Good Afternoon One & All, Today's topic: books (not necessarily works-in-progress or our manuscripts, but books in general): There's something so friendly about a well-loved book. I've maintained for years that books are some of my best friends: 1. They will never, ever betray you 2. They're always there (even if they're hiding) for you. Whether you're in a crisis, having a great day, a book you really enjoy has the power to both comfort or lift you up. The feel of a well-worn cover...the pages, sometimes even the smell is as familair as a human friend. Obviously it's not the same as having a human friend, but they certain do offer a certain level of comfort and understanding. You know where you stand with a book. You know whether it's one you've loved for years, or one you just met, or one you decided wasn't one you want to read again. Either way, you know what the story is, and you know exactly how to react and how to be around that book....

Good Morning Folks, For those of you who have seen (or remember) the He-Man and She-Ra cartoons of the 1980's those words in the title of this post should be familiar to you (it's what they said after they changed into their powerful alter-egos). So, what's an author's "power"? Generally it's the author's greatest strength. Something that gives the author that extra oomph . Oftentimes, it's the ability to create great descriptions, or fabulous dialogue. Or just simply the uncanny ability to draw a reader in (I'm going to cite Stephenie Meyer here as someone who can definitely draw a reader in). As to dialogue, Kerrelyn Sparks has some humorous dialogue. Kim Lenox creates some really good description. Character--Laura Childs--I still want to know what happens next with Theodosia Browning. Someone like Nicholas Sparks created a story of tender love and care in A Walk To Remember . For me, John Grisham ups the suspense in his novels. Weaving ...

Good Morning, Hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Mine was pretty good. Not real eventful (other than the fact my husband got annoyed with football, but since I don't really follow football that much, I didn't have as emotional reaction to the Miami Hurricanes losing or the Texans losing). Sports aren't my forte...well, I do like baseball. That's pretty cool...although my team didn't do so well this season *insert puckered lower lip here*. However, I'm not going to talk about the strengths and weaknesses of a particular team, I'm going to bring it closer to home: A writer's weaknesses. Of course, none of us want to think about them. We'd rather overcome them. Which, is exactly what a writer should do to improve one's writing. However, before you overcome them, you have to recognize them. Admit to yourself what points are your strongest and what points aren't. For me, I tend to go heavy on the dialogue and not so much on description. I know ...

Evening All, I haven't really anything real inspired to write tonight. Got a lot on my mind. The other day I did some writing on Conjure A Man since I finished going through it from page 1. It helped to remind myself a bit. I probably need to add some description, but otherwise, I think it's making some progress. I've been doing A LOT of reading this weekend. I finished the Kerrelyn Sparks book and I'm about (or nearly) 1/2 done with The Host by Stephenie Meyers. How about y'all? What's the weekend been like? Did you have fun? Have A Stupendous Sunday!

Good Afternoon All, Last night I took a trip into my female main character, Delaney's world. I'm doing some editing on the pages I already have written and contemplating what's happening next. Got to meet her family all over again (the patronizing cousin, the disapproving mother, the suspicious cousin-in-law, et cetera). This morning I was doing some reading ( The Host by Stephenie Meyer is quite long--over 1,000 pages and I have other books I need to read, too, so I'm multi-tasking). Sci-fi isn't my usual fare, but I was curious about the story. It's a little eerie contemplating the idea of an alien body taking over human bodies. Like I said, not things I normally read. But, not a bad idea to expand one's horizons. I've also gotten started on reading Secret Life Of A Vampire by Kerrelyn Sparks . I've just barely started it, but so far it's fun. Anybody watching the new CW show, The Vampire Diari es based off of L.J. Smith's books ? Some...

