NANOWRIMO Approaches... Are You Ready?

 Love this time of year when we prep for NANO.  What? you don't prep for NANO? 

I guess it comes down to a plotter or a pantser or even a just give me an idea! 

Seriously, Ideas pop into my head all the time. I'm constantly writing scenes in my head that might never make it onto the keyboard. 

I think it was the World According to Garp where he sees the red gloves in the gutter and a story pops into his head? Correct me if I'm wrong, it's been awhile. 

That's where I think the stories hide. In those everyday things all around us. Stephen King says in his book, On Writing that he just puts too ideas together. Like for Carrie; Telekinesis and a girl who gets picked on in school. Easy, right? Rapid dog and mom trapped in a car with her son. Writer has accident and meets crazed fan. 

So for this year's NANO I'm going to take King's idea and merge two things together. I'm starting a list; 

Housewife and the devil meet

Old car and ....wait! That was King's. :)

Vacation on an island and contact is lost from the mainland

Man gets job in restaurant Owner is a ghost

Woman is murdered and haunts her murderer

Girl discovers secret passage in her new home discovers aliens

Woman buys a bracelet at a garage sale and can suddenly hear voices. 

The list is growing.... which to pick. 

Who doesn't love a good NANO challenge?  

So where are you going with NANO this year? 

Soul Sucking Things that Get Writers

Covid 19 is a soul sucker. It's an on-edge feeling of fear, want & confusion. We fear the virus (or we should.) We want to be normal. To go back to our day to day life and to our old goals and ambitions. Right now all that is on hold. We face confusion every minute of the day. Information overload from all directions.

I was a that real job thing the other day when a man told me about those Americas Frontline Doctors who said that hydroxy-whatever can cure Covid. Wow, wouldn't that be great? So as soon as I could get to a computer I looked it up. A bunch of doctors said it's so. So I looked them up. Each. Individually. I wanted to know if they were people I should believe. 

First I saw that Facebook and Twitter had deleted the postings. hmmmm, why would they do it? 

Well it call came out that 2 of them were ophthalmologists and not regular medical doctors. One of them doesn't even have a license. The main speaker has publicly stated that she believes dreaming about demons can get a woman pregnant. 

Did I really have to read further? 

Ok so the ball of confusion is everywhere and by the time you research -- we are writers after all, that's what we do; research -- maybe an hour or two has passed. Then where are we? Certainly not writing or editing.  We all know social media is a soul sucker so now on top of all that we have Covid-land. So, how do we get our drive back? 

Back to basics; 

1. Schedule your writing time and go to it like a job. Every great writer does this so it's #1 on the how to get your writing mojo back. 

2. Close the door. Not just on the people in your house but on all that static from social media. DON'T OPEN IT! Consider it a demon ready to snatch your writer's soul. 

3. Set a goal. It could be 20 minutes it could be an hour. I like pages. Setting a goal by pages makes you get it done. I could daydream for an hour and then wrap it up. Done. But if I say I have to write 10 pages before I get up... well, then I'll have something to show for the time. 

Stay strong my writer friends. You are creative and the world needs your words. 

Nano & Plot twists

I started NaNo and I'm at a paultry 3412 words. And it's November 18th already! WTF?
So I have my story idea but it's only that. A basic idea with nowhere to go. :(

Tonight after our NaNoWriMo write in I realized how pitiful this story is and that I have nothing. It's getting to a blah, blah, blah phase.
So I came home and googled "plot twists" with the intention of just grabbing number 3 on whatever list I found and to just write it.
I didn't do that.
Instead I found the most amazing plot twist sites.
Check out my  fav which lists movies and how they used plot twists. That one is called. Reedsy Blog. 
The next awesome plot twist site was found at the Writer's Den. This was a generator where you just click and you get your twist. This was fun! Gave me some good future story ideas, too.
My 3rd required more info. Add some details and you get the twist. That one was out of the UK (love that country!) The twists are here. Check them out and find some unique ideas.

That's it, I'm back to NaNo-ing! I have some ideas and I'm ready to write!
Write on, my friends. I'll see you in the pages....

