Stories behind my books: Farewell

by Vadim Babenko

The Yeltsin-Gaidar economic reform, which impoverished the entire Russian nation and created a small group of super-rich oligarchs, began in January 1992. I was working then at the Institute of Molecular Genetics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Right after New Year’s vacation we were told that financing for the Academy had been cut off. All academic institutes were advised to survive on their own. Thus began the collapse of the fundamental science system of the former USSR – created many decades prior and considered one of the strongest in the world.

Our institute was engaged in new approaches to microbiology problems. Serious scientists, who were regularly published worldwide, worked for us. As soon as it became clear our salaries would no longer be paid, a mass exodus of employees ensued – to the USA, Germany, Switzerland, Japan, France… Within two months the Institute was emptied by two-thirds. The only ones who didn’t leave were those bound to Russia by personal reasons. I too remained.

No, I had neither sick relatives nor thorny domestic problems. I simply didn’t want to leave the Russian language environment. Knowing already that my future was in literature despite my scientific successes, I decided it was time for me to write prose, my first big novel. And I believed to write in Russian I had to be surrounded by it on a day-to-day basis.

However, I needed to live on something – at the Institute they didn’t pay at all. In the Russia of that time it was possible to earn money only by reselling something brought from abroad – discounting plainly criminal jobs. Trade in consumer products was not for me; I chose the most abstract of goods – money. I began to collaborate with a firm that was profiting from currency speculation.

What we were doing wasn’t illegal – in the law of the new Russia there was simply a gaping hole about the issue. I formed a small team of some of my former scientist colleagues – all of them had excellent educations, doctorate degrees, and families with nothing to eat. The first five months everything went OK, but then we caught the eye of professional swindlers. They took notice and – quite easily and gracefully – set us up by slipping us some funny C-notes instead of real money. As a result, I ended up owing my “employers” an amount unattainable for those times: nearly five thousand dollars.

There was nowhere at all for me to get this money. However, my employers treated me well. They didn’t send tough guys after me with baseball bats, but suggested I work off the debt – by collecting weekly payments from the kiosks that they “protected” on Arbat Street. This I could not do and, persuading them to wait one month, I began seeking the path to my salvation.

Strangely enough, a path was found: in the US I located a partner who was interested in the technology I had been developing over the last two years. We decided to open a joint venture and, with a Herculean effort, I convinced him to send me money as an advance on my future share. This sum made up nearly ten percent of our “capital” at that time, which my partner had acquired from his friends. Nevertheless, he took a risk; it turned out to be the best decision of his life.

And now, having repaid my debts and wrapped up my Russian affairs, I stood in line for customs inspection in the departure wing of Moscow Sheremetevo Airport. November 1992 was passing. I was completely disappointed, both in Russia and in my abandoned novel. Actually, it was still too early for me to write something serious. And the country was quickly becoming a violent, disgusting place. All the worst of humanity had bubbled to the surface and run amok. Those who found it unpleasant could only get the hell out of there.

The customs officer, young and impudent, carelessly set to rummaging in my bag. Suddenly he lighted upon something, and his eyes twinkled. In his hands was a pack of diskettes that contained everything: all my computer programs, calculations, presentations, and so on. “This is restricted!” he announced with a sneer. “It’s not allowed to leave the country! We’re confiscating this.”

I knew he was lying to extort a bribe, but I was helpless – his supervisors were far away, and the plane wasn’t going to wait. Besides, the customs administration would most likely take issue with something else to insure I wouldn’t press my rights. I had heard many stories about this practice, and I had no illusions.

The customs official and I stepped to the side. He forced me to empty my pockets, then reached into my wallet and took all my cash, leaving only some loose change for coffee.

On the escalator as I ascended toward my gate I resolved that never again – NEVER! – would I return to this country.

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Genre – Literary Fiction

Rating – PG13

More details about the author and the book

Website http://www.vadimbabenko.com/

Author Challenges Women to the 90-Day Pink Experiment
With the upcoming release of her new book “The Color Pink,” author Parker Paige proposes that women abroad take up the 90-Day Pink Experiment.
In “The Color Pink,” inspired by true events, the protagonist, on a mission to find love after a long dry spell, taps into the mystical powers of the color pink with amazing results. According to Color Consultant Rebecca Ford, all eyes are drawn to those who wear pink and wearing this color will almost certainly attract a potential partner. Not only is it attractive, but it is feminine and very sexy as well. Rebecca Ford goes on to say that “not only does color have such a powerful effect on our moods, but also it plays a huge role in how others perceive us.”
The author doesn’t just recommend that participants (for 90 days) wear pink shirts, pink panties, pink socks and pink bras, but also decorate their surroundings with pink sheets, pink towels and yes, pink candles.
Author Parker Paige is challenging single women to witness for themselves if there really is any magic in the color pink. For women interested in participating in this 90-Day Pink Experiment, all you need do is send an email to parkerpaige86@yahoo.com, stating your interest in the 90-Day Pink Experiment. Please include your first and last name initials only and the city where you live.
A list of participants will be posted at parkerpaige.wordpress.com. After the 90-day experiment which begins November 1, 2013 and ends January 31, 2014, participants are asked to send their success stories to parkerpaige86@yahoo.com where they will be posted.
“The Color Pink” by Parker Paige will be published October 1, 2013.

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Genre - Romantic Suspense

Rating – PG-13

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Connect with  Parker Paige on Twitter

Website parkerpaige.wordpress.com

10 Things You Didn’t Know About Becoming a Published Author

By Harriet Hodgson

Being a published author looks exciting from the outside. From the inside, however, it’s a different story. I’ve been a freelance writer for 36+ years and my years in the trenches have taught me a lot about book publishing. I write non-fiction health and wellness books and these points come from this experience.

1. You have to work hard. When I say work, I mean writing every day. While you may not write during the holidays or when you’re on a trip, most days you sit down and write.
2. Writing takes planning. You start with an idea, make an outline, flesh in the details, do your research, and start writing. This process can take weeks, months, or even years. I worked on a book for a dozen years and am still amazed at the time it took.
3. Revisions come with the territory. The copy that sounded good last week may seem a bit sour the next week. When you’re revising copy, think of Pulitzer Prize winner James Michener, who said he wasn’t a good at writing, but was good at revisions.
4. Rejection also comes with the territory. Every publisher isn’t going to like your book. When your first rejections arrive you may cry. (I did.) Instead of focusing on emotion, focus on making your book better.
5. Staying current is essential. When you’re a published author, you need to be aware of trends and update yourself on them continuously. Your book ideas should fit these trends.
6. People will tell you they were going to write the book. This has happened to me several times and I just say something like “Good ideas have their time” or “Guess we both had the same idea.”
7. Marketing is part of being an author. Publishers’ marketing budgets are shrinking and most publishers, whether they’re royalty publishers, indie publishers, or print-on-demand publishers, ask their authors to help with marketing.
8. Support your book with talks and workshops. Your workshops shouldn’t be book commercials, they should be extensions of your book. People should go away with new information and a better understanding of you.
9. Use the power of the Internet. I’m a grandmother and never received any computer training. Anything I learned I learned from experience. You need an Internet presence in order to sell books.
10. Get reviews. Amazon reviews, Internet book club reviews, and print reviews all draw attention to your book. Getting reviews isn’t easy, but they are worth the time and effort you put into them.

