Welcome Back!

Thanks for stopping by for my Welcome Back blog post. It's been about 2 months since my last post. Way too long. Where have I been? Buried under layers of life. I started a new job in the school system and joined a health club with my kids. These, and the never ending daily concerns, have absorbed much of my time. While trying to get used to a new schedule and working outside of the house again my writing was put on the back burner. Not an excuse, I know.

This week is Spring Break for us and I plan on using it to get my writing self back in gear. So far it's gotten off to a good start. This morning I was challenged to a Word War on Twitter (yeah, first time back on Twitter in a long time too). I wrote a little more than 500 words in an hour. Certainly not a record setting writing session, but this was a great kick start to get me back into my story.

I've also taken some time to update my blog today. New background, added links, new ways to follow, and even a new post! *Whew*

Have you been feeling the urge to make changes or restart something you've let slide lately? I'd love to hear from you and please let me know what you thing of my blog improvements.

Thanks,

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Steven Pressfield

Today's post is a good one for anyone trying to make big changes in their lives and feeling like you're continually hitting an invisible wall. Steven Pressfield's The War of Art is an eye opener and a helpful guide to overcoming the obstacles that get in our way.

Pressfield puts all of life's obstacles into one easy to identify category. He labels it all Resistance. Resistance takes many forms, but the result is progress toward your goals is hindered, halted even. There is only one way to fight Resistance; you have to sit down and put in the work to achieve your goals.

Resistance is that pesky voice telling me not to exercise today because I look tired or the weather is bad. It really doesn't care about me; it simply doesn't want to see me reach my goal of getting healthier.

Resistance also comes in the form of loved ones. Every time I sit down in front of the computer to write someone in my family will have a mini crisis or need to locate something only I seem to have to knowledge of where it could be. There are days when I swear they have all sat down together to create a schedule to make sure that every 15 minutes I am reminded that I have 4 children and a husband who have a bad case of the Mr. Magoos and legs that do not bend at the knee. (Really, you're standing at the fridge with the door open and asking me if we have mustard?)

Besides the form taken, there's not much difference between inner and outer Resistance. Both types don't want change (either consciously or subconsciously), both types do everything to resist it. This is understandable. Humans are mainly creatures of habit and we love residing well within our comfort zones. The thought of change, the idea of propelling myself into the unknown of the publishing world is scary for me, so why wouldn't it be for my loved ones?

Fear is the life line of Resistance. It depends on it; feeds on it. So, how do you stop Resistance? I've been trying to figure this out since my first book was published. Steven Pressfield pulls Resistance, in all its forms, out of the shadows and exposes all of its dirty tricks. He also said something that really resonated with me. Fear is always there, you're never going to find a way to completely remove it, especially when you are truly invested in an idea, project, or life changing venture. He said to stop wasting energy and time trying to stop fear and focus on the work. The person who can sit down and do the work despite the fear changes from an amateur to a professional. Resistance does not like professionals because it has less power over them.

I know that I want to be a professional writer. Yes, I want to be published again, but more so I want to give life to these stories I have piling up in my head; give voice to these characters who have for some unknown reason put their fictional futures in my hands. I am in many ways still an amateur with so much to learn about writing and publishing. After reading The War of Art I know I have the heart of a professional and I know that I can reach my future goals by doing one important thing today... I have to sit down and do the work.

I bought an electronic copy of this book and read it on my iPod. Print additions are also available. Visit Steven Pressfield's website for links and information about more of his work.

Thanks for stopping by,

Kristin : )

Memoir Monday: A Diverted Post

It's time for another Memoir Monday. I usually review a memoir written by a writer or artist. I love reading and sharing what helps them creatively and productively. Today's post is a little different. I received an email from a local writer (Thanks Kate Rothwell) and thought it would make a great Memoir Monday feature. It's a collection of authors and their writing rituals posted on the blog on http://www.mastersdegree.net/. I hope you find it as interesting (and odd) as I did.

"20 Acclaimed Authors and Their Unique Writing Rituals"

Have a creative, productive week!

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Julie Anne Lindsey

I’m a believer

As a little girl, the only thing I wanted to be was a mom. By college, or at least freshman year, I wanted to be a counselor. By graduation, I knew I wanted to work specifically with young girls and women as a motivational speaker. I still carry that dream, but as it turned out, my first wish was granted in a hurry and I’m now a mother of three.

I left the workforce in 2003 to raise and teach my children, and like many mothers, my dreams were benched – temporarily. The truth is, my time was so spoken for that until a couple years ago I hadn’t read a book for fun in more than five years. Sure, I read, but I read ‘how to’ guides and parenting books, and plenty of homeschool materials, nothing that inspired or enchanted me.

Then, it happened. Late one night, I saw a movie about a forbidden love, about a girl and a vampire. Yes. I just heard the collective readership groan and plenty clicked away, but it’s true. I saw Twilight on the movie channel, while bleary eyed and nursing baby number three. The next day, I bought the book and devoured it. That was the day something inside me clicked.

I caught the writing bug. A long lost love of mine, buried under diapers and cheerios and sleepless nights was resurrected. I began to make notes of the stories I’d rolled around in my head for years. (As an only child, I’ve been telling myself stories for three decades, so I have plenty to work with). For the past two years, I’ve been reading and writing and blogging and tweeting. I’ve met fabulous writers, agents, editors and some of my closest friends. It’s true. I’ve unleashed a ‘me’ that was pent up too long.

Though writing has added another task to my already chaotic schedule, it has freed me of things I found simply weren’t that important. It’s given me a place where I am a writer not a mother. I am me. I believe that seeing my passion for writing is giving my children a real and tangible example of the importance in following your dream, against whatever odds. I also believe if we have a desire in our hearts, we must embrace it, chase it, live it. Life is too short to wonder. One day, when one of my manuscripts makes it onto shelves, my children will see that all things are possible for those who believe, and I am a believer.

Bio:
Julie Anne Lindsey was born and raised in rural Ohio, where she lives today with her husband and three small children. She received a BA in psychology from Kent State University, and credits her obsessive interest in people for bringing her into writing. She is a hopeless caffeine addict, and her work is now in the hands of a super-fabulous agent. Julie blogs her journey at: http://blog.juliealindsey.com .

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Thanks for this inspirational story Julie. I hope that you'll come back and share your first book with us once it hits the shelves. Also, thank you to all who took the time to stop by for another great Writer Wednesday.

Happy Writing and Reading,

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Donna Cavanagh

The Never-ending need for Laughter

The first question people ask me when they find out I write humor is “Why?” I have no real answer to that question because I did not go into writing aspiring to be a humor writer. I was a reporter – a night shift general news reporter who covered the horseshit beat. Sorry, for the language, but that is how my editor described my beat area when he assigned me to it. My beat included farms, more farms, a state penitentiary and a nuclear power plant. Let’s just say, with that lineup, humor was bound to ensue.

In the newsroom, we joked around quite a bit. We wrote fake stories (not for publication) to make the nighttime hours go a little faster. My editor caught wind of one that I wrote for the newsroom Christmas party, and he laughed so hard, he almost choked on a shrimp. Once the oxygen returned to his brain, he demanded I see him in his office the next day. I went home and told my husband that I thought my days of being a reporter were done.