Old Ideas - Scare Me

I write... a lot.
I don't finish a lot, just get that idea down on paper, file it away and maybe come back on a day when I have nothing else to do.
Weird or writerly?
I think most writers do this. I ideas are fluid things that come and go so quickly if we don't get them down on paper (or puter) they get lost into the darkest recesses of our mind never to be seen again.

So today in one boring moment I pulled up a file from some time ago. It's title was simply; Emails.
I have no idea what the thought behind this story was to be, but it sure did give me the creeps. Now I have to think where to take it next. Suggestions?

Emails
by the Aimlesswriter

March 9^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim,

I know we haven’t spoken in a long time but I just wanted to reach out to you one more time. How have you been? How’s the kids?

Your brother,

Mason

March 10^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

Who is this? It’s not funny.

Jim

March 14^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim

They say time heals. We’ve had time and now I think we should talk. Please don’t be upset. You know it’s what mom would have wanted.

Mason

March 15^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

You are not Mason and this has to stop. Don’t email me again.

Jim

March 27^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim

I saw you getting in your car at the grocery store last Wednesday. Your wife was with you. She’s still as pretty as ever. Please tell her I said hi.

Can we get together?

Mason

March 28^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

Who the fuck are you?

Jim

April 10^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim,

Remember when we tried to seal watermelons from that farm on Cove Road? That rock salt sure did sting. Farmer Ben was a good shot. Remember how mom yelled at you. Older brother’s always get the blame.

I’m still waiting for you.

Mason

April 11^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

If I find out who you are I will kill you.

Jim

April 14^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim

We’d love to have you visit soon. Bring the whole family. I think little Suzy must be getting big by now. How old is she? We’ve been apart too long. I don’t even remember the last time I saw that little tyke. How about sending me a photo?

See you soon,

Mason

April 15^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

Don’t talk about my kid or my wife. I’m having this IP address traced and when I find out who you are I will put you in the ground.

Jim

April 30^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim,

It’s getting warm down here. Can’t wait to see you. It won’t be long now. Bring that pretty wife of yours too. I know she’ll love this place. It really is her kind of haunt. 

Mason

May 1^st

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

Listen you sick freak Mason has been dead for 8 years now. For you to pull this crap is really sick. I don’t know what your game is but it’s not going to end well for you.

Jim

May18th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim

Remember when Mom wanted to call you Jamie and you said it was too girly? Can I call you Jamie now? Does your wife know you wet the bed until you were 7? Eight years is too long a time not to talk. Let’s get together.

Mason

May18th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

How do you know this stuff? Who are you? Contact me one more time and I’m calling the police.

Jim

May 26^th

From Email; Mason@zmail.com

To: JamesS@zmail.com

Jim

Did you know it was all a mistake?

Mason

May 27^th

From Email; JamesS@zmail.com

To: Mason@zmail.com

Obituary;

Obituary; Mason Tyler Scandish July 8, 1962 to September 7, 2011 Beloved son of Abgail and Martin Scandish, husband of Regina Benson Scandish and Father to Miles and Abby was taken too soon by a freak accident. He was active in his church and with the 4 H club. Mason always said he never met a man he didn’t like. Services are Thursday and Friday at the Day Funeral home.

Stop emailing me!

Why aren't I more Prolific?

Prolific: causing abundant growth, generation, or reproduction

I have great plans. Write in the morning, write after work, go into my home office, aim for a page count, and on and on...

I heard a quote in a meeting; It's still a goal until you quit.
Good words.  My goal is to become a prolific writer.

Sometimes we have to reset the goal. Life changes, work changes, we change. Enough that maybe the old ideas of how we hope to get things done, don't really fit anymore.  In the past three years I've held four different positions at work. Each one another rung on the ladder so that's a good thing, but each change brought on more studying, more challenges to conquer. A learning journey. It's been fun and educational. I knew when I took the first job, it was below my skill level, but I liked the place and the people and knew I could figure the rest out as I learned about the business.