Good Morning One & All, Kudos go to J.J. for inspiring this post! She talked about writers also being readers and wanting to know what they're reading, so, I thought I'd post about it. As well as the different viewpoints regarding reading. I actually put what I'm reading in the right hand margin of this blog. Currently nothing is listed because I had to wait on some books to be available. I'm picking them up today. On that list is Laura Childs' Eggs In Purgatory , Stephenie Meyer's The Host , and Kerrelyn Sparks' Secret Life Of A Vampire . Reading for an author is an opportunity for many things: enjoyment, learning, and knowing what's out there (particularly what might be selling well or what isn't selling as well). It's an education while being fun. Nathan Bransford posed the question of an author being well-read in his post on Wednesday . The comment section had a whole bunch of points of view and opinions. Some people have a different id...

Good Morning One & All, So, have you ever seen those things...the t-shirts and pins that say stuff like "Be careful or else you'll end up in my novel" or "Be careful or else you'll end up in my blog". Pretty funny, but if you think about it, there's some truth in those quotes. We writers pull from practically anything and everything. Someone might say something really cool and overhearing it, the author in our heads says " Ooo ! Ooo ! Must remember that, totally awesome." And we're off and running on ideas. But, you know, sometimes someone says something awesome and our author brains can't help wondering "How would I work that into a story? Who would say that and why?" Click. Click. Click. Our minds become saturated with possibilities. Most of the time authors come up with their own dialogue and sayings, ideas, but every now and again we hear something that makes us sit up and pay attention--even closer than we were. You n...

Good Morning Folks, Last night I was bemoaning my writers' block to my husband. "Even my blog hasn't been very clever today!" I exclaimed. He replied, "Well, you can't be clever every day." I said, "But, I want to be clever every day." My husband held me close, while buried my face in his shoulder and said, "You can be clever 360 days of the year." I said, "So, 5 days out of the year my brain takes a vacation?" He said, "Yes." Basically he let me know it was okay if I wasn't entirely witty all 365 days of the year. That off-days were just fine. Unfortunately, I'm not exactly happy about going through a "dry spell". Last night in an effort to alleviate this problem, I began re-reading Conjure A Man from the first chapter on. I haven't finished, but I did manage to make some edits and start getting a grasp for the story again. Perhaps this is what I've been needing to do with Surreal. Start...

Good Afternoon All, The greatest joys for an author is when they finish a manuscript and getting published. But before that happens, there's little moments of triumph and agony. Times when the story just flows from the fingertips, moments when the characters are most engaging, falling in love with the story for the first time, times of big flashes of inspiration, et cetera. Sorrows come when an author is struggling with a plot point, or when something isn't fitting...or if the story just doesn't want to "behave" itself. A character can be acting unlike his or herself, or scene the author likes has to be cut. But despite all this, most of the time a writer comes back to why he or she is writing in the first place: Could it be because said author just can't help it? Maybe the author in question feels compelled to write--like the story is just bursting out from inside the writer. Whatever the reasons, an author needs a reason to write. So what are your reasons ...

Good Afternoon everyone, Most people have at least one. You know, that book that you've read, loved, fantasized over the possibilities of what happened to the characters after "The End". Books that inspire, touch our hearts, leave us wanting more . Or even books that leave us perfectly satisfied after the last page. For me, there's several on my list that fit several of those descriptions. I've read Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice at least 3 times. Mr. Darcy...awesome, awesome. And I do like the BBC's miniseries that did a good job of portraying the book. I read Maureen Daly's Seventeenth Summer over and over again as a teenager (well at least twice, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was more than twice LOL). I've devoured Lurlene McDaniel's books, particularly Don't Die My Love, reading and re-reading them over and over; particularly A Rose For Melinda . I've read Georgette Heyer's The Grand Sophy at least twice, if...

Good Evening One & All, Shakespeare wrote in Romeo & Juliet, "What's in a name?...A rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Disney talked about names in Aladdin in the lyrics, "Better get a nom de plume ." (the song, "One Jump"). So, for a writer, what does a nom de plume (or, pen name) say about the author? It could be a different spelling of the author's name, it could be a name that has a significance. They could keep their first name, but change the last, or change both. A pen name is also the name a writer will write under for his or her books. The name that his or her readers will recognize them. The name on the autographs and the one where people will say, "Oh yes, that's so and so, they wrote..." Some authors write under their own names. Others, for a variety of reasons, choose a pen name. What about you? Are you considering a pen name? What have you looked at when thinking of your nom de plume ? For myself, I...

