February 27, 2009
Yesterday was my blog radio interview with DJ Knightman who broadcasts out of Shepherdsville, Kentucky. You can listen to it at http://knightriderradio.ning.com/ . It was a blast. He is primarily a music DJ and usually showcases musicians and music writers, but occasionally he invites authors. He allowed me to talk in-depth about my books and classes. We touched a little on my personal life and how I got started with this writing thing. I thought it was going to be an hour, but it ran almost an hour and a half. He played some great country music to break up the dialog, but overall it was talk about my books. I'm sending him a copy of After the War, Before the Peace.
He had some interesting ideas about reading our books on line, like audio books. One could log onto their computer and 'listen' to a novel, a chapter at a time, over a period of a couple of days. He also talked about having all his authors back on line at the end of the year for a recap of the type of year we've had. He also mentioned booksignings in his area. It's definitely something to think about.
Then, after the interview, it was off to our local Hastings Book Store for our local writer's club night of readings. About a dozen folks showed up. The stories/poems were top quality. One even brought the reader/author to tears with a story about the loss of his dog. I did a St. Patrick's story about drinking and leprechauns. Of course, half of us stayed on after the readings for some good chit chat. Then, Dave and I went to Denny's for a late night supper. He is just on the edge of self-publishing either his desert tortoise story or a collection of his poems. Either way, they're good, but I keep stressing that he do it for himself, not the money. That might come, but the satisfaction of seeing your work in print is the real advantage of self-publishing.
Today, Dave and I met for our regular crit session of my The Woman Between and his poetry. He says he's getting into my story and now likes the women and can accept the fact that Stephen's first and second wives are developing a friendship. The healing of bad blood between the brothers still eludes him, but he feels it will make sense and satisfy my type of reader. I hope he's right. As to his poetry, it is hard for me to be honest because his work is all so personal. I have trouble with him using foreign phrases and terms. It takes me out of the mood of the poem. I tell him that when I read poetry, or fiction for that matter, I don't want education, I want feeling. If I want to know about the terms of castes or religious persons in India, I'll read a non-fiction book. When I come upon a foreign word, I'm out of the scene/mood and it ruins the read for me. I hope I don't hurt his feelings.
I received my copy of the movie God's Little Acre. It kept to the book fairly close. Lots of well-known actors and actresses. It was depressing and funny all at the same time.
Tomorrow, I'm off to visit my mom's grave over in Needles. Her birthday is Feb. 29th. I bring flowers to her grave on Christmas and her birthday each year. I have three friends going with me, so after the visit we'll travel to the casinos for grub and gold, don't I wish!
I love Sci-Fi and especially, Arthur C. Clarke. So, when I came upon this quote it made me laugh with its probability to be true. Enjoy and ponder. "Perhaps, as some wit remarked, the best proof that there is Intelligent Life in Outer Space is the fact it hasn't come here. Well, it can't hide forever - one day we will overhear it."
Friday, February 27, 2009
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Characters - Gaining Control
February 25, 2009
Again, another week gone by. It was a fun busy week of friends, clubs and best of all writing.
Managed to move The Woman Between forward every day. I'm so close to the end, but the characters are still giving me trouble. It's almost like having kids with minds of their own. And, the problem is that sometimes when they fight me on how I think they should act, they turn out to be right. I'll miss them when I write The End.
Also, I finished all the editing and printing on Deborah's Story. I gave the book to Bobbi, a gal who had just finished After the War, Before the Peace. She really hates Deborah, so I wanted her to read this and see if it's a believable turn in Deborah's character. Bobbi says she just reads for content and won't see any typos, but I feel she'll still do me a favor if she gives me her take on the plot and character evolution. Then, she said she'd give it to another friend, Wanda. Wanda is good at catching typos. Once I get it back, I'll send it to that publisher recommended by Anne.
The TelecomPioneer garage sale went well. We were busy, had a good turn out and made over $700 dollars. The folks were great with donating goods to sell and with all the work involved in set-up, sell and clean up. I had a writer's meeting on Saturday, so we closed shop at 11:10 a.m. and by 11:40 the group had boxed up our left overs and loaded them into a truck for a guy who came to haul off our stuff for a garage sale of his own. I'm just glad it's over for another year!
Saturday was the Lake Havasu City Writer's Group meeting. BIG attendance. Almost too many folks. We got bogged down in procedure again, but overall it went well. I got good feedback on my Freedom submission. This time we were to submit our 250 word assignment for the prompt 'A Stranger in a Foreign Land'. I revamped my old story The Move about a woman with macular degeneration being put in an assisted living home by her son. Looking forward to their comments.
Sunday, Karen and I went to see Taken with Liam Neeson. Too much shoot 'em up and not enough plot. I know with those types of movies, you often have to let things pass that seem obviously over done, but this was so extreme in some scenes that I found it hard to swallow. I really like Neeson, but this wasn't one of his best. Can't compare to his role in Michael Collins.
Monday, I had lunch with Donna. We like that we've set up the last Monday of the month as our lunch date. Otherwise, we let too much time go by.
Tuesday, the TelecomPioneers met to choose what Lake Havasu City high schoolers would be receiving our scholarships. We picked a girl and a boy. Nice kids. Seem like they have their heads on straight. We got into a discussion on writing recommendations because so many of the teachers used plastic phrases over and over again, like 'excellent student', 'star of my class', 'outstanding', 'extraordinary' and such. The recommendations became useless because of the pat phrases that really said nothing. Specifics would have helped. So, looks to me like the rules of fiction would have helped these teachers help their students more effectively with things like - John is a pleasure to have in my class (hook). He is first to raise his hand to start discussions and always listens to an opposing opinion with respect before debating the issue (conflict/action). As a result, his peers value his opinions and look to him for leadership (conclusion).
This morning was a TelecomPioneer Hug-A-Bear assembling session. Made some cute St. Patrick ones. I could just see some little kid afraid and crying in an emergency room and he's handed one of the little bears to hug. I just know it will help him through his trauma.
Lunch today with fellow writer, Gina, down by the London Bridge Village. Good food and good company. We talked about writing, of course. She was an English teacher and gives such good feedback at our meetings.
Guess I'm caught up now. Oh, got a rejection from Bewildering Stories ezine on my Careful What You Feed submission. The editor said it was strong writing, but the plot had holes that made it unbelievable. Really nice crit instead of a form letter rejection. They did say they'd like to see more of my writing, so I take that as a good sign.
So my quote for today, is from Leon Uris. It capsulizes why he is probably one of my favorite writers. "Writing, basically breaks down to relationships between people and that is what you write about."
Again, another week gone by. It was a fun busy week of friends, clubs and best of all writing.
Managed to move The Woman Between forward every day. I'm so close to the end, but the characters are still giving me trouble. It's almost like having kids with minds of their own. And, the problem is that sometimes when they fight me on how I think they should act, they turn out to be right. I'll miss them when I write The End.
Also, I finished all the editing and printing on Deborah's Story. I gave the book to Bobbi, a gal who had just finished After the War, Before the Peace. She really hates Deborah, so I wanted her to read this and see if it's a believable turn in Deborah's character. Bobbi says she just reads for content and won't see any typos, but I feel she'll still do me a favor if she gives me her take on the plot and character evolution. Then, she said she'd give it to another friend, Wanda. Wanda is good at catching typos. Once I get it back, I'll send it to that publisher recommended by Anne.
The TelecomPioneer garage sale went well. We were busy, had a good turn out and made over $700 dollars. The folks were great with donating goods to sell and with all the work involved in set-up, sell and clean up. I had a writer's meeting on Saturday, so we closed shop at 11:10 a.m. and by 11:40 the group had boxed up our left overs and loaded them into a truck for a guy who came to haul off our stuff for a garage sale of his own. I'm just glad it's over for another year!
Saturday was the Lake Havasu City Writer's Group meeting. BIG attendance. Almost too many folks. We got bogged down in procedure again, but overall it went well. I got good feedback on my Freedom submission. This time we were to submit our 250 word assignment for the prompt 'A Stranger in a Foreign Land'. I revamped my old story The Move about a woman with macular degeneration being put in an assisted living home by her son. Looking forward to their comments.
Sunday, Karen and I went to see Taken with Liam Neeson. Too much shoot 'em up and not enough plot. I know with those types of movies, you often have to let things pass that seem obviously over done, but this was so extreme in some scenes that I found it hard to swallow. I really like Neeson, but this wasn't one of his best. Can't compare to his role in Michael Collins.
Monday, I had lunch with Donna. We like that we've set up the last Monday of the month as our lunch date. Otherwise, we let too much time go by.
Tuesday, the TelecomPioneers met to choose what Lake Havasu City high schoolers would be receiving our scholarships. We picked a girl and a boy. Nice kids. Seem like they have their heads on straight. We got into a discussion on writing recommendations because so many of the teachers used plastic phrases over and over again, like 'excellent student', 'star of my class', 'outstanding', 'extraordinary' and such. The recommendations became useless because of the pat phrases that really said nothing. Specifics would have helped. So, looks to me like the rules of fiction would have helped these teachers help their students more effectively with things like - John is a pleasure to have in my class (hook). He is first to raise his hand to start discussions and always listens to an opposing opinion with respect before debating the issue (conflict/action). As a result, his peers value his opinions and look to him for leadership (conclusion).
This morning was a TelecomPioneer Hug-A-Bear assembling session. Made some cute St. Patrick ones. I could just see some little kid afraid and crying in an emergency room and he's handed one of the little bears to hug. I just know it will help him through his trauma.
Lunch today with fellow writer, Gina, down by the London Bridge Village. Good food and good company. We talked about writing, of course. She was an English teacher and gives such good feedback at our meetings.
Guess I'm caught up now. Oh, got a rejection from Bewildering Stories ezine on my Careful What You Feed submission. The editor said it was strong writing, but the plot had holes that made it unbelievable. Really nice crit instead of a form letter rejection. They did say they'd like to see more of my writing, so I take that as a good sign.
So my quote for today, is from Leon Uris. It capsulizes why he is probably one of my favorite writers. "Writing, basically breaks down to relationships between people and that is what you write about."
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Respect for the Reader
February 18, 2009
A busy day getting ready for our Telephone Pioneers garage sale this week-end, but managed to make the afternoon mine as to writing. So, was able to move The Woman Between forward. It's getting harder everyday. As 'The End' draws closer, I'm seeing different endings and the characters are being stubborn as to how they are being portrayed. Their actions must ring true and make sense to a reader who has invested time in reading the book. Authors need to be true to their writer's voice, but I feel we owe our readers respect in what we expect them to buy in the way of story line and character resolution.
Also, worked on Deborah's Story. Only two chapters left to go, then I can turn it over to a couple of folks for editing opinions, then it's off to some publishers.
Managed to send a short story Be Careful What You Feed off to an ezine. I used a made-up word 'phot' to describe an alien life form from the planet Mars that feeds on humans. Their guidelines say no gratuitous violence, but I think this the violence in this one really completes the story. Time will tell if the ezine agrees. They promise to respond in three days and have an accept/reject back within five weeks.
That's it for today except for this quote from Dorothy Fields that is so true of what I'm experiencing right now with my ending to The Woman Between.
"I don't care how good a song is - if it holds back the storyline, stalls the plot, your audience will reject it."
A busy day getting ready for our Telephone Pioneers garage sale this week-end, but managed to make the afternoon mine as to writing. So, was able to move The Woman Between forward. It's getting harder everyday. As 'The End' draws closer, I'm seeing different endings and the characters are being stubborn as to how they are being portrayed. Their actions must ring true and make sense to a reader who has invested time in reading the book. Authors need to be true to their writer's voice, but I feel we owe our readers respect in what we expect them to buy in the way of story line and character resolution.
Also, worked on Deborah's Story. Only two chapters left to go, then I can turn it over to a couple of folks for editing opinions, then it's off to some publishers.