Then there's my writing. The stories that need editing and stories to tell. Sometimes I'd pull that word doc up and put a few paragraphs in, but then spend time rereading what I wrote last since it's been a while since I wrote it.  Going nowhere fast...

I have Stephen King's book, On Writing, on my nightstand. I sometimes reread parts of it for inspiration. One of the things that stands out about his whole writing journey is that he always wrote. Even when working in other places, he found a way and wrote. He set goals.

So, how to set goals when working a full time job, coming home with your brain fried, and head spinning? What do you?  Sadly, I turn to Facebook or Pinterest. Evil little time suckers.

After a while my mind screams; ENOUGH! LET'S GET IT DONE!

It's time to set new goals. Here's the plan;

Weekends; 20 pages. That's only 10 pages a day. How hard can that be? When I'm into a story, 10 pages are easy.  Aside from the occasional family thing or adoption days for my foster dog, weekends are pretty much open.

Weekdays; 10 pages for the whole week. (This goal is frightening) That would be 2 pages a day or about there.  Depending on what's going on at work, sometimes I wake up thinking about what I have to get done that day. My mind starts scheduling things, lining up the day as I sip coffee. After work? Facebook calls. When there's nothing exciting there, it's on to Pinterest!  Bad habits that need to go. Writing during the week is hardest.

Question? How do you clear your mind to write?

Foster Dog, Lexie. On the day she saved from a North Carolina kill shelter. 

Self Inflicted Deadlines

I've been a slacker.

As I wrote those words I realized I've felt them before....UGH! Too many times.

For a long time I had that early morning writing time carved out where I wrote for about an hour before work. Now, looking back, I don't know why I stopped.

So last night I mentioned my latest WIP to my husband. It's finished and in rewrites. I said I should just take a weekend and lock myself in my office and just get it done. He laughed and nodded. The kind of nod that said, "Yeah, of course, we all know that."

My office has no television. It's a good place to zone out and write. If I go in there. Since I have a lap top I can write in the family room...you know... in front of the TV, (said no great writer ever.) I don't actually watch TV, I just like the background noise. Oh, and the news. I'm kind of a news junkie.

I was over at Konrath's blog and read about doing pre-sales on a book you're about the launch. Or as I call it; Panic Your Life! I'm not sure I could take the pressure of that. What if life got in the way? What if a family member needed me for something? What if the dog needed me to take her for a walk? What if I just panic and can't write?

I think work takes up a lot of my brain time. When I get home I don't want to think, I want to veg and let my head clear. I know that's only a Monday to Friday excuse so I have nothing for the weekends.

I think its time to start locking myself in my office on weekends and only come out for tea and food. (And laundry...)

How's your writing time going?

Slow Go for NANOWRIMO?

I get depressed when I look at my NANO word count. Then I visit the NANOWRIMO facebook page and see I'm not the only slow poke. Lots are faster/further than I and lots are with me or behind me.

Hey! At least I got something down on paper. Now if I only had more hours in the day.

Usually, when i write something I kind of have an idea where the story is going. Maybe I don't know everything, but I know most. Sometimes I get the ending before the beginning.

This NANO I took one sentence that I scribbled down a few months ago and decided that would be my start. I tucked that little piece of paper under the arm of my Edgar Allen Poe action figure and refused to look at it until November 1st. When I finally looked....nothing came to me. However, in the spirit of NANO I forged ahead and just started writing. Now, 6000 words in I still don't know what to do with this story. Edgar has been no help. ;)

I spent an hour last night changing the main characters names. Then changing them again. Googling names by country and by popularity and basically wasted the night. I think that was my sub-conscience's goal. Waste time and hope to write SOMETHING.

When I get stuck I usually stop and think; How can I torture my main character?
A strange phone call in the night? Meet a creepy neighbor? Discover something bizarre and off the main point of the story. (What if you were investigating a murder and in the process discovered something really weird about someone you thought you knew?)  Would I want to keep that in the story later? Who knows! But I'm going for a word count here, baby! 50,000 by November 30th! That's 18 more panic filled days of writing.

It's after nine and I have to work in the morning...that real-life-gotta-eat-job that so interrupts my writing time. Come on! Let's NANO!

