Tag: #IWSG

What’s My Favorite Genre? #IWSG

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March 3 question – Everyone has a favorite genre or genres to write. But what about your reading preferences? Do you read widely or only within the genre(s) you create stories for? What motivates your reading choice?
The awesome co-hosts for the March 3 posting of the IWSG are Sarah – The Faux Fountain Pen Jacqui Murray, Chemist Ken, Victoria Marie Lees, Natalie Aguirre, and JQ Rose!

Cereal boxes. Yes, I used to read whatever I could get my hands on, including cereal boxes. I was raised that it was impolite to read at the table, but no one complained about cereal boxes. So, I read them.

I don’t have that kind of time anymore, and I’ve become more selective in my reading. A book’s description has to stand out for me to add it to my TBR list. I’ll also read reviews. The star rating isn’t as important as what the reviewers say. If the book has a cliffhanger ending, I’ll probably pass.

One thing I avoid is reading books in the same genre I am writing. I don’t want my story and characters influenced by someone else’s work. I’ll wait and read that great-sounding mystery after I’ve finished writing mine.

What’s my favorite genre? I don’t think I have one. I’ll read just about anything. Remember those cereal boxes? I am less forgiving of poorly written books, and will set aside a story that doesn’t capture my attention much sooner than I used to.

Writing this post reminds me- I should take the time to read a mystery or two as I wrap up my final Harmony Duprie mystery. I’ve got the next project in my head, but I can indulge myself for a bit!

Check out some other authors on this hop. There’s a long list down below!

Until next time, please stay safe.

More Than Sharing Stories #IWSG

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February 3 question – Blogging is often more than just sharing stories. It’s often the start of special friendships and relationships. Have you made any friends through the blogosphere?
 
The awesome co-hosts for the February 3 posting of the IWSG are Louise – Fundy Blue , Jennifer Lane, Mary Aalgaard, Patsy Collins at Womagwriter, and Nancy Gideon!
 
I don’t have a huge following on my blog. I watch the page views trickle in some days. Shoot, some days I avoid looking at the number of visitors because it’ll only make me depressed.
 
But I share a blog hop (not this one!) with a few other authors, and we’ve bonded over some of the topics we’ve discussed. We’ve written about places we’ve been and places we want to go. There was a post about the mistakes we’ve made in our writing. We’ve discussed marketing tips and what works for us and what doesn’t. Along the way, I’ve made friends.
 
Well, as much as “talking” strictly over the internet allows us to be friends. We don’t always agree with each other, but we try to be respectful of each other’s opinions. The group includes writers from a variety of countries and backgrounds, which can lead to interesting discussions in the comments. If you’re interested in seeing what do, scroll down to other posts.
 
If I were wealthy, and there wasn’t a world-wide pandemic, I’d love to meet these other writers in real-life. I don’t expect either of those roadblocks to change in the near future, so I’ll keep having conversations with them via the blogshere, or on the other social media we use to stay connected.
 

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

How about you? Have you made friends through your blog?
 
(Shameless plug: I’d love a few more followers. There’s a link to the right where you can sign up to be notified of new posts!)
 
Until the next time, please stay safe.
 
 
 
 
 
 

It’s a Struggle to the Finish #IWSG

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January 6 question – Being a writer, when you’re reading someone else’s work, what stops you from finishing a book/throws you out of the story/frustrates you the most about other people’s books?
 
The awesome co-hosts for the January 6 posting of the IWSG are Ronel Janse van Vuuren , J Lenni Dorner, Gwen Gardner Sandra Cox, and Louise – Fundy Blue!
 
Once upon a time, I prided myself in finishing every book I ever started. That included classics that everyone ‘had’ to read, but I thought were poor writing. Or stories we were assigned in class that didn’t make the grade in my point of view.  I can’t tell you when it happened, but at some time I reached a point where I decided to put my limited time for reading to only books I want to read, not ones I struggle to finish.
 
There’s no longer any guilt in closing a book full of grammatical errors and bad writing. Plot holes, especially, drive me up a wall. The main character had brown hair in one chapter and is blonde in another? She better be wearing a wig. The sheriff of a large county is making traffic stops? Not likely. That sort of bad writing makes me cringe.
 
I can forgive one misplaced their instead of they’re. But if an author gets them consistently wrong? That’s a book-closer. If the characters are flat and never make mistakes? Sorry, that doesn’t work for me. I’m not perfect, but I’m always trying to make my writing better.
 
Here’s the truth. I want to like the books. All the books. I really do. But I no longer have the desire to waste my time on bad books. So, I have given myself permission to close a book. I won’t give a bad review. I just won’t leave any review at all.
 
How about you? Tell me about it in the comments. Don’t forget to check out other authors in this hop by clicking the links below.
 
Until next time, please stay safe.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Writing By the Calendar #IWSG

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December 2 question – Are there months or times of the year that you are more productive with your writing than other months, and why?
 
The awesome co-hosts for the December 2 posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, Sylvia Ney, Liesbet @ Roaming About Cathrina Constantine, and Natalie Aguirre!
 
I don’t think my productivity is tied to certain months. Well, except maybe December when there’s so much to do that isn’t writing. I can forgive myself for that.
 
