How do you work through self-doubts and fear?

When I’m writing I am very intentional in creating a safe, creative zone to work from. I come from a theater background, and I remember learning early on that the stage was a place of safety and creative freedom where there was no room for self-doubt or judgment. I try to mimic that in my writing space. I do not think with a critic’s mind when I’m in that zone. It feels amazing and free – no editing allowed. This helps a great deal with keeping my fears from creeping into my work. When the work is ready to go out, well, then I must say I do have to contend with those fears. I have not found a way to get rid of self-doubt at that stage, but I think that’s part of being a creative artist.

What scares you the most?

What scares me most is not leading the life I was meant to live. I do believe we all have a purpose, certain gifts that we are meant to express in this life. The universe wants to see our own unique flower blossom, and while that sounds beautiful, I’m keenly aware of how hard it can be to allow yourself to bloom. Your flower might not look anything like what you thought it would, or what you wanted it to look like, or what your family or town or community wants it to look like. The courage to first discover and then be who you really are is no small thing.

What makes you happiest?

Stillness makes me happy. Slowing down makes me happy. Watching my daughter sleep and hearing her howl with laughter when I tickle her. Sitting under the stars with my best friend and feeling immense gratitude for his presence in my life. Dancing makes me insanely happy, Expressing emotions that have no words but come out in movement. Spending time with people that get me. Being around boldness and creative energy.

What’s your greatest character strength?

This one is not so easy and clear as my weakest trait. I’ve been told by many people that I have a great deal of courage – I’m ballsy. I’m an Aries so I have that strong, I’ll go first and I’m not afraid of anything energy. I can definitely see that trait in me, but I can also be very timid so it almost feels like a toggle switch that is either on or off. I also have a very strong awareness of my emotions and what I’m going through at any given moment (thanks to years of therapy, acting classes and a masters in spiritual psychology).

What’s your weakest character trait?
I have very little patience. In fact, I don’t even have the patience for this question. It’s been like this all my life. I blame it on the stars. Seriously. So many tasks, challenges, and goals I gave up on too soon because I didn’t see any early success. I would like to say I’m working on this but I’m not. I don’t know even know where to begin. Perhaps there’s a support group?

Why do you write?

I write for many reasons. Pure selfish self-expression is one reason. I write sometimes to discover where I am at psychologically speaking. I feel like I can move energy when I write and in doing so heal. I write stories to perform on stage. I write to tell people’s stories who might not have been heard. I write because it feels alive to be living in a story and not know where it will take me.

What motivates you to write?

Creativity equates to aliveness. It’s where anything is possible. And when I write, I feel alive. The irony is that my mind is necessary for me to write but I prefer to write as if I’m out of my mind. And by mind I mean my inner-critic, the judging, non-life affirming part of me.

Diagnosed with Borderline Personality disorder, Amy struggled with depression and an addiction to sharp objects. Even hospitalization didn't help to heal her destructive tendencies. It took a tumultuous relationship with a man named Truth to bring her back from the depths of her own self-made hell.Amy's marriage to dark, intriguing Truth was both passionate and stormy. She was a fair-skinned southern girl from New Orleans. He was a charming black man with tribal tattoos, piercings, and a mysterious past. They made an unlikely pair, but something clicked. 

During their early marriage, they pulled themselves out of abject poverty into wealth and financial security practically overnight. Then things began to fall apart.Passionate and protective, Truth also proved violent and abusive. Amy’s own self-destructive tendencies created a powerful symmetry. His sudden death left Amy with an intense and warring set of emotions: grief for the loss of the man she loved, relief she was no longer a target for his aggression.

Conflicted and grieving, Amy found herself at a spiritual and emotional crossroads, only to receive help from an unlikely source: Truth himself. Feeling his otherworldly presence in her dreams, Amy seeks help from a famous medium.

Her spiritual encounters change Amy forever. Through Truth, she learns her soul is eternal and indestructible, a knowledge that gives Amy the courage to pursue her own dreams and transform herself both physically and emotionally. Her supernatural encounters help Amy resolve the internal anger and self-destructive tendencies standing between her and happiness, culminating in a sense of spiritual fulfillment she never dreamed possible.

An amazing true story, What Freedom Smells Like is told with courage, honesty, and a devilishly dark sense of humor.