So??? How's that NANOWRITMO gig treating you? What's your word count?

How to Edit and Stay Friends

If people know you write, there are times someone you know will ask you to look at their work. It's happened to me many times. A few pages here and there are no problem. One guy asked me to look at his work and the next time I saw him he handed me his 500 page rough draft. I never agreed to read his book. He asked me if I would look at some of his work. "Some" must have meant a whole book.  I did half of it. In giving it back to him I told him he was repeating the same tell and show issue in every scene. To start showing what was going on in the story would go a long way in giving the reader a better visual of what was happening. He was upset I didn't finish it and asked how  he was going to know where the other problems were. Hey! You got a 250 page free edit, go read the notes!
I understand his need for feed back but where do we draw the line? If I'm doing it as a favor, do I need to give a page count?

Now I edit on Fiverr. I've met some very good writers and a few who need help. Friend or stranger, here are a few things I keep in mind when editing.

1. Say something nice. Start with positive comments. This could be about the story premise, characters, or overall theme of the story.

2. Let your comments be constructive. If they don't know how to write dialog, offer examples of good dialog or link them to a site that covers it.

3. When correcting punctuation, tell them why. When listing three things put a comma before the word "and."  John likes meat, potatoes, and beer.

4. Catch the typos and flag them, but let the writer make the change.

5. Give them an overall synopsis that covers the good and explains the issues. "You have an excellent voice, but I'm seeing a lot of places where you tell more than show."

Just changing their writing or telling the person they're wrong won't help them grow as a writer. Give a clear and concise explanation of the things you flag in their story. Link to grammar or story structure sites will help to explain your comments. Every writer has a voice that is uniquely their's and an editor should respect it.

Write on, my friends...I'll see you in the pages.

How to Edit Socially

I work in a place where I often see writing that needs a little help. Now, I'm no grammar expert but I think I have a basic handle on it. I've been at it for years and have been published here and there. Hopefully, that counts as something.

When I see mistakes, missing commas, repetitive writing, etc. the corrections sometimes just pop right out of my mouth. I went on a job interview once where the owner of the company was using a word wrong and he kept repeating it. Suddenly, in the  middle of the interview I blurted out, "You're using that word wrong." I couldn't help it. My mouth had a mind of its own and my poor little grammar lovin' heart couldn't take it any more.
Surprisingly, I got a call the next day with a job offer.
I turned it down.

Now back to work. My job is nothing spectacular. I answer phones, process mail, write stuff, and help everyone else in the building do everything. And I love it. There's always work to do, the people are happy, and the bosses are great. Everything my last job wasn't. Except for writing. My pet writing peeves take a hit almost every day.

Peeves;
1. Repetitive words. The home was devastated and needed repairs. The devastated condos were devastated. For God's sake get a Thesaurus...or hit shift F7.

2. Starting each sentence with the same word. When they fixed the home... When it was time for... When the family... Think outside the box. There are millions of words out there. Something else will work just as well as that one word.

3. Run on sentences. If you're sentence runs three or four lines and takes up three separate thoughts....Separate them!

4. And as the guilt washes over me from #3...pet peeve #4...No exclamation points in business writing. I once had a journalism prof tell me, "No exclamation points unless you're on fire." Good advice.

5. Almost as annoying as repetitive words is repetitive thoughts. Turning one sentence around and saying the same thing as the previous sentence. Same thought, different words. They worked day and night to get the job done. Everyday they worked long into the night and finished the job.

Enough of my peeves, what's yours? And what's the best way to bring it to the person's attention? Some don't like to be corrected. Then I vacillate between taking it to a manager or just forgetting about it. Not my circus, not my monkey.
But I like the company and want it to do well.
Dilemma.

It's NANO time!

This NaNo season my daughter and I are exchanging character sketches. The sketch we get has to be the main character of the story. A simple challenge.
I gave her a woman about the same age as she is, who is a celebrity photog. Meaning she chases celebrities for the best shot. Have fun with that! :)
I think I'm so smart.
So what does she give me?
A 12 year old girl genius. The kids a college student. A 12 year old college student!
Oy!
Its going to be a long NaNo...