Fortunately, despite his brush with death, my editor wanted more humor to print. These few articles started me off on my journey into humor. I eventually resigned as a reporter for the paper as night time living was killing my family life. I started to send humor columns out to other newspapers, and another daily paper in the area asked me to be a bi-weekly columnist. That gig lasted five years. With a humor portfolio building, I sent new pitches to national magazines and newspapers and ran into other editors who liked humor. These editors were eventually killed off and replaced with editors who liked sad, poignant tales of disease, divorce, abuse, addiction and anything else heart wrenching.

During my reign as Queen of the Humor Writers for the Southeastern Pennsylvania Region (Yes, I made this title up), I realized how important it had become to me to make people laugh or at least smile. Humor writing became the dominant focus of my writing. Yes, I still freelanced for business magazines and newspapers, but it was humor that breathed life into my writing day. Even now, if I have the choice between writing 1,000 words on some daily event in my life that I find funny and 1,000 words on political races or the latest craze in technology or what NFL team is primed to win the Super Bowl (yes, I write on the NFL – I know I am eclectic ), I opt for humor. It is definitely my comfort zone.

Humor writing has its ups and downs. Sometimes magazines and newspapers deem it fashionable to carry humor, and sometimes they reject it as being a silly waste of space. I keep plugging to get better known. I almost got a national syndication service to sign me, but I was rejected at the last minute for a celebrity who felt the need to share her romance advice with others throughout the free world. Was I bitter? No - well, I did get a slight twinge of satisfaction when that celebrity was arrested for some kind of money laundering scheme.

Humor is again a tough market for many reasons. First of all the economy has done a number on print publications, and editors at these publications do not have the space to “waste” on humor. However, they do have the space to explore the life and loves of every reality star that has graced MTV in the last ten years. Okay, I guess I might get a little bitter. Another reason why humor is tough for me personally is that I am still a relative unknown. In today’s world, a recognized name brings in the big bucks, so unless I can get arrested or sent to rehab, I might remain too anonymous for most editors.

Will this stop me? Absolutely not. Humor is in my soul. I know that sounds dramatic, but it is why I write. I love to make people laugh. I love that people send me comments on my essays that appear on various sites or in online women’s magazines. I love that both men and women have enjoyed my humor books and tell me that they giggled out loud reading them. That makes my day. Those comments actually make my week and year!

So, I will keep writing and keep hoping that my writing continues to find a welcoming audience. I am encouraged. This year, more doors then ever have opened up. My book Life on the off Ramp was named as an award-winning finalist in the humor category of the “Best Books 2010” Awards -- sponsored by USA Book News. I also was named as a recurring guest humor writer for More.com, and I am frequently featured on DivineCaroline.com. I took a daring plunge this year and started an Internet radio show to introduce people to my humor called Wicked Wednesdays at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/dtcav/2010/10/27/wicked-wednesdays. I read a humor piece at the beginning of the show and have fellow humor writers sit in with me to discuss whatever is on their minds at the time. It is, so far, a great deal of fun.

Well, that is the story of my continuing journey into humor writing. I have learned a lot from living and breathing this genre. Mostly what I have learned is that we need humor to be human, and because of this fact, humor to me is serious business.

More information about Donna Cavanagh and her writing stop by her website, My Very Own Fan.
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Thanks Donna for being my Writer Wednesday guest this week and for sharing your writing journey. Laughter is an important part of life so I hope this post inspires more writers to release their inner clown. Thanks to all you readers who stopped by.

Happy Writing and Reading,

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Pat Brown

New writers studiously study how-to articles online, in writer's magazines and in the hundreds of books published on how to write in the belief that there is some secret that all published writers know and if only they could find it, they'd be published too. I'm afraid it's not true. There is no magic wand that can transform you from unpublished to published. The process is the same for everybody, for some it's just longer than others. Even when the dream is realized, it's not the end. You publish one book, one short story or perhaps an article. The next one is not a shoe-in. You might get more consideration for having been published, but you can just as easily be rejected again for you latest work.

It took me 33 years between the first book I wrote at 17 to having my first book published when I was 50. In that time I wrote at least 8 novels that were not published, in some cases probably weren't publishable. But each one was a learning experience I built on until I produced a book that someone wanted. But after that there was more rejection. The second book in the series was rejected and I ended up taking it elsewhere, to a small, independent publisher, which was a step down from the New York publisher I had started with. I'm still glad to be published by them and have continued with them since then. But I still want to break back into the New York publishing world and I've been pursuing an agent for the last 6 months. So far I have 95 rejections on one book I'm querying. That's 95 times I've had to read 'Sorry, not for us' since most of the rejections have been form letters. But I haven't stopped querying and I haven't stopped writing. I still send out queries on that book, and wait for a response. I have also started an even larger, more ambitious project, a noir historical which I will also be querying on when it's finished.

My point to all this is, though I have 8 fiction novels published and several short stories, I am no more guaranteed the next book I write will be published by anyone. Publishing is a business going through a lot of changes right now, and no one knows where it will be in 5 years, let alone 20. Publishers want sure things, and since there is no such thing, they compensate by being cautious. Which means more rejections to all but the upper tier of proven best sellers.

So why do it? I do it because I can't NOT write. Whether or not I get published I will always write because the stories are in me and have to be told. With that compulsion I will keep writing no matter if the next book or the one after that is never published or I decide to self publish an ebook, I will write.

As a new writer, only you can decide if this path is for you. No one else can make that decision or stop you from trying. If you want to write, despite the odds, then I say go, write.

My motto is taken right out of Galaxy Quest -- 'Never give up, never surrender'

Pat Brown

http://www.pabrown.ca/

Award winning author of the L.A. crime novels.

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I'll admit I held back on publishing this one. I thought it was too real to inspire new writers, but reading it again I have changed my mind. Writing and being published is not easy. It would be unfair to lead anyone to believe otherwise. Like any job, it takes dedication, incredible stamina, and thick skin to deflect criticism and rejection. And still, even with that some writing dreams won't be realized, while others will exceed all expectations. There's no way to predict which path your writing will take until you do the work and hand it over to the world. There are no guarantees, even for writers that have been published. These are depressing facts, but things all writers should understand. So thank you Pat for telling it like it is. I was wrong, this post is inspiring. It inspires me to keep learning, improving, and trying to reach my writing goals. It inspires me to never give up...

Thanks to all of you who took the time to stop by for another great Writer Wednesday.

Kristin : )

Working Writer Interview

Hi, I'm not here right now. I'm over at the Working Writers blog. Stop by to read my interview and feel free to leave a message. I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Dawn Herring

Moving Forward

by Dawn Herring

Words.
Whether spoken or written, they have the power to harm or to heal.
The power behind words is vast.

This is where I start: with words.

My desire is to inspire, energize, enlighten, refresh and provoke thought with vignettes of my daily experience on topics relevant and universal.

I used words in song lyrics and essays at an adolescent age as I dealt with cultural, emotional, and spiritual issues that had deep relevance to me.

As the spiritual dimension of my life was heightened with entering adulthood, it continued to showed in the topics I wrote both in my essays and note taking from spiritual sources.

Journal writing was incited as I experienced a new and growing relationship with Bill, who would later become my husband. My entries were sporadic but detailed.

I found my use of words to be more prolific when emotions and feelings ran high, making writing a great creative and expressive outlet for me.

Once we married and had children, journal writing took on more significance, due to the dimension of motherhood added to my every day experience, writing to my first born and then to my second born, each in their own journals as well as my own.

When I chose to home school my children, I became a student myself as I began to digest all I could from books, magazines, and other writing sources to better my craft and learn about the publishing world.

