Heidi Sutherlin

2012-01-18T02:21:00.000-08:00

Today, we are striking against censorship
Join the largest online protest in history: tell Congress to stop this bill now!

"I am writing to you as a voter in your district. I urge you to vote "no" on cloture for S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act, on Jan. 24th. The PROTECT IP Act is dangerous, ineffective, and short-sighted. It does not deserve floor consideration. I urge my representative to vote "no" on SOPA, the corresponding House bill.

Over coming days you'll be hearing from the many businesses, advocacy organizations, and ordinary Americans who oppose this legislation because of the myriad ways in which it will stifle free speech and innovation. We hope you'll take our concerns to heart and oppose this legislation by voting "no" on cloture."

Happy Birthday to Me, Free Book for You!

2011-12-22T02:15:00.000-08:00

You've guessed it, it's my birthday today.

While having a birthday so close to Christmas has always been a bit of a drag...wait I meant to say an inspiration, this year I've decided to give back. I'd like to give everyone a copy of my recently released book, BROTHERS IN BETRAYAL.

Thanks to my lovely publisher, Brazen Snake Books, I'm happy to present a free ebook copy of my book to everyone. Just use this code, HSBDAY11 when you checkout HERE at brazensnakebooks.com and the ebook is on me. The coupon code is valid all day today. The ebook is available in mobi, epub and pdf so is viewable on any ereader.

So, sit back, put your feet up and take an afternoon for a little heat, a lot of suspense and perhaps an explosion or two.

Enjoy!

BROTHERS IN BETRAYAL

Elite Pacific Northwest software designer, Grace Mason is not the criminal that Special Agent Noah Jeffries expected to find.

Unaware that she's a suspected accomplice in an arms smuggling ring, Grace struggles to cope with the mysterious and disturbing changes in the company that she helped to build. When the danger begins to escalate she has no choice but to place her life in the hands of a man who threatens her control and makes her want what she promised herself she'd never take. Grace couldn't have known that falling for the sexy FBI agent would make her the focus of a dead man's vendetta.

Now Noah must uncover more than the details in a smuggling case as a betrayal from his past threatens the future of a woman he never meant to care for.

Available Formats: PDF, MOBI, ePub

#samplesunday Moment

2011-12-04T15:53:00.000-08:00

Here's the moment it all begins from BROTHERS IN BETRAYAL, care of Twitter's #samplesunday. Hope you enjoy it!

* * * *

“Yes,” she said, “She…”

The word was lost in the roaring of the sudden silence as she looked from Jude to the tall stranger beside him. With wide startled eyes, she had a sense of falling while her vision seemed to expand slowly, her perception revealing one staggering feature at a time.

She was aware first of a deep and chaotic blue, with tiny flecks of silver that flashed behind soft lashes. A single lock of hair the color of deepest mahogany rested just above full eyebrows and teased her fingers nearly into action. She could feel each little digit clench with the desire to touch, tease and stroke. Angular cheekbones and a strong nose stood behind a day's worth of stubble. A jagged scar highlighted one cheekbone, while another, smoother scar, ran the length of a decisive jawbone. Full lips lifted in a crooked grin. It was only when she began to feel lightheaded that she realized she had forgotten to breathe and dragged in a ragged breath.

Amused eyes sparkled down at her … laughing … at her.

Oh my God, she thought mortified, jerking back only to realize that she had somehow taken his hand in hers. Feeling stricken and suddenly awkward she tried to extricate herself from his grasp. Her efforts made no effect and she slowly stopped struggling as she stood looking up at him.

“Hi,” Noah said, so softly that only Grace could hear.

“Hi.”

Lost now, she simply stared up at him.

“I know you . . . I mean . . . you're Noah, well, of course, you're Noah, you know that, but I know that too . . . I mean the picture in the office . . . ” Mortified, she trailed off as she was again overcome by her reaction to him.

He just grinned down at her, with the same crooked smile he had been wearing since she first gazed up at him. She blushed then, and he was completely charmed.

She finally managed to retrieve her hand. Stepping hastily back, she attempted to recover some of the composure that the last few moments destroyed. Taking a small breath she mentally shook herself. She glanced at Jude, and suddenly remembering, slanted her eyes and advanced on him, gaining speed in the short distance before she pounced.

“You,” and with that she poked him in the chest, “took away my office! How could you? I have been trying to hold this place together and you take away my office? William’s got me working on random bits of code; he's taken over my calendar and hired some piece of fluff and teeth to run MY division. He said that you wanted me ‘out among the masses’ where I would do the most good. ‘Inspire the troops’ you said, ‘keep the ball rolling’ you said. I have been waiting,” poke, “for all of this,” poke, “to become clear,” poke, “but I’m in a cubicle working in the dark and she changes my coffee, takes my chair and decommissions my God-damned aliens. Now I’m supposed to be somebody’s freaking idea of a mentor? A mentor! How the Hell am I supposed to work under these conditions?”

Grace turned her head and noticed Noah staring at her now, the perpetually amused grin still dancing around those lips. God, those lips would be the death of her.

For a moment, she almost seemed to stumble, as she stared back at him. He would have been amused at the goofy way she was looking at him, if he hadn’t still been feeling the shock of her electric green eyes.

My God, he thought to himself. So that’s how it felt. In a fraction of a moment, he knew he was lost. He ceded victory to her in a heartbeat and passed his soul along with it. She blinked and looked away. He shook his head slightly and looked around, dazed, for a moment. Narrowing his eyes as he looked at her again, and remembering his purpose, he stepped forward and held out his hand.

“Noah Jeffries.”

Grace looked down at his hand and held her own firmly behind her back. She didn’t want to touch him. She didn’t want to confirm what she knew, what she felt in that first moment. She didn’t want to admit defeat just yet. Tilting her chin up, she nodded slightly in his direction. Then turning her back on him, she dismissed him.

Noah stood there, hand still held out, baffled at the unexpected reaction. Slowly, he lowered his arm, the tic of the small muscle in his jaw the only outward sign of his slowly boiling temper.

“Now Grace, do play nicely,” Jude chided softly.

“Don’t you tell me to play nicely! I want to know what the Hell is going on, and I want to know right now.” She crossed her arms and spread her feet. The image was almost comical. Noah couldn’t help the tiny tug at his lips as he struggled not to smile at the militant picture she made standing before them.

Jude watched the two of them, noticing that the meeting was been unsettling for both of them. Suddenly, quite pleased with the situation, he decided to give them a little push.

“Grace, I can’t explain now, but I will get to the bottom of this, I promise. However, for now I need you to show Noah around.”

Holding up a hand to halt her budding objections, he waited for her mouth to slowly and stubbornly close again, a sure sign that she was once again listening. “I know that things are confused, but I’m certain we’ll sort everything out.” He paused then, angling his head to look into her now petulant eyes.

Knowing that he had won the battle, he swooped in for the kill. “Please Grace, be a good girl and show Noah around for me? It would mean the world to me if my two closest friends could become friends.” He looked at her steadily, consciously softening his gaze into the look that she had yet to resist.

The silence stretched out uncomfortably and Noah was sure that they were in for another explosion when she suddenly capitulated. Surprised, he shot Jude a look filled with respect and no little surprise. Jude simply flashed him a smug little smile, before quickly changing it back to the more successful hang dog face when Grace once again exploded into motion.

“Fine, but you do me a favor. Go in there and introduce yourself to Ursula the Venomous. Then, you’ll see what I’ve been dealing with. I want my chair back and I want it cleaned. Her highness bathes in some nasty French perfume and it makes me gag. I want my aliens back, too. Oh, and whenever you figure out whatever it is you need to ponder, let me know so I can kick William’s ass before you throw him out on it.”

With that she spun around and stomped in the direction they’d just come. “I’ll be drinking lousy coffee. You know where to find me.”

Then she was gone.

The space was strangely empty without Grace standing in it, Noah thought suddenly.

Jude looked over at him and smiled, clearly in a better mood. “God, it’s good to be home.” He pointed into the direction of the now silent office. “Shall we?”

The two men moved forward, steadily approaching the closed door to the now silent office, each uncertain as to what they’d find on the other side.

****

BROTHERS IN BETRAYAL, Book One in the Sins of the Fathers Series is now available for $.99 on: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Smashwords, Brazen Snake Books

Official Book Trailer for Brothers In Betrayal

2011-11-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

I've been tossing the idea of creating a book trailer around for a while. I've created a few videos in my time, but as with everything, the first is always the hardest to start. So, I'm pleased to present the Official Book Trailer for Brothers In Betrayal. It comes in at just under a minute, so is a nice quick peak into the book.

Sample Chapters

2011-11-24T22:14:00.000-08:00

Read the first three chapters of BROTHERS IN BETRAYAL.

Brothers in Betrayal by Heidi Sutherlin Sample Chapters

Like what you've read? Buy it now.

