writingblogs

In this short (2.5 minutes) video, hear how some of the better-known writers of today got their start, including one who collected 250 (!) rejection slips.

 

Meet Stanley. Stanley is a gopher tortoise. Stanley has been hanging around my yard for about a month now, and sleeping in strange spots, so I'm pretty sure he's homeless. Meet George. George lives in this burrow on my property, which has been his exclusive domain for seven years. Now anyone want to guess why Stanley has been hanging around my yard? Yes, it appears that Stanley would like to move into George's burrow. I can't ask him why, but I'll guess he wants it because it's roomy, well-established and in a great location. No doubt Stanley also realizes that moving into George's burrow will allow him to munch on all the nice greens in my yard and keep him from becoming tortoise tartar for the local predators. George, however, does not want to give Stanley his burrow. I also can't ask George why, but I'll wager he feels that finding the spot first, digging the burrow himself and living in it for the last seven years gives him the right to call it his. George doesn't actually own his burrow; he just dug it out and lives in it. He's protective of it, though, and has had to defend it a couple of times. The people who used to own this property before we bought it didn't like George, and according to neighbors they "filled in" the burrow once when George was out grazing in hopes of getting rid of him. Aside from this being heartless and illegal (gopher tortoises are an endangered species, and you have to have a permit even just to relocate them) the burrows can be up to thirty feet long and twelve feet deep; they probably only filled in the entry foyer. A couple of times we've noticed other critters like black racer snakes, owls and foxes have tried to evict George, too, but with no luck. But let's consider this dilemma from Stanley's point of view. Since George doesn't really own the burrow, why doesn't he simply give it to Stanley? After all, Stanley is homeless, and he really wants it, and it is perfect for him. Of course giving up the burrow would make George homeless, but really, George has been around practically forever, and has all that experience with finding and digging and defending that Stanley doesn't. It would be nothing for old George to go somewhere else and start over, right? The point of this story: when you two-legged Stanleys out there e-mail me and tell me all about you, and your plans for making a home for yourself online, and then mention how absolutely perfect the name Paperback Writer is for the weblog you want to start, and then beg me to do things like give you my URL, change the name of my blog, and/or go find another place to write? From now on I'm going to refer you to George.

Face it — sometimes you must give your readers a countenance-based clue about what a character or a subject is feeling. First try conveying emotions indirectly or through dialogue, but if you must fall back on a descriptive term, try for precision:

1. Absent: preoccupied 2. Agonized: as if in pain or tormented 3. Alluring: attractive, in the sense of arousing desire 4. Appealing: attractive, in the sense of encouraging goodwill and/or interest 5. Beatific: see blissful 6. Bilious: ill-natured 7. Black: angry or sad, or see hostile 8. Bleak: see grim and hopeless 9. Blinking: surprise, or lack of concern 10. Blissful: showing a state of happiness or divine contentment 11. Blithe: carefree, lighthearted, or heedlessly indifferent 12. Brooding: see anxious and gloomy 13. Bug eyed: frightened or surprised 14. Chagrined: humiliated or disappointed 15. Cheeky: cocky, insolent 16. Cheerless: sad 17. Choleric: hot-tempered, irate 18. Coy: flirtily playful, or evasive 19. Crestfallen: see despondent 20. Darkly: with depressed or malevolent feelings 21. Deadpan: expressionless, to conceal emotion or heighten humor 22. Dejected: see despondent 23. Derisive: see sardonic 24. Despondent: depressed or discouraged 25. Doleful: sad or afflicted 26. Dour: stern or obstinate; see also despondent 27. Downcast: see despondent 28. Dreamy: distracted by daydreaming or fantasizing 29. Ecstatic: delighted or entranced 30. Etched: see fixed 31. Faint: cowardly, weak, or barely perceptible 32. Fixed: concentrated or immobile 33. Furtive: stealthy 34. Gazing: staring intently 35. Glancing: staring briefly as if curious but evasive 36. Glaring: see hostile 37. Glazed: expressionless due to fatigue or confusion 38. Gloomy: see despondent and sullen 39. Glowering: annoyed or angry 40. Glowing: see radiant 41. Grim: see despondent; also, fatalistic or pessimistic 42. Grave: serious, expressing emotion due to loss or sadness 43. Haunted: frightened, worried, or guilty 44. Hopeless: depressed by a lack of encouragement or optimism 45. Hostile: aggressively angry, intimidating, or resistant 46. Hunted: tense as if worried about pursuit 47. Impassive: see deadpan 48. Inscrutable: mysterious, unreadable 49. Jeering: insulting or mocking 50. Languid: lazy or weak 51. Leering: see meaningful; also, sexually suggestive 52. Meaningful: to convey an implicit connotation or shared secret 53. Mild: easygoing 54. Mischievous: annoyingly or maliciously playful 55. Moody: see sullen 56. Pained: affected with discomfort or pain 57. Pallid: see wan 58. Peering: with curiosity or suspicion 59. Peeved: annoyed 60. Petulant: see cheeky and peeved 61. Pitying: sympathetic 62. Pleading: seeking apology or assistance 63. Pouting: see sullen 64. Quizzical: questioning or confused 65. Radiant: bright, happy 66. Roguish: see mischievous 67. Sanguine: bloodthirsty, confident 68. Sardonic: mocking 69. Scornful: contemptuous or mocking 70. Scowling: displeased or threatening 71. Searching: curious or suspicious 72. Set: see fixed 73. Shamefaced: ashamed or bashful 74. Slack-jawed: dumbfounded or surprised 75. Sly: cunning; see also furtive and mischievous 76. Snarling: surly 77. Sneering: see scornful 78. Somber: see grave 79. Sour: unpleasant 80. Stolid: inexpressive 81. Straight-faced: see deadpan 82. Sulky: see sullen 83. Sullen: resentful 84. Taunting: see jeering 85. Taut: high-strung 86. Tense: see taut 87. Tight: see pained and taut 88. Unblinking: see fixed 89. Vacant: blank or stupid looking 90. Veiled: see inscrutable 91. Wan: pale, sickly; see also faint 92. Wary: cautious or cunning 93. Wide eyed: frightened or surprised 94. Wild eyed: excited, frightened, or stressful 95. Wistful: yearning or sadly thoughtful 96. Withering: devastating; see also wrathful 97. Woeful: full of grief or lamentation 98. Wolfish: see leering and mischievous 99. Wrathful: indignant or vengeful 100. Wry: twisted or crooked to express cleverness or a dark or ironic feeling

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Original Post: 100 Words for Facial Expressions Your eBook: Click here to download the Basic English Grammar ebook.