As I continued to keep a more regular journal, both spiritually and personally, I received the seed to a novel that, at first, came in fits and starts. But with a move to a new neighborhood, my novel occupied my attention even more so as it took on a life of its own.

We were also in the process of starting up an electrical contracting business. The office work became my new job, so I had to learn to balance the time I spent on my novel versus on paperwork. For a time, I struggled with this issue and even put the novel aside for a couple of months so I could be loyal to the office work and not have it compete with my writing life although I continued to journal regularly and write the occasional essay. But, after much thought and consideration and discussion, I decided to return to my novel, with office work as priority over my writing.

A computer entered my world, making my writing even easier, and with the discovery of the Internet, my blog began its debut as I wrote for friends and family and anyone else who might stumble upon it. The vastness of the Internet, being the World Wide Web, felt huge to me, concerning exposure of my writing to those who found it.

Another move put my writing off for a couple of months as I packed and unpacked. But I managed to get back into the swing of things, still keeping the office work in the top slot and working more in the late afternoons on my novel, which was slowly progressing. I also continued posting on my blog, sharing tidbits of life from family and personal experience.

Then I discovered social networks, hearing about Twitter and then Facebook. As I waded through the in and outs of gaining friends and followers, I learned a lot along the way. I began to find so much information about publishing and writing, I was amazed. Newsletters and websites were a gold mine to me. I began to answer questions from the writing and home schooling online newsletters I received in my inbox and found my answers being published, which I celebrated.

I began to keep track of these publication credits, and I looked to garner more opportunities to share from my life experience. I submitted work to a writing newsletter where I was later published. I also published clips in my city newspaper which felt like my biggest accomplishment yet.

As I continued to work on my novel, I also began to write memoir pieces from my childhood as I discovered the memoir genre on line and in book stores. I was fascinated with reading what folks wrote about their personal lives. I also began to write poetry again, as a response to emotional and spiritual events that took on great importance in my life. I enjoyed using metaphoric imagery to express my feelings.

As I made more contacts and friends on line, I discovered chats on Twitter, especially one for writers called #writechat. I met many wonderful folks there and enjoyed the camaraderie with other writers. I was encouraged and inspired to keep working on my novel and my memoir as I chatted with new friends and shared my experiences on line.

I set and met the goal to complete my novel manuscript by Thanksgiving weekend in 2009. I was so excited! I knew I still had a lot of work ahead of me, but it was a great experience to share my accomplished goal with friends and family.

My blog has gained regular readers and friends who I appreciate, who inspire me to keep posting as I continue to write in the essay format.

My journal writing continues to be a major source of inspiration, often the framework from where much of my writing gets its start.

My goal is to be a continued source of inspiration and refreshment as I share samplings from my personal experience that I hope will encourage someone in a way that will truly make a difference.

I host and moderate a new chat on Twitter called #JournalChat for all things journaling. It's a place where those who journal can share the benefits and techniques they enjoy while those who are just getting started can be inspired and encouraged to begin their own journey into journaling. The chat takes place every Thursday at 2 EST/11 PST for one hour.

Here's a link for more info: Facebook/DawnHerring

You can follow me at @JournalChat on Twitter for updates, links, and more.

Dawn Herring is a freelance writer and avid journaler. Her website is http://www.dawnherring.net/ and her blog is http://www.journalwriter.blogspot.com/.

Thanks Dawn for being this week's Writer Wednesday guest and thanks to all of you who taken time out of your day to stop by.

If you would like more info about this series, or would like to be a guest please follow this link Writer Wednesdays: The Intro .

Thanks,

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Jo Lynne Valerie

I guess you could say being a writer pretty much permeates every facet of my life. I write books full time and I adore every aspect of the writing life. Love of my career has inspired my children. Two of them are avid readers and fiction writers; one has her own book review blog. My third child is a musician, song-writer and singer. I like to say we are a household of creatives.

For us, an enjoyable afternoon or evening out doesn't usually include a trip to the movie theatre or an amusement park. Don't get me wrong; my kids love movies and park rides! It's just that all three of them would choose a book store, preferably one with a cozy reading area for delving into new finds or cups of cocoa.

Readers, I'm incredibly grateful. I'm so very grateful my children love books and the whole bookish life as much as I do, because as an author, it is ever prevalent in our lives. In other households one might overhear a child saying, "What time is mom getting home from work?" Around here it's, "Did mom meet her deadline?" Other kids may exclaim, "My mom just got a raise at her job!" My kids are more apt to exclaim, "Mom sold big at her signing event today!" They know when the Low Noise Zone sign is on my office or bedroom door, I'm writing and therefore would like quiet. Because respect is reciprocal here, I likewise honor the request for no noise when my daughter is writing or recording a song, when my other girl is typing up a book review, or my son is penning a new poem.

But writing is only the beginning for today's authors. Hard-core dedication and work is required if one is to sustain in a crowded and competitive industry. Gone are the days when an author could simply write and then recline while editors, publishers and publicists took things from there. Today, all authors, whether big pub or small press, must promote, publicize, build a readership and ideally create a connection with fans.

What does this take? It takes all of the dedication required of a second job. Today's free social media tools and sites are clever and powerful aids. An author may create her own profiles for sites such as twitter, facebook and myspace. She may further connect on linkedin and she may promote videos and book trailers on youtube. Of course, the extent to which these tools are used depends upon the personality and willingness of the author. Not everyone likes to engage; not everyone is comfortable promoting and not every author understands the subtle but powerful differences between promotion and selling.

I didn't do it consciously, but I seem to have created a daily schedule for my writing and online connecting. It evolved in a very organic yet workable way. I start most days of the week with salutations to readers, friends and fans on my SM sites and then I usually get right into the cosmic energies for the day. With my background in metaphysics and paranormal studies, building my ParaGoddess brand has been a great way to provide readers with extra information that is both useful and fun. Having written for spiritual publications, I am all about positive energy, and I share that abundantly online, too. From there, as mornings are my most productive time, I move into whatever work there is for the day. That could mean editing, straight-up writing new material, or revising. Any given day may find me signing and shipping swag or books, writing up blog posts (an excellent way for the professional writer to maintain a connection with her readers is through regular blogging) or engaged in the hard core business end of being an author, which could mean taking inventory, balancing accounts, monitoring sales or scheduling book events.

My kids understand this is what I do for my career and it's who I am, but children are only young once, and I will always be a mom before all else. So I always break to pick them up from school, and we eat dinner together every night. When they settle down to do their homework or relax with some television or reading in the evening, that's when I return to writing. For professional writers, living the life is just that - a lifestyle. For me, writing is not a hobby and it's not a job. It is the manifestation of who I am... and I am blessed to be able to live this writer's life.

Jo Lynne Valerie
Award-Winning Paranormal Author☽♥♥☾

✯2010 - Next Indie Excellence Finalist Award - Romance Category
✯2010 Indie{Pendent} Books "Author To Watch"
✯2009 Winner - Great Book Video Contest
✯2008 Best in Paranormal Fiction - Silver Ravenwolf Contest

www.JoLynneValerie.com
www.JoLynneValerie.blogspot.com

A good story can be magic... let me show you.