When Body Snatchers Hack Your Super Happy Ending

2011-07-12T17:36:00.001-07:00

This post has been percolating for quite a while. Granted, I've let me lovely blog here languish for a bit, this one post couldn't wait another second.

I read like a fiend. Sometimes a book a day, sometimes two. (When you factor in how little sleep I tend to get, you can see how that's possible.) Now, there is nothing more jarring, more disappointing, nay, more infuriating then to read an entire novel and have it ruined in the last two pages, sometimes even in the last two paragraphs.

I'm talking, of course, about the strange and increasingly common Body Snatcher ending. That super happy ending that is enacted by two body snatchers who bear absolutely no resemblance to the two characters that you have followed, cheered on and sweated to the very end with. You know, the witty and sarcastic female protagonist who suddenly spouts cotton candy euphemisms for love and happy ever after to a guy who drops his machine gun to twirl his lady and bestow upon her saccharine words of forever.

Blech.

Seriously, I love a grand romance as much as the next girl, I just need to see it coming. I enjoy settling in to a sweeping epic, with bared chests and overly dramatic sentiments. I swim in it and enjoy every gooey moment. However, if I'm reading a hot and spice romantic suspense, I want my main characters to be true to themselves at the end of the story. I want their happy, happy ever after to be realistic to their relationship and their respective personalities. Nothing annoys me more than to have the ending ruined by characters that act nothing like themselves. It's like a bucket of cold water in the face and ruins the entire experience for me.

In this rant is a caution, when writing your own super happy ending, take a moment to do a "Body Snatcher" check. Would your leading lady actually say that? Would your hero gush and swoon? While I'm taking things to the ridiculous in my examples, this is a serious test. However you resolve your story, make certain that your characters are remaining true to themselves. I understand how hard those last two pages can be and I've made them same mistake myself. Even so, don't discount the effects that those last few paragraphs can have on a reader. It would be a shame to let a few words ruin your entire book.

Now, tell me about some of your pet peeves? What has the power to ruin a book that you would otherwise love?

2011-03-30T20:11:00.000-07:00

Recently an independent author's extreme reaction to a review has literally washed over the writing community online via Facebook, Twitter, email and with outrage, amusement, and bafflement behind closed and open doors alike. I'm certain that there are a multitude of blog posts in reaction, and so I have no intention of remarking on that author's behavior or linking to the review. What I would like to discuss is the attitude towards self publishing that reared its ugly head in the comments, of which at last check numbered over 300.

A Bloody Mess

I read through the comments, and after a while decided that there was enough blood in the water that I was ready to get out of the pool. Then, I began to notice a disturbing trend in the comments. Many of those leaving a comment began to turn their ire towards self publishing in general. I've heard the normal backlash, and am not naive to the snubs of some. I'm well aware of the division in the world of writing as to which side of the publishing line one wishes to tread, but I'd never before read the viciousness that started to leach out into the open. It was no longer an educated and heated debate, but true mud slinging.

I was appalled and yet, could still shrug it off. I, personally, do not wish to jump into the frenzied arguments over the right to use the term "indie" or not, whether self-published authors are truly a viable and worthy source of a great weekend read, or whether all indie/self-pub/alterno-authors are too stupid/weak/lazy to attain the services of a good copy editor. No, I personally have nothing to say to those arguments, I just don't have the time or the energy. It doesn't really matter, anyway.

However, there was one comment in particular, which I will share that shook me a bit. I don't know if it was the off-handed viciousness, or the comments themselves, but this particular comment was one that I cannot leave to the ether unchallenged. While I didn't comment on the thread, I wanted to address it here, where I have home court advantage, perhaps.

This was posted anonymously:

"Sorry to nitpick like that, but Howett's behavior in this thread and most of the pro-indie/pro-self-pub comments in this thread haven't done much to make me feel more secure about reading indie or self-published works. Howett is obviously freaking out in a most unprofessional way, and the pro-self-pub/indie faction is riddling this thread with desperate comments designed to make people give indie a chance. That also looks unprofessional. They're also making comments plagued by errors in spelling, grammar, syntax, etc. that doubtless show in their product.

In my experience as an open-minded reader who really wanted to give the non-traditional publishing world a fair shake, authors who choose to self-publish or to go "indie" tend to have poor grasp of grammar, plot, character, and even simple commonly used phrases. The above is no exception!

If there is a real difference between "indie" and "self-pub," please tell me what it is. Because it seems from where I sit that "indie" is just the latest buzzword people are using to try to warm up readers to their poor writing that hasn't proven good enough yet to be picked up by a traditional publisher.

I'm sure there are some exceptions out there, but in a few years of curious reading I haven't come across any yet. That could be just coincidence. Maybe there is a lot of great "indie" fiction out there and I haven't figured out how to find it. Or maybe it really is that people feel they don't have to be so careful if they're publishing indie or self-publishing."

For some reason, this comment took my breath away. I'm not certain what I could even say in rebuttal that would have any impact, other than to use this as a cautionary tale for all self-published authors and those planning on it in the future. This, my friends, is what we are up against. This effortless swipe at the quality and imagination we bundle so carefully into our craft. The angry and the extreme are so easy to ignore, this, however is more insidious. This is the quiet conviction of a person who has completely discounted self-published authors as regular Joe's (and Jane's) who just couldn't hack it in the real world and figured they could make an easy buck on the internet.

The world is filled with talented people: storytellers, musicians, actors, healers and leaders. I suppose I say to this person and so many like them, that just because there are only so many slots available, doesn't mean there aren't a multitude of people qualified to fill them.

And to you, dear friends, I say, even in my fairly untried state, do not let them win by failing to polish your writing to within an inch of its life. Prove that the talent that exists just outside the gates is just as impressive as those who've earned a space within them.

Find Me

2010-11-24T22:37:00.000-08:00

I have scattered my consciousness across the wide world web and you can find me at any or all of the places below.

Facebook

Twitter - @heidisutherlin

Goodreads

Are You Dying to be an Original?

2010-08-14T17:50:00.000-07:00

No Pressure

In college, steadily working my way through a never ending art major, I had one overriding fear. Sure, there were many little worries, and quite a few major hangups, but when it came to my decision to become a Graphic Designer and Artist there was only one thing that kept me up at night: an artist must always BE ORIGINAL.

For some strange reason this idea, something that most people take for granted, grew and expanded in my fevered brain until it steadily pushed out all good sense and left me feeling uncertain and terribly insecure. It effectively hobbled me creatively, causing me to second guess my every artful thought, each stroke, every layout.

Luckily for me, I had a wise professor in my third year who managed to make an impression. A casual conversation, delivered in an offhanded way has managed to stay with me to this day.

"Everything has already been painted, drawn, carved, blown and kiln dried. You're never going to create something that someone else hasn't already done before you. So you can take all that pressure and just get rid of it."

We stood in that room, thirty or so creative hopefuls, crushed and off balance. I remember complete silence. The scribbling and scraping of charcoal on newsprint, and the metalic wobble of the easels standing on century old boards, all absent in the space of our disappointment.

And then he taped us back up, our little egos broken and reset properly.

"However, none of those things have been painted, drawn, carved, blown or kiln dried by you. Each of you draw from the same subjects, and yet not once have you created an identical image. While it's all been done, it's never been done by you. You are unique and therefore so is anything that you create. There is no pressure, only opportunities."

Every word has been spoken, every sentence uttered.

When I decided to finally allow myself to write, which is another blog post entirely, it didn't take me long to apply this wisdom to writing. I don't worry about writing the Great American Novel, or discovering a new genre. I don't worry about writing something that is so fresh and new that it is barely recognizable as fiction. Not that this is bad, I have always been a fan of innovation, but it just isn't something that I expect from myself.

My goal is to write the best story that I can. Just like every relationship is unique, every story that I imagine is unique to itself. My characters, hopefully, are people unto themselves with their own special hangups and gifts, their own likes and dislikes. Putting them together in an interesting way is my job, but I don't worry about the fact that car chases, kidnapping, and blowing up buildings has already been written. I imagine that I'm a filter and that all of these words and sentences that have been used before are subtly altered as they flow through me.

The next time you find yourself caught up in the cycle of doubt that all writers and artists occasionally go through, remember to cut yourself some slack. Take a moment to appreciate your own perceptions. I guarantee you'll be impressed.

Sometimes Inspiration is a Brick Wall

2010-07-17T21:55:00.000-07:00

Like many writers, my goal was to land an agent, get a multiple book deal and hold a fresh from the printers paperback with my name splashed across the front in my eager little hands. My goals are still the same, just rearranged a bit.

The Pressure, Oh, The Pressure!

When I entered the Twitter and Blog scene not so long ago, I jumped in with both feet. Gradually I began following all of the publishers, editors and agents I could find. I read blogs, and eavesdropped on publishing conversations, followed writers, and basically sifted through everything I could find on writing and publishing. Reading books, blogs, and internet articles opened my eyes to a whole new world.

