Ambitions and Payoffs

Insecure Writers Support Group meets the first Wednesday of every month. Hosted by Alex J. Cavanaugh. Sign up and join us.

Have you heard I'm launching the first story in my new series next week? Only a few days left. You can still sign up to help HERE.

I was really nervous about taking that step and asking for help. I really didn't expect 50 people to sign up and be so supportive. You all rock on a big, huge, awesome scale. And another 18 awesome folks will host me on their blogs in the coming weeks. So no break after AtoZ for me. Maybe I can take a few days later in June. Probably not. I'll be getting ready to get the sequel published.

Then comes series two. I worry about getting that all done before the end of the year. I'm sure I will get it's first story out this fall. Not so sure about the novel. It'll be a lot of work to take the first draft to polished draft. I'll do my best.

It's exciting, but kind of crazy.

I was in the local papers a lot the past few weeks. I gave the presentation at Central Oregon Writers Guild's meeting last Thursday night. If your ears were ringing, it's because I mentioned a number of you as examples of creating successful platforms. I taught author's platform and building a blog. About 30ish folks showed up. A few drove long distances just to see me. So, they said. That was very flattering. The presentation went really well. I'd had lots of people asking me about blogging the last few months, so I asked to take over a meeting and share my knowledge.

Several people said they saw me in their paper. Cool.

Then Google alerts sent this to my inbox the other day, saying Plantgirl is recommended Nook reading. Cool again. HERE

It's anthills in my push to make a splash in the writing world. But they're nice. Keep on pushing. Keep on working. Payoffs eventually come. Small ones will lead to bigger ones. All we have to do is keep working and not give up.

Have you made any splashes lately?

PS, I'm taking the rest of this week off from blogging. I will be around visiting all of you, and I will be loading up posts and writing posts for The Backworlds Tour. Just going to stay quiet until next Monday. You can find the Tour Schedule HERE.

Cloaking and Our Seven Common Mothers

Cloaking

I'm sure by now you've heard of the experiment producing a successful time cloak. Moti Fridman and colleagues, at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY, created a hole in time using the temporal equivalent of an invisibility cloak.

Invisibility cloaks are produced by distorting electromagnetic fields in extreme ways, moving light around an area, so that it can't be seen in that area. Physicists have used them for light, sound and ocean waves. There's even an illusion cloak which makes an object look like another object. Excellent.

Granted it took a huge amount of energy and a huge-ass machine to create the time cloak for only a fraction of a fraction of a second. But that won't last.

Fridman says there might be a use for a time gap lasting fractions of a second in routing competing streams of data to a processor. For more on cloaking and links, SEE.

DNA - The Seven Daughter of Eve by Bryan Sykes. This is not so new, published in 1994. It's still a fascinating read. Bryan Sykes is the professor of genetics at the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Oxford University. His collection and analysis of our genetics through the mitochondrial DNA passed on from mothers to daughters has shown us all to be descended from seven common Eves or mothers. He calls them Helena, Katrine, Xenia, Jasmine, Velda, Ursula, and Tara. Who knew a book on DNA could be so fascinating? I found it so. Yes, I read the whole book.

What could you imagine using a time cloak for? What about an invisibility or sound cloak? An illusion cloak? Have an idea for a cloak of you're own? What do you think about our shared genetic ancestry?

2012 AtoZ Challenge hosted by Tossing It Out (Arlee Bird) Amlokiblogs (Damyanti Biswas) Alex J. Cavanaugh (Alex J. Cavanaugh) Life is Good (Tina Downey) Cruising Altitude 2.0 (DL Hammons) Retro-Zombie (Jeremy Hawkins) The Warrior Muse (Shannon Lawrence) The QQQE (Matthew MacNish) Author Elizabeth Mueller (Elizabeth Mueller) Pearson Report (Jenny Pearson) No Thought 2 Small (Konstanz Silverbow) Breakthrough Blogs (Stephen Tremp) Coming Down The Mountain (Karen Jones Gowen)

Improving the Craft, Things Writers Can do to Continue Their Education

No matter where we are in our writer careers, we should be constantly striving to improve our craft. Whether we go back to school, take workshops, or read books, this is something we should schedule in on a regular basis.

I confess to being guilty of not doing this as much as I should lately. I do attend the local monthly Guild meetings of which I am the blog director and for which I am giving the presentation next month [on the author platform and building a blog].

I also meet with my local critique group every three weeks. Reading and critiquing their work, as well as receiving feedback on my scribblings, are valuable lessons. I confess it took time to learn to really sit and listen and not get all defensive. It took time for everybody. We have a great group now that's really constructive and productive. We've been together long enough that we're not afraid to be honest. No holds barred at this point. They make me better. That's the place the critique always comes from, to make each other better. So, thanks Word Herd! That's what we call ourselves.