Big Mama Six, Big Daddy Six, and their son, are standing in the living room, having a conversation. Big Mama: We're so happy you're our son. Big Daddy: So very, very happy. Son: Thanks. Big Mama: We recognize what a good job you're doing. Big Daddy: Such a better job than your brothers and sisters. I know we're not supposed to play favorites, but son... you're our favorite. Son: Thanks. Look, I really need to tell you something. Big Mama: We're so proud of you. Do you remember when you were just a baby? Big Daddy: Needed us to wipe your nose. Big Mama: All the poopy diapers we changed. Big Daddy: But look at you now. All grown up. Big Mama: I must say, Big Daddy, we sure did a good job raising him. Big Daddy: We sure did. And look at him now! Such a strapping young man. Big Mama: We've done so much for you. Big Daddy: And we'll keep doing it. Because we're your parents, and you need us. Son: Guys... Big Mama: The risks we took! The time investment! Big Daddy: And the monetary investment! Buying you food all those years. Clothes. School supplies. You couldn't have gotten those straight A's if we didn't buy you pencils. Son: (sighing) Yes. You bought me pencils. You're the best parents ever. Big Mama: We've been talking, your father and I. And we have some news. Big Daddy: It's true. We've discussed it, and we've decided we're going to raise your allowance by 2%. Big Mama: Aren't we generous? Big Daddy: You're now making $21.50 a week. How do you feel about that, young man? Son: You both are making this awkward. Big Mama: Now don't think that 2% raise doesn't come with added responsibilities, son. Besides doing the cooking, the cleaning, the yard work, and building that addition onto our house, you'll also now be required to service all four of ours cars, twice a month. Big Daddy: But we do have a lot of bills to pay. Rent. Utilities. Food. And let's face it, you eat a lot. So we're going to have to charge you for the extra food you're consuming. Big Mama: But it's okay. Our relationship isn't just about food, or money. We nurture. We protect. We guide. Big Daddy: When you painted that beautiful watercolor, who sold it for you and gave you 17.5% of the money? We did. Big Mama: That's what we do. Because we're a team. Big Daddy: Risky business, raising children. But you've made us so proud. Son: Enough! I wanted to tell you I'm leaving home. Big Mama: What? Big Daddy: Are you serious? You can't survive without us! Big Mama: You need us! Son: I'm going into business for myself. Big Daddy: You'll never make it! Big Mama: Without us to do all that we do for you, you'll never succeed! Son: In the last three weeks I've earned over $100,000. Big Daddy: Uh.... Son: That's more than you make annually, isn't it, Big Daddy? Big Mama: But... but... we've done so much. Son: These past few years you've done nothing but rip me off and constantly remind me how valuable you are. But you actually haven't given me any value whatsoever. You've worked me almost to death, taken heaps of money from me, and there isn't a single thing you can do for me that I can't do for myself. Big Daddy: You ungrateful little jerk! We made you what you are today! Son: Goodbye. Big Mama begins to cry. Big Daddy puts his arm around her. Big Daddy: It's okay, dear. We don't need him. We still have hundreds of other children. Big Mama: But what if they all figure out they don't need us? Big Daddy: They won't. We're authority figures. They need our approval. Plus, they're really naive. Big Mama: How long will they stay naive? Without our kids to help pay our bills, we won't be able to keep the house. Big Daddy: It'll all work out just fine. Big Mama: Maybe I should go after him. Offer to triple his allowance. Big Daddy: I don't think he'll be persuaded. Big Mama: What if, next time we sell one of his paintings, we give him 20%? Big Daddy: I've done some research. He can get 70% on his own. Big Mama: That much? Big Daddy: Yes. Big Mama: Can we match that? Big Daddy: No. We have too many bills to pay. Big Mama: Do you think he resents us for using him for his talents all those years? Big Daddy: Hush, dear. We didn't use him. We provided guidance and support. We nurtured him. We loaned him thousands of dollars. Big Mama: He paid back those thousands of dollars, and then some. Big Daddy: That isn't the point. The point is there will always be children who need the validation, coddling, and reprimanding that we have to offer. And they'll let us rob them blind in order to get it. Big Mama: I hope so, Big Daddy. Big Daddy: Trust me. Now run into the bedroom and fetch my Kindle. There's a new Konrath ebook on Amazon for $2.99. I love how he can offer such low prices. Big Mama: Me too. I have no idea why some other ebooks are so expensive. Big Daddy: It's simple, dear. Big corporations are wasteful and don't care about their customers. They charge a lot to pay for their overhead without providing value to either the authors they work with or the readers they sell to. Big Mama: (shaking her head) I'm glad we're not self-deluded like that. Big Daddy: Amen.

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Working from home can be a major challenge. Here are some helpful tips to get you from the beginning to the end of your deceptively difficult day.

Today’s creativity links outnumber the writing links two to one. I’m grateful to be named a Top 10 Blog for Writers, but I’m also grateful my readers tolerate my polymath interests. These, of course, are some of the links I tweeted this week, and thus are a reflection of what caught my fancy at a moment in time. What’s on my mind also finds its way into my summaries; this week you might see a reference to coconut.

CREATIVITY

• “The Success of Failure: Pulitzer winner’s surprising road to the top,” Todd Leopold, CNN: “Successful people — creative people — fail every day, just like everybody else.” I fail constantly, so by extrapolation I must be very successful and creative.
• “Training Creativity,” Allan Douglas, guest on Creative Flux: Is your muse housebroken?
• 

  This is the Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a necropolis I visited in 2006. The vault of Evita Peron is located there. Why am I posting this photo, you ask? Since when have my photos had any relation to my posts?

  “Placing Too Much Importance on Passion,” Jane Friedman: So you’re really passionate about something? Who cares, Jane says: “What matters is how that translates into action.”

• “Study: The Brains of Storytellers and their Listeners Actually Sync Up,” Discover: All creative action involves telling a story, I believe. Thus, all creatives connect with their audience on a neurological level. Cool.
• “Open-plan offices killing creativity,” The Sunday Times (Australia): “Research strongly suggests that people are more creative when they enjoy privacy and freedom from interruption.” That’s true for me. Of course, when I crave interruption there’s always Twitter.
• “Ten Steps for Boosting Creativity,” Jeffrey Baumgartner: #9: “Read as much as you can about everything possible.” YES, I AGREE! #7: “Don’t watch TV.” Um, you know a new season of Archer has just started, right?

WRITING

• “Focusing on Flash Nonfiction: An Interview with Dinty Moore,” Jenny Patton, River Teeth: Hey all you flash-fiction writers. Hear from a fav writer of mine–and the editor of Brevity–on the CNF equivalent.
• “The Delicate Tension of Being a Writer,” Charlotte Rains Dixon: “The pull of the story is always with us.  And that creates a constant tension in our lives.” That sounds about right. That, and looming deadlines.
• “How to Put On Your Own Writer’s Retreat,” Jane Porter: Great DIY advice. Given that currently I have a coconut jones, let me add another suggestion–put out a plate of macaroons between writing sessions.