Tucked in a corner, just there, open the tiny little Willy Wonka style door and whoosh, you land in a massive landscape abuzz with the chatter from a million writerly voices. It was a heady feeling.

It was completely overwhelming.

While I didn't notice it at first, I began to write less and less. I put my first novel away, and began my second. I started a serial novel, only to put it on a shelf, as well. The voices of traditional publishing had gotten to me. Suddenly, the amount of effort needed to push myself through the tiny pinhole that is success in the world of publishing, while also attempting to push past the millions of other writerly hopefuls was just too much to attempt. I spent so much time second guessing every part of my writing that I ground to a halt.

Writing was no longer fun.

Yada yada yada...

So what? I know I'm not the only person who folded under the pressure. It's not that I don't want it as much as the next writer, it's just that the manner in which I was trying to get it was not working for me. I couldn't see myself being that 1 in 3.4 million that made it through.

So, I stopped.

I didn't give up writing, I took a break. I let all of the other things in my sphere overtake me. I unfollowed all of the agents, editors and publishers. I followed only those writers who were following me. I cleaned house, so to speak. And just like that, I felt myself gradually unwind. I'm not saying that the people I unfollowed don't have a wealth of knowledge, just that I wasn't ready for the pressure. I simply pulled myself out of that particular stream.

A short while later, my current story started to assert itself again. It played behind my eyes, talking to me at first while trying to fall asleep, and then in the shower, while driving and finally it funneled into my fingers while I sat at my computer.

Hmm, so that's how that works...

Then, Jamie DeBree got me started with Scribd and suddenly a light went on. Her newest serial novel, The Biker's Wench, lives there along with a myriad of other wonderful stories and articles. It made me want to write something just to see it posted there. I started to realize that I wanted to write so that people could read it. Would I like the success of Nora Roberts or Kim Harrison? Sure, but that's not the most important thing. I want to write. I want to paint the characters that run around in my head, bring them to life to love, fight, triumph.

I've been enjoying the methodic and thoughtful progress that Jamie has been making and admire her strategy. I'm learning quite a bit from her example. I've started to really become aware of the huge offering of ebooks and after working with Jamie on the covers for her Tempest and The Biker's Wench, I started thinking about applying her strategy to my own work.

I plan on pulling out my first book, and polishing it up. It's the first in a series of three. I had abandoned it because attempting to land an agent with a series of books is a no-no. By publishing it myself, I can continue the story with the two books I had planned for it. Will I sell a million books? Probably not. I may not sell any at all, but I can have them printed and still hold them in my hands and give them to my family who will ooh and ahh with the appropriate amount of merryment, thus satisfying my need for acclaim and kudos.

So my plan, while a bit different, still has the same basic elements of the original. Once I've self-published a few titles, if I feel like I'm ready, I can then submit a finished work to a round of agents. By then, I will have more experience and hopefully a small following, which just might sell me to an interested agent and then to a publishing house. But for now, I think I'll simply focus on doing what I enjoy, which is to write.

What's your plan? Does anyone inspire you?

Review of Powerless: The Synthesis

2010-06-07T15:21:00.000-07:00

Recently, I've had the pleasure of reading Jason Letts' Synthesis, Book One in the Powerless Series.

For me, a truly great Young Adult novel holds an appeal to all ages, not just the young adult audience that it caters too. Maybe this is unrealistic, but I believe that a successful novel in this genre transports a reader to their own childhood, so that they can experience the novel through the eyes of their younger self along with the characters.

Synthesis, Book One of the Powerless series does this beautifully.

Sheltered and isolated with only her mother and father, fifteen year old Mira suddenly discovers that there is a world outside of her mist protected cottage filled with people and places that she could never have imagined existed. She is given the opportunity to join this world, to explore and discover all that she had never known. Of course, there is a catch. While she is gifted with intelligence and an uncanny knack with machinery and all manner of inventions she lacks the one thing that every other person on her world receives from the universe at birth: a power. She is, in fact powerless, thrust into a world filled with amazing and often dangerous gifts. Even more challenging, she must now make her way through a school where the students are encouraged to use their powers to shape the hierarchy of the class which will eventually be sent out to battle in the ongoing war between the Light and the Dark.

There are so many things that impressed me about this story. The imagery is lush and expands along with Mira's perception of her world. The characters are flawed, endearing, infuriating at times and very human. They too become more vivid as Mira learns to understand the complex behaviors of her peers. There is tremendous emotional growth as the group of young people move through their last year of schooling. I was impressed at Letts' ability to move you through the story in a way that was very reminiscent to me of Lloyd Alexander, one of my all time favorite YA authors.

Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of this story is it's gender neutral premise. Gender truly does not factor into the success or failure of these young people. They rely on their powers, their wit and their understanding of each other to battle and maneuver their way to the top of the class. Even so, Letts still manages to highlight the awkward, and often touching moments that each gender experiences during the process of becoming an adult.

I would highly recommend this book to any person who enjoys a tale well told. The wit, the foibles, the very real danger and the charming awkwardness of the young are all mixed together quite elegantly to create a story that will easily appeal to readers of all ages, from the very young to the young at heart. Powerless will carry you along through each poignant discovery, as the shocking twists and turns keep you turning the pages. If you are anything like me, you'll be waiting impatiently for the second installment in the Powerless series.

Confessions of a Library Addict

2010-05-04T16:46:00.000-07:00

I don't buy books. I go to the library.

My love affair with the library began before I was born. My mother used to take us religiously to the library. It was the one magical place where we were allowed to have as much as we wanted. It was the great equalizer. A library card was free, and gluttony was encouraged. I participated in all of the summer reading programs, and read my way from one end of the children's section to another, until I soon discovered and devoured the young adult section.

For me, the library was the one constant. When moving to a new town, new school, new people, one thing would always be true. That town would have a library, with all of the same books organized in the same way. The rules never changed, even though the faces and the facade might.

Today, I generally have twenty or more library books out at a time, with more on request. I have only to follow the threads of new authors, undiscovered series and old favorites, then enter them into the inter-library loan search and with the push of a button I have nearly any title I may want winging its way to my happy little fingers.

Until recently, I never felt bad about my little vice. Books aren't bad. Libraries are wonderful. Everyone supports their local library. There isn't a small town in the country that doesn't hold some sort of book drive, library fund raiser, or book sale in the park. I always felt it was an admirable quality, this love of the library. Unfortunately, when I discovered the community of writers on Twitter there was one very important trait that they all seemed to share that I lacked.

Writers buy books.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Powell's, the little book store on the corner, it doesn't matter where you buy them, but buy them you must. Writers write books that are meant to be sold, they then buy books to support other writers who will in turn support them. It's the principal of the thing. It's a show of solidarity. It's the freaking circle of life, and I've broken it.

As soon as I realized this not so subtle qualification amongst the writers in the community, I was stricken. I never buy books. If I do it's from a local (gasp!) thrift store or even a (hitch, hitch, double gasp!) garage sale. Until now, I've lived with my dirty little secret, cringing a little each time a mention was made of the last book buying expedition. Enough is enough, however, and this is one little secret I just had to share.

I'm not bad, just broke.

I don't avoid buying books, I just can't afford them. Sure, I have a mile long list of the books I would buy if I could. I often entertain myself with the books that I would have in the library that I will one day possess in a house that I'm sure to acquire into someday. I know which shelves each will hold, how I will organize by genre and then in the order in which I love them. I can't wait to sit back and read through them all over again, one by one, in order and with the happy knowledge that the next one, two, twenty are right there to be devoured next.

But I can't, and so I don't.

Right now, book buying is simply not in my immediate pyramid of needs. Reading, however, is and so my many trips to the library will continue. I've got a book a day habit that demands satisfaction. I know all of the librarians, and have even been told that often they will keep an eye on what I'm checking out, because I always pick great reads. In the real world I may be struggling along just like everyone else, but at the library I'm a rock star.

I'm curious, how many of you feel bad about going to the library? Is it an issue? Do you have a book buying versus book lending ratio that you keep?

Stop Beating Yourself Up

2010-04-09T00:01:00.000-07:00

So this post has been the elephant in the room for me for a week and a half now. Actually longer, but we won't squabble over the details.

Spring Write was a wonderful experience. It was my first organized writing challenge that I had the pleasure of putting together, promoting and hosting. For the people who participated I say, great job! It was so motivating to watch each of them as they pushed through their own daily writing obstacles. Their moments of triumph, and their tougher days really brought home for me that I'm not the only writer in history that experiences the ups and downs of productivity, creativity and optimism. It was fantastic and while no one achieved their goals, which wasn't really the point as the goals were pretty extreme, everyone seemed to finish strong and from what I can tell have some really great wordage under their belts.

Everyone, that is, but me.

I don't know what happened.