Managed to send a short story Be Careful What You Feed off to an ezine. I used a made-up word 'phot' to describe an alien life form from the planet Mars that feeds on humans. Their guidelines say no gratuitous violence, but I think this the violence in this one really completes the story. Time will tell if the ezine agrees. They promise to respond in three days and have an accept/reject back within five weeks.
That's it for today except for this quote from Dorothy Fields that is so true of what I'm experiencing right now with my ending to The Woman Between.
"I don't care how good a song is - if it holds back the storyline, stalls the plot, your audience will reject it."
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Feb. 17, 2009
Moved The Woman Between along today. Actually, I'm rather sad as it is coming to a conclusion and in order to keep all the characters likable, I'm having some closure problems. Lots of scenarios rolling around in my head as this could go so many ways. What fun.
Then, I worked for awhile in getting Deborah's Story cleaned up for a final edit by a couple of friends. I want to send it out to a publishing company over in Australia that Anne Connors recommended to me.
I'm getting some good feedback on my interview with Rebekkah White. I listened to it again and I didn't like it as much this time. I guess I'll just chalk it up to a learning experience and try to do better with the interview on the 26th.
One of my on-line writing groups is going through a dilemma right now as to whether political based stories, essays or poems are appropriate to this particular writing group. Lots of good arguments both for and against. The moderator referred the group to the overall rules for participation which state that any topic can be addressed, but the subject line must include a warning as to political, sexual or religious content, so reader beware. I think it's a good policy. I'd hate to think any form of writing in almost any venue being limited. That's the beauty of freedom. And, the way things are going, freedoms are eroding far too fast. I think back to the freedoms I grew up with that are no longer available - you could ride your bike without a helmet, parents could spank their children, seat belts were optional, prayers were acceptable in schools, Christmas creches could be displayed in public buildings, guns weren't registered with government and your backyard was your own and you could smoke there if you wanted to. These are just a few of the freedoms lost during my lifetime. I hate to think what my grandchildren will yet lose. So, lets don't limit opinions be they yours or someone else. Just agree to disagree in some cases, but don't turn it over to the 'wisdom' of government.
Okay, I'm stepping down from the soap box now, but let me leave you with some good advise from Ray Bradbury.
"If they give you ruled paper, write the other way." Juan Ramon Jimenez, quoted at the start of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.
Moved The Woman Between along today. Actually, I'm rather sad as it is coming to a conclusion and in order to keep all the characters likable, I'm having some closure problems. Lots of scenarios rolling around in my head as this could go so many ways. What fun.
Then, I worked for awhile in getting Deborah's Story cleaned up for a final edit by a couple of friends. I want to send it out to a publishing company over in Australia that Anne Connors recommended to me.
I'm getting some good feedback on my interview with Rebekkah White. I listened to it again and I didn't like it as much this time. I guess I'll just chalk it up to a learning experience and try to do better with the interview on the 26th.
One of my on-line writing groups is going through a dilemma right now as to whether political based stories, essays or poems are appropriate to this particular writing group. Lots of good arguments both for and against. The moderator referred the group to the overall rules for participation which state that any topic can be addressed, but the subject line must include a warning as to political, sexual or religious content, so reader beware. I think it's a good policy. I'd hate to think any form of writing in almost any venue being limited. That's the beauty of freedom. And, the way things are going, freedoms are eroding far too fast. I think back to the freedoms I grew up with that are no longer available - you could ride your bike without a helmet, parents could spank their children, seat belts were optional, prayers were acceptable in schools, Christmas creches could be displayed in public buildings, guns weren't registered with government and your backyard was your own and you could smoke there if you wanted to. These are just a few of the freedoms lost during my lifetime. I hate to think what my grandchildren will yet lose. So, lets don't limit opinions be they yours or someone else. Just agree to disagree in some cases, but don't turn it over to the 'wisdom' of government.
Okay, I'm stepping down from the soap box now, but let me leave you with some good advise from Ray Bradbury.
"If they give you ruled paper, write the other way." Juan Ramon Jimenez, quoted at the start of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Rain? Again?
Feb. 16, 2009
A quiet day around here. Moved my 'Between Two Women' forward. I'm nearly to the conclusion and I find that it one of the hardest part of the book to write. Hopefully, I've hooked the reader with the premise and have engaged them in the characters. Now, I owe them a reasonable conclusion that justifies their time in reading the book. My goal with this book is to take my reader through the emotional ties of brotherhood and the importance of finding and keeping someone who brings the same kind of deep ties as does brotherhood, but at an even more intimate level. I will miss these characters when its over.
I reviewed the most clever piece from Anne Connors. It was a tongue in cheek story about the yearly clashes of our Havasu locals with the visiting snowbirds. Very well written and a joy to review.
Cindie Miller has sent me the opening pages of her book to review. It's a sad story. I'm looking forward to the read as Cindie gets into the depth of her characters quite nicely and I know that the plot/message of this piece is timely and interesting.
I feel bad that I'm slighting my on-line writing groups, but what with the book fair and all the book signings, I'm not able to devote the time to the crits that their subs deserve. Oh, well, there's always tomorrow.
It's raining right now. For God's sake, don't the Gods know it isn't supposed to rain in the desert. This is the third or fourth rain storm since the first of the year. What gives? And it is the coldest winter I can remember in the 15 years I've lived here. Thank goodness for global warming or I'd be freezing to death. :-) This dreariness needs to pass and allow sushine and blue skies to fill the desert landscape and allow a creative warmth to cheer up my darkened mood. I'm reminded of a quote by D. H. Lawrence.
"And what's romance? Usually, a nice little tale where you have everything as you like It, where rain never wets your jacket and gnats never bite your nose and it's always daisy-time. " D. H. Lawrence
A quiet day around here. Moved my 'Between Two Women' forward. I'm nearly to the conclusion and I find that it one of the hardest part of the book to write. Hopefully, I've hooked the reader with the premise and have engaged them in the characters. Now, I owe them a reasonable conclusion that justifies their time in reading the book. My goal with this book is to take my reader through the emotional ties of brotherhood and the importance of finding and keeping someone who brings the same kind of deep ties as does brotherhood, but at an even more intimate level. I will miss these characters when its over.
I reviewed the most clever piece from Anne Connors. It was a tongue in cheek story about the yearly clashes of our Havasu locals with the visiting snowbirds. Very well written and a joy to review.
Cindie Miller has sent me the opening pages of her book to review. It's a sad story. I'm looking forward to the read as Cindie gets into the depth of her characters quite nicely and I know that the plot/message of this piece is timely and interesting.
I feel bad that I'm slighting my on-line writing groups, but what with the book fair and all the book signings, I'm not able to devote the time to the crits that their subs deserve. Oh, well, there's always tomorrow.
It's raining right now. For God's sake, don't the Gods know it isn't supposed to rain in the desert. This is the third or fourth rain storm since the first of the year. What gives? And it is the coldest winter I can remember in the 15 years I've lived here. Thank goodness for global warming or I'd be freezing to death. :-) This dreariness needs to pass and allow sushine and blue skies to fill the desert landscape and allow a creative warmth to cheer up my darkened mood. I'm reminded of a quote by D. H. Lawrence.
"And what's romance? Usually, a nice little tale where you have everything as you like It, where rain never wets your jacket and gnats never bite your nose and it's always daisy-time. " D. H. Lawrence
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Time-Writing-Books-Movies-Publishing
February 15, 2009
Time, time, time! Where does it go? I remember distinctly when time moved along like a snail, now it roars on like a greyhound. So much has happened since the first of February that I scarcely know where to begin.
I guess it's best to begin with my Spring Frenzy classes. They were wonderful again this year. I'm so glad they see fit to ask me back year after year. I've had a spurt in book sales these past couple of weeks and I think it has to do with getting out to meet the public more. My Journaling class was well received, more than 30 attendees and many of them had attended my Short Story class the day before. On Thursday I attended Pat Agnew's class on 'How to Talk to Your Doctor'. She drew a nice crowd and they received some great info. JOan and Vivien were there, too.
Friday, I met with Dave for our exchange of crits. He is having a problem liking Stephen and I'm not happy to hear about that. My goal is to make the reader like all three main characters. Also, he didn't care for the new woman in Stephen's life. I'll really have to review his notes. In order for the conclusion to work, they have to be likable characters. I'm glad to get his take on them. The story is not his cup of tea, so I feel like I'm getting honest feedback.
Had our local writer's group meeting on the 7th and got feed back on my 'Reunion' piece. Mostly good, but some punctuation and dangling participle problems, but overall they liked the characters. Who could ask for more.
Two of the gals in my morning exercise class just got through reading my 'After the War, Before the Peace.' They really liked the characters. One wants more info on the family and is willing to read one of the sequels. I'm trying to get it ready for her. Oh, I heard from the publisher I sent 'Regardless' to. They turned it down. No feedback, just a form letter. Grrrrrr. I'm going to send it out again, and again, and again. It's a darn good book!
On Feb. 10th, authors, Joan Hobernicht and Tom Novak, drove down to Quartzsite with me for another booksigning. They both sold one copy of their books, but I only sold two to the bookstore owner who likes to keep some books of anyone who signs books at his place. He says folks often come back later and want to buy a book they talked to the author about, but didn't buy it right then. Oh well, it was a nice day. Visited with Debbie Hilbish again. She's a sweetie. Her husband brought me a cup of coffee and I ended up spilling it all over my table and ruining three books.
When I got home from Quartzsite, I found a letter from Triple Tree Publishing in my mailbox and they have accepted my short story 'The Gift' for publication in their MOTA 9 anthology. I get a complimentary copy of the book and they are paying me .05 a word and it's around a 5,000 word story. Yahoo!!!
On Wednesday, I had an appointment with my hair dresser Liz. She has been encouraging me to read 'The Shack'. I did not like it at all. In fact, there was a line where 'God' told the bereft man that he had been with the man's six year old daughter the whole time she was abused and murdered and that she had been so brave. It made me sick to my stomach. And what I didn't understand was how the readers could accept and like a 'God' who could not stop the brutal murder of a child, but can spend a week-end with a man to absolve his 'great sadness' over the loss of the child. Well, Liz said that she had seen some seminars by the author and the book was all symbolism and that the shack was actually his soul. I told her he missed the point, badly. I've spoken to several folks who've read the book and didn't like it at all. Yet, it has sold millions. Several of us writers have decided that we need to write a book about 'God' and will make millions. People are searching, so if you can offer a limb that promised the tree of eternity, they'll grab for it. Oh, and by the way, Liz didn't take my dismissal of the book personal. I got a great color and cut, like always!
Thursday was an exciting day! I had a Blog Talk Radio interview with Rebekkah White. I was a little nervous about it, but it went well. She gave me a great intro for both me and for 'After the War, Before the Peace'. We discussed the strong women in my book and how it is often the women who hold families together. She let me advertise my class on Long Story Short and 'Hannah'. It turned out to be a lot of fun! I listened to it later and actually liked it.
Then that night was our Four Goddesses regular Denny's meeting. Got feedback on 'Connections'. All agreed it was creepy and a good reversal of the old getting ahead in entertainment via the couch story.
Friday, we had our book club and reviewed the works of Erskine Caldwell. Overall, most wouldn't read him again. But several of us liked his work. He was able to combine great sadness with some smart humor and that it is hard to do. I read 'God's Little Acre' and really enjoyed it, despite it's sad message. I tried to rent the video, but Blockbuster didn't have it. I found it on Ebay and bought it for $1.00. The actor Aldo Ray is in it and I do like him.
Then yesterday was the Lake Havasu City Writers Group Book Fair. It was fun! Met lots of really nice folks and sold all but two of my books, including the coffee stained ones! I didn't get to attend the workshops, but I did get to talk about my books and introduce Peter Brookhousen of Hastings Books, Music and Videos. He's so good to us local authors! Debbie Hilbish was there and sat right next to me. She and her mom are huggers, warm and friendly folks. Debbie's husband seems like a real good guy and they obviously adore each other. After the fair ended, a bunch of us headed to Denny's for another hour. I do enjoy their company!