So tell me? Do you NaNo and what's your biggest writing challenge?

Book Covers & Money

I haven't made much money on my books. I haven't marketed and only have 2 and a half up on Amazon and a couple of shorts up on Inkbok. My third book will be out in August (if all goes well) so I started looking at options for the cover. My last two I did myself (and covers for the shorts on Inkbok) and I think it shows.

Since I couldn't find a good angel man to represent one of the main characters or at least one that hadn't already been used on other books when I searched angel books on Amazon, I used this sunset I shot in Key West. Eh.
For Soul Mates I just put paws across a sky to represent the heaven reincarnation  aspect of the book. Not great but, hey! It was my first book so I didn't have $$$ to spend on anything.

Now I'm working on final edits for No Apologies and I found a cover artist. She sent me a sample of what she'd like to do for me and I'm tingling with excitement! The book is Romantic Suspense and I think she nailed the mood of the book. After seeing her work I know its worth the money. She took my critique of the first two ideas she had and her third one gave me what I wanted. She's working on the final and I'll post it as soon as I get it.

I never knew cover art could get me so excited!

Relationships in Romance Novels and Beyond

Once, in a writer's group I read the first half chapter of one of my WIPs. The man said my writing was always about relationships. I replied that everything in life is about relationships. A relationship doesn't have to be about love or sex or romance. The group we were sitting in was a combination of relationships. When we go to the grocery store we have some sort of relationship with every person we interact with. By reading this, my fellow blogsters are engaged in a relationship. Relationships happen on a daily basis whether we realize it or not. Some are limited, some vanish as quickly as they came, some might grow, some might kill.

The chapter that was read in group eventually led to a murder investigation and wasn't going in the romantic way that the group might have suspected. It was only half a chapter so they really didn't get the whole story.

In romances the relationship has to go somewhere. Maybe a good place where they fall in love, in bed, into a happily every after or maybe just a hint at what was coming next for our characters.

What makes up these relationships? Eye contact/looks, verbal exchange, physical exchange, and even information exchanged by a 3rd party. In some stories we can use all of these to build characters. We hear their thoughts when eye contact is made, watch the verbal exchange and reactions, or sometimes we're in the character's head while they work out questions.

Kinds of relationships?

Norman Bates and his mother
Prez Obama and Speaker of the House Boehner
Teachers and students
Coworkers
Doctors and patients
Bus drivers and riders
Stewardess and passengers
Cops and victims and criminals

Relationships are everywhere!

I was a little surprised I had to explain that everything in life is a relationship of some sort. I think some limit that word to romance, but its so much more and important in every single thing we write.

So what kind of a relationship is building in what you're writing? What techniques do you use to build it?

One Week - Too Many Excuses to Write

I plan, I plot, I think out my writing schedule and still can't get that WIP opened up and rolling. True, there is still that darkness lurking, but things there are changing and maybe for the better. Do we see a light at the edges of the evil? It's looking like the accused was actually set up by a darker force. Its what I thought in the beginning, but everyone argued against it, telling me I was just not facing it. Back to writers and investigations... Writer's need to plot. For a plot to work it means things have to line up. They have to make sense even in fiction. We can only separate from reality for just so much, before we lose our reader. Even in sci-fi, there has to be a believably factor.  In that dark place there were too many things that didn't add up for me. I seemed to be the only one who questioned things and that had me doubting myself. However, law enforcement didn't take things at face value. They investigated, are still investigating, but hopefully heading in the right direction now.

So you'd think this would free up my emboggled (<~~Look a new word! Okay, maybe not...) mind to get back to work, but it hasn't, not yet. So, now I need to plan this writing week. Write everyday between 9 and 5? Or maybe a slower start? write 9 to noon, get other stuff done, write 2 to 4? Believe it or not I once had a great schedule and stuck to it like religion. I need to get that back. I need to believe this is where I need to be and shuck off the outside forces that seek to knock me down.