From the minute the starting gun sounded, I stuttered to a halt. I found a million and one things to do instead of actual writing. I fleshed out my outline. I wrote character descriptions. I spent hours and hours figuring out the town I was creating, mulling over the villains I had decided were one dimensional and dull, and researching different magics and even the history of names. But I only actually made it through two chapters and a little over 3k of new words.

Every day that passed, I tweeted my encouragement to the others and applauded from the sidelines, while getting more and more annoyed with myself. The more annoyed I got, the less I actually did until I ground to a shuddering halt.

Ugh! It was a train wreck. A disaster. The end of existence as we know it!

That's rediculous.

Of course, it's not the end of the world.

I realized that I had made the same silly mistake that I have often made in the past. I allowed a small setback to turn into a gigantic obstacle and in turn sabotaged myself. I knew when I started this challenge that I wouldn't make it to 80,000 words in two and a half weeks, but was curious to see just how far I could get if I put my mind to it. It was supposed to be a "devil may care"-by the seat of my pants writing exercise. I little kick start and what could be the harm in a little contest? I figured it would be fun to involve others for the motivation and the camaraderie. Well, it was all there, I just didn't take advantage of it.

In other words, I choked.

But, what do I have now? I have a solid outline, with some great plots and subplots that I don't think I would have if I'd just started writing. I have characters who are very real to me now, who have faults and preferences and voices of their own. I have a town that I can walk through in my mind with a history and secrets and character of its own.

I have a story that is ready to be told.

In reality, I haven't gone backwards. During a recent #askagent session on Twitter, I asked what some of the agent's pet peeves were and Colleen Lindsay responded,

"Biggest pet peeve in a manuscript is a writer shopping one before it is ready to be shopped."

This has stuck with me, ruminating around like a bit of grit trying to work its way into a pearl. Then it hit me, this idea is one that can and should be applied to all areas of the writing experience: you write when you're ready.

You need to motivate yourself and stay on task, but your story unfolds as it should, when it's ready to. I wasn't ready to sit down and write, hence the plotting and prep work. Eureka!

Of all of the things I have learned during this whole experience, that is the main theme that I've come away with. You need to be aware of your own rhythm (thanks Jamie De Bree) and understand that the process unfolds as it should, if you will only allow it to.

Bottom line: Stop beating yourself up.

My task now, is to take my writing and my blogging (um, yeah, I know I've been putting it off...shuffle...shuffle) one day at a time. Each day is a new day and should be treated like one.

You should never carry over the previous day's percieved failures or you will be doomed to fail before you've even started.

Do any of you have any procrastination horror stories? How do you stay on track? What are some words of wisdom you've stumbled upon out of the rubble? I'd love to hear how you pick yourselves up when you fall off the writing wagon.

Spring Write - Ready? Set? Write!

2010-03-13T12:03:00.000-08:00

Spring Write 2010 has officially begun!

Thanks to everyone who has spread the word about my little crazy challenge. We have five intrepid entrants. Let's all give them a big cheer and a hearty "you can DO it!" I've listed them below with their Twitter names and their blogs or websites. Visit them, follow them, leave them a nice message...

Spring Write 2010 Official Entrants

Mercedes Yardlery (mercedesmy) - 50,000 words
www.abrokenlaptop.wordpress.com

Alice Sage (Alicemcsage) - 2,000 words
alicemarysblog.wordpress.com

Rachel Titley (Galadriel1010) - 50,000 words
www.fanfiction.net/u/532868/Galadriel101

Betsy Cornwell (betsywrite) - 60,000 words
elizabethcornwell.com

and myself, course - 80,000 words

You can follow our progress by joining the conversation at #springwrite on Twitter.

We have had a lot of support, especially from these fantastic Tweeples. Don't forget to give them a shoutout, too.

Sybir St. John (sybir) - sybir.com also check out her other great site paranormalchicks.com

Jamie DeBree (JamieDeBree) - jamiedebree.com also check out her nail and gardening blogs. nailarttues.blogspot.com & shortanddry.blogspot.com

Erica Chapman (ericawrites) - ericachapman.com

Gwen Stickler (gstickle) - gwenstickle.blogspot.com

David Griffin (SpiderGriffin) - www.myspace.com/davidjgriffin10

As the there are only four official entrants in this challenge and the grand prize was three tshirts, I've decided to award a Spring Write tshirt to each entrant that reaches their goal. I hope you follow our progress and join in when you can for a write sprint or two along the way. Thanks again for all of the support and the well wishes! Good luck!

2010-03-08T21:59:00.000-08:00

I would like to announce my first challenge, Spring Write 2010.

I was inspired by fellow blogger and Twitter friend Sybir St. John who mentions on her blog that she once wrote a novel in 2.5 weeks. The first time I saw this I was intrigued, and the second was in a mention here on one of my posts. So I stewed and I germinated and I boiled over until I decided, that's it! I'm going to do it. I'm going to write a book in 2.5 weeks.

But, wait! Why not take my personal challenge to the blogosphere and invite others who'd like to try their hands at a super challenge or even those who just need a bit of motivation to get them over the hump and through the home stretch.

So here are the details:

The Spring Write is open to everyone who would like to participate.

18 days to finish a novel.

Starting on: Friday, March 12, 2010
Ending on: Monday, March 29, 2010

You may elect to start from the beginning, or finish off that MS you've been slaving over for the last four months. This is a down and dirty write-a-thon. This is not about editing, this is sitting down and powering through from "It happened one day," until you ram through "happily ever after," or not, however you choose to go about it.

This challenge will work much like all of the other writing challenges you may have seen on other blogs or on Twitter. Participants will post their writing goal - including number of words needed to reach "the end" and their starting point. You can do this by posting a comment to this post, emailing me, or DM'ing me on Twitter. All of which can be found here on my blog.

To stay motivated you can use the #springwrite hashtag to check in for motivation and/or some good natured smack talk.

The BIG Prize

Everyone who participates in this challenge earns the right to post the nifty Spring Write badge on their website, or blog. At the end of the challenge I will be posting a link to a print-ready version for all participants. You can print it, and hang it, or iron it onto a tshirt. Everyone who reaches their goal, however, will go into a random drawing for one of 3 Spring Write tshirts that I will have made up and send out the first week of April.

I'll start by posting my personal goal. As I am still in the planning stage of my own MS and have thrown out any of the false starts I've had, I will be starting on page 1, with a goal of 80,000 for a contemporary novel.

So, remember, to get entered into the contest I need all entries by Friday at noon.

Good luck! Here's to breaking through to "The End."

Your Magical Mind

2010-03-08T21:00:00.000-08:00

My last post dealt with coming to terms with my process. I received a request or two to explain how it works for me. So, this is a quick and dirty rundown of how it works for me and some useful tips to make it work for you. But first, a little background...

What is this "process" anyway?

In the previous post, I explained that I do most of my processing and planning for my writing in my head. I've always naturally went about my work this way, and as I grew older I began to refine the process.

It began with my dad, who spent a lot of time explaining to me how to "turn things over to my subconscious." He had me creating an awareness of my thinking and reading over my goals before I went to bed, and writing out my affirmations which I would read various times throughout my day. We had a very "aware" household. While I didn't grow up in a New Age household, my dad was in Sales and my mom a baker by trade and super mom by calling, these ideas were a fundamental part of my upbringing.

Later, in junior high and high school, I began to research meditation and different self-awareness texts and practices. It wasn't until my first college midterm, that I really began to understand the power of my subconscious mind.

My first term Psychology professor made a major impression on me with an unorthodox pre-test relaxation exercise. After we'd filed into the classroom, she dimmed the lights and took us through a quick five minute guided meditation. I was no stranger to this, so I went along more willingly than some of the others, and was interested in what she had to say. After relaxing us to the point where most of the resistance had drained away, she calmly stated one thing, then left the room.

"You know everything you need to know for this test. Everything that you've heard, read and thought about this class is already in your mind. You just have to access it. Nothing can stop you from doing that, but you."

She left us there in the dim light for another couple of minutes and then swept in with the lights and her long skirts and gave most of us our first college midterm. Nearly all of us got an A.

Enough already. How does it work?

In order to understand this method of processing you need to understand the subconscious mind. Here's the lowdown, in basic terms (in other words, any neuroscientists who happens to read this, please don't leave any nasty comments about my complete lack of understanding of the in's and out's of the human brain.)

The subconscious mind...

never stops "thinking"
makes no judgments, and cannot distinguish between "good" and "bad"
takes in everything and processes it along with everything else

Thinking, thinking, thinking

Your subconscious is constantly processing everything that you feed into it; thoughts, television, conversations, music, visual feedback, etc. That's why it is a good idea to have little Billy read over his times tables three times just before going to bed. That is the last tasty morsel to be fed to his subconscious and as such is most likely to be processed and stored, to be retrieved when he needs it later.

How many times have you woken up with a great idea for a story? Or, maybe that scene that you worked on for three hours before going to bed, suddenly seems perfectly clear when your eyes pop open as the alarm blares away? This is an example of how we utilize our subconscious minds without even thinking about it.