Today was a take it easy day. I stayed in my sweats all day. Wrote some more on 'The Woman Between', answered email and just vegged out. I watched two movies. 'The Happening' - I love Mark Wahlberg, but the movie was a big dud, too bloody and too illusive. 'Finding Forester' - just okay, very cliched story only in reverse. Underprivileged, young, black saves privileged, old, white recluse.
Now, I think I'll watch a Law & Order episode and maybe do some more writing. And, in the future, I'll try to remember and adhere to the advise of the following quote.
"Nothing is as far away as one minute ago." Jim Bishop
Time, time, time! Where does it go? I remember distinctly when time moved along like a snail, now it roars on like a greyhound. So much has happened since the first of February that I scarcely know where to begin.
I guess it's best to begin with my Spring Frenzy classes. They were wonderful again this year. I'm so glad they see fit to ask me back year after year. I've had a spurt in book sales these past couple of weeks and I think it has to do with getting out to meet the public more. My Journaling class was well received, more than 30 attendees and many of them had attended my Short Story class the day before. On Thursday I attended Pat Agnew's class on 'How to Talk to Your Doctor'. She drew a nice crowd and they received some great info. JOan and Vivien were there, too.
Friday, I met with Dave for our exchange of crits. He is having a problem liking Stephen and I'm not happy to hear about that. My goal is to make the reader like all three main characters. Also, he didn't care for the new woman in Stephen's life. I'll really have to review his notes. In order for the conclusion to work, they have to be likable characters. I'm glad to get his take on them. The story is not his cup of tea, so I feel like I'm getting honest feedback.
Had our local writer's group meeting on the 7th and got feed back on my 'Reunion' piece. Mostly good, but some punctuation and dangling participle problems, but overall they liked the characters. Who could ask for more.
Two of the gals in my morning exercise class just got through reading my 'After the War, Before the Peace.' They really liked the characters. One wants more info on the family and is willing to read one of the sequels. I'm trying to get it ready for her. Oh, I heard from the publisher I sent 'Regardless' to. They turned it down. No feedback, just a form letter. Grrrrrr. I'm going to send it out again, and again, and again. It's a darn good book!
On Feb. 10th, authors, Joan Hobernicht and Tom Novak, drove down to Quartzsite with me for another booksigning. They both sold one copy of their books, but I only sold two to the bookstore owner who likes to keep some books of anyone who signs books at his place. He says folks often come back later and want to buy a book they talked to the author about, but didn't buy it right then. Oh well, it was a nice day. Visited with Debbie Hilbish again. She's a sweetie. Her husband brought me a cup of coffee and I ended up spilling it all over my table and ruining three books.
When I got home from Quartzsite, I found a letter from Triple Tree Publishing in my mailbox and they have accepted my short story 'The Gift' for publication in their MOTA 9 anthology. I get a complimentary copy of the book and they are paying me .05 a word and it's around a 5,000 word story. Yahoo!!!
On Wednesday, I had an appointment with my hair dresser Liz. She has been encouraging me to read 'The Shack'. I did not like it at all. In fact, there was a line where 'God' told the bereft man that he had been with the man's six year old daughter the whole time she was abused and murdered and that she had been so brave. It made me sick to my stomach. And what I didn't understand was how the readers could accept and like a 'God' who could not stop the brutal murder of a child, but can spend a week-end with a man to absolve his 'great sadness' over the loss of the child. Well, Liz said that she had seen some seminars by the author and the book was all symbolism and that the shack was actually his soul. I told her he missed the point, badly. I've spoken to several folks who've read the book and didn't like it at all. Yet, it has sold millions. Several of us writers have decided that we need to write a book about 'God' and will make millions. People are searching, so if you can offer a limb that promised the tree of eternity, they'll grab for it. Oh, and by the way, Liz didn't take my dismissal of the book personal. I got a great color and cut, like always!
Thursday was an exciting day! I had a Blog Talk Radio interview with Rebekkah White. I was a little nervous about it, but it went well. She gave me a great intro for both me and for 'After the War, Before the Peace'. We discussed the strong women in my book and how it is often the women who hold families together. She let me advertise my class on Long Story Short and 'Hannah'. It turned out to be a lot of fun! I listened to it later and actually liked it.
Then that night was our Four Goddesses regular Denny's meeting. Got feedback on 'Connections'. All agreed it was creepy and a good reversal of the old getting ahead in entertainment via the couch story.
Friday, we had our book club and reviewed the works of Erskine Caldwell. Overall, most wouldn't read him again. But several of us liked his work. He was able to combine great sadness with some smart humor and that it is hard to do. I read 'God's Little Acre' and really enjoyed it, despite it's sad message. I tried to rent the video, but Blockbuster didn't have it. I found it on Ebay and bought it for $1.00. The actor Aldo Ray is in it and I do like him.
Then yesterday was the Lake Havasu City Writers Group Book Fair. It was fun! Met lots of really nice folks and sold all but two of my books, including the coffee stained ones! I didn't get to attend the workshops, but I did get to talk about my books and introduce Peter Brookhousen of Hastings Books, Music and Videos. He's so good to us local authors! Debbie Hilbish was there and sat right next to me. She and her mom are huggers, warm and friendly folks. Debbie's husband seems like a real good guy and they obviously adore each other. After the fair ended, a bunch of us headed to Denny's for another hour. I do enjoy their company!
Today was a take it easy day. I stayed in my sweats all day. Wrote some more on 'The Woman Between', answered email and just vegged out. I watched two movies. 'The Happening' - I love Mark Wahlberg, but the movie was a big dud, too bloody and too illusive. 'Finding Forester' - just okay, very cliched story only in reverse. Underprivileged, young, black saves privileged, old, white recluse.
Now, I think I'll watch a Law & Order episode and maybe do some more writing. And, in the future, I'll try to remember and adhere to the advise of the following quote.
"Nothing is as far away as one minute ago." Jim Bishop
Monday, February 02, 2009
February 2, 2009
Other than my daily doses of 'The Woman Between', not much writing going on between Monday and Thursday. Lots of time spent with friends outside my writer's world, except for one lunch with Vern. Always an interesting person to chat with. He has had a varied life with his hand in many pies. He's an excellent writer, but hasn't been doing much writing lately. I hope that changes, and soon. He and I disagree totally when it comes to politics. He frequently tells me, 'You are one of the most intelligent women I know, so how can you be a Republican?' I always laugh and return the comment except to ask how he cannot be a Republican. He claims to have read and enjoyed 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand. Just goes to show how complicated a mind can be!
On Friday, Pat Agnew, Vern and I drove to Quartzsite, AZ for a booksigning. It was held at the Reader's Oasis Bookstore. The Quartzsite annual gem show is in progress, so the town is packed. If you've never been to their gem show, you have missed an 'experience'. Well, back to the booksigning. The owner of the bookstore is Paul Winer. Here is a picture of him in his store.
He is a poet, a former dancer and a very interesting conversationalist. Operates a well stocked, varied store, too. He draws a big crowd, but they are most Looky Lous. Didn't sell any books, but met several other writers and some interesting visitors to Quartzsite.
The week-end was spent getting ready for my classes for Spring Frenzy. Today I had 37 attendees at my 'So You Want to Write Short Stories' class. They were a very attentive class, with great comments and questions. Tomorrow is my 'Journaling' class. It's always a fun one and now I include blogging.
I finally finished my Alan Dean Foster book, 'Cachalot'. I do love his books, usually. But, this one left me cold. I'm glad it's over. Talking whales was too much of a stretch for me and his characters lacked the depth I've come to expect in his books. I have to reread 'God's Little Acre' for my Feb. 13 book club, but the next book I'll be reading is 'The Shack' by Wm. Paul Young. My hairdresser has recommended it to me. She was raised by missionaries and we often talk about my concerns about the existence of a God and if there is one, what should we expect from such a God. I hope this book answers my concerns, but I have my doubts.
Time to get some rest so I'll be bright and erudite for my journaling class for tomorrow, so adios.
"This is pretty much what journals are all about, at least to me. I knew as I wrote them that even though they provided an excellent place for brain and heart and psyche dump, they were mainly a map of me." Colleen Wainwright
Other than my daily doses of 'The Woman Between', not much writing going on between Monday and Thursday. Lots of time spent with friends outside my writer's world, except for one lunch with Vern. Always an interesting person to chat with. He has had a varied life with his hand in many pies. He's an excellent writer, but hasn't been doing much writing lately. I hope that changes, and soon. He and I disagree totally when it comes to politics. He frequently tells me, 'You are one of the most intelligent women I know, so how can you be a Republican?' I always laugh and return the comment except to ask how he cannot be a Republican. He claims to have read and enjoyed 'Atlas Shrugged' by Ayn Rand. Just goes to show how complicated a mind can be!
On Friday, Pat Agnew, Vern and I drove to Quartzsite, AZ for a booksigning. It was held at the Reader's Oasis Bookstore. The Quartzsite annual gem show is in progress, so the town is packed. If you've never been to their gem show, you have missed an 'experience'. Well, back to the booksigning. The owner of the bookstore is Paul Winer. Here is a picture of him in his store.
He is a poet, a former dancer and a very interesting conversationalist. Operates a well stocked, varied store, too. He draws a big crowd, but they are most Looky Lous. Didn't sell any books, but met several other writers and some interesting visitors to Quartzsite.
The week-end was spent getting ready for my classes for Spring Frenzy. Today I had 37 attendees at my 'So You Want to Write Short Stories' class. They were a very attentive class, with great comments and questions. Tomorrow is my 'Journaling' class. It's always a fun one and now I include blogging.
I finally finished my Alan Dean Foster book, 'Cachalot'. I do love his books, usually. But, this one left me cold. I'm glad it's over. Talking whales was too much of a stretch for me and his characters lacked the depth I've come to expect in his books. I have to reread 'God's Little Acre' for my Feb. 13 book club, but the next book I'll be reading is 'The Shack' by Wm. Paul Young. My hairdresser has recommended it to me. She was raised by missionaries and we often talk about my concerns about the existence of a God and if there is one, what should we expect from such a God. I hope this book answers my concerns, but I have my doubts.
Time to get some rest so I'll be bright and erudite for my journaling class for tomorrow, so adios.
"This is pretty much what journals are all about, at least to me. I knew as I wrote them that even though they provided an excellent place for brain and heart and psyche dump, they were mainly a map of me." Colleen Wainwright
Monday, January 26, 2009
To Detail or Not To Detail
January 26, 2009
Had a quiet week-end with no meetings. I spent Saturday working with my on-line writing groups playing catch-up. I reworked an old story to meet the prompt of one group and using the new prompt actually made the story better. Then, I combined the prompts from two others and wrote a new story about an abused wife who has had enough and puts a permanent stop to it. The feedback has been interesting. The story focuses on what she does. Only hints of the why are given - black eyes, cheating, on-going treatment and an abusive father. One of the groups liked it very much and felt it hit the mark without getting caught up in maudlin details. The other group felt it was almost an outline. They didn't feel her pain or understand what got her to that point. I just love it when my stories can be read so many different ways.
Last Thursday night was our monthly Hastings meeting. Good crowd showed up. The readings were good, as always, and the conversation very stimulating. Got lots of good reviews of 'The Shack'. I must start reading it so I can discuss it with Liz when I see her in the next few weeks.
Friday I met with Dave for our crits. He's giving me good feedback on 'The Woman Between'. I try to give him good feedback on his poetry, but I have two problems. One, his work is so good that it's hard to find fault and second, I don't know poetry rules, so I can only tell him how it makes me feel. I suppose that's helpful, but he really needs to work with another poet.
Speaking of my 'The Woman Between', the brothers rumble worked out well. The stronger brother actually ended up with a broken nose. Now I'm heading into the end of the story and it is sad for one brother and a new start for the other brother. I just hope it's working. Dave tells me he is liking the wild brother better, which is probably a good thing.