Good Morning Everybody, Well, this Saturday morning is a bit overcast, but that's okay since it means it's not blisteringly hot. I'm looking forward to the cooler weather. I'm not a huge fan of snow (although growing up I was) so I'm glad that it doesn't usually snow here, but I do like colder weather. There's something so cozy about adding that extra blanket in the bed or putting on long sleeves, a sweater, jacket or sweatshirt. Tossing a scarf around your neck. It's just one of those warm-your-toes-in-front-of-the-fire feeling. This brings me to the feel of a book (or manuscript) in one's hands. The smooth texture, the sight of words across the page (blank pages are hard to deal with, as most of you well know!) Reveling in having an adventure in your hands. It's heady stuff. One of the reasons why I adore bookstores and libraries. All those shelves and shelves covered in books. It's nirvana for a writer because writers are also readers. All...

Good Morning One & All, It's Friday. For some that means weekend is right around the corner. Although, my husband is working part of Saturday, so Sunday will be his weekend. I appreciate that he is so responsible and loves me and my son so much that he wants to provide for us as best he can. Good traits in a man! In any case, for those of you that don't work on Saturdays, I hope you all have a great weekend and enjoy yourselves :-) Last night I was doing some work on Conjure A Man . It's coming together and I'm really happy with the reconstruction. I'm beginning to think this is a more viable solution for the story and that it leaves options open to me that weren't there originally. So, as a writer, gotta love that. I plan to work on it more today. Regina M. has the read the Prologue for Surreal and mentioned she had some comments for me. So, I'm looking forward to receiving that email to see if she says stuff that I had already thought of, or gives opt...

Happy Night-Time Folks, This quick little resource post is triggered by Regina (Kudos award goes to her this time!) She was talking about wanting to find a writers' group. One thing I recommended was finding the most recent (or the 4th edition) of The Complete Idiots' Guide To Getting Published by Sheree Bykofsky and Jennifer Basye Sander . Come to think of it, that's where I first saw the information about Romance Writers' Of America, although, I did end up searching on the internet and learning more about the RWA and the chapter I want to join when I was looking for Conferences near where I live. Just be sure that when you're looking things up the phone numbers and sites are updated. I tried to call a number once that was listed in a book for a group and the number was wrong. Here's some info on writers' groups (including the RWA): Sisters In Crime (for mystery writers) National Writers Union (for all genres--free-lance writers). The Authors Guild (re...

Good Morning Folks, The light bulb came on for this post as a result of a friend's birthday (not saying whom just in case she doesn't want anyone guessing her age) having happened yesterday. My birthday is next month and I'll be 30. I thought today would be fun to explore how or what makes a writer decide "This is it. This is my career, I want to query and hope I can be published." Here's how it happened to me: I've talked about when I started writing, but when isn't what smacked me over the head and said "You need to do this." What did that is the fact that I'm turning 30 this year. I know. What's so big about turning 30 that would make me decide that I had to pursue my writing on a more serious level? For years I wrote manuscript after manuscript. Most of them were unfinished (some even got deleted or thrown in my trashcan). I kept trying to find my niche, the type of fiction that I most enjoyed writing--that I could see myself ch...

Good Afternoon Folks, Today's been interesting. What with me having to run down to the doctor's office to find out I've the beginnings of an ear infection and congestion, so I'm on a perscription and Sudafed and Advil for a few days. Not my favorite way of spending a day--but it happens. But hey, at least I'm feeling better than I did last night. Last night I felt like crap. So...I want to know...is there a system you use for figuring out titles...I'm talking any titles...titles for stories, blogs, emails, you name it. I have a hard time (a good portion of the time) coming up with good titles. Every now and again inspiration strikes and a title hits me out of the blue (like what happened with Conjure A Man ). I'm afraid I wasn't as inspired when I came up with the title , Surreal. Granted, sometimes publishers change titles, but authors have to have a working title. One by which the story is called. Generally authors don't have conversations like th...

