Tag: #IAmWriting

Favorite Muppet Character #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Oct 14, 2024

Some time ago, we revealed which Muppet character we look like the most.

Now, tell us who/what is your favorite Muppet character? (From any series or movie.)

Jim Henson was a genius. He created so many great characters. Sure, some were mostly in the background (Doozers in Fraggle Rock) but others shared center stage with an entire cast. (Think Sesame Street.)

I’ve always been fond of the old men in the balcony in the Muppet Show. (Statler and Waldorf.) But they aren’t my favorites. They helped me define my sense of sarcasm. As much as I love the Count, and don’t think he got the attention he deserved, he’s not my pick for this post. (I would have loved to see him count in base 2 or base 16.) The Dark Crystal was a great production, but didn’t touch me like other Henson efforts.

But I do have a favorite.

He’s a rather odd choice for a writer, since he mainly communicates in grunts. On the drums, he’s a genius. I’m talking about Animal, of course.

By Disney.com, Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=40292333

His needs are simple. Sex, sleep, food, and drums. Not necessarily in that order. Even with his limitations, he became the most popular performer of the Electric Mayhem band. I suspect it is his simplicity that attracts the audience. There’s no hidden agenda, no manipulation, no stabbing  someone in the back. That’s what drew me in.

Do you have a favorite Muppet?

Tell us about it in the comments. And to find out who/what the other authors choose, follow the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

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Oct 14, 2024

Some time ago, we revealed which Muppet character we look like the most. Now, tell us Who/what is your favorite Muppet character? (From any series or movie.)

Welcome To Edwards Investigations, The Rimer Files

  By Uncategorized

Did you catch my newsletter?

What? You missed it? Quick – head to the right and sign up now!

But the big news is no secret. My new book is finished, and off to the experts to get it formatted for publication. 

It wasn’t an auspicious beginning:

All Annie McGregor wanted was to nail a cheating husband and prove herself worthy of being more than a glorified bookkeeper.

What she found when she opened the back door of the bar-of-the-night was so much more than she bargained for. A mutilated body that bore an eerie resemblance to her ex, and a stint in handcuffs.

But it was the mid 1980s, and was still a man’s world. Maybe becoming a private investigator wasn’t in the cards. Even with the guidance of her boss, Mike Edwards, and the other investigators of the Edwards Agency, Annie struggled to close a case. Add in her run-ins with the local cops, and things got messy.

Then bullets started flying. What really had her worried was that the second one wouldn’t miss.

I’m shooting for a release date of November 2nd.

But my cover artist is out of town, and my formatter was affected by both recent hurricanes, so I won’t make a promise. Speaking of the cover, the front is ready, and I’ll be sharing it soon.

While you’re waiting, here’s an excerpt:

“You never change, do you, bitch?” a man’s voice said.

It was the voice of her nightmares. Annie closed her book, took a deep breath, and prepared for the confrontation. “Go away, Ian.”

“Not a chance. You owe me, and I’m here to collect.”

Her gun was in her purse and the bar too crowded to use it safely. She studied her ex and mentally listed what else she had at hand that could be used as a weapon. Prison hadn’t done him any favors. His boyish good looks were gone, replaced with the face of a man with too many scars and pockmarks. The crude crucifix tattoo on his neck didn’t help.

To even the playing field, Annie slid out of the chair and stood, her feet planted slightly apart, ready for action. She didn’t have time to settle in before Ian pulled back his arm. She anticipated what was coming, having been on the receiving end of his fist too many times.

Her swivel wasn’t fast enough. His knuckles grazed her cheek, and she staggered back a step. The old Annie would have crumpled. This Annie didn’t. She balled her hands together and swung. It was liberating. She’d never fought back.

 

The story has been over a decade in the making. But this version bears little resemblance to the first. I like to say it is more of a tribute to that story, rather than a revision.

I’m really looking forward to sharing this book. Stay tuned for more information.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

Choosing A Color Scheme #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Oct 7, 2024

Do you favor certain color schemes for your book covers?

This will be a short post because I leave the design choices of my covers to my cover artist, K.M. Guth.