Follow Me on TWITTER! www.twitter.com/JoLynneValerie
Let's be FACEBOOK friends!www.facebook.com/JoLynneValerie
Friend me on MYSPACE!www.myspace.com/JoLynneValerie
And please visit my blog! It's sexy, spiritual, cosmic, literary, caffeinated and often Riesling splashed. In short: FUN! http://www.JoLynneValerie.blogspot.com

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Thank you Jo Lynne for being this week's Writer Wednesday guest and for inspiring other writers with your positive approach to writing and to life. This is what this series is all about, sharing why we write and inspiring each other. Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to stop by today.

If you would like more info about this series, or would like to be a guest please follow this link Writer Wednesdays: The Intro .

Thanks Again,

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Dan McNeil

I didn’t start out wanting to be a novelist. The truth is, I wanted to be a songwriter. I play music, I write music, I love music. It seemed to be a natural – write songs. However, after about a decade of creating pop ditties with my cousin and song writing partner, I realized that that particular dream wasn’t going to materialize any time soon (too bad – some of the tunes were pretty catchy.) It was then that I got the idea for “The Judas Apocalypse.”

Okay, I thought. Let’s do this. Let’s write a book.

Now how the heck was I going to do that? Song writing was tough enough and now I want to do this? Man, I wasn’t a novelist. I didn’t even know the first thing about it.

So, being a creative masochist, I forged ahead.

The plot was going to span two thousand years, so it was clear that I was going to have to do a ton of research – both historical and theological - for this story to make any kind of sense Research? That was like school work and as I recalled, I was a horrible student. What was I thinking?

Forget it, I said to myself. You don’t have the dedication to pull this off. Who are you kidding? So I put away the idea of being a writer.

The problem was that I thought the idea was killer. It gnawed at me and I thought that it should be written. I ran the idea past anyone who would listen. On the surface, I thought that maybe they would tell me how fantastic it was and that I should write it. Secretly though, I was hoping someone else would run with the idea and write it instead of me.

Of course that didn’t happen.

Since no one was taking me up on my subtle plea to write it, I decided (damn it!) that I would have to do it. Who knows? Maybe I could pull this off. With a deep breath and much trepidation, I started to do the research. I hoped it would take me a couple of weeks to research and about the same amount of time to write it.

Oh man, I can be an idiot sometimes. What was I thinking? For about a year and a half (actually way more than that, if you count the time from the actual idea inception) I pored over books, magazine articles and websites about the Cathars, the Knights Templar, the Nazi obsession with the occult, and the Crucifixion. And that was just the tip of the friggin’ iceberg. Song writing was starting to look good again.

Finally I was finished with the research. I had everything that I thought I needed and it was time to begin the actual writing process. All I had to do now was start.
Well, that was easier said than done.

After a few (many) false starts, I began. I soon found that I could write better in the morning, so I would get up early and try to write for about an hour before I had to get ready for work. It was tough for the first couple of weeks, but by now I had fallen into some kind of “writing rhythm.” Once I had the first few chapters out of the way, surprisingly the whole process seemed to take off on its own.

I was writing. Maybe I could pull this off after all.

For close to a year I wrote, edited, polished, re-wrote, re-edited and re-polished. I wrote during lunch hours, before dinner, before bed, even at work, thanks to a poorly thought out schedule that gave me an hour a day where I was doing nothing – every available second of the day was used (maybe I was more dedicated than I thought!)

Finally at the end of May 2006, I typed “The End,” hit “save” and printed out a copy for posterity. I asked some of my friends to check out my efforts. To my delight (and surprise), they told me that they liked it (even the hard asses were enthusiastic). Then they ruined it by asking me if I was going to try and have it published.

Published? Now, I’ll admit that the thought had crossed my mind a couple of times, and I had checked it out, but it sure wasn’t something I was really interested in pursuing. Getting songs published was impossible, but getting a novel published? What’s harder than impossible? Initially I shrugged it off but after much cajoling, I decided to take a look at this publishing business. I began to look up agents online and saw I needed a query letter and a synopsis.

Oh wow - writing the damn book was way easier than writing those two things.
So I wrote a query letter. Then I re-wrote it. Then I re-wrote it again. Why is this so hard? The funny thing is it was easier to compose the query letter than the damned synopsis. Once these heinous jobs were complete, I began to flood agents with the queries, requests for chapters and synopsises (synopsi? What’s the plural for synopsis anyway?)

For a long time it was a predictable exercise in futility. If I printed out all the rejections, I could have wallpapered the bathroom (with extra to replace the roll of Royale.) Was I discouraged? I suppose if I hadn’t been prepared from my earlier song writing endeavours, I would have been, but nevertheless I continued this increasingly quixotic-like pursuit.

Eventually I came across a website for a publisher holding a contest for novel manuscripts. Since I hadn’t gotten anywhere taking the agent route, I thought I’d give this a shot. At least, I thought, this way I can get a realistic critique of the book. With no real expectations of winning, I fired it off, and then promptly forgot about it.

In March 2007 I received word that I had won. My story was going to be published by I Publish Press.

I was stunned. It was to be published in print, as an e-book and even an audio book. How cool was that? I was going to be an actual published author. Now I could sit back and rest on my laurels.

Over the next few months we corresponded, discussing edits, changes, title possibilities more changes and more edits. What happened to sitting back and resting on my laurels?

I didn’t know it yet, but now the real job had begun – we needed to whip the book into publishable shape and that was going to take another eight or nine months.

If I had known that this whole process from beginning to end was going to take close to four years, would I have even done it? Looking back, it’s quite probable that I wouldn’t have, but then I would have missed out on an incredible experience. I wrote the book just to see if I could do it and much to my surprise, I found that I could. It was a tough, tiring and at times, a really damn frustrating job but ultimately it was immensely satisfying. And it’s kinda cool to say I wrote a book too.

I remember when I got the first copy. As I held it in my hand, I was asked if I was going to write another one. After all the trials and tribulations I went through, the long hours, the constant re-writes, the rejections, I said I would have to be crazy to do all that all over again.

So I must be crazy – I’m shopping the second one right now.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thanks Dan for being my guest today and thanks to all of you who took time out your day to stop by. More information about Dan and his writing can be found through the following places.

Twitter: @DanMcNeil888
Website: http://www.danmcneil.ca/

If you would like more info about this series, or would like to be a guest please follow this link Writer Wednesdays: The Intro .

Thanks,

Kristin : )

A New Kind of Challenge

Today started off horribly. Our new puppy kept me up all night whining to go outside. Once out there she would sit in the rain or try to play. By 4:00AM I was sitting next to her crate, to keep her from waking the entire house, reading a dog training book in the dim glow of a night light. The rational me knew there was no quick fix to training, but the exhausted me was desperate to find some command, trick, word to hypnotise, or even a puppy safe vulcan pinch. Anything to quiet Scout down and allow me my much needed sleep.

After my long night I awoke to the sounds of a tween meltdown as my son suddenly realized he had a project due TODAY and he wasn't finished. As I break the bad news (tough love) that I'm not letting him finish and then driving him in to school late my daughter enters the scene. She can not make her lunch, or even stand in the kitchen because all of the end of the school year excitement and changes are wreaking havoc on her nervous stomach. As if this is not enough, my oldest comes home from working all night and proceeds to play with the equally tired puppy. She gets over excited and begins biting EVERYONE, happily, because we are her walking chew toys. The sooner we accept this, the better it will be :) I swear that's what she says with her eyes every time I say no.