The other day a friend told me when she was unemployed she wanted something to show for it. She didn't want all that time to pass and have nothing to show for it. Then she wrote enough songs for her first album. She just did it, got it done. Told herself it was what she needed to do and did it.  Inspiring.

Stephen King once said he writes like 10 pages a day. Sometimes he's done by noon, other time's he's still there late into the night. Not sure if that's true or something he had to say when pressed for answers in an interview but it sounds like a plan.

So what's your writing schedule? If you're ever knocked off balance, how do you get it back?

Writer's Block and Freakfly February

Excuses are ugly. I know that, you know that, every writer worth their salt knows that. Yet, we wander the house, office or wherever it is you write, walk the dog, talk to the dog, maybe clean something, play with games (worst thing I ever did was download Scrabble on Kindle...I'm addicted), or maybe sit in front of the TV not writing.

I've done it all and everything was just an excuse not to write.

Writer's block? Maybe. Does it really need a name? Whatever you call it, nothing is getting down on paper. So maybe its time to write badly.

Giving yourself permission not to write the great American Novel is the best cure for writer's block. I believe this gives a person a chance to spew all the crap that's blocking out of your head so the good stuff can flow. Writing bad is cleansing and once in a while something really good might come of it. Maybe whatever is blocking is actually a story simmering and just looking for release. Whether it's in your claimed genre or not, it just might be a best seller.

Instead of Nano or Jano, maybe we need Write Bad month? Something to free writer's to just blow off some steam? Maybe we can have Writer's Freakfly February to clear the senses and open us up for some awesome writing!

So go forth and write badly. Let your freak fly and see what comes out of your little blocked head. I'm off to write the worst story ever! Mwahahahaha!

Writing, Time, Excuses and Writer's Block

Blame Writer's Block, procrastination, or maybe even fear.
Getting back to writing after vacations, holidays, or any other thing that blips your writer's radar can be hard. In the past four months I've had many blips and can't seem to get back on schedule.

Writer's block?
Not sure this is really my problem. To blast past writer's block I believe a person simply has to give themselves permission to just write. Write bad, write crap, write out of your normal genre or just blast out some fan fiction. But just keep writing without ego and without care. Write.

Vacation?
Yeah, two weeks in Florida and driving there and back kind of depleted my energy. It was a great vacation, but totally knocked me off schedule. On vacation there is no schedule. You do things because you want to go and see and you do things because you're there with others and you want to spend time with them. The better the vacation, the harder it is to get back to work.

Holidays?
Always a schedule breaker. Instead of spending days working, you're now rushing around trying to get things done, shopping, cooking (okay, maybe I lied about cooking), cleaning. Writing is the first thing to take a backseat.

Emo blips?
I lost my brother in October. He was the sweetest, most gentlest soul you would ever meet. He was kind to everyone, determined and dedicated to family and friends. He was sick for a while but when he went it was still a surprise. We thought he was getting better and then -suddenly- CRASH! And he was gone too soon. :( It still seems unreal. Like a bad dream you hope isn't real. You see something and think, "I gotta share this with Mike." But Mike is gone. I still talk to him, hoping his spirit hears me and knows I care and miss him. This also slowed the writing and determination to finish things to a halt. I think it just needs time. Five stages and all that.

Another blip?
Unemployment ran out. :( And I live in NJ. A place with the highest unemployment in the land and no real jobs program. If you look to the State for help they offer classes to help you get employed. Too bad their classes are decades behind what employers are looking for in today's computer age. Even the people I spoke to at Unemployment know this, but are powerless to help. So every morning I send out resumes and then think about writing. I need to be more of a producer. Get things written and put them out there. I know this. What I don't know is why I can't.

School?
Last semester an HTML/CSS/XHTML class kicked my *ss. I would spend days working on assignments and often had to go to the computer lab for help. I scored a B- in that class and almost fell off my chair when I read that grade.

So does any of this excuse not writing? No, of course not. I have to nail down a schedule and stick to it. Help! What's your schedule and how do you stick to it? Any advice?

Book Finished....