Another thing I do is get together with a bunch of other awesome writer women for lunch about once a month. Several of them are contracted and making a living at writing. It's great to have such experience to learn from and to talk to about whatever is plaguing me at the moment--pricing, commas, real world marketing, etc... Thanks, Coffee Klatch.

I have many books on craft which I have only partially read or not read at all. So, that's something I'm going to fix. I will take a chapter a week and practice what it's teaching. Even if I think I know it, I will take the chapter as a lesson.

I signed up for a workshop given by a local editor in April. Whether I think I need it or not, I just might learn something if I open myself up to it. The price was cheap. Only $10 for Guild members, so I'll go and see what I can learn.

Because I should always strive to improve my writing. Even if I become as big as JK Rowling. What do you do for your continuing writing education?

Happy REAL St. Patricks Day

I made a kind a 'squee' type announcement this week. GO SEE in case you missed it.

Now onto my Got Green? bloghop contribution. Hosted by Mark Koopmans of Aloha! Mark Koopmans says hi from HI.

Followers of this blog know that I celebrated St. Patrick's Day a month early this year. I was so bogged down in January and February that my thoughts started jumbling. So last month I thought, "Oh, it's almost the 17th. I always forget St. Patrick's Day. I won't forget this year." I made my list for the grocers which included corned beef fixings. Days passed, I did not realize my mistake.

On February 17th I started making the corned beef. I had a guest post up on Melissa's Imaginarium that day and thought, "I should have wished everyone a Happy St. Patricks Day in the post. Damn." Then I started to wonder why no one else on the interwebs had mentioned St. Pats.

"That's odd," I thought. It finally occurred to me that it was because it was February and not March. When Husband Unit came home I said, "Happy Not St. Patricks Day." He'd also had a brutal week and absently replied, "Happy Thanksgiving." So, Patsgiving has been born, and next year we will celebrate again on February 17th.

Happy REAL St. Patricks Day everybody.

Finding Inspriation in What Ifs and BloggaMonsta

I have my BloggaMonsta contribution after Annalisa's article. My post for the Got Green bloghop will appear on Friday.

I have a special guest today, the lovely and talented Annalisa Crawford. She blogs at Annalisa Crawford - Wake up, eat, write, sleep.

What if my parents decided they hated me and sent me to live with a long-lost aunt? What if my sister ran away from home and only I knew where she was – would I tell or just move into her bigger bedroom? What if I walked into school one day, and everyone had disappeared?

Hi. I’m Annalisa, and Mary has kindly invited me over to take over her blog today. And that first paragraph was a small insight into my head aged 8 and a half. Actually my parents always loved me, and my sister never ran away from home. I did however once walk into school and everyone had disappeared – turns out I’d arrived during a fire alarm and everyone was on the playing fields. It really freaked me out for an hour or so.

From being very young, I’ve always had these ‘What if…?’ thoughts, and one day I panicked. I wondered, what if these ‘what if…?’s came true! It would all be my fault that my parents got abducted by gorillas on mountain bikes, or that a plane crashed into my next door neighbour’s house.

So I started writing my thoughts down, and they became stories. It’s how my novella Cat and The Dreamer came into being, many years later. Aside from the fact that Julia, my main character, also has a vivid imagination, the story also started with a ‘what if…?’ What if I survived a suicide pact and my best friend died? What if men really did like shy, plain girls rather than pretty and outgoing ones?

If you’re ever struggling for inspiration, all you need to do is look at current news stories (what if I’m a British banker and I’ve just been told I’m not getting my £1million bonus?), sit in a café and watch people interact (what if that couple in the corner are working out the best place to bury the body they’ve got stashed in their car?), or let your mind wander when your fingers are poised over your keyboard (what if the doorbell rang now and I was presented with a winning lottery ticket by a stranger?)

Out of the most outlandish ideas comes something real and solid and perfect, just when you’re least expecting it. Try it now. Let your mind wander, and see what happens. I’d love to hear what you come up with!

Cat & the Dreamer

As a teenager, Julia survived a suicide pact, while her best friend Rachel died. Julia’s only escape from her guilt, and her mother’s over-protection, is her imagination. When Adam arrives in the office, Julia’s world takes a startling turn as she realises reality can be much more fun than fantasy. Finally she has someone who can help her make the most of her life. But can she allow herself to be truly happy? 

Available from:

Vagabondage Press (PDF Version)

Kindle UK

Kindle US

Nook

Add to Goodreads list

Obviously, Annalisa has a great imagination. What, 'what ifs' have you been toying with lately? 

And now for something completely different...

For Laura's blogaversary on the Daily Dodo my BloggaMonsta entry: 

OMG, I Did What?

I stepped out of my comfort zone, and volunteered to give a mini workshop for my local writers guild. So, they slotted me in for April's meeting, and started advertising in the local papers, etc... My topic is the author's platform and building a blog. The only thing I'm slightly nervous about is a lot of my audience isn't very computer savvy.