Good Morning All, Originally when I was going to post I didn't know what I was going to say, but I was talking to a friend of mine about things to do with devoting oneself to writing (being in it for the long-haul) and suddenly it came to me. That's a blog post. So kudos awards go to Michelle The Merry (as she likes to call herself--I send you a very enthusiastic "Whoopee!") What does a writer have to do for love of the craft? Is it sitting in front of the computer (or notebook) and push through a difficult place to get the story out? Is it researching for hours and hours about a topic that has to be presented as realistically as possible? Is it reaffirming oneself despite doubts? Is it researching the publishing world to know exactly the right agent or publisher to query? Is it getting feedback? Is it settling for simplistic writing or going for the fancy writing? It's all these things and more. It means deciding that writing is the career of choice. I'm not ...

Morning Folks, Well it's a little after 11 a.m. on Monday...not quite as catchy as the Billy Joel song, Piano Man ; but more of the truth rather than Billy Joel's lyrics LOL. Just got finished instant messaging with my older brother. He lives on the East Coast. Very busy man, but one of the best brothers a girl could have. (Of course all my brothers are the best brothers a girl could have--this includes my brothers-in-law, of course). Shoulder update : doing much better. Seems to be getting better every day. I'll continue to stretch it and move it around to loosen it up the rest of the way. I pulled my pelvis last night trying to get comfy in the bed. Fortunately it's much better. I'm thinking I need to get back to working with the exercise DVD. Okay...those of you who are interested in Surreal based on Sunday's Post please send me your comments in an email . Last night I did some work on Conjure A Man and it's coming along. Which, is nice since I have a...

Happy Sunday Night Everyone, LOL, if you're wondering how I pulled my muscle in my shoulder on Saturday, you can thank Stephanie for posting the question in the comment section and the answer is there, as well. How's my shoulder? Glad you asked. It's better. Not all better, yet. Still a little tender, but husband massaged it and showed me how me a stretch and I've been laying on the heating pad every now and again and being gentle with that shoulder/arm. So it's healing. As to writing, the reconstruction of Conjure A Man has been smooth. I'm thinking this was a grand idea. (Kudos go to Tess for affirming my belief that the beginning needed to be changed and overhauled; I still maintain that you're awesome). I've gotten questions answered by my editor for Surreal and hoping something brilliant comes my way to help me improve that one, until then, I have to just keep working on the edits. But let's review, Surreal shall we? Let's go with some ...

Morning All, Well, I did a rather not-so-brilliant thing. I pulled a muscle in my shoulder this morning at 6:30 a.m. Since it was hot in my bedroom, and my shoulder was in pain, I was unable to go back to sleep. I got up and had my husband massage it a little bit and took an Advil. My husband wanted to show me a stretch, but I had been up several times in the night because of our son, so I was tired, hot and sore. So I opted against seeing the stretch since I was falling asleep on my feet. I went to turn down the air conditioner and laid on the floor in my son's room for a bit, since it was closest to the thermostat until I had the energy to go back to my bed. My shoulder is better. My son slept in so I was able to get more sleep (and be way more awake than I was at 6:30). I'm thinking heating pad today! But at least it's not as bad. I can move my arm and my shoulder, it's just a pulled muscle. I was trying to turn over in the bed and apparently was rough with the muscl...

Afternoon Folks, I know I'm posting rather late in the day, but I couldn't come up with a fun post until now. I have a couple of things of interest to share today: Today those who drop by Nathan Bransford's blog will find out he's going to have a book out eventually (the link will take you directly to the post about his book). That's pretty cool. We'll have to keep an eye out for the story in the coming years. (I don't know the release date). This afternoon I went to read my younger brother's blog regarding the house he's bought and is fixing up with help from his fiancee. I was so tickled because there's a phrase on there describing the work going on that follows up with the fact that "incoherent threats to the roof, rafters, drywall, wiring, and tools" had happened. Talk about awesome wording. I love that "incoherent threats..." that's gotta be awesome. It's one of those things you can imagine in your head. It'...