Here’s to a great February. I hope yours is filled with creativity, coconut, and bacon. You could try engaging the first by combining those last two. If you do, let me know how it worked out.

Filed under: Bacon, Coconut, Creativity, Storytelling, Twitter, Writing

This blog is dedicated to helping writers holistically. We are more than robots sitting at a desk pounding out word count. We have hopes, dreams, fears, bad habits and baggage. Monday is dedicated to helping you guys with craft. Wednesdays is to help you build your platforms. Fridays are my choice, but I like to dedicate these blogs to helping writers with life skills. If we want to be successful authors, we have to be good at time-management, stress-management, setting goals, facing fear, etc.

I always have people asking me how I have the energy to get so much done.  I am not where I need to be, but I can say that I am not where I used to be and that is great news. I still struggle with organization and time-management, but I do feel I have some lessons I can pass on that might help some of you reading.

Three Lessons of Confession

Confess the Real Emotion—Name It and Claim It

One of the first things that offered me a new sense of empowerment was when I learned to confess the real emotion I was feeling.

This was almost ten years ago, but I recall one day that I just couldn’t seem to get out of bed. It was a really dark time for me. I had lost my career in sales due to a misdiagnosis (doctors thought I had epilepsy), and I was on the verge of eviction and facing having to move in with my mother. I had no energy and no real desire to do much of anything. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat and all I wanted to do was cry.

Some of you may be able to relate to my upbringing. I had a single mother who was doing all she could to keep us afloat. Thus, my brother and I were never angry, disappointed, discouraged, or overwhelmed. We only had two feelings; we were “sick” or we were “tired.” Being ill or needing more rest would never make my mom feel guilty. Thus anything negative we ever felt ended up getting pigeon-holed into one of these two categories.

It was a really bad habit to get into.

So years later I found myself still only having two “emotions”—sick or tired. My mother came over to check on me. It was like ten in the morning and I was still in bed. Not sleeping. Just staring at the ceiling and thinking of all the reasons I was a total and utter failure. My apartment was a disaster and I couldn’t bear to ask anyone for help.  I knew I needed to pack, but I just couldn’t seem to move.

My mom stood in the door, crossed her arms and asked, “Kristen, are you depressed?”

I sat up and said something that marked a moment of change in my life. I said, “You know, Mom. I would like to tell you that. I have every reason to be depressed. I have no job, no money. I am afraid of my mailbox because it is full of all these bills I can’t pay. But that isn’t it.”

“What is it, then?”

“I’m overwhelmed. I don’t know where to begin. You know what else?”

“What?”

“I’m heartbroken.”

By naming the specific emotions I was feeling, I had unleashed tremendous power. I had opened a way to make a plan. As long as I was sick or tired, there was very little I could do to remedy either. And, to be honest, I wasn’t sick or tired. I was just so out of my depth that it was making me sick AND tired…all the time. I had lost a lot in three years—4 deaths in 6 months (including my father), my career, my health, my apartment, my dreams. And it was bad enough that I had lost those things, but then I never properly grieved any of those losses.

How could I? I was only sick or tired.

But this day was different. For the first time…I was heartbroken, overwhelmed, discouraged. For the first time I felt connected back to that intimate part that was…me.

This simple lesson was the first major step to a more productive life. Once I admitted that I was overwhelmed, it was easier to break big problems into manageable bites and get busy. Once I admitted out loud that I was discouraged, it freed me to dust off and try again. Suddenly, it was okay to be disappointed. I could grieve, feel the pain and then start anew. I have found that life is lived best in forward gear.

From that point on, I made it a habit to name the real emotion. It was too easy to hide behind, “Oh, I am just tired.” It took courage to say, “I am disappointed. You said you would help me with this project, but you haven’t been doing your share.”

It was scary, and still is. Naming my emotions has opened me up to possible confrontation. I suck at confrontation. It’s easier to just take a nap because I’m “tired.” I would love to tell you guys that I have been perfect in applying this. I haven’t. But, with practice, I am getting better and better.

When I hear myself saying, “Oh I don’t feel well” or “I’m just tired” I stop and ask the hard questions. What am I really feeling? What can I do to change things?

We are more healthy and productive when we focus on what we can control then refuse to worry about things we can’t. The trick is to cast our care but keep our responsibility. Too many people cast their responsibility and then keep their care.

Stop worrying about not having enough money. Focus on where we can minimize waste and save.

Stop worrying about the future of publishing. Focus on that 1000 words a day.

Stop worrying about whether our platform will be successful long-term. Focus on forging relationships.

Confess the Real Problem

One thing I have learned is that we will never get a handle on time-management until we confess the real problem.

Oh I just cannot find the time to write.

Possible translations:

I am terrified of failure.

I don’t deserve success.

I’m overwhelmed and I don’t know where to start.

There is a problem in my story and I don’t want to admit I don’t know the answer to fixing it.

Whenever we start hearing ourselves make excuses, we need to stop and peel back the layers. What are we afraid of?

If we won’t get to the real problem, we cannot recruit help. Recently I found myself saying I didn’t have time to work on my fiction. I stopped myself and asked the tough question.

Kristen, what are you afraid of?

When I got real honest? I was afraid to delegate, and I was afraid of not being in control. I grew up taking care of everything. If I didn’t do it, it didn’t get done.

Guess what? Life is different now. I have capable people dying to help me. I needed to let them, but I was too afraid of being out of control.

The problem was that I had to make a choice. I could control everything and do everything…and not have any time left for my fiction. OR I could step into my fear, face it, and take a chance that I might actually free up some time.

So, I made a list of all the things that were eating my time and I—GASP—delegated. And guess what? Not only did my world NOT blow up *round of applause* but the person I asked for help actually did a BETTER job than I ever could (Thanks, Ingrid).

But the lesson I hope you guys get is that I needed to first admit the REAL problem. How can we climb over an obstacle we won’t admit is there?

Confess Your Brilliant Future

Did you know that the subconscious mind cannot tell the difference between truth and lie? That is why we need to watch what we say. It has been scientifically proven that we believe our own voice more than any other.

What are you saying about you? Your future? Is it positive?

When I was growing up my grandmother had this saying every time I screwed up, “Kristen, you just can’t stand prosperity.” Now do I think my grandmother sat up all night thinking of ways to make my life miserable? No. To her it was just a comment. Just words. Didn’t mean anything.

But, I recall years later being plagued with problem after problem and one day, I finally heard what I was saying to myself. Every time I made a mistake I said, “Kristen, you just can’t stand prosperity.”

What was my subconscious hearing…then believing?

When I learned to make positive confessions, my life began to change.

I can’t wait to be one of those writers who busts out 4000 words a day.

I still have room to grow, but I am more organized than I used to be. Every day I get better and better.

I know that persistence prevails when all else fails. Baby steps count.