But there are times when I don’t do as much writing as others. That’s because I have a day job that can bleed into evenings or nights. That will kill productivity not just for a day, but for several days or more, because it messes with my sleep cycle.
 

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

 
I don’t know how to measure my productivity when I’m editing. Does editing one chapter equal writing one chapter? Editing engages a different part of my brain and I find it hard to do both at the same time. I have to concentrate on one or the other.
 
Do I need to mention that marketing sucks the creativity from my soul? Factor how much time is spent trying to sell my books into the equation and see how my productivity drops.
 
So, there are lots of influences that affect the amount of writing I do, but the time of year isn’t one of them.
 
Find out what other authors have to say about this topic by following the links below.

And, until next time, please stay safe!
 
 

The Reason I Write #IWSG

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November 4 question – Albert Camus once said, “The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself.” Flannery O’Conner said, “I write to discover what I know.” Authors across time and distance have had many reasons to write. Why do you write what you write?

The awesome co-hosts for the November 4 posting of the IWSG are Jemi Fraser, Kim Lajevardi, L.G Keltner, Tyrean Martinson, and Rachna Chhabria!

I don’t believe I’ll ever keep civilization from destroying itself with my writing. Saving the world is way beyond my paygrade. That won’t stop me from writing.

So, why do I write? I hope to distract my readers for a short time. Give them something to else to think about. Maybe give them a giggle or make them say “aha!”

Besides, I have all these characters in my head that want to get out. The only way to do that is write their stories. Take Tasha in Wolves’ Knight, for example. That was a book I didn’t plan. Tasha came to me while I was writing a different book, and said: “Here’s my story!” I acknowledged her, and tried to get back to my project. But she wouldn’t let me, and Wolves Knight (originally called Tasha’s Tale) got moved to the front of the list.

And take the book I’ve recently started. I don’t know if it will ever get past first draft, but the main character started talking to me after six years of being a secondary character in a series. I’m writing it from my anti-hero’s point-of-view, and he’s turning out to be more of a villain than I’d planned. I’m not fighting him about it, either. I think he’s got a hero complex and he’s hiding it from me. We’ll see.

So, maybe my writing as as much about entertaining me as it is entertaining the readers. I can live with that.

Don’t forget to check out what other insecure writers are writing about by following the links below.

And, until next time, stay safe! 

Am I a Working Writer? #IWSG

  By IWSG
 
 
 
October 7 question – When you think of the term working writer, what does that look like to you? What do you think it is supposed to look like? Do you see yourself as a working writer or aspiring or hobbyist, and if latter two, what does that look like?

If you followed the link from the Insecure Writer’s Group blog post to get here, there’s a good chance you’ve never heard of me. And you haven’t read any of the eight books I’ve published so far. But that doesn’t make me any less of a working writer.

I’m not making a living off my writing. Heck, I’m lucky if I break even when it comes to the end of the year. The number of people following me on any of the social media is low. But none of that diminishes the fact that I sit down at my computer on a regular basis and work to put words on paper.

And that’s what it takes for me to consider myself a working writer. I’m trying. Well, I’m more than trying. I’m doing. I wrote four books before I wrote one I considered good enough to publish. And I didn’t feel any less of a writer while I was writing them.

Maybe you don’t write books. Maybe you write short stories or poems or blog posts. You’re still a writer. A working writer.

Not all of us will ever be traditionally published. Some of us don’t want to be. And that’s okay. That’s no longer the definition of a writer. The world is a lot bigger now. (And, at the same time, a lot smaller.) 

So, I go back to my previous statement. Are you putting words on paper? (Or the computer equivalent?) Congratulations. You’re a working writer.

Image by Free-Photos from Pixabay

The awesome co-hosts for the October 7 posting of the IWSG are Jemima Pett, Beth Camp, Beverly Stowe McClure, and Gwen Gardner!
 
 
 

The Form Found Me #IWSG

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August 5 question – Quote: “Although I have written a short story collection, the form found me and not the other way around. Don’t write short stories, novels or poems. Just write your truth and your stories will mold into the shapes they need to be.”
Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn’t planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?

The awesome co-hosts for the August 5 posting of the IWSG are Susan Baury Rouchard, Nancy Gideon, Jennifer Lane, Jennifer Hawes, Chemist Ken, and Chrys Fey!

I’ve told this story many times, but when I started to write what became The Marquesa’s Necklace, it was supposed to be a paranormal romance. My main character, a librarian, was supposed to fall in love with a handsome ghost that haunted the library. The original title was The Ghost Who Loved me.

Except Harmony, my librarian, didn’t like that. Not one bit. And the book turned into a mystery with a romantic subplot. And then became a series. And the ghost became a living, breathing man. But I didn’t erase all traces of the original story. In fact, I’ve paid tribute to it in each following book, in the form of a ghost living in an old Victorian house.

Here’s a snippet of one of their early meetings.

That’s when I ran into him the second time. I was doing my normal thing of walking through the 940’s with my nose in a book and I almost bumped into him. A sudden rush of cold air made me stop in my tracks and look up into a pair of eyes such a light blue they were almost gray.