There is nothing like a morning like this to make you feel alive, get your blood pumping, and pretty much give you ulcers. Thankfully, I have a good support system. My husband, who looked a little too happy to skate off to work has been calling and making jokes, trying to gauge just how close to popping I really am, and I know I can always call my mother. But this morning I took my stress to twitter.

To anyone who says Twitter friends are not real I say you're very wrong. What is a friend, but someone you share commonalities with, laugh with, and cry with. My Twitter friends were quick to offer smiles and encouragement and it was just the pick me up I needed this morning.

In addition to a mood adjustment I also stumbled upon a very intriguing challenge on Twitter. It's called 21.5.800. Strange name, but amazing concept by Bindu Wiles. The 21 day personal challenge combines yoga (5 days a week) with writing (800 words a day). This is a great way to jump start both your exercise and writing routines, both of which have been pushed to the back burner in my life lately. Not to mention that both of these activities are very good good for the soul and stress reduction. After the morning I had it didn't take much convincing to say, "I'M IN!"

Are you? You can find more information about 21.5.800 on binduwiles.com You can also follow on Twitter @binduwiles . And don't forget to check out the hashtag to read updates and stories #215800

I'm always here if you need to vent and please let me know if you plan to join the 21.5.800 challenge.

Thanks,

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Elissa Stein

The Road to Writing

Last fall, before my latest book was released, a friend in PR suggested I join twitter, building a community to share the experience with. My initial goal was to hype FLOW’s release but conversations and interest quickly evolved. Not only did I chronicle events as they happened—the launch party, press mentions, TV appearances, radio interviews—I shared the emotional highs and lows. The thrill of 100 books at Rizzoli’s dwindling down to nothing as I signed copies for hours. Seeing my name on a dressing room door backstage at The View. Hey, hugging Whoopi Goldberg who thanked me for writing the book. I talked about the post pub crash. The waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the next big thing to happen and finding nothing. My obsessive google searches and amazon sales rank checks. I shared it all.

Early on, somebody asked what my writing practice was.
I didn’t have one.

My eleventh book was about to be published and I didn’t have a regular writing routine. In fact, I didn’t consider myself a writer. I’d been a graphic designer for years, working mostly in publishing, and I had (have) countless ideas. Through determination, contacts, and luck, one book (an anthology of vomit stories) led to more (pop culture histories for Chronicle Books). My proposals were usually a few paragraphs, well designed, art liberally sprinkled throughout. I was more about the big picture, never actually writing until I was paid. And then? Panic. I struggled with every sentence never confident I was doing a good job, always shocked when an editor would send something back with minimal changes. But FLOW was different. For months I had to submit a chapter, 5000 words, a week. It was the most intense most insane, most painful work experience I’d ever had. When I was done, writing for any reason was the last thing I wanted to do. Having said that, that writing practice question gnawed at me. And so, last October, I challenged myself to blog for 40 straight days. It’s called a sadhana in yoga—the thought being that if you commit to something for 40 days it becomes part of your routine.

The beginning was brutal. I’d wake up in the dark to write when everyone was still asleep. It would take hours for me to feel comfortable enough to hit the publish button and share my thoughts with the world. And while no one was actually reading anything I wrote, I worried. I worried about what I was writing about, how it sounded, did I need to make a point, what the point was. Every time I sat at my laptop, I struggled.
But, I kept going.

And going. It’s been seven months and, except for a few days over Christmas when I was on a cruise ship with no wifi, I’ve written every day. I’ve gotten better. I’ve gained confidence. I discovered my voice and that I have a distinct point of view. People follow my blog and are interested in what I have to say. I started posting on Huffington Post and then, last month, was asked by a friend at bust.com if I’d like to do a guest post for them. I now have blogging privileges there and am reaching a completely different audience. Ideas for pieces pop into my head, fully formed sentences appear out of nowhere. Words have become my means of communicating. Words by themselves, without the design and art crutches I relied on so heavily before.

Now, when someone asks me what I do, I say I’m a writer. Without apologies, explanations or hesitation.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thank you Elissa for being my guest and for sharing your writing story and thanks to all of you who have stopped by today. More information about Elissa and her books can be found at the following places.

Twitter: @elissastein

Website: http://www.elissastein.com/

Thanks Again to all,

Kristin : )

If you would like more info about this series, or would like to be a guest please follow this link Writer Wednesdays: The Intro .

Writer Wednesday: Stephen Black

Why I Write

Air Supply are a couple of Australian men who have written some very popular songs. On youtube they smile and/or look forlorn as they sing about being “all out of love.” For their “Making love out of nothing at all” music video they show us a painful romantic breakup, windblown 70's hair and a private jet!

The logo of Air Supply looks like Coke's.

I never drink Coke.

Air Supply is being displayed on the mobile phone on the table in front of me. The table is covered with roasted beans, Thai food and Tiger beer bottles. Buckley is using Bluetooth to wirelessly transfer Air Supply songs to another guy’s phone. This makes me smile.

I'm smiling because Buckley's job is building underwater oil rigs. His life depends on long hoses filled with gases. Buckley’s air supply is a collection of pumps, canisters and gauges, all banged up and in the hands of recently hired strangers who try to communicate in English. Buckley and his team work in storms and they work when it’s dark. A good day is when the hoses don’t tangle, the jellyfish stay away, the current's weak, the pumps work and the waves are predictable. A good day is like winning the lottery.

Buckley sees me looking at the two words glowing on his phone. He breaks into a big smile.

“You like Air Supply! Great! Karaoke! Let's go sing Air Supply!”

Buckley stands up on his stool and starts singing “Lonely is the Night.”

These “Air Supply Moments” might be the reason I write.

A pudgy diver in an orange jumpsuit terribly crooning Air Supply songs in a crowded Singaporean food court on a Saturday night- I need to record this. I cannot be Spinoza, Paul Aster, Mishima, Henry Miller nor Margaret Atwood. But I can use words to freeze the flow of life around me.

I melt these frozen stacks of words, then freeze them again. Stack them again, melt them again. Stack, melt, freeze, stack, melt, freeze.

Shapeless.

Hopeless, as I wait for a drop of knowledge. I'm beyond hopeless as a previsioned frail stream of story ideas disappears, leaving only the sights and sounds of this room.

A man is being given a tour of writers' hell. Everywhere,writers are suffering in the great heat. Some pound their heads in frustration,some stare at blank pieces of paper. They look at their words as though they are reading their own death sentences. They are together, yet the writers are all alone. They do not speak, but the room is filled with screams of Agony.

The man is next taken to writers' heaven. He thinks a mistake has been made, for he sees nearly the same tortuous scenario that he saw in writers' hell. He questions his guide. “No sir, this is definitely writers' heaven,” the guide explains, “but these writers get published.”

So, why do I write?

One reason may be to 'make conceptual, postmodern text-based art' of the very small intersections that exist between 'words' ,what 'words' actually are, and what 'words' represent. Another reason could be that I am simply “too lazy to work, too chicken to steal.”

My father was a book salesman and this could be another reason. But I really don't think that I am writing to please him. If I wanted to please my family- and other people, I would think of a better way of earning money.

The truth is I write without thinking about why I write.

Writing happens to me.

If I were a clever, well-educated writer, I would now conclude with some sort of witty wordplay (possibly Shakespearean) comparing my need to write with a diver's need of an air supply.

But I am not a clever writer. I'm just a guy who fails to understand life. I spend days and nights rearranging words to disguise this tragedy, suffocating as I try to make it pretty to read.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thank you Stephen for being my guest this week and thanks to all of you who have taken time out of your day to stop by my blog. You can also find Stephen on line at the following places...