Since losing my job last December, I've decided to take on the writing full time. I get up at 6 a.m. and I'm dressed and at my desk at 9 a.m. ready to write. Its a job, I go there everyday. Except for two or three days after I finish a book. 

Yesterday I finished No Apologies so today I'm off. Weirdly, on my off day(s) I tend to wander and get nothing done. I almost feel lost. It's like that world I lived in for months has evaporated. 

I don't want to jump to another world just yet, I think I have to clear my head first. 

I work on book covers. 

Think up new names for the book. (No Apologies gets a few hits on Amazon with other books by the same name so I probably need to change it)

Wander aimlessly around the house.

Thursday afternoon I start back to work. I can't wait. 

Writing is Easy

I'm beginning to think writing is the easiest part, because doing a book cover is frying my brain. I'm fairly artistic but really more of a painter than graphic computer artist. I have all the tools; Photoshop, Publisher, Microsoft Picture editor and stuff like that. I'm not great at making them work but I can usually get these programs to do what I want.

Now I'm considering paying for a book cover because I'm really not happy with what I got now. However my first book has made peanuts, mostly I think because I've ignored the little dear, but I'd kind of like to get to the place where my earnings could pay for things like book covers.

And how important is the cover when we're looking at Amazon on the computer? I mean the covers are like an inch big. Of course book blasts do give the cover more exposure but still...how good is good enough?
I think I've been a writer for so long, I've forgotten how to be an average reader. I mean, title and back blurb are what I look for. Am I seeing the cover and just not registering it?

Each day I change my mind. I make covers, remake covers, scrap covers and the frustration grows.
One of my pet-peeves is when a book cover does not match the story. Like there's a dark haired guy on the cover and the main character has blond hair. It messes with the image in my head and I want to scream at the publisher. Am I going to be the customer from hell if I try to buy a cover?

Do you buy covers? From where? Were you happy with your cover? Do you make your own?

Writing 556 Pages

Writing sometimes comes easy. I have one story I wrote a few years ago that's 556 pages. I don't know why this story went on for so long, I guess it just had a lot to say.

After I send No Apologies out the door, Threshold of Midnight is up next. This 556 page moose does need some reworking but the story line is pretty solid. But who the heck will commit to read 556 pages? I think the size of this book might be a turn off so I'm thinking of breaking it in half and do a "Book One" and "Book Two" thing with it.

Which brings a whole lot of other issues in because I believe both books should be stand alone. I wouldn't want someone grabbing book two and spending 225 pages lost in space.

This is going to require some thinking. I have to let it settle in my brain a bit before I get started. But I still have to finish No Apologies and I have about 50 pages to go in the final draft. In this book I changed the story line about half way though so I had to rewrite it all the way through. I almost didn't. I just wanted to put No Apologies on the shelf and move on. The only thing that stopped me was that I liked my main character and wanted to breathe life into her. And I liked her quirky little dog.

Have you ever had a manuscript so long that you feared its marketability? What did you do?

Writing Business Trials

Writing is the easy part. Editing not so hard. Then comes putting it out there. Setting your baby free into the world. That's hard at first but then it gets easier. The first one flies, the next, soon you're flinging your written works of art out there without a care. You know you did your best and you let it sail.

Now comes the hard part. The business end of writing. Marketing....eeeek! Does anyone really like this aspect of book sales?

I remember when Konrath got his first contract for a 3 book deal. He went crazy with marketing. I think the work he did then, still follows him today. People he met along the journey, people who respected the work he did to get his book into as many hands as possible. I know I watched his journey, paid attention to his techniques and ideas. Could I do the same? I'm not sure. Should we all do the same? Maybe.

My daughter who has some freelance and marketing experience is helping me with marketing. She's got great ideas and the energy to make it happen. And she's a bit of a slave driver (which I need!). When I'm monkeying around with book cover art she tells me to stop playing and get back to writing.

Once Betrayed is up and running I'm thinking of paying for a book blast. I have Soul Mates registered for a kboards email and post ($15 fee) for May 24th. I'm thinking of Orangeberry but not sure if it's too soon.

Any other ideas? Okay, back to writing.....