Category: Uncategorized

Posted on

The Hard Lessons We Learn

My first car was a 1972 MG – and on good days, I could crank it without having someone give me a push so that I could pop the clutch.  Those were the days…

When my youngest son, Bryan,  started driving, he had a Honda.  It was nothing special to look at – in fact, that was probably part of the problem.  It lacked that certain “cool” factor.   The Honda had four wheels and a working engine but it was a bit dinged up.

WP_20141115_001Bryan spent this past summer saving up for a different car. He found what he wanted – a 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse. My husband tried to discourage him from buying this particular car, to be patient and wait – save up a little more money. Bryan, however, didn’t want to listen.  As parents, we could have refused to let him purchase the car – but we tend to offer advice and then let our children make their own decisions.   Sometimes, those decisions have painful consequences.

For three weeks, Bryan sported his new ride around town.  The young ladies at school loved his car.  Our retired neighbors – not so much.  One resorted to shouting profanities at him – probably had something to do with the obnoxious exhaust system.   At this point, I’m not sure that the profanity yelling neighbor didn’t pull out the chicken feet and cast a spell on the car because it has become a money pit.

We’ve helped Bryan replace the fuel sensor, the fuel filter and the fuel pump.   Various other sensors have been replaced along with the coil pack and car’s computer.  At this point, you’d think the car would run and on occasion it will.  He’s been able to drive it for a long as twenty minutes before it shuts off as he goes down the highway – but at least it looks good!   I’m sure you understand the frustration.

One evening, he looked at me and said, “I wish I had kept the Honda.  It might have been ugly but it never left me along the road.”  And this is why we let him spend his hard earned money – because no matter what his father said – his mind was already made up…and unfortunately, experience is usually the best teacher.

I hope Bryan has learned a valuable lesson – that looks aren’t everything and dependability in a car, as well as a person, is something to be appreciated.

 

 

Posted on

Putting the Pen Down

writerWriters write – even when they don’t feel like it – at least, that’s what they say…  (They being those people in the know.)

Confession:

I am not one of those writers.  In fact, I didn’t write a word on my WIP this past week.   This probably explains why writing isn’t my full-time job.  I wish I could say that I had been too busy – that life had thrown a wrench in my plans.  But the truth is – I just didn’t feel like writing.  My son came home for a couple of days.  I put in my 40 hours at work.   I read two novels.  I watched a little television.  I went shopping.  I told myself I needed to write but then I decided to clean the carpet instead.

I am that writer – the one who needed to put the pen down and take a break.

I love this time of year –  bonfires, Thanksgiving, Christmas, the music, etc.  But as much as I love it, I find myself quite emotional. Seriously, I cry over coffee commercials.   I think I become emotionally overloaded.

Add in the news and all its ugliness…  And you’ve got me – a writer who hasn’t been able to work on my current WIP.  Why? Because it seems real monsters emerged from the shadows this past week. Monsters that hurt children instead of protecting them.   And my story has its own monster.  I’ve got to finish the story of a murdering shadow.   I didn’t want to know his thoughts.  I didn’t want to put my heroine in jeopardy.  I didn’t want to spend anymore time in dark places.

Silly?  Maybe.

I’m hoping that as the new week starts, work on my WIP will, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Posted on

What Makes a Character Real?

dogSo often we read stories that tell us what a character looks like.       Ex:  She had beautiful brown eyes and cascading black hair.   Okay.    Half the world’s population has dark hair and brown eyes.  Today alone, we’ve probably walked by a dozen people with those same attributes and never even noticed.   …beautiful brown eyes, blah, blah, blah...  In short, snooze worthy.  There is nothing in that sentence that makes the reader relate to the character.  Why? Because it takes more than a description to bring a character come to life.

It’s funny – the things you remember…

When I was a little girl, I would watch my mother do the laundry.  She’d sit by the pile of clothes and start folding them and occasionally, if she noticed a small hole in a pair of underwear, she’d morph into the Hulk and rip the garment apart.  It didn’t matter if that particular pair of panties was your favorite.  Holey undies were as good as gone.

Later, I would learn that because my mother’s family was so poor, she was forced to wear two pairs of panties at once – you see, each pair of panties had holes in different places – but together, they did the job of one. When you know the backstory, my mother’s idiosyncrasy (turning into the hulk & shredding undies) doesn’t seem quite so bazaar.  Her ruthless destruction had a purpose – her children would never know what it was to be embarrassed by their undergarments.

As writers, we are remiss if we fail to discover what makes our characters tick.  Just like my mother, a character’s present is directly related to their past.  We should be as familiar with our characters’ backstories as we are with our own.  It’s the backstories that help shape to the characters.

Developing believable characters: 

We’ve all read the same advice:  show don’t tell.  It sounds simple enough but the truth is this:  It is harder work to show than it is to tell – that’s why we sometimes find ourselves taking the easy way out.  He was furious. When –  He stalked out of the room, nearly slamming the door off its hinges – shows his feelings.

Being familiar with a character’s backstory can answer a lot of developmental questions.  Katniss Everdeen, the protagonist of Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games Trilogy, is an example of this.   Her father’s death, her mother’s subsequent depression, the lack of economic security – these are all things that shaped her character.  The events and circumstances help explain Katniss’ actions/reactions.

