Month: August 2024

The Color of Money #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Aug 26, 2024

What is your area of the world best known for (in your opinion?)

The Native Americans recognized the usefulness of black gold for centuries.

They collected it from seeps in the ground and off the surface of creeks, and used it for many things, including medicine, ceremonial paint, and waterproofing. They even traded it for goods and services. We’re talking about crude oil.

Naturally, white settlers learned from the locals and started using oil. Which led to the desire to find  different ways to obtain it. Introducing Colonel Edwin Drake and welcome to Titusville, PA.

In case you didn’t learn about it in your history lessons, this is the area where the first commercial oil well was drilled and where the oil industry got its start. Wells drilled for other reasons had produced oil as a by-product, the well in Titusville was the first one specifically drilled to bring oil to the surface. That was back in 1859. 

Drake Well

 

The plot of land that the well was drilled on is now a museum and park which draws around 35,000  tourists a year. The oil industry has pretty much abandoned the area as oil no longer easily found, but remnants of it still remain. Money created by the oil rush has mostly followed the move to other parts of the country, but plenty of artifacts remain. Everything from magnificent, restored Victorian mansions to stately churches to crumbling factories.

St. Joseph Parish/ Rev. Johnathan Schmidt

And that’s the answer. The area is best known for the oil industry, which gained prominence here before shifting to many other places.

Oh, and Bigfoot may live here, too.

How about the other authors? It’ll be interesting to find out what their areas are known for.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

What is your area of the world best known for (in your opinion?)

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Pushing Publish Too Soon #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Aug 19, 2024

Have you ever regretted ‘hitting publish’ on a work realizing you could have done more or tweak something to make it an absolute banger?

It was never an issue in the Dark Ages when I wrote poetry. Back then, publishing meant sending typewritten copies on higher-quality paper by snail mail to magazines or other paper publications. If I was lucky, they’d send the copies back along with the all-too-often rejection slip in the enclosed self-addressed stamped envelope. The advent of home computers and printers made life so much easier.

I’m always excited to get new work out to my readers.

Now, getting it out ‘too soon’ is another question. With my books, they get seen by so many eyes that I’m confident in releasing them. Sure, there are always tweaks that can be made, but once a book has made it all the way through the process, I like to leave it alone. It’s like setting a butterfly free. You wish it love as it flutters away.

I made small changes to The Marquesa’s Necklace after publishing it. A reviewer mentioned a word that was overused. They were right, and the changes were easy. It didn’t change the story at all. That’s the only time I’ve changed the contents of a book after release. (Covers don’t count.)

My blog is different. I normally write it a day before releasing it. I hit the publish button for this hop just before going to bed on Sunday evenings. Then, as I drift off to sleep, I’m thinking of all the minor changes I should have made or things I could have said. If I remember them in the morning, I can easily add them. (If I remember!)

Social Media posts are different playing field.

I often regret my infrequent comments on social media. Not because of the content, but due to the frequent typos I make, that I don’t spot until after I’ve pushed the arrow. Thank heavens for the ability to edit them. But it bothers me knowing other people have seen the errors.

I work hard to keep my actual posts on social media typo-free. I wait longer and triple-check my work before I publish them. If all else fails, I’m able to delete them and start over.

How about the other authors on this hop? Do they ever regret pushing the publish button? Find out by checking out the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Aug 19, 2024

Have you ever regretted ‘hitting publish’ on a work realizing you could have done more or tweak something to make it an absolute banger?

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What Makes Me Different? #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Aug 12, 2024

Tell us the quirkiest thing about you.

What makes me stand out?

I don’t think of myself as average, despite joking regularly about how generic my looks are. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been approached and asked “Do I know you?” or “Aren’t you so-and-so’s daughter/cousin/friend?” Once I was asked by a random man if I was his ex-wife! I should have kept a scoreboard, because I don’t know how often it happened.

But that’s not quirky on my part. Nor is the fact that I didn’t touch my first computer until I was almost 40, yet I retired as a systems administrator. How about the fact that I’ve lived on both coasts? Interesting but not quirky. (It goes deeper than that. I grew up in Pennsylvania, moved to Wyoming, then to Oregon, next to Florida, back to Wyoming and ending up here in Pennsylvania.)

How about the fact that I’m an author and have published eleven books? Now we’re getting somewhere. Still, there are plenty of other writers. So, we still haven’t hit the target.

But that leads to the fact that I have a ‘trademark’ when I go to books signing events.

It’s a hat I bought years ago in a tourist shop in Estes Park, Colorado. I’ve forgotten to take my hat once, and I felt weird signing books with a bare head. People have started recognizing me by the hat.

But the quirkiest thing about me? Purple steps. I decided the perfect color for the front step of our house is purple. Now, I tell local people when they wonder where I live to look for the house with purple steps. I need to repaint them soon, but that will wait until the grandkids are back in school.

Of course, I didn’t choose the color without consulting Priscilla first. Priscilla is the name of the front half of the house. Harold is the back half. Priscilla was build in the early 1900s, and Harold was built in the 70s. Oh, and the name of the house goddess – the whole house – is Penelope. The land it sits on is Henry. Somedays, it feels as if they are siblings who get along most of the time but have occasional arguments.

So, I’ve developed a few quirks along the way.  How about the other authors on this hop? Find out by checking out the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Aug 12, 2024

Tell us the quirkiest thing about you…

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Getting Feedback On A Work In Progress #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Aug 5, 2024

At which stage in the writing process do you seek feedback?

And from whom?

Most often, writing is a solitary occupation. Editing, on the other hand, is better done by several sets of eyes. Feedback, in a general sense, can be done at any step.

I know authors who have a trusted partner they can turn to for advice at a moment’s notice. When I first started writing years ago, I had one of those. But life interfered with that relationship. So, I prefer to finish the first draft and at least one round of edits before seeking outside suggestions for revisions.

Where do I get my feedback?

Here’s where I get to pay homage to my long-time critique partner, Cornelia Amari, the author of 76 books. We met through a Yahoo group, back in the days when those were a thing. That was ten years ago. We’ve traded encouragement and feedback since then. She’s been a great mentor.

I also use Critique Circle, an online community, to get more eyes on my drafts. Although I may not have the same people stick with me through an entire manuscript, as a whole, I get valuable insight into each chapter.  The upside is that I receive input from around the globe. The downside is that it’s a long process to get an entire book through the forum a chapter or two at time. The people who do the critiques don’t see each other’s ideas, and that insures I get a fresh point of view from each.

I started using a professional editor a few manuscripts ago for a final check and to polish my writing. I’ve used Angela Pryce, author of The Devil’s Caress, but sadly, she isn’t available for my current work-in-progress. Instead, I’m contracting with Horus Copyedit and Proofreading.

Final feedback

Of course, the final feedback comes in the form of sales and the always-important customer reviews. So please, when you enjoy a book, please let the author know. 

What do the other authors on this hop do for feedback? Just follow the links below to find out.

As always, until the next time, please stay safe.

Aug 5, 2024

At which stage in the writing process do you seek feedback and from whom?

 

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