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Genre – Non-fiction

Rating – G

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Connect with Harriet W Hodgson on Twitter

Website http://harriethodgson.com/

FIRE is a Young Adult novel steeped in a mythology that is arguably a living system of belief. Unlike Greek, Roman, Egyptian and even Norse mythology, the Hindu mythology is alive and well in all parts of the world. Today much of Hindu belief still holds true to its pantheon of gods and goddesses.

I wrote about Maya as a character because she was so certain she knew exactly what she believed. How often have we approached an idea of a philophy already one hundred percent sure we knew how it worked or what it was about. Maya knew the gods weren’t real, she knew it was all just mythology, just a way to makes sense of a religion that she believed not longer matters. Not to her at any rate.

But what if everything you ever believed was mere folklore suddenly turned out to be real? How do you handle everything turning upside down in your world? How do you go from total non-believer, or a skeptic, to a believer. That’s what happens to Maya – she not only has to accept the reality of something she always though was a fantasy but she becomes a key figure within a mythology she never ever believed was real.

How does that challenge a person? How do you accept such a turn of events? When you’re so sure it’s all a lie, what happens when you are suddenly staring truth in the face? How do you accept and deal with change.

Here I hope the reader recognises that change is not necessarily a bad thing, and neither is it a nad thing to have ones preconceived notions challenged.

The other facet of the story that drove its writing was prejudice. I’ve always believed that prejudice is a human function it is part of our nature, and is a protective measure – us against what we do not know or what we do not understand. Maya came to her own conclusions about the Kali believers. He didn’t take the opportinuty to learn about it and understand it. She just took what she’d heard and read and held herself away from belief in the goddess because of her negative preconceptions.

This prejudice can be applied to many walks of life from looks, to race, to gender, to economic differences. With this book I was hoping that readers would stop and think about whether they themselves are doing the very same thing Maya does, in whatever context that is applicable to their own lives.

If you do get the opportunity to read FIRE and wish to discuss any aspect of the novel please feel free to email me at tgayer@xtra.co.nz

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Genre – YA Fantasy/Paranormal

Rating – PG13

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Connect with T.G. Ayer on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://tgayer.wordpress.com

Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.

Interweaving fiction with history

While my latest release, the Scottish historical My Highland Lord, begins in 1837, the history goes back seventeen years, when one of the most daring assassination attempts of the nineteenth century rocked Regency England.

“What happened next was a frenzy of killing…”(1) This is how the night might have ended for the Ministers gathered at Lord Harrowby’s London home, February 23, 1820 if not for the intervention of His Majesty’s spies. The Cato Street Conspiracy, as the mass assassination attempt was dubbed, was led by Arthur Thistlewood, leader of the radical Spencean Philanthropists Society, and was one of the most daring assassination attempts in England’s history. Thistlewood and his men were stopped by John Stafford, Bow Street Sheriff and supervisor of the Home Office spies.

The trap Stafford set was a full blown sting operation worthy of a modern day spy movie. Spies were installed in Thistlewood’s organization and a few members were recruited as snitches. A notice was placed in the paper that the Cabinet would be meeting at Harrowby’s, and money was funneled into the organization for the weapons needed to carry out a mass murder. Thistlewood snatched up the bait like a hungry lion and he and his men set up their headquarters at the Horse and Groom, a public house on Cato Street that overlooks the stable. On the day of the planned assassinations as the would-be criminals gathered for the task they believed would herald in a new era for Great Britain, Stafford’s men swooped in and arrested them. One Bow Street officer was killed—run through with a sword by Thistlewood himself—and the guilty men scattered. Over the course of a few days most of the top conspirators were found. Two months later, they were tried and hanged for High Treason. But one man, Mason Wallington, Baron Arlington, escaped…or so goes the history in My Highland Lord, the second book in the Highland Lords series.

There is, of course, much more to the story of The Cato Street Conspiracy. For example, Arthur Thistlewood believed God had presented him with the opportunity he’d been waiting for to murder the top government officials in one swoop, and the government conspiracy to stop him seems to stop short of the King himself. But such details are an example of the lifeblood that infuses the subtle elements of a story.

This dramatic backdrop and its dark undertones was a perfect setting for the heroine of My Highland Love. Phoebe Wallington, daughter of Mason Wallington, followed in her father’s footsteps and became a British spy. Phoebe, however, wanted to do more than protect her country, and set out on a quest to prove her father’s innocence. He was a patriot, a man who put his life on the line by spying for the Crown.

When our story officially begins, being Scottish was on the cusp of being in fashion and Scottish lords were hard at work to abolish the old ways of farming in favor of more lucrative business ventures. Yet there were leaders who understood that many of the changes made in the name of progresses weren’t all positive. The political climate in Scotland called for leaders who understood both sides of the argument. So was born the hero of My Highland Lord, Kiernan MacGregor, the Marquess of Ashlund, a Scottish lord who was as much British as he was Scottish—at least in appearance.  And, as unique as my hero might be, he wasn’t alone in walking both sides of the political line.

I often hear “I couldn’t write historical romance. The research must be daunting.” For me, the research is half the fun of writing historical fiction. I always feel like I’m cheating just a little when I weave real events into a story because my characters gain a credibility that makes it easy for readers to accept the possibility that they could have have lived and acted as they do in my stories. But with that advantage comes the responsibility to root the reader firmly in the past and slip our characters in as if they belong there. Once we gain the reader’s trust, they’ll be fans forever. That’s a win/win situation for everyone. The trick is, never letting the lines show between truth and fiction. That’s a challenge I just can’t resist.

(1) Take from Enemies of the State: The Cato Street Conspiracy by  M.J Trow

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Genre – Historical  Romance

Rating – R

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Connect with Tarah Scott on Facebook, Tarah Scott’s Reader Group & Twitter

Website http://www.tarahscott.com/

How to Avoid the Rejection Blues:  A Bad Review Can Be A Good Thing

By Christine Locke

In a recent author interview, I was asked what I think of receiving a bad review.   I did not write the first thing that came to mind.  That would have been, “I hate it! Want to throw my laptop at the wall, cry into my coffee, and throw a tantrum, hate it!”  No, that’s not what I wrote.  Instead, I responded with the first rational thing that came to mind.

A bad review now and then is good for me, I said.  And, if you are a writer, it’s good for you, too.  Why?

First, and we all know this, bad reviews keep you humble.  Sure, they sting.  I’ve seen bestselling authors post links to their bad reviews as they ponder what was said in them and lick the resulting wounds.  But, if you’re willing…

Bad reviews teach you, which is my second point.  No writer learns anything from relatives telling her, “Your book is awesome!”  Not that you need to respond or change your writing to suit those who don’t like it and maybe never will, but there are times when a reviewer has a point.  In those moments, if we are willing, we can take what we read and use it to make our next book a better one.

And, finally, here’s what I wrote in my brief answer to the interviewer’s question: an occasional bad review gives my good reviews credibility.  If you only have five-star reviews, potential readers must wonder if your readers are all family members.  Or, worse, they’ll think you paid for your reviews.  Reviews matter, and readers are savvy about them.  They can tell if it seems like the person writing did not really read your book.

