The Good, the Bad and the 'What the Heck?' about writing

Had a really good week as far as my writing goes. I'm almost finished with getting 'Hannah' ready to submit to new publishers. It is sad that it is no longer available on Amazon as a Kindle ebook. I've got 'Mama Played for the King' up to over 49,000 words and I feel that the new scenes are a definite enhancement to the story and round out some of the characters. And, last but not least I had my interview on Blog radio with Newoka LaShelle.

The interview went well. It is available for listening at www.blogtalkradio.com/webmistress/2011/04/25/author-sharon-poppen . Newoka is always prepared and leads the author along to talk about very pertinent information about the author's background and about the author's published books. I spoke mostly about 'Abby-Finding More Than Gold'. We talked about character development and what technique I find most helpful. I talked about writing a short story, that will not be part of the novel, about the way a character would handle a situation that shows their morals/ethics. We talked about the challenge of marketing an ebook. I am especially frustrated that 'Abby' isn't up on Amazon.com. It is so maddening. Awe-Struck Publishing says it's Amazon's problem and Amazon says it's the publisher that hasn't done something right. Grrrrrrr. In the meantime, I could be missing sales. I can't thank Newoka enough for all her support for all my books.

She has a book 'Karma's Dirty Secrets Memoir'. It is the story of her life and goes into detail of her abuse, sexual and verbal, starting at age six. The book closes with the hope, satisfaction and accomplishment of this dynamic woman and how she overcome terrible adversities to become the success she is today. It is in print and also available on Kindle.

My dear friend JOan has just released her latest book 'Jeri Bittle'. A romance about a strong woman whose husband has been murdered and she has to step up to the challenge of raising her children, running the ranch and tracking down the killer. JOan's books are always an exciting read with lots of action. She publishes under the pseudonym of J. Rose Knight.

I got a call from Kathy Pearson, a writer who has been a member of my local novel group and has now published her christian romance. She called to thank me, saying that it was some of the things that I said and did that motivated her to go forward with her dream. I was honored. Her book is called 'Never Too Late' and it is available in print and on Kindle. It a tale of friendship and deception between friends and pretend husbands.

I'm still having issues with Awe-Struck Publishing. They respond to my queries and say they will take care of things but the omissions that I mentioned last fall as to including my author bio on their website and having 'Abby-Finding More Than Gold' available on Kindle have still not been resolved. I can only hope they will come through with their promise to put me on their July schedule for a print version. Another Grrrrrrrr!

I guess this is about long enough, so I'll close with this quote that I read over and over when I have to deal with the problems I have with Awe-Struck. "Learn the art of patience. Apply discipline to your thoughts when they become anxious over the outcome of a goal. Impatience breeds anxiety, fear, discouragement and failure. Patience creates confidence, decisiveness, and a rational outlook, which eventually leads to success." - Brian Adams . I certainly hope he's right!