The mind is a powerful thing, and we are wise to get our mind on our side. Now don’t misunderstand. We can’t think happy thoughts and that be enough. We also have to put in some sweat equity. But, we must be ever vigilant to guard our mental and spiritual state. We are not just physical creatures.

Hard work paired with negative thinking is counter-productive. Our will is pulling the opposite direction of our work. Our will and our work are most powerful when they pull in the same direction toward the same objective.

Our will and our work must pull the same direction for forward momentum.

We cannot let our feelings rule. We rule our feelings. Every day we are wise to say aloud that we are blessed, grateful, happy, joyful…even if we don’t feel it at the time. Our body and emotions will catch up with time and practice.

If we keep saying, I’m tired, I don’t feel well, I don’t have time,  I’ll never have time to write, what future are we deciding for ourselves?

In the end, these three simple confessions have made a HUGE difference in my life.

1. Name the real emotion. It is okay to be hurt, angry, disappointed, or frustrated. If we leave the real emotion untended it is putting a Band-Aid on a boil.

2. Name the real problem. We can’t make a plan or ask for help if we avoid the hard stuff. Everything is doable if broken into smaller, manageable bites. How do you eat a whale? One bite at a time.

3. Claim a positive future. Yes, we must work hard. But we will get more mileage for our efforts if our will and our work are both on the same team.

What are some setbacks you guys have had? How did you tackle obstacles? What would be your advice? What still gives you trouble and why? What self-talk have you caught yourself saying, but hadn’t noticed before? Does your family or close network affect you negatively? What have you done to counter that negativity?

I LOVE hearing from you!

And to prove it and show my love, for the month of January, everyone who leaves a comment I will put your name in a hat. If you comment and link back to my blog on your blog, you get your name in the hat twice. If you leave a comment, and link back to my blog, and mention my book We Are Not Alone in your blog…you get your name in the hat THREE times. What do you win? The unvarnished truth from yours truly.

I will pick a winner every week for a critique of your first five pages. At the end of January I will pick a winner for the grand prize. A free critique from me on the first 15 pages of your novel. Good luck!

I also hope you pick up copies of my best-selling books We Are Not Alone–The Writer’s Guide to Social Media and Are You There, Blog? It’s Me, Writer . Both books are ON SALE for $4.99!!!! And both are recommended by the hottest agents and biggest authors in the biz. My methods teach you how to make building your author platform FUN. Build a platform and still have time left to write great books

Guest posting today is fantasy author Greg Hamerton, author of the epic fantasy series The Tale of the Lifesong. In life, many of us expect to be lucky. We’re secretly optimistic about our chances. I suppose it’s why so many people buy lottery tickets, go to casinos, try paragliding ... and write books. “You can’t win it if you don’t play it,” echoes in my mind as I write this. That lottery ticket I bought last week didn’t have a single winning number on it. And yet I’ll probably be suckered into buying another one, some time, with the simple thrill of anticipation you can engineer by taking a chance. And I’ll probably be suckered into writing another book by that same childish notion of winning big. It helped get me through dark hours of writing: to keep on closing the door on sunny days. I was writing The Book. And although hoping for a best seller wasn’t the only motivation, it helped. Many reasons conspire to get us behind our keyboards: to express our art, the joy of creation, the love of crafting, the challenge of mental gymnastics, the learning that comes from writing, the surprising insights, and the Story that must get out. But underneath this all is burning inspiration, and it is fuelled by book sales. When there is no hope of ever being published, bought and read, the fire can only burn for a while before it dies. But Amazon has handed everyone a piece of kindling. Used to be, 99.9% of writers had no realistic opportunity to even buy a ticket to the ‘best-selling book’ lottery. Now, within a day of loading your manuscript on Kindle Direct Publishing, you’re in a place where you can win. No gatekeepers, no delays, no middlemen. Unlike the other digital markets right now, Amazon’s sales figures are staggering. To be fair, for many authors, selling hundreds a day is as unlikely as bagging the Euro Millions, but you have a ticket. It is possible. Suddenly there is no reason to let the fire of inspiration go out. Amazon has enabled your next creation, by offering you hope. I expect this will cause a raging fire of new authors and new books. It’s already happening. How do I know my little flame will stand out in this literary inferno? I think I’ll be lucky. It’s in my nature. As it is in yours. So write! Greg Hamerton is a fantasy author, graphic designer and extreme sports publisher. He is best known for his epic fantasy series The Tale of the Lifesong, which begins with The Riddler’s Gift and continues with Second Sight. "There is a song that drifts on the breeze through all the world. Its rhythms are echoed in our breath, the music is caught in our laughter, hidden in our language, woven through our life. Singers reach for the melody, but it is too delicate to hold and too elusive to remember. As the Ages pass, so the Lifesong retreats under the sounds of our time, its potent beauty and danger ever more a mystery." Find out more on www.greghamerton.com

It's that time of the week again. Hope everyone had a wonderful week! Here are the best links I've come across in the last few days. On Writing and Publishing: The Literary Lab: Who is the Ultimate Authority of a Piece of Fiction? 25 Things Writers Should Know About Agents via Chuck Wendig Novel Plotting Worksheets | Annie Neugebauer Jennifer Represents...: The Fine Art of Zipping It, or XYZ PDQ Reader Reviews and What Not To Do, by @WendySMarcus | Romance University 10 Bestselling Books with 50+ One-Star Reviews - GalleyCat why Pinterest is totally not a waste of time: creating a visionboard for your novel The Bookshelf Muse: Do You Need a Social Media Intervention? The Value Rubric: Do Book Bloggers Really Matter? | Publishing Perspectives Writability: Why I Don't Auto-Follow Back No Shame Here | GENREALITY - on not considering any book a "guilty pleasure" Writing in different genres: A Blog Series | Nicole Basaraba's Uni-Verse-City Trust Thyself | Kait Nolan - on writer's block What’s the Problem with FREE? « Kristen Lamb's Blog Why blog hits DON’T REALLY MATTER | The Red Pen of Doom The Twitter, it is NOT for selling books | The Red Pen of Doom What You May Have Missed Here: All right, that's it from my end. What were some of your favorite links of the week?  Have a great weekend! Tweet

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“...a sexy, sizzling tale that is sure to have readers begging for more!" –Jo Davis, author of I SPY A DARK OBSESSION CRASH INTO YOU is now available! Read an excerpt here.

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All content copyright of the author. Please ask permission before re-printing or re-posting. Fair use quotations and links do no require prior consent of the author. ©Roni Loren 2009-2012 |Copyright Statement

Writersroom 10 finalist, Amman Paul Singh Brar, shares his experience of taking part in the scheme designed to support emerging playwrights.

Last week I launched C2C’s first-ever eBook fundraising campaign.

The campaign was launched to help me raise money to create an eBook inspired by this blog, Courage 2 Create.

The money raised from this campaign will be used to help me hire a professional editor and graphic designer who will then help me create the eBook.