And I lost internet last night after a major thunderstorm blew through our area. Plus she is on vacation and overseas!

Anyway, I am always amazed at what she comes up with for my covers. There is a different scheme for each series.

The Free Wolves series features strong, bright, colors. Since the books feature action, the colors reflect that. And how she finds the perfect images for the cover models amazes me.

She went a totally different direction for the Harmony Duprie stories. Instead of repeating the background, she chose muted colors with subtle background pattens (you have to look closely.)

Then, for the Jake Hennessey books, although they are tied to the Harmony books, she designed covers that were reflective of the main character’s personality.

The cover of my new book, Edwards Investigations, The Rimer Files, hearkens back to the era in which is takes place. (1985-ish) I can’t show it here, but it’s coming soon. Let’s just say she did a marvelous job of picking elements of the story to add to the design.

I know a few of the authors on this hop design their own covers, so I am looking forward to their posts. Check them put by following the links below.

As always, until next time, please stay safe!

Oct 7, 2024

Do you favor certain color schemes for your book covers?

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Telling The Tales, One At A Time #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Sept 30, 2024

A suggestion from Kelly:

My daughter asked: How did you decide that you finally wanted to write your stories?

I’ve told this story before.

Let me clarify before I get started. Kelly is one of the founding members of this hop, and it was her daughter who came up with this topic. Now on to the post.

I started writing poetry back in the dark ages, when music filled the air and everyone wanted to learn to play guitar. My voice wasn’t good enough to become a folk singer, but I wanted to make my words tell stories. I had some luck getting my poetry published and won a few local awards for it.

But as I got older and become involved with the computer field, the words got harder and harder to put together. I spent my spare time playing with math, and numbers took over. I was even running subnet equations (getting computers to talk to each other) in my sleep. There wasn’t room for poetry in my head, and I missed it.

Somewhere along the way, I ran into information about National Novel Writing Month.

I didn’t participate the first year after I heard about it, or the second. But one mid-October day, as I was going for my afternoon walk, and despairing for the words in my head that wouldn’t fashion themselves into a poem, it hit me. Why not write them as a story instead?

And that’s what I did. Come November 1, I grabbed a notepad and in between work duties, I started writing. I didn’t ‘win’ that year. Winning means writing 50,000 words by the end of the month, and I only wrote 49,000. I ran out of time and words.

But I didn’t give up. I rewrote that story several times, including  from different points-of-view. And I got hooked. That story will never see publication, but I learned a lot along the way. 

And I decided that maybe – just maybe – someday I would let the world read a what I’d written. 

Here I am, getting ready to release my twelfth book.

Coming soon – I’m shooting for November 2nd – Edwards Investigations, The Rimer File, will be added to my bookshelf. (My editor/formatter was in the path of the hurricane, so things may change.)  Please sign up for my newsletter to get the first peek at it. (See the link on the right.)

By the way, every now and then I will still write a poem. Maybe once a year, when inspiration strikes. I haven’t tried to publish any of the recent ones. They are more for my satisfaction  than anything else.

How about the other authors on this hop? What made them decide to write their stories? Find out by following the links below. 

And as always, until next time, please stay safe.

A suggestion from Kelly: My daughter asked: How did you decide that you finally wanted to write your stories?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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My Favorite Word #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

Sept 23, 2024

What’s your favorite word in the English language? Any other language?

What makes it my favorite?

I’m an author! I play with words almost every day. How can I pick only one? I fought with this for several days. Is it based on sound? How much I use it in my life? What it means?

I choose peace. 

It’s not the prettiest word in the English language, but the meaning is what counts. I’m not a big fan of confrontation, although for the right reason or cause, I will make a stand. But if there’s an option to choose peace, I will always choose peace. Well, at least I try.

It’s not always easy. But it’s always worthwhile.

I have a second choice.

No.

In my family, we were taught (by example) to do our best to help others. I’ve also worked a lot of jobs where I was expected to tell people yes, no matter how I felt about it. But at some point in my life, I discovered the joy of being able to say no. It’s a freeing feeling to turn someone down and not have the moment overshadowed by guilty.