Half the time when brothers wrestle, it's just an excuse to hug each other." James Patterson
slan agat (goodbye)
Had a quiet week-end with no meetings. I spent Saturday working with my on-line writing groups playing catch-up. I reworked an old story to meet the prompt of one group and using the new prompt actually made the story better. Then, I combined the prompts from two others and wrote a new story about an abused wife who has had enough and puts a permanent stop to it. The feedback has been interesting. The story focuses on what she does. Only hints of the why are given - black eyes, cheating, on-going treatment and an abusive father. One of the groups liked it very much and felt it hit the mark without getting caught up in maudlin details. The other group felt it was almost an outline. They didn't feel her pain or understand what got her to that point. I just love it when my stories can be read so many different ways.
Last Thursday night was our monthly Hastings meeting. Good crowd showed up. The readings were good, as always, and the conversation very stimulating. Got lots of good reviews of 'The Shack'. I must start reading it so I can discuss it with Liz when I see her in the next few weeks.
Friday I met with Dave for our crits. He's giving me good feedback on 'The Woman Between'. I try to give him good feedback on his poetry, but I have two problems. One, his work is so good that it's hard to find fault and second, I don't know poetry rules, so I can only tell him how it makes me feel. I suppose that's helpful, but he really needs to work with another poet.
Speaking of my 'The Woman Between', the brothers rumble worked out well. The stronger brother actually ended up with a broken nose. Now I'm heading into the end of the story and it is sad for one brother and a new start for the other brother. I just hope it's working. Dave tells me he is liking the wild brother better, which is probably a good thing.
Half the time when brothers wrestle, it's just an excuse to hug each other." James Patterson
slan agat (goodbye)
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Regardless in the Mail
January 21, 2009
'Regardless' is in the mail. I can only hope the editor Gods find favor with the story and I get a positive response. But, at least it's out there to be judged. Did I mention that I hate the administrative side of this lovely writing experience. I once told Shirley Wolford, a widely published friend of mine who passed away last fall, that I was looking for someone who would give me an hour a day to work on the administrative necessity to sell/publish what I've written. I told her that I would pay for all the copying and postage. Then, should we hook up with a publisher and make money, I would be willing to share any profits 50/50. She looked at me like I was crazy. "50%," she yelled. "Are you crazy?" I laughed and told her that, in my opinion, 50% of something was a whole lot better than the 100% I get when I don't do any submitting. She just laughed and said she had to agree.
I also found time to send off a short story to The Chick Lit Review and am now working on sending something out to Bent Pin, an ezine. But, that takes away from my time with my writing. I'm still managing to move 'The Woman Between' ahead each day. Today was fun. The brothers are about to rumble. I love working with the dialog that will lead to a few punches.
Had our local writer's meeting on Saturday. Lots of good subs, lots of good crits. I had submitted an excerpt from 'The Woman Between' and it went over well. Most commented that they could 'smell' the cigar smoke. I appreciated hearing that!
We had a lot of discussion at the meeting about doing research. Yep, you don't want a guy in 1860 driving a Ford. But, how much 'fact/teaching' should be included in a ficion novel? I know how annoyed I was in reading 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown. I was bored to death with his 'number of steps', 'bolts in the frame' and such. I only finished it because he was the author of the month in my book club. When I read fiction, I want characters working their way through a story. So, in my opinion, research, but don't insert an educational book into my fiction novel. JMHO.
Heard from Anne Conners today. She's back in town. She says she hasn't been doing much writing, so she's eager to work with the local group. She is such a talented writer in both prose and poetry. I was glad to hear that she is thinking about self-publishing her novel. We talked about Xlibris, which has done well by me. But, Publish America has been very good to JOan Hobernicht, so I told her to check it out.
Tomorrow is our reading night at Hastings. I always look forward to that and to the discussions we get into after the readings are over.
This is not a political sight, but I must mention yesterday. I didn't always agree with George W. Bush, but I respect the sincerity of the man and his duty to country. There was some booing yesterday and it made me sick. Of course, the group I saw booing looked like prison retreads so I guess they wouldn't recognize a good man. I hope that President Obama turns out to be one of our great presidents and that he uses his time in office to help keep America the great country of insured freedoms that we all cherish and want to continue. I want him to protect our borders and keep terrorists from our land. But, I desperately hope that we Americans keep our free choice in medicine, guns, relationships and state's rights. Protect our borders, but leave us our freedoms in our daily lives.
So, I agree with Mark Twain who said, "Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it."
dóchas and saoirse!
'Regardless' is in the mail. I can only hope the editor Gods find favor with the story and I get a positive response. But, at least it's out there to be judged. Did I mention that I hate the administrative side of this lovely writing experience. I once told Shirley Wolford, a widely published friend of mine who passed away last fall, that I was looking for someone who would give me an hour a day to work on the administrative necessity to sell/publish what I've written. I told her that I would pay for all the copying and postage. Then, should we hook up with a publisher and make money, I would be willing to share any profits 50/50. She looked at me like I was crazy. "50%," she yelled. "Are you crazy?" I laughed and told her that, in my opinion, 50% of something was a whole lot better than the 100% I get when I don't do any submitting. She just laughed and said she had to agree.
I also found time to send off a short story to The Chick Lit Review and am now working on sending something out to Bent Pin, an ezine. But, that takes away from my time with my writing. I'm still managing to move 'The Woman Between' ahead each day. Today was fun. The brothers are about to rumble. I love working with the dialog that will lead to a few punches.
Had our local writer's meeting on Saturday. Lots of good subs, lots of good crits. I had submitted an excerpt from 'The Woman Between' and it went over well. Most commented that they could 'smell' the cigar smoke. I appreciated hearing that!
We had a lot of discussion at the meeting about doing research. Yep, you don't want a guy in 1860 driving a Ford. But, how much 'fact/teaching' should be included in a ficion novel? I know how annoyed I was in reading 'The Da Vinci Code' by Dan Brown. I was bored to death with his 'number of steps', 'bolts in the frame' and such. I only finished it because he was the author of the month in my book club. When I read fiction, I want characters working their way through a story. So, in my opinion, research, but don't insert an educational book into my fiction novel. JMHO.
Heard from Anne Conners today. She's back in town. She says she hasn't been doing much writing, so she's eager to work with the local group. She is such a talented writer in both prose and poetry. I was glad to hear that she is thinking about self-publishing her novel. We talked about Xlibris, which has done well by me. But, Publish America has been very good to JOan Hobernicht, so I told her to check it out.
Tomorrow is our reading night at Hastings. I always look forward to that and to the discussions we get into after the readings are over.
This is not a political sight, but I must mention yesterday. I didn't always agree with George W. Bush, but I respect the sincerity of the man and his duty to country. There was some booing yesterday and it made me sick. Of course, the group I saw booing looked like prison retreads so I guess they wouldn't recognize a good man. I hope that President Obama turns out to be one of our great presidents and that he uses his time in office to help keep America the great country of insured freedoms that we all cherish and want to continue. I want him to protect our borders and keep terrorists from our land. But, I desperately hope that we Americans keep our free choice in medicine, guns, relationships and state's rights. Protect our borders, but leave us our freedoms in our daily lives.
So, I agree with Mark Twain who said, "Loyalty to the country always. Loyalty to the government when it deserves it."
dóchas and saoirse!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Manuscript Prep - Grrrrrrr
Jan. 16, 2008
What a week. I received a call from Lois who said she found a publisher that might be interested in my Romance/Sci Fi 'Regardless'. It has a gay situation and my problem when I was sending it out a couple years ago was, that the gay publishers didn't like the sci-fi aspect and the sci-fi publishers didn't want gay issues. I checked out the site she suggested and she could be right, this publisher might be interested. But, they only take hard copy, snail mail subs. So, I've spent the last four days working on it. I've had a couple folks read it, so I had so great upgrades to work with.
When I originally wrote it, I put each chapter in a separate file. I always print out a hard copy of my work and copy it to a disc. When I initially wrote 'Regardless', I saved it on floppy discs (remember them?). Each time I upgraded computers, there have been three, I copied 'Regardless' to the new computer. Up until now, I've not lost a file. I could always use my backup. So, much to my dismay, when I got to Chapter 7, it was missing. So, to the floppy I went. It refused to open Chapter 7, said it was corrupted. One of my computers takes the floppy and and the CD discs, so I tried to copy the floppy to a CD, but no go. As a result, I had 25 pages to type. But, the upside to that was, that I really got to visit with my characters, who I dearly love.
So, between retyping some of it, I've been cut and pasting all 14 chapters into on long file, which how I do my novels now. I've now got it all formatted, with page breaks and all. Now, I wonder if I should reread it one more time before I print it and send it out. I believe that if a publisher takes your manuscript, you have another shot at editing before it goes to print. Grrrr, how I hate the administrative part of writing. But I did enjoy spending this week with Tom and Michael.
I am making time (about 30 minutes) each day to move 'The Woman Between' forward. I'm at an awkward segment where I'm trying to bond Stephens ex-wife and current wife in friendship. It's driving their men crazy and so much fun to work with these women.
Oh, I did take time out to go see Gran Torino again. Wow! The man I saw it with is a veteran, though not of Korean. He was so moved by the movie, he could hardly talk afterwards. Lots to think about and the ending is ..., I'm at a loss for words.
Tomorrow is my local writer's group meeting. I missed the last one, so I don't have subs to crit. Feels strange. I always look forward to the stimulation that the group engenders.
I've been lax on all my on-line groups due to 'Regardless'. I miss them.
And so I leave you with - '"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." E.L. Doctorow
slan a fhagail ag duine (goodbye)
What a week. I received a call from Lois who said she found a publisher that might be interested in my Romance/Sci Fi 'Regardless'. It has a gay situation and my problem when I was sending it out a couple years ago was, that the gay publishers didn't like the sci-fi aspect and the sci-fi publishers didn't want gay issues. I checked out the site she suggested and she could be right, this publisher might be interested. But, they only take hard copy, snail mail subs. So, I've spent the last four days working on it. I've had a couple folks read it, so I had so great upgrades to work with.
When I originally wrote it, I put each chapter in a separate file. I always print out a hard copy of my work and copy it to a disc. When I initially wrote 'Regardless', I saved it on floppy discs (remember them?). Each time I upgraded computers, there have been three, I copied 'Regardless' to the new computer. Up until now, I've not lost a file. I could always use my backup. So, much to my dismay, when I got to Chapter 7, it was missing. So, to the floppy I went. It refused to open Chapter 7, said it was corrupted. One of my computers takes the floppy and and the CD discs, so I tried to copy the floppy to a CD, but no go. As a result, I had 25 pages to type. But, the upside to that was, that I really got to visit with my characters, who I dearly love.
So, between retyping some of it, I've been cut and pasting all 14 chapters into on long file, which how I do my novels now. I've now got it all formatted, with page breaks and all. Now, I wonder if I should reread it one more time before I print it and send it out. I believe that if a publisher takes your manuscript, you have another shot at editing before it goes to print. Grrrr, how I hate the administrative part of writing. But I did enjoy spending this week with Tom and Michael.
I am making time (about 30 minutes) each day to move 'The Woman Between' forward. I'm at an awkward segment where I'm trying to bond Stephens ex-wife and current wife in friendship. It's driving their men crazy and so much fun to work with these women.
Oh, I did take time out to go see Gran Torino again. Wow! The man I saw it with is a veteran, though not of Korean. He was so moved by the movie, he could hardly talk afterwards. Lots to think about and the ending is ..., I'm at a loss for words.
Tomorrow is my local writer's group meeting. I missed the last one, so I don't have subs to crit. Feels strange. I always look forward to the stimulation that the group engenders.
I've been lax on all my on-line groups due to 'Regardless'. I miss them.