(Read the post where I first introduced the eBook fundraising campaign by going here.)

After the campaign was launched, dozens of you responded, and, so far, we’ve managed to raise over $200 dollars! Wohoo! Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far!

But the fundraiser isn’t over yet, and we’re still far from our goal of $2,000. And if we don’t reach this goal by February 9, 2012, I won’t be able to get this eBook made.

So, I’d like to take some time today to convince you why you should contribute to the campaign, before time runs out.

Here I go.

10 Great Reasons You Should Contribute to C2C’s eBook Fundraiser

If you contribute to the fundraising campaign today…

1. You’ll get the finished eBook at no extra cost to you.

If you contribute just $4 or more to the campaign today, you’ll get the eBook at no extra cost to you when it’s done!

How cool is that?

2. You’ll help me create a version of Courage 2 Create that’s leaner, meaner, and sexier.

In eBook form, C2C’s best ideas will be sharper and more organized. The content will be put together more logically, seamlessly, and intuitively. Finally, the text will be paired with a sleeker, sexier design made uniquely, and exclusively, for the eBook.

3. You’ll finally get a deeper explanation of my holistic approach to writing and life.

A huge chunk of the eBook will have brand new content that has NEVER BEFORE been featured on Courage 2 Create or anywhere on the internet–including everything that helped me survive a very challenging year in my life. In my first year of writing my novel, as many of you know, I managed to follow my passion while my life seemed to be falling apart all around me. It was an impossible feat, but with the help of my holistic approach to writing and life, I was able to pull off a miracle, and I got the writing done.

In the eBook, I hope to go more into detail about my holistic approach to writing and life, and give you the tools that’ll help you overcome your own life challenges.

4. Your input will be taken into consideration.

Over the next few months, I’m going to be asking for your input on the eBook. So, if you donate to the fundraiser today, think of yourself as an investor in a really great product that you already know is going to be specifically designed to YOUR needs and YOUR wants.

5. You’ll be able to read Courage 2 Create on your Kindle.

The eBook won’t just be in a PDF file, but it’ll be in a format that works on your Kindle, too.

6. You don’t have to go through Kickstarter. You can contribute directly to me.

After I experienced serious glitches with Kickstarter—and then, after I realized that Kickstarter uses Amazon Payments, a site that I know many of my readers don’t like because of dubious ethical practices they’ve engaged in over the years—I decided to opt out of using Kickstarter.

Instead, I decided to run this fundraiser straight through my blog in order to make the fundraiser straightforward, easy, and more comfortable for you, my readers.

7. You could land a guest post on the C2C!

If you contribute $50 or more to the campaign today, you could land a guest post on the C2C! And, in fact, the more you contribute, the bigger the incentives are!

(Check out the fundraising page for details about incentives for higher contributions.)

8. It could help prevent Courage 2 Create from shutting down in the future.

When the eBook is all good and done, I hope to sell it on this blog to new readers. Then, I’ll use this revenue stream to help keep this blog going strong.

So, as you can see, this fundraising campaign is just the start of my attempt at creating a steady revenue stream for the blog.

Why does the blog need a steady revenue stream?

Well, the bigger the blog gets, the more work I need to put in to maintain it properly. The more work the blog needs for it to be maintained properly, the more I might have to start paying people to help me keep it up.

Unfortunately, without a steady revenue stream, I won’t be able to pay people to help me. And, eventually, I’ll reach a point where it’ll be no longer financially, physically, and emotionally feasible for me to keep this blog going all by myself.

I haven’t reached that point yet, and I hope I never will.

But if you contribute to the campaign today, you can help me prevent that unfortunate scenario from ever happening.

9. Because it’s cheap.

If just two-thirds of my readers donated $4 dollars today that would be more than enough to cover the costs of putting the eBook together.

10. Because there’s only two weeks left.

The fundraiser ends in two weeks, and, if we continue at this pace, it’s clear that we might not reach our fundraising goal in time.

So please help me to make sure that doesn’t happen by contributing to the fundraising campaign today!

Thank you.

much love,

Ollin

You can use the PayPal button below to contribute $4 or more to the campaign. Thank you for your generous contribution!

You can also visit C2C’s eBook Fundraiser page to find out more details about the campaign before you contribute.

P.S. If you want to help me further, I encourage you to leave a comment on C2C’s Facebook page. In your comment, let everyone else know that you’ve made a contribution to the campaign, and then encourage others to do the same. Thanks for your help! (Click here to visit C2C’s Facebook page.)

P.S.S. Also, you can: tweet this post, let people know you’ve contributed to the campaign, and then encourage other readers to contribute to the campaign as well. Thank you! (Use the buttons at the bottom of this post to share this post with your followers.)

P.S.S.S. Finally, you can: share this post with everyone you know to help me build momentum for the campaign! Thanks so much!

Last week I launched C2C’s first-ever eBook fundraising campaign.

The campaign was launched to help me raise money to create an eBook inspired by this blog, Courage 2 Create.

The money raised from this campaign will be used to help me hire a professional editor and graphic designer who will then help me create the eBook.

(Read the post where I first introduced the eBook fundraising campaign by going here.)

After the campaign was launched, dozens of you responded, and, so far, we’ve managed to raise over $200 dollars! Wohoo! Thank you to everyone who has contributed so far!

But the fundraiser isn’t over yet, and we’re still far from our goal of $2,000. And if we don’t reach this goal by February 9, 2012, I won’t be able to get this eBook made.

So, I’d like to take some time today to convince you why you should contribute to the campaign, before time runs out.

Here I go.

10 Great Reasons You Should Contribute to C2C’s eBook Fundraiser

If you contribute to the fundraising campaign today…

1. You’ll get the finished eBook at no extra cost to you.

If you contribute just $4 or more to the campaign today, you’ll get the eBook at no extra cost to you when it’s done!

How cool is that?

2. You’ll help me create a version of Courage 2 Create that’s leaner, meaner, and sexier.

In eBook form, C2C’s best ideas will be sharper and more organized. The content will be put together more logically, seamlessly, and intuitively. Finally, the text will be paired with a sleeker, sexier design made uniquely, and exclusively, for the eBook.

3. You’ll finally get a deeper explanation of my holistic approach to writing and life.

A huge chunk of the eBook will have brand new content that has NEVER BEFORE been featured on Courage 2 Create or anywhere on the internet–including everything that helped me survive a very challenging year in my life. In my first year of writing my novel, as many of you know, I managed to follow my passion while my life seemed to be falling apart all around me. It was an impossible feat, but with the help of my holistic approach to writing and life, I was able to pull off a miracle, and I got the writing done.

In the eBook, I hope to go more into detail about my holistic approach to writing and life, and give you the tools that’ll help you overcome your own life challenges.

4. Your input will be taken into consideration.

Over the next few months, I’m going to be asking for your input on the eBook. So, if you donate to the fundraiser today, think of yourself as an investor in a really great product that you already know is going to be specifically designed to YOUR needs and YOUR wants.