It’s a word that must be used with caution. You know, the whole with great power comes great responsibility idea. You don’t want to overuse it, or it loses its impact.

You may think the two words-—peace and no—contradict each other, but I don’t believe so. After all, being able to choose peace means allowing yourself to enjoy it yourself. And sometimes that means saying no to demands,

In the comments, tell me about your favorite word. And then check out the other authors on this hop by following the links.

And, as always, please stay safe until next time.

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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Sept 23, 2024

What’s your favorite word in the English language? Any other language?

 

Tracking The Characters #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

September 9, 2024

How do you keep track of your cast of characters?

You don’t want to repeat a name and confuse your readers.

And you don’t want to change their physical characteristics halfway through the story. I learned that early on, when a character started off with light brown hair and somewhere along the way it got darker. So, how do I keep track?

I know an author who covers the walls by her desk with sticky notes. Of course, she’s a plotter, and has everything mapped out before she begins telling the story. When I started writing, I wasn’t in a spot where I could do that, so I never tried. Besides, as a pantser, characters enter the scene when I least expect them.

As I worked on the fifth book in the Harmony Duprie series, I decided it was time to start a series ‘bible,’ listing every character and what they looked like, as well as their relationship to Harmony. And there were a LOT of supporting roles. I abandoned it before finishing, when I decided to end the series with the sixth book. (And set the story away from Oak Grove, where the rest of the series happened.)

I wanted to be more organized as I wrote my current work-in-progress, the Edwards Investigations.

 

Photo by Anna Shvets:

Since it’s semi-historical, it required more research. I wanted to get details right. Thankfully, I’d moved into my own office space when I started the story and could buy a large whiteboard to attach to the wall. As a character revealed themselves to me, I’d add them to the list. I ended up with a list of names on one side and interesting tidbits of information on the other.

But life happened, and I had to move my writing space. I didn’t want to put holes on the walls of the new spot to mount the whiteboard. Guess what happened?

As I edited, I discovered I had used two last names that were very close. Not the same, but too similar for my comfort. Thankfully, with the option of find and replace, it was a simple job to make the needed correction. Then, I bought a small whiteboard that can hang from a thumbtack nearby.

I’m hoping to make The Edwards Investigations a series, so I should start working on a book bible now. A simple spreadsheet will do the trick. Even a word document world work, but a spreadsheet will make it easier to compare characteristics. I don’t want everyone to have brown or blonde hair!

How do other authors keep track of their characters? Just follow the links to their posts to find out.

As always, until next time, please stay safe.

September 9, 2024

How do you keep track of your cast of characters?

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Obscure Writing Tools #OpenBook Blog Hop

  By Open Book

 

September 2, 2024

What is your most obscure and favorite work supply for writing?

I will admit, this one had me scratching my head.

The tools I use are commonplace. The basics. Pen, paper, computer. Everyday stuff. Nothing exciting there. Even opening a clean notebook isn’t thrilling to most folks.

I could talk about the landscape that inspires and supports me., the hills and back roads of Pennsylvania. I spotted a bear running across the road going to town a few days ago, and have deer wander through my yard occasionally. (Much to the detriment of whatever flowers are in bloom.) But none of those count as tools.

So, I got to thinking harder. I took a walk outside to check my hummingbird feeder and the answer hit me. I use a tool called LibreOffice for my word processing (like Microsoft Office.) It’s free and has many of the same capabilities as the Microsoft product. 

Its development was a combination of the efforts of thousands of people. The list on their web page is amazing and too long to even screen shot and post here. Historically, it branched off a previous program called OpenOffice, which was the effort of even more people. (For those who love computer stuff, it’s open source software.)

As a side note, LibreOffice is more than word processing. It has additional components that mimic the entire Microsoft Office suite. I’ve mentioned it on this blog before, so it might not be as obscure as it used to be.

I’m excited to find out what obscure tools the other authors are using. You can too, by following the links below.

And, as always, please stay safe until the next time.

 

September 2, 2024

What is your most obscure and favorite work supply for writing?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

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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?

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter


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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