Controversy–disagreement over quality or subject matter– shows true engagement.  Someone cared enough to come back and say your book was a five star read?  Great!  Even better if someone else was passionate enough to come back and give it two.  Controversy might inspire other reviewers to get in on the action with their own two cents.  See?  With no controversy and all favorable reviews, maybe the book really is great, but there have not been enough readers to spark a true discussion.

That’s the most important take-away: we don’t just love reading stories.  We love discussing stories.  In a room full of five-star reviewers, the two-star review is what gets the conversation going.  Otherwise, no one has anything to say about your book.  Discussions—even arguments—are “buzz.”  And that’s why an occasional bad review is a good—even necessary—thing.

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Genre – Young Adult

Rating – PG/PG13

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Connect with  Christine Locke on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://christinelockebooks.blogspot.com/

My Kick in the Butt

by: Keira Michelle Telford

In 2010, my father died. In 2011, I published my first book.

My father died relatively young. He was only 62, and he died alone, surrounded by the only thing that ever made any real sense to him: his artwork. He worked for Royal Worcester, painting still life on porcelain. (Though he did work in other mediums for pleasure, first and foremost, he was always a ceramic artist).

We have a lot in common, my father and I. He never paid for a haircut in all of his adult life, and I started cutting my own hair a few years ago. He had blue eyes, so do I. He was creative, and so am I. He had (undiagnosed) Asperger’s syndrome, and so do I. Will I end up dying alone, surrounded by the only thing that’s ever made any real sense to me (writing)? Probably. And I’m okay with that. My autism makes it difficult to make social bonds, and I often find myself somewhat alienated from the world—just like my father was.

There’s one path I don’t want to follow him down, though. He was a very talented painter, but he never put that talent to any appreciable use. He was made redundant from Royal Worcester in the mid-1980s, and became self-employed. In a way, that should’ve been a great opportunity for him. No longer did he have to paint what other people wanted him to paint, he could paint whatever he liked. The only trouble was he found it too difficult to put his work out there in the world. Something held him back, though I’m not sure if it was a fear of rejection, or just a lack of the social skills necessary to market himself in the way you really need to when you’re working for yourself. (Something I also struggle with).

In any case, the saddest aspect of his passing (outside of my own personal grief, of course) was this sudden realization of all the wasted potential there was in his life. He loved to paint, got irritable when he couldn’t, and lived and breathed through these beautiful pieces of art that never saw the light of day. They just gathered dust in his painting room, like my novels were gathering virtual dust on the hard-drive of my laptop.

I might not mind dying alone, as an eccentric recluse who cuts her own hair and talks to herself, but I made up my mind right there and then that I didn’t want to die with all my thoughts locked up inside my head. Whether I achieve any modicum of success (success being a totally subjective concept anyway) or not, it doesn’t matter. What’s important is the effort, and the attempt to leave a mark on the world in some small way. To create something indelible, as proof that you were ever here at all.

Eerily, when I was emptying out his house, I found a note tucked in amongst a stack of papers of all things he intended to write or talk to me about and never got the chance. The note said: Alas, it is the fate of most of us to touch the world lightly and leave no prints. See if you can grab it a bit harder.

So that’s what I’m doing.

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Genre – Dystopian Sci-Fi

Rating – 18+

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Website http://www.ellacross.com/

Five Things You Didn’t Know About “The Matrix and the Alice Books”

by: Voicu Mihnea Simandan

1. The genesis of a book

The Matrix and the Alice Books is an intertextual study of the film The Matrix and the books Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll. The initial research for the book was done as part of my two-year master’s degree studies in Bangkok. I have probably seen The Matrix trilogy over one hundred times and having the book in my hands has brought my longtime obsession with The Matrix and the Alice Books to a satisfactory conclusion. Now it’s time for the world to read it and dive down the rabbit hole and explore a world where the boundary between dreams and reality is blurred by some of the most remarkable and memorable fictional characters ever to appear on the pages of a book and on the screen of a TV.

2. Lewis Carroll as an inspiration

The world Lewis Carroll created in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass had a great impact on me and, as a child, I often found myself slipping down my own rabbit hole under a pillow-made castle, joining Alice in her wonderful adventures. Now, in my mid-30s, after having published a postgraduate study about the Alice books I do believe that the books I grew up with have made me the man I am today.

3. The colours of the Matrix

Blue and green are two important colours in the Matrix universe. Dark blue stands for the “real world” of The Matrix where the characters are unplugged. Green is another colour that has great significance in The Matrix as it symbolizes the world of the machines.

4. The digital rain of the Matrix

The Matrix digital rain, with its falling green code representing the virtual reality of the Matrix, is also on the background of the cover of my intertextual study The Matrix and the Alice Books. The cover depicts Alice looking up at theCheshire Cat who smiles down at Alice from a tree while, in the background, the binary coded Matrix digital rain invites the readers into a world where dream and reality are one.

5. “The Matrix has you”

Wachowskis’ quote “The Matrix has you” is a very powerful statement that has resonated with a whole generation of science fiction fans. The quote makes reference to the realization that our lives are controlled by an outside force and some of us have the willingness to fight this force or, on the contrary, feel the desire to conform and play by the rules. From the stand we take when it comes to governments, economic policies and social issues, our choice to remain part of the Matrix (the powers-to-be) or our struggle to break free and fight the system is brilliantly summarized in these four words: “The matrix has you.”

Voicu Mihnea Simandan is currently on a virtual tour with The Matrix and the Alice Books, an intertextual study that looks at the connection between the scifi movie The Matrix and Lewis Carroll’s books Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass.

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Genre – Non-Fiction/Movie Studies/Literary Criticism

Rating – G

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Website http://www.simandan.com/

Finding Your Voice: Writing in First Person

By: Sarah Daltry

When I started writing, I never really gave any consideration to the voice of the work. I just wrote it in the voice that came into my head when the story idea popped up. Time went on, I was writing, and voice was still not a factor in my planning. For me, the characters tell the stories, so the voice was whatever voice they were speaking to me in – and that was usually first person.

As a reader, I love first person stories. They feel confessional, like the novel is a big secret that I share with a close friend. When I began writing, I thought of storytelling the same way. I didn’t want to insert myself between the character and the reader. So I continued writing in first person.

Originally, I wrote in first person, past tense. When I started writing erotica, though, it became clear that first person present was a much more “involved” tense choice. Reading erotic stories in first person present really makes you feel like you are experiencing the events in the story and isn’t that the goal of erotica? Crossing over to romance, I had to decide if I wanted to stick with first person present or return to past tense. I had really begun to enjoy present tense because it made the story that much more active to me.

After writing my stories this way for a while, I stumbled upon an article about agents’ pet peeves in publishing. At the top of the list was first person present tense. That was a surprise. I love reading books in this voice, so why would it be a bad thing? I don’t really know the answer, but I worried about this a great deal. Could I never succeed as a writer because I chose the wrong voice? Would readers really not pick up a book because of the narration?