5. You’ll be able to read Courage 2 Create on your Kindle.

The eBook won’t just be in a PDF file, but it’ll be in a format that works on your Kindle, too.

6. You don’t have to go through Kickstarter. You can contribute directly to me.

After I experienced serious glitches with Kickstarter—and then, after I realized that Kickstarter uses Amazon Payments, a site that I know many of my readers don’t like because of dubious ethical practices they’ve engaged in over the years—I decided to opt out of using Kickstarter.

Instead, I decided to run this fundraiser straight through my blog in order to make the fundraiser straightforward, easy, and more comfortable for you, my readers.

7. You could land a guest post on the C2C!

If you contribute $50 or more to the campaign today, you could land a guest post on the C2C! And, in fact, the more you contribute, the bigger the incentives are!

(Check out the fundraising page for details about incentives for higher contributions.)

8. It could help prevent Courage 2 Create from shutting down in the future.

When the eBook is all good and done, I hope to sell it on this blog to new readers. Then, I’ll use this revenue stream to help keep this blog going strong.

So, as you can see, this fundraising campaign is just the start of my attempt at creating a steady revenue stream for the blog.

Why does the blog need a steady revenue stream?

Well, the bigger the blog gets, the more work I need to put in to maintain it properly. The more work the blog needs for it to be maintained properly, the more I might have to start paying people to help me keep it up.

Unfortunately, without a steady revenue stream, I won’t be able to pay people to help me. And, eventually, I’ll reach a point where it’ll be no longer financially, physically, and emotionally feasible for me to keep this blog going all by myself.

I haven’t reached that point yet, and I hope I never will.

But if you contribute to the campaign today, you can help me prevent that unfortunate scenario from ever happening.

9. Because it’s cheap.

If just two-thirds of my readers donated $4 dollars today that would be more than enough to cover the costs of putting the eBook together.

10. Because there’s only two weeks left.

The fundraiser ends in two weeks, and, if we continue at this pace, it’s clear that we might not reach our fundraising goal in time.

So please help me to make sure that doesn’t happen by contributing to the fundraising campaign today!

Thank you.

much love,

Ollin

You can use the PayPal button below to contribute $4 or more to the campaign. Thank you for your generous contribution!

You can also visit C2C’s eBook Fundraiser page to find out more details about the campaign before you contribute.

P.S. If you want to help me further, I encourage you to leave a comment on C2C’s Facebook page. In your comment, let everyone else know that you’ve made a contribution to the campaign, and then encourage others to do the same. Thanks for your help! (Click here to visit C2C’s Facebook page.)

P.S.S. Also, you can: tweet this post, let people know you’ve contributed to the campaign, and then encourage other readers to contribute to the campaign as well. Thank you! (Use the buttons at the bottom of this post to share this post with your followers.)

P.S.S.S. Finally, you can: share this post with everyone you know to help me build momentum for the campaign! Thanks so much!

The World's Greatest Book

Self-publishing has seen a host of new eBook technologies announced in recent days. Recent moves to apply sales tax to digital downloads will soon impact publishers’ pricing and revenue models.

Amazon’s announcement of new tools and support for new features in Kindle KF8 format was big news last week until it was eclipsed by Apple’s launch of iBooks-Author, a visual tool that allows self-publishers to create interactive eBooks in a visual, drag-and-drop environment. The tool is exciting, but the web is alive with debate over the terms of Apple’s EULA (End User License Agreement); iBooks produced with iBooks-Author can only be distributed through Apple’s iBookstore.

Meanwhile, other innovators are quickly developing eBook publishing tools in anticipation of Reader devices becoming ePub3 compliant. Developers are racing to capture “rich eBook” opportunities while publishers hold out for standards-based tools and readers.

MIT’s Technology Review reports that “The Atavist Platform for publishing enhanced ebooks is what Apple’s iBooks Author program should have been. Out this spring, this Web-based tool for transforming any collection of words, images, sound, video, and other media could be the key to unlocking ebook publishing for the rest of us.”

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/mimssbits/27519/

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GoodEReader.com reports that Graphicly has developed a new set of tools that will make the process of creating and distributing comic books easier then ever. Graphicly offers authors and publisher the ability to select the type of distribution they need, as well as the revenue model that best suits them – from a basic free offering to a flat rate per conversion, with a number of options in between.

http://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/graphicly-self-publishing-comic-book-tools-in-development/

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Infogrid Pacific offers an update to their free desktop Azardi Reader that I profiled in a recent post. the first ePub3-compliant eReader along with a selection of free demo eBooks that show off the interactive and graphic capabilities of the new eBook format we all can’t wait to get our hands on.

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Korean researchers from the KAIST Institute of Information Technology Convergence developed a Smart eBook interface prototype—an iPad app packed with extra gestures for finer page control. Turn pages traditionally, skip through multiple pages to flip through the book or view several pages simultaneously.

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Joel Friedlander, who writes TheBookdesigner.com, one of my favorite blogs for self-publishers, features a video interview with Indie Publishing luminary John Kremer. John is the owner of Open Horizons publishing in New Mexico and his website, www.bookmarket.com is the largest collection of marketing advice for indie authors anywhere online. Subscribe to Joel’s newsletter to receive his useful articles about self-publishing by email.

http://www.thebookdesigner.com/2012/01/video-john-kremer-on-book-marketing-in-2012/

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The Baltimore Sun reports on the movement in Congress to tax digital goods. Consumers who buy goods—digital and physical—from online sites that don’t have any physical location aren’t charged the sales tax by the online retailer. That may be changing; Amazon has already made a deal with Indiana to collect sales tax. Publishers will need to consider sales tax into their future eBook pricing models.

http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/technology/2012/01/omalleys_digital_download_tax.html

Recent Publishing News Recap from TheWorldsGreatestBook.com

PRACTICE

Write about a young girl out to avenge her father’s murder.

(Yes, I watched  True Grit last night.)

Write for fifteen minutes. When you’re finished, post your practice in the comments.

And if you practice, don’t forget to give some feedback to other Practitioners!

Here’s mine:

You might think it strange that a young girl could slip into the night and do such a thing, but here’s how it happened. First of all, my father owned a logging company way outside of town. He took on Simon Fawes for some work because he felt sorry for the him, an old homeless man whose only money for years came from handouts he got in the town squares of various towns around South. That and the disability check the government gave him the first Tuesday of every month.

Fawes had green eyes, which shone out of his black face like streetlights, and I guess my father was taken with those white man eyes and thought he could trust them. The eyes are a window to the soul and Fawes eyes were stained-glass, green as a cathedral’s. So Daddy gave him work and let him sleep in the old trailer behind the company office.