Oddly, I otherwise have no jitters over doing this. All those Second Sundays I did at the local library with the open mic reading my stories, helped a lot. All the summers I spend up at Pine Mountain Observatory teaching people about stars and the universe, also helped. Maybe there is something to be said for learning to speak to a bunch of strangers in the dark. It's not so scary if you can't see them.

My cats make a great test audience, too. If I don't read with enough spirit, they go back to sleep. If I read with verve, they pay attention with their cutie faces. If I flub a word, they frown and twitch their ears in disapproval. They're a very discerning audience.

So, my advice for nerves: go out and practice. You'll get better. Eventually, you'll slay it.

I'll wrap up by making a few shoutouts today:

Christine Rains has a short story out on A Twist of Noir. Lady Blood. READ HERE

Laura Eno has a new book out, Immortal Desires. For links to Kindle, Nook and Smashwords, see Laura's blog HERE. Here's the exciting description:

After being dumped at the altar, Deanna Cameron seeks a fresh start in life. She gets more than she bargained for after accepting a new job, when an Immortal Guardian sends her five hundred years into the past. She can’t return home and a magnificent highland warrior accuses her of being a spy. Ian Mackay knows the beautiful woman that appears in his castle must be a spy. After all, she’s a Cameron, a clan he despises. The powerful magic surrounding her obstructs his Druid senses, plus he finds he can’t stay away from the temptress. But loving Deanna could come with a price too high to pay. Will she be the downfall of his clan—or its salvation?

Mark Koopmans of  Aloha! Mark Koopmans says Hi from HI is hosting the Got Green Bloghop on March 12-16th. St. Patrick's Day inspired posts -- traditions, meals, stories.

Laura of the Daily Dodo is having a One Year Blogaversary Party. Comment on this post, then on March 13th, post the badge with a photo of a clothed body part. Fab prizes will be awarded.

Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for IWSG--Insecure Writers Support Group. It's not too late to sign up and join your fellow insecure writers on the first Wednesday of the month. Have you heard his second novel, CassaFire, is out? :)





So, have you done anything lately to shake up your comfort zone and increase your visibility? Platform exists outside the internet.

What is the Creative Process?

I'm pleased to have author Toby Neal as a guest today, discussing creativity. Take it away Toby...

What is the Creative Process?

Different for everyone, sure. For me, it’s connected to daydreaming, and then making and doing stuff.

Yeah, real scientific.

Mulling, wandering, chewing a bit of grass as I kick a pebble on my walk with my (small/fuzzy/ridiculous) dogs, I think of a new scene.

Tilting my head to spot a flamenco dancer in the shape of a cloud. I take an Istagram pic of it (find me at tobyneal0)!

Chasing the aforementioned dogs away from a mysterious dirt patch in the middle of the ball field just the size of a body, I see a future crime scene for my novel. 

Dreaming of other lives connected to all the woulda-coulda-shouldas of my own life, a never-ending branch of dimensional worlds connected to choices that may or may not be realities—I jot a poem. It’s pretty bad, but there’s a germ of something there.

Creativity is connected to that glimmer, that flash, the ink of an idea spreading through the water of consciousness and tinting it something new. Writing is escape for me, and distraction, and renewal on so many levels, but in addition creativity’s been expressed in my life by spinning beads out of the hot honey of molten glass. Stitching beadwork so tiny and intricate it makes my eyes ache to look at it. Twisting and stringing jewelry out of all the elements I liked to create separately. 

Crochet: mindless dance of a hook among threads. My brain really floats with crochet. If only anyone wanted all those damn scarves and hats I’ve made here in Hawaii!

Painting: another passion that rears its head periodically with a longing for the brush, the  smell of the paint, the seductive blobs of color like molten jewels. 

Gardening: creating a feast for the senses with God’s help.

Dance: expressing stories within me through movement.

Working with children—playing, laughing, creating, crying, telling the stories of wounds and fear and ferris wheels too.

Creativity is not a finite supply of ideas. It’s a natural state of being in which one medium sparks another, one practice ignites another, an actual flow that is unending if you keep moving with it and allowing it to move through you. Today, think of one little fun, creative thing to do. No agenda. No potential sale. Just fun. 

Fun ignites passion, and passion creates great work. Give yourself permission to just have a little fun and see what happens. 

Hawaii is palm trees, black sand and blue water—but for policewoman Lei Texeira, there’s a dark side to paradise.

Toby Neal is the author of Blood Orchids:

Lei has overcome a scarred past to make a life for herself as a cop in the sleepy Big Island town of Hilo. On a routine patrol she finds two murdered teenagers—one of whom she’d recently busted. With its echoes of her own past, the murdered girl’s harsh life and tragic death affect Lei deeply. She becomes obsessed—even as the killer is drawn to Lei's intensity, feeding off her vulnerabilities and toying with her sanity.

