good way to exercise and stay in shape and seemed pretty cool. For a long time I thought all black belts were really admirable and I wanted to be one. That's one dream that fizzled, however, and on one level, I'm sorry but on another, I just couldn't admire some of the black belts I'd been meeting although I do want to go on record that some of them are some of the people I respect most. Anyway... That goes to show that we not all dreams and aspirations turn out to be something we wanted as much as we once thought we did. (Boy is that convoluted but I'm drained and failing fast tonight.)
I've probably missed a few things, maybe even a biggie or two. But I always come back to writing, the love of my life. No matter what, I always come back to it even if I stray for a bit, even if my muse cheats on me.
I heard and still hear a lot of people say, "I'm going to write a book one day," or "I want to write when the kids grow up" or "I'll write after I retire and I have more time." I knew I couldn't wait till the kids grew up or until I retired from my day job (the way this economy's going, I'll never get to retire from the day job). I knew I had to write NOW, every day. I knew I had to fit it into my life and to start it NOW ("NOW" being almost twenty years ago when my older children were still young).
Even then, in my early twenties, I felt like I was racing death. That was way before I felt the weight of age I'm beginning to feel. Even then I was driven to reach for my dreams to make sure I achieved them.
Now that my birthday is next week and the year after is a really big milestone of a birthday, I feel my mortality a lot more than I did then. Although I've achieved a lot and feel rather successful and happy, I've not reached my highest goals. I still have dozens, maybe hundreds of stories inside clamoring to be told. I still have mountains (publishers) to conquer. I still long to see the rest of the world (I've only been out of the US 3 times - to have lunch in Canada, a business trip to the worst slums in Haiti and another business trip to the worst slums in Jamaica). Sometimes I fear my dream of seeing the world is the one I won't achieve, that I'll be entombed in Florida the rest of my days (not that Florida is too bad if I have to be stranded - it's actually pretty darned terrific).
Lately, I've been exhausted and wonder if I'm losing the race. I'm not suffering from any dire medical condition that I'm aware of except for low thyroid which isn't terrible compared to other illnesses. Of course maybe my thyroid's just out of whack again. It's usually the culprit when I'm extremely exhausted.
Tired or not, I'm itching to finish at least six stories (very soon that is - and of course a WHOLE LOT MORE than that during the rest of my lifetime), to be accepted by my dream publishers, to be all that I can be.
Back in college I had a history professor that taught us this ideal: “There is no free lunch.”
Just in case you’ve not heard the term, it means you can’t get something for nothing. You have to work for it or pay for it.
Now that I work for a charity that serves millions of free lunches, I’m not so sure it’s true.
But what I do know is that one or two free lunches will not make someone independent or successful for the rest of their lives. It won’t win a victory. Even free schooling won’t work unless the student puts forth effort to glean the knowledge and then put it to work in a paying job after.
Believe me, having worked for a college VA counselor for a couple years, I know that merely paying for someone’s college doesn’t ensure they will take advantage of all the benefits. What a shame.
So let me get to my real point and bring the topic back to my favorite one: Writing and publishing.
So how does this concept relate to writing and getting published?
Let me share a true story. Recently a wanna be writer saw me pounding away on my alpha smart in pubic and found out I’m a writer and began asking questions. She wants me to help her get started.
I don’t mind pointing someone in the right direction and giving some tips. Paying it forward is the name of the game in this life.
However, she wants to write childrens books and I write romance. I don’t know anything about writing for children. I don’t know which houses publish for children (not without research). I don’t know the names or locations of any childrens writing groups. Nill. Nada. Zippo.
But the lady wants me to find them for her and let her know how to find them so she can get started. I suggested she get online and google the term “Childrens Writing” or something similar but she gave me a blank stare and asked me to look it up for her and bring it to her the next time we got together.
Um…
I feel bad saying “no” and I don’t want to seem mean or uppity, but is it really up to me to do her research?
It’d be different if she asked me to tell her about something I know, i.e. romance writing. By heart I know the urls to several groups and publishers. I have a good idea of the reputable ones. I could even guide her to a critique group coordinator.
I’m in a quandary. How far should we go to help someone?
This isn’t the first time I’ve been asked to tell someone how to get published. I suppose people who are brand new think it’s a very simple process that can be told in a few minutes or one brief article. Unfortunately, the reality is that it’s a constant study that takes a lot of diligence and continued learning. Personally, I belong to several writing, marketing, and readers groups that I read daily. I read articles on the many writing ezines. I read articles and industry updates on a lot of blogs. I stay connected.