And so I leave you with - '"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." E.L. Doctorow
slan a fhagail ag duine (goodbye)
Monday, January 12, 2009
He'd or He did - What to do!
January 2, 2009
Had an interesting discussion recently on the use of 'd in narrative. Feedback that I received from one of my on-line groups said that in dialogue the use of she'd or he'd and such is acceptable. But, in the narrative, you must spell out 'did'. A couple of writer friends say that's not a rule. It's just someone's preference. I can't find that rule anywhere, so I'm just going to look for it in the novels that I'm reading.
A wonderful day of writing. Added more to 'The Woman Between' and I'm happy with the way the story plot is allowing an odd friendship to blossom. Then, I received a call from Lois who is going to submit a manuscript to Gray Wolf Press. In reading their submission requirements, I find that they will accept stories about gays. I would so much like for my 'Regardless' to make it to print. I checked out the site. They don't want sci-fi or romance, but I think 'Regardless' rises about that. So, I decided to get it ready to send out. I have it written in fourteen different word documents, a chapter in each one. Today, I put the first four chapters together and did a lot of editing. Hopefully, I can have it ready to mail out by this weekend. What the heck, all they can say is 'no thanks'.
Denise sent more info about this 30 second blog 'commercial'. I've never done anything like that, so I'm a little nervous. I'm going to listen to blog radio and see how the ones already on line sound and maybe then I'll feel more relaxed about it. I'm not sure about my voice. I think in some ways its raspy deepness is effective, but in other ways I think it can be annoying. But, this whole experience sounds exciting.
Oh, got word that 'Hannah' probably won't be available in print until the end of February. I did so want to have it for sale at my Spring Frenzy classes. They are coming up on Feb. 2nd, Short Story Writing, and Feb. 3rd, Journaling. I know I already have some attendees signed up. I just love doing it. I meet the most interesting people.
I need to call my writer/artist friend Jean over in Oxnard. I didn't hear from her at Christmas, so it worries me. She sure could write the mysteries and her navy memories from when she was a Wave in WWII were so interesting.
Well it's back to work on 'Regardless' for awhile, so I'll leave you with this thought. "Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realize it's just an illusion, that people are going to bring their own stuff into it." David Sedaris
Had an interesting discussion recently on the use of 'd in narrative. Feedback that I received from one of my on-line groups said that in dialogue the use of she'd or he'd and such is acceptable. But, in the narrative, you must spell out 'did'. A couple of writer friends say that's not a rule. It's just someone's preference. I can't find that rule anywhere, so I'm just going to look for it in the novels that I'm reading.
A wonderful day of writing. Added more to 'The Woman Between' and I'm happy with the way the story plot is allowing an odd friendship to blossom. Then, I received a call from Lois who is going to submit a manuscript to Gray Wolf Press. In reading their submission requirements, I find that they will accept stories about gays. I would so much like for my 'Regardless' to make it to print. I checked out the site. They don't want sci-fi or romance, but I think 'Regardless' rises about that. So, I decided to get it ready to send out. I have it written in fourteen different word documents, a chapter in each one. Today, I put the first four chapters together and did a lot of editing. Hopefully, I can have it ready to mail out by this weekend. What the heck, all they can say is 'no thanks'.
Denise sent more info about this 30 second blog 'commercial'. I've never done anything like that, so I'm a little nervous. I'm going to listen to blog radio and see how the ones already on line sound and maybe then I'll feel more relaxed about it. I'm not sure about my voice. I think in some ways its raspy deepness is effective, but in other ways I think it can be annoying. But, this whole experience sounds exciting.
Oh, got word that 'Hannah' probably won't be available in print until the end of February. I did so want to have it for sale at my Spring Frenzy classes. They are coming up on Feb. 2nd, Short Story Writing, and Feb. 3rd, Journaling. I know I already have some attendees signed up. I just love doing it. I meet the most interesting people.
I need to call my writer/artist friend Jean over in Oxnard. I didn't hear from her at Christmas, so it worries me. She sure could write the mysteries and her navy memories from when she was a Wave in WWII were so interesting.
Well it's back to work on 'Regardless' for awhile, so I'll leave you with this thought. "Writing gives you the illusion of control, and then you realize it's just an illusion, that people are going to bring their own stuff into it." David Sedaris
Sunday, January 11, 2009
A New Year, A New Start
January 11, 2009
Ahhh, so little time so much life to live. I don't make New Year's resolution, as a rule. But, I am promising myself to do a better job of blogging in 2009. For one thing, it helps me keep my writing as a top priority in my life. I'm home from California and while I had a great holiday with the family, I'm a firm advocate of Dorothy's sentiment - "There's no place like home!"
Let's see, what have I been doing since my last post. In early December, I attended Shakespeare's 'A Midsummers Night's Dream' as presented by my friend Cindie's students at Parker High School. It was a darling presentation. Her students put their heart and soul into the scenery, music and acting. Cindie did a wonderful job bringing everything together for the standing room only audience the play drew.
My book club had its annual Christmas story meeting. I brought a book on Ireland that told of their traditions between Christmas Eve and January 6th. It also contained a how-to for decorations and a lovely Irish fairy tale about a poor Irish lass who appears only on Christmas Eve, each year, to feed the poor and homeless. It was an interesting book. I gave it to my daughter for her book collection.
Had my crit meeting for my 'The Woman Between' with Dave. He is pointing out ways to improve the story/writing, but I'm really pleased about is that he is liking the three main characters, which is what I'm trying to accomplish. He said some nice things about my creating scenes that bring the reader into the moment and asked if I 'live' the scene. And, I do.
Had our Havasu writer's meeting where my 'Not Accused, Found Guilty' was critted. Lots of good feedback. It's not one of my favorite stories, but the feedback has me reevaluating it and I may send it out to a couple of places.
Our Lake Havasu City Writers Group ( havasuwriters.com ) had its annual Christmas party on Dce. 20th. What a fun party. Veronica outdid herself in opening her gaily decorated home to the group. Lots of good food, lots of good desserts, lots of good wine and a fun filled gift exchange. I came home with a talking Christmas tree!
I drove to Calif. on Dec. 22 and stayed there until Jan. 5th. Had a wonderful Christmas with the kids and grandkids. Oh, there was some excitement. My dog Twinkle bit my niece. It was a small nip, so I hope it won't leave any scaring. But, despite the fact that the dog had all her shots, I had to keep her quarantined at my daughter's house for ten days. Grrrrr. Why do we have to get the dog shots?????
Had our Four Goddesses writer's meeting at Denny's on the 8th. It was great getting back with Cindie, JOan and Lois. They critted my story, 'Old Friends and Revelations'. Good feed back from one, but lots of upgrades from another. I love it when readers see, or miss, different aspects of my stories.
Dave and I met again on the 9th for more feedback on 'The Woman Between'. He is still liking it, but while he still likes all three characters, he is getting a little frustrated with Stephen. As to where I'm leading the story, I think his observation is right on. He is only submitting poetry to me to crit. I'm not sure I'm helping him much, because poetry is just the opposite from novel writing. In poetry, one word must often convey paragraphs, while novels need depth through the weaving of facts from chapter to chapter. Totally different techniques and I'm no poet.
On Jan. 10th, the book club discussed the books of Jacqueline Sussan. Surprisingly, many of the club members had trouble finding one of her books. Our local bookstore doesn't carry her books and the used book store doesn't buy her books because they don't sell. Wow! In the sixties, she was one of the hot sellers. While many of the group said they'd read another one her books, we all felt that she did a lot of 'biography' writing of famous people, just changing the names and places to be able to claim that it is fiction. All did agree that she did know how to tell a story and was great at characterization.
Saw lots of movies over the holidays - Grand Torino, best picture of 2008! - ...Benjamin Bottoms, boring and disturbing in some scenes. - Seven Pounds, disoriented despite Will's Smith great performance - Australia, beautiful scenery, but just a very long western. - Day the Earth Stood Still, I'd say horrible, but that's being too nice - Transporter 3, a fun, fast paced action flick and good eye candy with Jason Stratham.
It's good to be home! So today I'll leave you with this lovely thought - "Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere." Hazel Rochman
Ahhh, so little time so much life to live. I don't make New Year's resolution, as a rule. But, I am promising myself to do a better job of blogging in 2009. For one thing, it helps me keep my writing as a top priority in my life. I'm home from California and while I had a great holiday with the family, I'm a firm advocate of Dorothy's sentiment - "There's no place like home!"
Let's see, what have I been doing since my last post. In early December, I attended Shakespeare's 'A Midsummers Night's Dream' as presented by my friend Cindie's students at Parker High School. It was a darling presentation. Her students put their heart and soul into the scenery, music and acting. Cindie did a wonderful job bringing everything together for the standing room only audience the play drew.
My book club had its annual Christmas story meeting. I brought a book on Ireland that told of their traditions between Christmas Eve and January 6th. It also contained a how-to for decorations and a lovely Irish fairy tale about a poor Irish lass who appears only on Christmas Eve, each year, to feed the poor and homeless. It was an interesting book. I gave it to my daughter for her book collection.
Had my crit meeting for my 'The Woman Between' with Dave. He is pointing out ways to improve the story/writing, but I'm really pleased about is that he is liking the three main characters, which is what I'm trying to accomplish. He said some nice things about my creating scenes that bring the reader into the moment and asked if I 'live' the scene. And, I do.
Had our Havasu writer's meeting where my 'Not Accused, Found Guilty' was critted. Lots of good feedback. It's not one of my favorite stories, but the feedback has me reevaluating it and I may send it out to a couple of places.
Our Lake Havasu City Writers Group ( havasuwriters.com ) had its annual Christmas party on Dce. 20th. What a fun party. Veronica outdid herself in opening her gaily decorated home to the group. Lots of good food, lots of good desserts, lots of good wine and a fun filled gift exchange. I came home with a talking Christmas tree!
I drove to Calif. on Dec. 22 and stayed there until Jan. 5th. Had a wonderful Christmas with the kids and grandkids. Oh, there was some excitement. My dog Twinkle bit my niece. It was a small nip, so I hope it won't leave any scaring. But, despite the fact that the dog had all her shots, I had to keep her quarantined at my daughter's house for ten days. Grrrrr. Why do we have to get the dog shots?????
Had our Four Goddesses writer's meeting at Denny's on the 8th. It was great getting back with Cindie, JOan and Lois. They critted my story, 'Old Friends and Revelations'. Good feed back from one, but lots of upgrades from another. I love it when readers see, or miss, different aspects of my stories.
Dave and I met again on the 9th for more feedback on 'The Woman Between'. He is still liking it, but while he still likes all three characters, he is getting a little frustrated with Stephen. As to where I'm leading the story, I think his observation is right on. He is only submitting poetry to me to crit. I'm not sure I'm helping him much, because poetry is just the opposite from novel writing. In poetry, one word must often convey paragraphs, while novels need depth through the weaving of facts from chapter to chapter. Totally different techniques and I'm no poet.
On Jan. 10th, the book club discussed the books of Jacqueline Sussan. Surprisingly, many of the club members had trouble finding one of her books. Our local bookstore doesn't carry her books and the used book store doesn't buy her books because they don't sell. Wow! In the sixties, she was one of the hot sellers. While many of the group said they'd read another one her books, we all felt that she did a lot of 'biography' writing of famous people, just changing the names and places to be able to claim that it is fiction. All did agree that she did know how to tell a story and was great at characterization.
Saw lots of movies over the holidays - Grand Torino, best picture of 2008! - ...Benjamin Bottoms, boring and disturbing in some scenes. - Seven Pounds, disoriented despite Will's Smith great performance - Australia, beautiful scenery, but just a very long western. - Day the Earth Stood Still, I'd say horrible, but that's being too nice - Transporter 3, a fun, fast paced action flick and good eye candy with Jason Stratham.