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Genre – Memoir

Rating – PG-13

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Connect with Amy Lewis through Twitter

Website www.WhatFreedomSmellsLike.com

How do you work through self-doubts and fear? The only thing I fear is losing one of my sons or a person I care about. Failing has never made me fearful. A bigger fear would be to never try to achieve my goals.

What’s your greatest character strength? Loyalty. Once I take you in, I’ll never let you go.

What’s your weakest character trait? Writing for hours, sometimes forgetting about eating or sleeping.

Have you always enjoyed writing? Always. I am an introverted/extrovert. I enjoy being around people, but value and protect my alone time to write.

What writing are you most proud of? (Add a link if you like) I am proud of all three of the books I have written. I cannot write a book in two or three months. It takes a lot of time for me to research the cities, neighborhoods and even bars or restaurants where the novel takes place. Using HUSH as an example, I wanted the legal facts to be correct and spent hours talking to friends who are lawyers, and using an online law site where I paid for answers to legal questions.

What are you most proud of in your personal life?  I am proud that I am a strong role model for my three sons. We all go through difficult times in life. They have watched me pick myself up and dust myself off more times than they’ve wanted.

What book genre of books do you adore? Thrillers of any kind. I am not into blood and gore, or reading about it, but enjoy being held on the edge of my seat.

Soon after Ann Ferguson and Ben Grable marry, and Ben unseals his adoption papers, their perfect life together is torn apart, sending the couple to opposite sides of the courtroom.

Representing Ann, lawyer Michael J. McConaughey (Mac) feels this is the case that could have far-reaching, judicial effects -- the one he's been waiting for.

Opposing counsel knows this high profile case happens just once in a lifetime.

And when the silent protest known as HUSH sweeps the nation, making international news, the CEO of one of the top ten pharmaceutical companies in the world plots to derail the trial that could cost his company billions.

Critically acclaimed literary thriller HUSH not only questions one of the most controversial laws that has divided the nation for over four decades, but captures a story of the far-reaching ties of family that surpasses time and distance.

*** Hush does not have political or religious content. The story is built around the emotions and thoughts of two people who differ in their beliefs.

EDITORIAL REVIEW: "Suspenseful and well-researched, this action-packed legal thriller will take readers on a journey through the trials and tribulations of one of the most controversial subjects in society today." - Katie French author of "The Breeders," "The Believer's," and "Eyes Ever To The Sky."

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Genre – Thriller

Rating – PG-13

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Connect with Kimberly Shursen through Facebook and Twitter

Website http://www.kimberlyshursen.com/

SENDING

When you die, your spirit wakes in the frozen north, in the City of the Dead, and waits there until someone comes along to Send you to the next world by telling you a simple and heartfelt “Goodbye.”

This single word, spoken by someone who loves you, releases your soul from this world and lets you finish your journey to the next life. The City of the Dead is difficult, dangerous, and expensive to reach. You must join the steady stream of mourners who pour north at all times to Send their loved ones, unwilling to let their dead wander forever through the cold.

When you die, your spirit wakes in the north, in the City of the Dead. There, you wander the cold until one of your living loved ones finds you, says “Goodbye,” and Sends you to the next world. 

After her parents die, 12-year-old Sophie refuses to release their spirits. Instead, she resolves to travel to the City of the Dead to bring her mother and father’s spirits back home with her. 

Taking the long pilgrimage north with her gruff & distant grandmother—by train, by foot, by boat; over ruined mountains and plains and oceans—Sophie struggles to return what death stole from her. Yet the journey offers her many hard, unexpected lessons—what to hold on to, when to let go, and who she must truly bring back to life.

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Genre – Middle Grade

Rating – PG-13

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Connect with Craig Staufenberg through Facebook and Twitter

Website http://craigstaufenberg.com/

Welcome to the Organic Writing Jungle

There is an outstanding book on writing you may have read, or listened to as an audiobook called On Writing: A memoir of the craft by Stephen King. The book doesn’t read like a manual, but rather engages with a series of intriguing stories. Go figure, it’s Stephen King we’re talking about.  The key message is that stories are unearthed rather than invented. King states that he occasionally outlines his stories, but basically ignores the device.