-on Facebook: stephen black/blacksteps

-on twitter: mrblacksteps

-Book Merah ( a division of Blacksteps) has a number of publications on scribd and Kindlewww.blacksteps.tv (soon to be updated)

-history/photo samples at www.obamajalanjalan.com

If you would like more info about this series, or would like to be a guest please follow this link Writer Wednesdays: The Intro .

Thanks,

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Mike Jensen

Sixty Minute Writer

“It’s almost 5:30; must hurry!” Talking to myself, I dry off from the shower, get dressed as if going to work, including socks but minus shoes. “This is just as important as your real job.”

I choke down a piece of toast, maybe a bowl of cereal. Only 5 minutes left.
Firing up the laptop, I take my position on the couch: the far right side, turned sideways back leaned against the side arm, legs stretched out across the cushions and crossed at the ankles. The laptop lies across my lap.

“Hey it really is a laptop!” I occasionally muse. With one of the throw pillows propped underneath the lower edge, the laptop becomes properly leveled. “I would hate to put too much slant in my writing too early in my writing career.” I make that joke to myself way too many times.

5:30 arrives and the fingers begin to find their way to the keys in a flurry of hunt and peck motions that would awe many if ever seen. I become a writer for the next hour. Nearly everyday, for a few years now, this morning hour has become my world of fantasy and I disappear into it. It is a world where I get to dictate whether it rains or shines, who gets to say what to whom, and, sometimes even who lives and dies. It is mine.

All others in the household sleep and leave me to my solitary hour. Occasionally someone will get up and make the mistake of trying to keep me company in my office that for the other twenty-three hours serves as a living room for our family of seven, but they are usually rebuked. Not verbally, but visually and ignoringly.

That hour, that room, that couch, and that ritual are how I maintain sanity with all the ideas and voices and stories and characters that roam inside my head. I reflect on aspects of them all the time but that hour is the only time they are allowed to gain their corporal form within the words upon a screen. At the stroke of 6:30, the real world of job, kids’ school and bus schedules will again take center stage and the writer and his stories must go dormant once again.

In my efforts of sixty minutes a day, I have completed two works. One, the first, is too big and yucky for anyone to seriously be able to publish. Not even self-publish, (that was a joke). My second attempt might be something. It’s on a sub-mission, as I call it, right now. With luck, it’ll return with some good news soon.

Why do I do this? Because I want to. No other real reason. Do I hope one day that a story sells so much I can do this for more than an hour? Sure. I would love to eventually not go to a day job. But who doesn’t? I also, however, don’t know what “more” means. Two hours a day? Four hours? Sixteen hours? I might have to get a more comfortable couch.

I admit that wafting within the keystrokes and misspelled words with their cute red swigglies underneath them; I do find slivers of time to wonder if one day I will actually be a sixty-minute author. I like to think one day I will. Maybe I can get a desk. Maybe a home office. Maybe… Until that problem arises, I’ll just worry about my world as it is.

If not. It’s OK. I’ll still be on the couch the next morning. Awake, showered, dressed for work and plugging away at a new story. It’s what I do. It’s has become an important facet to who I am. It is now something I would miss if I stopped. I mean, what else would I do with that hour? Sleep? Sleep is for wimps.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thanks Mike for sharing your morning ritual and sense of humor with us. Thanks to all of you for stopping by today. You can find more about Mike through his blog Miked Up! and follow him on Twitter @mmj5170 .

If you would like more info about this series, or would like to be a guest please follow this link Writer Wednesdays: The Intro .

Kristin : )

Memoir Monday: Mini Memoir of Scotty the Man Hater

For this week's Memoir Monday I am trying something different. I will be sharing a personal story, kind of like a mini memoir of my own. This is one of those stories our kids ask to hear every few years and it still makes me laugh. I hope you enjoy.


In the early years of our marriage my husband wanted to get a bird, not just any bird, he wanted a cockatiel or a parrot. He was convinced it would be easier to care for and more entertaining than a dog or cat. We looked into buying a baby cockatiel or parrot. They were very expensive. The idea was put on the back burner when we found out I was expecting our second child. A few months later I ran into a friend from school. She invited me and my son to her daughter's 1st birthday at her parent's home. Turns out her parents had a cockatiel and they were looking for a good home for it because they were moving to Florida and couldn't take it with them. They wanted very little money, as they were more concerned about the bird living out his last few years in a good home. Scotty was his name, and according to my friend's parents, he was already 12 years old.

Looking back I should have known something was up when they led me down a dark hallway to a large cage covered in a sheet. Beneath it you could hear strange grumbling sounds and hissing. The sheet was lifted only enough for me to be sure it was actually a bird in the cage and not a snake, or some horrible mutant animal. They were quick to explain that Scotty didn't like crowds. We would have to keep him covered when we had a lot of company or he would become too stressed. Ok, I thought, we could do that.

I left for home that day with a cockatiel, a beautiful big cage, and two separate raised platforms that looked like mini playgrounds. I was told how much he loved to be out of his cage, although they didn't dare remove the bread ties that held the cage doors shut.


My son and I arrive home to surprise my husband with Scotty. He happily helped make room for the huge cage in the living room and then we set up the bird playgrounds on opposite ends of the the first floor of our apartment. One by the front window and the other beside the sliding glass doors. Scotty loved the sit and look out the window, we were told. When everything was set up, and the last swinging bell hung, we untied the cage door to let Scotty out in his new home.

He didn't move. My husband reached in to help his bird out. Scotty squawked, bit his finger, and shrank back into the corner of the cage hissing. We assumed he was scared and left him alone for a while. My son, not yet 2 stayed at the cage. I was afraid the bird would bite, but it calmed right down. Before we knew it Scotty was making soft whistling sounds and saying, "Pretty Bird." My son was giggling, all was good.

A few days later we try again. I open the cage and this time Scotty hops right on my hand. My husband turns to say something from the kitchen, Scotty's feathers bunch up on the back of his neck like a cat ready to fight, he suddenly flies straight for my husband. He ducks, I scream, my son is giggling, and Scotty is flying around in a complete panic. With visions of Alfred Hitchcock's movie The Birds in my head I run to protect my son's eyes. Scotty takes another swoop at my husband, squawks, and crashes into the sliding glass door. He falls to the floor. The apartment is silent. I'm still holding my hands over my son's eyes and my husband and I can only look at each other in utter shock over what had just happened.

My son breaks us from our trance with a one word query, "birdie?" I give a look to my husband that sends him to investigate. He looks back at us and says, "he's moving." My son and I go closer as my husband bends down to pick up Scotty. The bird hops to his feet and starts hissing, angrily, and running at my husband in some crazy bird warrior pose.

We finally did get Scotty back into his cage and, after similar scenes played out over the next few months, we called the previous owners. They admitted that he had not actually been out of his cage for a long time. They also admitted that Scotty, the bird I got FOR my husband, might have some slight issues with men. The irony of this still makes me laugh. We were told to give him time, he would get used to my husband.