It's good to be home! So today I'll leave you with this lovely thought - "Reading makes immigrants of us all. It takes us away from home, but more important, it finds homes for us everywhere." Hazel Rochman
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Quotes - Words of Wisdom, Truth and Nostalgia
December 9, 2009
No matter how I try, life takes control and I find I've been lax with my blog! Alas. I think Robert Burns may have had me in mind when he wrote, 'The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.'
Let's see now, what has happened since my last blog. Gosh that statement brings another quote to mind. My old confession lead in, 'Bless me Father for I have sinned, it's been ages since my last confession.' LOL That does, indeed, bring back a myriad of memories of the old days in Chicago and all the friends of my childhood. Life is just going to dang fast!
I've been working on 'The Woman Between' every day and the plot is in an interesting segment right now with Stephen saying 'enough' and moving on with his life. I'm still hoping that I'm managing to keep him a sympathetic, not pathetic, character. Manipulating characters is so much fun and requires so many writing techniques. Dave and I haven't been able to do our one-on-one crits for a few weeks, so I'm not sure how I'm doing. We meet on Friday, so I'll find out if I'm on the right track then.
I attended a women's network meeting last Thursday. What a dynamic bunch of women who have made it almost an art to showcase their 'product'. I met Realtors, on-line retailers, mortgage brokers, website specialists and so on. I was encouraged to talk about my books and I sold three! I can ask to be the speaker at one of their meetings after the first of the year, so that will be a big opportunity when 'Hannah' becomes available in print.
Had our first bi-monthly meeting of my local writer's group on Saturday. It was short for some reason. Lots of absent members and little feedback on our submissions. In fact, my sub of 'She, Not He' didn't receive a single verbal comment. Some folks wrote things when they handed my story back to me, but overall it was disappointing that mine wasn't discussed. I think the problem with the subs of this past week was the topic. It was very complicated and involved using a deck of 'prompt' cards that were picked at random. There were several characters, a genre and a plot to be dealt with in 250 words or less. My story started out at over 600 words, but by the time I cut it back to 250, there were some holes. I do think the 250 word exercise is worthwhile, but it must be a simple topic. President Do has provided a list of all the topics for 2009 and we're back to basics with just a word or two.
I finally gave up trying to make my own business cards. Went to Staples and, within 30 minutes, they had them designed, printed, cut up and delivered to me. The orangy-tan colored cards, kind of like the color on my website, have a brief picture of both books, my website, my blogsite and tele. nbr. I decided that since I'm really getting some good internet coverage, almost daily, the cards will come in handy. I'll be interested to see if all this marketing will bring in more book sales.
I came across a quote the other day that says so much about what we writers face with the criticism of our work. 'If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.' - Henry David Thoreau. Our own 'drummer' may or not get us published, but it sure gives us a sense of satisfaction. Now go write something and have a great day!
No matter how I try, life takes control and I find I've been lax with my blog! Alas. I think Robert Burns may have had me in mind when he wrote, 'The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.'
Let's see now, what has happened since my last blog. Gosh that statement brings another quote to mind. My old confession lead in, 'Bless me Father for I have sinned, it's been ages since my last confession.' LOL That does, indeed, bring back a myriad of memories of the old days in Chicago and all the friends of my childhood. Life is just going to dang fast!
I've been working on 'The Woman Between' every day and the plot is in an interesting segment right now with Stephen saying 'enough' and moving on with his life. I'm still hoping that I'm managing to keep him a sympathetic, not pathetic, character. Manipulating characters is so much fun and requires so many writing techniques. Dave and I haven't been able to do our one-on-one crits for a few weeks, so I'm not sure how I'm doing. We meet on Friday, so I'll find out if I'm on the right track then.
I attended a women's network meeting last Thursday. What a dynamic bunch of women who have made it almost an art to showcase their 'product'. I met Realtors, on-line retailers, mortgage brokers, website specialists and so on. I was encouraged to talk about my books and I sold three! I can ask to be the speaker at one of their meetings after the first of the year, so that will be a big opportunity when 'Hannah' becomes available in print.
Had our first bi-monthly meeting of my local writer's group on Saturday. It was short for some reason. Lots of absent members and little feedback on our submissions. In fact, my sub of 'She, Not He' didn't receive a single verbal comment. Some folks wrote things when they handed my story back to me, but overall it was disappointing that mine wasn't discussed. I think the problem with the subs of this past week was the topic. It was very complicated and involved using a deck of 'prompt' cards that were picked at random. There were several characters, a genre and a plot to be dealt with in 250 words or less. My story started out at over 600 words, but by the time I cut it back to 250, there were some holes. I do think the 250 word exercise is worthwhile, but it must be a simple topic. President Do has provided a list of all the topics for 2009 and we're back to basics with just a word or two.
I finally gave up trying to make my own business cards. Went to Staples and, within 30 minutes, they had them designed, printed, cut up and delivered to me. The orangy-tan colored cards, kind of like the color on my website, have a brief picture of both books, my website, my blogsite and tele. nbr. I decided that since I'm really getting some good internet coverage, almost daily, the cards will come in handy. I'll be interested to see if all this marketing will bring in more book sales.
I came across a quote the other day that says so much about what we writers face with the criticism of our work. 'If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.' - Henry David Thoreau. Our own 'drummer' may or not get us published, but it sure gives us a sense of satisfaction. Now go write something and have a great day!
Monday, December 01, 2008
One Down, Two to Go
Thanksgiving has come and gone. My house was full of kids, grandkids, siblings and friends. The food was great, the turkey juicy, the wine excellent and the pies coated in lush whip cream! And, no dishes to do. You see, my kitchen sink decided to clog up late Wednesday night. Bless my son-in-law Gary's heart, he tried his best, but no luck. I called the plumber early Thursday a.m., but they were off line for the holiday. My daughter Kim and I cleaned the turkey in the shower before we buttered and stuffed it. We kept big bowls in both sinks and my desert plants had a great Thanksgiving enjoying the lots of water poured on them during the day. Then, we stacked the dishes and spent the rest of the evening talking and playing games. The next day, I had an early a.m. appointment and while I was gone, my daughter-in-law Leslie organized a 'wash the dishes' brigade. She had the grandkids, my son Rob and Gary haul the dishes outside, then she 'campground' cleaned them and had the gang tote them back inside. Yahoo! A Thanksgiving with no dishes! The plumber didn't call back until this morning, Monday. So, by early this afternoon, I'll have use of my sink again. Everyone has a Thanksgiving story or two to tell, so now I have another to add to my memory pages.
So Thanksgiving 2008 is in the books, now on to Christmas and New Year's.
Now, back to writing items. I haven't had much chance to work on 'The Woman Between'. Pulled it out last night and added another 700 some words. Felt good. I have a meeting with Dave tomorrow, but I won't have much to give him to crit.
As for my on-line groups, I think they were enjoying the holiday too, as there weren't many entries. Until, yesterday. My DD site took off like crazy with many subs and crits. Many of the DDers were involved with the NaNoWriMo project to write a novel of 50,000 words in the month of November. I've never tried. For me, Novembers are way to busy to make such a commitment.
Went to see 'Bolt'. Cute movie. The hampster Rhino was the star of the picture! Loved his 'can do' attitude.
Let me sign off today with a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald - "There was never a good biography of a good novelist. There couldn't be. He (or she) is too many people if he's (she's) any good." AMEN!!
So Thanksgiving 2008 is in the books, now on to Christmas and New Year's.
Now, back to writing items. I haven't had much chance to work on 'The Woman Between'. Pulled it out last night and added another 700 some words. Felt good. I have a meeting with Dave tomorrow, but I won't have much to give him to crit.
As for my on-line groups, I think they were enjoying the holiday too, as there weren't many entries. Until, yesterday. My DD site took off like crazy with many subs and crits. Many of the DDers were involved with the NaNoWriMo project to write a novel of 50,000 words in the month of November. I've never tried. For me, Novembers are way to busy to make such a commitment.
Went to see 'Bolt'. Cute movie. The hampster Rhino was the star of the picture! Loved his 'can do' attitude.
Let me sign off today with a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald - "There was never a good biography of a good novelist. There couldn't be. He (or she) is too many people if he's (she's) any good." AMEN!!
Saturday, November 22, 2008
This and That
November 22, 2008
Thursday was our local writer's group meeting at Hastings. About ten folks showed and we heard poetry, fiction, a memoir, an essay and a couple of jokes. I, who almost never write poems, updated my Thanksgiving poem and read it. Odd that I'm the only one who brought something that had to do with the holiday. Some our regulars, Anne, Gina and Cindie, weren't there and they were missed.
Had lots of free time on both Thursday and Friday so was able to move 'The Woman Between' forward. I'm walking the fine line between making Stephen look wimpy versus an emotionally wounded man who needs closure. I had my one-on-one with Dave and he says it's working. He still thinks my characters have believable depth and that he still likes Stephen, but he likes John better. That's okay.
Received a nice email from Portia Allen thanking me for being on her Lady Rerun show. She finished 'Hannah' and just raved about it. She said, "I have finished "Hannah" and I was very moved by the ending! The book is in your face, very well written, and have characters that you want to never leave!" She couldn't have said anything to please this character driver writer happier.
I'm receiving some comments on my blog from folks I don't know, but they sound interesting and they all mention writing in some genre or another. I'm going to try and communicate with them. I hear from a fellow on-line writer, Sandra. She's a great writer and frequently brings up topics that get a writer to thinking about why we write, the perils of submitting and other topics that writers need to ponder from time to time. So, I'm so glad she drops by from time to time.
No too much going on with my writer groups, both on-line and local. I reckon we are all busy prepping for the big bird dinner next Thursday. I'm spending a lot of time getting the house ready for my Thanksgiving Day guests. You know, I sure like writing a LOT better than dusting, vacuuming and washing windows!
Time to close. My thought for the day is from Samuel Johnson who said, 'I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his works.' Amen and Goodnight.
Thursday was our local writer's group meeting at Hastings. About ten folks showed and we heard poetry, fiction, a memoir, an essay and a couple of jokes. I, who almost never write poems, updated my Thanksgiving poem and read it. Odd that I'm the only one who brought something that had to do with the holiday. Some our regulars, Anne, Gina and Cindie, weren't there and they were missed.
Had lots of free time on both Thursday and Friday so was able to move 'The Woman Between' forward. I'm walking the fine line between making Stephen look wimpy versus an emotionally wounded man who needs closure. I had my one-on-one with Dave and he says it's working. He still thinks my characters have believable depth and that he still likes Stephen, but he likes John better. That's okay.
Received a nice email from Portia Allen thanking me for being on her Lady Rerun show. She finished 'Hannah' and just raved about it. She said, "I have finished "Hannah" and I was very moved by the ending! The book is in your face, very well written, and have characters that you want to never leave!" She couldn't have said anything to please this character driver writer happier.
I'm receiving some comments on my blog from folks I don't know, but they sound interesting and they all mention writing in some genre or another. I'm going to try and communicate with them. I hear from a fellow on-line writer, Sandra. She's a great writer and frequently brings up topics that get a writer to thinking about why we write, the perils of submitting and other topics that writers need to ponder from time to time. So, I'm so glad she drops by from time to time.
No too much going on with my writer groups, both on-line and local. I reckon we are all busy prepping for the big bird dinner next Thursday. I'm spending a lot of time getting the house ready for my Thanksgiving Day guests. You know, I sure like writing a LOT better than dusting, vacuuming and washing windows!
Time to close. My thought for the day is from Samuel Johnson who said, 'I would rather be attacked than unnoticed. For the worst thing you can do to an author is to be silent as to his works.' Amen and Goodnight.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
November 19, 2008
Today was a busy day doing things in the community and the nice thing about that is that I get to visit with some really nice folks, but normally it takes away from my writing. Today, that didn't happen. I had all afternoon to myself and my writing. What could be better.
As to that rejection/acceptance I mentioned yesterday, still no word from the editor. Oh well, their loss if they truly did reject the piece, she said with false bravado. Sniff, sniff!