It turns out that yes, there is a group of readers who will not read a book based on the voice in which it’s written. I needed to decide what that meant for me. Should I change what worked for me as a writer – in order to reach more people? Would I feel the same connection to the characters if I changed the point of view?

My final decision was that voice matters, but it matters more to a writer than to a reader. I have never put a book down because of the voice the author chose. I don’t care. A story is a story. My preference remains first person, but I’m not going to ignore a book that appeals to me because it’s in third. I hope most readers feel the same way. On the other hand, the characters need to be free to tell the story. I’m the instrument they use to become real to readers. If they want to talk, and leave me out of it, who am I to argue?

Right now, I am working on a novel that will probably be in alternating third person. I didn’t make the choice because I had heard too many complaints about first person. I made it because it works for the novel. I think when it comes to finding your voice as an author, you need to go with what you feel works. The rest will just have to fall into place.

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Genre – New Adult Erotic Romance

Rating – X

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Connect with  Sarah Daltry on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://sarahdaltry.tumblr.com/

Seven Tips to Make Journaling Your Writing Ally

by Carla Woody

Once you consider a writing project, you embark on a journey of sorts. This is particularly true if the idea won’t leave you alone, and you’re compelled to pursue it. You become involved in a process, not unlike the
Hero’s Journey that mythologist Joseph Campbell documented in his many books.

For most of us, it takes courage to face the blank page to even get started. Then there’s writer’s block which can raise its ugly head…and…ugh…the rewrite and editing. In those times, don’t you wonder why you ever considered writing to begin with?

What I’ve found over the years is that journaling can be your ally and get you through—if you really use it that way. Here are tips on seven areas that are rich to dig into. By focusing on them, you’ll not only gain increased understanding of yourself but added material for your writing—and inspiration.

1. Thoughts and feelings. A lot of authors would say that writing is a form of therapy. Depending on your subject matter, it can reignite hopes, bring up unresolved personal areas, create nostalgia or instill dreams. You may find yourself having old or new thoughts and feelings in the process. By journaling about what comes up, you can create: greater mental clarity, direction and stress release.

2. Resistance. If you find yourself dragging your feet on getting started, staying with it or even a particular character’s voice, look deeper. Is it something to do with an old personal pattern? Is your heart in the subject matter? Find out if it’s an authentic area of discomfort or how you get in your own way. Undoubtedly it’s emerged for a reason: resolution.

3. Creativity. New ideas and possibilities will crowd your mind as you leave an opening for them to emerge. Document and explore them. As you continue the process you can discover which ones are a right fit.

4. Dreams. By undertaking the writing journey, you’ve given a signal to your mind. You may dream vividly—and remember your dreams even if that’s normally not the case. You may find yourself working through personal things or storylines during sleeping hours. It’s particularly important to record your dreams at such times. Don’t think you’ll remember them. You won’t. They’re elusive. I’d encourage you to take the content of your dreams not so much literally as metaphorically. Look for symbolism. What could something represent? Then explore those elements.

5. Synchronicities. For me, when I’m immersed in a creative venture, it’s like living in some altered plane. Many folks report it that way. You may begin to notice great and small coincidences, more frequently, in your life. These aren’t coincidences at all, but a phenomenon called
synchronicity. Carl Jung first introduced the occurrences as simultaneous, unrelated happenings that aren’t so much grouped by cause but by the meaning they produce. Some may offer real guidance. Be alert! Journaling about them will help you notice.

6. Overall differences. Real transformation takes place at an unconscious level. When change occurs at that level, it lasts. There’s nothing you have to remind yourself to do or say, it just becomes part of who you are. It’s often a challenge to recognize the change going on inside because it seems so natural and can be subtle. In your journal, note what you find different in your life. Use the differences as markers of your progress, telling you where you’ve been and where you may yet want to go.

7. Acknowledgement. It is so important to acknowledge yourself at each step of the way. When any significant part of your project is complete…celebrate! How does it make you feel? What are your thoughts about having taken this journey? Don’t scrimp on this important part. It will provide inspiration for the next trip.

Of course, you can use what I’ve written here as guidelines for any aspect of your life, not just writing. I’ve adapted the content of this post from my mentoring program
Navigating Your Lifepath, which guides folks on how to live through their deeply held values—and thrive.

What is your experience with journaling? I’d love to see your comments below.

Preston Johns Cadell is tormented. He attempts to outrun discontent and the void in his heart. His mother is hardly around. His father’s origins and disappearance are shrouded by family secrets. His sole remembrance of his father is flying through the stars nestled in his arms.

Any comfort Preston derives is from an unseen advisor who teaches him of the invisible world. Now he is coming of age. Memories arrive from long ago when a brown-skinned woman cared for him. But she, too, vanished. Finding the buried remains of his father’s altar, Preston must answer the draw to his destiny, to discover his lineage–even though he has no idea how or where it will lead him.

Portals to the Vision Serpent is a Hero’s Journey into the realms of shamanism and the Maya world. Interwoven are the struggles of indigenous peoples to preserve their way of life and tragedies that often come from misunderstandings. Through a family saga of dark wounds and mystery, spiritual healing unfolds.

The author donates 10% of profits from book sales to Kenosis Spirit Keepers, a 501(c)3 nonprofit she founded whose mission is to help preserve Native traditions in danger of decimation.

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Genre –  Fiction / Coming of Age / Historical

Rating – PG

More details about the author & the book

Connect with Carla Woody on Facebook  & Twitter

Website http://www.kenosis.net/

How to Meet Deadlines and Remain Sane

by: Karolyn James

We all live on deadlines, in some way or form. Whether it’s needing to be at our day jobs for a set time, taking the kids to soccer practice, or even making sure that dinner is done and served, life revolves around deadlines. And that quite honestly is how I manage my writing and professional deadlines. I just keep myself sane by being very organized… and I mean very organized!

Here are three tips to keep yourself sane when facing a deadline:

1. Limit your online time! We all know that online time is the biggest time sucker in the world. And yes, online time does include trying to beat that level in Candy Crush you’ve been stuck on for weeks! Turn off the internet if you have to. Turn your wi-fi off and focus. It doesn’t matter who posted what on Facebook. It doesn’t matter what your books are ranking at on Amazon. Focus on the deadline. But also reward yourself… I’ll set my time in breaks. Two hours of work, ten minutes to goof off online.
2. Focus on the project! This may go along with online time, but don’t focus on anything outside the project. It’s very easy for our minds to travel elsewhere thus wasting time and when we waste time it makes that deadline seem harder and harder, doesn’t it?
3. Finally, stay organized! I use the calendar on my iPad and have made it my best friend. I don’t just manage current deadlines but ones that are far out. That way I know exactly what’s happening and when. It actually keeps ‘deadlines’ for really happening… if you know what to do and when to do it, it becomes work instead of a monstrous deadline.

There’s plenty more you can do to stay on top of looming deadlines but that’s what I do. I keep a date in mind, I keep it on calendar, and I focus on it. Deadlines also require some sacrifice but always remind yourself that once you hit the deadline… you get a little free time! And make sure you reward yourself. When I’m done with a big deadline (take Brothers of Rock #4 for example…) I finished EVERYTHING with the book and then stepped back and looked at the cover for a little while and smiled. Then I treated myself to dinner, a movie, and some time away from the laptop. It made me feel very refreshed and ready for the next project.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Romance

Rating – PG13

More details about the author and the book

Connect with  Karolyn James on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://karolynjames.wordpress.com/

 

Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.