Despite her obsession with the case and fear that she's being stalked, Lei finds herself falling in love for the first time. Steaming volcanoes, black sand beaches and shrouded fern forests are the backdrop to Lei's quest for answers—and the stalker is closer than she can imagine, as threads of the past tangle in her future. Lei is determined to find the killer—but he knows where to find her first.

Available from: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords

About the Author:
Toby Neal was raised on Kauai in Hawaii. She wrote and illustrated her first story at age 5 and has been published in magazines and won several writing contests. After initially majoring in Journalism, she eventually settled on mental health as a career and loves her work, saying, “I’m endlessly fascinated with people’s stories.” She enjoys many outdoor sports including bodyboarding, scuba diving, beach walking, gardening and hiking. She lives in Hawaii with her family and dogs. Toby credits her counseling background in adding depth to her characters–from the villains to Lei Texeira, the courageous and vulnerable heroine in the Lei Crime Series. Toby's Website

Tagged and Blinded

Ouch. That sounds painful. :)

I've been tagged a bunch of times. So, I'm going to answer those today.

I want to thank Trudy Schoenborn for the Versatile blogger award. Trudy is pretty new to blogging, and a great writer. Stop by and say hi from me.

Now onto answering the tags...

Questions from Annalisa Crawford (Who has a new book out, by the way, Cat & the Dreamer):

1.  What was the last film you saw at the cinema? I don't even remember. We rarely go to the movies anymore. We're more Netflix and dvd people.

2.  In what order should Star Wars be watched. 4-6, and only watch 6 up to where Han gets rescued. Phew! He's finally out of that carbonite.

3.  What are you reading right now? I'm still slowly wading through Perdido Street Station by China Meiville. Maybe I'll finish next year. It's a beautifully written book, just very dense. I have to be in the mood to read it. I'm also reading Stephen Tremp's Opening on my Nook. Great job, Stephen. Lots of action and suspense. And, I'm reading Seed to Harvest by Octavia E. Butler. I feel I've discovered a new favorite author. My reading has slowed down due to getting both manuscripts done by end of February. {I succeeded by the way, they're both done. :D}

I was also tagged by C. Lee McKenzie of TheWriteGame:

1.  If you could write one book only, what would the main character be like? Someone raw and gritty, very flawed, dealt a horrible hand in life and has to find a way to win and overcome the obstacles.

2.  If you hate a book, do you keep reading or put it away? I put it away. I never got past the first chapter of House of Seven Gables. I tried several times and couldn't do it. Odd, as I enjoy most classic literature. Ie, I loved War & Peace, and read the entire Deerslayer series. I hate to say there are several other books I've never finished and never will.

3.  What kind of books do you like best? Besides sci-fi and fantasy, I love historical fiction, and literature, especially the classics. I read Jane Austen over and over, and Steppenwolfe by Hermann Hesse. I read all genres of fiction, but enjoy books that provoke some sort of thought from me the most, or take me on a wild ride.

4.  Are you transitioning into the digital age? Or are you sticking with hard copies? I have a Nook, and I continue to buy paperbacks.

I was also tagged by Nancy Thomspson:

1. What is the first line of your current WIP. Well, I just finished two and am about to start a new one.

The first line of The Backworlds: Craze never imagined his pa would turn on him. / The first line of Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge: Orange lights fringing the mishmash tavern blinked and a low coo vibrated through the floor into Craze’s sub-hearing, “Incoming.” The first line of the new WIP is still a work in progress. It doesn't even have a title yet.

2. Who is you favorite author? Jane Austen. Hermann Hesse, Peter Hamill, Peter Mayle, Margaret George, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Tanya Huff, Kurt Vonnegut, and Octavia E. Butler. Sorry. I couldn't stick to one.

3.  If you could go back and do anything over again, what would it be? I'd either skip grad school altogether or pick a different degree.

4.  What is your favorite quote? From GalaxyQuest, "Never give up and never surrender."

Next...Are you signed up for April's AtoZ challenge? If you're looking to build your blog, I highly recommend it. I did it last year, and met many great people. With the number of names signed up, it does look daunting, and the idea of blogging everyday but Sunday is, too. Well, here are some tips that will help you succeed:



1. Pick a theme for the challenge. This year my theme will be recent scientific discoveries.




2. You don't have to visit every blog everyday. I usually visit about twenty. I'll start at a random number, and visit the sites that pique my interest or that I think I might have something in common with.


3.  Start loading up your posts for April now. If you don't know how to schedule posts, it's a great time to learn. And, I take weekends off. So, last year I doubled up on posts on Fridays. You could post fewer times a week and double up posts, too. Ie, A/B, C/D.


Moral. You can make the challenge work for you. You'll meet a ton of new friends and get a lot of traffic to your blog...if you actively participate.

