About ten years ago was when I started writing fiction with a serious intent that I might some day finish a book and get published, I set out on the journey with absolutely no experience. I started writing, but everything I did ended up being a personal essay or a journal-type entry or poetry. Writing fiction, with a real story, dialogue, characters that are whole and complete, with a storyline… that takes a skill set I didn’t yet have, but I sure had the burning desire. It seems strange to think of it now, but ten years ago, the internet wasn’t what it is today. In my small West Texas town where I used to live, cable internet was brand new and super slow (compared to now, but super fast compared to the phone!) I had a phone line that I would unplug from my phone and plug into my computer.

I remember when Call Wave was the big deal, so that I could see who was calling me while I was on the computer and didn’t have to turn off my call waiting or get kicked off when someone called. A lot has changed since then, and now, I work on a super high-speed internet connection – though not nearly as fast as the one I used to have back home, but that’s another story altogether – and the internet is an everyday waking, breathing, pulsing part of my life. I can’t imagine going back to where I’m only on a few hours in the evenings after the kids have gone to bed and no one would possibly be calling me. Read the rest of this entry »

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Okay, so it’s not the nicest way to put it, right? I apologize. I really have issues with the word ’stupid’, so I try to use it sparingly. My father frequently called me stupid as a child, and more frequently asked me if I was stupid. I mean, how are you supposed to answer that?

“What are you, stupid?”

“Uh, yeah?”

So pardon me for the use of the word if it bothers you like it does me, but let’s try to keep the word in perspective and remove any power it has to enjoy the intent behind this post!

Here’s the thing. I’ve been reading about writing for a lot longer than I’ve been professionally writing. I’ve read all the ones who broke into the scene and many of the ones who haven’t or didn’t. I’ve read the good advice, the bad advice and the advice that makes you say, “Huh?” Read the rest of this entry »

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I have the heart of a writer…

….in a jar, on my desk.

Sorry, couldn’t resist. Buffy made me do it; I swear. It’s all her fault. Don’t worry. The image isn’t blood and guts and a heart. It’s making jam, strawberry. Promise.

Now, let’s get back on topic.

In the forum the other day, we were discussing characters in our novels. They are really amazing creatures, these people who live inside our heads. We breathe life into them. We make them whole, complete, real human beings, at least for as long as we hold their universe in our hands. I like the power of this, but sometimes, I balk at the responsibility of it.

When writing one of my current WIPs (work in progress for those who aren’t aware), Accepting Aimee, I have to be in a quirky mood to write her. She is like me in many respects, but in some very important ways, Aimee is nothing like me, and that sometimes makes writing her hard. Her best friend, Gigi, while nothing like me at all, is a lot like someone I’d like to be, so I find writing her (she has her own book coming up next entitled: What Makes a Woman – part of my Convington Confessions series of books) to be a lot more fun and easier for me, since I can slip into her skin, so to speak. Read the rest of this entry »

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…write.

Look, it comes down to this: the only real way to learn how to write is to actually sit down and write.

You can take all the classes in the world, study all the writing-related information on the net, read every book you find on the subject, study thesaurii (wouldn’t that be what they are in plural?) and dictionaries and read every writer you deem ‘great’ to try to learn what they do right and read all the bad ones to learn what they do wrong…

… but when it comes right down to it, the only way you will ever be able to learn how to write is by sitting down and writing.

It’s sort of like driving a car. When you go to driver’s education, they make you study the handbook, read all about driving, and even take a written test to show you can regurgitate that information, but you don’t get to driver’s license until you drive a real car by yourself, and to do that, you have to actually sit behind the wheel with an instructor and learn how to drive. You learn how to drive by driving, driving some more, putting yourself into situations you would be in when you are driving on your own–such as driving on the highway, stop signs, stop lights, right turns, left turns, merging, using blinkers…You learn how to write by writing more, putting it in front of a readership and letting them tear it apart, slam on the second ’special’ break, or scream at you that you’re going to get us all killed if you don’t, for God’s sake, slow down! Read the rest of this entry »

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CLOSED

The Accentuate Writers Short Story Contests have been amazing… some months I get a lot of submissions and some months only about 15 or so. It’s been interesting to me to see which themes get the most response. For example, the DEATH theme got a ton of responses while the Science Fiction theme, though I thought it might be popular, didn’t get all that many.