"I suck"

Your subconscious mind does not understand when you say "I suck," that you don't REALLY mean it. You were just annoyed. It takes that in and innocently adds it to the list of attributes. If you think of your subconscious mind as that little robot that takes everything you do or say LITERALLY, then you will have understood the single most important thing about how your mind works. What you "feed" it is important.

Quick Exercise: For one day, pay attention to your own self talk towards yourself. I think that we would all be surprised at how often we say, think or mutter something negative.

Garbage In, Garbage Out

Your subconscious mind takes in everything that you do. Some say that watching television before bed is not good for you because your mind will simply continue to process whatever you were watching, commercials and all, and this leads to a less than restful sleep. This is true, but you can also use this to your advantage, and not only before bed.

Get to the point already!

Okay, so how can you use all of this subconscious trivia to work for you? I've listed some tips below that you can use now to help utilize your subconscious and while I don't promise magical results, a little self awareness never hurt anyone.

Here is one way to "turn" something over to your subconscious:

1. Focus on the problem you need to work out, answer or unravel. Write it down, type it out, or even sit down and allow yourself to write a stream of consciousness type letter. Take five minutes and "get it out."

2. Tell yourself and your subconscious that you will be thinking about this now. Visualize yourself handing it over to your subconscious. Some people imagine a mailbox in their mind, or a baton to a runner, or hitting the enter key on a keyboard. However you visualize it, just let it go.

3. Do something else. Go for a drive, or a walk. Go do the dishes or work on another project. Stop worrying about it. Every once in a while allow your mind to drift to the topic, but don't try to manage it, just check in for a quick status update and then let it go.

4. When you wake up in the middle of the night with your magical answer, don't panic and knock over the bedside table in your rush to get to the pen and paper you've just knocked under the dresser. Tell yourself that the answer will be there in the morning, because it's in your mind and you can access it any time that you like. Then roll over and go back to sleep. That's right, I said go back to sleep. Chances are that in the morning, not only will you have your nifty answer, but your subconscious mind will have taken it even further and you may now have something not just nifty but stunning.

5. Trust that once you've thought of something, it's there. It is locked safely in your mind and you can retrieve it any time you like. You might be surprised at what can grow if you just leave it in there to "bake" a little before pulling it out.

So, I must be the most well adjusted, peaceful, productive person on the face of the planet, right? Um, not so much. Self awareness is a constant battle, and in my case it's a lot like herding mosquitoes. Is it worth it? Absolutely. I still have to work on my negativity, and bedtime television, but there are moments when I'm holding my story in my mind and I know that it's nearly ready to emerge and take shape on a page, that I can't imagine being anyone else.

Will these tips make you a better writer? Who knows, but I can tell you that these are some nifty tools to have in your tool box. What are some of your tools? Do you have an interesting way of approaching the story, or an eccentric ritual that you use when you are writing?

I found one really interesting bare bones site that really laid out some of the important points when attempting to utilize your subconscious mind. It mentions some other really great tools like visualization, art and meditation which may find their way into another post sometime in the future.

http://www.wikihow.com/Control-Your-Subconscious-Mind

“It's all a part of my process.”

2010-03-07T00:15:00.000-08:00

What exactly does that mean, anyway? What is this “process” that so many refer to, dig up and chase after? Writing courses, internet writing blogs, my 7th grade English teacher; they all have one thing in common. They are all attempting to illuminate the correct “process.”

Excuse or reality?

When I was young, my poor parents were baffled and annoyed with my procrastination.

“Have you written that paper for your History class?”

“Not yet. I'm working on it. It's not ready yet.”

“Why not? What are you waiting for? You can't keep waiting until the last minute to do your homework.”

Funny thing was, I really was working on it. My particular process has never changed. I have always done most of my work in my head. I'd get my assignment or topic, turn it over to the subconscious and let it “stew.” Then the night before it was due, I'd calmly sit down and write it out. Once. The final draft always spilled right out of my head and onto the paper, ready to go, no revisions necessary. This always worked for me. It saw me through History, English, AP English, and right into my stints as Editor for three different high school newspapers. (I moved around a bit.)

As I moved on into college, my particular process became more and more refined as I added in the necessary research and higher thought required for college papers and essays, but still remained basically the same. The difference was that I started to question this process more. I began to wonder if I really was just being lazy. What if I spent more time writing and refining, if I started sooner? Would I be a better writer? A better student?

You can probably imagine that this introspection was exactly what I didn't need, and my work suffered for it. Finally, I put the argument behind me and settled for a compromise to my musings, returning to my process with the addition of a healthy dose of guilt at my laziness.

Fast forward to the present. Writing again and the stakes are a bit higher. I've leaped the hurdles, cleared the field of doubt and completed my first novel. I am standing at the top of the mountain and the view is awesome. It's time to slide down the other side and begin the sure climb up the second.

So what do I do?

I decide to change my process. I decide that I am finally going to end the shameless laziness and do things the right way.

Right. This is going to work out well.

I soon discover that I am incapable of doing things the “right” way. Whatever that is, really, I am simply not capable of doing it. In my mind, I imagine the authors that I admire, waking up to birds singing and taking their steaming mugs of coffee into their study, sitting behind gleaming mahogany desks flipping on their computers and smilingly jumping into that story that came to them over dinner the evening before. By mid-morning they have fourteen chapters complete and by lunch they are ready to shoot the first half of their manuscript to their editors for an enthusiastic review.

Okay, so maybe that's a little unrealistic. My point is that I imagine that people have an idea, sit down to plan it and immediately jump in, wrestling with the words on the paper rather than in their minds. As if, somehow, that the words are more valid if they've been deposited on the screen. If they haven't been typed, then they aren't real, even if they are the wrong words.

Eureka!

When I thought of it that way I realized something. What is the difference between my process and the process that I imagine to be correct? So what, if I take a couple weeks or a month to ruminate, to develop my story. If I daydream my characters, allowing them to unfold in their own time. If I dream them into existence, before I sit down to write their thoughts and experiences. With this second book, I fought myself, certain that I was doing it wrong and in doing so wasted time and energy. If I had simply given myself over to my process, which took over in the end, anyway, I would have been a lot more successful in my earlier writing attempts.

Still, this is an important realization. I'm okay. My way works for me. When I let go and relaxed, I found myself enjoying the story that was still growing in my mind. It began to unfold in wonderful and unexpected ways. Plot holes filled in, and cracks in the background solidified. My characters began to show me who they are and where they are going.

Does this mean that I don't need note cards, and time lines and character charts? Certainly not. All of those are wonderful tools, I was just forcing myself to use them before the story was ready. As in college, when I learned to incorporate the research and the study groups and the abstract thinking, now I am learning to incorporate the organization and development that a truly great story deserves. There are some great tools and tips, and I'm picking and choosing as I go what will work best for me. I've just learned that it all comes in its own time and at its own pace. I can trust my process, and I'm enjoying it.

I've learned a valuable lesson: trust yourself to know what's best for you.

I'm curious, do any of you retreat to your mahogany desks and whip out half a novel by lunch? What is your process? Have you ever struggled to do things the “right” way, only to realize that you were doing it correctly all along?

Catching Up & Spreading the Love

2010-02-14T22:41:00.000-08:00

First and foremost, thank you for those of you checking in after my little hiatus. Work, life and writing do not always mix, as I've just been acquainted with. However, you'll notice the new design. I fiddle, rather than produce and this is the result of my procrastination.

Taking some more pages out of Jamie DeBree's nifty blog, I've decided to summarize my to do's and outline a loose schedule to make things a little more productive here in my little world o'words.

New Work

The finished manuscript is sitting on its shelf, pouting as I've permanently moved on to the next project. The new WIP, is a lovely bit of paranormal/contemporary with a hint of fantasy in the element of modern magic thrown in. I struggled with it, at first, before recently backing up and starting over at the layout stage. More on that, in a later post. I'm shamelessly enamored of it, and have found it taking up most of my thinking hours, awake and asleep.

Blog

The Serial post has stalled, simply due to the fact that its managed to hit the last spot on my list three weeks running. I've moved it up to the top and hope to have a post by Wednesday. For now, I plan to focus on posts that deal with the writing process for the new WIP, including interesting things I find in the blogosphere to help me along the way.

New & Delicious

I have some new and juicy tidbits for the New & Delicious section. I've added one worth mentioning this week, Sybir St John's lovely website, and hope to focus on this, adding anything that catches my fancy writing related, or not. This will be an interesting section to watch in the near future.

Awards

Okay, so I've gotten my first nifty little award from Reagan Leigh, posted on her blog Reagan Writes. The Honest Scrap award, thank you very much! It is now my solemn duty to bestow this happy little medallion to other blogs that I find to have interesting things to say to the world. Before I do, allow me to continue in the spirit of the award.