Worked on 'The Woman Between'. Poor Stephen just can't get any sympathy. I mean just because he wants to kill his brother is no reason for the family to go off on him. I'm giving him all the emotional baggage of a middle child and he is just now, at age 24, beginning to find his own self-value. Lord, it's fun making these characters dance to my drumbeat.
I found time to work with my FlashXer writer's group. Did about six critiques, then submitted a story that I had written awhile back and just updated it to fit today's prompt. It's an interesting story that I've never submitted anywhere, so I'm looking forward to the feedback. I've received one and she like it a lot.
I'm getting some feedback on my website and so far, it's all been positive. Oh, and Jim, a local author, answered my question of the month, so I have to come up with a new one. He mentioned 'Hop-Frog, a humorous Poe story that I hadn't heard of, so he gets a book. He already has an 'Oasis', so I'll get one of my 'Skive' anthologies. What fun!
Received an email from Denise who said she listened to the interview with Lady Rerun and was pleased with how it turned out. So was I. I hope Portia and I manage to stay in touch.
I received my weekly email copy of Virtual Tales Serial Scoop and there is an article about 'Hannah and it looks like this -
Pre-orders
Hannah — Sharon Poppen
HANNAH (Expected Release — Winter 2008/2009) Genre: Westerns Author: Sharon Poppen Rated: R
Hannah and Caleb are young newlyweds on the plains of Texas in the late nineteenth century. They’ve staked their claim and have built a new home and a new life as cattle ranchers. But a cloud of dust in the...
And, it has a picture of the book. Looks good and I hope it means the print release is coming soon. People are asking when they can buy it, so that's a good sign!
Tomorrow is our monthly writer's group meeting at Hastings Book & Music Store. We gather there in the evening and each writer is given five minutes to read an original piece of their writing. Always a good time and always some great stories, not to mention the great coffee from their coffee bar.
Finally, our local newspaper ran a half-page article on my friend Shirley Wolford who passed away on Nov. 9th. Lots of good info on her life and a really good picture of her. I'm really going to miss her.
Time to sign off for now. Keep on writing, but if you don't write, then read, read, read!
Today was a busy day doing things in the community and the nice thing about that is that I get to visit with some really nice folks, but normally it takes away from my writing. Today, that didn't happen. I had all afternoon to myself and my writing. What could be better.
As to that rejection/acceptance I mentioned yesterday, still no word from the editor. Oh well, their loss if they truly did reject the piece, she said with false bravado. Sniff, sniff!
Worked on 'The Woman Between'. Poor Stephen just can't get any sympathy. I mean just because he wants to kill his brother is no reason for the family to go off on him. I'm giving him all the emotional baggage of a middle child and he is just now, at age 24, beginning to find his own self-value. Lord, it's fun making these characters dance to my drumbeat.
I found time to work with my FlashXer writer's group. Did about six critiques, then submitted a story that I had written awhile back and just updated it to fit today's prompt. It's an interesting story that I've never submitted anywhere, so I'm looking forward to the feedback. I've received one and she like it a lot.
I'm getting some feedback on my website and so far, it's all been positive. Oh, and Jim, a local author, answered my question of the month, so I have to come up with a new one. He mentioned 'Hop-Frog, a humorous Poe story that I hadn't heard of, so he gets a book. He already has an 'Oasis', so I'll get one of my 'Skive' anthologies. What fun!
Received an email from Denise who said she listened to the interview with Lady Rerun and was pleased with how it turned out. So was I. I hope Portia and I manage to stay in touch.
I received my weekly email copy of Virtual Tales Serial Scoop and there is an article about 'Hannah and it looks like this -
Pre-orders
Hannah — Sharon Poppen
HANNAH (Expected Release — Winter 2008/2009) Genre: Westerns Author: Sharon Poppen Rated: R
Hannah and Caleb are young newlyweds on the plains of Texas in the late nineteenth century. They’ve staked their claim and have built a new home and a new life as cattle ranchers. But a cloud of dust in the...
And, it has a picture of the book. Looks good and I hope it means the print release is coming soon. People are asking when they can buy it, so that's a good sign!
Tomorrow is our monthly writer's group meeting at Hastings Book & Music Store. We gather there in the evening and each writer is given five minutes to read an original piece of their writing. Always a good time and always some great stories, not to mention the great coffee from their coffee bar.
Finally, our local newspaper ran a half-page article on my friend Shirley Wolford who passed away on Nov. 9th. Lots of good info on her life and a really good picture of her. I'm really going to miss her.
Time to sign off for now. Keep on writing, but if you don't write, then read, read, read!
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
It Was A Blast
November 18, 2008
The interview with Portia Allen, Lady Rerun, was a blast! She asked some great questions, played some of my favorite music and let me talk about my books and Colo. Free Univ. class. The two hours went by a lot faster than I had anticipated. I can only hope that some of the listeners were enticed to check out my books. Either way, I enjoyed the opportunity and send out a big thank you to her and to Denise for setting it up.
One of the nice things that Portia did was to actually read some of my work and she checked out my website. She raved about 'Hannah' and couldn't believe that it had originated as a prompt for one of my on-line writing groups and that it had been written as serial type episodes. She liked Hannah and her strong will. Also, she read my blog where I refer to the URL, University of Life. She was fascinated by how that term really said a lot about how I lived my life and how I got where I am and she is so right.
Had local commitments today that kept me away from my computer for most of the day, but I did get in my novel time and moved 'The Woman Between' ahead another 5oo words. I'll be getting feedback from Dave on Friday so I'll have an idea of whether my characters and plot are working.
On my local writer's forum, Gina left a comment about the value of Stunk and White's 'Elements of Style'. Amen! I don't know what I would do without it. She reminds all of us writers that 'Keep in mind that knowing the rules of grammar doesn't make a person a good writer, but a good writer will not get the recognition/respect that he or she deserves without knowing the basic rules of composition.' Thank you, Gina, for reminding us of this important aspect of writing.
Oh, an update to those two rejections I mentioned yesterday. I received a second email that said while I didn't win, I was chosen for the anthology and they were going to pay me five cents a word. So, I'm sending an email back asking if they are accepting or rejecting my work. I hope it's an acceptance!
All the feedback on my submission, 'The Collection', at my DD writing website as has come back as positive. It was the conclusion of a two part prompt where in part one we had to set up a cliffhanger, then stop. In part two, we gave our readers the conclusion. Glad it worked.
On my Flasher's Dozen workshop, I submitted 'Enough'. The feedback indicated the piece needs work. They had lots of questions, good questions about why the main character did what she did and what she picked that particular time to do it. Good crits that will help with my editing.
I went to bingo tonight and had a very lucrative time as well as a lot of fun. Won three games! The jackpots are small, still I more than tripled my entry fee, so Yahoo!
Time for Law & Order - Special Victims Unit. And, this addict must get my daily Law & Order Fix. Have a great day tomorrow!
The interview with Portia Allen, Lady Rerun, was a blast! She asked some great questions, played some of my favorite music and let me talk about my books and Colo. Free Univ. class. The two hours went by a lot faster than I had anticipated. I can only hope that some of the listeners were enticed to check out my books. Either way, I enjoyed the opportunity and send out a big thank you to her and to Denise for setting it up.
One of the nice things that Portia did was to actually read some of my work and she checked out my website. She raved about 'Hannah' and couldn't believe that it had originated as a prompt for one of my on-line writing groups and that it had been written as serial type episodes. She liked Hannah and her strong will. Also, she read my blog where I refer to the URL, University of Life. She was fascinated by how that term really said a lot about how I lived my life and how I got where I am and she is so right.
Had local commitments today that kept me away from my computer for most of the day, but I did get in my novel time and moved 'The Woman Between' ahead another 5oo words. I'll be getting feedback from Dave on Friday so I'll have an idea of whether my characters and plot are working.
On my local writer's forum, Gina left a comment about the value of Stunk and White's 'Elements of Style'. Amen! I don't know what I would do without it. She reminds all of us writers that 'Keep in mind that knowing the rules of grammar doesn't make a person a good writer, but a good writer will not get the recognition/respect that he or she deserves without knowing the basic rules of composition.' Thank you, Gina, for reminding us of this important aspect of writing.
Oh, an update to those two rejections I mentioned yesterday. I received a second email that said while I didn't win, I was chosen for the anthology and they were going to pay me five cents a word. So, I'm sending an email back asking if they are accepting or rejecting my work. I hope it's an acceptance!
All the feedback on my submission, 'The Collection', at my DD writing website as has come back as positive. It was the conclusion of a two part prompt where in part one we had to set up a cliffhanger, then stop. In part two, we gave our readers the conclusion. Glad it worked.
On my Flasher's Dozen workshop, I submitted 'Enough'. The feedback indicated the piece needs work. They had lots of questions, good questions about why the main character did what she did and what she picked that particular time to do it. Good crits that will help with my editing.
I went to bingo tonight and had a very lucrative time as well as a lot of fun. Won three games! The jackpots are small, still I more than tripled my entry fee, so Yahoo!
Time for Law & Order - Special Victims Unit. And, this addict must get my daily Law & Order Fix. Have a great day tomorrow!
Monday, November 17, 2008
Lady Rerun Show Interview
November 17, 2008
I'm a nervous wreck tonight. At 9:30, I am going to be interviewed on Blog Talk internet radio on the Lady Rerun Show by Portia Allen. She has read my ebook 'Hannah' and is very enthused about it. It's a two hour show. I know I'm a talker, but I hope I can make sense for two hours. More to come tomorrow on this opportunity.
I'm getting lots of good feedback on my website and what's even better is that I'm hearing from friends and family I haven't heard from in ages.
Got two rejections in the last couple of days. Oh, well, you win some, you lose some. What's annoying about it as there was no remarks as to why my work didn't fit their need. It's nice that they get back to me, but in essence I learn nothing from the experience.
I had a great productive day. Moved 'The Woman Between' forward. Then I met my requirements for two of my on-line writer's groups. Already received feedback on one of my submissions. It was a challenge because it was only the resolution of a story I had posted awhile back. The feedback said that the genre, horror, wasn't her cup of tea, but she said, 'Boy, had this been on TV, two more commercials would have been shown before the end. And what an ending!' So, it was an interesting experiment from the moderator of the list to have us write our story, but end it with a cliffhanger. Now, with feedback on whether we did, indeed, accomplish a cliffhanger, we get feedback on the resolution. A great learning experience.
Well, it's almost time for the interview, so I'll sign off now. Wish me luck!
I'm a nervous wreck tonight. At 9:30, I am going to be interviewed on Blog Talk internet radio on the Lady Rerun Show by Portia Allen. She has read my ebook 'Hannah' and is very enthused about it. It's a two hour show. I know I'm a talker, but I hope I can make sense for two hours. More to come tomorrow on this opportunity.
I'm getting lots of good feedback on my website and what's even better is that I'm hearing from friends and family I haven't heard from in ages.
Got two rejections in the last couple of days. Oh, well, you win some, you lose some. What's annoying about it as there was no remarks as to why my work didn't fit their need. It's nice that they get back to me, but in essence I learn nothing from the experience.
I had a great productive day. Moved 'The Woman Between' forward. Then I met my requirements for two of my on-line writer's groups. Already received feedback on one of my submissions. It was a challenge because it was only the resolution of a story I had posted awhile back. The feedback said that the genre, horror, wasn't her cup of tea, but she said, 'Boy, had this been on TV, two more commercials would have been shown before the end. And what an ending!' So, it was an interesting experiment from the moderator of the list to have us write our story, but end it with a cliffhanger. Now, with feedback on whether we did, indeed, accomplish a cliffhanger, we get feedback on the resolution. A great learning experience.
Well, it's almost time for the interview, so I'll sign off now. Wish me luck!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Blog Alerts and Writing Thoughts
What an exciting couple of weeks. My website is up and running and the feedback has been good. What at great job Denise Cassino did. Check her out at http://wizardlywebdesigns.com/ .