The themes that surprised me though were The Engagement and The Wedding. Neither of these themes received enough submissions to host a contest with any real competition. I considered just letting the people who had submitted win, but that’s not the real spirit of competition, neither is it what the AWF contests are about.

So instead, I’ve decided to open up both of these contests and accept additional submissions. IF you have a short story that you would like to write and submit to the themes: The Engagement or The Wedding–now’s the time! Read the rest of this entry »

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Working on both sides of the submission desk, as an editor and an author, I am in a unique position to see how both sides feel–the author who is eagerly and as patiently as possible waiting to see if they are accepted or rejected, and the editor who has to deal with the insane authors when they are not so patient.

In the process of experiencing these two sides, I’ve learned a lot about how I should, as an author, treat, respond to, interact with the agents and editors I am submitting to based on how I feel as an editor receiving submissions from authors.

So what I have for you today are real issues I’ve had to deal with in acquisitions, and they are things that, as an author, I would never do! You shouldn’t do them either, unless your goal is to NOT get published.

#10 – Don’t send edited versions of the same submission. Read the rest of this entry »

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Okay, time for another editing hints and tips blog. One of the common errors I see when reading things around the internet and sometimes when I’m editing fiction pieces for clients/authors, I find the improper use of ‘further’ and ‘farther’.

This one, unlike some confusing words, is a really easy ‘fix’ to remember. While some editors will tell you these words are interchangeable, and they kind of are, there is a way to differentiate them.

Farther is a word that has the small word ‘far’ in it. Thus, ‘farther’ tells you how ‘far’ something is, in actual distance that is or could be measurable. You can replace ‘farther’ with the following phrases: ‘many more mile’ ‘many more feet’ ‘many more inches’ or some other measurable phrase. Read the rest of this entry »

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My son came into the kitchen today, and I’m currently working with my laptop at the dining table which is sort of part of the kitchen, so I get to kick back and watch what is going on. He decided to cook himself some dinner, because he didn’t like the spinach and goat’s cheese pizza I had made. Go figure. A 15-year-old boy won’t eat spinach and goat cheese. Who woulda thunk it?

So he decides to grab some bagged french fries from the freezer and a couple of corn dogs. This is, with a squirt of mustard (he loves mustard) one of his favorite meals.

Now, to give him credit, he read the instructions and turned the oven on and checked the time to see how long before he had to come back downstairs to check on the food. This is a good thing. Often, he will forget he has food in the oven and walk away until it burns or I pull it out and rescue it, then he’ll come back downstairs later. “Sorry, mom,” he always says.

Yeah, right. Read the rest of this entry »

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I can find metaphor in anything, and it’s both a blessing and a curse that this is so. There is, however, one thing that’s been tickling at the back of my brain for months now, and I finally had to write about it.

There is a bag hanging on a hook on the door of the closet that is in the bathroom. The location where it is hanging is beside a little alcove type toilet area. The bag is bursting with my personal things, like perfume, hair clips, my favorite brush, lotions and other things I use regularly for my mornings or nighttime beauty routine. I have put them all in this bag so I can grab the bag and carry it to other locations in the house, sit with it, do what I need to do, toss everything back into the bag, and hang it back on the hook. It’s neat, clean, easy, convenient. Hey, I’m all about convenience here.

When I was so sick last year and the year before, doing things like this made a world of difference for me and for my family, because, when I was unable to get up and get things for myself, they could bring me the bag, and it had everything I needed in it, so they weren’t constantly being called to bring me one little item, then another, then another. Read the rest of this entry »

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I wanted to take a moment today to talk about something. We had discussion on the forum earlier today with a gentleman who has been interested in finding a manuscript marketing service. This isn’t the same, mind you, as a book marketing service. There are many wonderful and legitimate book marketing and promotion services out there for writers who have already had a book published or who have self published. What I’m talking about is a service that helps you market your manuscript prior to publication.

Literary Agents?

You’re probably thinking, “You mean a literary agent?” Nope, agents are legit (as long as you find a good one; there are some bad ones out there). I’m talking about a company that promises to market your manuscript TO agents and publishers alike, trying to help you get representation or publication. These services claim to be similar in scope to what a literary agencies does, except they also query and submit to literary agents too.

Manuscript Marketing Scam Premise: Read the rest of this entry »

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