“Share ten honest things about yourself and pass this lovely gift on to ten other Honest, Upstanding and “Scraptastic” bloggers.”

Okay, here goes:

1. I'm afraid of heights. Totally and completely.
2. I know how to weld.
3. I can't start writing ANYTHING until I have it all blocked out in my head. (Believe me, I've tried.)
4. My favorite sandwich = peanut butter, jelly, turkey, cheese, and barbecue potato chips.
5. I can't touch raw chicken.
6. I'm addicted to Thrift Stores
7. I'm a Champion Sheep Showman(person)
8. I have a sister 21 years younger than me
9. I love to play pool
10. I collect exercise videos and dvd's

So, I believe the following to be truly worthy of the Honest Scrap award, and am awarding this nifty image to be posted on their blogs along with 10 truly honest scraps of info about them to be shared with the rest of the world. This is not compulsory, if you'd like simply sit back and enjoy the glow of appreciation and admiration.

Jamie DeBree
Sybir St John
Erica Chapman
Mercedes Yardley

So, there you have it. Quick and dirty, my catch up for the last three weeks. Here's to keeping the posting up and the catch up down.

A Killing Quandry - Ch. 1

2010-01-25T16:37:00.000-08:00

I'm pleased to introduce my first serial novel. This novel was inspired by Jamie DeBree's wonderful serials on her blog The Variety Pages. I'm debating about stealing another great idea from her, the pick your plot questions at the end of each of her posts in the serial series. If you'd like to see some options, let me know. Otherwise, let me know what you think, good, bad or ugly. Hope you like it. Enjoy!

Sam pulled the glasses impatiently out of her hair and onto her face. Eyes scanning between the four oversized flat screen monitors, she absently nudged the sleeping dog out of the path of her rolling office chair as she reached for the second keyboard. Chocolate eyes narrowed, they remained glued to the screens as the dog patiently shifted to her other side. With a long suffering sigh, it rested it's head on her bare foot, somehow ignoring the constant tapping of the hot pink painted toenails.

There was another moment of furious typing and a final swivel then a click, then silence. She leaned back in triumph, while a slow, satisfied smile illuminated a suddenly breathtaking face. The hair that she had pulled back in today's ribbon, which just happened to be purple, had already pulled mostly out of it's grasp to twist and whirl around her face in a mass of chocolate.

"See, Duncan? That, dear sir, is how you do it," she reached down to pet the dog, whose face now rested happily on her thigh.

"You simply cannot allow it to win. It would become insufferable if you did, and then where would we be?"

She moved across the room, tossing the last bit of advice over her shoulder to the dog, who was following her quietly and nodding wisely, the smooth wag of his tail the only sign of his excitement at the direction of their march.

Sam moved across the kitchen floor with the grace of a dancer, bending to retrieve the dog treats, while sweeping a hand to pluck an orange from a nearby fruit bowl. There were no wasted motions, the result of her breeding. The actions practiced and smooth, the result of long habit.

Standing at the counter, her eyes gazed unseeing out one of the long bays of windows, the gray Seattle skyline and water coloring the gleaming glass. The dog, patient and knowing, slowly leaned his body against hers, and she lowered the treat with another absent pat. With a loving lick and happy sigh he took the treat gently and sat down to munch it thoughtfully. She missed the devotion in his eyes, just as she missed the pile of mail that had begun to spill onto the floor and the laundry that peeked just out of the bathroom.

Already, she was planning the next project. Moving automatically around the counter, the beauty of the open layout and deep cherry wood floors that burned in every direction, was lost on her as she moved back to her work station. The dog moved smoothly in front of her, diverting her path around a pair of shoes that lay forgotten on the thick pile throw rug that lay in front of the burgundy leather couch. She allowed herself to flow around him in their familiar dance and continued to her destination, fingers absently tugging at the ribbon in her hair, dislodging it even more.

"The trick," she continued as if she hadn't stopped, "is to keep pushing until you've figured it out. If you let it see your confusion it will only gain momentum."

Duncan again nodded wisely and settled down with another sigh. It, of course, being the video game she was nearly finished designing. Sam felt the same thrill and challenge today in the crafting of her digital worlds as she had ten years ago when she'd written her first game.

Fingers flew over the keyboard as she prepared the last piece of the program for delivery. Pressing the button, she began the upload of the game to her private server and turned her attention to letting her staff know it was on its way.

She blew an errant curl out of the way, peering at the email she was attempting to form. Something was nagging at her and making it nearly impossible to finish the thing. She sent a stern, accusing look at the dog, who wasn't there to recieve it. Annoyed, she glanced around, only to find him standing at attention at the door, a silent, but alert sentinel, while the insistent and annoying blare of the intercom dispelled the rest of her concentration.

"Oh Duncan, if only food could be delivered by email."

She brushed a hand over his head as she moved to press the button on the small intercom box by the oversized door.

The buzzer ended in mid screech as she leaned into it.

"Leave the bags by the door please."

Impatient to continue with her work she started back towards the desk, but turned away in alarm when a voice answered her.

"Delivery for Ms. Wilmington." The voice was flat and business like, and yet she couldn't quite stop the small shudder that ran down her spine.

"Leave it by the door," she said, once again leaning over the dog to reach the intercom. He hadn't moved and now stood in front of the door, the low growl and shifting of the hair on his back a sign of his distress.

"What is it, Duncan?" she whispered, running a soothing hand down his back. He didn't turn his head to look at her, but shifted his rear quarter to push her away from the door. More than a little wary by now, Sam, again pushed the button on the intercom.

"All deliveries are to be left at the door. I have an arrangement with the market," she attempted to keep her voice brisk and business-like but the small quiver found its way in at the end.

"I have something here for an Allysia Wilmington," the flat voice returned.
Slowly backing away from the door, Sam felt the panic attack as it threatened the edge of her vision. Breathing deeply, she told herself that she was overreacting. There was no reason to panic. The man couldn't get in. There was no reason to be upset. Even if he could, she would talk to him like a normal, well adjusted-human being. There was absolutely nothing to be afraid of.

"Ma'am, I need you to sign for this. I have my orders."

That stopped her. Panic receded as she searched her memory for the week's scheduled deliveries. She'd already recieved all but the courier package she was expecting tomorrow, and they had a standing order to leave it by the door. She used a private courier, and paid extra to never be disturbed. Everything else was dropped at the lobby with the front desk. Security never allowed anyone who wasn't on the schedule up. At the sudden silence, panic again overtook her. This time, it was real and the taste it left in her mouth was unlike anything she had yet experienced.

The grate of metal on metal, galvanized her into action, as the doorknob shuddered quietly.

Duncan was already urging her in the direction of the rooftop access. She started to move across the room towards it, when she stopped and turned back to grab her cell phone and her laptop, resting in its case. Duncan gave her a sour look, obviously questioning her delay, when she caught up to him. The noise behind her again made her pause, before the dog leaned against her, urging her towards the door to the roof.

She had her hand on the door knob, when the front door exploded behind her.

Serials

2010-01-24T21:49:00.000-08:00

Future home of a gaggle of serial novels. For now, I have one on deck A Killing Quandry. Enjoy!

A Killing Quandry

Ch.1.

New & Delicious

2010-01-24T21:43:00.000-08:00

Today's Newest & Most Delicious:

paranormalchicks.com - Very cool destination for those who write, read and love everything paranormal. You can follow them on Twitter - paranormalchiks. I would seriously suggest stopping by. I predict big things, and can't wait to watch it grow and evolve.

bryngerard.com - Bryn Gerard, interesting, intriguing and inspiring Poet, Artist and Thinker of Grand Thoughts. His work, words and musings on the state of man, society and the process of being will leave you with lots to ponder.

The newest section of Words A'Plenty, New & Delicious will feature anything that I stumble across that I find delectable and delightful. Interesting blog articles, authors that peak my interest, web sites that I find helpful, all of these will find their way here to live and hopefully multipy. Check back often to see what's been added. I also plan to keep a list of all of the newest Delicious finds on the sidebar. Let me know if you have any tasty tidbits and I'll add them to the list.

Enjoy!

Still Delicious

........................................................................................................

Melanie Golden - Urban Fantasy Author with Tasty Tidbits

Dustin Curtis - Sexy design blog.

The Variety Pages - Serial novels that I'm addicted to.

Supernatural Smut - Some very helpful writing tips.

Sword & Sorcery Books! - An amusing mystical, magical blog with everything from dwarves to Rum Ridden Pirate Granny's

Sybir St. John - Paranormal Romance with a dose of Kick Ass Heroines

Implosion Does a Brain Good

2010-01-19T22:46:00.000-08:00

Thirty seconds to melt down.

Those are the words that recently ran through my head. If you're following along - and I know you are, all three of you (by the way, thanks for that)- then you know I've recently stumbled upon the wonders of Twitter. I'm still fascinated, boggled and bedazzled by the instantaneous access to a variety of authors, editors, and well educated readers in all levels of expertise, and all handily working in one or another of the genres that I happen to be interested in.