Over the years my husband was diligent with Scotty. He kept his cage clean, fed him, and changed his drinking and his bath water daily, but Scotty remained staunch with his dislike of him. He hissed and spit every time my husband got within a foot of the cage. And if my husband were so bold as to lie on the floor with me or my son to watch television, Scotty would open the cage, drop silently to the floor, and sneak up like a bird ninja to my husband's feet and snip at a toe. Or sometimes he would sneak up and just hiss at his feet, which I found hilarious because my husband would just about hit the ceiling every time. Imagine looking down as the feathery head dress pokes over the top of my husband's foot and beedy little accusing eyes stare at us.

It became clear that my friend's parents were less than honest on a few things. They never did move to Florida, Scotty never came around to like my husband, and he lived much longer than anyone ever expected. When we got him he was around 12 years old, he lived another 12 years. Also, there was nothing slight about his issues. He may have been suffering from a bird form of schizophrenia. Turns out cockatiels are very intellectual birds and can suffer from depression, bipolar, and schizophrenia.

Scotty is still missed by us all, even my husband. Thankfully, he kept his hatred focused only on him. My three boys, he would sing to and talk sweetly. He even learned how to say my oldest son's name. To my daughter and I, he was always a gentleman/bird. He would whistle when ever we walked by, the sexy whistle, and say' "Hello." To my husband, he remained a full blown man hater until the sad day his angry little claws pointed toward the sky.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing in our almost fond memories with Scotty.

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesday: Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant

How We Do It

When it comes to writing, the question we are asked more than any other is "How in the world do two people write a book together?" Although we’ve been at this gig for twenty years, and the “how” of this process seems hardly noteworthy to us, it remains the thing people are most curious about. In the beginning, we were really surprised by the question—we hadn’t thought about the “how,” and were completely unprepared with an answer. For us, writing in tandem evolved in the same completely organic, and equally inexplicable way as our friendship had—so it seemed perfectly natural.

Although we met in a profession where we should have been rivals (We were both plus-size models—the only two blacks in our NYC agency and therefore direct competition.) but we realized quickly that we had a lot in common—including a love of books, and we cracked each other up. We cooked up a number of projects together (a fashion newsletter and a short-lived magazine) before we got around to writing Tryin' to sleep in the Bed You made, and discovered that we work seamlessly, almost like we shared halves of the same brain. When the magazine folded without any notice, (and we got over our pity party) we knew that we had to keep working together.

Months and dozens of ideas later, we found ourselves back at the beginning--something we each had fallen in love with as children--fiction. We had both been English majors in college, but more than that, after years of gobbling books like popcorn, we each had strong feelings about what made a good story—and what didn’t. And for reasons we still can’t quite figure out, we decided to attempt writing a novel together. Who had the idea first? Your guess is as good as ours. But no tried to talk us out of it, we talked ourselves into it.

Now seven co-written novels later, before we begin a book, we do the same thing---get together and talk--something we do endlessly anyway. Our conversations lead to a plot, and characters we end up knowing as well as we know each other and eventually an outline. And no--our stories are not autobiographical although we use our own emotions and experience to give the characters reactions that feel real.

In order to make the process work we have to be in the same place. That's how the vibe happens. Sometimes we're side by side at the desktop PC, sharing the keyboard---passing it off to whoever has the hot hand. Other times one is at the laptop and the other at the desk and we're both writing the same section. We come together, read each other's material and weave them together, a sentence or two at a time. We can also write within the same chapter, one going from the beginning to the middle the other from the middle to the end. Then, we exchange sections, add at least two cents to what the other has done, and finally join them. The crazy part is we never know how it will progress each day—we sometimes use all of these methods in a single session. Our aim is for the book to have one, coherent voice. People are often sure they will be able to detect a change in style, or guess who wrote a particular part, but so far, nobody has, not even our editor.

Both our personal friendship and our professional relationship hinge on caring, trust and respect. When we write, our egos are checked at the door. We shed our selves and move into the plot, characters and language of the story. The work is never about us, it's about crafting a story word by word, sentence by sentence, that makes the reader care, maybe even makes them angry with a character. And based on the thousands of letters and emails we have received we know how strongly readers relate to the struggles, life lessons and thick-and-thin relationships we give our characters. That means we’re doing our job. We know that each of us could write a book on her own, but it's a special gift to be able to do it together and we hope we’ll be tag team storytelling for a long time.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Thanks Virginia and Donna for taking time out of your busy schedules to be this week's Writer Wednesday guests. I think it is amazing how well you both write together. After reading Uptown and then your writing process I was even more amazed. There is no point where I could detect a change in style or perspective.

More information about Virginia DeBerry and Donna Grant:

Website: http://deberryandgrant.com/

Blog: http://twomindsfull.blogspot.com/

Facebook: http://Facebook.com/deberryandgrant

Twitter: http://Twitter.com/deberryandgrant

Thanks also to all of you who took time out of your day to stop by. Your support is always appreciated.

If you would like more info about this series, please see Writer Wednesday: The Intro

Kristin : )

All Jokes Aside

As you may already know, my first novel was published in November 2009. It's been an exciting and nerve racking year and a half. I have been trying to learn as much as possible about this new (to me) world called publishing and at the same time also learning so much more about myself; what I'm capable of, what my downfalls are. I'm learning it's important to build a fan base, a platform, and maintain an on line presence that is welcoming and offers something useful to others. The questions I keep coming back to are, How much do readers, online friends, and fans want to know? and How much am I willing to divulge?

This whole on line life is completely new to me, and at my age new things don't come so easily, so I wrestle between openness and privacy and often end up hiding behind humor (cheesy humor at that). This is something I've slowly come to see in myself. Seeing our own faults don't hit as fast as say, seeing faults in others. It's more of a process, like grief, that until we get to a point where we can accept we can not work on making necessary changes. That is where I am, accepting and deciding on how to make the changes.

It's not that I see a sense of humor as a bad thing. It's gotten me through a lot of tough times and helped me to view life less critically. But it can also be a crutch, a way of avoiding something uncomfortable or stressful. When it becomes a crutch it actually builds a wall, a protective barrier, between me and the world. I know this, and believe I have found a good balance with this in my real, off line life. Online, well that's another story. Online, I know that my tendencies toward humor can make me look fickle and even unprofessional at times. This is a problem, because I started this whole on line adventure to learn and enhance my professional writing life, not hinder it. At the same time, I don't want to completely lose my sense of humor in the process.

So, now that I know and accept this, how do I begin to make changes? I'm not sure. I know a big part of it is forcing my self to be more honest and open. I follow some incredible people and blogs online that have both inspired and forced me to look deeper at myself as a person on and off line. There is a difference between the two, for me anyway. I admire the people that can open themselves up to the world, that's not me. I'm a private person by nature. I do pour myself, heart and soul, into my writing, but I think knowing there's a cushion of fiction surrounding those raw exposed parts of me that live in every character I create allows me to do so.

There are no easy answers to this. It's going to be, like most everything in life, a series of trials and errors. I'm just beginning this journey, and know that I will get to a place that allows me to be more open yet keep some degree of privacy, which I think is vital in keeping mine and my family's life sacred and special to us. All I can ask for is patience (from myself and others) while I figure this all out.

My question to you is:

How much do you, as a reader, want to know about the author?

Thank you for stopping by. I do appreciate the time you take out of your own journeys to listen to mine.

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesdays: Jamie DeBree

The Path to “Writer”

Jamie DeBree

I’ve wanted to be a writer for a long time. I guess some would say I’ve *been* a writer for a long time, just with some very long growth and research periods thrown in (though I never dared use the title until just this last year). I started writing in high school with pages of passionate purple prose that garnered my first negative critique and a suggestion that I not pursue writing as anything more than a hobby. It was a sentiment echoed by well-meaning (and perhaps correct) family members, though their reasons were more practical – according to my mom, a woman should always be able to take care of and provide for herself, no matter her marital status. Wise words to this day, I think.