One night, Fawes and Cameron Hughes, the trailer’s other tenant, got to drinking. They got into an argument over something or other and it must have been quite the argument seeing as how the neighbors who lived a good half mile from the office called Daddy, saying there was crashing and hollering coming up from our trailer. And so Daddy set off, scarcely knowing it would be the last time he’d see his wife and only daughter.

When the police arrived at the trailer an hour later they said Daddy’s head had been bashed in with a tea pot. Fawes must’ve been making tea at the time, too, because Daddy’s face and body were covered with third degree burns from scalding water and hot metal. And that Hughes, the trailer’s other tenant, had been drug out back behind the trailer, probably to hide him from Daddy. Hughes wound up being okay, though. Fawes only knocked him unconscious where as Daddy was dead.

Everyone has their pet theory about the future of publishing. E-book wars, price wars, someone is going to come out on top as the winner. But will it be the reader or the writer?

DK Publishing has their own theory.

They created this fantastic video about the future of publishing and how both the reader and author can win. Watch it in its entirety before forming your opinion.

Let us know what you thought in the comment section.

Earlier this year, a team of industry insiders gave us their predictions about what 2012 would hold for publishing. They had a lot of great ideas but none of them were as simple as this video.

The future of publishing is in knowing what your readers want.

Crafting your message in a way that resonates with your core audience is what will make you stand out as an author. Writing isn’t about the author as much as it is the reader. This is the secret behind author John Locke’s success.

Think of writing as a business. You would never open up a business without knowing what the market wanted. If your business could meet a need that consumers were craving.

Can you answer these questions?

• Who are your readers?
• What life stage are they in?
• What offends them?
• What are they passionate about?
• What causes them to hit the “share” button?
• What do your readers expect from you?
• What kind of language will they allow?
• How long do they expect your posts to be?
• How often do they expect you to write new content?
• How long have they been on your site?

The answer to those questions will unlock your potential as an author. When you write, you need to have your audience in mind. If you just write for the sake of writing, your message will get lost. It won’t resonate with the internet. The internet is not a person. Your audience is made up of living, breathing, complicated people who come to your site for answers, encouragement, or a distraction from their daily life.

If you don’t know how to identify your target audience, Author Media can help. Our team of experts will teach you how to define your audience, identify their needs, and reach them in a way that will cause them to keep coming back.

I want to return to a basic of writing—any type of writing. Whatever you write, are you writing consistently? Are you continuing to work at building relationships with the gatekeepers (magazine editors, online editors, book editors, literary agents and other professional writers). I know it is basic but consistent writing and working at this business is critical. It rarely comes easy or quickly to any of us. In fact, we often fight the discipline and consistency of writing.

Occasionally someone will look at the volume of my own writing and exclaim, “How do you do it?” It’s just like eating an elephant, one bite at a time. As writers, we write one sentence then one page at a time. Over seven years ago, we moved to Arizona and I sorted through a lot of materials in this process and threw away unnecessary papers. I kept my magazine clips—and there are literally boxes of them. Some days I’m amazed that I’ve written over 60 books and the first one. When I Grow Up was published in 1992. In these years, I’ve been able to build a body of work. The concept of consistency and building a body of work may be new to you.

Years ago on the way to a writer’s conference, I chatted with a literary agent. I was just beginning my writing work and he encouraged me to continue building a body of work. It’s not a single book or a single magazine article but the sum of your work in publishing that eventually makes an impact. What are you doing to build a body of work? Are you writing consistently? Are you growing in your understanding of the publishing business? I confess that I learn new terms and new aspects constantly.

Some days I don’t feel like cranking out some words but I do it. As I’ve traveled the country and worked with different writers. I know some writers are inspirational writers. They only write when they feel the story in their fingers and put it on paper. Others are journeymen and professional writers. They pound the keys day in and day out—whether they feel like it or not. I fall into that latter category (most of the time). It’s helped my consistent writing.

As a young journalist training in news editorial, one summer, I interned on the Peru Tribune, a small town newspaper in Peru, Indiana. I’m fairly certain anyone I knew isn’t at the newspaper any longer. We had no computers and the typesetting was done with a Linotype machine in the back of the building. We had our story meetings at 7:30 a.m where the managing editor talked with the reporters about the stories to be written that day. In that short meeting we received our particular assigned stories, then hit it with the full knowledge of our 11 a.m. copy deadline. Our stories went quickly through the editor and appeared in the printed afternoon paper at 3 p.m. We had no time to sharpen our pencils or hem and haw about writer’s block. We had a deadline to meet—which we met day after day.

I’m committed to writing consistently. I want to keep my fingers on the keyboard and keep them moving to write articles, chapters for books and book proposals. I’m committed to building a body of work. It might not pay off immediately but in the long run, I know consistency counts.

Four-time RITA® Award nominee and Golden Heart® Award winner Stephanie Rowe is the nationally bestselling author of more than twenty books. Stephanie writes romance (paranormal, contemporary and suspense), teen fiction, middle grade fiction and inspirational non-fiction. For more details, visit www.stephanierowe.com or visit me on Facebook or on Twitter at StephanieRowe2.

For the second time, Laugh Love Write is honored to have the talented author with us, so First things first. Your January 2012 release; Hold Me if You Can, tell us about it and how the story came about?

 Stephanie Rowe: In HOLD ME IF YOU CAN, book three of the Soulfire series, Nigel Aquarian is the only warrior who’s entirely at peace with his softer side. Give him a sketch pad and some markers, and he’s happy. But those that giveth; taketh away, and Nigel suddenly finds that his art has become deadly to those he loves. Without his art, Nigel has no outlet for his darker side. He has to find a way to regain control before he kills everyone he loves, and the only woman who can help him is Natalie Fleming, a passionate woman with a talent for chocolate, demons and maybe, just maybe, his salvation. If, of course, they don’t kill each other first.

 

When I started writing the Soulfire series, my goal was to take the traditional and twist it into unexpected directions. I wanted to surprise the reader by creating a powerful, sexy story about the triumph of love in the most unusual of circumstances. Of course, I wanted the men to be badass immortal warriors who had been sufficiently tortured to make it impossible for them to trust, to connect or to bond (except with the woman who was meant for them, and their loyal team of warriors). Who wouldn’t want that kind of man in her books?

 But I also wanted these guys to be more complex and unexpected than your typical tortured warriors. I wanted to turn the traditional paranormal hero on its head, so I wanted to give these guys an unexpectedly soft side that torments them as much as it gives them peace. I did that by having them spend a few centuries being tortured in the Den of Womanly Pursuits by Death’s grandma. While in the Den, the men of the Soulfire series were forced to tap into their softer sides. It’s to their great dismay and embarrassment that they have become addicted to their delicate pastimes for their sanity (literally), and they try their best to do their cross-stitching, knitting and other such skills in private, or when appropriately covered in the remnants of a man-battle. I wanted to show that a man can be a bad ass warrior, and still tap into his gentle nature without losing that which makes him so powerful and appealing.