It's wonderful. Fantastic, even....and it very nearly caused my brain to explode.

The Wonders of Space

Okay, let's back up a little and get a bit of background. I'm not a published author, true and this has already been established. More than that, however, I have been writing in a vacuum. With the exception of my lovely mother, grandmother and a few wonderful friends - you know who you are - I write in the glorious silence that exists when you are effectively the center of your universe. It's a lovely place to be. At least it is until you're ready to move forward.

For the beginning, for the no pressure, fly-and-be-free-little-author portion of the ride, it's a wonderful time to stretch and explore your newly pumped up writing skills. It's a test of your endurance and your commitment to your chosen craft. It's the time when you decide whether you truly want to allow that particular demon out of the closet and give it a space next to you, constantly riding your shoulder and leaving crumbs across your keyboard. Can you live with it? The question easily became for me, "how can I not?"

So, after a year of personal arguing I fell in, or rather through the barrier and finished my first book. Then I sent it out to be read and edited and read and edited some more. I was still, mind you, basically on my own. I did some research, sent out some queries, got a couple bites, but nothing substantial. I knew that the first book would probably be just that, the first, and nothing more, but was committed to seeing it through.

Then, I started my blog, not only to help with my publishing goals, but to hone my craft and move into yet another genre that I had always secretly coveted. This lead to Twitter, which is when my world expanded exponentially. Liken it, if you will, to the small town girl landing in New York City. Here were all of these people, speaking casually of things that I had bloodied my fingertips trying to find the answers to. It was heady and wonderful and as one would imagine caused quite a bit of introspection.

Was I really good enough to compete with writers who were published ten times over?

Could I really present myself and my work to agents who've all read some of the most successful work that's been printed to date?

So I did what most people do in that situation - I imploded. My little brain bubbled over and the emergency shut down kicked in. In real time, this was simply a day of fumbles and annoyance which ended with a forced evening off.

Eureka!

Then I remembered. I remembered that I love books and I love to read and I love to write. I went to college and while the good portion of my education was focused on Graphic Design, literature and writing took up a healthy portion of my time spent at university. I knew what I was doing, I was fairly well read and could string together a sentence or two in a pinch. There, my sense of humor was returning, that's always a good sign.

I realized that I had hit a growth moment. The moment when your standard perception of yourself is challenged. In that moment you grow, you resist and break, or you stay as you are. I like to believe I grew. I made a few decisions, none of which entailed quitting and pursuing a career as lead taco maker, thank goodness.

My biggest weakness has always been my ability to talk myself out of something. Knowing that, I've decided to turn that into my biggest strength, simply by flipping it over. Now I'm going to talk myself into being a successful writer. The key is to keep doing it.

Whose Pen is Larger?

So, Twitter is still my personal crystal ball. That place to find the answers I need. I'm no different from many of the writers that I've encountered there. In fact, they all sit down to their blank screens wondering if this will come out as they've planned. They all struggle with unruly characters and plots that zig when they were clearly meant to zag. In the end, I believe that they all, some more than others, experience at least a twinge of nerves when they write that last word, wondering if this one will make it into print or be filed away under "practice."

When did you experience your "Moment of Growth?" Did you brain explode as you ran screaming into the night, or did you rise up victorious and invisible cape flowing in the righteous winds behind you? Do tell...share...I'd love to hear all about it!

Do Only Rats Abandon a Sinking Ship?

2010-01-15T13:33:00.000-08:00

Oh, What a Ride

My week long voyage on Twitter amongst the writers, agents and readers has been a mind blowing experience. I've finally found the means to immerse myself in those also mired in the craft of stringing sentence after sentence into the lovely, the ghastly and the interesting.

The dialogue and recently the motivation have been a fabulous benefit that I hadn't anticipated, although I should have. What I also didn't anticipate was the clarity with which I would view my first book. With a heavy sigh this morning, I finally quit fighting the inevitable. It would need to be rewritten.

Certainly, this is really no surprise to me, as I had felt it lacked the polish that a second or third book would have. I gently told myself that I would look back fondly on my first attempt, remembering the day I finished it with reminiscent sighs. Certainly all authors have first books that hold a special place in their hearts. Authors such as, Nora Roberts and Jayne Ann Krentz, have had long and productive careers and anyone who reads their first novels finds them vastly different from their later, more successful works. Right?

Or, better yet, I would leave it behind, carefully wrapped in pretty paper in the bottom of a chest, to be pulled out and shown to grandchildren long after I'm famous (don't laugh, it could happen). See, I'd say mistily, this was my first novel. It's a sweet story, really, just didn't make the cut. Heavy sigh, fade to black.

And Yet...

The reality? The reality is that I'll pull it out and go over it again. I'll be ruthless, ripping it apart, adding and subtracting, from the ground up, no scene will go untouched. The relationships will be immediate, the action relevant and exciting. The reader will be swept along, crashing into the end with relief and regret from a wild ride of suspense, passion and conflict. Certainly.

What got me into this predicament? That's just the thing, though, isn't it? It's not really a predicament at all. It's just the business of writing. You write, then rewrite, then rewrite some more. In my haste to "finish" my first book, be done with it so that I can move on to the next, I lost the inherent care that I had taken with it from the beginning and through all of the edits I've already gone through with it.

Success is Messy

The most important thing that I have learned so far, and believe me I've learned quite a bit in the last short week, is that writing is messy. It's supposed to be. Old projects leak over into new, each being inspired by the other. Authors themselves leak over into other authors, inspiring stories and characters. This is as it should be, and I'm not doing it wrong, I just haven't finished. In fact, if I do it right, I'll never really be finished. Being an author is not just stringing sentences together, but associations, experiences, impressions and people, into a long and never ending story that spans a career and lifetime.

What about you? Have you ever abandoned a project? How many projects are you working on now? What criteria do you use to decide when you're "finished"?

Plan to Fail or Fail to Plan

2010-01-13T16:00:00.000-08:00

It takes thirteen days to make or break a habit...okay, so perhaps I've improvised the exact number a bit, but it's pretty certain that if you haven't committed to something within two weeks, chances are you're not going to.

Pretty depressing, isn't it?

True? Perhaps, but it doesn't have to be.

Pick Your Own Ending

I've been thinking a lot about success and failure lately. January 1st finds us all brimming with optimism and ready for the challenges and transformations of the next year. If you're anything like me, then mid-January finds you hastily amending that optimism to a more manageable, tempered realism.

This year I plan to change that depressing trend. 2010 began for me with larger goals, expectations, and resolutions than I've ever had before; new job, new book, new blog, new product line, new, new, new. It's been pretty overwhelming, but I haven't let it stop me. I've indulged myself and allowed those big dreams and bright thoughts to filter through my days and conversations and allowed them to sweep me along, basking in the what-if's of this wonderful future. I haven't slowed down, oh no, not me.

I've planned...and planned...and planned, some more.

I've diagrammed, and brainstormed and researched software to help me plan even better. In short, I'm hiding in the margins. I've tucked myself away in my little yellow legal pad, amidst the notes and to do's. What's worse, I haven't even noticed. It was only while reading a blog post by Steve Newman,"How to Build a Successful Blog from Conception to Delivery," that I realized how easy it was to lose yourself in activity while not really accomplishing anything. How had I become so involved in the plan, that I wasn't actually implementing it?

"I think there are times when you seriously need to look at prioritsing your projects or at the very least learning to run them in in parallel – otherwise you can spend your life planning without actually delivering anything." Steve Newman

Of course. Why didn't I think of that? The answer to that is simple. I was so busy trying not to fizzle out, that I hadn't moved forward.

The Answer Is In Your Feet

Steps. It's the little steps that move you where you're going. It's taking five minutes to write down those character details that just popped into your head, rather than committing it to memory and promising your little muse that you'll sit down and write something solid when you've gathered a nice little pile of them. Taking those five minutes, could turn into a solid hour or two of writing, and even more inspiration.

It's sitting down to write that post, even though you didn't quite have it worked out in your head yet. It's posting it, even though you haven't researched enough about how to drive traffic through your blog. It's sending out those three thank you notes, even though the agent has passed on your query. It's sitting down and committing to the "next book" even though the last hasn't been picked up by an agent or publisher yet.

I Organize, Therefore I Am

Organization is a wonderful thing, and successful people are often organized. But it's the balance between the creative, the organized and the doing that truly propels people to where they want to go. You never get anywhere in your head and as I'm learning even the small things have the potential to carry a very big footprint.

So the next time you're thinking about putting off that "little thing" you need to do, don't. Do it and see where it takes you. You might be surprised.

What do you routinely put off that you wished you didn't? How do you balance the creative with the plan?