Are you doing AtoZ this year? 

Lastly, but not leastly, tomorrow is Alex J. Cavanaugh's Catch Fire party for his new release, CassaFire. Stop by to party. Go visit Alex and wish him a hearty congrats.

And go visit Trudy, Annalisa, Lee, and Nancy. 


So, any of you want to answer any of the above tag questions? I'd love to hear what you have to say.

Outlining. How and When do you do it?

I'm also on Kai Strand's blog, Strands of Thought, discussing love and loss and using that in writing. Kai and I both belong to Central Oregon Writers Guild and she's been gracious enough to help me out with keeping up with their blogging responsibilities.

Now, onto outlining...

Before I can begin writing a story, I have to know how I plan to end it. Even though, I pants it through most of the first draft, I must understand what I'm writing toward before I start. That little bit of focus is a must.

Most of my outlining, organizing comes after the first draft and before I start the second, more polished draft. [The version that goes to crit partners].

I've found writing brief bios for all my characters really useful. I sketch out a brief back story of their life before the novel opens and figure out what their goal is in the story. The back story may never make it into the finished project, but it helps me enrich the characters and the world. Sometimes it turns into another book (Backworlds).

I keep a journal for each project containing the character bios and world building. I've also created chapter sheets on which I write down the purpose of the chapter, the goal/focus, the scene, the characters in it, how the scene shapes the characters/plot, which plots/subplots the scene impacts and the setting. For some reason all of my organizing and plotting is done pen to paper. Writing is done on keyboard.

As I work on draft two, many post-its get stuck on my monitor. Ie, "mention Meelo's gun shot more often." And as feedback comes in from my lovely and brilliant crit partners, the plot remains in flux. And I find I only outline in detail to a point. The rest is committed to memory and I'll write minimum blurbs for the ending chapters, so I don't lose track of the plan.

Third draft, I pluck the post-its off my monitor and read them, jotting down which chapters the notes apply to. As I go through chapter by chapter, I'll implement my crit partners' suggestions. If it requires extensive rewriting, I will make a new outline, a condensed version though.

With the next project, I'm going to try more pre-planning of the characters and their goals and motives. I just can't do much more with plot than understand the big points I want to hit and where I want to end up. My brain just can't come up with great plot twists unless I'm writing. The brilliant flashes of inspiration only happen when in the act of creating.

Just how much do you outline? When? And what do you outline? How much detail do you include?

Happy Patsgiving!

WTF is Patsgiving? Well, it's celebrated February 17th.

Last week I glanced at my calendar before going to the grocers and thought, "Hey the 17th is Friday. I always forget St. Patricks Day. I won't forget this year." So I bought what I needed to make corned beef. On Friday, I make said corned beef, wondering why no one had mentioned St. Patricks Day on the web. And I thought, "Oh I should have wished everyone a happy St. Pats day on the post I did for Melissa's Imaginarium."

After that, it dawned on me that it's still February, not March. So, I wished the Husband Unit a Happy Un-St. Patricks Day when he got home. His week as brutally busy as mine, he absently replied, "Happy Thanksgiving." lol

So, we decided from now on February 17th is Patsgiving. Hope you had a happy one. Next year, I'll plan a Patsgiving party.

Annalisa Crawford has released Cat & the Dreamer. Available from Amazon, B&N, and other places.
Here for links.

As a teenager, Julia survived a suicide pact, while her best friend Rachel died. Julia’s only escape from her guilt, and her mother’s over-protection, is her imagination. When Adam arrives in the office, Julia’s world takes a startling turn as she realises reality can be much more fun than fantasy. Finally she has someone who can help her make the most of her life. But can she allow herself to be truly happy?

Thanks to Annalisa for the Kreativ and Versatile blogger awards. She also tagged me.

I'm tagging you all back with the following question. Which fictional character would you like to be for a day? 

I'd pick the blonde girl who lost her shoes in Harry Potter.

And Thanks to Brian Hutchinson for the 7x7 Award.

Have you ever invented a holiday?

Wisful Origins

Origins blogfest hosted by DL Hammons of Cruising Altitude, Katie Mills (Creepy Query Girl), Alex J. Cavanaugh and Matthew MacNish  (Quintessentially Questionable Query Experiment).

How I ended up here...

I always loved reading. I loved library days at school best, and my mother took us to the public library every week. What started me wanting to create my own stories was a teacher who read to us at nap time--Willy Wonka, James and the Giant Peach, glorious and imaginative adventures.

A shy and quiet person [still am], my parents sent me to horseback riding lessons, hoping I'd find the courage to be more extroverted. Horses were my passion. Little old me could make half ton creatures dance. I had special connections with many of the horses. One would follow me around like a puppy, his nose pressed against my cheek. Therefore, it is not surprising my first attempt at writing was a story about a horse. I was 8 and remember his name was Wesco, but not much else about it.