What Inspires the Healing Garden, My Part of the Anthology, Bliss

by Marcy Waldenville

Inspiration is a tricky bugger. I wish I could sit here and say that mine comes from some deep personal well of creativity… but I can’t. I have been inspired by songs and movies and the sight of two people walking hand in hand in a mall. And every now and then I am inspired by what I can only terms as Mental Rants. It was the odd combination of two of my rants which, oddly enough, lead to my contribution to Bliss.

The first rant was about the HMS Titanic. I’ve had a picture of the great ship on my inspiration board for some time, but never actually had a good feeling about it. I’ve heard it said there is a sense of romance about the night the ship sank. One of the highest grossing films in history was all about that very thing. But I have to admit, I never found anything particularly romantic about it. It was always just sad. Such a tremendous amount of sorrow and loss always overrode any softer emotions for me. The arrogance of a few cost so many, so much. I usually ended up feeling really crappy about the whole story.

The second rant was all about Downton Abbey.

I admit to being one of the 24 million of us who love all things Downton. The opening scene where Lord Grandville is reading the paper about the sinking of the Titanic set the whole thing in that rather dark part of my brain.

And here comes the rant. Downton began killing people off. I was furious, hurt, vexed and just plain pissed off. I walked around fuming about writers who callously kill off the kindest and sweetest of their characters and let the mean, spiteful, selfish ones live. I was absolutely childish about it.

Then I put on my thinking tiara… yes, I actually have one of those… and I got to work rewriting these two tremendous injustices.

My story is about a Titanic Widow, a sweet, kind, loving girl caught up in a loss so big and so traumatic that she is very nearly swallowed by her grief. Those who love her help her see that there is much to live for, including the unborn child she now carries and a patch if equally sad land that needs new life. Add a handsome young man with no money and a price on his head, my own front yard garden and filter it through the slightly rosy glass of my imagination and the result was The Healing Garden.

I hope this story inspires something for the reader. Maybe their own interest in the true story of the Titanic, a need to sit through a marathon of Downton Abbey, or better yet to plant a few seeds in their own front yard. Even a rant that leads to a story of their own would tickle me pink. After all inspiration is tricky and should never be wasted.

Five authors contribute five novellas to this romantic collection set over centuries, in one home on the Albemarle Sound.

Home is where the heart is…

One stately residence on North Carolina’s Albemarle Sound. Five stories of heart-warming romance. Told against the backdrop of the Civil War, the loss of an unsinkable ship, the patriotic zeal of the second world war, the heart-rending conflict of Vietnam, and the thrill of modern day Nascar, Jamie Denton, S. K. McClafferty, Kathleen Shoop, Marcy Waldenville, and J. D. Wylde deliver a variety pack of poignant, sexy, and sweet.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Romance

Rating – R

Connect with the authors on Facebook

Yes, We Still Get Homesick Sometimes! 

by: Yvonne Jones

It hit me really hard today. I’m not exactly sure why, but I believe it had something to do with having seen a picture of my mom on Facebook today. I just wanted to go home and hug her. Circumstances, things, and people change so very much throughout the seasons. And those changes are mostly visible if one hasn’t had a chance to observe or see them for a while. I haven’t seen my mom in almost 2 years, so those changes and differences in appearance really sunk in today…

While Military Families’ first year away from home is usually the hardest for most, it is by no means the last and only year we feel that way. Even those of us who have moved many times still feel sad during the adjustment to a new place.

One of the most important aspects of civilian life that a Military Family as a whole misses out on is regular contact with their immediate families. And while we yearn to remain close and connected to our parents and siblings, our relationships mainly rest on conversations over the phone and internet, and on the hope that your loved ones will come and visit you from time to time, despite the fact that you live far away.

Over the years we made friends that go through similar circumstances and that have similar experiences. Everyone goes through it. It’s simply part of life and part of growing up. But just because everyone else goes through it, doesn’t make it any easier, am I right?

When I am feeling homesick here in the land of heat and humidity, I listen to some music that reminds me of home. Being from Germany, I usually grab one of my favorite CD’s from Herbert Grönemeyer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NJGWvOit_8), put it in the CD player, and turn up the volume. It brings me back to my childhood, family, and friends…

Despite our constant nomadic lifestyle, we still get homesick. As your child, friend, or anyone else you love and care for leaves for a deployment, is reassigned or moving, know that they too may struggle with the feeling of homesickness. And while Military Families try to live by the very well-known phrase “Home is where the Military sends us,” the true home in our hearts is still where our families, friends, and childhood memories are.

About The Author

Yvonne Jones currently lives in Tampa, Florida. Her book “Closing the Gap: Understanding Your Service(wo)man” is meant to make a positive difference by giving people within the civilian world the information they need to understand the experiences of and reconnect with military families. For more information about this book, please visit the website

www.UnderstandingYourServiceman.com, connect via FACEBOOK

https://www.facebook.com/UnderstandingYourServiceman or contact Yvonne Jones at

Yvonne.Jones@UnderstandingYourServiceman.com.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Military Family

Rating – G

More details about the author

Connect with  Yvonne Jones on Facebook

Website http://www.understandingyourserviceman.com/

Why Book Covers Are So Vital
by Brian Cormack Carr 
I recently self-published my first book How To Find Your Vital Vocation: A Practical Guide To Discovering Your Career Purpose And Getting A Job You Love, and I asked my blog readers to help me choose the book’s cover.  I knew the cover would be a vitally important factor in the book’s success, so I wanted to get it right.
It’s important to bear in mind that the cover is likely to be the first thing a potential reader of your book will encounter.  In today’s online world, that cover has to stand out even when it’s in thumbnail size on a computer screen.  You want your cover to attract the reader, not repel them.
Get Professional Help
For that reason, I strongly recommend that all self-published authors hire a professional cover designer (unless they themselves have very professional graphic design skills).  Professional cover design doesn’t have to cost the earth, and it really will help your book to hold its own against the competition from traditional publishing houses.  After all the hard work you put into writing your book, you don’t want to stop it in its tracks with an amateurish cover.
Don’t worry that hiring a professional designer will take away from your influence on the book.  Far from it – a good cover designer will work with you to ensure you get the cover you want.
My cover designer and I sifted through a range of different images that we felt might suit the topic of my book – job hunting and career change – and then I chose three or four images I particularly liked. Using these images, she mocked up a range of potential covers for me to have a look at.  I whittled the choices down to two, but discovered at that point I was stuck!  I just couldn’t choose, because they were both great options.