Tweet Thyself

2010-01-11T02:05:00.000-08:00

In my research for this blog, and I use the term "research" loosely for the obsessive poring over of other blogs and websites on everything even remotely related to blogging, I found one consistent word of advice: Tweet and Tweet often.

Go forth and Tweet.

Up until about seventy two hours ago, I avoided Twitter. It was nothing personal, of course, simply an assumption of mine that those who tweeted did so mainly from cell phones to their friends about the weather and such, and so forth. I'm happy and a little bewildered to report that this is completely untrue. While I am fairly certain that there are hordes of teenagers and tweens tweeting and twitting about, Twitter is a serious Social Media tool used by every cultural niche and branch one could possibly imagine.

And so, I revamped a recently abandoned attempt to join and went through all of the steps to connect my Twitter to all of the various tendrils I've placed into the ether so far. I spent a day or so wading around in the nothing, before going out in search of more info.

How do I tweet?

Okay, I'm ready to tweet, who is going to hear it?

How do I find people and how do they find me?

I learned about the Twitter directories. I started out with Twello and after registering and doing some searching I found, well, everyone. It was amazing, one minute I was standing alone in a room wondering what the punchline was, then the next, I'm in the middle of the party of the century. It's a bit disorienting at first, but the key is to remember to stay in the moment. Once I realized that last piece of the puzzle, I got it.

Now, I just need to get the hang of the short hand that is so vital to the Tweet-o-sphere. As someone who has always stubbornly refused to use less than proper English in any text message, it takes a bit of getting used to. There are still so many things for me to learn, proper tweet etiquette, grammar, timing and all of interpersonal do's and don'ts, but I'm sure I'll get the hang of it in no time.

Behold! The Community.

While swimming through the current of the conversation I discovered a wonderful and unexpected benefit to joining the Twitter community; the Community. For a writer and blogger just starting out, Twitter puts you on the same ground as experts, experienced authors, readers and reviewers, agents and publishers. Most of these people have something to share, whether it be parts of themselves, advice, things that they find interesting or educational links, you get the benefit of their experience and the opportunity to join their conversations.

Needless to say, it didn't take me long to forget the marketing benefits of my Twitter account for the blog and my books. I'm certain that it will help bring traffic through and possibly bring readers to my book, but I am more certain that the overall benefit to me as a writer and a reader will far outweigh the extra clicks on the traffic counter at the end of the day.

What do you think? Do you Twitter? If you do, how did you start? How do you think Twitter benefits your life, and does it have any downsides? I'd love to hear what you think!

Query Me This, The Synopsis is the Thing

2010-01-08T02:43:00.000-08:00

The End...or is it?

Okay, so you've written your novel, nipped, tucked and polished it, then passed it around to be fondled and criticized, and now you think you're ready to pass it to a select handful of agents who will fall all over their Kindles to raise it to its rightful position in the annals of literature. Right?

Wrong. Oh, so very wrong.

Finishing your book is certainly an accomplishment. Congratulations, you certainly deserve a well-earned pat on the back. Unfortunately, simply crossing the finish line won't get you an agent, or a published manuscript, as I found out for myself. The ending, in this instance, is really just the beginning.

Research? Yes, Please

I'm a research driven individual. This is really just a nice way to say that I obsessively uncover every facet of the thing in which I'm interested in, or need to do, or want to buy, or simply find myself curious about. For one such as I, the internet is a magical place where every answer I could possibly want is there for the harvest.

Or is it?

When I finally allowed myself to sit down and begin my research into the how's and the how not's of getting my book published, I was overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information on the topic. While searching for that definitive "Do this...insert proper method here..." I realized a few very key points to the process.

1. There are VERY definite Do's and Don'ts in the publishing world.
2. Not everyone agrees about what those are, exactly.

Now, I'm still new to the process. I haven't been published. I have never been to a writer's convention, and I'm not a member of the local writer's guild. But, I've been searching out every bit of info I could get my hands on and have noticed that while there are a few hard and fast rules, when it comes to these certain, very key pieces of the process, the opinions are wide and varied.

Manuscripts, Queries, Synopses, OH MY!

There are three very important things you need to attend to before even considering approaching an agent or a publisher. (Deciding between those two is a topic for another post. For now, we'll focus on the preparation.)

In order to be prepared you must...and I mean MUST have these three things:

1. A finished Manuscript.

Not a 'Partial.' Not a 'Nearly There.' No, not even an 'Almost Done, just needs a bit of a Tweak.' Before you can even think of contacting that friend of a friend who just so happens to be accepting manuscripts and has heard fantastic things about you, you'd better be finished. Finite. Fin. Done. I think that's all I need to say about that.

2. A Solid Query.

Sounds simple, right? Not exactly.

Your query is the single most important thing you will write, right after that super, amazing manuscript you've just finished. At least until your next novel, in which you'll craft another. The query is the single page letter that distills your novel, who you are as an author, your potential as a client and the driving reason behind why an agent or publisher should take on your project...in about 350-500 words. Oh, and it should instill in any who read it that burning need to read your work.

How do you go about writing one of these, you ask? Well, again that's a topic for another post, but for now it should be on your list of things to do.

3. Craft the Perfect Synopsis.

While the query letter strikes fear in any author's heart, the synopsis is really brutal.

The synopsis portion of our lesson was the most difficult for me to pin down during my research on the subject. Here's why: a query letter can take any direction you could imagine, but has some pretty strict guidelines. The synopsis, however, which is basically just an overall summary of your work that includes the ending, has no agreed upon length or structure. Suggested lengths, style, voice and even point of view varied from agent to agent, author to author and even book to book.

Why would I need a synopsis if I have the perfect query letter, you might be asking. Simple. If you've indeed written the perfect query letter, then you will undoubtedly have ten agents clamoring for your manuscript. But half of them will want to see the synopsis first, before committing to that all important "read." The last thing any budding author wants to do, is to make an agent or publisher wait a week while they hastily throw together a synopsis of the book that took them eight months to write. Take my word for it, you don't want to do that. Regardless of the variety of ways you can craft it, a synopsis is definitely a must have before approaching any agent.

So, there you have it, the three things you must have before approaching an agent or a publisher. Do you have all of these things? Is there anything I'm missing? Let me know. I'd love to hear about how you have crafted your "novel submission tool box." For those of you who are veterans of the process, what advice would you give to the many authors just starting out? Or maybe, more importantly, what should you NOT do?

I can't wait to hear from you!

The Trials and Tribulations of the Starving Artist

2010-01-05T02:15:00.000-08:00

So, as many of you know, I've set this blog up to follow the twisted and winding road to eventually publish my novel, Brothers In Betrayal. Along the way, I hope to meet many new characters, on either side of the pen.

When I sat down to write the first book, I had no idea what a process it all would be. The writing, while not easy, was exhilarating and painful, interesting and strange. For instance, the word "commitment" takes on a vast new meaning, as you find yourself carried along with the characters and the story and any preconceptions that you might have had about their destination fly out the window with whatever map you might have scribbled on a handy take out napkin.

No, it's not the writing that has brought me to this little corner of cyberspace, it's the process of shaping and forming and presenting the "idea" of your writing to the established body of experts, hoping that somehow, someone will nod in the affirmative and push your ratty manuscript through the fence and on to the other side. I've spent many a night into the small hours of the morning, poring over blogs and websites, books and articles detailing the fuzzy world of queries, synopsis, Agents, publishers, and contracts.

Luckily, while still not published, I have pulled my way down the path and feel that I've made headway. In this blog, I will do my best to share the good, the bad and the sometimes tragically amusing, as I move through the process of getting published, continuing to write and generally stumbling upon what it really means to be a writer.

About the Author

2010-01-03T18:33:00.001-08:00

You can usually find me with a book or four stashed in my bag, the car, by the bed; everything from Steam Punk to Greek Tragedy to Hot and Steamy Romantic Suspense and Paranormal Romance. I have spent much of my life reading and absorbing all different genres, from early Lloyd Alexander to Marion Zimmer Bradley, then later on to Nora Roberts, Jayne Ann Krentz, William Gibson, Karen Marie Moning, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Kay Hooper, Christine Feehan, and Kim Harrison.

While I have been writing from the time I was big enough to hold a pen, it wasn't until 2009 that I penned my first novel. A romantic suspense novel, entitled BROTHERS IN BETRAYAL, Book One of the Sins of the Fathers Series.

Shortly after writing BROTHERS IN BETRAYAL, I soon realized that there was a factor I hadn't counted on - the reader. I've begun to follow a wonderful and winding trail, meeting new and interesting people while learning more about the story its characters through their discerning eyes, than I ever could have on my own. And so, this blog was born. I have now met many wonderful authors, bloggers, and readers and the stories and books that have come into existence since have been better for having known them all.

I hope that you'll join me on my journey as I discover what it means to be an author, a reader and a storyteller.

I love to meet new people and you can find me all over the Internet. Stop by and introduce yourself!

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Contact

2010-01-03T17:36:00.000-08:00

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