BOOK REVIEW - This one was good! The Sun Down Motel

 The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James, Canadian author of mystery, historical fiction, and romance novels. 

This was the first of her books that I've read. 

This one keeps you turning pages. I got the audio version and the narrators ( Brittany Pressley & Kirsten Potter)were spot on. They gave a realistic feel to the characters. If you're a fan of audiobooks, you know how important the voice can be.

The story is about two women, an aunt, Viv, and her niece, Carly, who both have supernatural experiences at a rundown, motel, but years apart. The niece arrives at the hotel to solve the disappearance of an aunt she never met, who went missing years before. 

First, we meet the aunt, Viv, who is hitchhiking to NYC and lands at the motel by accident (or fate?) 

We jump the timeline years later when her niece comes to find out what happened to the aunt she never met. 

Moving back and forth on the two timelines worked really well and was easy to follow. 

Carly, the niece, investigates murders while searching for clues about her aunt. The motel has ghosts from murders and an accident years before, and the creepy vibe comes on slowly but soon weaves its way into the story. 

 I'd definitely give this book 5 stars since it held my attention, gave me shivers, and had me emotionally involved with Carly and Viv. 

All loose ends were tied up with a big twist at the end. Loved it! 

🕮⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Exercising the Creative Writing Muscle.

 

Like the rest of our bodies, our writing muscles need to work out to keep in top form. 

How do you work out that writing muscle?

 You write, of course! 

But.... what? That's the question that hits every writer at one point or another. I have no ideas, I don't have a story idea, I got nothing! 

So, here's the solution. Write badly. 

Yep! Give yourself permission to write the dumbest, more ridiculous thing you can think of. 

Aliens in the school lunch room?

Puppy found at the beach is actually a shifter? 

There's a cult that meets in the woods behind your house? 

Can a butterfly be a shifter? 

You see your neighbor dump a body in the lake. When you get home, that neighbor is sitting with your wife in your kitchen. Together they confess...

A child comes up to you and tells you it's time to go back to your home planet and tries to convince you that you're an alien. 

A brilliant blast comes from the sky, and suddenly you find yourself on another planet. 

     Okay, I guess I have aliens on my brain today, but you get the idea. Just write something goofy and don't worry if it's good or bad. Just write and the light will appear. It's an exercise to get those creative juices flowing. 

Arts Be Crafty: Paint Up that Old Chair

Arts Be Crafty: Paint Up that Old Chair:  Let's face it. Everything can be a canvas. I especially like painting on things. It's a challenge to see what you can fit in the space...

Check out the ArtsBeCrafty link at the top of the page to see more ArtsBeCrafty ideas! 

Query Times & Writing Days

 

25 Queries sent, 8 rejections. 

Still hunting new agents who might be the perfect fit. 

While hunting, I'm writing the sequel. Threshold of Tomorrow. Three chapters in, nine outlined.

Every morning, it's time to hit the keyboard and work for 10 pages. Funny thing is, if I get those 10 pages done, I don't want to stop! Get into that other world and I, like the reader, want to find out what's happening. If I struggle for those 10 pages I feel myself making excuses to do something else. 

Get up, walk the dog, and find a snack.... always need snacks!

Happy writing my fellow creatives! 

The Query Journey - Writer's Next Step

 

Book finished, edited every which way and now on to the Query journey. Yay! 

Sure, it's a trial, ego testing, and takes a lot of research. But hey! It's part of being a writer, so I say; Have fun with it. Get to know these gatekeepers. Check out their Query Tracker pages, Websites, Manuscript Wish List, and social media pages. 

I generally do this while the husband watches TV at night since I'm not much of a TV person. 

My first piece of advice is to go to Query Tracker. What a gift this site is to writers. Take a few to watch their videos so you can use the site to the best of your abilities. You can do a free version, but for like $25, you can get so much more. Big plus: You can query most agents right through the QT site. Super easy!

In QT, you can see what genres they rep, how many of what they requested, see their clients, and read comments from others who have sent in a query.  These comments tell you what was rejected, how long it took to get that answer and some people even post the rejection letter. (Is that necessary?) 