How I Chose My Cover – and Got Readers To Help
I turned the choice (which was between a cover featuring some cartoon people and one featuring an elephant on a tightrope) over to my blog readers, mailing list subscribers and social media followers. Effectively,  I “crowd sourced” opinions on which cover would most attract them.  I made this a competition – everyone who participated was in with a chance of winning a signed copy of the paperback version of the book.
This was useful in a couple of ways.  It helped me assess which cover would be most attractive to a potential reader, and it also served as a “trailer” to my audience for the book’s imminent release.
As you can see, my audience chose the cover featuring the elephant.  The choice wasn’t unanimous, but the elephant was a very clear winner, and it turns out that the people who like it do so for many different reasons.
Some see this amazing creature as a symbol of strength, wisdom and purpose. Some see the tightrope as a sign of the balancing act we all must perform on the journey to our ideal work. Some feel the umbrella indicates hope and is representative of the tools we need to help us along the way (especially if we fall). One person told me the image made him think of the precarious nature of the job market nowadays, while another said it made her feel like anything was possible if we’re really using our inborn talents. Some people see the elephant as unhappy and in desperate need of careers advice, while others feel this as an elephant that has clearly found its Vital Vocation!
I love the image because it seems to say something relevant to every eye that sees it, and that feels right for a book that’s all about charting your own individual path to the work you love.
So – what does the elephant on my cover say to you?
BIOGRAPHY:
Brian Cormack Carr is a writer, certified career coach and chief executive of BVSC The Centre for Voluntary Action, one of the UK’s leading local charities.  He trained in personnel management with Marks & Spencer plc and gained an MA (Hons) in English Literature and Language from the University of Aberdeen.  Brian has nearly 20 years of experience in the fields of personal development and leadership, and has helped hundreds of clients, readers and workshop participants to find fulfilling work and a renewed sense of purpose.
Websites: www.cormackcarr.com ; www.vitalvocation.com

Twitter: @cormackcarr

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords

Genre –  NonFiction / Careers

Rating – G

More details about the author & the book

Connect with Brian Cormack Carr on Facebook  & Twitter

Website http://vitalvocation.com/

Quality Reads UK Book Club Disclosure: Author interview / guest post has been submitted by the author and previously used on other sites.

3 Pet Peeves of the Publishing Industry

by Paula Renaye

Author of Living the Life You Love: The No-Nonsense Guide to Total Transformation

The Gatekeepers. Today, for traditional publishing companies, it isn’t about who’s written the best book, it’s about who has the biggest list to promote from. It’s true they’re in the business of selling books, and having the potential buyers identified ahead of time is smart. However, it doesn’t automatically provide the best product to the consumer.

Just think about the big name and celebrity books you’ve read that were basically reworks of old material or books that were simply a lot of feel-good fluff. Did your life in any way change because you read that book? Did you learn anything at all that you are using in your life now? I hope so, but I doubt it, because that wasn’t the primary intent—it was about creating a product that would sell fast. It may create a logical business model, but it also contributes to the flood of mediocre books to wade through. Which brings up another pet peeve…

Self-Publishus Vomitus. Just because you can publish it doesn’t mean you should. Now, I have been a self-publisher since 1999 and am deeply grateful for the fabulous options available to authors these days, not to mention that the eBook evolution has been a godsend for me. However, I’ve also published some things I shouldn’t have—and can never take back.

Today, it is so easy to put words into a book format that anyone and everyone can instantly become a published author. For authors of high quality books shut out by traditional publishers because they don’t have 5-10,000 followers yet, that’s a really great thing. For a beginning writer whose mother and best friend are raving about his novel, it is a potentially reputation-ruining temptation. Speaking of double edged swords…

Returns. For anyone who sells print books through a distributor or directly to wholesalers and bookstores, returns are a fact of life—a very unpleasant one. The only solution I see for this is to move solely into digital. I’ve done that already with my mystery novels and it has been very successful. The self-help side is a bit different, particularly in my case where the book has workbook aspects. Still, the benefits are there, and with the first printing nearly sold out, I don’t yet know if there will be a reprint. The 180 unsalable books being returned to me—for which I paid shipping to the vendor, back to the distributor and now to me, not to mention they can’t generate income—is a financially significant loss.

The publishing industry is constantly changing and each facet—author, publisher, distributor, wholesaler and bookstore—is trying to adapt and survive. Sometimes it is mutually beneficial—sometimes it isn’t.

Yet, for all that annoys me about the publishing industry, there is far more that excites me. A coach once chided me for my dream of being a full time writer, explaining that books were nothing more than a resume to get a speaking gig or for coaching credibility. She said vehemently that the book industry was broken. I disagree. I say it’s broken open. There are challenges and not everyone who pens a book will become a star—nor should they. But those with the skill, savvy and determination to keep improving their craft and consistently deliver quality products that consumers want, well, the sky’s the limit!

* * * * *

Paula Renaye is a life and relationship coach, speaker and eight-time award-winning author. Her award-winning self-help book, Living the Life You Love: The No-Nonsense Guide to Total Transformation was named to Kirkus Reviews’ Best of 2012 and won the Independent Publisher IPPY Gold Medal for Self Help. The book is available worldwide in English, Spanish and Chinese. Writing as Paula Boyd, she is also the award-winning author of the Jolene Jackson Mystery Series. www.paulaboyd.com For more information, visit www.paularenaye.com

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Personal Development / Self-Help / Motivational

Rating –G

More details about the author & the book

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7 Things You Did Not Know About The Learner

by Alan Nayes

THE LEARNER

There’s a side of the universe we’ve never seen. Never touched. Never communicated with. But we know it’s out there. The Dark Universe. There are beings we’ve never seen, never touched, never communicated with. And they know we’re out there.

But things are about to change.

An alien from this strange dark world we’ve never seen, never touched, never communicated with has arrived on Earth.

We will see her, touch her, we’ll communicate with her.

The Learner is here!

Here are a few facts regarding the storyline in my new paranormal sci-fi romance, THE LEARNER.

1) Šumaura is located in a dark galaxy called XýK. XýK is found in the dark universe, which is comprised of all dark matter.

2) Dark matter is 85% of all matter.

3) Šumaura’s sun is called XÙ. XÙ is a dark energy sun and is over five thousand times the mass of our sun. XÙ is entirely invisible to the visible or light matter universe. It takes fifty-one Earth years for Šumaura to orbit XÙ.

4) The visible matter universe and the dark matter universe are separated by a boundary called the Z. Tremendous energy expenditure is required to cross the Z.

5) Šumaura is approximately the size of Jupiter. Over a thousand Earths would fit inside Šumaura—and because of this great size, the gravitational pull on Šumaura is seventeen times that on Earth.

6) The inhabitants of Šumaura are called Šumayins. Šumayins are the dominant species on Šumaura, and would be invisible to all Earth species. However once a Šumayin takes on the form of the dominant species of the host planet they are visiting, they can be seen and interacted with. 

7) In THE LEARNER, the Šumayin who has traveled across the Z is named NayéLi. She is twenty-two Šumayin years old.

Buy Now @ Amazon & Smashwords & Barnes and Noble

Genre – Sci Fi / Paranormal Romance

Rating – PG13

More details about the author & the book

Connect with Alan Nayes on Facebook & GoodReads

It’s Still All About Who You Know – Part Two

by Lee Tidball

In Part One of this post, we discussed a bit of how difficult success can be for the writer who doesn’t “know someone who is someone” in the publishing/movie business.  And I also let you in on three active steps that I took to build a network that would increase my chances of someday meeting that elusive “someone.”  I took an online screenwriting class, I hired a reputable, highly experienced team of mentors, and I joined a local writers’ group.  That was all anywhere from 5 to 8 years ago.