I found out about setting up Google and Yahoo alerts the other day and have already gotten one. So informative!
Sharon Poppen and Other Authors on Tour This Week!
By Working Writers Coach
All this week the National Writing for Children Center is hosting author Sharon Poppen on a virtual tour for her new book After the War, Before the Peace. Find out more about Sharon and her book at the National Writing for Children ...
Working Writer's Coach - Writing... - http://workingwriterscoach.com/
The Lady Rerun Show ( Interview with Author Sharon Poppen) - Nov ...
Lady Rerun will be interviewing Author Sharon Poppen who has a down to earth writing style that shows you the world as it is. Lady Rerun will be asking about her books, "Hannah" and After the War, Before the Peace", her lifestyle, ...
Lady Rerun BlogTalkRadio Feed - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/reruns-daughter
Meet the Author - Sharon Poppen
By Writing for Children
The National Writing for Children Center is proud to host author Sharon Poppen on this virtual tour for her new book, After the War, Before the Peace. For the next several days we’ll be presenting short posts to help you get to Poppen ...
The National Writing for Children Center - http://writingforchildrencenter.com/
Here’s What’s Going on This Weekend!
By Suzanne
First, all this week, the site is hosting author Sharon Poppen on a virtual tour for her new book, After the War, Before the Peace. Check back every day during the next week for a review of Sharon’s book, an interview with Sharon, ...
Suzanne Lieurance - http://suzannelieurance.com/
The elections are over, thank goodness. My gal didn't win, but as Americans we all need to pull together and try to make the next four years a period of economic and global peace. While I did not agree with President Bush on some of his economic and illegal immigrations policies, I did appreciate the peace of mind he gave me in keeping terrorism at bay, especially in this country. Enough said about that!
Shirley Wolford has died. What a great lady she was. So many books written and even a movie. She is one of my role models for her drive and love of the written word. You always knew where you stood with Shirley. I had gone to visit her a couple of times the week before she died and although I'm a strong believer in LIFE, she was suffering so much that it was almost a blessing when she passed. I will miss her!
Had another meeting with Dave for our one-on-one crit sessions. He's experiencing a writing block, but the good side is that he is focusing on his poetry, which is quite powerful. He gave me a very nice compliment. He said my characters are so real that he can 'see' me walking along with them, experiencing exactly what they feel and it makes them so very real. Thanks, Dave!
Had my book club meeting on the books of Tami Hoag. While I didn't care for her stories or characters, I had to admit that she is excellent in setting up scenes that draw the reader into the moment. Overall most of the club members would read her again.
Had our 4 Goddesses meeting at Denny's last Thursday, with only three godesses attending - Cindie had to work late. JOan had her cataracts removed and now no longer has to wear glasses. It is always an evening of friendship and good critiquing.
Saturday was the LHCWG meeting. Had a big crowd. The feedback on my story 'What Waits in the Willows' was a surprise. Many commented on the nasty old lady character and how well developed she was. As I wrote it, she was just a means to further my plot. Funny how a reader sees things a writer doesn't even consider when jotting down the story.
On a personal side, my Thanksgiving Day celebration is coming along nicely. My daughter and her family, my sister and her husband, my niece and her boyfriend, a writer friend and her husband will be there and just this morning, my son called to say he and his wife are coming. I am already sooooooooooo Thankful that all these folks are in my life and heart and that they are coming to share the day with me.
I'm going to work on 'The Woman Between' now, so will sign off. Have a great Sunday!
I found out about setting up Google and Yahoo alerts the other day and have already gotten one. So informative!
Sharon Poppen and Other Authors on Tour This Week!
By Working Writers Coach
All this week the National Writing for Children Center is hosting author Sharon Poppen on a virtual tour for her new book After the War, Before the Peace. Find out more about Sharon and her book at the National Writing for Children ...
Working Writer's Coach - Writing... - http://workingwriterscoach.com/
The Lady Rerun Show ( Interview with Author Sharon Poppen) - Nov ...
Lady Rerun will be interviewing Author Sharon Poppen who has a down to earth writing style that shows you the world as it is. Lady Rerun will be asking about her books, "Hannah" and After the War, Before the Peace", her lifestyle, ...
Lady Rerun BlogTalkRadio Feed - http://www.blogtalkradio.com/reruns-daughter
Meet the Author - Sharon Poppen
By Writing for Children
The National Writing for Children Center is proud to host author Sharon Poppen on this virtual tour for her new book, After the War, Before the Peace. For the next several days we’ll be presenting short posts to help you get to Poppen ...
The National Writing for Children Center - http://writingforchildrencenter.com/
Here’s What’s Going on This Weekend!
By Suzanne
First, all this week, the site is hosting author Sharon Poppen on a virtual tour for her new book, After the War, Before the Peace. Check back every day during the next week for a review of Sharon’s book, an interview with Sharon, ...
Suzanne Lieurance - http://suzannelieurance.com/
The elections are over, thank goodness. My gal didn't win, but as Americans we all need to pull together and try to make the next four years a period of economic and global peace. While I did not agree with President Bush on some of his economic and illegal immigrations policies, I did appreciate the peace of mind he gave me in keeping terrorism at bay, especially in this country. Enough said about that!
Shirley Wolford has died. What a great lady she was. So many books written and even a movie. She is one of my role models for her drive and love of the written word. You always knew where you stood with Shirley. I had gone to visit her a couple of times the week before she died and although I'm a strong believer in LIFE, she was suffering so much that it was almost a blessing when she passed. I will miss her!
Had another meeting with Dave for our one-on-one crit sessions. He's experiencing a writing block, but the good side is that he is focusing on his poetry, which is quite powerful. He gave me a very nice compliment. He said my characters are so real that he can 'see' me walking along with them, experiencing exactly what they feel and it makes them so very real. Thanks, Dave!
Had my book club meeting on the books of Tami Hoag. While I didn't care for her stories or characters, I had to admit that she is excellent in setting up scenes that draw the reader into the moment. Overall most of the club members would read her again.
Had our 4 Goddesses meeting at Denny's last Thursday, with only three godesses attending - Cindie had to work late. JOan had her cataracts removed and now no longer has to wear glasses. It is always an evening of friendship and good critiquing.
Saturday was the LHCWG meeting. Had a big crowd. The feedback on my story 'What Waits in the Willows' was a surprise. Many commented on the nasty old lady character and how well developed she was. As I wrote it, she was just a means to further my plot. Funny how a reader sees things a writer doesn't even consider when jotting down the story.
On a personal side, my Thanksgiving Day celebration is coming along nicely. My daughter and her family, my sister and her husband, my niece and her boyfriend, a writer friend and her husband will be there and just this morning, my son called to say he and his wife are coming. I am already sooooooooooo Thankful that all these folks are in my life and heart and that they are coming to share the day with me.
I'm going to work on 'The Woman Between' now, so will sign off. Have a great Sunday!
Monday, November 03, 2008
Prepositions, The End & Noah's Ark
I get a 'word-a-day' email every day. The other day I got this one and it made me chuckle. I hope you enjoy it too. "A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg - Prepositions don't get much respect. Nouns, verbs, adjectives... those are the words we usually pay attention to. Who has ever looked up in a thesaurus to find a better preposition? Who has complimented an author on his choice of prepositions? They might as well be invisible.Yet prepositions are some of the most important parts of the sentence. They work to connect various parts. And if you have any doubt about the role or importance of these hard-working nuts and bolts of a language, ask anyone who has tried to learn a new language. Prepositions are among the hardest to master. Literally speaking, a preposition is something that is positioned before a noun. These are little words, such as in, to, of, up, for, etc., though they are not always a single syllable. There are some pretty long ones: amongst, concerning, notwithstanding. And there are some fancy prepositions (contra, cum, a la, and so on).'
The author goes on to say, 'One can find sentences ending with preps in the lines of some of the finest writers in history: Chaucer, Swift, Kipling, Shakespeare and so on. "We are such stuff as dreams are made on" -- Try rephrasing that line from The Tempest. See what inelegant glob results. This canard about no-prepositions-at-the-end belongs in the same dustbin as "Thou shalt not split an infinitive." So the next time people fault you for ending a sentence with a preposition, ask them: "What are you talking about?"'
Also, I was reading the August 2008 issue of The Writer and I came across the article 'Make Your Readers Stick Around' by John Edward Ames. He made some good points, but two really attracted my attention. One is a paragraph that states, 'Once the climax peaks, remember that all conflict is resolved. Thus, reader interest immediately plummets, so end the story fast. There's a special room in hell for writers who resist those all-important two words, The End.'
The second covers adjectives. 'Speaking of adjectives, avoid annoying your readers with the Noah's Ark syndrome - i.e. adjectives that march in two by two. "She was an apple-cheeked, cheery woman dressed in expensive, tasteful clothing." And be especially sparing with verb-adverb constructions, deleting all adverbs that weaken the verb by repeating it: bloomed loudly, bolted his food ravenously.'
I know I'm often guilty of both so I'd thought I'd share the info.
Today was a quiet day of writing and adding more to my novel, 'The Women Between'. I've been getting some nice reviews on my website at www.sharonpoppen.com . I can thank Denise for that.
I visited my friend Shirley Wolford in the hospital today. She's my writer friend who is ninety-four and blind. She has authored many books, both by herself and with her husband. One, 'The Southern Blade' was made into a movie with Glen Ford called 'A Time for Killing'. It was one of Harrison Ford's first movies. In fact he is shown as 'uncredited'. Well, Shirley broke her leg awhile back, then had to have a hip replacement. None of it went well. Her husband passed away years ago and she had no children. She's very lonesome, even though she has some great friends who show her much love and compassion. I promised to go to see her on Wednesday and read to her. She loves history, so I'll find something on that order. I'm not a praying person, but I'm thinking good thoughts for her and hope you will, too.
The author goes on to say, 'One can find sentences ending with preps in the lines of some of the finest writers in history: Chaucer, Swift, Kipling, Shakespeare and so on. "We are such stuff as dreams are made on" -- Try rephrasing that line from The Tempest. See what inelegant glob results. This canard about no-prepositions-at-the-end belongs in the same dustbin as "Thou shalt not split an infinitive." So the next time people fault you for ending a sentence with a preposition, ask them: "What are you talking about?"'
Also, I was reading the August 2008 issue of The Writer and I came across the article 'Make Your Readers Stick Around' by John Edward Ames. He made some good points, but two really attracted my attention. One is a paragraph that states, 'Once the climax peaks, remember that all conflict is resolved. Thus, reader interest immediately plummets, so end the story fast. There's a special room in hell for writers who resist those all-important two words, The End.'
The second covers adjectives. 'Speaking of adjectives, avoid annoying your readers with the Noah's Ark syndrome - i.e. adjectives that march in two by two. "She was an apple-cheeked, cheery woman dressed in expensive, tasteful clothing." And be especially sparing with verb-adverb constructions, deleting all adverbs that weaken the verb by repeating it: bloomed loudly, bolted his food ravenously.'
I know I'm often guilty of both so I'd thought I'd share the info.
Today was a quiet day of writing and adding more to my novel, 'The Women Between'. I've been getting some nice reviews on my website at www.sharonpoppen.com . I can thank Denise for that.
I visited my friend Shirley Wolford in the hospital today. She's my writer friend who is ninety-four and blind. She has authored many books, both by herself and with her husband. One, 'The Southern Blade' was made into a movie with Glen Ford called 'A Time for Killing'. It was one of Harrison Ford's first movies. In fact he is shown as 'uncredited'. Well, Shirley broke her leg awhile back, then had to have a hip replacement. None of it went well. Her husband passed away years ago and she had no children. She's very lonesome, even though she has some great friends who show her much love and compassion. I promised to go to see her on Wednesday and read to her. She loves history, so I'll find something on that order. I'm not a praying person, but I'm thinking good thoughts for her and hope you will, too.
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