When I see an agent on QT that I might want to send my book to I first check the genre. Yep, they accept my kind of book. They I peek at their client list just to make sure they actually rep writers and how big that list is. Not that it's a deal breaker either way but it does give me a little insight. 

Next my favorite research tool in QT; Reports. Here I an set it to Fiction Genre and see how many requests they did for which genres. So if the book I'm trying to get a rep for is Horror. I can see how many requests they did for this genre. If all I see is requests for romance and fantasy, the chances are they're not a fan of too much horror. Will this take them off my list? Not yet. There is more research to be done. 

Read the comments. This part can be surprising. Most are just submitted on this date, rejected that date, or req for full, etc. HOWEVER, some take these slow response times and rejections way too personally and get a little snarky. Please don't do that! Today, they may reject, but tomorrow they may scoop up your next book. 

 There are so many reasons an agent will take a long time to respond. First, their inbox may be overflowing, and they're getting through it as best they can. Second, they might have put your query aside to give it another look. (Yay!) Third, these agents are people with private lives, families, and other agent-y things to do. They assist with R&R for their different clients who have already signed. They need to talk to publishing houses, editors to build relationships. Most attend conferences that help writers. They are very busy people!  

Of course, Query Tracker is only one way to research agents. You can do a web search, type #mswl into any social media platform. Visit their websites and read about which agent is looking for which genre. Do a random search of their names. Check the Writer's Beware site, Publishers Market Place. Look on YouTube. There are many agents and agent interviews on YouTube. My favorite are the Bookends Literary Agency videos. Super informative on how the system works and things writers need to know. 

So while you're waiting for a reply, what do you do? 

• Keep researching other agents to submit to
• Write your next book! (actually, this should be #1)
• Live your life, do fun things
• Relax. Writing is a marathon, and queries are just one part. 

Write on, my friend

Awesome Writer's Group Today!

 If you're a writer, you need a writer's group. Check around in your area and find out where they are. Try them on for size and see what fits you. 

I've done a lot of groups. Some awesome, some not so much. Give them a chance and see what fits. 

In the beginning, I wasn't much of a sharer with my writing. It was just for fun, and I viewed it as personal. As my confidence grew, I evolved into different types of groups. 

Critique group: In most critique groups, you share your work and other writers give their opinions and suggestions. Every group I've been in it was an option if you wanted to read or not. Some groups didn't let new people say anything for the first group which I though was weird. Hey, it's their group. Let it be. 

One critique group I was in, the woman wrote about a man whose truck broke down on a deserted road, and he said the word, "fuck." Two of the men in the group went on for twenty minutes putting down her word. I thought that was wrong, but since it was my first time, I kept my mouth shut. Dialog tells us a lot about the character. Some people use that word. To question if a character will curse in the first chapter? Didn't his use of the word tell us something about him? 

Other writing groups are just writing exercise groups. Where they give you a prompt and you just write. Sometimes it's world-building, journaling, or even passing on the story. (One person writes for 5 mins, passing the sheet, next person does 5 mins, and so on.) Some really creative stuff comes from that exercise. 

Whatever writing group you find, go check it out. Find one that fits. They are your people. 

 Writing groups can be inspiring. 

What to do After Finishing Your Book?

 Aside from the polish, edit, polish, edit, round-a-bout... Take two days off. Let your brain drain and your thinking patterns refresh. After all, being neck deep in the world of your story can be draining. I always feel like I've run a marathon when I finish that final edit. 

So, off it goes into query-land. A place of agents, publishers and hope. Let it fly. 

What now? Your next great story, or course! 

From the one I just sent off to query-land, I've got an idea for a sequel. Part of it already mapped out on paper. Three chapters written. 

The issue with that is, will the agent (Please God, send me that dream agent. 🙏) want a sequel? Will they think it's a good idea? I do. 😺 But on something like this, if the agent does want the first book, I'd listen to them on book 2. 

I have another finished book in the drawer. One I really liked, but my beta reader said it had a bit of head-hopping in it. So that's a major edit overhaul. No prob. It will keep me busy. 

So what did I do today? I worked on both of them. What else? 

Tomorrow I may find another agent to query, while kick out another chapter or two on one of these. 

Or maybe I'll just spend the day painting. It's a stress relief. 

What's your plans?