So now, let’s see how it’s all panned out.  Below are just a few of the more notable advancements that have happened in my writing career as a result of afore-mentioned networking strategies, and more importantly, how they happened.

- Since I wanted to submit screenplays to producers through cold calls, I knew I needed some sort of legal representation to go through, as major Hollywood production companies don’t accept material they don’t solicit unless it’s through some legal entity (agency, manager, entertainment attorney, etc.).  This is to protect them from lawsuits.  So I put out a query for an entertainment attorney on my mentors’ professional email network.  Within two days, I had a referral to an attorney for a well-respected Hollywood firm who ONLY TAKES NEW CLIENTS ON REFERRAL.  I queried that attorney, she asked to look at my material, and within a couple months I was her client.  She’s since negotiated two screenwriting options for me and three book contracts, all for a percentage of my profits with no fees upfront (that’s how the real entertainment attorneys operate—not those just trying to profit off of desperate writers who charge “signing fees,” “maintenance fees,” “billable hours,” or whatever else they may be called).

- A director on my mentors’ professional email network put out a call for a family-friendly kids movie that she could possibly produce for Disney Channel.  I submitted a query to her about a Christmas script that I’d written.  She loved the script, but felt it was too “big-budget” for a TV movie, but still felt it was good enough that she was going to pass it on to her agent, who had more contacts with bigger production companies.  She did that, the agent loved the script, and has been my representation in Hollywood ever since for ALL my projects.

- A writer on the Screenwriting U alumni network put up an announcement a couple years ago that she’d turned one of her scripts into a novel and had just found a publisher for it, a small press in Canada.  And yes, they were looking for more projects, especially graphic novels for middle-grade children.  I had self-published such a project, also based on one of my screenplays, so I queried this publisher, sent along copies of my self-published work, and mentioned the alumnist’s name that was now one of his authors.  Within three weeks, this publisher had accepted my work for publishing, and within a year, both parts of the graphic novel series that I’d self-published in black and white were full-color, legitimately published graphic novels selling on Amazon, BN.com, and other places as both ebooks and print books.

- I later met in person this alumnist from Screenwriting U when we both did an expo event to hand-sell our books and market our publisher’s company.  She mentioned how she was planning to start her own small-press publishing company specifically for screenwriters who could turn their scripts into relatively short novels and build an audience for their work that way.  I told her about some of my scripts, and she asked to read a couple, and subsequently agreed to publish novelized versions of both of them.  I finished the first novel this spring, and within two months of submitting it to her, it was up and for sale on Amazon in both print and ebook form.  We’re now in the midst of an intense marketing campaign.  Meanwhile, my other publisher, who now trusts me, agreed to publish another self-published manuscript that I’d had re-edited, and that new edition will now be legitimately published and for sale later this summer.

Gol, you say, that’s a lot of success.  And yes, I’d have to agree, though I’m certainly not rolling in the dough or doing interviews on Oprah.  Far from it.  But I’m definitely way closer to that now than I was five or six years ago when I first started networking.  And there’s so much more as well.  One of my best “beta readers” is a friend I met at a Screenwriting U event a couple years ago, and I, in turn, was able to get her representation through my agent (now my manager).  My manager got a  ”shopping agreement” option with a Hollywood exec for one of my scripts in part because he knew me and my material from meeting me at a pitch event years ago.  I did a writer’s workshop for which I got very handsomely paid for the local writers’ group of another Screenwriting U alumnist.

NONE of this would have happened, though, if I didn’t network, become a trusted colleague, and make personal connections within the writing communities that I originally got myself involved with.

If you’re truly seeking success as a writer, you’ll find your own ways to begin networking, and you’ll do it NOW.  The reward over the years could just be the success that we all dream about when we first start out.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre –  NeoGothic Horror / Thriller

Rating – R for violence & language

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Why Winning Awards Helps Author Recognition

by Alexandra Sokoloff

In my still relatively short career as an author, I’ve been lucky enough to be nominated multiple times for several major awards in several different genres: the Bram Stoker Award (horror), the Anthony Award (mystery), and the Thriller Award (which I’ve won), as well as making other less well known lists, and I’m often asked by interviews and aspiring authors if winning awards has helped my career.

I think anything that gets you recognition helps your career. Recognition is a cumulative thing rather than any one thing. An award is one more reason for a reader to consider giving your book a try – it’s been pre-screened by people who supposedly know. An award-winning book has an edge over a book than a non-award-winning book. How can it not?

Especially when you’re first starting out in the business, award nominations and wins make other authors and publishing houses pay attention to you as well. Those early award nominations for my first novel, The Harrowing (http://www.amazon.com/The-Harrowing-Ghost-Story-ebook/dp/B006K5RVXI) opened doors for me in social situations that led to valuable business contacts. I don’t know this for sure, but the nods may have gotten me my foreign publication deals, or at least helped. The awards help my film agents when they shop my books for film deals.

And the circumstances of some of my award nominations have been a little unusual, which brings a little extra buzz of publicity. The Harrowing was nominated for both a Bram Stoker Award (horror) and an Anthony Award (mystery) – which is an unusual combination – but perfectly describes the book, which is a ghost story with a strong sense of mystery, including about whether or not the haunting is really happening.  And the controversy over a horror novel being nominated for a mystery award was a bonus, too. So what if some genre purists were miffed! As they say, there’s no such thing as bad publicity…

I was also the first woman to be nominated for and win a Thriller Award. Being the only woman in a lineup of men is a little extra bonus, too – it makes me more memorable in a list, and gives me a “cool” factor in an edgy genre.

And now my thriller Huntress Moon (http://www.amazon.com/Huntress-Moon-The-Thrillers-ebook/dp/B008G14754) the first in my new crime series, has been nominated for a Thriller Award in the brand new Best E Book Original Category. Another first, and something I can use as an extra interest factor in interviews, because many awards are still not acknowledging original e books at all, so I’m one of the very first to be recognized this way.

It’s hard to quantify how much any award nomination or win does for the sales of the book, or author recognition, but I do believe every little bit helps.

And let’s face it – a steady line of award nominations really help ease the sting of those snarky Amazon reviews. Which may be the most practical benefit of all.

- Alexandra Sokoloff is the bestselling and award-winning author of nine crime and supernatural thrillers, including the Huntress Moon thriller series, currently nominated for a Thriller Award.  http://alexandrasokoloff.com

—- Book II in the Thriller Award-nominated Huntress/FBI series —-

Twenty-five years have passed since a savage killer terrorized California, massacring three ordinary families before disappearing without a trace.

The haunted child who was the only surviving victim of his rampage is now wanted by the FBI for brutal crimes of her own, and Special Agent Matthew Roarke is on an interstate manhunt for her, despite his conflicted sympathies for her history and motives.

But when his search for her unearths evidence of new family slayings, the dangerous woman Roarke seeks – and wants – may be his only hope of preventing another bloodbath.

*****

It is highly recommended that you read Book I of the series, Huntress Moon, first.