“Oops, sorry about that.” I reached out to stop myself from falling, but he backed away. I managed to latch onto a shelf instead, so I didn’t end up with my face on the floor. My book did fall, and he bent over and picked it up. Without so much as a smile, he handed it to me and walked away without a word. Annoyed, I stood there with my mouth open and watched him turn the corner and vanish from my view. As I returned to my book I smelled the most unusual thing. I don’t know if it was his aftershave or what, but it made me think of freshly-turned dirt.

I’m currently writing the sixth (and final) book in the series, The Harmony Duprie Mysteries. Then I’m going to start on a new mystery series, unless the characters decide to make it something else.

Don’t forget to check out some of the other posts this month. There’s a whole big list to pick from!

Until next time, please be safe.

Changes in the Wind #IWSG

  By IWSG
 
 
July 1 question – There have been many industry changes in the last decade, so what are some changes you would like to see happen in the next decade?
 
The awesome co-hosts for the July 1 posting of the IWSG are Jenni Enzor, Beth Camp, Liesbet, Tyrean Martinson, and Sandra Cox!
 
I missed out on the big change in the writing industry when it became possible for authors to self-publish, or when putting a book on sale at 99¢ was almost a guarantee of big sales figures. Such is life. But there are a couple of changes I’d like to see happen.
 
First, I’d like to see Amazon change their policies on ebook returns. Their current policies allows readers to use Amazon as a lending library. Buyers have seven days in which to return a book. I can easily read a book in that time frame. Authors have reported watching a series being purchased and then returned one book at a time. That’s just not fair. Amazon, can you fix that? 
 
While I’m picking upon Amazon, how about their review policy? I’ve had reviews removed because Amazon thought the reviewer was my friend. Guess what? Everyone who likes my author page on Facebook isn’t my friend. They’re called fans. That’s why  they write reviews. Oh, and how about pulling reviews that aren’t about the book itself. You know, those ones that talk about how Amazon messed something up in the download. Or were for a totally different book.
 
I suppose I should mention one that isn’t Amazon related. (They are easy to pick on!) I’d like someone to invent a way to make pirating books harder. Without making it harder for readers to read the book! Right now, it’s like playing whack-a-mole for an author to keep their books off pirate sites. One site goes down and another pops up. 
 
What changes would you like to see in the publishing industry? Let’s talk about it in the comments.
 
Until next time, stay safe.
 
 
 
 

Writer’s Secrets #IWSG

  By IWSG
 
 
June 3 question – Writers have secrets! What are one or two of yours, something readers would never know from your work?
 
The awesome co-hosts for the June 3 posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, J.Q. Rose, and Natalie Aguirre!
 
Welcome to another month of the Insecure Writer’s Support Group.  This month I’m supposed to reveal one or two secrets. But if I tell you, they won’t be a secret anymore! So we’ll go with two things only a few people know.
 
In my Harmony Duprie Mysteries, I’ve made Harmony afraid of flying. Or, I should say, she told me she’s afraid of flying. I don’t think Harmony revealed it to me until Book Three, and I didn’t know why until Book 4. I’m currently up to book 6, and Eli, Harmony’s long-time lover, has figured out her fear, but she hasn’t told him why. Very different from me. I used to work a job where I traveled all the time. I once flew from Florida to various parts of California three times in one month. All the switching of times zones was rough, but I got to the point where, after boarding, I’d be asleep before the plane ever left the ground.
 
And for my other almost secret? I cut my writing teeth on poetry. I even had some luck getting published in literary magazines. At first, I tried to carry that over to my fiction, but it made for heavy reading. I still slip an occasional poetic phrase into my stories, but not near as many as I used to. My mysteries are light-hearted, and I don’t want to bog them down.
 
One more not-a-secret that many of you already know. I released the fifth book in Harmony Duprie Mysteries this past Monday. It’s called The Samurai’s Inro and trouble is chasing down Harmony again. Because how much trouble can one ex-librarian get into? You can find more information HERE. 
 
There you go. Two almost-secrets and a bonus. Thanks go to our hosts for another great blog hop. You can check out the posts from other authors on the links below.
 
Until next time, stay safe!
 
 

Rituals for Writing #IWSG

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May 6 question – Do you have any rituals that you use when you need help getting into the ZONE? Care to share?

Just give me that rock and roll music… (and a good headset) 

Although lately, I’ve been branching out into other types of music to help me get in the zone, depending upon my mood. Tradition Celtic melodies. Modern Native American songs. I keep thinking I should look for Gregorian chants but haven’t yet. I’ve got a nice collection of CDs and LPs, but I like finding new musicians and singers.

Basically, I look for music I don’t really listen to, but serves to shut out the distractions around me. It allows my mind to concentrate on writing.

But back to rock and roll…classic rock, of course. The era of singer-songwriters. Lots of female singers. Buffy St. Marie. Joni Mitchell. Janis Joplin. Linda Ronstadt

And here’s a nod to my favorite. He doesn’t fit any of the categories above, but he’s always my fallback. John Denver.

And that’s as much of a ritual as I’ll own up to! 

 

Be safe out there, please.