I’ve always had a very clear understanding of what it is to be self-employed, because my father has run his own business from home since I was very young. Growing up with that made me very much aware of the “feast or famine” lifestyle that any full-time writer would probably face, it’s just the nature of self-employment and contract work. So I had already dismissed the possibility of being a full-time writer…at least not until far in the future when I would be retired and no longer in need of a steady income.

I went off to college, working two, sometimes three jobs to pay for a degree I was pretty sure I’d never use and always, always in the background was the itch to write something more than essays and term papers. I didn’t have time to write back then, but I thought about it almost constantly as I went about my practical life. I’d occasionally jot down a story idea or a few chapters of something, and then walk away from it again as “real life” took over.

After college I got a “real” job, and started working 8-5, amazed at how much *time* I had left over in the day with only one job and no classes or homework. I finally indulged my desire to write, throwing myself headlong into National Novel Writing Month and shocking myself by completing a 50,000 word novel. It was supposed to be a mystery-thriller, but turned into a mish-mash of all the genres I routinely read (romance, mystery, thriller, horror, and even some literary elements). It was bad (it’s still bad, actually), but it soothed that deep, aching need to write that I’d been carrying around for years. I still knew that writing wasn’t a “practical” career, so my writing would only be a hobby, but I wrote several more NaNo novels after that, each one improving. I dabbled a bit with editing, but it was overwhelming, and I couldn’t quite get motivated to put that much work into a “hobby”. I even tried to just give it up – quit writing altogether, but then November came around again, and I…just couldn’t stay away. Pretty soon I started the serial novel on my blog…my first novel written “in public” so to speak, and the first fiction I’d shown to anyone since high school. I got a few encouraging comments, and started meeting other writers – it felt good. It felt “right”…like I was doing what I’d been meant to do all along.

Last March, I decided to buy a netbook. A new story was percolating in my head at the time - I wanted to write, and I didn’t want to be stuck back in my office doing it. The week it got here I started writing the novel I’m currently editing for submission this summer. I've been writing regularly ever since – I just needed to be able to do my writing with the rest of the family (my husband and dogs). I really rebelled against locking myself away to work on my novels.

I also started interacting with other writers…and reading everything I could about the publishing industry. My practical side was downright giddy when I learned that there were authors out there who really did make a living selling their books. The key, it seems, is to be prolific, and most self-sufficient authors either sell the big bestselling thrillers, or romance novels. I read a lot of both, but my own novels lean heavily toward the romance side, so it was pretty easy to choose romance as my main genre. My romances are contemporary, but I can’t seem to write one without some sort of suspense element, so I’m calling them romantic suspense for now.

At this point, I'm working hard to set myself up to be successful not only in telling good stories that will entertain people, but also in publishing and selling enough books to earn a comfortable living. My current goal is to publish four books per year, and see how close that will get me to earning what I currently make at my day job. We'll see how that goes, but I'm optimistic. I'll start submitting my first “good” novel (my fifth completed ms) this summer. And that will be the start of a whole new journey.

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Thanks Jamie for being a guest for this edition of Writer Wednesdays and thank you to all who took time to stop by and read Jamie's Path to Writing. She also has a great blog that displays some of her work and offers excellent advice to writers Variety Pages . You can also follow her on Twitter @JamieDeBree .

Kristin : )

If you would like more info about this series, please see Writer Wednesday: The Intro

Memoir Mondays: On Writing Well by William Zinsser

On Writing Well by William Zinsser is not exactly a memoir, but it does have a chapter on Memoir writing. So, for that it has earned a place on my Memoir Monday shelf.

This is "an informal guide to writing nonfiction". It is intended to help the nonfiction writer with things like, improving your lead, how to interview and critique. It covers writing about Science, Technology, Nature, Business, Humor, and, of course, Memoirs. In addition to all this I think it offers great advice to all writers.

It's important for all writers to know that "rewriting is the essence of writing" and the best way "you learn to write [is] by writing". Those quotes from the book may sound redundant and simple, but they are true. The more you write, the better you will become at it and that goes for rewriting too. Zinsser puts it perfectly with this thought, "Nobody becomes Tom Wolfe overnight, not even Tom Wolfe."

My favorite part of this book is that Zinsser respects there are "... all kinds of writers and all kinds of methods, and any method that helps people say what they want to say is the right method for them."

Some other great points I took from Zinsser was to simplify as much as possible, grab the readers attention right away, keep focused on what you're trying to say, and if you don't have passion for what you're writing you shouldn't be writing it.

I'm going back over my WIPs now to apply some of these. What do you think of William Zinsser's advice? Have you read On Writing Well, or any of his other books?

Thank you for stopping by.

Kristin : )

Writer Wednesdays: Dani Harris

Hi, I'm Dani. I am a Twitter friend of Kristin's and quite honored for her to have invited me to participate in her guest post series by writers. To be honest, I'm stunned because I just started my blog in February 2010 and only began writing in January 2010. I write haiku, senryu, verse....not the rhyming type of poetry.

My journey into writing actually began on Twitter when I accidentally started following writers and poets. If you are not familiar with the Twitterverse, it is quite amazing. It is the perfect medium for short verse with it's limit of 140 characters, and the poetry "community" is very active with several group haiku challenges every day. The general definition of haiku is a verse of three parts made up of 5 syllables/7 syllables/ 5 syllables. There actually are more requirements, but this is the basis most used on Twitter. A word is selected and anyone who would likes can tweet a haiku containing that word, and individuals will randomly tweet haiku, too. I fell in love with the art form and eventually got enough courage to tweet my own words.

Quite to my surprise and delight, the writing and poetry communities both embraced me, which led to starting my own blog haiku love songs. It's also quite unexpected because I've never done any type of writing before and I'm 58 years old. {{cringe}} A young 58-year-old grandmother. I have no formal education, or really even any basic knowledge, of writing. What I do know is that the words are here now and I must write.

I was quite intimidated to attempt this post and was discussing it with another poet/Twitter friend. He said I write from my heart, and I do. The verse may not have anything to do with my real life, but every word contains a piece of me. Sometimes it can leave me feeling quite raw and exposed emotionally. Most of what I write is triggered by a song, or a bird or something I'm doing, like unbraiding my hair....usually there is an urgency to get to the computer or a pencil and paper because the words start flowing. {And I have a really bad memory, being so old and all.}

Once in a while when I read the finished verse, it doesn't feel right so I put it away and go back to it later. Occasionally, I sit down to write without anything in mind because I need something to post to my blog. But 95% of the time, the words flow... through me, not from me....and I just leave them alone.

So, am I a writer? I write. Why do I write? Because the words are forcing their way out. Am I any good? That is something beyond my ability to judge, but I'm having a lot of fun doing it.

Thanks again to Kristin for so generously inviting me here. The final moral of my writing story is that it's never too late to start.

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You can enjoy Dani's poetry by following her blog: haiku love songs And you can also follow her on Twitter: @ddh77 .

Thank you Dani for a very inspirational post and perfect timing since it is National Poetry Month. Thanks also to all of you who have stopped by today.

Kristin : )

If you would like more info about this series follow this link Writer Wednesdays: The Intro .