Buy Now @ Amazon

Genre – Mystery / Thriller

Rating – PG13

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Connect with Alexandra Sokoloff on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://alexandrasokoloff.com/

Finding Your Writer’s Voice

by Patti Larsen

I remember being told, back in the days I first thought I wanted to write for a living, I needed to find my “writer’s voice”. Teachers, professors, other writers, all insisted finding that voice, my unique way of writing, was paramount to success.

The only trouble was, none of them could ever really articulate to me exactly what “writer’s voice” meant. Yes, I was told it would come out of my style, once my skills reached a certain level. But no one seemed to be able to explain to me in specific terms what I was looking for.

Frustrating? You bet. I spent years trying to figure it out, stumbling through my own prose, writing short stories, fan fiction, my first book. Outlining, graduating from journalism, screenwriting, acting, writing songs… and always, the elusive “writer’s voice” haunted me.

Until, one day, I realized something. Had an epiphany as I emerged from another world and the mind of a teenager back into my own. I finally knew what my teachers and others were talking about. In a flash of inspiration, I understood I’d been hearing my writer’s voice all along.

In the voices of my characters.

The “ah-ha!” moment made me laugh out loud. And gave me a very clear answer to the question when I’m asked about writer’s voice myself.

Writer’s voice literally comes from the people we write about. Honing my skills was important because it allows me to listen, rather than think, when I’m writing. I no longer have to ponder my grammar use, my turn of phrase—those skills have become automatic, leaving me open to paying attention. The writing then becomes the job of the voice—I’m just a conduit now through which that voice emerges.

So, the next time someone asks you to find your writer’s voice, you’ll know exactly what to do. Hone your writing skills.

Listen.

And write.

About Patti Larsen: You’re not looking for my polished bio, huh? You sure you want more? The real dirty, down deep, nitty gritty? Fair enough. Here goes: I’m a card-carrying nerd. It’s taken years to admit it. I’m also a hermit in a writing basement who prefers solitude to people (cats always welcome). I’m a writing fiend who hears the voices of teenagers and blushes at the S-E-X parts. I don’t sleep very well. Ever. My mind is too busy. I am a feline loving married woman who could easily end up a crazy cat lady if my husband would let me. I am a paradigm shifter, a believer in self and my own personal power. I see everything in black and white until the gray is explained to me. I am a fiercely loyal friend, a confidant and a Tarot card reader and intuitive. I am a proud roller derby girl, a total dweeb and can’t dance to save my soul. I am terrified of heights and challenge that fear every chance I get. Oh, and I’m the Creator. The Queen of my own Destiny. I love that.

Find her all over the Internet:

sign up for new release notices www.bit.ly/pattilarsenemail

and find Family Magic www.bit.ly/familymagic

Her mom’s a witch.
Her dad’s a demon.
And she just wants to be ordinary.

I batted at the curl of smoke drifting off the tip of my candle and tried not to sneeze. My heavy velvet cloak fell in oppressive, suffocating folds in the closed space of the ceremony chamber, the cowl trapping the annoying bits of puff I missed. I hated the way my eyes burned and teared, an almost constant distraction. Not that I didn’t welcome the distraction, to be honest. Anything to take my mind from what went on around me.

Being part of a demon raising is way less exciting than it sounds.

Sydlynn Hayle’s life couldn’t be more complicated. Trying to please her coven, starting over in a new town, and fending off a bully cheerleader who hates her are just the beginning of her troubles. What to do when delicious football hero Brad Peters–boyfriend of her cheer nemesis–shows interest? If only the darkly yummy witch, Quaid Moromond, didn’t make it so difficult for her to focus on fitting in with the normal kids. Add to that her crazy grandmother’s constant escapes driving her family to the brink and Syd’s between a rock and a coven site. Forced to take on power she doesn’t want to protect a coven who blames her for everything, only she can save her family’s magic.

If her family’s distrust doesn’t destroy her first.

· ”A great, inventive plot, a deeply flawed, self-deprecating, heroine, many wondrous sub-characters and a constantly-evolving world of madness and magic (with a goodly side order of teen angst thrown in!). What more could you want?” — Amazon reviewer Hobbitual

· ” Thank you Ms. Larsen, for an excellent read….please please please tell me there will be more about these characters!” — Amazon reviewer Michelle William

. “ …this book was incredible. I was sucked in from the very beginning. I fell in love with the characters. The plot twists and the way it was written kept me turning pages well into the night.” — Amazon reviewer Misty Harvey

Don’t miss the exciting sequels in the Hayle Coven Novels:Witch Hunt
Demon Child
The Wild
The Long Lost
Gatekeeper
Flesh and Blood
Full Circle
Divided Heart
First Plane
Light and Shadow
Queen of Darkness
Dark Promise
Unseelie Ties
Ancient Ways
The Undying
Shifting Loyalties

And Coming Soon:
Enforcer
Coven Leader
The Last Call

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Genre – YA Urban Fantasy

Rating – PG

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Connect with Patti Larsen on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.pattilarsen.com/

How to Find a Critique Buddy

by Sarah Martinez

Great question! I had a very hard time with critique groups. In the beginning they were necessary and I learned from them, but as soon as I could I pulled away and will say that the best feedback I have gotten is from one on one relationships where I trust and respect the person I am working with.

I have had good luck meeting people at classes, conferences and other types of writing groups that are not focused on critiquing work. Just being involved in your local writing community offers ways to meet people who might be a good fit and will also likely be great resources for other reasons as well. If I click with a person over our common writing goals, choices of genre–both for reading and writing, favorite authors, even music, I am much more likely to have good luck with them as a critique partner than if I was forced into trading work blindly.

I am a very social person and meet both my critique partners and other friends in the writing community in person all the time, but I have found that most of the real work is done over email. This was not true in the beginning. I have had to be patient and willing to work with what was available to me at any given time.

Now I feel extremely (I cannot overstate this!) grateful for the writers who are in my life now. Finding the right people has been and still is a process. In the beginning I was just glad anyone was willing to read anything!

By the time I went to the San Francisco Writer’s Conference in 2010, I wanted to have someone read my entire manuscript and tell me if what I was attempting was working overall, if my story hung together, if it was too long, too short, whatever. So what if there was nobody at the time I could find to do this, I knew that was what was going to move me forward.

I heard Alan Rinzler talk about something called Developmental Editing where an editor would read the whole book and comment on the thing in its entirety. I knew then that I would pay money for editors who had real experience and I would also continue to find people who whose writing and artistic sensibilities I admired to trade entire works with. It was important to me when I got serious about publishing to know that the advice I was getting came from people who had proven themselves either as editors, or authors or both.

I would also suggest to anyone who is really serious to look into taking at least one editing class. This will help you as you assess your own work, but it also offers the opportunity to work with people who are actually skilled at giving feedback. Some of my best readers have editing backgrounds and the quality of the feedback is much better than what I had access to in the beginning.

I also want to say that Priscilla Long also handles this topic in her book, The Writer’s Portable Mentor. This is a book that I feel no writer should be without. It is my Bible and it handles everything from how to improve craft, how to study the masters, how to be productive and how to make yourself accountable to another person by enlisting the help of what she calls a writing buddy.

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Genre – Literary Erotica

Rating – X

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Connect with Sarah Martinez on Facebook & Twitter

Website http://www.mywildskies.com/