 The whole series is based on that kind of approach: I wanted to take the expected and twist it on its head. Like the main villain in TOUCH IF YOU DARE is Cupid, who normally you’d think would be a good guy. The book is full of satirical twists on the paranormal romance norm, not just with the warriors, but in many different ways. I had a lot of fun creating it, and readers seem to enjoy it as well.

 I, personally like to see how authors envision their characters, so if Hold Me if You can gained a movie deal, who would you cast for the characters?

Stephanie Rowe:  Hugh Jackman for Nigel, because, well, Hugh is Hugh. For Natalie, I would say Kate Blanchett because of her intensity and her smile.

 (Hugh Jackman on the left and Cate Blanchett on the right…in case you didn’t know)

 

 

In a previous interview, you said Nigel of Hold Me if You Can was the hardest character for you to write. How do you feel about that now and has there ever been something you wanted to change?

Stehpanie Rowe: First off, let me just say that I love Nigel. I love how hard he fights to be the man he wants to be, and when his art is stolen from him, I love his courage and determination in finding another way to control the monster he carries within. I love how he cherishes Natalie, how he helps her in her own battle. I think he’s a great dichotomy of the deadly tortured warrior who can still be a total softie (and be damn proud of it!). Nigel is a total bad ass who can decimate the bad guys within seconds, but in his heart, he likes nothing more than to tap into his artistic side and pour all his inner tenderness into paints of those he loves. He’s the man who will write you poetry at the same time he’s slaying demons for you, and he’ll turn love making into the most beautiful experience ever, because he’s not afraid to tap into the side of him that is about beauty, love and harmony and to shower his woman with all that tenderness.

Nigel was a challenge to write, however, because in the first two books, he was very peaceful and serene, and he seemed to not have any inner conflicts. I had to really dig deep to find his secrets, and to portray them in a way that was consistent with how he had appeared in the first two books. He was a challenge, because he is the most complex of the characters so far, and I really wanted to do him justice. I love how he turned out, and I wouldn’t change it at all!

What do you think makes a good story?

Stephanie Rowe:  The emotions of the characters. I honestly believe that is the core of every good story. If a reader is sucked into the soul of the characters, if their struggles and travails and triumphs become emotionally compelling to the reader, then the reader is invested and will be caught up in the story no matter what the plot or setting or journey is. We live with our hearts every day, even when we try to be tough and pretend we don’t, so when a character awakens our hearts, that’s when the story comes to life.

Do you ever suffer from writer’s block?

Stephanie Rowe: If so, what do you do about it? I used to have big problems with writer’s block, often resulting in extensive re-working of books (it was not uncommon for me to stop at page 300 and start over in a total rewrite because I’d gone off track). I believe that most writer’s block occurs because the author has gone off in the wrong direction. To clear the writer’s block, the author needs to back up and figure out where they went wrong. I wound up having to do that so much that I decided I needed to rework my system and get a better game plan and analysis system, which means I now do extensive pre-planning. I decided there had to be a more efficient process for getting the book to work, so I embarked on a three year long journey to learn as much as I could about how other authors plotted and revised their books. I read books, attended workshops and sought out advice wherever I could. I took all the information and techniques, sifted through them, and then put together an extensive set of plotting documents that takes me from first idea to finished book. It’s worked really well for me for five books, so I’m happy. It takes longer before I get to actually start writing the book, but it is so much more efficient!

What tools do you feel are must-haves for writers?

Stephanie Rowe: For synopsis writing, my bible is the synopsis workshop on Lisa Gardner’s website, www.lisagardner.com. I use it for every synopsis I write. For storytelling, I use a combination of the book Save the Cat (The Last Book on Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need) by Blake Snyder, “The Hero’s Journey” lecture on Mary Buckham’s website (for sale for about $20—every lecture on her website is brilliant. Get it). And the last critical item is Goal, Motivation, Conflict by Deb Dixon, which is the number one most important book to start with for beginning writers.

Do you have any tips for authors seeking to get published?

Stephanie Rowe: My usual advice is to write a lot, start new books instead of revising old ones to death, join RWA and go to conferences to learn about writing. And, of course, continuing to read. But with the advent of self-publishing, I would add a caveat of DON’T SELF PUBLISH TOO SOON. I wrote 18 books before I sold my first book. Had self-publishing been an option back then, I’m sure I would have put up lots of those books, and it would have been a mistake. Why? Because the books weren’t good enough. Recently, I decided to self-publish some of those old books, but when I went back to look at them, I realized that I would have had to completely rewrite them from scratch because they weren’t high enough quality to put up. The truth is that we often think we are ready to be published when we aren’t. Enter contests. Query agents. Write another book. And another. Eventually, when you start doing well in contests, and when you start getting good responses from agents, that will be a sign that you’re writing well enough that maybe it’s time for you to self-publish successfully. Until you can do well in those contests and get good responses from submissions, don’t put your book up on Amazon. Putting up books that aren’t ready will hurt you more than waiting a year will. Be patient. The opportunities aren’t going away. They are simply getting better.

 Christian’s the last of the four main warriors in the Soulfire series, so correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m assuming his book is next, can you tell us about it?

Stephanie Rowe: Yes, you’re right! Christian’s story is up next in SEIZE WITH YOUR KISS, which is scheduled for July 2012. Christian has been battling a huge burden that he hasn’t been able to share with his team, and it finally all comes crashing down around him. Like his teammates, Christian is a survivor and he’s willing to do whatever it takes to survive, even if it means tracking down the one woman who could destroy him forever… or bring him back. I’m also happy to report that Death will finally get a girlfriend, one who is exactly what he needs, even if he doesn’t quite think so…

What comes after that for you? Will there be more to the Soulfire series or can we expect something entirely different?

Stephanie Rowe: There are definitely more books coming in the Soulfire series. Look for Pascale’s story in early 2012. You’ll get to know him a little better in Christian’s story, and you’ll be dying for his story by the end! As for other projects that are coming up, I have quite a busy 2012 scheduled! First up is the ebook release of my Alaska Heat romantic suspense series, which was originally published in paperback in 2009.

 ICE came out last week, and CHILL will be out in mid-February. Mid-march is the launch of my new dark, sexy paranormal series Order of the Blade, and there will be three books in that series out this spring. Summer will see the release of book four of the Soulfire series, SEIZE WITH YOUR KISS, and in the fall will be a new book from my Immortally Sexy paranormal romance series. There will be one more book in late 2012, but it’s still undecided about which series it will be. Late 2012 will also showcase two more teen books that are re-releases of books that were published a few years ago. So, lots of exciting things!

Thank you so much taking the time to answer these questions and visit us here at Laugh Love Write again. Write On!

For a review of Hold Me if You Can; Click Here.

For a review of Touch if You Dare; Click Here.

For a review of Kiss at Your Own Risk; Click Here.