Then my grandmother gave me a hard bound copy of Anne of Green Gables. Oh, I loved that book. I still have it. Other stories--not about horses--started playing in my head. I didn't always write them down, but I kept creating them.

I majored in Journalism in undergrad, wrote news for the college radio station, and, gravitated toward advertising and marketing. When I could, I'd write fiction, dreaming of writing the next great American novel.


I moved to New York City, sold advertising to network TV stations, did some other marketing jobs, started a novel, which I still have, about coming of age. Many lines were about loneliness, which a friend teased me about for years to come. It's where Semper Audacia came from. I told her two years ago I was going to rewrite "Alone" in space. So, I did.

I moved to DC, worked in TV, the business side. Would write when I could. Started another novel with Player Piano as the inspiration. Never finished that one either. I got laid up with carpal tunnel, in danger of losing the use of both of my hands. Life took some wicked and wrong turns among the good ones.

Husband and I moved out west to Oregon. I was floundering, unhappy, didn't know what to do with myself next. My mother said on the phone one day, "You were always good at writing, go write me something." So this next phase where I write prolifically and actually finish many works began.

Last year I released Plantgirl, Translations, Small Graces and Semper Audacia. This year I'll be releasing The Backworlds, Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge and The Augmentation of Hetty Locklear. The Tumbas will be coming out in the Wandering Weeds anthology, too.

However this all turns out, I'm doing what I was always meant to do. Writing and finding the observatory have made for a happy life. If everything before was necessary to end up here, it was worth it.

When did your need to write begin?

A Simple Method for Creating Greater Conflict and Better Characters

This past Saturday I went to the Rose City Romance Writers monthly meeting in Portland with two of my local writing buddies. It was a great day and we had lots of fun.

There was a mini workshop during the meeting on "Five Simple Ways to Identify and Increase Character Conflict." It was really very informative, constructive and as simple as promised. It was basically doing a Glasser analysis for characters. I found it so useful, thought I'd pass it on. You can get more information and the worksheets at www.JudithAshleyRomance.com

Not only is a great method to help create more conflict and tension, it's also useful for finding common ground between characters, motivations and just generally getting to know your characters better. Also a great tool for creating depth in the story, plot and characters.

Francine Howarth is hosting the Indie-Author Tag Party on February 4th & 5th. Go HERE to sign up.

his blogfest is just a simple fun game of playing tag on Amazon to up your profile and that of your book/s.

You'll not only meet other Indie authors along the way, ones you've probably never met before, you can guarantee readers and writers who are on the cusp of going Indie will all be watching from the sidelines and taking note of books that catch their eye and its link!   

So what do you have to do?  

The Rules!?  I hate that word and prefer "Criteria required" for entry to the tag-party:

     

First off: how tagging works

a)      be prepared to tag all those who join the tag-party = fair play

b)      basically follow tag-players’ links to Amazon

c)      scroll to tag and add appropriate tags

Secondly what to do on your own blog: 

d)      post details of your Amazon link to your blog on 4-5^th Feb.

e)      copy-paste the banner (from my sidebar) to your blog's sidebar  

f)        lastly: sign-up

Stephen Tremp's--Breakthrough Blogs--new novel, Opening is out!

“A scientific breakthrough of such magnitude it could radically alter the future of humanity—for better or worse—is in the wrong hands.”


Available from Smashwords and Amazon.

Ciara Knight has a new release coming out:

The Curse of Gremdon

In a world where marriage is forbidden, sex is only granted to male warriors, and the outer realm is full of murderous creatures, Arianna fights to protect the life of her only living relative, her brother.

Tardon, an elite warrior, is granted anything he desires by the Elders, but finds little joy in the voluptuous women presented to him. Born for the bloodlust found only in battle, complicated emotions emerge when he discovers his equal in the alluring warrior, Arianna.

Charged by the Elders with saving the castle from attack, Tardon and Arianna risk the curse when they traverse the vast outer realm to retrieve serum from the Tree of Life. If successful, the Elders have promised Tardon the right to marry and Arianna the cure for her brother’s death fever. Will their love carry them through or will the discovery of a great deception be their ultimate demise? See Ciara's blog for more details.

And a new release from Li of Flash Fiction:

“Small Doses” is a collection of flash fiction built around medical themes. They are not clinical accounts, nor are they to be used as any sort of factual reference; they are pure fiction. However, several are based on existing, documented conditions. There are tales of love, loss and betrayal which examine health and illness from varying points of view; a man who is dying to sleep, a hand with a mind of its own, and an efficient if somewhat unemotional caretaker. Whether the maladies are real or imagined, they have one thing in common: the struggle which we, as humans, endure as ultimately mortal beings.

Currently available at Amazon and other outlets. See Li's site for more links. 