Like many writers, I took this advice as validation of my proclivity for writing by the seat of my pants. Which is why the first thirty-thousand words of a novel are rollicking good fun. It is also why finishing a novel and revising a completed manuscript has been a burden—a long process of cutting scenes, characters, and subplots. Editing a seat of the pants novel is an exercise in self-flagellation and temptations to quit.

Benefits of Organic (seat of the pants) Writing

1)      Time: organic writers can dive in and go, no need for characters biographies, months of research, or extensive planning.

2)      Freshness: striking the page while that early morning inspiration is hot often leads to vivid scenes, engaging characters, and surprising plot twists.

3)      Surprise (and originality): if the writer doesn’t know what is going to happen next, then neither will the reader (in theory).

Problems and traps of Organic Writing

1)      Time wasting: it isn’t uncommon to write several thousand words and grow cold on what seemed like a good idea or premise.

2)      Blind alleys: writing into a corner probably happens to everyone, but there is a difference between being stuck and having to start over.

3)      Disillusionment: nothing is worse than realizing a brilliant, middle of the night inspiration is just another cliche.

Numerous books on planning and structuring exist. I read several, learned a lot, but still struggle to stick faithfully to an outline. Now I take the best of each approach.

Hardcore Novel Planning

1)      Spend huge amounts of time developing the premise of the story. In extreme cases, spend an entire lifetime and never start the first page. (Not recommended)

2)      Craft story biographies to the last detail. Know each character’s favorite color and how many squares of toilet paper they use. Have the antagonist take away the toilet paper and see what this conflict does to the plot.

3)      Using the traditional three act structure (beginning, middle, and end), write a scene by scene outline. This can be a lot of fun, but might cause the writing to feel like a series of homework assignments.

Free and easy Organic Novel Planning

1)      Start on page one. Hope for the best.

Organic Writing Plan – The Hybrid of Structure and Inspiration

1)      Develop your premise and characters in sufficient detail to get started. Write several passages that you don’t plan to use in the novel. Explore inspiration.

2)      Imagine at least five critical points in your story: the inciting incident (hook), the first plot point, the midpoint, the second plot point, and the ending. (See Story Engineering by Larry Brooks for more on this. His thoughts on structure are outstanding.)

3)      Create a scene by scene outline, but deviate as needed. Keep in mind that each section of a novel has a job to do.

4)      Remember the little people (me) when you hit the New York Times Bestseller List.

Super Creepy Sidebar

Halfway through writing this article, I took a short walk and saw a man who looked exactly like Stephen King. He scowled at me.

Recommended Reading

On Writing: A memoir of the Craft (Stephen King)

Write Great Fiction – Plot & Structure (James Scott Bell)

Story Engineering (Larry Brooks)

Writing in Overdrive (Jim Denney)

The 90 day novel (Alan Watt)

Elements of Style (William Strunk Jr., E. B. White, Roger Angell)

Blueprint Your Bestseller: Organize and Revise Any Manuscript with the Book Architecture Method (Stuart Horwitz)

Lost Hero

Changed by captivity and torture, hunted by the Reapers of Hellsbreach and wanted by Earth Fleet, Kin Roland hides on a lost planet near an unstable wormhole.

When a distant space battle propels a ravaged Earth Fleet Armada through the same wormhole, a Reaper follows, hunting for the man who burned his home world. Kin fights to save a mysterious native of Crashdown from the Reaper and learns there are worse things in the galaxy than the nightmare hunting him. The end is coming and he is about to pay for a sin that will change the galaxy forever. 

Books

Enemy of Man: Book One in the Chronicles of Kin Roland was written for fans of military science fiction and science fiction adventure. Readers who enjoyed Starship Troopers or Space Marines will appreciate this genre variation. Powered armor only gets a soldier so far. Battlefield experience, guts, and loyal friends make Armageddon fun. 

Movies

If you love movies like Aliens, Predator, The Chronicles of Riddick, or Serenity, then you might find the heroes and creatures in Enemy of Man dangerous, determined, and ready to risk it all. It’s all about action and suspense, with a dash of romance—or perhaps flash romance. 

From the Author

Thanks for your interest in my novel, Enemy of Man. I hope you chose to read the book and enjoy every page. 

If you have already read Enemy of Man, how was it? Reviews are appreciated! 

Have a great day and be safe.

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Genre – Science Fiction

Rating – R

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 Connect with Scott Moon on Facebook & Twitter