When I’ve tried to tell someone that it takes work and time and effort to investigate all this, their eyes usually glaze over.
Still, I understand. We all need help. I still need help. That’s why I haunt all these writers places and read everything I can get my hands on. That’s the main topic on my mind way more than 50% of my waking hours.
So, what is good, general advice for writers who want to get published?
First, find your local writers’ groups for the genre of writing and join. You can find them by googling on line, looking at bulletin boards at your local library for notices, looking in the phone book.
A close second is to join writers groups online. At this time I only belong to online groups because my schedule is so crazy I can’t attend regularly scheduled meetings in person but I can read emails and message boards when I’m available.
Read read read, all the writing advice and industry knowledge you can set your eyes on. There’s tons of articles, message boards, and writers loops on the Internet devoted to this subject.
Get involved. Join sub groups within your groups. Volunteer to help on committees. Attend workshops and chats. Join a critique group or find one good critique partner.
Then, you have to work hard. Once you know the genre you wish to work in, brainstorm stories. Research your topic.
Read a LOT. Find the publishers who publish the kinds of stories you wish to write and read a lot of their recently released stories, in particular the newly published authors. This tells you what they are looking for and the quality they expect. Think of similar stories with a twist.
Then put fingers to keyboard or pen to paper and write – a lot. Even if the story doesn’t come out perfect the first time, finish the first draft.
Now edit. Be willing to cut words, phrases, and entire scenes no matter how beautiful if they don’t move the story forward. Be ruthless. Polish every word. Let another pair of eyes read it to catch things you don’t.
Study the publishers in your genre – their submission guidelines, their wish lists for the type of stories they want, their deadlines. Then submit.
This is very oversimplified but like I said in the beginning, there’s no free lunch. You have to do your homework. You have to stay up on things. You have to work.
If you write romance, an excellent group is Romance Writers of America, in particular the online chapter “From the Heart” (FTH). Unfortunately, I don’t write children’s’ stories or mysteries or sci-fi so I can’t direct you to good groups for them, but a simple Google search will help you to find them.
Each of the paragraphs above can be divided into hundreds of more specific articles. Fortunately, there’s a plethora of articles already written and available free on the Internet and all it will cost is a bit of time to find and read them.
Writing and submitting now is so much easier than pre-Internet days.
Do you remember having to go to the library or bookstore to get reference books to find out who the publishers are, where they are located, what type of books they publish and who their editors are? Then, because the books couldn't be updated daily like the Internet, we'd have to make a phone call to make sure that editor was still with the publisher or to find out who the current editor was?
If we needed to research a book, we'd have to haul our heines to the library again and find a bunch of books on our subject. We might have to put some of those books on reserve and wait weeks to get them. We might have to call or drive to interview someone.
About the only time we ever got insight into publishers' and editors' minds was at writing conferences and in industry magazines. And then it was a few here and there.
Fast forward to October 2008 and all the advantages we have now.
We can log online from our bedrooms 24-7 and access a ton of information and industry news daily. We don't have to wait for a month or more to meet with our writing groups or go to a conference or get our monthly writers' magazine to get new information.
With the flip of a switch and a few keystrokes, we merely sign online and start reading articles and chatting with fellow authors and other industry professionals.
Editors post daily blogs now about what they like and don't like. They're very helpful and the insight is amazing.
We meet with our critique groups online and can get help within days, sometimes within hours or even immediately.
We definitely live on the information highway.
I found a new editor's blog tonight and added it to my favorite links list. I found her on Twitter.
Not only has our writing and publishing world become easier, but our social networking has an added dimension. I chat with people across the globe, daily. I've become friends and business partners with many people I've yet to meet face to face.
Two of my cousins met their spouses online through E-Harmony. One is already happily married. The other is engaged and has yet to meet his fiancee face to face.
I'm sure there are many more things we can do online that are good (and not so good) that we couldn't do before. Personally, I get sidetracked by visiting blogs, mahjong, and scrabulous too much. And as wonderful as it is to have more knowledge about my career, it means my competition is larger and fiercer because they too have all these added bonuses.
Don't misunderstand: I still love books and libraries. We don't always find everything on the Internet. I have reference books on my shelf. But I'm in awe that I can look up editors and read their thoughts and tips so easily.
You'll also want to see what Amarinda Jones, Anika Hamilton, Anny Cook, Barbara Huffert, Brynn Paulin, Bronwyn Green, Dakota Rebel, Kelly Kirch, Molly Daniels, Sandra Cox,Regina Carlysle, and Cindy Spencer Pape are up to, so make sure to visit them also. :)
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