Have you made any great discoveries this week? On the website's blog this week: How I Miss the Observatory / tomorrow: Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair -- www.mpaxauthor.com

Methods of Visiting Blogs

Connecting and networking and participating is the key to making a blog effective. Yes, it takes a lot of time, mostly in the visiting of other blogs.

So, I thought those of us with more experience could share how we go about blog hopping. Got any great tricks to share?

My method--

*First off, I have a scheduled time Monday-Friday for visiting blogs. Somewhere between 70-90 minutes. Somedays I might spend less time, 30-60 minutes, if I have other obligations. And, I usually take weekends off. We all need scheduled down time, or we'll burn out.

*I visit everyone who visits me. For example, today I'll start by going to blogs of everyone who left a comment on this post. Then, I'll go to Monday's post and check on the blogs of those who left comments on Monday.

*Then I use dashboard to systematically go through the blogs I follow. I jot down on a post-it where I leave off and stick it to the edge of my monitor. Otherwise I'll forget.

*I usually visit links left by others in their posts

This is the method I came up with to deal with visiting blogs. What's yours?

The Glory of Options in Publishing

With the publishing industry in a state of flux and the stigma lifting from self-publishing, there is no longer one right path to publication.

JA Konrath and Amanda Hocking began on their own and ended up with lucrative publishing contracts.

Traditionally published midlist authors like Bob Mayer have decided to leave their publishers and go off on their own.

Epublishing has changed the game. It’s the fastest growing market for books. Ereader folks are voracious readers. This is great news. It means the written word won’t die. It’s just changing formats.

These were some of the factors which made me decide to go indie. Science fiction is not a big market. Most of my readers are digitally savvy. So, it made sense to me to get out there and tap into my market myself.

Sure, writing is an art, but it’s also a business and a career. In the end, I want to make money and quit snuffling around for peanut shell crumbs. Going indie is my best shot at achieving that.

Just because that’s what I decided, doesn’t mean it’s the best answer for you. We all need to respect each other’s decisions. No matter how a writer publishes—indie, traditional, or a smaller press—we all work very hard and put a huge amount of effort into what we produce. We all pour our souls into our stories, sentences and words.

It’s wonderful that we now have so many options.

And check out The Missing Link, a novel by Brandon Meyers and Bryan Pedas of A Beer in the Shower. Available at Amazon.

And there have been noises in the blogosphere of this year's AtoZ Challenge. Arlee Bird has a separate site for it this year HERE and several cohosts for the mega event.

Yes, it's a bit of extra blogging work, but it's worth it. I know I met several of you last year during the challenge, and am damn glad of it.

Load up the posts ahead of time, so that you're not blogging and visiting all at once. There's no way to visit everyone. Last year I started in the middle of the list and went as far as I could. I plan on signing up again.

I'd actually like to feature many of you this year, so if you have a book, a short story to promote, blog post send it on over--mpaxauthor[at]gmail[dot]com. Flash fictions, etc.. would also be great. How about your favorite blog post? Maybe could all trade posts and made the load lighter. :) Shrug. Just an idea.

Anyway, hope you all had a great weekend.

January Angst

My January entry for Insecure Writers Support Group ...

Thank you Alex J. Cavanaugh for starting this group where us writers reveal our warts and cheer each other on. It's cheaper and more effective than therapy. It's not too late to join if you're interested. Just click on Alex's name and it'll take you to his blog.

I feel like a stuck record ... biting my nails with feelings of inadequacy. Probably what I talked about last month, too. Huh? It's deva ju. Yeah, I know the v and j are switched. The way I wrote it comes from a SG-1 episode. Any Stargate fans out there?

Oops, got distracted. Anyway, as I was saying, some days I just feel like I have no idea as to what I'm doing. I'm grateful I don't feel that way everyday. I have a suspicion I'm feeling that way now, because I'm getting closer to rolling out Stopover and it's making me nervous and seriously question whether it's ready for public consumption. I hate every sentence I write lately.

I also hope I can find an editor I can work with. Another source of stress. I worry I don't have that going right -- the editor thing. Maybe I need to say more, ask more questions. What do you do if you're unhappy with the editing you get? It's not about being corrected, I want to be corrected; it's what gets overlooked by an editor and isn't corrected that bothers me. I pay for that person to catch what I miss and to fix my commas and punctuation.

I know my comma usage is far from perfect. I'm not sure of my semi colon, colon and dash punctuation at times either. So, I really rely on an editor to get that right for me and I really need to rely on that person for longer work.

I know someone I trust to get all that right for me, the anxiety comes in as to whether I can afford the person I trust. I really hope I reach a point this year where costs won't be so much of an issue. Yeah, I worry a lot. The theme of this post ... And it's one of the major reasons I write -- writing sends all those stresses to the background where they belong.