Just as in real life, characters need to react realistically.  Let’s say I’m writing about a private investigator and maybe he always answers the door with his gun drawn.  If I know his backstory, then I understand that he’s learned to be cautious  because of a failed attempt on his life.  This knowledge might lead me to the fact that he has developed an acidic stomach and eats antacids like candy.  Because he finds stakeouts to be quite boring, he smokes – a lot.   Some of these details may need to be woven into the fabric of the story.  Others may not.   The important thing to remember is this:  These little actions/characteristics add a “real life” feel to our characters.

 

 

 

Posted on

The Author Platform and Blogging: Identifying My Readers

acorn 2Remember Scrat-the squirrel from Ice Age?  He was my favorite character…  Always trying to secure that nut. With all of his efforts, he didn’t seem to accomplish much.   He had the momentary satisfaction of thinking he’d succeeded only to realize his acquisition had slipped from his paws…

I was thinking about my author platform and the decisions I’ve made and realized I’m a bit like Scrat.  I’ve put forth a lot of effort but I’m not exactly where I want to be.  In other words, I haven’t secured my nut.

To be honest, I didn’t realize how much effort went into building an online presence.   If I had, I probably would have closed my laptop and called it a day.  Novel Notions was my first effort at blogging and to be honest, I liked it.  I’m not very tech savvy, but I figured out Blogger and was satisfied.  Then came a 2013 writers conference …  My blog wasn’t enough, I needed a website.  I needed a Facebook Author page,  a Pinterest page and a Twitter account.  Good grief!  Because working a full-time job, taking care of my family, and trying to squeeze in a little writing time wasn’t enough!  I needed to do MORE!

I went to work.  I got a website using GoDaddy.  I set up a Facebook author page (which I rarely update) and I kept blogging.  Slowly, I built a small following. After all that work, I thought I had my nut.  Only, I didn’t.

At a 2014 writers conference, it was suggested that WordPress was the way to go.  Using WordPress would allow me streamline and hopefully save a little time.  I thought long and hard about this because in essence, I would be starting over.   In April, I made the switch.  Only, I didn’t put much effort into posting. (I continued posting to Novel Notions even though I knew that blog would be ending.)   Crazy right?  Because I knew from experience, consistency mattered when it comes to building and maintaining a following. It’s taken me a while but I getting back into the swing of things.

Only, I’m not sure that I’m chasing after the right nut.   There are so many expert voices out there offering advice on building an author platform.

There is the thought:  Content is King.   Typically, I blog about things I’ve learned from my journey as a self published writer.  I might offer writing tips or an experience I had in marketing.  Only, this kind of content is more for fellow writers.  The readers of my books on the other hand, probably aren’t checking out my blog for writing advice.

This leads me to: Know Your Readers.  Are we referring to the readers of our blog? OR the readers of our books?  I’ve always assumed this pertained to my book readers and yet, my blog content is aimed at other writers.  And that’s the quandary in which I find myself.  A blog is supposed to be a plank in an author platform.  It is supposed to help build a following, which in turn, hopefully leads to more sales.  Yet, I only seem to be targeting other writers… (I realize other writers do buy our novels and that is wonderful but I don’t think they should be our target buying audience.)

I visited several blogs – and found that the majority was a lot like mine (though bigger and better established) – offering content regarding writing/marketing.  There were a few who focused on their books and their books only but I found those kinda boring.  If I had written a book on gardening, I could blog about bees and the latest cultivating techniques thus offering quality content and identifying my audience.  But I didn’t…  I write fiction and my readers are females ranging from teens to older adults.  (Yes, there are grandmothers who read YA fiction)  I don’t necessarily want to post pics of the latest “hottie” nor do I plan on offering fashion advice or dating tips…

On second thought:   My blog is just a part of my website.  Maybe my website that should be focused at my “book readers” and my blog should be focused on  my “blog readers?”   Maybe I just freaking over think things…

So I’m left wondering, what is the magic formula?  And where do I go to find it?   Because, I’m really wanting that nut!

 

 

Posted on

Spicing Up Our Fiction With A Little Truth

officeThe phone rang.  I answered.

Caller:  (voice of an older man) Somebody from your office called me earlier.  Who called me and why?

Me:  I don’t know, sir.  If you give-  (I’m interrupted at this point)

Caller:  What do you mean you don’t know?  Does your office randomly call people for no reason?

Me:  No sir.  If you’ll give me your name-

Caller:  Hey You

Me:  Sir?

Caller:  That’s my name.  Hey You.  So why did your office call me?

Me:  (Rolling eyes) If you give me a last name besides You, I should be able to look your name up in our system.

Caller:  (Laughs)  You didn’t call me.  I’m just calling around trying to aggravate people.

 

It happened today.  True stuff.   And yes, I thought it was a tad bit creepy.  But that’s what made it interesting.  Things like this happen all the time.  We just have to remember to jot down these crazy occurances.    As much as we’d like to believe we won’t forget certain incidents, the fact is we very well may.  Trivial things can get buried beneath an avalanche of our daily doings.   By taking the time to record the event, we can reference it later.  After all, we never know when a story or character we’re working on could benefit from a little “truth.”