Good Morning Folks, One of the questions I often get (and know others, do, too) is "How did you get started writing?" or things like "What drives you?" "When did you know you wanted to be a writer?" So, I thought we could all tell our story. Here's mine: As a little girl I loved to play make-believe. I was always playing "House" (not the TV show, the actual game of pretending real life...generally pretending to be an adult, at the tender age of 4 LOL). I also had Imaginary Friends, who visited regularly and had their own stories and lives. I even made up a little song. Very simple, not a whole lot of expertise thrown in, but for a kid of around 3, 4 or 5 years of age people were impressed. (Now I'd probably blush if I heard my Dad perform it--Dad, that's not a suggestion!) The song was never written down or recorded, at least, not to my knowledge. For all I know, my younger brother will decide to take the simplistic song and turn i...

Happy Late Evening One And All, Whew. I've been immersed in some serious revising. I ought to be working on Surreal , however, I think one chapter a day works best for that project at this time. Once ideas start flowing I can do more. At this point I'm reintroducing myself to the story after an absence. The other revising I'm doing? Serious reconstructive work on Conjure A Man . After some thought based on some advice Kim Lenox gave at the chapter RWA meeting on Saturday morning, and some suggestions from Tess, I went back and cut out all of Chapter 1 to lead off with chapter 2. This way, I throw the reader immediately into the action and the story. The situation is right there and the back story flows through the dialogue. Combining chapter 2 and 3, I'm working on improving the beginning. Fortunately I only have about 11-12 chapters so far, but I'm getting reinvigorated. I have to quit for now, because it's almost 10 p.m. and with motherhood responsibilities I...

Hello Everyone, Welcome back from the Labor Day Weekend. Hope everyone had a safe and great time. Mine was peaceful, which is just fine by me. Recently I've received the first chunk of edits for Surreal back from my editor. Earlier this year I realized a valuable lesson: edit as you go. Either after finishing the first 3 chapters, begin the edits or go chapter by chapter. It will make the load of revisions lighter and give you a sense of already "polishing and buffing" before an editor or critique partner gets a hold of your story. Rewriting can be rough, but it's a fact of a writer's life. Writers write the first draft, go back, fix mistakes, rewrite, rewrite, rewrite, then begin the process all over again until the project is polished, buffed and as good as they can make it. You want to send your best work. Not your first draft. After having spent almost a year of hardly looking at Surreal , I realize how much I've learned about writing since having compl...

Good evening folks, So, it's Sunday, the day before Labor Day and a funny thought occurred to me: the image a person has about an author. Be honest. Before you knew the truth, you thought your favorite author led this ultra exciting life, complete with Hollywood sophistication, name brand fashionable clothes and vacationed every summer in the Virgin Islands (and that was just the female writers). The male writers were these incredible husbands, that fed their wives breakfast in bed every day, and brought home million dollar checks every pay period. You mean they don't? You mean they're just like me? Ordinary with regular every-day concerns? But wait, they're published, they've got their book on the shelf at Barnes & Noble. They were featured on Oprah's show. Tyra Banks has even read their book...actors and actresses are clamoring to be in the film. Nope. Sorry. Authors, even published ones, are generally ordinary, every day, regular people. Most...

Good Afternoon Everyone, It's a pleasant Saturday outside my window and I'm on an emotional/writer's high. I went to a chapter meeting of the Romance Writers of America (RWA) and it was wonderful! Everyone was so nice to me, and I learned a lot. If you can find a group like that near you, people that are positive, encouraging and kind, I highly recommend it. I plan to join them officially, although, I'm able to go to one more meeting before I join. Kim Lenox gave the educational part of the meeting and she was quite informative. She recommends looking at your writing like a movie scene: taking in the sights, sounds, et cetera. Putting your reader right in the middle of the whole scene. She also signed my copy of Night Falls Darkly . She was incredibly nice about signing my copy of Night Falls Darkly and talked to me about my own writing. She's very sweet and very funny, too. If you are interested in Historical Romances or even Paranormal, I recommend her wo...