Despite all this jabbering, you know what? I'll overcome all the doubts and insecurities and I'll publish The Backworlds, Stopover at the Backworlds' Edge, and The Augmentation of Hetty Locklear this year. I always get past them ... until the next time. This time will be no different. I'll inhale a deep breath and I'll publish and I'll keep going.

So what worries are on your plate this January? Any advice on working with editors? What do you do when the "every sentence sucks" blues come around?

Deja Vu - Never Surrender

The Deja Vu blogfest, hosted by DL Hammons.

Here's one of my first ten posts ever, from 4/6/10.

That's today's motto: Never surrender, never give up.

Some of you may recognize it from Galaxy Quest. I have to say, it remains a favorite - the movie and the quote.

Sometimes we look at other people and think they have it easier than us. That perception is probably not true. In most cases there's probably a lot of work and effort that went into achieving whatever it is of that person's being coveted.

This much is certainly true. If you give up, you will never achieve it yourself.

Frustration is part of the game no matter the goal. Obstacles and challenges are part of any road. They're just bumps and potholes. Nothing to let yourself get intimidated over. Not good enough reasons to stop. Not if you have passion and drive.

If you look past the potholes and ignore them, there's still a lot of road and asphalt. There's grass and trees and an endless sky. At some point the road crew will come by and fix the road. It will smooth out and you'll forget about the potholes for awhile. When they show up again, as they always do, just steer around them or pick an alternative route. But don't quit. There's people honking behind you.

Yeah, it's a metaphor. Take it how you wish. Keep your eyes on the road, the sky and the future road crew. Most importantly: Never surrender, never give up. As Jason Nesmith says.

Sir Alexander Dane: You're just going to have to figure out what it wants. What is its motivation?
Jason Nesmith: It's a rock monster. It doesn't have motivation.
Sir Alexander Dane: See, that's your problem, Jason. You were never serious about the craft.

If you're looking for my lunar eclipse photos, see: www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/  Tomorrow's post at the website is on a mysterious object found near Mercury.

More Weird Light Stories

I haven't seen any more strange lights, although I've wanted to. I'm constantly looking, especially on Route 20 where the observatory is.

I've not been so fortunate, but the husband unit was. He saw strange lights on that same road last week. He had to work in Burns, which is East of PMO, and saw two orbs in the sky. He said he never saw anything move like them. They came from different directions, moving at variable speeds, then one went straight up and the other shot to the East. There was no sound. He actually pulled over and got out of his truck to watch.

He had to go back to Burns the next day. Locals asked how his trip home was the other night. He said, "Interesting." They asked what he saw. Then one after another, stories tumbled out of other's experiences with light on Route 20.

One lady had the same UMO experience I did [unidentified moving object, the lights were not flying when I saw them]. I was excited to hear I'm not the only one who witnessed those weird lights, not the only one who had something strange chasing them. Whenever I turned around, the lights would disappear. She said, she saw them move off, that they moved incredibly fast.

Anyway, I thought it was some interesting information to relay. Husband unit tried to film his sighting, but his cell phone did a poor job of it. What is it with that road and strange events? Perhaps I need to open my own X-File.

I did get to see the lunar eclipse Saturday morning. It was awesome. I'll be reporting on it and will have photos up on the website's blog tomorrow: www.mpaxauthor.com/blog/

The Pits of Frustration

Since I've changed posts on this blog to Mondays and Thursdays, I'm posting up my Insecure Writers Group article today. So, that it's here on Wednesday. Thanks to Alex J. Cavanaugh for spearheading this great brainchild.

I recently went through a bout of "I suck", "Everything I write sucks". These bouts of insecurity and doubt come in waves. Then I wonder if I'm delusional or certifiable ... maybe.

Most of the worry probably stems from the fact that I'm impatient for the most part. Impatience causes bouts of frustration. Frustration leads to the "I suck" insecurities. Pretty much every creative type goes through these bouts, fearing their work is terrible and unoriginal and all sorts of other despicable things.

Does it stop me? No.

To do what we do, we have to be somewhat original, folks who forge their own path. That's what drives us to do what we do. It's also what then makes us insecure when our 'genius' gets exposed to the public at large. Not everyone will get our vision, or what we do. Our output is subjective. Not everyone has our tastes.

Don't let it stop you. To sparkle, we must brave the sunlight and embrace what makes us different. And we must realize that we will continue to grow and improve.

On those days, I go over all the positives. One by one. I enumerate them and relive them, bolster myself back up. The truth is, even if I do suck, I'm not going to stop writing.

Do you have these bouts, too? What do you do?

On another note, I spruced up all my book covers. All of them got new wrappings over the weekend. All shiny and pretty for the holidays, for all the folks getting new Kindles and Nooks. My skills at Paint improve all the time. Sometimes I have no idea what I want when I start a cover. So, I keep playing. I found a great new image for Translations, which inspired its makeover. Then I felt the others should get a makeover. Then when I finished those, I thought Semper should get one, too.